Jay Halstead scratched absently above his ear while he waited for a phone call from his CI.
"Stop scratching," Antonio laughed, "You look like a dog with fleas."
Halstead flipped him off, "Asshole."
"He's right, Jay," Halstead's wife, Erin, said as she came through the door, a tray of coffee in her hands.
"Betrayed by my own wife," Halstead grinned, taking his coffee and grabbing Erin's free hand to kiss her wrist.
"Hey! I thought I said keep that shit at home?" Voight grumbled, coming out of his office and slapping a new picture on the white board.
"Sorry, Voight," Jay said, not sounding sorry at all.
"Yeah, sorry, Hank," Erin chimed, giving Antonio his coffee and dropping the remaining two on Ruzek and Atwater's desks.
Voight shook his head, "You two aren't sorry. But we can talk about that later. Right now we've got a murder."
Jay's phone rang just as Voight was talking.
"Sorry," he said, "My CI."
Voight waved his hand in a 'go ahead' gesture.
"Halstead," Jay answered, turning his chair to face the wall so his conversation wouldn't interrupt Voight's briefing.
"Mr. Halstead?" A feminine voice that was definitely not his CI, Julio, said, "I'm Kristin Josephs, the nurse at the elementary school."
Halstead's eyes widened, and he waved Erin over.
"What is it?" She mouthed.
"Yes, Mrs. Josephs, what's wrong? Is Rosie okay?" Jay said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.
The nurse laughed lightly, "Oh, yes, she's fine. We, ah, seem to have had a minor outbreak of lice."
Jay groaned, and Erin pinched his arm, desperate to find out what was wrong.
"I have to come get her, don't I?" he said, already standing up from his desk.
"Yes, please. I'm sending home an instruction sheet on how to get rid of them as well. Rose will be waiting for you," the nurse said and hung up.
Jay groaned and dropped his phone back onto its cradle.
"What happened? Is Rose okay?" Erin said, her anxiety levels rising.
Jay nodded, "She's fine. She just has lice."
"Lice?" Erin exclaimed, horrified, "Seriously? Oh god."
Jay scratched at the nape of his neck, "Yeah, I'm gonna go pick her up."
Erin watched him scratch.
"Jay..." She said slowly, "Is your head itchy?"
He frowned, "Yeah, now that you mention it..." his face fell, "Oh shit."
"Yeah, oh shit," Erin sighed, fingers twitching because she desperately wanted to scratch at her own scalp, "Let's go. I think we're going to have a rough weekend."
Voight paused in his briefing and looked over at the couple, "Everything okay over there?"
"It will be," Jay muttered.
Working off if Voight's confused look, Erin said, "Rosie's school has a lice outbreak. We're going to get her."
Antonio groaned, "Aw man, lice? Diego got them a couple years back. Then the rest of us got them. They're hell to get rid of."
Voight frowned, "Both of you go home, take care of the kids and don't come back until the lice is gone."
"Yes, boss," Jay said, grabbing his jacket and heading out of the squad room.
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Erin said, trying to reassure herself as she followed Jay.
"Lice...unbelievable," Voight grunted.
Antonio laughed, "Just be glad we haven't gotten it."
"Mommy!" Rose ran out of the nurse's office and barreled into Lindsay's legs.
"Hi, baby," Lindsay knelt down to hug and kiss the seven-year-old.
"I get to go home!" Rose grinned, "And so does my whole class!"
Lindsay nodded, "You sure do. We're just going to wait here while Daddy signs you out."
Rose's eyes lit up, "Daddy's here too?"
Lindsay laughed; Rose was the ultimate Daddy's Girl. She was constantly hanging on Jay's coattails and with her dark hair and blue eyes, she was his spitting image.
"Yep, Daddy's here too. Grandpa Hank gave us the weekend off," Lindsay left out the fact that the weekend was going to be spent getting rid of disgusting bugs.
"Awesome!" Rose pumped one fist in the air and scratched at her scalp with the other. Erin winced.
Jay appeared a moment later, "Ready to pick up the monkey?"
Erin nodded; they still had to get their son from kindergarten. He probably had lice too. She didn't even want to think about it.
"Daddy!" Rose shouted, jumping into Jay's arms.
"Hi, munchkin, how're you feeling?" Jay kissed her forehead.
Rose crinkled her nose, "Fine. My head's itchy though."
Jay nodded sympathetically, walking towards the door, "I know. Mommy and I have the same thing."
"Really?" Rose asked.
"Yep," Jay nodded, "We're going to pick up Sam and then we're going to get rid of the itch."
"Okay," Rose agreed to the plan as Jay buckled her into her booster seat.
Erin looked over at Jay went he climbed into the driver's seat and smiled.
"You're a good dad," she mouthed, squeezing his hand.
"Thanks," he mouthed back, smiling.
"Alright, kiddos, clothes off and into the shower," Erin clapped her hands as soon as they entered their townhouse.
"I call big girl shower!" Rose screamed, making a beeline for the master bedroom.
Erin laughed and called after her, "Wait for me. I want to make sure you really shampoo well."
Jay limped through the front door, five-year-old Sam hanging on his belt loops.
"You got him?" she pointed to the tousle-haired boy.
Jay grinned and ran his hand through Sam's hair, before he realized what he had done and wiped his hand on his shirt. Erin laughed at the disgusted look on her husband's face.
"Yeah, we're gonna drop the kid in a nice bubble bath," Jay said, unhooking Sam's fingers from his belt loops and hoisting his skinny body on to his hip.
"Mommy!" Rose screamed from the other side of the house.
"I'm coming!" Erin shouted back, kicking off her boots and dropping her jacket on the floor before heading inside.
"We don't live in a barn, Erin," Jay said to his wife's retreating back.
"It has to go into the washing machine anyway, Jay," Erin called back, her tone sing-songy and full of laughter.
"I'm bored, Mommy," Rose sighed, slumping down in the kitchen chair.
"I know, I know," Erin said, painstakingly running the fine toothed comb through her daughter's knotty hair.
"This hurts," Rose kicked the legs of the chair.
"I just need like five more minutes, baby," Erin sighed.
"How come Sammy didn't take so long?" Rose wailed as Erin hit a particularly stubborn knot.
"Because Sammy has short hair like Daddy," Erin explained, frowning at the slimy feel of the olive oil in Rose's hair.
"I want short hair like Daddy," Rose pouted.
Erin laughed, "Then you couldn't put it in a ponytail, or have Auntie Kim French braid it."
Rose was quiet for a minute and then sighed, "I guess I'll keep it long."
"That's what I thought," Erin tapped Rose's head, "Okay, babe, hit the showers."
Rose hopped off the chair and scrambled for the shower, shouting, "My head smells like a salad!"
Erin dropped the towels into a pile and put the comb in a bowl of disinfectant.
"Jay, is Sammy ready to wash his hair again?"
"Whattaya say, little man?" Jay asked his son, "You ready to go wash off again?"
Sam sighed, and muttered, "If I have to."
Erin patted him on the back as he trudged past her, "Sorry, bud. I know showering is against the Halstead men code of conduct."
"Excuse me, Erin Halstead," Jay bumped his wife's hip as he followed Sam, "But I know that you know I shower."
He winked at her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Shut up!" She laughed, swatting his ass as he left the room.
Rose and Sam were sprawled on the floor of the den while Erin and Jay picked up all the sheets and jackets and towels to put them in the dryer.
"I can't believe they got lice," Erin grumbled, jamming superhero sheets into the dryer.
"I can't believe they gave it to us," Jay shot back, leaning against the wall.
Erin leaned her hip against the washing machine, "At least we get the weekend to spend with them uninterrupted."
"That is a plus," Jay said pulling Erin's body to his and wrapping his arms around her.
She pressed her face to his chest, closing her eyes and just relaxing for a minute. They'd been working their asses off lately and she was exhausted.
"You smell like olive oil," Jay laughed, his chest rumbling under Erin's cheek.
"Like you smell that much better," Erin laughed, her hand sliding to rest on Jay's lower back.
"How long do we have to do this whole oil and combing thing?" he asked.
Erin huffed a breath of air, "At least a week."
"We're off work for a week? Voight's gonna kill us," Jay laughed.
"I mean, I think we can go back on Monday. It'll have been three days," Erin frowned into Jay's chest, 'I don't really know."
"MOMMY! DADDY!" Rose shouted from the den, "You're phones are ringing."
Jay and Erin reluctantly broke apart and went to grab their respective phones.
"Halstead."
"Lindsay."
Neither one paid attention to the other as they held their conversations.
Erin hung up first, and watched Jay talk on the phone, smothering a small smile.
When Jay hung up his phone, she pounced, "Who was that?"
Jay grinned, "Ruzek. Who did you have?"
"Hank," Erin laughed, "We're so dead."
"I can't believe we gave them all lice," Jay cracked up, "Ruzek and Kim are currently combing out Maggie and Nina's hair."
"Yeah, it sounds like Voight sent everyone home early and decided to reconvene on Monday," she brushed her bangs out of her eyes, "I feel bad for Kim and Adam."
"They'll be alright," Jay laughed, "Ruzek is bitching about the mayo Kim put on his head."
"Oh God," Erin laughed, "He's really going to kill us."
"Mommy!" Sam's little voice echoed through the house, "I'm hungry."
"Duty calls," Erin raised an eyebrow.
"Why don't we order from the Greek place near the station?" Jay suggested, "It's been a long day, and do you really feel like cooking?"
Erin fiddled with her cell phone, "I could really go for a souvlaki."
"That's my girl," Jay whooped and punched in the number for their favorite Greek place.
"Make sure they don't skimp me on lamb again," Erin reminded him, heading into the den to watch a Disney movie with their kids.
Erin yawned, "I think the kiddos are out."
Jay lifted his head from his arm and looked at his two kids. Erin was right, they were both passed out on the couch. Sam was draped over Erin's legs, one fist holding onto the hem of her shorts and the thumb of his other hand firmly in his mouth.
Rose was curled up at the opposite end of the couch, one arm curved towards the floor and her hair covered her face. Every time she let out a breath, the strands would flutter.
"I've got them," Jay said, standing up and scrubbing a hand over his face. Her lifted Rose into his arms easily and quickly tucked her into bed.
As he was lifting Sam off of Erin's lap, Jay looked at his wife, "What do you say to some Scrabble after I put this one to bed?"
Erin laughed loudly and then clapped her hand over her mouth, worried that she'd wake Sam. But the little boy just twitched his nose and buried his face into Jay's chest.
"Yeah, no Scrabble tonight, babe," Erin said, getting up from the couch and flipping the TV off.
"Why not?" Jay resisted the urge to whine.
"Because I'm exhausted," Erin said, following Jay into Sam's room, "And I still feel slimy form all of the olive oil."
She kissed Sam's forehead after Jay tucked the covers around him and flipped off the lights.
Jay wrapped his arms around her waist, "Come on, Er. We've been so swamped lately. I just want you."
Erin hummed as his hands worked their way up her sides to curve around her breasts.
"Don't even think about it, buddy," she warned, but there was no real bite to her tone, "I just want to sleep."
"But you look so good," Jay said, kissing the side of her neck, "And I want you so bad."
Erin abruptly turned in his arms so she could face him.
He studied her with clear blue eyes. She smirked slightly and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him deeply, threading her fingers through his hair. Jay kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her tightly, crushing their bodies together.
Just as quickly as she had turned, Erin broke the kiss, "You win. Bedroom, two minutes and you'd better not have any clothes on."
She broke from his embrace and laughed her way to the bedroom.
Jay stood in the hallway, mildly shocked at how easy it had been to convince Erin.
She poked her head through the bedroom doorway, "One minute, Detective."
He grinned wolfishly; there it was.
"Coming," he called, already whipping his shirt over his head.
Erin had her head tucked on Jay's chest.
"Damn, that was good," he muttered, drawing circles on her shoulder blade with his thumb.
"Oh, I know," she said throatily, slipping her leg in between his.
"Erin, I love you," Jay said into her hair, kissing the crown of her head.
"Love you too, Halstead," she murmured sleepily. Jay smiled. She rarely called him Halstead anymore. Marriage had kind of put them on a first name basis. But he liked it when she called him by his – their – last name. It reminded him of the early days of their partnership. The days he wasn't allowed to have the thoughts he was having now about her.
Erin's breathing evened out and Jay knew she was close to being asleep. He couldn't believe they'd been married almost ten years now. He was definitely the luckiest guy on the planet.
"Hey, Er," he whispered.
"Mhmm?" she breathed against his chest.
"Thank you," he brushed his hand over her arm, settling it protectively against her waist.
He could see the small smile on her face, "Don't thank me. You're on lice duty tomorrow."
Jay nodded, "I can handle that."
"Good," Erin mumbled, pressing her body closer to his, "I'm gonna sleep now."
"Mhmm," Jay hummed, closing his eyes and letting his breathing even out.
The next morning despite Rose and Sam complaining about their itchy heads, the too hot pancakes, begging to have a play date with Maggie and Nina Ruzek, despite Erin spilling a mug of piping hot coffee onto her arm and cursing, despite all of that, Jay Halstead still felt like the luckiest man on the planet.
A/N: Hi guys! *waves* How amazing was CPD last night? I love me some Jay Halstead.
I've been working on this story *slowly* for like a week now. haha. I've loved writing this so much. Linstead babies are my favorite kind of babies.
Drop me a review…I'll be forever grateful and I'll probably write more Linstead if I know you guys like it =)