Please let me know what you think! Enjoy this chapter!


"So, do you have the nightmares every night?" Jay asked at breakfast. Once again the boy slept badly and once again he denies it.

"Listen. From time to time I also have nightmares from my time in the army. I can't promise you that they'll eventually disappear, but it will get better. I think, so we think you should talk to somebody. You don't have to go through it by yourself." Jay explained after a quick exchange of views with Erin.

"It's okay." Jesse murmured.

"I'm probably the last person you'd ever get advice on, but act before the nightmares break you. That's the number of a good psychologist. Think about it," Jay said, putting a business card on the table.

"I don't need a shrink!" Jesse hissed, "I'm fine!"

"Jess, we just think that…" Erin tried to explain, but Jesse put his headphones in his ears and crossed his arms.

Erin sighed. She really thought that Jesse settled in.

Jesse grabbed his backpack and left the apartment in no time. He drove to school with his skateboard. He listened to music and stared into the distance. His hand slipped into his jacket pocket and covered the business card. Maybe they were right. Maybe it helps.

Suddenly Jesse felt a hit and fell off his skateboard. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he collided with the postman.

His hand slid slowly to his head, which hurt. He felt a warm substance. When he put his hand over his eye, he saw blood.

A shopkeeper became aware of Jesse's accident, called an ambulance, and took care of him.


"Do you have a name?" the nurse asked at the hospital. Jesse was sitting on the bed in a treatment room. The doctor already examined him - concussion. The small wound had to be sewn. Jesse insisted on discharging himself, but it did not work without Jay.

Jesse shrugged his shoulders, "I want to call someone."

"I can't discharge you unless your parents sign the papers," she explained.

"That's why I want to call my parents," Jesse said. His backpack and his smartphone were taken from him by the nurses. She sighed and handed the bag to the teenager. Jesse scrolled through his contact list.


"Hey Erin, please don't worry, but I'm in a hospital and someone has to sign my discharge papers," Jesse explained.

"Oh my gosh, you're okay? Do you have any pain? What happened?" Erin asked worriedly.

"Please can you come to me? Lake Shore Hospital." Jesse said.

"I'm on my way." Erin said.


Erin reached the hospital less than an hour later. She was very worried and wanted to talk personally with the doctor about the head injury. But the doctor did not have time. The nurse told her that Jesse should stay one night for observation, but Erin demanded the discharge papers. She preferred Will and Nat to take a look on Jesse.

"Unfortunately, I can't give the boy in your care," the nurse explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Erin asked, stunned.

"I'm sorry, but you're not his parent." the nurse said.

Erin rubbed his hair in despair. Jay was with Kevin and Adam on the way to clarify the case.

"You know, she is a detective with the CPD. So, yeah, she can sign for me." Jesse said.

"That doesn't work with me." the nurse said and disappeared.

She thought for a while and tried to call Jay again, who did not answer the phone.

"Take your stuff, Jess. We're leaving," Erin said, leaving the hospital with Jesse. Fortunately nobody noticed it - for now.

She drove to the 21st district and led Jesse to the bullpen. At the same moment came Jay, Adam and Kevin. Surprised, Jay looked at his son, whose clothes looked bloody.

"What happened?" Jay asked.

"Erin kidnapped me." Jesse grinned.

"Oh, I just don't have the time to spend hours in a hospital." she said.

"Jess, what happened? Why aren't you at school?" Jay asked worriedly.

"I was on my way, but I wasn't paying attention. Then I fell off the skateboard and hit my head." Jesse explained.

"Are you okay? Do you feel any pain?" Jay asked in horror.

"I'm fine just a little headache."

Jay nodded, "We buy you a helmet."

"I'm not a toddler." Jesse said, "It won't happen again."

"I don't care if you're a toddler or not. We'll buy you a helmet." Jay said.

"Fine." Jesse breathed out.

"Come on. I'll drive you home." Jay said.


Emma took good care of Jesse while Jay and Erin worked again. Together they played a Playstation game in the living room. On the coffee table in front of them laid empty chip bags and Coke cans while the crumbs collected on the carpet.

Erin had become accustomed to the sight of a dirty and messy-looking living room. She herself did not keep much order, but doing that sort of mess in a few hours could only be a teenager. Jay, on the other hand, preferred the cleanliness.

When Erin and Jay greeted both teenagers, Emma jumped up and said goodbye in no time. Even Jesse tried to quickly disappear in his room, but Jay called him to the kitchen. With a hand gesture, Erin told him to sit down at the table.

"Jesse. We want to talk to you about something." Erin said and took a short breath, "It's because that only Jay has your custody and I'm not allowed to sign any papers for you."

"We know it's pretty quick and unexpected for you, but Erin would like to adopt you, so we can both share your custody," Jay finally explained.

Overwhelmed, the teenager looked at his father and his girlfriend. This woman is supposed to be his mom? 3 months after his real mom died? He liked Erin, but as a mom? He could not imagine it.

"Nothing changes. Everything stays as it is, only you are our common child on paper." Erin explained.

Silently he left the kitchen and sat down on the windowsill in his room. He did not want to be the common child of Erin and Jay. He did not want to betray his mom. Gently, Erin knocked on the door, stepped slowly in and sat down on his bed.

"I don't want to replace your mom or be the evil stepmother. Our main concern is that in case of an emergency, I can decide and sign for you." Erin explained, "Because you know that our job can be dangerous."

"Nothing will happen to Jay." Jesse said.

"I know and I'll take good care of your Dad." Erin said, "I promise you."

Jesse looked Erin in the eye. It was actually the first time that he looked right at his father's wife or even talked to her without Jay (except in the hospital).

"I was your age when I lived on the street. I took drugs. My mom was addicted to drugs and she was the worst example of a mother. I know the feeling of being abandoned and yet she is and will remain my mom. You feel bound to her and you help her every time you don't want it. Just because she is your mom." Erin took a deep breath, "One day I met Hank. He and his wife took me in. I was so thankful. They helped me get clean, sending me to a good school. They saved me. I would probably have been dead long ago if Hank hadn't brought me in."

"I thought Hank is your biologically father," Jesse wondered. On his birthday they acted like father and daughter. "How did you manage to get away from the drugs?" Jesse asked curiously.

"I got a new family that helped me, who believed in me. And I had the will to change my life," Erin said, "His wife was like a mom to me. She never replaced my real mom, because nobody can, but she was like a mom to me anyway. I never called her Mom and I never called Hank as my dad, but they were like Mom and Dad for me." Erin told him, "What I mean by that is that you can make that decision, whether you allow me to adopt or not. You decide whether you let me in your life or not. I'm not asking you to call me Mom. The only thing we want is to give you a family and a future."

"Do you really serious?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, of course." Erin said, "Your dad loves you so much. You know, he has a picture of you on his desk - just like me." On Jesse's 14th birthday Hank photographed the three of them. It was their first family photo. Jay's first picture with his son.

"I think you'd be a great mom, Erin." Jesse smiled.

"Oh, uhm, thank you" Erin stammered, "I think Camila was a wonderful mom, too."

"Yeah." Jesse breathed out while Jay entered the room.

"Everything alright?" Jay asked.

"Yes, but Erin is only allowed to adopt me under one condition." Jesse said, "I want to become a Halstead."

Surprised, Jay stared at his son. His son wanted his last name. His last name, which he shared with his great love - Erin. His son wanted to officially belong to them.

"Of course. We'll love it." Jay smiled.