Broken Hearts, Mended Fences

I have to give credit where credit is due. The idea for this story partially comes from a Twitter conversation. Although this isn't the original idea that was discussed it is similar and along the same premise as the discussion. For story purposes, Jay is the older brother. Involves Manstead with a twist. Will be multi-chapters. Please read and review.

"Marry me?" Will Halstead asked, facing Natalie. "This isn't how I wanted to do this, here in a parking lot..." He knelt down and pulled out a red velvet box, opening it. "Will you marry me, Natalie?"

Natalie stared at the ring, unable to process her thoughts. Her and Will had had their issues lately, neither seeming to agree with the other and neither wanting to budge on their opinions. It had caused a definite rift between them and even caused Natalie to tell Will they needed a break. That had changed two weeks ago during the mass shooting, when she'd been desperate with worry over not being able to contact Owen or his nanny. At the end of the night she'd gotten a text from Will to meet him outside. When she got outside, Will was climbing out of his brothers police cruiser, with Owen in tow. She'd screamed and cried harder then she had in life before grabbing her little boy and burying her face in Wills shoulder, sobbing. But that had been only two weeks ago and though things were going good, she didn't think they were going this good. She loved him, but was it enough to spend the rest of her life with him? She had Owen to consider and Will was a bachelor with no kids, was it really fair to push her son on him? "Yes," she told him. "Yes, I will marry you. On one condition. You tell me the truth about the night you met up with Frisch."

"Nothing happened," Will told her, getting to his feet again. "Honestly. I went to Molly's with Connor after work, had a couple drinks, talked with Frisch. We ended up back at her place. We made out, that was it. She wanted more, I didn't, and I called Jay to pick me up. I went back to his place, helped my daughter with her homework and ended up crashing on Jays couch. You can call him if you don't believe me." He'd been so caught up in telling Natalie the truth he let slip the secret he'd been hiding. Jay was the only person who knew of his daughters existence.

"Daughter?" Natalie asked, raising her eyes. "You knew I had a son, why didn't I know you had a daughter?"

"Because I lost my rights to her." Will said with a sigh.

"Why?" Natalie asked.

"It was a dark time in my life, Nat." Will told her. "I'd just lost my mother, Jay had joined the Army. My father was an ass. I felt alone. I went to a party one night, had a little too much to drink, met a girl, one thing led to another. I found out both that she was pregnant and that she was only 16 when I was slapped with a lawsuit for statutory rape. She'd told me she was 18, then told her parents I raped her. I'd only gotten to hold my daughter for five minutes after she was born before I was arrested. The judge terminated my rights on the spot and I never saw her after that."

"But you see her now?"

"Only because of Jay." Will answered. "He was the one solace I had after that, even though he was still overseas. My father, being the ass he is, sided with her. Nobody but Jay believed me. Jay knew some people on the police force and they pulled some strings for him and he got custody of her. Per The judge that handled the case, I'm not allowed within ten feet of my daughter unless Jay is around."

"You got screwed." Natalie told him. "Especially if she lied under oath."

"I'm fighting it." Will told her. "I've been fighting it for ten years. It's a long process."

"Where's her mother?"

"Dead." Will told her. "It's how Hank, Al and Antonio found Jay. They were working a case involving a little girl that had been molested and beaten. They never got the guy because he was dead when they walked in. That's how they found out Jay was a skilled Marksman - the guy had never even seen him."

"So Jay killed him?"

"Yes." Said Will. "It was her mother's boyfriend. She was six at the time. Jays had her ever since, and Hank recruited Jay for Intelligence then took the fall for the murder."

"What's her name?" Natalie asked. "Can I meet her?"

"Juliana Katherine." Will told her. "She's ten, she'll be eleven in August. And yes, I'm sure she'd love to meet you. If we get to Jays soon we can catch her before she goes to bed."

Natalie followed Will to his brothers apartment in her own car. She followed him upstairs and watched as he opened the door. It was clear to her that he had a lot of love for the daughter he only got to see on his brothers schedule. If she had doubts before about the girl being Wills, those doubts were put to rest when she saw her. Juliana had a mess of red hair like her father, which Jay was currently trying to get under control with a brush.

"Daddy!" The girl said, running to Will.

"Hey baby girl." Will said, kissing her forehead. Jay handed him the brush and he resumed brushing her hair.

"I don't know how you keep that mop of yours under control," Jay told him, "but hers is impossible. Oh," he added, "don't make any plans with her the next couple of days. She's grounded."

"Uh-oh, what did you do?" Will asked her.

Juliana muttered something.

Will looked to his brother for an explanation.

"Her and her friend were playing cops and robbers and decided to use a real gun instead of the squirt guns I got her. I walked in to find her aiming my gun at her friends head."

"How did she get it?"

"She broke into the safe and that's why she got grounded. Thank God the safety was on."

"Juli, you know better than to play with Uncle Jays gun." Will told his daughter, finishing her hair. "You could have hurt your friend. Next time use the squirt guns. I don't want to see you in the ER for a game of cops and robbers gone bad."

"Yeah, ask your dad what happened to him." Jay said.

"Who's she?" Juliana asked, pointing at Natalie.

Will smiled and put an around Natalie. "Juli, this is Natalie Manning, my fiancé." He was surprised at how easily the words rolled off his tongue. "Natalie works with me."

"Are you a doctor like my dad?" The girl asked.

Natalie nodded. "Yes I am." She said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you Juliana."

Will looked at the clock. "Okay kiddo I think it's bedtime."

Juliana gave first Jay, then Will and then even Natalie, a hug before she went off to her room.

Jay returned from the kitchen with three beers, handing one to his brother and Natalie. "Congratulations." He told them with a smile. "It's really about time."

"Thank you." Natalie told him. "Your daughter is lovely, Will."

"Which reminds me, when do you go back to court?" Jay asked him.

"Next week." Will told him, sipping his beer.

"We need to fight harder." Jay told him. "She needs her father, Will. She's getting to the age where she needs you more."

"I've been fighting for ten years, Jay. I've pretty much accepted that you're the only way I'm going to be involved in her life."

"The judge has no reason not to reinstate your rights." Jay replied. "You've been involved with her, actively. She adores you, you take care of her. She's happy and healthy."

"He had no reason to terminate my rights and yet he did." Will pointed out. "I'm going to keep fighting for her sake. But it's been ten years. I'm not sure how much fight I have left in me."