Just want to take a second to thank you for your continued support. This story wouldn't be possible without any of you since it's composed entirely of your prompts. (This last chapter covering several all at once) It's been a lot of fun to write, so thank you for this experience! Although I've tried to connect with everyone who's left a review or messaged me, many of you are sweet enough to leave reviews as 'guests' and I don't get the opportunity to let you know how good your notes make me feel. So thank you!

This is the final chapter. I hope you enjoy it! Xoxo

/

They were a pathetic pair. Anyone in the bar could see it. Two fully grown men, one a damn cop, let a woman confined to a bed whoop their asses. Okay so she hadn't actually laid a finger on either of them, a fact that made their retreat even more pathetic because they'd still run, tail between legs, from the room when she'd ordered them out.

They'd only been trying to help her, both bothered by the amount of pain she was clearly in. But Erin wasn't having any of it and after repeatedly pleading with them to just leave her be she'd resorted to throwing her cup of ice chips at Will's head to get her message across. Jay could have kicked himself for not realizing sooner that she just needed a bit of time alone. Erin had always valued her personal space and since she'd been pushed down the stairs last Saturday she'd had no room to breathe. She'd probably felt like the walls were closing in on her and since she couldn't retreat herself, she needed them to get out of her hair for a bit.

He'd grabbed Will and backed out of the room, reminding her he was only a phone call away should she need anything, before Erin could cause herself any harm trying to make her point. So now here they were sat sulking in a corner booth of the bar across from the hospital nursing beers and emasculated egos.

"She's got you whipped," Will jabbed at his brother.

"And she's got you scared of your own shadow," Jay shot back.

"You like being a house husband," Will continued, ignoring Jay's comment.

"And you like having someone to gang up on me with."

"I do. Don't fuck it up." Will smirked.

Jay shot Will a nasty look. Jay wasn't the one who burned through women. "I don't plan to."

"So why haven't you asked me to get mom's ring from the safety deposit box yet?" Will challenged.

Jay chuckled humourlessly. "Because I'm not gonna fuck things up with her, remember?"

"Asking the woman you love to marry you is fucking things up?"

"It is when the woman you love is Erin Lindsay." He didn't need to elaborate. Jay had told Will about Erin's commitment issues.

"Maybe before, but I don't think that's true anymore." Will countered taking a pull of his beer.

"You honestly think I'm gonna take relationship advice from you?" Jay laughed incredulously.

Will considered Jay's words and winced a bit when he though of his relationship track record. "Okay fair enough, but maybe in this case you should. After all I am the one who's talked to Erin about the two of you getting married."

Jay nearly spit out his beer in shock. "You talked to her about marrying me? Oh god Will, please tell me you didn't pull one of your stunts and fuck this up for me."

"Relax little brother. It's not what you think."

"Then please tell me what the hell you're talking about." Jay's humour had vanished and his tone was a mix of threatening and fear of what his brother had done.

"Remember when I moved in and Erin made me take her to dinner and the musical?" Jay nodded and Will continued. "Well we got to talking and Erin admitted that her reasons for not wanting to get married weren't valid anymore, at least not when it comes to marrying you."

"She said that to you?" Jay couldn't believe his ears.

"Well, maybe not in so many words, but she didn't deny that she had no valid reason not to marry you." Will clarified sheepishly.

"That's a hell of a lot different then saying she wants to get married," Jay pointed out. Will only shrugged. "I don't know man," Jay trailed off.

"You chicken?" Will goaded.

"No!" Jay exclaimed adamantly. "No I'm not. I just don't want to make her feel like I'm pushing her into something she's not ready for or doesn't want and end up pushing her away."

"Fair enough, but all I'm saying is maybe she does want it."

Jay shook his head. He was exhausted. The last few days had been hell. There had been a brief period in the last two days where he thought he might loose Erin and he was pretty sure it would have destroyed him. He was too tired to think clearly about the idea of marriage now so he did the only logical thing. He turned the spotlight on Will.

"What about you? Don't want to keep that ring for yourself? Not going to be needing it soon?" Jay chuckled, enjoying the way Will's face paled.

"I mean, it's not that I don't want to, it's just, we just started dating and..."

Jay put up his hand to stop his brother's flailing. He knew it was too soon for Will to be thinking that way but he hadn't been able to resist watching him sputter. "I get it."

"Jesus Christ Jay what the hell is wrong with us?" Will exclaimed. "First we get kicked out of my own damn workplace by your woman now we're sitting here talking about weddings like a couple of damn girls."

"Maybe we should have invited dad. He could have given us another lesson on how to be real men," Jay said bitterly.

Will mumbled his agreement. "Did you see him with Erin earlier? He brought her flowers and then kissed her!"

"Maybe you should have ordered a head exam for him at his last check up."

"Maybe, or maybe I should order one for Erin. What the hell was she thinking inviting him to Christmas?"

"I don't know but I wouldn't worry much about it. He won't turn up."

"You're probably right." Will agreed. "But it was damn funny watching him squirm. Like a deer caught in headlights. I've never seen him like that. She rattles him."

Jay nodded, not surprised anymore that Erin could get to their father. "You should see her in the interrogation room."

"I think I'd rather spend time in Voight's cage," Will fake shuttered then laughed.

"You have no idea," Jay laughed with him before flagging the waitress down for a fresh round of beers.

/

They'd tricked her and if their deception had landed her anywhere else then lounging on Hank's couch watching Danny unwrap the mountain of gifts she and Hank had spoiled him with she'd probably be kicking all their asses right now. The doctors wouldn't release her until after the holidays my ass, she thought. It had all been a ploy. Jay had snuck out of her room early this morning and returned freshly showered and changed, a bag of her personal things in one hand and her discharge papers in the other.

It had only taken one of her glares to get him to admit he'd known for more than a day they were going to send her home Christmas morning and he'd confessed to wanting to surprise her, even if she wasn't big on Christmas, or surprises. But she had to admit going home Christmas morning was all the gift she could ever ask for.

After helping her freshen up and dress Jay drove them over to Hank's, and then he shocked the hell out of her by staying. Olive had agreed to bring Danny down last night and spend Christmas Day in Chicago since they didn't get much chance to see him anymore. Erin had thought she'd miss getting to see him open his presents being laid up in the hospital but here she was taking in all his excitement.

Jay said Will had convinced Nat to bring Owen and her mom over for dinner too. And she was still holding out hope Pat would turn up. She still didn't believe they were going to have a real Christmas gathering or that Jay and Hank had spent a good forty five minutes alone in the kitchen preparing food for dinner, both emerging uninjured, both looking pleased with themselves.

Erin had to admit, it was good the house would be so full of people again. With both Camille and Justin gone things were too quiet here and she admitted she had avoided coming over lately. The idea of the Voight house being empty at Christmas made her want to forget the holidays all together but sitting here watching Hank play on the floor with his grandson, the smells of Christmas dinner cooking in the next room, filled some of the emptiness Justin and Camille's absence left.

She must have dosed off at some point because the next thing she knew the sound of Pat's gruff voice greeting Hank at the door was jolting her awake. She watched him pass Hank a large bottle of his favourite scotch before removing his coat and shoes. Jay shifted awkwardly next to her. She knew he wasn't happy with her inviting Pat to Christmas. She was slightly surprised herself when she'd made the offer but there was a part of her that had warmed to the old sourpuss and she might be willing to admit she kinda felt sorry for him spending the holidays alone. Mostly she was hoping that Pat would try and make things right with his boys, especially Jay, since they'd spent so much time caring for him lately.

When his dad came in the room Jay hesitated before gently sliding Erin's legs off his lap and rising to greet him. There was a silent pause before Pat stuck out his hand. "Merry Christmas," he offered Jay with a flat voice. Erin silently let go the breath she was holding when Jay clasped his father's hand and mumbled the greeting back. "Got you this," he said pushing an envelope towards a stunned Jay.

Pat didn't wait for a response and moved around Jay to greet Erin. Of course he treated her to an almost smile as he asked how she was feeling. He brushed a hurried and awkward kiss on her forehead before dropping a gift bad into her lap. "It's not much," he mumbled offhandedly.

"Thank you," she replied. Her voice was still softer than normal, the pain in her chest not completely gone yet. "There's a bag under the tree for you, Jay and I got you something too. Can you grab it babe?" Erin asked, looking up at Jay.

"We did? I mean yeah sure," Jay recovered and searched under the tree for his dad's gift. He hadn't bothered to look at the tags when he'd scooped all the presents from under their tree at home and brought them over yesterday knowing they'd be celebrating here. He'd never even considered getting something for his father, they hadn't exchanged gifts since before his mother had passed but Jay was glad Erin had thought of him now that the old man had surprised the hell out of Jay and brought them something. He wasn't sure his dad deserved whatever she'd got but at least his dad couldn't accuse him of having bad manners.

Hank returned with drinks and Jay watched as Erin opened her gift, a pair of black leather gloves. She gifted his father with one of her heart stopping smiles. "Their wonderful, thank you."

Pat's discomfort receiving her praise was evident but Jay didn't miss the pride that shone in his eyes at having made Erin happy. "I didn't know what you liked. I told the sales girl you were a cop and she suggested those," he shrugged.

Erin's smile grew bigger. Jay looked up at the ceiling, waiting for lightening to strike the house and all of them dead at the impossibility of this scene. Wait until he told Will their father had actually gone to the mall, actually spoke to a sales associate, and actually bought Christmas gifts.

"What about you?" Erin broke Jay from his thoughts. "What'd you get?"

Jay cleared his throat and slid his finger under the seal of the envelope. He half expected it to be empty, not putting it past his dad to play the cruel joke. After all the man had been in the house a good twenty minutes and hadn't taken a jab at Jay. That was fifteen minutes longer than he'd ever gone before. Shock was the only emotion Jay could muster when he pulled out two centre ice tickets for an upcoming Blackhawks game from the envelope.

"Dad, I... how did you?" Jay sputtered.

"You think you're the only one who knows people?" Pat sneered.

Erin watched Jay's eyes turn hard and silently pleaded with him to hold his patience. Jay closed his eyes and swallowed his pride. "These are great, thank you," he replied mustering as much gratitude as he could. After all they were amazing tickets and Jay had no doubt he'd enjoy the game.

Pat nodded but his expression was still guarded. One pair of hockey tickets was not going to undo the years of resentment and hostility between the two.

"You're turn," Erin cut in ending the uncomfortable silence.

"You really didn't have to get me anything," Pat began awkwardly. Being here was already bad enough, he didn't think he had it in him to pretend to like whatever nonsense the girl had picked out.

"Just open it," she demanded.

Pat didn't miss Hank's snort of laughter. It was clear the girl was feeling better the way she fired the words at him. When he pulled the jersey from the bag Pat was left dumb struck.

"Holy shit," he heard his son mutter.

"It's the right one right?" He heard the girl ask uncertainly. Pat's eyes roamed the White Sox jersey again taking in the name "Kittle" stitched across the back and the signature scrawled beneath it in dark ink. Words still wouldn't come.

"He was a hell of a player," Hank filled the silence.

"He was dad's favourite. Will's going to freak when he sees that!" Jay exclaimed, still surprised Erin not only knew his dad's favourite player but had somehow managed to get her hands on an autographed jersey. Lord knows the man didn't deserve it but he couldn't help but fall a little more in love with Erin for getting such a perfect gift.

"I, umm" Pat began finally coming out of his trance. "This is, ah... this is damn near the nicest gift I've ever got," He stampeded out, he didn't care if his emotions betrayed him. He was holding an important piece of history in his hands. "I took the boys to see him play a few times," Pat said.

"I know," Erin smiled. "They've both told me stories about watching baseball with you."

Pat met Jay's eyes across the room. "Guess it was about the only time we weren't arguing," Pat observed. Jay could have corrected the old goat. They didn't argue. Patrick Halstead yelled, belittled, demeaned and Jay stood and took it silently. But he kept those thoughts to himself and recognized his father's statement for what it was; a Halstead's version of an apology, probably the closest to one he'd ever get. He gave his dad a slight nod. Jay couldn't wipe the slate clean. There was too many years of hurt for that. But he could put it aside for one day. He told himself he was doing it for Erin and no one could convince him otherwise.

Afternoon slid into evening and the smells of turkey filled the house. Jay kept checking his watch. Will was already running late and hadn't bothered to reply to any of Jay's messages. He'd kill Will if he screwed the plan up. Jay should have known better than to trust Will with something so important. He sighed and looked at his watch again. Nat was due with her mother and son any minute and Will wasn't going to be here to introduce them to their father. Yet another thing Will was screwing up today.

"Somewhere else you'd rather be boy?" His father accused after seeing Jay look down at his watch for about the hundredth time in minutes.

"No," Jay checked his temper at his father's accusation. He promised to make this a happy day for Erin and he wouldn't be the one to loose it first. "Just wondering where Will is. He was supposed to be here by now."

"Ha!" Pat cried. "That boy has never been on time for anything in his life! Easter will come and go if we wait on that birdbrain much longer." Jay was having a hard time finding a reason to disagree with that assessment.

Not five minute later Jay's phone rang with a number he recognized as the ED at Med. Goosebumps broke out on his arms, Will hadn't been scheduled to work today.

Jay glanced nervously at Erin before answering. "Halstead."

"Will, its Maggie." Came a shaky voice on the other end.

"Merry Christmas Maggie, what can I do for you?" Jay asked but he already knew she was about to give him bad news by the tremor in her voice.

"It's Will. They brought him in a little while ago. I guess he was on his way to see you and,"

"How bad?" Jay cut her off, jumping to his feet unaware that everyone in Voight's living room had tuned into the concern in his voice.

"Brett said he was hit head on,"

Jay didn't hear the rest of Maggie's words, panic drowning out all sound. No, no, no, Jay shook his head, this couldn't be happening. He'd barely survived Erin's accident. This couldn't be happening now, not even a week later. He couldn't go through this again. Will needed to be okay.

"So can you?" Maggie asked again.

"What?" Jay tried to clear his head. What had she just told him?

"I said the car is a write off and he's got a pretty nasty bump on his head. Choi thinks he'll be okay but I think it's better if you came and got him."

Jay let out a long breath. "Yeah. I'll be right there." He said before disconnecting. He looked up from his phone to see several pairs of anxious eyes on him. "He's okay, got in a car accident, cars a write off and he's a bit banged up but apparently good to go. I have to go pick him up," he explained.

Erin relaxed a bit but still felt the need to comfort Jay. "I'd go with you, but,"

Jay smiled appreciatively at her. "I know babe. It's okay, you don't need to be moving around any more than necessary. I'll be back soon." He reassured her as he bent to kiss her goodbye.

"We'll hold dinner until your back," Voight assured him. Jay gave a nod of thanks and headed out the door.

/

Nasty bump was a bit of an understatement Jay thought as he walked in the doctor's lounge where Maggie said Will was waiting. Apparently Will had been a difficult patient and refused to stay in an exam room, plopping down on the couch in here instead.

"Getting a good gawk in?" Will grumbled seeing Jay standing staring at him.

"Looks more like someone took a baseball bat to your head. Who's boyfriend you piss off this time?"

"You always think you're so funny," Will rolled his eyes as he gingerly stood up. "Trust me steering wheels are harder than you'd think. And can we just let the boyfriend thing go already? I told you Cathy McNeil never told me she had a boyfriend or that he was an amature fighter. I wouldn't have slept with her had I know."

Jay chuckled as he helped steady Will on his feet before picking up the Christmas presents Will had retrieved from his car and convinced Brett to let him bring along in the ambo. "Yes you would have, you just wouldn't have bragged about hooking up with her to anyone would listen, letting the news get back to Frank."

"You wouldn't have said no to her either had you seen the pair of,"

"Okay playboy, I don't need a rehash of all the details." Jay cut him off. "You sure you're good to leave?"

"Yeah, just a nasty headache and some aches and pains. Nothing a good drink and an even better neck rub from Nat won't cure." Will winked knowingly at Jay. "But I would like to get my hands on the idiot who hit me. Wrote my damn car off. Like I can afford to buy a new one now." He whined as they wove through the ED towards the exit.

"We'll worry about that later. Let's just get you back to Voight's before dad sends Nat running for the hills and you're shit out of luck on the neck rub."

"You mean you won't take pity on your poor injured brother and do it?"

"Hell no," Jay shuddered in horror.

"Find, I'll just ask Erin then." Will teased, stopping to hug Maggie goodbye and wish her a Merry Christmas.

"The only part of Erin that's touching you is gonna be her foot in your ass if you keep her waiting on Christmas dinner much longer slow poke, lets go." Jay said, gently shoving his brother towards the door.

Will shook his head. "Having little brothers is way over rated."

"And bailing your sorry ass out of trouble every two minutes is aggravating."

"Funny I didn't seem to be such a pain in your ass when you needed me for this," Will gloated as he tapped the pocket of his jacket knowingly.

"Yeah well lets just get to Voight's before you find a way to screw that up too," Jay growled.

"Gee thanks for your concern little brother. Glad to know how happy you are I'm not dead."

Jay stopped mid stride in the hospital parking lot and swiped his hand down his face before turning and looking at his brother. "I am glad you're not dead. It's just been a strange day, seeing Erin in so much pain sucks, dad's being all weird, cooking Christmas dinner with my boss is beyond strange and getting a call from Maggie that you'd been admitted didn't help. I'm just anxious to get back to Erin okay?"

"Get back? Sounds like we should be driving as far as possible in the other direction." Will chuckled.

Jay's glare returned. Why he'd expected Will to be serious for just a moment he didn't know.

"You do realizes after you take care of this," Will patted his pocket again, "this is pretty much how every Christmas is gonna go right?" Will asked watching Jay put the packages in his trunk.

"You do realize if you plan on totalling your car and smashing up your face every Christmas you can find someone else to come pick your ass up right?" Jay said slamming the trunk closed.

"The love in the air right now is so overwhelming," Will called across the roof of the car to Jay.

"There's something in the air, maybe you should shower more than once a week." Jay laughed heartedly at childish face Will made accompanied by the double dose of middle fingers Will flipped Jay before disappearing into the car.

/

Jay wanted to wipe the smug grin off Will's face watching the way he milked every last drop of sympathy from the women in Voight's house. He didn't think he'd have much of an appetite left if he had to endure another second of them fussing over 'poor, hurt Will.' Will had taken up residence between Erin and Nat on the couch and was soaking up all their attention. The grin he sent Jay made it clear he knew exactly how much it was pissing Jay off he'd lost Erin's affection to him. At least for the moment. This was supposed to be his moment with Erin but of course once again Will had found a way to make it all about him.

Jay retreated to the kitchen to help dish out dinner. "He's only doing it because he knows it gets under your claw," Pat observed.

The unsolicited comment just about pushed Jay to his limit. As he opened his mouth to let loose his father held up his hand.

"Now don't go taking all that pent up frustration on me. For once I'm not to blame. Why do you let him get to you anyway? You know that's why he does it. It's clear as day that girl adores you and only you. If you don't know that by now you're dumber than I thought."

His comments only served to fuel Jay's fire. He knew he had two choices either unleash his anger in his father's face or get the hell out of the house. He turned towards the kitchen door but Voight stepped in his path, shoving a drink towards his hand.

"Sit and drink this," he ordered. For a moment Jay forgot he was off duty and free to do what he liked, instead yielding to the commanding tone in his bosses voice. He took the drink, drank it down in one gulp and plopped in a kitchen chair.

"Go easy on him Pat. Tonight's a big night for your son. He's got a lot weighing on his mind, the kind of thing that makes a man's palms sweat and patience short," Hank winked at Pat and gave Jay a sympathetic smile, recalling the conversation Jay had initiated with him yesterday outside Erin's hospital room.

Pat's eyes narrowed in thought then went wide with understanding. He let out a single note of laughter. "Well I take it back then, you're just about the smartest man that ever walked the earth. I take it your brother knows?"

Jay nodded silently trying to figure out if his dad had meant his last words as a compliment.

"Well no wonder he's being such an ass. That boy never did like anyone else having the spotlight. Just ignore his antics. You always did let him get to you far to easily." Pat observed as he carried a bowl of mash potatoes out to the dining room.

Jay didn't have time to dwell on his father's words or consider that maybe he was blowing things way out of proportion because his nerves were starting to get the better of him because Voight shoved the platter of turkey into his hands. "Lets go, I've waited long enough to eat and if you have any hope of this night turning out the way you want we need to get some food into our girl."

Jay stood and followed his boss towards the table that was quickly being occupied by an eclectic mix of hungry people. He put down the platter and made his way to Erin's side, helping her sit. She smiled up at him and he felt his foul mood fall off. This was what tonight was about, making this woman smile.

He looked around the table again. Will helped Nat secure Owen in his seat while Nat's mom cooed over Danny, distracting him long enough for Olive to get some unidentifiable mashed food into his mouth. Pat passed Hank wine glasses to fill while the shared a laugh over something Jay hadn't heard.

Not for the first time today Jay stood in awe of a sight he couldn't have imagined in a million years. It shouldn't work, this mix of personalities should be explosive and disastrous. There was no way this group of people should have any reason to come together in celebration. It wasn't logical. Jay felt a tug on his tshirt and looked down at the reason why logic had been suspended. She was the reason they were all here, she'd won ever last one of the bull headed men in this room over and they were here, against all logic, because she'd asked for it.

"You gonna sit and eat babe?" Erin asked.

Her gaze turned quizzical when he only continued to stare at her. He'd had a plan for tonight. He'd taken the time to arrange it perfectly and logically, getting both Will and Hank on his side to help execute it. If there was one thing Jay was good at it was putting in place and executing logical planning.

"Logic to hell," he murmured, causing Erin to ask him to repeat himself then gasp as he pushed his chair out of the way and bent to one knee. "This wasn't how I'd planned this," he said, taking her hand in his. "But then there's nothing about today that's gone to plan." Jay stopped and looked over at his brother. Will nodded, a huge grin on his face, got up and came to Jay's side passing him the ring he'd had hidden in his jacket earlier. Jay took it and turned his attention back to Erin. "I'm not exactly sure how I ended up at this table with this crew," he said shaking his head with an affectionate laugh "but I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"That doesn't exactly sound like a compliment," Erin laughed, her eyes shining with emotion.

Jay laughed too. None of this was coming out the way she deserved but from the look on her face he could tell the words didn't really matter. He already knew what her answer would be.

"Would you two stop making puppy dog eyes at each other and get to it already, dinners getting cold," Will heckled them.

"Shut up red, you're ruining my moment," Erin glared at him. She turned back to Jay and smiled. "Sorry, you were about to say something?"

Jay laughed again. Nope there was definitely no room for logic and carefully laid plans when it came to a life with Erin. Jay cleared his throat, put aside his speech and gave the crowd what they wanted. "I love you. I want to be with you, always. Will you marry me?"

He didn't know if she'd actually answered him before her lips crashed against his but he figured it was all the yes he needed. He was faintly aware of the cheers that went up around them before he broke the kiss and slipped his mother's ring on Erin's finger.

The women oohed and awed over the ring while Hank led a toast to them before everyone set in to filling their plates with food, side conversations breaking out around the table. The moment finally passed, Jay relaxed into his chair, one hand laid on Erin's leg, and enjoyed his meal.

"Pat would you mind passing the gravy?" Erin asked.

"Sweetheart, you're wearing my wife's ring, I think it's time you call me dad." Pat replied matter of factly while he passed the gravy boat.

Jay nearly spit out his mouthful of carrots.

Erin glanced nervously at Hank who winked and tipped his glass towards her.

"Forget the gravy," Will pipped in, saving Erin from responding. "The real question, Erin, is now that you've gotten over your fear of commitment, when do you plan on making me an uncle?"

Erin glared at him, an embarrassed flush staining her cheeks, so much for Will saving her. "Tell you what red. You stay off my couch for the next year and I'll let go of my urge to punch you right now and let you ask me that question again next Christmas. Now be a sweetie and go fill the gravy?"

Will, the memory of Erin's right hook still firmly engraved in mind, stood and collected the gravy boat from her. Jay broke out into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like the words 'house husband' causing Erin to break her glare and giggle. Will tossed a roll at Jay on his way out to the kitchen and Erin didn't miss the corner of Pat's mouth turn up in a slight smile. It was then that Erin realized for the first time she was actually looking forward to next Christmas, and every one after that she'd get to spend with her two favourite overgrown boys.