A/N: So, this little AU series came to me after writing a fluffy fictional prompt using the Song Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks. You can find the original story here: s/12596583/3/Linstead-The-Playlist although you don't need to read that for this to make sense.

While this will be multichaptered AU documenting Linstead as parents, it won't necessarily be in chronological order as I'm still working to prompts that people are giving to me, so if there's anything you wanna see? Just let me know! As always follows, reviews and faves are life and I appreciate every single one!

Enjoy!

He'd always had a routine. Get up, work out, shower, go to work, come home, eat, sleep. Repeat. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it was functional and it got him to where he wanted it to be. Then, however, then Jay had become a fiancé and a dad in the space of 6 months and really, everything had hit the fan and flipped it all on its head.

Getting up had become internally yelling at the alarm because didn't he just get to sleep? Working out was a whole lot of running up and down stairs, doing a whole bunch of crunches because it made Millie laugh, walking around and rocking a baby. Ruzek had joked about his dadbod, which was quickly shut down by Burgess who had given him a look and he'd apologized profusely. Working was different, too. The thrill of chasing after a suspect was dulled because the worry of leaving Erin alone with a baby for the rest of her life considering the incident, or her having to take care of him too, after the last time? Generally, put enough fear into him for him to watch his six as he did it.

Eating? Well, that was done quickly; hot foods were usually eaten cold and cold food usually eaten warm, and even then? Snack food was so much easier than making a meal – although he always made sure that Erin had eaten at least one decent meal and Millie seemed to drink a lot of milk, so his girls were always taken care of. Sleeping? Eh. Sleeping happened when it needed to. Jay always made sure Erin got sleep because she was the primary caregiver and he was her tag team partner when he was home, which sometimes was only for 6/7 hours a day, most of it being spent on getting some sleep for himself. Erin always pouted, however, when he took a long time to come to bed. Erin was the one who made sure he got some time for sleep, the one who made sure he was eating something significant, the one who made sure he knew he was appreciated and loved.

Growing up in the family he had; the way he had, Jay had known that how he didn't want to parent. Jay knew he wanted his partner to feel valued, loved and safe in their home. He wanted his children to grow up safe and happy, knowing that they were loved and valued and had a home that was a happy place. He worked hard, knowing that Erin was 16 before she got a safe and happy home, to provide both of his girls with a solid family unit.

Which is why he found himself taking the stairs 2 at a time after pulling what was technically a double shift, carrying a bag of groceries trying to make sure he was home for the start of Sesame Street. Millie was 3 months old, but she absolutely adored that program and was riveted to the screen whenever it was on, kicking her little legs and waving her arms. It was one of the only times of the day that he and Erin could manage to get through more than half of a conversation without something else needing their attention; bottles, diapers, Millie, work. There was always something pulling them in another direction, but Jay was absolutely determined to be there with his girls this weekend. He was using some furlough that he hadn't used; 4 days of nothing but his girls and that thought made him move a lot faster.

Given that it was 6am, Jay quietly entered their apartment, smirking when the opening titles of the show began to play, fist pumping in victory that he'd made it. He kicked off his boots, lining them up neatly by the door, juggling the grocery bag to get his coat off and hung up. He froze momentarily when he turned around, Millie in her little rocker chair that Atwater had gotten for them; the blanket Sargant Platt had made for her draped over her. Erin was curled up in the corner of the sofa looking every bit as exhausted as he felt, holding a cup of what he assumed was coffee in her hand. He'd come home to them many times, but Jay had never felt the sensation of home as much as he did in that moment.

"Hey," Erin called softly, pulling him from the trance he was in, smiling sweetly at him, as though she could hear every thought in his head. He put his keys on the table next to hers and grinned at her.

"Hi." Jay called back, "be with you in a second." He told her, disappearing into the kitchen and making quick work of stowing away the groceries, making a list of what he needed to make her favourite chocolate chip pancakes, and leaving those ingredients near the front of the cupboards to nab after he'd said hello to his ladies. No matter how bone-tired he was, it was his duty to make sure they were taken care of and if that meant pushing sleep for another couple of hours to do some chores and make his Erin breakfast? He could do it.

"You really need to work on what time is," the voice came from behind him causing him to jump and spin around. Trying to look annoyed when Erin Lindsey is wearing your yellow plaid shirt and panda slippers and looking entirely gorgeous in your kitchen is damn near impossible and Jay would fight anyone who could do it, because it meant they didn't appreciate what was in front of them.

"I was getting ready to make you pancakes." Jay told her, stepping into her space and pulling her into his arms for a slow, soft, adoring kiss, feeling her smile into it.

"Jay." She laughed, wrapping her arms around him when he trailed those kisses down her cheek to nuzzle into her neck, pulling her as close as he could. "Jay," she said again, running her fingers through his hair to tug his head back to look at him, raising an eyebrow at how dishevelled he looked. His hair had been messed up long before she ran her fingers through it; his eyes stood out due to the dark circles beneath them. Those same blue eyes were red rimmed, he had stubble and Erin was halfway sure that he would fall asleep the second he got to resting and she smiled at him. "I can do cereal for this morning." She told him cupping his face in her palms. "Fruity Pebbles are pretty damn good."

Jay shook his head, sneaking another kiss from Erin. "No. Chocolate chip pancakes is the breakfast of champions and if I'm gonna nap? You're gonna need fuel to keep Mills occupied." He argued, suddenly serious and Erin smiled at him; eyes going soft as she pulled him closer, resting her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Pancakes and then you're actually going to sleep for a few hours. In bed. No arguments." She held up a hand to silence him without even looking at his face, earning herself a chuckle and a kiss to her hair. "Got a solid five hours with her last night. She didn't wake for a feed so I let her sleep." Erin grinned proudly and Jay found his smile matching hers.

"Good job," he stated, giving her another kiss atop her head, earning a laugh.

"I didn't sleep on her behalf, you should go high-five your girl for that one." Erin told him, still giggling, laughing harder when he took her hand and led her into the living room and straight over to the little bouncer chair that Maddie was still in, sucking hard on her pacifier as she watched the cookie monster on screen.

"Well hello there, Mills." Jay greeted as he knelt in front of her, heart stopping when she giggled and spat out the pacifier as she grinned up at him, reaching her little hands forward to him.

"Who's that?" Erin asked, "Is that daddy, Millie? That's daddy." She beamed from her place on the sofa as Millie laughed, looking Jay right in the face. Erin watched as the smile almost split Jay's face, a sheen of tears filling his eyes as he unbuckled the seat and carefully picked his daughter up into his arms, leaning down to press kisses all over her, causing the baby to laugh again and again; a small gargled giggle that it was clear Jay had fallen in love with already as Millie ran her hands over his head and waved her arms about, Sesame Street long forgotten now that Jay was home.

"How long as she been doing that?" Jay asked, not used to the sweet little giggle, but doing everything to make sure his daughter was making that noise repeatedly.

"She made it in her sleep through the night." Erin told him, moving the cushion as Jay moved over to join her on the sofa, moving Millie in his arms so Millie could see Erin. "I wanted you to find out on your own."

"Its joint number one favourite laugh." Jay told her, clearing his throat as he obviously tried to contain his emotions, "can't possibly choose between yours and hers." His eyes finally moved from Millie to Erin, holding her gaze before he leaned in and kissed her, whispered thank yous against her lips as she brought her hand up to rest on his neck, stroking the skin there, a sure fire way to relax him, to settle whatever was brewing under the surface before it took over.

"I'll give her the win on this one;" Erin spoke, softly, leaning in to rest her head against Jay's shoulder, watching as Millie began to wriggle; before turning her head and nuzzling against Jay's shirt, her mouth opening and closing.

"Oh, no, Mills. Daddy can't help with that. Wrong human." Jay laughed, "I'm the one who uses the bottle." He explained, causing Erin to laugh out loud, the almost confused look on Millie's face as Jay tried to explain what was happening was both precious and priceless. "Mommy does that, not daddy. I don't have the right…equipment." Jay eventually finished the sentence, looking just as confused as his daughter and Erin wiped her eyes as she reached for Millie.

"Did you just call my boobs equipment?"

"I think so."

"Dude."

"I know, I just, didn't know what else to call them." Jay stated, flustered.

"Boobs, Jay. Call them boobs or breasts or—"

"I'm going to make pancakes." Jay announced, "it'll take about 25 minutes. Is that enough time to have her fed?"

Erin could only nod, her giggling had started again at the blush creeping over Jay's flustered face as he hummed his agreement and was up from the sofa and into the kitchen before Millie had even latched on.

After feeding, burping and changing the tiny human and placing her in her Moses basket in the livingroom behind the sofa next to the table, Erin and Jay had devoured a stack of pancakes each and Erin had fought for the right to help Jay do the washing up, they had finally ended up standing in the middle of the living room floor, looking around.

"You should sleep." Erin told Jay as she rearranged the sofa cushions and folded Millie's blanket.

"I'm good, why don't I run you a bath? I can keep an eye on Mills while you relax for a bit. It's been just you practically for 2 days." Jay volunteered, eyes moving over to the sleeping baby, envying her for a moment before he looked back at Erin and stifled a yawn.

"Jay. You're exhausted." Erin told him pointedly, "You need to sleep."

"I'm good." Jay held his hands up but Erin shook her head, tugging his hand and dragging him to the sofa, forcing him to sit with her.

"You've worked this case solidly for two 16 hour shifts with a six-hour break between them. That's not enough. You need time to rest."

"And I will, when you've had some time to rel—"

"Jay." Erin interrupted, glaring at him. "I'm fine."

"I didn't say you weren't."

"I know what you're doing and you don't have to do this." Erin told him, trying to catch his eye. "Jay, you're not your dad."

Jay's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find the words to say. His right hand moved to his hairline as his left balled into a fist. He was looking anywhere but at her and Erin let him have a couple of minutes before she eventually reached for him, taking his hand and turning his face to her.

"You. Are. Not. Your. Father." She repeated, slowly. "You're not mine, either." She added on softly. "I'm not going to watch you work yourself into a heap on the floor proving to yourself that you're neither of them. I know and Millie knows and that should be enough." Her voice was soft, gentle, soothing as she knew how hard her words were. "We love you and everything you do for us, but we want you healthy."

"Erin." Jay's voice was broken, raw, as though he'd swallowed a who landfill of broken glass. Her name a small plea for her to stop, that he wasn't ready for this. Erin understood, but she had to make him understand that he was better than they were.

"I love your chocolate chip pancakes and hearing your play with her when I'm in the bath. But I can't lose you, Jay. Almost losing you was enough." Erin's voice got softer and softer until it was almost inaudible at the last sentence, causing Jay's anguished eyes to land on hers.

"You won't." he assured her, leaning in to rest their foreheads together. He'd only been back at work for just over 2 months since the…incident but he'd never really thought about the impact it had had on her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know, because I'm not letting you." She told him fiercely, eyes meeting his. "I'm not letting you exhaust yourself like this. We're a team, partnership, fifty-fifty split. Which means we both have each other's backs, Jay." Erin continued in earnest, and was thankful when Jay kept his mouth closed to let her speak. "I can't be your back up out there; I can't make sure you've got someone looking out for you. But here? Here I can. Here, I need you to let me take as much care of you as you do of me, because it's not just about us anymore." Erin stopped, turning her head to look at the crib beside them.

Jay let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded, moving them so she was in his lap and he could bury his head in the crook of her neck and her shoulder and just breath her in as they wrapped themselves around each other, holding on, sharing everything they couldn't say out loud.

When Millie's cries eventually permeated the apartment, Jay wasn't sure how long he and Erin had been wrapped up in each other on the sofa for, but he'd given her a soft kiss and then knelt up to reach into the Moses Basket to lift Millie into his arms and against his chest. It took him seconds to check and see if she was wet, stinky, or hungry. She wasn't trying to latch onto his knuckle and she didn't need a diaper change.

"I think Miss Millie just wanted in on the snuggle action, huh?" Erin cooed when Mille began to settle down in Jay's arms, nuzzling into his warmth, her eyes drifting closed as Erin stroked her head.

"Probably, I do give the best hugs." Jay joked, but Erin could still see the shadows in his eyes, making the decision that poking that bear again would be done at another time, instead she hummed her agreement and leaned in to press another kiss to his lips.

"You're kinda hot with a baby," she teased, causing Jay to raise an eyebrow.

"Kinda and Hot don't go in the same sentence when it comes to me. I'm always hot." He smirked and Erin laughed, shaking her head as she lightly punched his arm. "Erin, I got this, maybe you should take a—"

"-I'll take a shower. Not a bath. I need to wash my hair anyway, so I won't be too long. Then you're going to bed, Jay. No arguments." She stated, pointing her finger at him, causing him to give her a lopsided smile.

"Fine. Take your time, it's not like we're going anywhere." He told her, leaning up to steal a kiss when she stood and then leaning into her touch when she rubbed his head and trailed her hand down to his jaw.

"I'll be a half hour tops." Erin told him, pressing a kiss against Millie's head where she snuggled further against Jay's shoulder, her tiny hand gripping the fabric of his shirt.

"mhmm." Jay agreed, coping her motion and manoeuvring the baby as he got himself comfortable on the sofa, reclining against the cushions and searching for the remote for the TV to put it onto sports centre before Erin had even left the room.

When Erin returned to the living room; freshly dressed in some jeans and her own plaid shirt this time; she found her fiancé and her daughter, both sound asleep on the sofa. Jay reclined against the cushions, his feet propped up on the coffee table; Millie nestled on his chest, one of his hands on her back over the blanket that Platt had made for her, his other hand closer to his chin, her tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb, his lips pressed against her head.

She didn't have the heart to wake him, her heart already melting. Instead, she simply turned down the TV and moved to the sofa, curling up beside them and taking a snap for the album she was making before resting her head against his shoulder and letting her eyes drift closed.