Chapter Fifty Nine: Hot Chocolate

Warren Park Ice Rink was a quaint ice rink closer to Maggie's apartment than it was to Antonio's house. There were fairy lights twisted up among the outstretched branches giving the place an almost magical atmosphere. That was one of the reasons Maggie loved the place so much, it gave her a sense of hope. It made her think that anything could happen and right now in her heart she needed that faith. She had to believe that Antonio would come back to her safe and unharmed, that he wouldn't slip back into the character he had played back then.

They had talked before he had left earlier today, he had told her about what happened last time he had taken the identity of Mike Diaz and how hard it had been to find his way back. Becoming the other man had made him see the flip side of his life, what things could have been if he'd carried on down the path he was taking as a teenager. He admitted the lack of responsibility had been enticing, living simply on his own wits exhilarating. It wasn't hard to get dragged under and forget who you were.

The sweet scent of chocolate wafted through the air and Maggie inhaled it deeply allowing the smell to ground herself once more as she leaned over the wall of the ice rink watching Eva teaching Diego how to skate on the ice.

She didn't need to worry about Antonio, she chided herself. Things were different now and he had a strong team backing him up. Those guys were like a family, they would go to the ends of the earth for one another.

She couldn't afford to let that concern build up inside of her otherwise she knew that it had the potential to drive her crazy. However it was hard being on the outside. In the past even if she wasn't undercover with him she had still been in the wings, always in the right place for whenever he needed her. Now she was simply the spouse and it didn't sit well with her. She liked having all the information and knowing the angles, it meant she had a read on how everything would play out. Now she was in the dark and it jangled on her nerves.

"I have one Caramel Hot Chocolate and one Vanilla." Erin said as she stepped up to Maggie, a cardboard take out cup in each gloved hand. "Take your pick."

The two of them were dressed similarly in dark colored duffel coats with fur-lined hoods and bobble hats on their heads. Winter in Chicago was not kind to those what were under dressed hence why everyone else here was bundled up including the Dawson kids.

"I need the sugar." Maggie responded taking the caramel hot chocolate from Erin's hands.

"Somehow I thought you would." the other woman said as she sidled up alongside Maggie so that she too was leaning on the plastic wall that separated the spectators from the ice rink. There was silence between the two of them for a moment as they watched the two children skating together, Eva's hand holding Diego's as he guided her less skilled brother around the ice.

"I thought you wanted to get out on the ice." Maggie said, taking the plastic lid off of her hot chocolate so she could sip it from the cup.

Erin cast her knowing smile before angling her body to face Maggie to that the two of them were parallel.

"I think by now we both know that was a ploy." Erin spoke honestly, raising the cup to her lips as she stared back at Maggie over the rim of it.

"I suspected as much." Maggie informed the other woman, casting a glance over the kids as they skated past, before raising her hand in greeting. "But to what end?"

Erin wrapped both of her hands around her take out cup to warm them through her gloves.

"I know you Maggie, I know how your brain works." Erin murmured, before blowing on the hot liquid with pert lips. "The not knowing drives you crazy. It's the reason you are such a good cop, you always follow through."

"Sounds like you've got me pegged." Maggie said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Everything Erin was saying was true, she did hate not knowing the reasons behind things. Although she acknowledged that the world was made up of shades of grey she liked it when things fitted precisely into boxes.

"I want you to know I'm here for you okay?" Erin said finally, as she clasped her hot chocolate to her chest so she could feel the warmth through her jacket. "And I will keep you in the loop, the best that I can."

Maggie didn't speak, she simply reached out and placed her hand upon Erin's before squeezing it tightly. There were no words that could express how Maggie was feeling right now. Erin was offering her a lifeline and she appreciated more than she could ever say.

"You wanna get out on the ice and show these kids how it's done?" Erin queried the other woman, her pretty features full of mirth as she set her hot chocolate down on the bench behind them.

Maggie laughed, it was a music sound that came straight from her belly and Erin was glad to hear it. She had worried that Antonio's assignment would send Maggie into a tailspin but things were different now. She could see the other woman was more at ease with herself, there was a confidence there that had grown in the past few months and she was glad to see that it wasn't tethered to the man in her life.

"You have to each Eva how to twirl." Maggie told Erin as she set down her own cup of hot chocolate.

"I'll even teach you a thing or two." Erin teased the other woman before dropping down onto the bench and reaching for her skates.