One Year

by Sincerely Tiffany

Sequel to Cat and Mouse that follows the first year of Erin and Jay as parents.

7. Seven Months

When the curtains are drawn, she watches him stir in his sleep. His eyes remain closed as he fights the urge to open them and be blinded by the sunlight beaming in through the window. Erin crosses the room, fully dressed and ready to start the day, but the only thing preventing her from doing so is her sleeping husband. She approaches the bottom of their bed, "Jay…" her voice is a low and calming whisper as she steps out of her flip-flops and climbs onto the mattress, crawling up her husband and taking a seat on his sculptured chest, one leg bent and rested on either side of his waist, "Wake up."

"…just a little longer," he groaned, eyes remaining closed while a smirk crosses his lips.

Erin leaned forward, propping herself up on her elbows, forearms resting on either side of his face, hovering her lips mere inches above his, "It's a few minutes after noon."

"Ten more minutes," when he spoke, his lips brushed against hers.

"I showered, brushed my teeth, bathed the baby and got both of us dressed," she declared, lowering her face closer to his, "I prepped the food, straightened up the living room and fed the baby," her lips move and occasionally brush against her husband's mouth, "the least you can do is wake up at," her eyes avert towards the clock, "ten minutes after twelve to shower," she looks back at him, "brush your teeth, get dressed and start the grill. Company will be here soon."

Jay's eyes finally opened, "You bathed, dressed and fed the baby?"

"I sure did."

His heavy eyes take her in; she's fully dressed but her hair is still damp. One of his hands cups her face as he smiles up at her flushed cheeks, "Was it difficult?"

"Is grass green? Of course it was difficult," she exclaimed, tracing a finger slowly down the side of his face, feeling his lips stretch into a smile against hers, "Your daughter's name should have been difficult. I didn't even have to wash my hair in the shower Jay; she wet it enough during bath time. This wasn't the outfit I planned on wearing today," she points towards her red shorts and white shirt with the American flag printed on the front, "I was going to wear my red, white and blue sundress, but your daughter threw her baby food on it."

He chuckles and his voice is rough when he responds, "What baby food did you feed her?"

"…the green beans."

He starts laughing harder and since she's seated on his chest, she can feel his stomach rise and fall with each chuckle, "Those things are disgusting."

"No one told you to try it."

"I wanted to see what all the fuss was about," he defended; his lips turn into a lopsided grin when her hand runs through his messy bed hair, "I don't see how babies can eat that crap."

"Yeah well, she's a growing girl who is still too young to eat table food."

"Poor her," he chuckles lightly.

"Poor you if you don't get up and get ready."

Rolling himself onto his side, causing for her to slide off his body, his arm raveled around her waist and he pulled her backside up against his chest, "Five more minutes…"

"Everyone will be here any minute," she reminded, feeling his grip around her waist tighten; Erin rolled over in his arms to face him, "and apparently our friends aren't against using the spare key for non-emergencies. We should get up."

His leg tangled with hers as he pulled her in closer, "Who cares if they walk in? It'll be their fault. It'll serve them right and teach them to start knocking," he brings his lips towards hers.

"Atwater, Olinsky and Voight are already here, setting up the backyard."

"You really know how to kill the mood," he draws back, sighing when she rolls out of his embrace, "I'm getting up and I'll take a quick shower."

"Happy Fourth of July babe," she called out, widely smiling as she watched him head into their master bathroom, "It's time to celebrate America's birthday!"

Erin crawls out of the bed and quickly makes it as she hears the shower turn on. She adjusts her red shorts and white shirt, smiling down at the patriotic flag printed on the front. She slides her feet back into her blue flip-flops before walking out of the bedroom. Hands rubbing together as she makes her way down the hallway and into her daughter's nursery, "Happy first Independence day Havie," she greets her daughter once more, lifting the excited infant from her crib, "are you ready for your first cookout to celebrate our beautiful country?"

Haven is dressed for the event; she's comfortably in a white onesie with 'Made in America' etched out on the front and a red, white and blue tutu. The red, white and blue hair bow that was once on her head had been yanked off while she sat patiently in her crib, "This is the third time you've pulled this off," situating the baby on her hip and lifting up the hair bow from her crib, she tosses it onto Haven's dresser, "don't worry, I got the hint. I won't put it back on you." Erin adjusts the baby, bringing the small child towards her chest and walking out of the nursery while feeling Haven's hands yank and touch around her face.

Descending down upon the staircase, the baby fit snug –like a puzzle piece- in her mother's arms. Fully dressed and ready to celebrate the holiday, Erin carried the seven month old towards the living room window. Sunlight struggled to beam into the room until Lindsay used her free hand to pull the curtains open; earning the baby's immediate attention as she watched her mom's hand release the curtain. As they stand at the large window, peering outside at the beautiful warm summer, Haven continuously reached for the curtain, "Stop that," Erin chuckles, tugging her daughter's hand away, "Look outside Havie bear; isn't the view beautiful? It's such a perfect day," she presses a side kiss to her daughter's chubby cheek, "Gosh you're so freaking cute. I can just eat you up!" Erin gushed, blowing kisses into her daughter's neck and earning a sizeable laugh in return; Haven turns her head away from the window and towards her mom, smiling and giggling and wanting her to continue blowing bubbles into her skin. When Erin did, she laughed even harder. Her chuckles filled the room as her mom continues the assault against her neck.

Haven's strands of dirty blonde hair appeared lighter from the sun beaming through the window and reflecting against it. Neither paid attention to the view. Erin started to chuckle when her daughter continued laughing, her face turning red and her mouth wide open and showing her two teeth grown into the bottom of her gums, "You have no idea how much mommy loves you kid," she blows another bubble into her neck, "I can just listen to that laugh and look at that smile all day," she does another bubble and the infant in her arms is squirming and bouncing in absolute delight, "You may throw food at me, scream for absolutely no reason at all and try to live on the wild side by putting everything you can pick up in your mouth, but it all makes me love you even more," she looks at her daughter; Haven's expression now calm as her tiny hand rests against the side of her mother's face and a grin breaks out against her face when Erin leans in and pecks her nose, "You're just so fucking cute," Erin's eyes went wide, "Let's keep that slipup between you and me kid. Your dad wouldn't let me hear the end of it if he knew," Haven's mouth opens and she leans forward, connecting her open mouth against her mother's cheek, "Another wet, slobbery kiss," Erin chuckles watching her daughter draw back, leaving a wet mark of saliva along her cheek, "you're such a loveable little girl."

They remain standing at the window, babbling and giggling at one another until Erin sees movement in her peripheral. She spots Will, Natalie and little Owen walking up the front lawn. Bouncing the baby in her arms, she points, "Look Haven, Uncle Will is here!" The baby doesn't look; she continues staring at her mother's excited face until Will approaches the window and knocks. The baby jumps in her mother's arms before turning her head in the direction of the sound. Will is grinning from ear to ear and waving eagerly at the baby. His smile stretches wider when he spots a grin on his niece's face. He enthusiastically rushes to the front door and steps inside the second Erin walks over to open it, "Happy fourth," they greet and she happily says it back. Owen waves at Erin before rushing through the house, exerting the pint up energy coursing through his body, "No running in the house," Natalie shouts while following after her son.

"Alright," Will announces, rubbing his hands together before extending them towards the baby, "one of the main reasons I'm here is to see my favorite niece."

The two adults watch as Haven leans towards his open arms, excited to be picked up. After the baby is safely transferred, Erin follows him into the kitchen, "You came for Haven? And here I thought you came to see your beautifully, amazing sister-in-law."

"You saw through me," he chuckles, maneuvering the baby to his hip while opening his other arm to Lindsay, "I don't even know why I thought I could get anything by you."

Erin grins and closes the distance, elatedly wrapping her arms around her brother-in-law. She held him tight as she heard footsteps approaching, "I must say," Jay's voice earns their attention, "I love watching my wife throw herself into another man's arms." Erin and Will chuckle as their hug approaches its end.

With Will's other arm now free, he maneuvers the baby from his hip into a cradle hold. One hand is beneath her neck and head while the other is under her bottom. His fingers are spread as he supports her weight and holds her against his chest. The hand beneath her neck and head gradually slides along her back, sliding the infant's head along his forearm and resting comfortably in the crook of his arm and elbow. Will gazes into her eyes and brings her as close to his body as possible, gently rocking her, "I missed my favorite girl."

"And here I thought I was your favorite girl," Natalie announced, suddenly appearing beneath the threshold, "I need answers Will," she joked, feeling her heart warm up as she watches the baby stretch her hand up to touch against her uncle's face, "who's your real favorite girl?"

"Sorry Nat," Will replied, eyes focused on his niece's hazel gaze, "seven months ago my favorite girl status changed. I didn't want you to find out like this, but I have a new favorite girl."

"I suppose losing the title to a baby is understandable," she smirks, casually approaching her boyfriend and pressing a kiss against his cheek, "and I can't be too mad; my son is my favorite guy," she looks over at Erin and Jay smugly watching, "Do you guys need any help with anything?" She's back in serious mode, ready to offer her services wherever they're needed.

"I can help too."

The group turns to see Olive and Danny. The seven year old spots Owen and runs outside to play with him, leaving his mother in the kitchen. She approaches Haven and gleefully waves, however the seven month old eyes her uncertainly, her face unrecognizable, "Yeah," Erin speaks up as Will bounces the little girl in the direction of the back door, "Natalie, can you spread out the plastic table cloth on the backyard table? Olive, can you set up the music. It doesn't matter what station just make sure it's music we actually know." The two follow behind Will and disappear, leaving Erin to turn and face her husband, "Nice of you to join us," she jokes, approaching the fridge, "Take the hamburgers and hotdogs. I set up a table out there for the food. And the guys outside may need help setting up the grill. You bought that contraption and it has been an hour and they still haven't fired it up. We need to start cooking the food."

"Aye," he salutes, grabbing the tray of hamburgers and hotdogs before departing to the backyard.

Erin pulls out the remainder of trays in the refrigerator –chicken and vegetable kabobs, corn on the cob, sliced watermelon and an American flag decorated cake. Each tray is sat on the countertop. And when Erin hears music playing from the backyard, she looks up to see Ruzek and Burgess entering through the front door, "Happy fourth," Kim greets, carrying a platter in her hands, "I brought themed cupcakes! My mother made them."

"Same to you both," she responds, handing Ruzek the tray of chicken and vegetable kabobs, "The hamburgers and hotdogs are already outside, waiting to go on the grill. Can you take these out with you? Jay may need your help starting up the grill. Everyone's out there already." He adjust his hands around the tray as he makes his way outside; the music sounds louder when the door opens but it muffles down once it's shut. Erin lifts the aluminum foil from the platter covering the cupcakes Burgess brought and she looks up to her friend with a smile, "Oh they look so yummy," she lays the foil back down, "I thought we agreed on one dessert," the tone of her voice comes out as a whine.

"My mother said you can never have too many desserts."

Erin's hand smacks her forehead, "Your mother is going to make me gain all of the baby weight back. For your birthday last month, your mother made four desserts. She talked me into eating a slice of everything Kim and everyone knows my willpower when it comes to dessert is weak."

"She suckered you into it?"

"She sure did," Erin chuckled, "I started getting involved in mommy and me workouts. On a few of my days off, I take the baby up to the community center and I learned a bunch of workout routines that involves using your baby as a weight."

"Speaking of baby," Kim glances around, "where's my favorite human?"

"She's outside, but I must warn you," Erin starts, earning her friend's undivided attention, "She's with her Uncle Will and you know he likes to hog her."

Kim stomps like a petulant child, "Why?"

"Jay and I don't mind; we appreciate the break."

"Can't you go out there and order him to pass over the baby?"

"Sorry Kimberly, but first come first serve," she pats her friend's shoulder and watches in amusement as Kim drags her feet towards the back door.

"That's okay. As long as she learns how to say Aunt Kim before Uncle Will then we're fine."

"You all are ridiculous."

Dawson and Mouse arrive next; both holding a case of beer. Erin walks around the center counter and hugs both of her friends. The trio wishes each other a happy independence day before Erin is able to start handing them platters, "Okay, Dawson take the tray of corn on the cob, Mouse you take the bowl of sliced watermelon and I have the American flag cake. Everyone's in the backyard," she lifts the cake, "and I'm right behind you." She sticks close and thanks Natalie when she opens the door from the outside. The red, plastic table cloth is spread over the table, music is lowly playing and the kids are running around in the backyard. Jay is at the grill with Ruzek, and it's finally fired up with them laying food down upon it, "Looks good boys," she compliments, setting the cake down onto the refreshments table. Dawson and Mouse follow suit and set the drinks and food down as well.

"Is there anything else that needs to come out?"

"Yes," Erin answers Natalie, "there's a tray of mimosas inside the fridge."

"I'm on it," the doctor disappears into the house.

Now outside and enjoying the fresh air and the warm breeze, Erin continues to take in her surroundings. She hears Danny and Owen laughing as they kick a soccer ball back and forth. Atwater, Voight, Olinsky and Dawson are sitting at the backyard patio table with Will, Burgess and Olive; Atwater is shuffling a deck of cards as he along with Hank, Al and Antonio prepare for a game of spades. Will is content; he's seated at the table with the baby sat carefully on his thigh, closer towards his knees. The seven month old is facing her uncle and his large hands are wrapped around her torso. His knees lift up and down, moving the baby along with them; she grins and giggles every time she bounces. Natalie reappears with the tray of mimosas and hands one to each guest, "Thanks," Will takes a hold of his while holding onto the baby with his opposite hand. He takes a sip before setting the glass down.

"Are you going to hold her all day?"

Erin smirks as she overhears Kim's complaint, "Burgess, be nice. With his odd work schedule, he doesn't get to see her often. Let her uncle have some time with her."

"Right Burgess," Will repeats, lifting the baby into the air, "let me have some time with her." The baby's laugh was like music to their ears as they listened in to Will blowing bubbles against her tummy; her head tossed back as she laughed loudly. Natalie's heart warmed at the sight of her boyfriend being silly and blowing bubbles into his niece's stomach.

Erin takes a seat in an empty chair, angled to watch the spades game and watch her husband on the grill. She's sipping her mimosa as she watches the two teams put down their bids. Hank is hiding his cards, untrusting of anyone within sight of his hand. Erin takes another sip of her mimosa when she sees the backdoor slide open to reveal Annie and Todd stepping out of her house. Lindsay stands, "You guys made it," she walks over to hug her friend, "everyone this is Annie, some of you have already met her, and this is her boyfriend Todd."

A chorus of greetings echo around them as they wave for Todd and Annie to join them at the table. Natalie hands the couple a mimosa and initiates conversation as if she has met them before today. Erin walks over to the grill –Kim following behind- as they approach their significant others. Lindsay's arms wrap around Jay's waist and she leans her head against his back muscles, "Did I ever tell you how hot you look in an apron?"

"You've never told me that before," he whispers, flipping a hamburger patty, "it's probably because you've never seen me wear an apron."

"We've been married seven years and I've never seen you wear an apron," she replies, pressing a kiss against the back of his shoulder, "that statement doesn't sound right. That needs to change. What else haven't I seen you wear?" In her peripheral, she notices Ruzek talking to his fiancé, running his hand through her brunette hair and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. She's blushing. She's giddy. Burgess can't even make eye contact with her because of it. Erin tightens her hold around her husband's waist, "Look at those two," once she sees her husband look over, she continues, "can you believe this time next year they're going to be married? I want to say about time, but I don't want to jinx anything."

The couple hears a high pitched laugh exclaimed and squealed from the baby lying on Will's lap. Her bare feet kick in the air as he tickles her tummy. Jay and Erin watch in pure delight; they see Will kiss against the baby's bare feet and occasionally gnaw upon her tiny fingers and it only makes her laugh even harder, distracting the men from their spades game, they join in on the chuckles. Jay sets the tongs down and turns to face his wife, "We made a baby."

Dimples pierce into her cheeks as she smiles, "We made an awesome babe," Erin crosses her arms, leans into her husband's chest and watches her brother-in-law press kisses against the bottom of Haven's feet, "She's so fucking perfect."

"She gets that from my side of the family."

Erin elbows his stomach, "That's up for debate." She watches as Will presses one last kiss against Haven's fingers before handing her over to Natalie; he mentioned something about the bathroom and within seconds disappeared into the house. Erin grabs her mimosa from the refreshments table and walks over to reclaim her seat beside Natalie. In her peripheral, she can see her daughter staring at her and when Erin turns to meet her eyes, an open-mouthed grin appears. The table is on the next game of spades, but Mouse and Todd played against the last winning team –Al and Hank. Natalie stands with the baby in her arms and angles herself to show Haven the boys kicking the soccer ball back and forth, "Be careful kicking that ball! You guys are kicking it pretty close over here."

"Sorry mom," Owen calls out, grabbing the soccer ball and moving it further away from where the adults are sitting. He sets the ball back down and resumes playing with Danny.

Erin watches the spades game and she occasionally laughs when fun and lighthearted insults are tossed back and forth between the two teams. She sips the last remaining drops of her mimosa before setting her glass down. Jay continues to notice Adam and Kim in his peripheral; he clears his throat and extends the tongs towards Ruzek and once his friend takes them, he heads on over to his wife. Tugging gently on her ponytail, tipping her head back so he could lean down and kiss her, her head is upside down but it doesn't stop him from pressing his lips against hers. He doesn't care about whose watching, who's around and who might see. All he cares about is her and this current moment, the moment that eventually gets ruined when Natalie walks back over and extends the seven month old towards his wife, "She needs a diaper change."

"Come here mama," Erin claps twice and opens her hands; Haven sees and instinctively opens her arms and leans forward to be picked up by her mother. When Lindsay disappears into the house with Haven, Jay takes her seat. His leg bent and crossed over the other as he nurses the beer bottle in his hand, "whose winning?"

"Voight and Olinsky," Mouse answers, throwing out a card, "I'm starting to think they're cheating. How could they beat Atwater and Dawson? And it looks like they're going to beat us."

"I want to play in the next game," Will announced, walking back outside, "me and Natalie against the team that wins." He returns to his seat and sits. As the food continues to cook, Adam and Kim return to the table, pulling up chairs where there is room to fit.

"And that's game," Voight cheers, high-fiving Olinsky as they successfully win the second match, "Alright, shuffle and serve us. I hope you and Natalie came prepared to lose."

"You're about to lose your streak," Will retorts, stacking the cards before shuffling them.

"I admire your confidence Will, but you may have a bit too much of it," Voight asserts, lifting his cards as they're dealt, "I would hate to see you disappointed when me and Al beat you."

The team laughs at the friendly rivalry spewing between the two teams. Everyone wanted Voight and Olinsky to lose –they had won enough games. Erin eventually reappeared a few minutes after the game had started. With her husband in her seat, Jay pulls her into his lap. The baby is cradled in her arms. The back of her head is rested in the crook of her mother's arm while her other hand rests upon the baby's bottom. Erin peers down into her daughter's hazel eyes as the baby's active hands toys with her mother's necklace. It was the necklace with Haven's name inscribed on it. Lindsay brings her lips to ghost over her daughter's forehead; she feels Jay's chin rest upon her shoulder as his arm circles her waist, "I'm surprised she's not being fussy," she leans back against his chest and adjusts herself on top of his lap, "She hasn't whined for a bottle, a nap, a teething ring or anything. She's being extra good today."

"That's my girl," Erin whispers, continually watching her daughter be distracted by the necklace her mother rarely took off. Even when they were apart, it kept her close.

Jay pats his wife's thigh in order to hint towards him needing to get up, "The food is probably just about ready; I need you to let me up."

Lindsay stands and allows for Jay to slide out of the seat. When she retakes her seat, Annie slides her chair over, "She has gotten so big since the last time I saw her."

"You saw her more than a month ago," Erin quipped, bouncing the baby in her arms, "babies grow in a day so you know in a month she's practically bigger than me now."

"I know," Annie sighs, smiling down at Haven, "with the new job, Travis and my relationship starting to get even more serious, it's hard to find time to stop by."

"You owe me no explanation."

"I missed her a lot though," Annie replies, watching as Erin sits the baby up on her lap; Haven is looking at Annie, an apparent shady expression on her face, "I don't think she's too eager to come to me," she opens her hands and extends them towards Haven. The seven month old's bottom lip trembles and she curls into her mother's chest. Erin's hand ran over the few strands of blonde hair on top of her daughter's head before pecking the side of her face; she looks up at Annie when her friend tries again, "Why doesn't she want to come to me?"

"She probably doesn't remember you," Erin answers, bouncing the baby on her lap, "It's no big deal. I read about this in one of the baby books. Stranger anxiety will pass, but I'm more worried about when she starts to experience separation anxiety," she lifts the baby up and sets her on her knee closest to Annie, "That's mommy's friend."

"Maybe I should just go for it and pick her up."

"Give it a try."

Annie mentally counts to three and quickly scoops the baby into her arms. Haven wasn't reciprocal of Annie's excitement; the distress was clear on her face even as Annie tried to distract and play with her. Haven barely recognizes her. She hasn't seen Annie in what felt like a long time in her mind. To Erin it was over a month, but to Haven it was over a significant portion of her life. She had only been in the world for seven months and in the first few months, her memory wasn't fully processed at the time. She was weary of strangers. And when Annie attempts to play with her, she starts to fret and extend her arms towards her mother, "Sorry Annie," Lindsay scoops her daughter back into her arms, "you tried. Maybe you can talk to her while she's in my lap so she can start warming up to you."

"I've changed your diapers Haven," Annie spoke as if she was talking to a peer, "I've bathed you, fed you and played with you and you don't even remember me," she leans forward to be eye level with the baby seated on Erin's lap.

"I read that babies start to recognize faces around this age," Erin informs, feeling the playful baby squirm on her mother's lap in boredom, "mommy's face is the first that babies usually remember and then daddy's face followed by the faces of people who regularly come around."

"Travis is really going to flip his shit when he finds out she won't recognize him," Annie cracks a smile and looks over to see Jay carrying the baby's play-mat out of the house. The game is over –Voight and Olinsky having won once again and Mouse is following behind Jay, leaving the house and holding a few of the baby's toys in his arms.

Jay spreads the play mat on top of the grass near the table and their feet. Away from the grill and the table of food, the play mat was a few feet away from the stone ground the table sat on and on top of the cushiony grass. The food was done. The food was set on the table. Everyone was lining up, grabbing their plates and plastic utensils before making their way down the table of food. Erin bounces the baby in her lap and smiles up at her husband when he sets a plate down in front of her, "You didn't have to make me a plate," her eyes met his and she sighed in gratification when he pressed his lips against her forehead, "Your hands are full at the moment."

Erin stands when her husband ventures over to the food table to make his plate. Her arm is wrapped around the baby's waist and she carries the baby towards her play-mat. The baby's back is pressed against the side of Erin's hip as she walks towards the mat. Lindsay scoops her other arm beneath the baby's legs and sets her down onto her bottom. At seven months, she's sitting up by herself and reaching for the closest toy. Erin walks back to the table, watching her friends observe her sitting up like a big girl. Danny and Owen take their plates from their moms and take seats beside Haven, their soccer game on pause to take time to eat. Voight takes a swig of his beer before taking a seat between Erin and Olive; he's watching the baby, "She's growing up so fast," he smirks, observing the seven month old fall to her back and bringing her feet to her mouth. They're all watching and smiling while Danny watches them –frowning. The adults turn back to their meals and resume eating.

"So Olive," Erin takes a bite of her burger with a wide grin on her face, "have you been seeing anyone? Do you have any special guys in your life? Or girls," she shrugs, "whichever works for you and whichever makes you happy."

Olive swallows a bite of her hotdog, "I've tried the whole dating thing, and I'm done with it."

"Why?" This sparks Annie's interest; the guys purposefully start a different conversation at the other end of the table.

"It's pointless."

"I was the same way until I met Todd."

"No one's like Justin; he was perfect."

Erin nods, reaching her hand out and squeezing Olive's fingers, "There's no such thing as a perfect guy Olive; some guys just suck less than others. Justin would want you to be happy. He would want you to move on."

"I have moved on. I'm just not moving on to a relationship."

"Wait," Kim's eyes stretch wider in excitement, "Are you sexually active?"

Olive rolls her eyes, "I'm not even active. I meant that I've gotten through his death and I was willing to move on, but no one is as great as him."

"I'm sorry sweetie," Natalie assures, rubbing Olive's back.

"He died seven years ago and I want to date but he was perfect, you know," she whispers and the women nod in empathy, "he was my husband and he was the best father. I keep trying to put myself out there and date, but these guys…they're horrible. And if they're attractive, they're even more horrible. Fuck attractive people."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point," Erin's response earns the raised brow from the men. She shrugs, unbothered by the expression on their faces.

As the conversation continues and the adults continue eating, Erin gazes towards her daughter. The boys were finishing up their meals in order to quickly get back to their game of soccer. Her daughter was distracted, no longer by her feet, but by her toys. She's sitting up, holding a rattle and passing it over to her other hand; she's completely amazed by the sight and the sound of her toy. Haven shakes the toy and lifts another toy with her free hand, suddenly banging the two bright toys together. Erin is watching, but she's listening in on her friends and when Atwater says something quite amusing, she laughs. And Haven hears the familiar sound, her head whips in the direction and she faces her mom, meeting her eyes and smiling. Erin returns the grin. The seven month old twists until she rolls to her tummy, pushing herself up to her hands and knees.

She's in a crawling position; she's on her hands and knees, rocking forwards and backwards in an attempt to prepare herself. Erin's voice catches in her throat. She isn't moving but she's out of breath. The baby's eyes remain on her mother, the sound of Erin's laugh still in her head and she wants her. She wants her mother. The toys are no longer of interest. Owen and Danny went back to playing soccer. Her palms are opened and spread out on the mat and she's rocking, mouth open and grinning as she lunges forward. Erin unfreezes, "Jay," she calls, standing from her seat, "Jay, the," she's at a loss for words and simply points at the baby. He notices and it quickly registers; he pulls his cell phone out and begins recording. His wife stands at the edge of the mat, stooping low with her arms wide open, "Come here," she coos, "Come to mommy." And with a little more effort and incentive, she begins to crawl. Her knees slide against the mat and her palms move forward until she reaches her hand out to set upon her mom's knee, "That's my girl!" Erin scoops her up and the adults at the table clap. Owen joins in, but Danny silently watches. His arms crossed over his chest as he tries to get Owen's attention, desperately and impatiently ready to resume their game.

"Haven Halstead," Jay calls out, scooping the baby out of his wife's arms, "stop growing up on me," he presses endless smooches against her chubby cheeks. She smiles. He carries her over to his seat and retakes it between Ruzek and Atwater. The two detectives lean over and squeeze the seven month's olds cheeks until she's smiling even harder. She loves the attention. Babies can never have too much of it. Jay stands Haven on his lap on her bare feet. When he holds her up, she bounces and he occasionally leans forward to peck her nose or her forehead or her cheek or wherever his lips landed. Haven laughs every time. She stares at her dad's face, taking in every recognizable feature while he talks to the other adults at the table. Haven continues to bounce up and down on her chubby legs until Owen runs over, "Hi Havie!" He's enthusiastic and he takes her little hand in his, but she's hesitant; the smile on her face gone as she stares at the stranger.

"Owen, do you have the ball?" Danny calls out, waiting patiently for his friend to pick up the ball he accidentally kicked toward the table, "Let's finish playing!"

"How come she's looking at me like that?"

Jay looks at Haven's face before looking over at the little boy, "She's just a bit weary around strangers. It's nothing personal. You know how you get shy when you're around people you don't know?" Owen nods to answer Halstead's question, "Well that's how she is too."

"Owen, the ball," Danny calls out once again, crossing his arms.

Owen runs over to grab the ball from beneath the table. When he stands, the soccer ball held in his hands, he notices the look on his mom's face. Natalie isn't happy. The frown drops though when she notices the innocent smile on his face, "Watch where you two kick the ball."

"Yes mom," he calls out, running back to the grass.

"And be careful, both of you," Olive shouts, watching Owen kick the ball hard towards Danny.

Will returns from throwing his plate in the trash, "I'm ready," he rubs his hands together, "I want my niece back. Being a doctor, I get as much time with her when I can."

"She knows your face; you get enough time with her," Annie argued, still bitterly upset about her attempt at holding Haven. Will still lifts the baby from his brother's arms and walks over to his sit –between Burgess and Natalie- and he sits the babbling baby on the edge of the table in front of him, his hands wrapped around her torso and holding her up protectively. Her words aren't recognizable but she's talking a lot. In her world, she has a lot to say; they're all curious about what the seven month old could be thinking and saying. What is she babbling about?

"Haven," Erin calls out and the seven month old looks at the recognition of her mother's voice; she turns her head and smiles. The sun beams above them, shining on her dirty blonde hair, the beauty mark on her face and the dimples now appearing. She's the perfect blend of her parents.

The baby bounces and flails her arms excitedly, earning chuckles from Will and Burgess as they watch. The remainder of the adults resumes conversation with Voight and Olinsky bragging about their spades winning streak. Haven continues to bounce, looking over at Kim with the brightest grin which she returns. Her arms flail and she reaches for the empty plate in front of Burgess. It's her queue to throw it in the trash. She quickly leaves the table to discard it, only to come back and see the baby reach and knock over her mimosa. Will hops to his feet, along with Natalie; he brings the baby against his chest as the liquid spreads over the side of the table and starts to drip onto the stone ground. Erin looks at her kid, "Havie," she notices the baby's attention is on Burgess and Natalie wiping the mimosa up with paper towels. Lindsay approaches, holding a paper towel and using it to wipe down her daughter's wet hands, "The last thing I need is for you to put your hands in your mouth and have a taste of mimosa," she smirks, taking an offered baby wipe from Jay to wipe at the baby's palms.

"I'm playing against Voight and Olinsky in spades," he calls out, carrying the baby back to her play mat; he sits her down and hands her the closest toy, "It's time their streak ends," he presses a kiss to the top of the baby's head before returning to the table.

The American flag cake sits in the center now, having been brought over by Mouse from the food table. The red strawberries, the blue blueberries and the white whipped cream gave the cake the appearance and design of the actual flag. Halstead cuts the cake as the cards are dealt to the players. He passes around slices of cake to those who request them before catching a glance of the kids' soccer game, "Hey," he calls out, handing the next slice to his wife, "be careful out there, and steer clear of the baby."

Natalie looks up from her cards, "Make sure you boys do not kick the ball in her direction!" The kids nod and resume kicking the ball with just as much force back and forth through the yard.

"Say goodbye to your winner status," Will exclaimed, smiling proudly at his cards, "Natalie and I are some of the best spades players. I'll have you know during the slow nights in the hospital, this is how we pass the time."

"You're talking a lot of trash Will," Voight whispers, organizing the cards in his hand.

"I'm just trying to make sure the blow isn't too hard when you lose. I'm preparing you."

Olinsky chuckles, "He's confident too."

Haven watches the white and black ball being kicked back and forth. She drops the toy in her hand and continues to stare; she's entertained. She sits with her arms in front of her body; her palms open and pressed against the mat to hold her upright. It suddenly becomes her lucky day when the soccer ball rolls towards her. It comes to a stop on top of the play mat. Haven rolls to her crawling position, and attempts to move towards it. Her bright hazel eyes shine as she reaches out; she's still too far away. She rocks forwards and backwards before finding it in herself to move onward and crawl. Danny runs towards the ball, "Haven, no," he says through gritted teeth, "No, Haven," he leans over and pulls the baby's hand away from the ball. She reaches for it again, but he pushes her hand away, "Stop," he pushes her away and spotting Owen across the yard, he impatiently and annoyingly swings his foot back and strikes the ball mustering up the strength and annoyance coursing through his body.

Danny watches the ball fly into the air towards Owen while hearing the ear piercing scream of the baby. When kicking the ball, the side of his shoe hand went across the side of the baby's face. Her cries are mixed with screams and wails. Danny's eyes grow wide; he panics. He watches everyone look as his aunt rises from her seat, running up to him and the baby. There's a small cut on the corner of her lip –it's bleeding. Erin extends her arms and the baby is ready; she stretches her arms out and up towards her mom, ready to be lifted. And when Erin scoops the baby into her arms, her screams grow louder. It's intense and ear-splitting. It's earth shattering. It's full of pain as a drop of blood appears at the corner of her lip. Erin doesn't even notice Jay at her side, his hand on the small of her back as she bounces the baby in her arms. She pulls her daughter closer to her chest, presses a comforting kiss to the top of her head before steering her focus towards Danny; his eyes are staring down at the ground and when he looks up to meet her orbs, she speaks, "What did you do?"

"I kicked the ball."

"And it hit my daughter's face?"

He quickly shakes his head, "No!" Danny pouts at the expression on his aunt's face; the sound of Haven crying still straining their ears. She's being bounced in Erin's arms as Jay rubs her back. He sniffs and looks over to see Owen in his mom's arms, "She crawled towards the ball and I kicked the ball and my shoe hit her face."

Erin takes a step back. She takes two to create a needed distance between her and her nephew. She still loved him, but right now she's blinded by emotion and she's not thinking clearly. The overprotective mother that she is was in overdrive; her motherly instincts to protect her daughter against any and everything that has or will harm her –including a seven year old kid- was kicking in. Lindsay feels her daughter's head snuggle into the crook of her neck and she's about to walk away to request for Natalie or Will to take a look at her, but it's Danny's voice and words that pull her to a halt, "I told her to stop and I told her no."

"She's a baby Danny," the struggle to remain calm is present in Lindsay's voice. Olive rises from her seat to ensure Erin didn't step out of line with her son.

"I know she's a baby."

Erin takes a deep breath, "…then you should have known telling her no and stop wouldn't have worked. You should have either picked up the ball to move it somewhere else for you to kick or you should have called me, Jay, your mom or any of the other adults sitting feet away."

"I'll be more careful next time," Danny asserts, waving Owen over.

"No more soccer today!" Erin cuts in; she shakes her head and watches Owen snuggle further into his mother's arms, "No more running around! No more being rough! No more being careless! No more hurting my baby! It's time for you two to sit down and chill for a second!"

"You can't do that!"

"I just did!"

"I hate you!" His words cut deep, "I hate you!" He shouts it again before running off. Voight goes after him. The card game is an afterthought; no one is in the mood to play anymore. Erin is too mad to go after him. She's too upset to comfort him. She wants to, she does, but she currently has a screaming baby in her arms. Erin turns away from the running figures of Voight and Danny and walks towards her house; Natalie leaves her son to follow her into the house.

Halstead spots Voight catching up to Danny and tugging on his hand; the two of them going for a walk around the neighborhood so the little boy can cool off. Jay's arms are crossed over his t-shirt and when he turns to head back towards his house, he runs into Olive standing right in front of him, "I hope both of you are happy!"

"We're not doing this," his face is stoic, it's expressionless. It's scary. To not know what he is thinking or feeling and the fact that he has yet to say anything is scary. Olive doesn't notice. She's never seen him like this before and Will does want to warn her, but he's just as pissed. He pushes past Olive and she stumbles before grabbing his arm and using all of her weight to turn him around; a glare in her eyes, "My son is crying because of your wife."

"My daughter is crying because of your son."

"We both know that Danny didn't do that on purpose!"

"No one said he did," Jay argued, "just because it was an accident doesn't take away from the fact that my daughter was carried into the house bleeding and crying! Come on Olive," he says through gritted teeth, "cut her and I some slack! Everything she said needed to be said!"

"It could have been handled differently."

"How about you worry about your son and let me worry about my wife and daughter?"

She crosses her arms, "You're being ridiculous!"

"Olive, I am NOT about to stand out here and argue with you while my kid is in there crying!"

"Kids play rough! Kids get hurt!"

"I get that," he says through clenched teeth, wrapping his hands around her upper arms, "I really do, but," he slides his hands away from her and clasps them together, "she's seven months. She just started crawling. She's nowhere near walking. She didn't do that to herself. Haven didn't trip, she didn't fall and she didn't hit her head against something. That could have been avoided and nothing you can say can justify what happened."

"He's a little boy."

"I know which is why I didn't say anything to him. It's why I didn't go after him. It's why I didn't yell or threaten him. I know it was an accident; it was a mistake, but that doesn't magically make my baby feel better."

"Erin didn't have to talk to him like that."

"We can stand here and go back and forth because I'll always defend my wife or you can go after your son while I check up on my daughter." He doesn't give her the time to decide; he makes the decision for the both of them. Jay turns away from Olive and jogs towards his house, stepping inside with Will following behind.

Jay walks into the living room to find his wife sitting on the couch with Haven on her lap. Natalie is stooped down in front of them with the first aid kit opened beside her. Haven continues to cry and when Erin looks up to meet his eyes, he discovers her orbs are just as watery, drops of tears slowly rolling down her face, "How is she?" Jay finds himself nervous as he approaches, "Should we take her to the hospital?"

Natalie dabs at the drop of blood on the corner of the baby's mouth, "I checked her over. The brunt of the kick hit her mouth and not her head. She'll be fine," the doctor dabbed some ointment onto the corner of the baby's mouth as Haven continued to scream, "Just look out for any swelling, trouble breathing or vomiting; if she has any of the three bring her in. Will," she looks over at her boyfriend, "can you put some ice in a washcloth please." He nods and disappears.

Erin uses the back of her hand to wipe her eyes, "She won't stop crying."

"She's just scared. It's completely normal," Natalie informs, closing the first aid kit, "She's irritable and I'm pretty sure her mouth hurts. She doesn't understand the pain and she'll continue to cry on and off until it subsides. Thanks," she takes a hold of the washcloth filled with ice and dabs the corner of the baby's mouth; she wails louder, "I know this hurts sweetie; I'm sorry," Haven's cries start to subdue; she's hiccupping and sniffing, "You're being such a big girl now. Hold this Erin," Lindsay's hand takes a hold of the washcloth held against her daughter's lip as Natalie stands, "It stopped bleeding so we know it's not deep."

Erin uses her free hand and runs it through the few strands of her baby's dirty blonde hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead. Natalie disappears out of the house to check on her son. Halstead takes a seat next to his wife, rubbing his hand over her back; he spots Will, eyeing the baby and taking in the sight of her red lip; he's examining her himself to ensure Natalie didn't over look anything. When he steps back and nods, he knows she'll be okay. Will turns to head back out until he hears Jay call out his name, "Do you mind taking the baby's high chair out with you? She's probably getting hungry." Will does as requested without any complaints. Once Will disappears, Haven starts crying again; the back of her hands rub against her eyes and she leans her head back against her mother's chest, wailing loudly and burying her head into the fabric of her mother's shirt. She's seeking comfort and when her mother readjusts the cold washcloth against her lip, she starts calming down.

Jay stoops down in front of his wife; his hands set upon her thighs and he runs his palms over them. Erin's lips are lingering against the top of their daughter's head and he watches a tear drop fall from his wife's face and land upon their daughter's onesie. Jay leans forward and presses a kiss against the center of the seven month old's head, calming her down; he draws back and looks up at his wife, "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

He grips his wife's chin and focuses her head in his direction, "I'm going to ask again. This time give me an answer with a little less bullshit," his eyes met hers as he repeats, "How are you?"

"Why is it so difficult to keep a seven month old baby safe?" She rhetorically asks; her voice is fragile as the baby continues to squirm against her mom's chest, "I thought the problem was going to be keeping her from accidentally killing herself by sticking her finger in a socket or drinking house cleaning products; I didn't think the problem would be other people."

"He's your nephew Erin," Burgess appeared, "And he's seven and he's sorry." Jay rolls his eyes in irritation at Kim's sudden arrival. He drops his hands from his wife's lap.

Lindsay looks over her shoulder to meet her friend's gaze, "I know and that's why I'm not out there wringing his neck. That would be the worst thing."

"Yeah, let's steer clear of threatening and harming seven year olds," Kim snorts.

"And Olive would hate me."

"She sure would; just like you would hate it if someone wringed your daughter's neck."

"Whose side are you on here?"

Burgess walks further into the living room, "I'm on Haven's side." She takes a seat beside her friend and scoots in closer to look over the baby. She's no doctor but she wanted to look to assure herself that she was fine.

"I can't argue with that," Erin shifts in her seat and adjusts the washcloth against the baby's lip, "Now, isn't this the part where you're supposed to give me some advice?"

"Probably," Kim shrugs, scratching at the tip of her nose, "all I can say though is move on. This isn't the first time she got hurt and it won't be the last."

Halstead holds his hands out for the baby and her tear stricken eyes brighten up as she leans into her dad's open arms. Erin doesn't have the heart to put her daughter down. She doesn't have it in her to release the baby but she knows that Jay needs her just as much as she does. Against every fiber in her being, she lets the baby go and watches as her husband scoops the little girl up, pressing his lips against the side of the baby's head as he wraps his arms around her. Lindsay bends her legs and brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and leaning her forehead onto her knees, "Seeing your child go through pain," she whispers to Burgess, "is one of the most heartbreaking things to see as a parent," she looks up and runs her hands down her face, "I saw the blood on her lip and all I saw was red. I didn't mean to upset him, but she's a baby Kim and she's not just any baby, she's my baby."

Jay is rubbing circles into Haven's back; the washcloth no longer on her mouth since the ice within it had melted. He's whispering sweet words into her ear, words that the baby doesn't understand, but it doesn't stop her from sniffing and hiccupping as a few tears streamed down her face. Erin pouts at the sight of a scratch against the corner of her daughter's mouth and the start of a light bruise forming along her jawline; her breath hitches in her throat as she stares, "Oh gosh," Erin bellows, slapping her hand against her forehead, "Jay, people are going to think we're abusing our baby! They're going to think we're beating her!"

"No they're not. If it were me, I wouldn't sweat the small stuff," Kim rebuffs.

Her head quickly turns in her friend's direction, "Look at her fucking mouth Kimberly," Erin's hand swings in the direction of the whining baby, "She can't walk. People are going to know that she didn't fall and hit her mouth on something. Oh gosh," she runs her hand down her face, "I'm such a bad mom! What mother can honestly say that their baby had been kicked in the fucking face? My kid is seven months and in her first year of life she survived a serial killer, was locked in a hot car and was kicked in the mouth by a seven year old!"

"It'll just give you a bunch of stories to tell her when she's older," Kim offered, providing her with the bright side, "imagine the badass stories you can tell her about what she's overcome. And I know you're upset, but you have to remember it was an accident. He didn't mean to kick her. She was just in the way when everything happened and it all happened so fast."

Erin nods, sliding her thumbs beneath her eyes, "Jay, what do you think?"

When his wife calls his name, he doesn't respond. His nose is pressed against the top of his baby's head as he calmly and peacefully breathes in her scent. That fresh baby smell was soothing. He wanted no part in the conversation; he just wanted to hold onto Haven and never let go. Erin folds her arms over her bent knees, "Jay, what do you think?" She repeats her earlier question with a frustrated eye roll.

"I think it's no point in talking about this," he retorts; his cheek presses against the baby's cheek and she sighs in comfort and content, "I think Burgess doesn't understand," this earns Kim's attention, "I think it's easier for her to tell you what to do and how to feel because she's not in the situation. I think it's easy for her to comfort you and tell us what she thinks we want to hear because she's not in our shoes. However, no matter what she says or does, nothing has changed. Haven is still hurting and Kim's self-righteous comments aren't doing anything but pissing me the fuck off."

"Jay…" Erin whispers; she's borderline speechless. She looks from her husband and towards her best friend. Kim simply nods and stands from her seat with her arms crossed defensively across her chest, "I'm sorry. I thought I was helping you out here."

"You're helping us out by telling us to get over it, to move on minutes after my daughter got kicked! I get it if it's been days or weeks and we're still holding a grudge but come on Burgess, seriously, stop; it's been less than an hour and we have a right to be upset. Stop undermining our feelings!" He says through gritted teeth; his daughter finally rests her head in the crook of his neck and he lowers his voice even more, "You keep saying if it were you, if you were the parent, but you're not," he rises to his feet, balancing the baby in his arms, "I know Erin is all like you have Haven and she's your pseudo-daughter, but she's not," Kim and Erin's mouths are agape, "She's not your daughter. She's not your kid. You don't have any so don't act like you do when trying to channel maternal advice that you don't possess." He bounces the baby in his arm and Erin remains frozen in her seat on the couch, "We know it was an accident. We never said it wasn't. And I know we'll eventually get over it, but she's a baby Burgess. She didn't know any better. And for you to say she was in the way makes it sound like it was her fault, but it's not. She was sitting on her mat. She was playing with her toys. THAT BALL was KICKED and it LANDED near her! It landed on HER mat! She had every right to be there."

"I know, but I was just saying because she crawled towards the ball," Burgess calmly attempted to defend her earlier comment.

"She's seven months old! She doesn't know any better! If a toy is kicked and it lands near a kid, what baby wouldn't crawl towards it? She can barely crawl so we know it didn't land far away from her! I'm not mad at Danny. My heart goes out to the kid because he probably feels bad. I'm mad at people like you and Olive trying to tell me and my wife how we should react, what we should say and what we should do like it was your fucking daughter that was kicked!" He storms off, holding the baby protectively in his arms. Her eyes watch her mom and Kim as she is carried further and further away. Erin looks up to meet the eyes of her best friend; Kim is in shock, she had never been spoken to like that from Jay.

Lindsay drops her legs from the couch and she pushes up off the cushions to stand. She approaches Burgess and places a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He didn't mean it."

"Yes he did and that's okay because he's right."

She wraps her hands around Kim's upper arms and holds her friend tight, "Haven's your baby."

"That's sweet of you to say," Kim whispers, wrapping her arms around her friend, "but it's not the same and that's why he's right. I can bring her presents, spend time with her, love her, feed her and change her diapers but you'll always be her mom."

"That's true but you're her family too."

"You gave birth to her," Burgess sighs, holding Erin in a tight hug, "You carried her for nine months and gave birth. I'll never know what that's like."

"Between you and me, it's no walk in the park." The two pull out of the hug.

"It's worth it though, right?"

Erin nods, "Yeah. I'm sorry for what Jay said. You might agree with it but it doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I've come to terms with it."

Erin quirks a brow, "Have you?"

"I can't get pregnant, I don't want to go through the strenuous process of adoption and I can't afford a surrogate," she mumbles until a light shines in her eye, "unless you-"

She doesn't finish. Erin immediately shakes her head, "As much as I love you and wish I could, I don't have it in me. That's one of the reasons why I only want one kid."

"I understand," Burgess clears her throat and nods, "It was just a thought. And besides, Ruzek is adamant that he doesn't want any children. He says we can get out kid fix through Haven."

"She can never have too much love."

Kim nods, "I'm counting on it." The two begin walking towards the back door, "I'm also counting on the times when she's a teenager and you and Jay get on her nerves so she calls her favorite aunt –me- to spend the night at my house to escape you two."

"That's only if we say yes," Erin reminds, opening the back door, "let's not forget, mama and daddy have the final say in all of that."

"Don't hinder me from being the cool aunt."

Erin chuckles loudly as they depart the house. Her eyes are still red and moist from her earlier tears, but a smile has taken over her expression. The highchair is set up near Jay's seat and he's struggling to put the baby inside. Every time he sits her down, she starts to cry until he picks her back up. An unopened jar of baby food –mashed squash- sits on the table, waiting to be opened and fed to the hungry infant. Lindsay and Burgess walks over and Jay's eyes follow them as they approach, "I'm sorry Burgess," he whispers, attempting to sit the baby back in her highchair, "You didn't deserve that and I apologize."

Once again when he sits her inside, she starts to cry. She's in no mood to be alone. She wants to be held and comforted. You can't spoil a baby. You can never give a baby too much love and attention. With the small bruise forming at the corner of her mouth, a light scratch embedded along her bottom lip and the evident pout forming on her lips, he couldn't deny her. Once he would sit her down, she would fret and extend her arms until he picked her back up, "I'm just going to hold her. I don't think she's hungry right now."

"Yeah, the baby just wants some love right now," Natalie chimed in.

Erin and Kim retake their seats just as Voight walks over with Olive and Danny. The seven year old avoids eye contact with his aunt; he attempts to run over to Owen, but Lindsay grabs his wrist, gently tugging him over towards her, "I'm sorry buddy. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"You hurt my feelings," he whined, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm sorry for kicking her, but you didn't have to yell at me."

"And I'm sorry for that."

He nods his head, "She always gets me in trouble," he stomps his feet, "And you brought her to the batting cage when I said I just wanted you, mom and grandpa to come."

"I'm sorry Danny," she tugs her nephew closer and pulls him into a hug, "I was going to leave her with Jay but he got called in to work. I didn't have anyone to watch her."

"You could have left her."

Erin smirks, "She was four months old buddy."

"We don't have fun when she's around."

"We had fun today, didn't we?"

"Yeah," he whispers, glancing over when he hears the baby start to cry again, "but she ruined it."

Erin pulls out of the hug, "How about we start over?"

"How can we do that?"

"I apologized to you," she says, running her hand through his short, brown hair, "how about you apologize to Haven? And then we can try to forget this whole thing happened."

Danny nods; his mother proudly smiles as she watches him approach the baby crying on Jay's lap. He pats the top of her head, "I'm sorry Haven," he leans forward and presses a kiss against her cheek. She starts crying even harder. The ache in her cheek sends waves of pain through her face. He jumps back, looking over his shoulder to meet his aunt's eyes, "I don't think she likes me anymore. She cried louder when I gave her a kiss."

"She's just sad," Jay responds, lifting the baby's hand to press a kiss against her palm, "and she's a little sore. She's a bit cranky too."

"I'm sad and cranky too," Danny reminds, walking over to grab his soccer ball from beneath his grandfather's seat, "It's not always about Haven."

Olive waves him over, "We know, but you have to remember that your cousin is a baby and baby's crave lots of attention."

"It's not fair though," he remarked, pouting when his mother takes the ball from him, "and since she came, it has always been about her."

"Be nice," Olive warned.

He took his ball back from his mother, "I only got in trouble because she was in the way; it's her fault. It's always her fault," he kicks the ball across the yard, "I wish she wasn't here."

"That's enough of that," Olive reprimanded, avoiding the looks from Erin and Jay. She focused in on her son in an effort to evade their gaze. Danny doesn't say anything else; he silently runs off to grab his soccer ball to play by himself in the backyard. His attitude is obvious; he's jealous of Haven. He resents her. For seven years, he had been the only kid in the family and received as much attention as he wanted. Now, he'll be eight in a few months and there's a baby in the picture. Everyone loves babies; he can't compete with that. He's not a baby anymore. He doesn't get picked up and held. He no longer has the title of being the baby in the family; she stole that from him and he didn't like her for it.

Olive sighs, resting her elbows against the table and burying her head in her opened palms. She was a single mother. She was raising a son and she took it one day at a time. She's never done this before and she honestly had no idea what she was doing. Most people didn't know. Parents take it one day at a time and hope that they luck out and their kid becomes successful, productive members of society. Haven eventually calms and sniffling takes the place of her cries. Her eyes travel around in search of something or someone to focus on. She spots Kim dragging a chair up to her ready to dangle a toy in front of her face. In an attempt to cheer her up, she squeezes the toy and listens in as the doll begins to sing her alphabet. Haven's unimpressed though. She's not smiling at the toy or giggling at the noises it makes after finishing the alphabet. Kim decides to try another method, "Here," she extends the toy and Haven feels the impulse that pushes her to reach forward and grab it, "Yay," Kim claps excitedly.

A smile fails to reach Haven's face. She takes the toy and brings it over to her mouth. When she parts her lips, they quiver and she immediately closes it. Her bottom lip trembles and her misty eyes drop silent tears down her face. She drops the toy and Burgess picks it up, "Uh oh! Here you go," the toy is extended once more. Haven takes a hold of it and it slides between her fingers and falls to the ground, "Uh oh!" This pulls a slight smile onto Haven's face and once the toy is in her hold, she drops it again, "I know what you're doing," Kim laughs, earning a bigger smile from the baby, "I won't hand it back to you if you drop it again." And just like the last time, once the toy is clenched in Haven's hand she drops it with a chuckle.

Jay uses the smile and chuckle to his advantage as he quickly sets the baby in her highchair. Their friends look over and applaud the act and Haven for staying put as he locks her in the chair before reaching over to grab her baby food jar of mashed squash; it's one of her favorites. Erin takes one last look at her nephew; she knows he's acting out but it's not her job to do anything about it. He's not her son. There's a line between what she's allowed to say and do and what she isn't. She turns away from the kid when Owen runs back out to play with him. Erin walks over to tend to the kid that is hers, the one she has control over. When she watches her husband bring the spoon to their daughter's mouth, making airplane noises as he does, they both are shocked to find her mouth remain closed. For a seven month old, her mouth was practically always open. She was willing and ready to put everything in her mouth whether it was food or not. Jay tries to fly the spoon in again, hovering it inches away from her lips, "Come on ladybug," he pleads, "it's one of your favorites," and when she opens her mouth, he feeds her the spoonful and a whine immediately follows the bite. Halstead draws the spoon back quickly, looking over to his wife.

Natalie answers instead, "Her mouth is sore. It probably hurts when she eats," the doctor rises from her seat and approaches the baby, "it's possible she bit her tongue when she was kicked."

"Are her teeth okay?" Erin asks, crossing her arms as she moves closer.

"Her teeth look fine to me," Natalie responded, gently holding the baby's mouth open as she examines, "She did nip the side of her tongue a bit. It's nothing serious, but to her it probably feels like her world is ending. She's not going to eat anything until the pain dies down some."

Erin, Jay, Natalie and Kim go back to their seats and resume eating their slices of cake. Haven seems to be occupied, playing with the spoon her dad set down onto her highchair. She's distracted for a few seconds until she grows bored, throwing the spoon to the ground while whining. She's extra cranky. She's irritated and fussy. Erin looks over, debating on actually getting up to get her or leaving her to calm down on her own. She takes another bite of her cake when Annie's boyfriend –Todd- stands, "Since you're eating, I can get her," he offers, approaching the highchair, "Do you mind?"

Lindsay and Halstead look at each other before simultaneously answering, "…not at all."

Todd eagerly rubs his hands together before extending them towards the baby. She turns away, drawing back and crying louder. He grabs the toy she dropped earlier and extends it, attempting to find another way to get the little girl to trust him. She still pulls back, sniffing through her tears; he drops his arms, "She doesn't want to come." He sets the toy down onto her highchair as Annie walks over.

"Thanks for trying; you can just leave her in there for right now," Erin replies, hearing the cries of her daughter start to calm. Annie wants to give it another shot though; she finishes her cake, throws away the plate and crosses her fingers as she approaches the seven month old, "I can get her."

"Are you sure? You already tried getting her earlier today."

"…maybe she remembers me now?"

As Erin goes to throw away her plate, she keeps an eye on Annie who is currently attempting to figure out how she can pick Haven up without causing her to cry. However, Haven's stranger anxiety was obvious; it kicked in her fight or flight instincts as she began to protest erratically. Annie steps back; her feelings are hurt but she doesn't let it show, especially when Dawson comes to pick the baby up with ease. She gave no fuss; she actually quieted down the second she was in his arms. Erin squeezes Annie's shoulder, "It's nothing personal. Her pediatrician explained it to me and Jay. It's not separation anxiety; that's when she throws a fuss at being separated from me or her dad, it's called stranger anxiety. And when we took her to the doctor's, she had a new one because hers was out sick that day and when Dr. Webber went to pick her up, she started throwing a fit, crying, turning red and I was so embarrassed. I started apologizing and the doctor told me it's normal. The more she cried and screamed at him not to pick her up, the more he applauded her and said you go girl, protect and stick up for yourself. It's just her defense mechanism; it's all babies' defense mechanisms. After all, why should she trust you if she doesn't know you? Why should she give you the time of day? She's protecting herself."

Annie sighs, accepting Erin's explanation, "I need to visit more."

"Yeah, especially since she's starting to remember faces now."

Haven sits upon Dawson's lap, reaching for the jar of baby food on the table. She's hungry. He bounces her in his lap as Jay runs into the house to rinse off the spoon she dropped to the ground. As he's in the house, Dawson takes it upon himself to place the baby back inside her highchair; she doesn't fight it. She knows when she's in the chair that food is what follows next. When Jay returns, he steps back, grabbing his car keys out of his pocket, "I should be heading out," he sends a wave to everyone, "I'm supposed to be meeting up with Brett at the firehouse."

"Happy Independence Day," the group simultaneously calls out as he departs. Jay slides his seat closer to the highchair and tries once more to feed her; this time she opens her mouth and accepts the spoonful of mashed squash.

"Yay," Erin claps to acknowledge her daughter's good deeds. Haven grins and claps her hands in return before suddenly pouting when fed the next spoonful. It was told to the parents by the baby's pediatrician that she can start eating more baby food, but she must continue to drink breast milk or formula until her first birthday. The pout on her face is obvious; her bottom lip quivers as she tries to hold in her cry. Erin looks over to Natalie, "Poor baby. She can barely eat; her mouth must really hurt."

"Do you have any baby Advil mouth drops? That'll help with the pain."

"We actually do have some from a month ago when she had a fever," Erin states, switching spots with her husband as he offers to go grab the medicine, "It's in the cabinet in the upstairs bathroom." The baby's day had started off so good and cheerful; she's normally a happy baby, but with the pain shooting through the side of her mouth, it was hard for her to remain her bubbly self. When she grows even fussier, her mother stands to get her, lifting her and bringing her up to her chest to press a kiss against her forehead. It's the most she can do until the pain subsides.

Erin adjusts the baby against her; Haven's head rests gently against her mother's chest. Her legs are spread open and dangle as her mother's arms are wrapped around her bottom. She had cried so much that she was starting to get tired. Lindsay brushes her nose against the top of her daughter's head, enjoying that baby smell before pressing continuous kisses all over her daughter's face; it was comforting her. By the time Jay returns, she had quieted down. He followed the instructions and dropped one dose of Advil mouth drops into her mouth while his wife rocked her back and forth. This was probably the first time in seven months –the baby's whole life- that she didn't fight sleep. Lindsay begins rubbing calming circles into her daughter's back when she sees the soccer ball fly towards the table; Natalie stands abruptly, having been caught off guard by the ball landing near her, "No more kicking the ball around!" She orders, waving her son over, "We should be leaving anyway. We have to drop Owen off at his grandmother's house so they can go see the fireworks later. And Will and I have a late shift tonight."

"We should be heading out too," Annie speaks up, pulling her boyfriend to his feet, "I'm meeting his parents today so wish me luck." Choruses of good lucks are announced around the table.

Danny drags his feet over, obviously upset that his friend has to leave. He sees the baby sleeping peacefully in his aunt's arms and he pouts more. His mother is holding the soccer ball, ensuring that he can't get it back while his grandfather goes to cut himself another slice of cake. Natalie and Will wish everyone a happy Independence day before she walks over to Erin, running her hand over the baby's small fingers, "Call me or bring her in to Chicago Med if she starts vomiting or experiences any swelling. If she's still fussy after a day or two then bring her in just to be safe."

"Will do," Jay asserts, patting her back, "Thanks again." He waves Annie, Todd and the small family a farewell as they disappear from the back of the house. Lindsay walks over to the table and takes a seat between Danny and Atwater; she watches her nephew eye the soccer ball in his mom's hands and when he reaches for it, she moves it away, giving him a warning eye.

He frowns and crosses his arms over his chest, "This is all her fault," he glares at the sleeping baby.

"It's the not the baby's fault," Mouse replies, speaking up calmly to defend the little girl, "It's just the game is a little rough right now. You should try playing a different game."

His legs swing back and forth, "Owen's gone. I have no one to play with and I like soccer and baseball and my mom wouldn't let me bring my ball and bat." He doesn't remove his eyes from glaring into the side of the baby's head. Her uninjured cheek rests against her mother's shoulder as her quiet breaths keep her in a blissful state of slumber.

Olive looks over to meet Erin's eye; they're both thinking the same thing and noticing the angered expression on his face. He hops out of his seat and runs towards his grandfather, approaching to request for him to cut him a slice of cake. Once her son leaves, Olive shrugs it off, "It's just a phase. It went from being just Danny to him and Haven. He's used to having all the attention and now he has to share it," she smiles when the baby stirs but remains asleep, "He has to share it all. And she's seven months and she's absolutely adorable; that's hard to compete with."

"It's not a competition," Erin whispers.

"He's just jealous," Olive responded, setting the ball down near her feet, "He used to have all of your attention; Voight's too. Now he has to share it." The conversation ends when Voight approaches the table with Danny trailing behind, both holding plates of cake.

Voight pulls out his seat, "We should be heading to the carnival soon, especially if we want to catch a few rides and then get a good seat for the fireworks."

The guys and Olive helped clean up the backyard as Erin remained seated, rocking the sleeping baby in her arms. She watches Danny as he avoids looking at her. She didn't expect this from her nephew, maybe if he was Haven's older sibling he would, but not her nephew, not when he had a mother of his own to give him all the love and attention he desired. After the backyard is straightened up, Atwater heads out to meet up with his girlfriend; Olinsky goes to spend time with Lexi and Michelle while Mouse leaves to tend to other family arrangements.

Erin had gotten lucky; she didn't have to help with cleaning up since she's currently rocking the sleeping baby in her arms. It gave her a pass. Erin had risen from her seat, balancing the infant in her arms as she goes into the house. After buckling Haven into her car seat, she begins to pack her diaper bag. By the time she's finished, everyone's back in the house and ready to go. She lifts the handle and extends it to her husband, "Here you go."

As Jay takes a hold of the car seat, he watches Danny impatiently stand near the front door. He was bouncing up and down, absolutely too excited to go. However, the longer he waited, the more irritated he got at the fact that they weren't leaving yet. He runs over to his mom and starts tugging her hand; she chuckles at his excitement but mellows him down with her next comment, "Relax sweetie, we'll leave once Erin grabs an extra onesie for the baby." Danny releases her hand and a pout forms along his mouth; he tries to hide it but Olive can see through it. She wants to comfort him but she knows that he needs to learn everything isn't always about him and everything won't always go his way. He needs patience. And the pout and the attitude seem to last during the car ride to the carnival and even after they bought tickets.

Olive wasn't bothered by it so Erin and Voight didn't feel the need to acknowledge it. Lindsay has her hands wrapped around the handle of her daughter's stroller, pushing her through the stream of people. Occasionally they stop to get on rides, taking turns to stay with the baby as they do. Olive and Voight weren't fans of rollercoasters so anytime they passed one the two couples –Lindsay and Halstead and Burgess and Ruzek- hopped on. Danny was too short to ride which seemed to upset his mood even more. Erin and Jay high-five as they lead the way back towards their family, "I got through that rollercoaster without screaming," Her husband gave her a fist bump, "Kim cried like a baby."

Ruzek chuckled, "Nah, her reaction was worse than a baby."

"I'm going to remember that," Kim retorted, crossing her arms grumpily.

"Uh oh," Erin snickered, pulling out the baby's bottle and leaning into the stroller to feed her; she adjusts it in a way for Haven to be able to hold it up herself, "somebody's in trouble."

Adam wraps his arm around his fiancée's waist, "I'm not in trouble, am I?" He presses a kiss against the side of her cheek and when she doesn't respond, he nervously frowns, "Am I?"

"You're lucky I can take a joke," Burgess remarked; the smile on her face stretches wide and meets her eyes. She leans into him and presses a light kiss against the scruff of his facial hair.

"What's next?" Danny bounces over, scanning the park with his brown eyes.

Olive looks as well, "Good question sweetie; what should we do next?"

"That!" Danny exclaimed, pointing towards another ride. He grabs his mother's hand and begins dragging her towards the next ride while occasionally looking over his shoulder to check and see if his aunt and grandfather were following. Initially they were until Haven started getting fussy; his grandfather still came, but Erin went back to tend to her baby. It took away some of his joy; he had fun on the ride but not as much as he would have had if his aunt had joined them. He missed it being just them four –him, his mom, aunt and grandfather.

When they arrive back to Erin, Jay, Kim and Adam, they soon begin heading towards the next ride. Danny walked alongside his aunt as she pushed the stroller; his eyes fell towards the baby, lying inside, drinking her bottle and babbling to herself. It wasn't fair. He pouts even more. And when they approach the next ride, Erin is distractedly digging through her purse in search of her next ticket while Danny eases up to the stroller. He angrily reaches into the stroller and rips the bottle from Haven's mouth and drops it near her feet. She can't reach it. Her eyes are sad and there's a frown on her face. Danny feels slightly guilty and before he's able to give her back her bottle, she starts crying, alerting her parents to her discomfort. Erin leans into the stroller and grabs the baby's bottle, "Alright ladybug," she puts the bottle back in the baby's mouth and only lets go when Haven's small hands grip it, "There's no point in crying over spilled milk; you just dropped your bottle." There were only a few drops left, but once she finished it, Erin placed it back inside the diaper bag.

As they head towards the next ride that Danny points out, Erin spots a face painting artist beside the ride decorating the face of a little boy. When they arrive to the ride, Danny begins tugging his mother's hand towards the line; he eagerly awaits the rapid ride as his grandfather and Adam walk on over. His eyes fall to his aunt; she's taking Haven out of the stroller and approaching the face painter, "Aunt Erin," she looks over at her nephew, "aren't you coming?"

"I'll pass," she answers, watching the little boy in front of them run away with lion whiskers painted on his face, "Have fun," Danny pouts and nods, turning to stand in the short line. Jay is handed a catalog by the painter and both he and Erin look through it, "Let's steer clear of bunnies. I don't need the constant reminder of my mother painted out on her face."

Jay chuckles and points to a photo, "How about this?"

"A kitten," Erin whispered, grinning at the picture, "How adorable." She turns to the painter, "We would like this one for her." Lindsay takes a seat on the stool and positions the baby on her lap. It took longer than necessary, only because it was difficult to strategically paint a baby's face while she constantly moved and fidgeted on her mother's lap. Jay managed to keep her attention by standing behind the painter, holding up her favorite doll and speaking in an animated voice to bring her toy to life.

The painter finished her small face up with a few whiskers on her painted pink nose. As Jay paid, Erin turned her daughter around to face her; both feet on the lowest bar of the stool as her hands adjusted their grip around her daughter's torso. Erin leaned forward to peck the feline ear painted at the edge of her forehead, "I have to say Jay," she looked over at her husband, "I think I found the cutest cat. Can we keep her? Pretty please…"

He smirks, "You know what they say about cats; once you feed them, they're practically yours."

"Is that a yes?"

And the second he nods, Erin bounces off the chair, lifting her daughter into the air and earning a hearty chuckle from the seven month old. Her loud giggles are heard as Danny, Olive, Voight and Ruzek rejoin them. All oohing at the sight of the cute baby's painted face just as Erin puts her back inside the stroller. Before they set off towards the next ride, Jay hands the infant her toy doll and starts pushing the stroller just as the little girl begins gnawing upon her doll's hand.

The family approaches the next ride; it's one that Olive had been looking forward to getting on. She left her son's side, grabbed Burgess and Lindsay's hands before pulling them towards the short line. The men remained at the stroller, Jay and Adam sitting on the bench with Voight as Danny kicked rocks away from his feet. He looked over at the baby; the stroller is parked beside her father and Haven is in her own world. She's chewing upon the stuffed doll's head, gnawing against the fabric until it's soaked. She's not bothering anyone and she's entertaining herself. The baby's babbling and squealing happily until the doll is yanked from her; she looks up to meet her cousin's hard gaze and he throws the doll to the ground. Her bottom lip starts to quiver, she's on the verge of tears and before she's able to start screaming, her toy is handed back to her with a wide smile from Ruzek. Eventually he turns back to Jay and Voight to resume their conversation when he sees Danny in his peripheral; the seven year old is upset, arms crossed over his chest and as the baby begins laughing, kicking her legs in excitement and squeezing her stuffed doll's head, it's yanked from her again. And as he drops the toy to the ground again, Adam catches it, "Hey kid, quit it," he hands it back to Haven as Jay looks over.

"You're not my dad."

"Have you been doing that this whole time?"

"Leave me alone," Danny remarks, spotting his mother; he runs over to her with open arms and she greets him with a confusing hug. She had no idea where it came from. Olive pressed a kiss above his head before grabbing his hand and walking over to join the rest of their family and friends.

Jay meets Adam's eyes, questioning him silently over what happened. Adam simply shakes his head, deeming it unimportant to bring up. He would just keep an eye out on Danny. The seven year old seems to be acting out. Jay didn't argue with Ruzek's choice to remain silent. He knew if it were important then his closest friend would bring it up. Olive wraps her arm around her son's shoulders as they approach, "Danny wants to go to the petting zoo."

"That sounds like fun," Erin agreed, earning a bright smile from her nephew, "I bet Haven would loving seeing and petting some of the animals," the smile on his face disappears. He felt Ruzek's eyes on him but he ignored it by grabbing his mom and aunt's hands to tug them in the direction of the petting zoo. Jay is left pushing the stroller, occasionally looking down to see the baby babbling while sticking her feet in her mouth; the socks on her feet are no longer there, now they rest on the side of her stroller. Erin laughs as her nephew impatiently yanked them towards the fence, locked inside are goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits and donkeys. Danny was quick to approach the fence, bouncing in anticipation as he waits for the gatekeeper to unlock the fence, "You need someone with you that's 18 or older."

"I'm his mom," Olive approaches, squeezing her son's shoulders before they enter the area.

Erin has the baby on her hip; the infant's bare feet dangling as her painted face looks around, "Are you sure this is safe?" Her question is for the gatekeeper and he nods to answer her question, "Are you sure? I mean…I get the older kids can do it," she nods towards her nephew petting a goat, "but she's a baby. Are there no age restrictions? I know kids have to be with an adult, but is there a minimum age? What if an animal bites? Have they received the proper shots? And what if-"

"Erin!" Olive interrupts from inside the fence, "Stop acting like a first time mom and get in here!"

The gatekeeper unlocks the fence and allows the couple to enter with their young daughter; Jay throws his arm around his wife's shoulders as they walk inside, "We're such first time parents," he chuckles before pressing a light kiss to the top of his wife's head, "How about we start her off small? There are the bunnies…and instead of thinking of your mom, think of that cute, adorable photo of you when you were a little girl cuddling a bunny. That might be Haven in a few years."

Lindsay crouches low and sets the baby on her knees as Jay lifts a bunny and carries it over. He stoops down in front of his wife and baby and sets the bunny on his lap before petting it, "Look ladybug," he holds the small animal out towards her and her rough hand comes flying to grab it's fur.

"Be gentle," Erin chuckled, pulling her daughter's hand away; she holds Haven's hand and carefully brings it back to the rabbit, "nice and soft, see?" Haven babbles and Erin nods along as if she understands every sound and baby word gurgled. Haven is no longer entertained by the rabbit; she's staring at the goat walking behind her dad and out of excitement, she lifts her finger and points at it eating from another child's hand, Erin simply smiles and nods, "You want to see the goat."

"Are you going to let her feed it?" Kim asked, approaching Erin from behind. Haven heard the familiar voice and looked away from the goat to glance at Burgess. She was met with a smile that she returned.

"Last time we gave her food to feed an animal, she tried to eat it," Jay remarked, glancing around the animal enclosure for an animal that currently wasn't occupied. When he spotted a donkey at the far end of the enclosure, he leaves his wife's side to approach the animal, "Hey buddy," he pats the space between the donkey's ears, "Er, bring her over."

Erin straightens herself out; she stands with the baby's back pressed against her chest. One of her arms is around the infant's torso while the other is beneath her bottom as she carries her over. The donkey shook its head as it started to feel cornered, earning the attention of the gatekeeper, "Be cautious around him; he's a kicker," he unlocked the gate and allowed a few more people to enter.

"Why even bother having an aggressive donkey in here?," Erin mutters to her husband; the hand beneath the baby's bottom moves to pet the top of the animal's head, "This poor fellow probably wants to stretch his legs and run around. Instead he's stuck in here with kids poking him and pulling on his ears," she adds, watching how the other kids treat the animals. She's holding her daughter against her with one arm while the other continues to rub and gently scratch behind the donkey's ears.

Haven claps her hands as she watches enthusiastically as her parents and Kim pat the donkey while talking to it as if it could respond. The baby loved it. Erin began rubbing the hair beneath the goat's chin, "I bet that feels really good," she says, watching as the baby in her arm tries to reach out, "You want to pat the donkey too?" She guides her hand to the top of its head, "be very careful." With each pat, rough by the baby and gentle by the adults, the donkey started to calm; he was no longer on edge. Before they could even attempt to move on to the next animal, Danny was running over to them, "We're ready."

"You're bored already?" Erin asked, turning to face her nephew; the baby's hand was still roughly patting atop the donkey's head, "We've only seen two animals."

"I saw every animal in here already."

"…even the donkey?"

Danny shakes his head, "No, all the animals, except for the donkey. The gatekeeper says the donkey is a little wild and no one likes it because it looks weird."

"That's not nice."

The seven year old shrugs, "It keeps doing its mouth like that," he nods towards the donkey flashing its large teeth, "I don't like it. Anyway, we're ready to head over to the games." Erin looks up to see Olive waving them over and Danny excitedly takes a hold of Lindsay's free hand to start pulling her in the direction of the exit. She's looking back and forth between the exit and the donkey and when Haven's hand separated from the top of the donkey's head, she started crying.

Erin halted. She tugged her hand out of Danny's hold to use it to tend to her baby. She rocked her. The pacifier clipped to her onesie was used to try and silence her, but she spit it out. Erin pecked the side of her head. And she cried and whined, desperately missing her furry friend until Jay played a game –twice- and managed to win her a stuffed donkey. She couldn't tell the difference, at least that's what it seemed like when her eyes lit up with the same excitement they held when looking at the real donkey. Jay locks the wheels of the stroller as his wife sets the baby inside; she's occupied by squeezing and gnawing upon the stuffed donkey. The adults turn to watch Voight, Ruzek and Olive battle it out on the next game. Erin is leant against the wall, hand wrapped around the handle of the stroller as she cheers on Voight. Danny is unable to watch; he's upset. No one won him a toy. He peers into the stroller, meeting Haven's bright, hazel eyes and when she releases her stuffed donkey and extends her hands to him, he growls. He didn't want her hand. He didn't want her. He wanted her to leave him alone. And when his eyes meet hers once again, he sees the innocence and the happiness within them. Both hands are in the air, directed towards him as she waits patiently; Haven gives him a smile, dimples piercing her cheeks as she waits for him to play with her. He doesn't. When he sees his aunt release the handle of the stroller to clap her hands to celebrate Voight's win, he bends low and unlocks one of the wheels, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kim shouts, running over to the stroller before Danny had a chance to unlock the second wheel.

He quickly straightens up, "I…I didn't do anything."

"You were unlocking the wheels on her stroller!"

"No," he shakes his head to deny Kim's accusation, "I wasn't. I was just," he pouts before running over to his mom, throwing his arms around her hips to bury his face into her waist, "I didn't do anything."

Kim looks up to meet Erin's eyes, "I saw him. Check the wheels on her stroller."

Holding Kim's stare, Lindsay bends low to check the wheel –it was unlocked. She doesn't say anything. She's torn about what to do. She wants to react; Haven was her daughter but Danny was her nephew and he was just a kid. That wasn't an excuse though. You have to nip it in the bud right away before they get older and the behavior progresses. Erin decides to let Olive handle it; she turns to her sister-in-law and gives her an affirmative nod of the head, signifying that what Kim said was true. Before Olive could say anything, Ruzek approached, scratching the back of his head, "Earlier I caught him taking the baby's toy from her and throwing it on the ground."

With his arms still around his mother, he looked up; chin resting on her stomach, "No I didn't mommy!"

"Guys, he wouldn't lie," Olive whispered, calmly inserting herself into the conversation, "if Danny said he didn't do it, he didn't do it. He's seven years old. Seven year olds would never do something like that."

"If they're jealous, they would," Jay remarked, eyeing the little boy currently playing innocent, "What reason would Burgess and Ruzek have to lie? Your son already kicked my daughter in the mouth and-"

"That was an accident!" Olive defended, wrapping her own arms around Danny, "I don't know what reason your friends would have to lie, but I believe my son!"

Erin continues to remain silent; she finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place; Voight too. She knows that Jay will handle it and instead of focusing on what she should say, she focuses on her oblivious daughter currently entertained by the dressed up animated characters walking along the walkway. Jay scoops his daughter from his wife's arms and Erin snaps back into the conversation, "If you're going to accuse my son of something he didn't do, we'll just leave."

"Olive wait," Voight asserts, stepping forward, "let's just finish having a good time. Let's go catch another ride, play another game or do something." She's frustrated but she gives in. She nods. She allows Danny to pick the next one to cheer him up after hearing a bunch of adults 'accuse' him of intentionally harming his cousin. Danny grabs his mother's hand and his grandfather's hand before tugging them towards a ride he had been eyeing since they arrived at the games. Everyone followed, but no one else joined. Jay kept his daughter in his sight for the next few rides; he was completely unwilling to leave her unattended when Danny was around. It was when they approached their tenth ride of the day that they stopped for a bathroom break.

The seven year old remained outside with his mother, grandfather and Kim. Haven was back inside her stroller, giggling as Kim moved her stuffed donkey around. Voight heard her laughs and walked over, peering inside the stroller to tickle his granddaughter's waist; she laughed harder. Danny grunted, crossing his arms over his chest as he moved towards Voight, "Hey grandpa, I bet you can't beat me on that game over there," the grin on his face falters when he discovers Hank remained distracted by the chuckles of Haven. He only looked up for a split second, met Danny's eyes and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to the baby. It wasn't fair.

Danny crosses his arms over his chest and flops down beside Burgess on the bench. She's searching through her purse for her sunglasses as Voight and Olive glance at the carnival map in search of where the fireworks will be displayed. Danny still hears the baby squealing and chuckling. It isn't fair. How can she be happy when he's not? Danny stands and takes another look at the adults to ensure they were distracted, "Where are my damn sunglasses?" He hears Kim as she takes each item out of her purse.

"It's in that direction," Hank pointed behind him.

His mom shook her head, "No, it's over there. Look right here on the map." The seven year old uses the opportunity to reach into the stroller and pinch Haven's lower arm. He got away with it once; he can get away with it again…only this time, he didn't expect for his aunt, uncle and Ruzek to be leaving the restrooms and catching him in the act. They all saw. And as Haven starts crying, Erin picks up her speed and runs over; she still remains quiet, gently scooping her baby up and bouncing her in her arms. Erin's in shock. During the last time, she wanted to believe that maybe Kim had confused what she had saw; she wanted to give Danny the benefit of the doubt, but this time, she saw it with her own eyes. She maybe couldn't have seen her baby in the stroller, but she saw the look on Danny's face as he reached inside, did something and quickly pulled out in fear that he may get caught. She saw the look on his face and she heard the cry that followed whatever act he had just done. Erin spots Kim, looking up from her belongings to see Erin pressing a kiss to the center of her baby's forehead, "What happened?"

"What happened?" Olive repeated, walking over. Her son immediately wrapped his arms around her hips and latched on, burying his head into her stomach, "Sweetie, what happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," Jay interjects before allowing the kid another chance to lie, "your son made my kid cry and don't you dare try to deny it! I saw it! Erin saw it! Ruzek saw it!"

"I…I don't understand," Olive stutters, rubbing the top of her son's head; his arms remain wrapped tightly around her, "Danny wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't purposely hurt another person, a baby, Haven…he …he wouldn't do that. Erin," she looked over to meet her sister-in-law's eyes but Lindsay said nothing in response, "Hank," she looked at her father-in-law, "this is unbelievable."

"Mommy I didn't do it," his words were muffled as he whispered it into the fabric of her shirt, "I swear."

Jay bit against his bottom lip; the sound of his crying daughter only increasing his anger, "He did it."

"Listen to me Jay."

"No you listen to me," Halstead retorted, taking a step towards Olive only to be pulled back by Erin, "all day your son has been bullying my daughter. All fucking day Olive. No more. He kicked her in the face and because he keeps lying I don't know whether or not he did it on purpose. He snatched her toys. He unlocked the wheels on her stroller. He keeps trying to hurt her. And that's not okay. There's no justification for that. Your son is bigger and stronger and he's a bully," his eyes avert towards the little boy snuggling his face into his mother's waist and he kind of feels bad, but he's so angry that no other emotions are able to break through, "You either get your son to stop or you keep him away from my daughter because as long as I'm breathing if someone hurts her, they'll have me to answer to."

"What are you going to do Jay?" Olive argued, holding her arms around her son, "Curse out a seven year old? Are you going to hurt his feelings? If so, then that makes you a bully too."

Halstead rolls his eyes, "You're missing the point. My daughter can't talk and she can't walk. She has absolutely no way of defending herself; she can't run away when he starts picking on her and she can't come and tell me or her mother when he's bothering her. All she can do is cry. Look at her Olive," he asserts, pointing over his shoulder; he watches the woman's eyes fall towards his whining baby.

Olive eventually tears her eyes away and looks down to the top of her son's head. She takes both of her hands and runs it through his hair," Danny," she whispers softly, using her hand to gently grab his chin and urge him to look upwards, "Tell us what happened."

"You don't believe me?"

She sighs and leans forward to peck a kiss against his forehead, "I believe the truth and that's why I need you to tell me the truth. I won't get mad. I promise."

"Pinky promise?" He holds up his pinky and she wraps hers around it. Danny draws back and stares down at the ground, "I didn't kick her in the face on purpose, but I did knock her bottle and toy out of her hand and I pinched her," he looks ashamed and apologetic.

"Why would you do that?" Jay struggles to remain calm when posing his question.

"Everything is always about Haven."

"So you figured hurting her would make it less about her?" Danny shakes his head and Jay continues, "It can't always be about you Danny. And hurting someone to get what you want is wrong; it's not the way to do things. What did you expect to accomplish?"

"I don't know," he wipes his eyes. Danny backed away from his family; his mom reaches out for him but he managed to slip out of her grasp. He took off, while remaining in his mother's eye sight, he ran over to another bench. He throws his head into his lap and silently cries. Each adult watching from afar and Olive passes a glare over her shoulder in Jay's direction, he sighs, "I can go talk to him."

"He's my son," Olive says, holding her head up proudly, "I should talk to him." She takes a deep breath before walking towards him.

Jay's hands run slowly down his face as he releases a loud sigh; his eyes eventually avert over to his wife who had managed to calm the baby down. She's staring at him and he's unable to read her expression. It's intimidating. To not know what his wife was thinking was frightening; it may not have been his place to say anything to Danny but he couldn't help it. He saw red. And he just acted and spoke without thinking. Biting down onto his lip nervously, he steps towards his wife, cupping the side of her face with one hand before speaking, "I'm sorry Erin."

"Why are you apologizing?"

He runs his thumb over the smooth skin of her cheek, "…for what I said to your nephew."

"You don't have to apologize for that," she asserts, leaning into his warm palm, "It needed to be said."

"Maybe I should go talk to him."

She grabs his hand to stop him, "Let his mother handle it." They look over at Olive, sitting next to Danny with her arm around his shoulders. His face is buried into his mom's chest and she's trying to get understandable words out of him. She pecked the top of his dark hair and gently eased him out of her arms, "You know I always have your back, right?"

Danny sniffs, "If that's true, why are you taking their side? Why are you taking Haven's side?"

"I'm not on anyone's side," Olive corrected, pressing another kiss to the top of his head.

"You're on her side just like everyone else."

She sighed, "Daniel, there are no sides. I just want you to be honest with me. Tell me the truth so I can help. What are you feeling? Why don't you like your cousin?"

"I don't like sharing the attention," he spats, crossing his arms across his chest, "I liked being the only kid in the family. I want to go back to that."

"We can't always get what we want."

"Why?" He looks up at his mother with his big, brown eyes.

Olive pulls her son closer and two lean back on the bench, "…because life isn't like that. Life is unfair. And it's never too early to realize that we can't always have things our way," her head leans to rest on the top of his, "Haven is just a baby Danny; she hasn't done anything wrong."

After that response, he pulls away, sliding to the end of the bench and away from his mother. He shakes his head, denying his mother's words. Danny begins sniffing again and when his mother moves closer, he turns to look at her, "She has two parents. She has a big family. I don't have that," he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, "She's stealing you, Aunt Erin, Uncle Jay and grandpa away from me."

"I'm your mother," Olive asserts, gripping her son's chin to force him to look her way, "I'll always be your mother and I'll always love you. I'll support you and I'll be there for you. You're the most important person to me and you're the number one person in my life." She can see her son prepared to respond, but Olive shakes her head to stop him; she wanted to finish talking first, "Voight will never forget about you; he holds one of the biggest parts in his heart for you Danny."

"What about Aunt Erin and Uncle Jay?"

"Erin and Jay are Haven's parents. She's first for them like you're first for me," she carefully explains, easing her hand away from his chin, "That doesn't mean they don't love you. There's enough love to go around. You need to just remember that your aunt and uncle as Haven's parents will always protect her and when she is hurt or is about to be hurt, emotions come and we say things we don't mean to say."

"We get mad and we say things we don't mean?"

Olive nods to answer his question, "Think about earlier today; you said you hate your Aunt Erin, is that true? Did you mean what you said?"

"No," he shakes his head, "I was mad."

"And are you feeling better now?"

"No, not really. I just feel like I don't fit anymore. I used to be the only kid and I was the baby and now I'm neither. I'm just there."

"You're the oldest," Olive informs, taking a hold of her son's hand, "and that means that you'll be able to do so much stuff before she can. She can't play soccer or baseball. She can't eat table food. She doesn't have any friends like you do. She's not in school. She can't dress herself. She can't do a lot of things that you can," her hand squeezes his tenderly, "And Danny, you're her big cousin. You're her protector."

This intrigues him, "I am?"

"And as her big cousin, you're supposed to make sure no one pick's on her, no one is mean to her and no one hurts her. And if you do that, she's going to grow up looking up to you; you'll be her hero, but if you keep treating her the way you are doing now then she'll grow up hating you; she won't like you at all. Do you want Haven to hate you?"

"No, I want to be her hero."

"Heroes know when they do wrong."

He bows his head, "And I did wrong."

"You did," Olive nods.

"I'm sorry."

Olive stands and pulls him to his feet, "I'm not the one you should apologize to." She takes a hold of his hand and they walk over together. Voight and Burgess had disappeared to the restroom while Ruzek was sitting at the bench eating cotton candy. Danny feels confident enough to approach but the second his mom lets go of his hand he loses the confidence. He lowers his head and drags his feet towards his aunt.

Erin notices him; her arms around the bottom of her baby and she tightens her hold. Her eyes struggle to withhold the emotion begging to shine through. He looks apologetic and she feels for him, but when he reaches his hand to touch the baby, she found herself turning the baby away. It was instinct. It was unplanned. All she knew was Danny's hand was coming to touch the baby and she pulled the infant away.

"He came to apologize," Olive spoke up after noticing the look cross her son's expression.

Lindsay hated herself for this, but it needed to be said, "Danny apologized at the house already and this still happened." Her eyes are full of emotion and she found herself unable to deny Danny any further. She had a soft spot in her heart with his name written over it. Erin hands Jay the baby before turning back to her nephew, "Be honest with me Danny, okay?" he nods and she continues, "I promise I won't ask anymore after this. When you kicked Haven, did you do that on purpose?"

"No, I promise."

"I believe you."

"I just wanted you to notice me again," His large brown eyes look up to hers and he smiles when she sets her hand upon his shoulder, "I feel like ever since she came, you stopped noticing me."

Lindsay stoops low and draws her nephew into her arms, "Danny, I am so sorry. I'm sorry sweetheart," her hand pressed against the back of his brown hair as she pecked his cheek, "I never wanted you to feel like I stopped noticing you. I would never do that. You're my nephew; my only nephew and I love you and no matter who comes into my life that will never change." His arms immediately circle around her and he buries his face in her hair, "Danny if you ever have a problem with anything I do, tell me. I can't read minds. I won't know what's bothering you unless you say something. Don't suffer in silence. Okay?"

He nods, "Okay."

"Promise me?"

"I promise."

Erin draws back, setting her hands against the sides of his face, "I love you," she pressed a kiss against his forehead, "I love you a lot."

"I love you too," he replies, before turning to face the baby in Jay's arms; he steps forward and hesitantly extends his hand, "Do you think she'll forgive me?" Haven leans towards Danny's offered hand, thinking the little boy wanted to pick her up.

"It seems she already has," Erin observed her nephew leaning forward to hug the baby in Jay's arms; her eyes avert over to Olive and a quiet conversation plays between the two, apologies are silently shared and they avert their eyes back to Danny as he tells the baby, "I promise to be your protector. I'll be your superhero Haven."

"Her superhero?" Jay smiles, peering down at the two kids' interaction.

"Yeah, kind of like you and grandpa are my superheroes, I'll be hers."

Olive and Erin smile again. They watch as the seven year old leans forward and press a kiss against the baby's nose. Haven giggles, she seems to be enjoying it; she has no recollection of anything that he did. He holds her hand and moves it around, bringing it up and down and side to side in a playful manner until Kim steps in, "Guys, I hate to ruin this nice moment, but we should be heading over. We want to get a good seat for the fireworks show, don't we?"

Danny releases the baby's hand and begins jumping up and down, excitement and energy coursing through his seven year old body as he begins clapping his hands, "Yay," he's hopping up and down, earning giggles from the baby, "wait until you see the pretty fireworks Havie, you're going to love them!"

The seven year old skips ahead of them, leading the way towards the open, green-space. He's eager and excited, excusing himself through the crowd of people as he looks for the perfect seat. When he sees an opening, he waves his family over before running towards it. Olive speeds up to keep him in her line of sight, "I swear he has enough energy for all of us." Erin's straggling behind, pushing the empty stroller through the grass as her husband walks ahead, holding the alert baby in his arms. She's looking back and forth, watching kids play and adults chat; she stares at the people whose body is painted in red, white and blue shouting out their love for their country and chanting USA. Haven looks up to meet her dad's eyes and points, "USA Haven!" The baby giggles.

Erin locks the stroller's wheels before grabbing the folded blanket in the compartment beneath the stroller. She spreads out their blanket as Ruzek and Burgess does the same. Danny had already spread out their blanket before Erin even arrived to their spot. The seven year old's shoes were off and he was sitting on his mom's lap, looking at the patriotic Americans entertaining the crowd. Jay remains standing, angling Haven in his arms to give her a better view of the scenery; she's clapping her hands as people dance around to pass time until the fireworks show starts. Wrapping her arms around Jay, Erin leans her head against the back of his shoulder, "Should we get comfortable on our blanket?"

Jay nods and follows the lead of everyone else by kicking off his shoes and walking onto the spread out, maroon colored blanket. He takes a seat, legs open with his wife sitting in the center; she's leant back against his chest and his arms are around hers. Their daughter sits to their left, distracted from the entertainment around her by the appeal of her bare feet; she lifts one up and rolls onto her back, sticking her little toes into her mouth.

Burgess and Ruzek are in their own world, cuddled up on their blanket with her head resting on his chest and his hand running up and down her arm. Occasionally, he looks down at her and presses the softest kiss against her forehead. Voight, Danny and Olive rest on another blanket; Danny is sitting on his knees, Olive's legs are crisscrossed and Voight is lying on his back with his fingers intertwined over his stomach. Under his head is his backpack providing a cushion for his head to rest on, "The sun is almost completely set," he commented, earning an excited bounce from his grandson, "The fireworks show is going to start once it's dark out."

Jay's hand runs casually through his wife's hair as they watch their distracted daughter roll from her back onto her stomach. She lifts her head and pushes herself up onto her knees, "Go baby go," Erin cheered, clapping her hands, "Go baby go!" Haven rocks back and forth on her hands and knees, mouth agape and hazel eyes wide open and scanning her surroundings. The baby lunges forward and lands on her face; she's not hurt, she lifts her head and gets back into the crawling position and manages to move the few feet towards her mom. Haven lifts one hand and sets it onto her mom's thigh, "Hi baby," Erin lifts the baby up and pulls her towards her chest. Pressing her lips against the crook of her daughter's neck, she laughs when Haven giggles and extends her hand behind herself to touch her mother's face, "You have no idea what you're in store for tonight little girl," Erin whispers, wrapping both her arms around the seven month old.

The announcement is made once the sun finally sets. A few streetlights illuminate the pathway and the faces of the observers, sitting patiently for the show to begin. Erin and Jay sit up straight and separate; she places the little girl –with the painted kitten face- up between her and her husband. She sits like a big girl; hands holding her feet as she looks around. That's when the first firework shoots into the dark sky and emits a loud boom as it sparks and breaks into a fiery red, white and blue bloom amongst the stars. It's a beautiful sight; it's one that could have been appreciated more if the sound of fireworks shooting into the sky didn't startle the baby. The baby's cries are deafening and she turns to crawl onto her mother's lap for comfort, "it's okay lady bug," she coos, drawing her daughter into her arms, "look at the pretty lights."

Danny notices and crawls over, "What's wrong with her?" He rubs his cousin's back.

"I think she's a bit scared."

Fireworks continue to explode in the sky, vivid and bright colors and shapes appear overhead as the patriotic colors ignite the dark sky. Danny crawls to sit beside his aunt and extends his hands towards his cousin, "Can I hold her?"

"Sit up a little," she directs, carefully placing the whining baby in her nephew's lap, "put your arms around her like this," Lindsay directs his short arms around Haven's waist, "Perfect." Danny's mouth falls to Haven's ear, whispering words that are unknown to everyone around them. The baby continues to cry until she stops; Danny's pointing up at the fireworks and then holds her hands to force her to clap. She sniffs and laughs and continues to clap her hands, now mimicking Danny doing it, "Yay!" He cheered, "I did it. I got her to stop crying."

"You're like a baby whisperer."

Danny nods and adds, "And I'm her big cousin."

"That's right." Erin looks over her shoulder, meeting her husband's gaze. He opens his arm and she slides back, curling into him and snuggling her face against his shoulder. She's unable to see Danny and Haven, but they're lined up perfectly in Jay's vision. Haven is settled. She just needed the comfort and the love of a child. The stream of red, white and blue lights cut through the black sky, earning gasps, oohs and aahs from those observing the show. There's never a dull moment; once the fireworks start to fizzle out, a new set are shot into the air, bursting into other unexpected assortments of colors like green, yellow and pink. Each one draws a pattern –some recognizable and some not- but regardless, they are beautiful and unique.

Erin cuddles further into her husband's arms; her wide eyes watch the fireworks above them and the only reason she turns away is because she feels her husband's hand softly grasp her chin to urge her to look at him. He says nothing, just stares, and she takes it upon herself to speak, "I can't think straight when you look at me like that," she brings her hand up to cup his face; fireworks completely forgotten as she gazes into his eyes, "If you keep looking at me like that-" she doesn't get a chance to finish when his lips connect with hers. His teeth gently bite down onto her bottom lip, tugging onto it as their action is masked by the darkness. He tugs his teeth onto her bottom lip more aggressively until she emits a moan, and fortunately for them it was covered up by the sound of the loud fireworks above them. Everyone's distracted by the decorated lights, sparkling high above them and illuminating the darkened sky. Erin's hand comes to caress the side of his face, "We're in public," she reminds him, leaning back a few inches; he follows after her lips and sways forward, ignoring her attempt at pulling away. She leans down, capturing his lips once more, sighing into his touch before drawing away for good, "…later," her hand presses against his chest and she pushes him back, "when we get home."

"I look forward to it."

Their attention is turned back to the fireworks show; it's the finale, one of the best parts of the entire show. Multiple fireworks shoot up to the sky, creating patriotic designs with various colors surrounding them. It's overwhelming. And normally Jay and Erin would continue to watch but the sight of their engrossed daughter captures their attention. Her hazel eyes are as wide as they've ever seen them before and they can see the reflection of lights sparkling in her orbs as she stares up at the fireworks. Her mouth is agape and her hands rest at her side, no longer searching and reaching for things within sight. She's distracted. She's absorbed by the fireworks show. She isn't interested in Danny or her stuffed donkey. She's not fidgeting or trying to crawl out of her cousin's lap to get to her parents, she's content and enjoying the fireworks glistening above her. And just as soon as the show started, after an hour, it had come to an end.

The sky is clouded with foggy smoke from the fireworks as families begin packing up their blankets and bags. Jay doing the same as his wife rolls over to scoop the baby from her nephew's lap and onto her own. She maneuvers the baby around in her arms until she has a good grip and then hops to her feet, "Did you like the fireworks Danny?"

"I loved them!" He exclaims, running over to grab his shoes. He bounces around in excitement as he watches his mom fold their blanket. Erin holds Haven, who is currently still looking up at the sky, expecting to see more fireworks as Jay collects their belongings and places them in the compartment beneath the stroller. He pushes the stroller behind Ruzek and Burgess, following them towards the parking lot. Voight is holding his grandson's hand, entertaining him with a story about Justin's first time seeing fireworks. Erin keeps up with her husband; she's currently holding the baby in one arm and the baby's stuffed donkey in the other. Now that the show is over, Haven reaches for her stuffed animal and pulls it out of her mother's hand and towards her open and salivated mouth, gnawing down upon its ear.

By the time Erin reaches the car, Jay has already folded the stroller and placed it inside the trunk of the car. He opens the backdoor, awaiting his daughter's arrival to place her inside her car seat. Danny and his mother rode in with Voight so he knew this was goodbye or see you later to his aunt and uncle. He hugged them both and he grinned when Erin leaned the baby over so he could peck her cheek, "Bye Haven," he waves and backs away towards his mom. He's distracted as he backs away and only comes to a stop when his back bumps into his mother. He waves again at Haven, smiling as she squeals and kicks her legs in delight. Burgess and Ruzek hold hands, wave at their friends before heading over towards their car. The Halsteads are the last to leave. It took time strapping a seven month old baby in her car seat, making sure that her bottle was in her lap, her stuffed donkey was within reaching distance and that she was content long enough for the car ride home. And by the time they're home, she's exhausted from all of the events of the long day and has fallen asleep in her car seat.

"Want to get her ready for bed while I do the mountain of dishes in the sink?"

Jay eagerly nods, "You don't have to ask me twice." He makes his way towards the staircase, carrying up the car seat. He walks into their bedroom and takes the tutu and onesie off their daughter and then carefully washes the paint off her face. He lies her onto her back in the center of their bed and snuggles the stuffed donkey in her arm. During their car ride, they agreed for her to sleep in the room with them to keep an extra eye on any possible symptoms Natalie wanted them to watch out for; it would be easier to do that with her close by. The baby sleeps in her diaper, a thin yellow blanket stretched over her body as she sleeps peacefully in the center of her parents' bed. Until they come upstairs for the night, Jay grabs the pillows and positions them around the edge of the bed, making sure that if she rolled, she would have a barrier of pillows blocking all opportunities for her to fall off the king-sized bed.

As he's upstairs, she's tending to the pans, the silverware and the empty bottles inside the sink. Cleaning them out with a dish sponge and soap before lining them up in the dishwasher, adding the soap and closing the door before pressing start, Erin sighs in exhaustion, gripping the edge of the counter and leaning forward, releasing an exhaustive sigh. Her eyes cast downward and she notices the water stains on her American flag tank top. She had been in such a rush to wash dishes that she wasn't careful where the water was falling. She looked up, eyes staring out of the window to see the reflection of her husband approaching. His arms circle around her waist and his mouth begins assaulting the crook of her neck. She brings her arm up behind her and curls her fingers into his hair, "You're going to leave a mark."

He briefly stops, "I know," another kiss is pecked against her red and tender flesh, "That's kind of the point of all of this." She suddenly gasps and throws her head back when his teeth press down against the flesh of her neck.

Over the last month, he had been working through his jealous tendencies. She knows that most of the sex they've had was to exert that overwhelming urge of jealousy. He was a work-in-progress. And she had rather he got it out this way instead of embarrassing her in public by starting an argument by muttering some slick comment about the wandering eyes from a guy feet away or the unintentional flirt from a man she isn't even interested in. When the kiss against the side of her neck intensifies with the added burn of his teeth, she knows what he's doing; he's branding her. He's marking her as his own. And when she opens her eyes and stares forward at their reflection in the window, she sees this primal look in his eyes as he tears into the crook of her neck. She's unable to deny that his possessiveness and his greed appeals to an immoral urge and dissolute need in her. Initially when he first started acting so possessive and controlling in the bedroom, she had wanted to reject him out of some feminist, radical notion of being her own woman, in control of her body and every aspect of her life, but her body and her response to his control betrayed her every time.

Jay lifts his head to examine his work; it's dark and red. His light feather kisses drag along her sensitive skin; his lips brush over the bruising mark imprinted upon her neck. And he looks up to meet her eyes in the reflection of the window; his gaze is heated and he finds a raw emotion within hers. His eyes connect with hers; they're both gazing into each other's orbs through the reflection of the window. His hands graze down her body, circling around her hips to unbutton her red, jean shorts. With each second that passes, he slides them further and further down her toned legs, until she steps out of her flip-flops and her shorts. Suddenly, he turns her around and wraps his arms around her waist, leaning his head down to finally press his lips against hers. She strips him of his shirt and discards it near her pants. Sighing into the kiss; her fingers toy with the hair at the nape of his neck. Their bodies are pressed together, chest to chest, waist to waist and toe to toe, and her fingers eventually trail down his neck and his back until they rest around the band of his pants, tugging the material downward, "This needs to go."

Crossing her hands at her waist, she lifts the hem of her shirt to pull over her head and toss it in the direction of their discarded clothes. His pants join the mix and without wasting another second, they're back in each other's arms –dressed only in their underclothes. His lips leave hers as they trail and leave kisses against her jaw, her cheek, her neck and basically anywhere they choose to land, "I love you." At her words, he kisses her harder, bringing her lips into his in a feral kiss that takes her breath away. Her face is flushed as she pulls back to get a breath of air, "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"You just told me you love me."

Erin nods to confirm, "I always tell you I love you."

"And I never get tired of it," he doesn't waste any more time; he comes in and attacks her red, swollen lips. The force pushes her back, pressing her bare thighs against the white, laminate countertops. And he suddenly lifts her and sets her on top of the counter, "Fuck Jay," she quickly pushes him away, "that's fucking cold!" He moves back in, pushing open her legs to allow her to tangle them around him. His hands wrap around the back of her thighs, tugging her forward towards the edge of the countertop; his lips kiss against the corner of her mouth, "Is that better?"

"Much," she turns her face to meet his, forcing his lips to fall from the corner of her mouth. His gaze is intense, matching the look he was giving her during the fireworks, "Stop looking at me like that," she blushes; her cheeks turn to a dark shade of red.

"I can't."

Her cheeks darken when he leans in to press a kiss against the red tint lighting her flesh, "It feels like you're looking into my soul," he cups her face and cuts her off with the seal of his lips, "It feels like you're looking at every vulnerability, every worry and every fear."

"No, I'm looking at every perfection babe," he corrects, trailing his hand down to trace the scar over her abdomen. His gaze fell from her hazel eyes to her swollen lips as she grins, "That smile makes my day."

Erin closes the distance between them, cupping his face and locking her lips with his. Bringing her even further to the edge of the counter, he prods for her to wrap her legs around his waist once again, closing in the space and the distance between their bodies. She pulls away, completely out of breath the moment the kiss grew even more heated, "I could stay like this forever," he chases her mouth when she attempts to pull further away. When he couldn't reach her lips, he settled for her neck, tearing into her skin to leave his next mark. She grins, "Is this how you release your pent up jealousy and frustration?"

"…from the advice of Dr. Charles."

Her eyes flutter as the sensation grows the more he kisses her neck, "Dr. Charles told you to do this to get over your little problem?"

"Not in those words precisely," he temporarily lifts his head to meet her eyes, "He told me those emotions have to come out and I should find a better, more productive and less toxic way of doing it." Jay resumes his attack on her neck, ravishing her flesh and turning her white skin red.

"Remind me to thank him during my next session."

"Of course."

"And you know, there's no reason to ever be jealous Jay," She asserts, pulling her husband away and setting her hands against his shoulders; he doesn't look too convinced, "There's no reason to be jealous at all."

"Why would I be jealous?"

"…maybe because you have a pretty, hot wife."

Jay nods slowly, biting against his bottom lip, "A pretty, hot wife who likes men in authority, in control and especially in uniform."

"Not plural, singular," she corrects, tracing the tip of her finger against his red lips, "and not men, man; you."

Tugging hard, she pulls him closer, pressing his chest against hers. She's still clad in her panties and a bra while he remains in his boxers. Their clothes discarded somewhere in the kitchen. Closing the gap between their mouths, she initiates the kiss but he takes over control. His hands are warm as they slide up her bare thighs, squeezing against her flesh and earning a lustful moan. She whispers against his lips, "Let's take this upstairs."

"Have you forgotten?" He whispered back, continuing the kiss even as he speaks, "Baby in bed."

"Couch then?"

Jay doesn't respond. He continues the kiss as he prepares to lift his wife into his arms. Unfortunately a loud wail emits from upstairs. It stills both of their mouths. Their lips remain touching but they're not moving. She sighs, being the first to pull back only to have his face lean in, chasing after her lips, "If we're really quiet and really lucky maybe she'll fall back asleep?"

Erin shakes her head, "We're not that lucky. You have to let me up."

After a few pushes of the shoulder, a few dodges of kisses and an attempt to disentangle her legs from his limbs, she finally is able to slide herself off the countertop. She squeezes his behind before running off towards the stairs, leaving him watching her until she disappears. The baby's cries eventually stop and Jay collects their clothes before climbing the staircase; he turns the corner and walks into their bedroom, finding his wife dressed in an overnight shirt cuddled up to the side of the baby, "Her pain medication wore off," she whispered, tracing the light bruise on the side of her daughter's mouth, "I had to give her another advil mouth drop. She fell right back asleep once it kicked in."

"How's her mouth looking?"

Erin brushed her fingers over the bruised area, "It's just light bruising; it'll hurt tomorrow, but I'll probably set an alarm to wake up before her and give her more advil drops when those wear off."

"I know Natalie told us she didn't need to be taken to the doctor's but tomorrow maybe we should take her anyway," he dumps their clothes into the hamper, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"No complaints coming from me," Erin reaches over to draw the covers back, inviting her husband to climb in; he maneuvers around the pillow and lies comfortably against the side of his daughter, "I'll text Voight to tell him we'll be a little late into work tomorrow. I'll have to call Emily too and give her a rough estimate on what time we'll be dropping her off."

Jay rolls over onto his side, drawing the covers up to his shoulder. His wife turned off her table lamp and the room became surrounded by darkness. In the far distance, they can hear fireworks still going off. It was an all-day event, a holiday to celebrate morning and night. The crowd without children, the crowd who didn't have to work tomorrow morning and the crowd who is still in school but old enough to venture out without their parents were the main attendees to events at this time of night. Erin rolled over to face the window the second she hears her husband's snores fill the room; his loud breathing starts to mix in with the sounds of laughter and fireworks heard from the streets, it's comforting. To know everyone is at peace and having a good time feels rewarding. There are no worries, there are no fears and trepidation; it's just celebration and happiness. It's joy that arises from the independence of our country. The celebration of it provided them with an escape from the real world. She wasn't hung up on work and all of the cases that still needed solving. She wasn't swamped with helping Kim plan her wedding for next summer. And she didn't worry about Tyler today and the fact that his trial is next month. She got a mental breath. And it's that escape, that emotional and mental break that provides her with the ease of falling asleep.