Jay was making a dash for the subway when he suddenly stopped, he thought he saw a face he hadn't seen in years. He focused and yes, she was walking fast but it was definitely Erin Lindsey, she had left without a word eight years earlier, he had tried to get in contact but she changed her number and all messages he gave to Voight were ignored. He contemplated going after her but she was on the other side of the street and he needed to catch the subway or he would miss his flight back to Chicago. He had been in New York for two weeks helping SVU on a case that they finally wrapped the night before. He took one last glance at her retreating figure when he noticed her holding the hand of a little blonde girl who looked about seven or eight.
Voight has never mentioned Erin having a child, maybe it was a friend's little girl and she was babysitting, he thought to himself. He pulled his thoughts together and started back toward the subway, glad to be headed home to his own bed.
"Hey Sarg, got a minute?" Jay asked as he stood nervously in Voight's doorway. Voight looked up from his desk and gave Jay a once over, "Yeah, what's up?" He questioned knowing Jay only came to him about important matters. Jay pushed the door shut behind him and stood behind one of the chairs and leaned against it. "I saw Erin in New York." He stated and watched the older man for any sort of reaction but he was impossible to read.
"And how was that?" Voight wasn't going to give anything away. "I didn't get to talk to her, she was too far away and I needed to catch my flight." He sighed, not knowing how to broach the subject of the little girl he had seen. "Hmm, it's been years since you've asked me about her and you're married, so why the questions now Jay?" He had a feeling he knew where Jay was headed and he was not prepared to deal with this conversation in the middle of the bullpen.
Jay took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face, he started pacing Voight's office. "She was on the other side of the street but I noticed she was holding the hand of a little girl who looked about seven or eight." He looked Voight straight in the eyes daring him to lie. "Is there something you want to ask me?" Voight leaned back in his chair.
"Does Erin have a daughter?" Jay spit it out, nervous of the answer. Voight leaned forward and stared at Jay contemplating if he should tell him. He respected Jay, considered him family and hated what Erin had done and it wasn't his business to tell but he also couldn't lie to him. Voight took a deep breath and opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small photo of a little girl and handed it to Jay, "Was this her?"
Jay looked and the photo, he hadn't seen the girls face but the long blond hair could have easily been her, Jay looked back up at Voight, still begging for the answer to the question he had asked. "Her name is Emma and she's almost eight, she was born six months after Erin left." Voight let the information sink in, not quite giving him the answer but implying it and letting him reach his own conclusion.
Jay looked back at the photo, she was a pretty little girl with bright blonde hair and blue eyes that matched his, he recalled photos on the wall at his dad's house and realized he knew the face staring back at him. "She's mine." He stuttered more a fact than a question.
"Jay, Erin was in a bad place when she left, she didn't want to weigh you down and make you feel like you had to choose or come with her out of obligation." Voight was trying to defend her but Jay couldn't hear him anymore, his anger was quickly taking hold and he was going to explode.
"You've known I've had a daughter this entire time and you, what? Decided I didn't need to know but kept me around out of pity?" Jay was yelling at this point and didn't care if the entire world could hear him. "I was going to propose to her but I found her apartment empty and I never even got a chance to say goodbye, never got any closure whatsoever and now this!."
"Jay, you need to calm down, the entire district can hear you." Voight tried to reason with him but he was too far gone. There was a knock on the door and Hailey pushed it open slightly and poked her head in, "Is everything okay?" Jay spun around and looked at her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way in and slammed the door behind her. "No, nothing is okay. I have a daughter that Hank knew about but decided that his precious Erin's feelings were more important than me knowing about my child." Hailey stared at him in disbelief, "A daughter….with Erin?" Hailey was confused, Erin had been gone for eight years, she looked at Voight for confirmation.
Voight nodded, "Erin asked me not to say anything, I didn't agree with it but she's my daughter and I do what she asks." Jay found his new opportunity to start yelling again, "And how did you feel when you found out that you had a daughter but you missed all of her childhood? You hated it didn't you? But you decided that it was okay to do the exact same thing to me that Bunny did to you. You know, I've always admired you, how you run this unit, how we get stuff done but you, you're selfish and a piece of shit. Fuck you, fuck Erin and fuck this unit!" Jay was screaming as he stormed out of the office, grabbed his jacket, and ran down the stairs.
Hailey looked at Voight and shook her head, "That was pretty selfish and shitty, you know that right." Hank leaned back and thought about what he was going to say, "You don't have kids, you wouldn't understand, why don't you go find Jay and talk him down before he does something stupid that he'll regret later."
Hailey silently walked towards the door, her head was spinning, she turned around, "As his wife, I'm pissed at you and as your employee, I'm disappointed that my sergeant didn't think to take one of his most loyal detective's feelings into consideration on something so important, kind of makes me wonder if you really care at all or are we all just a means to an end for you?" She turned and left without giving him a chance to respond.