Hank could hear laughing and giggles down the hallway, a striking contrast from the night before.
Every few seconds, he could hear Erin repeat the word, "Boo," followed by the sounds of Olivia's uncontrollable giggles. In response to the baby's laughs, Erin's own chuckle would soon follow.
After a final smile at their gleeful laughs, Hank found his knuckles rapping on the bedroom room.
"Yeah, come in!" Erin yelled in reply.
Olivia sat up in bed beside Erin, a look of surprised covered her tiny features, as she waited for the 'mystery' person on the other side of the door to reveal himself.
"Who is it, Liv?" Erin playfully asked as Voight entered.
A cheerful squeal filled the bedroom when Olivia finally saw her grandpa Voight.
If one thing was certain, Hank Voight had a real soft spot for that little girl, and their bond was apparent. "Good morning, kid." He chuckled at her excited cheers and slurred jabbers. She continued her baby talk and babbles for a moment, before cuddling into Erin's side, ready to continue their morning snuggle-fest and play time.
"What's up Hank?" Erin drew his attention away from her daughter.
"Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that he stopped by last night. Right after you two came up here."
"Oh." She averted her father figures eye contact, and focused on Liv. Olivia maneuvered herself onto Erin's chest. The child was growing impatient, and wanted to continue their game of peek-a-boo
"If it's any consolation, I don't think anything happened last night. I think it really was innocent on his part."
"No. That's not all that comforting, sorry."
"Yeah, I figured it wouldn't be. He left you this note though, and I promised I'd give it to you." He walked closer to the bed with the note extended out towards her.
Erin took the sheet of paper, and without looking at it, set it face down on the nightstand. Olivia began to wiggle around more, growing increasingly impatient. "Just one minute baby girl, and then we'll play some more." Erin whispered to her daughter while ruffling her light brown hair.
Hank looked back and forth between Erin and the note. "You're not going to read it?"
"I have 45 minutes until I need to leave for work. That gives me five minutes left to spend with my daughter before I need to start getting around, so no. I'm not going to give up my time with her for that. Especially since it doesn't really matter what that note says. I saw what I saw, Hank. A few words on a sheet of paper won't change that."
"Ok." He nodded and got ready to move for the door.
"I didn't mean to shoot the messenger, Hank. Sorry if that came out rude."
"I know you didn't, kid. Don't worry about it. You can take the day if you need it. I'll understand."
"I appreciate it, but I need to work today."
"Alright." He looked down at his watch. "We gotta go in 43 minutes."
She gave him a small smirk while Olivia tried to stick her fingers in her mommy's mouth. "We'll see you downstairs." She chuckled.
As he hung is jacket over the back of his chair, Jay spotted Erin through the windows into the break room. He tossed his keys onto the stack of paperwork he'd been neglecting for days, and made a b-line towards her.
"Hey." His voice sounded apologetic yet hopeful, and it tore her concentration away from the coffeepot.
"Hi." Her tone lacked any emotion, and she gave him a once over with her eyes. The coffee was now ready, so she turned back to pour herself a mug.
"Did you get my note?"
"I did." She answered him curtly, not even bothering to look up from the coffee she was pouring.
"I meant it, Erin. I-"
She cut him off. "I didn't read it."
"What? You just said you got it."
"I did get it, and then I went back to playing with our daughter since I have such limited time with her now. I didn't get around to reading your note this morning."
"Oh… Well, it said that I'm sorry, and…" He sighed frustrated. "I just wish you would have read it."
She finally turned to face him. "Oh you wish I would have read it, Jay?" Her voice was thick with cynicism. "Well, I wish I wouldn't have found another woman in my apartment with my husband last night. I guess that's the thing about wishes, they don't usually come true." Without another word she brushed past Jay, and headed back towards her desk.
"Except when they do." He called after her. "I married you and got Olivia, didn't I?"
Her hands tightened around her mug as she stopped in the doorway. She let out a deep sigh, allowing her shoulders to sag, but wouldn't turn to face him. "Maybe we've just ran out of allotted wishes then." She didn't wait around for a reply or response.
Erin did everything in her power to dodge having to be in close proximity of Jay, thus finding herself on a steak out with Atwater for most of the afternoon. As mind-numbingly boring as it was, she couldn't complain because it did allow her avoid Jay for a few more hours.
When she and Atwater returned to the station, Jay made another attempt to speak with her.
"Hey, Erin I know your upset. You have every right to be pissed off, but can we please talk at least?"
"You're right I am pissed, Jay, and I do have every right to be. I'm also angry that you thought a note could change anything. I don't wanna talk to you right now, and I especially don't want to do this at work." She stormed off down the hallway to get away from him and the conversation she wasn't ready to have.
Honestly, she was just afraid to know the truth. What if Holly really was the reason he'd asked for time and space? If that was the case, she wasn't sure what she'd do.
While speeding down the hallway, lost in her thoughts, she completely missed Burgess turning the corner, and ran right into her.
Kim stumbled backwards, her back slamming into the wall.
"Sorry. Sorry, Burgress. I wasn't paying attention." Erin began to ramble before Kim stopped her.
"It's fine. It was an accident. Are you alright though?" She placed a comforting hand on Erin's shoulder.
An ironic chuckle escaped Erin's lips. Was she alright? No, not even in the slightest. "I could really just use a drink."
"Well that makes two of us. Nadia and I are meeting at Molly's at 8. Are you in?"
She considered it for a minute. It was Jay's night with Olivia, and what was she going to do besides drive herself crazy overthinking all night? "Yeah. Okay I'll be there."
"Good. I'll see you later." Kim gave her a satisfied smile. "And Erin!" She called after her friend.
"Yeah?" The detective asked peering back at Burgess over her shoulder.
"Watch where you're going. I'm gonna have a bruise from this." She mocked, pointing at the spot of her shoulder that had made contact with the wall when she fell backwards.
A girls night at Molly's had been just what Erin needed to keep her mind off of Jay, and Holly. Everything was going well until she hit one drink to many, and things began to spiral downhill quickly.
Now all she could think about was Jay. All she wanted to talk about was Jay, and because Burgess and Nadia had been keeping up with her shot for shot, they were only encouraging it.
It was nearing closing time at Molly's, when Erin stumbled out to a cab. With more then enough liquid courage, and some drunken motivational speeches from Kim and Nadia, Erin was fully convinced that she was going home to Jay to talk things out.
"Erin, what are you doing here?" He whispered groggily. He knew it was her because she was the only one with a key to get in.
"I came from Molly's."
Jay was too tired and dazed to notice the way her words slurred. "Hm. There's a blanket on the couch if you wanna take your pillow." He mumbled before turning his back to her and going back to sleep.
With a mischievous grin, Erin shimmied out of her jeans and roughly tugged off her V-neck. Quietly, she slid into bed next to Jay, wearing only her bra and underwear.
"Hi handsome." She spoke with her lips pressed to his ear, startling Jay awake.
"Jesus, Erin. Are you drunk?" He hadn't even noticed she was practically naked yet, but he could smell the alcohol on her breath.
Erin let out an uncharacteristic giggle, signaling to Jay that she was extremely intoxicated. "Maybe just a little, but I had an idea!" She spoke with child like enthusiasm. "I had an idea at Molly's, so I had to come here and tell you right now." She pressed her body further into him, and placed a kiss on his jaw.
Jay became acutely aware of her lack of clothing and attempted scoot further away from her in the bed. The more he moved away, the more she followed. "Come on, Erin. Please stop."
Her hands were all over his bare chest, and her lips scattered kisses on his cheek, jaw, and neck. "So I was thinking," she mumbled against his skin. She had begun to pay extra attention to a single spot on his neck. He knew he should have stopped her, but it felt so good, and it had been so long.
She continued to slur out words between suckles and kisses. Her one hand exploring his lower abs. "Olivia needs a sibling. A brother. We need a little Jay, and I don't mean this little Jay." She sniggered as she grabbed him through his boxers.
Jay let out a combination of a gasped and a groan, before removing her hand. "That's enough, Erin. I'm going to get you some clothes." He sat up on the edge of the bed to stand, but she grabbed his arm halting him.
"We're good at babies, Jay. Look at Liv. I know you don't love me. We can just love our babies, and they'll love us, and I'll love you. You don't have to love me back. It's okay." She desperately pleaded with him.
He could tell he needed to handle this carefully, and let her down gently. One wrong word, in her intoxicated state could cause an explosion. "Okay, Erin." He nodded in agreement. "We can talk about it in the morning. Right now, I'm going to get you some pajamas, okay?"
It took only seconds for him to realize his best attempts at handling her with kid gloves didn't work. Erin Lindsay did not take rejection well. Drunk Erin took rejection horribly.
"Is it because of Holly?" She began to ramble so quickly that Jay could barely keep up. "You want her to have your babies? That's what it is, isn't it? It's because of her. Oh my god is she here? She's here isn't she?" Erin frantically jumped from the bed and began to search the room for where she thought the woman might be hiding.
"Erin, come on. Don't be ridiculous. She's not here."
She looked under the bed and caught glimpse of the Christmas gift she had never given him. "Merry fuckin' belated Christmas, Jay." She tossed the wrapped gift towards him. Jay caught it and set in on the nightstand not having time to worry about it. He needed to calm her down before she did anything too stupid.
"Erin, she's not here. I'm pretty sure she went back to Dallas today. Lets just calm down."
"How am I supposed to believe you, Jay?" She moved to the closet and shoved clothes around frenziedly. Next she headed for the en suite and flipped on the light. "I know you're screwing my husband, you can at least own up to it. Come out, Holly!"
"Erin, that's enough. No one is here besides us, and our daughter you're about to wake up. Do you want to wake Olivia at 2 am?"
At the mention of Olivia, Erin calmed some. "No. I don't wanna wake her." She whisper yelled at him. She took one last quick glance around the room before letting out a defeated sign. "She's not here, Jay?" Her anger was replaced with sadness, and desperation.
"No, I promise you she isn't here…Do you wanna come lay back down?"
"I'm really drunk." She whined.
Jay exhaled a faint laugh. "I know. Come on." He guided her towards the bed and tucked her in under the covers, before taking a seat beside her. Erin cuddled into his side, resting her head in his lap.
"Did you sleep with her, Jay?"
"I didn't. I would never do that to you, okay?" He tucked a fallen curl behind her ear, and began to comfortingly run his fingers through her hair.
"Okay." She nodded. "I'm not crazy, Jay. I swear I'm not."
"I know you're not. You just need to go to sleep now, Erin. You had to much to drink tonight."
"Yeah, but I'm not crazy. I'm not always like this. I swear I'm not always like this." A single tear rolled down her cheek and Jay rubbed it away for her.
"I know, Erin. Just go to sleep, okay?"
"I just really love you, Jay." She mumbled, her eyes closed, almost asleep.
Jay nodded knowing she couldn't see, and continued to run his fingers through her loose, messy, waves. Watching her succumb to slumber.
He really looked at her for the first time in months, and was taken aback by how truly broken she looked. She made broken look beautiful, but she was hurting nonetheless, and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew pushing her away, and asking for time and space would hurt her. He just hadn't realized to what extent.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the object Erin had thrown at him earlier. Stealthily, being careful not to wake her, he reached for the package. The small box was wrapped in Christmas paper and the tag read, "to: Jay/daddy, love: Erin and Liv."
He wasn't sure if he should open it, but it was addressed to him, and he was curious. Quietly he tore through the paper, and opened the box. Inside was a simple coffee mug with Olivia's picture with Santa printed on it. He grinned as his fingers trailed over the picture. It had only been a few months, but Olivia had changed so much. Her hair was longer, her features were older, she was taller, and her cheeks were less chubby. She was growing so fast, faster then he wanted to believe.
The new arrangement he had with Erin was only going to make it seem like she growing faster. Not seeing his daughter everyday meant he'd miss milestones, and that was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to miss moments with Olivia, and he didn't want to see Erin hurt anymore. He didn't want the guilt of feeling like he was tearing his family apart. Tomorrow, he'd talk to Erin once she sobered up, and he'd fix things for his family.