March 21st, 2020
10
Despite the not so peaceful night after everything that had gone down with Hailey, Jay managed to be more or less on time to pick up Erin and Sophia at Voight's place the next morning. Voight helped them to load the trunk and the rest of the car. With the stroller, the suitcases, carry-on luggage, and Sophia's two new car seats, which Erin had bought the day before, the trunk and rear bench seat next to Sophia were packed. After a last goodbye to Voight, in which he reminded both of them again, that he was happy to join as undercover grandpa in an instant, even long before the Easter holiday to get Sophia out of harm's way, an offer he'd made repeatedly to the both of them the day before, they finally took off.
Jay was allowed to drive, because Erin still wasn't feeling that great, and, well, it was his car after all. Erin didn't forget, however, to remind him not to "get used to it."
Sophia had fallen asleep as soon as they were outside of Chicago. She was holding her mouse Tommy tightly.
"She's out." Erin said while turning around to face the road again. She yawned as well.
"Short night?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, had to listen to all of Hanks concerns about... well basically everything we are planning till mid-night, then Sophia was awake at 2 am again. And again at 4 till 4:30. At which point I couldn't sleep again, so." She yawned again. "I could have gotten more sleep."
"Is she coming down with something again?" Jay asked.
Erin shook her head. "I don't think so. Guess it's more the unusual environment, and maybe her last baby teeth are finally coming. Haven't checked yet, though. But she's drooling a little more than usual."
"There's some coffee in the flask." He pointed to thermos in the room between them.
She gratefully took one of the two mugs connected to the flask and filled it with coffee. "You want some as well?" she asked.
"Maybe later, thanks!"
She filled her mug and tasted it. "Unexpectedly good!" she complimented him. "So, your night was more relaxing than mine? Would have expected you'd have a short one as well with seeing Hailey and everything" she winked at him.
"She left early," he just said curtly.
"Oh, I would have expected... Wait, did you have a fight?"
"Sort of," answered curtly again.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked carefully.
"Not really", he answered.
She accepted that for less than a minute, then she had to ask: "Does she have a problem with us going on a mission together?"
"I don't think so." Jay kept staring on the road. "Doesn't matter now, anyways. Let's talk about Sophia's teething instead."
"There's nothing to talk about until I'm sure." She turned around to check on her daughter again. "No drooling now," she reported while turning back. "Was the fight with Hailey, because of what I said at the airport?" She meant her accidentally telling him that Hailey knew of Sophia.
"Partly. Look Erin, I would really like not to talk about this."
"Well, that ain't gonna happen. We need to trust each other again, therefore, we need to know about the other ones worries."
"I don't think so, Erin."
"Well, I do! You didn't break up with her over that, did you?"
Jay said nothing, just stared on the road.
"Jay Halstead, please tell me, you didn't do it again?"
Jay looked irritated. "Did what again?" he asked.
"Broke up a good working relationship, because someone from your past reappeared."
Jay took his eyes of a road for a second and looked at her. "I never did that! I asked for a break, not a breakup." It was clear, he wasn't talking about Hailey anymore.
"Well, the result wasn't that different, was it?" Erin asked sarcastically.
"Because you left, before I could ..." he immediately stopped. "Forget it, let's not go there." He said instead.
"You could what, Jay? Propose to move in next to each other and have sex once in a while?" Erin hissed.
"Guess, I did that, and that was kind of stupid." he admitted.
"Glad we're on the same page there!" Erin said sarcastically.
"Ok, that was really stupid. You probably already knew about Sophia and that probably didn't help you telling me." He realized out loud.
"No, it didn't." Erin confirmed. "But that's not all on you as well. At that point, I wouldn't have told you no matter what."
"Why?" Jay asked.
"That was around the time, I had some bleeding. My doctor told me to take it slow, if I wanted to keep the baby. Well, I didn't really take it slow. It wasn't really possible without telling Hank, and I definitely wasn't ready to do that. So, I kept it to myself, and just hoped the embryo was strong enough to pull through, and if not to let nature do it's cause." At that her voice began to tremble, so she stopped talking, hoping he hadn't realized and fighting back the tears. She definitely hadn't had enough sleep.
Jay was just shocked, and angry. He didn't know what to say. He looked at her quickly and realized just in time before he could say anything he might regret later on how miserable she was. He took her hand and squeezed it softly. "You really should have told me. You shouldn't have gone through all that on your own. I should have been able to be there for you, have your back!"
That made Erin's walls tremble. She hurried to wipe away the tear that was forming with her free hand. She sighted. "Sorry, Jay." She tried to get her voice under control. "The thought of Sophia, not existing, everything that is her, just not there... here." Now she definitely couldn't control her voice anymore. Angrily she wiped away her tears. "I really need to sleep more, or it's still from the Covid..."
"Erin, don't! It's okay. I get it." He pressed her hand, which she responded.
"Thanks," she said softly. She drew a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I was such an idiot back then, that you thought, you had to go through all of that on your own."
„Well, you were probably not the only idiot back then, obviously." She tried a smile. "But, of course, you were the bigger idiot."
"Of course!" he said putting his hand back on the steering wheel.
"So, why are you being an idiot again?" Erin inquired.
"I'm not. She broke up with me," he admitted.
"Well, then she's the idiot."
"Thanks!" He stared down the road again.
"So, no more late-night phone calls?" Erin asked to be sure.
"Well, that would have been difficult no matter what, considering..."
"Yes, probably." Erin admitted. "I'm sorry, Jay."
"It's really not your fault."
Erin just wanted to answer, when she smelled something unmistakably. "Oo, "she sniffed. "Guess, we should find the next rest stop."
"Already? Why?" Jay asked, but then he the smell hit him as well. "Oh!" He watched Sophia through the rear mirror. "But she's still asleep!"
"Yeah, she sometimes got this superpower... Nevertheless, I don't want her to get a rash."
Luckily, there was a love's rest stop just a few miles ahead. They found a parking space easily. Erin got Sophia changed, while Jay put some more gas into the car.
They had to cross the diner before entering the restroom. It was still breakfast time, so it smelled like waffles and pancakes. Of course, Sophia wanted some.
After she changed Sophia, Erin texted Jay to enter the diner. They were almost the only people there. Just a few truckers on a table far away. They shared two blueberry pancakes and a waffle. While they were sitting there, Erin got something out of her purse.
"We still need these." She said. It was a box of wedding bands. She opened it and handed it to Jay. He looked at it. And back to Erin, who looked a bit awkward. Before he could do or say anything, Sophia had grabbed the box with her sticky, blueberry fingers. "Rings!" She said exited and tried to get them out. Erin reacted immediately.
"No, Sophie, not with your sticky finger!" She took them from her and wiped them clean with the disinfectants wipes they had with them. Sophia looked shocked; tears started to form in her eyes.
"Oh, Baby-Girl! There's no need to cry." Erin wiped her daughters fingers with the wipes as well, and carefully handed her the rings again. "See, the large one is for Daddy, and the smaller one for Mommy. Will you give Daddy his?" she asked.
Sophia looked from Erin to Jay and back to the rings in her tiny hand. Then she chose the larger ring and handed it to Jay. "Dere!" she said smiling at him.
Jay was over his initial shock and took the ring with a smile to his daughter. "Thank you, Sophie!" He put the ring on and gave her a kiss on the head.
"Looks good on you!" Erin winked at him.
Jay turned back to Sophia. „What do you think, Sophia? Does this ring look good on Daddy?"
Sophia excitedly nodded. „Yes!"
„Well, if both of you say that it must be true!" he smiled at Erin, when he felt Sophia's hand with the other band on his arm. She obviously wanted to give him that ring as well. „Shall I wear that ring as well?" he asked.
Sophia nodded excitedly again.
„But that's Mommy's ring!" Jay took the ring from Sophia and tried it on his pinkie finger. It wouldn't fit. "See?" he asked Sophia. She laughed.
Jay handed Erin the ring. "I think, it'll fit you better," he said smiling.
She took the fake wedding band from him and put it on.
"See, Sophia? It fits Mommy way better than Daddy!"
Sophia still laughed. „Kiss!" she giggled looking from one parent to another.
Before Erin could even process, what her daughter just said, Jay had already kissed her crown, and was back in his seat. Sophia giggled. Jay smirked at her. „We have to begin our cover, at one point."
„Do we now?" Erin asked, but then she got a mischievous grin herself. She got up and gave him a deep kiss. Though he was irritated, he began to respond the moment she pulled away.
„Training !" Erin said grinning at him. Then she turned to Sophia, who was smiling brightly. "So, Baby-girl! I think you are done. Let's get you cleaned up, and then we hit the road again!" She got her out of the high-chair, and walked with her to the restroom area again, without looking at Jay. He took some time to realize that he was supposed to clear the table. He put everything on the tray again, and just realized, what mess Sophia had left despite all the napkins and paper placemats.
"Don't worry about it, Sir." The older lady from the counter told him. „I'll clean that up as soon as you leave."
He brought the tray with their plates, mugs and jugs to her directly. „Thank you," he looked at her name tag. „Gretchen"
„No, worries. It's slow today, and you're such a nice family!"
Jay smiled proudly. „Guess, we are!"
„How old is your sweet little girl?" Gretchen asked.
„Sophia is two and almost three months."
„She's really adorable!"
Jay smiled proudly again. „Yeah, that she is."
„Got another one on the way?" Gretchen asked.
„What? No! What makes you think that?"
„Sorry, Sir, I didn't want to hurt your privacy. It's just your wife looks kind of tired and worn down, but happy, and she refused coffee."
„Oh!" he quickly thought about how to explain. This would be a good possibility to test their new aliases. „No, she had coffee in the car. She spent the night at her Dad's with Sophia, while I got the last of our stuff ready for the big move. Our daughter didn't give her much sleep. Her last baby teeth are coming. And with the move and everything, my wife is probably more worn down than usual. Didn't think, outsiders would notice, though. You got a great eye for reading people, Gretchen." He tried his more charming smile.
„Well, sorry I was wrong, then. It's a pity, cute families like yours should expand!" she said.
„Well, let us first move into our new life, and then we'll see about any expansion!"
„Where are you moving?" Gretchen asked.
„Ohio, a little town outside Celina. I don't know if you know that."
„Ah, in Mercer County? One of my nieces lives there with her family. It's rural, but nice. The women over there still know their places, if you know, what I mean, and no blacks, Latinos or any of these other diverse groups."
Jay kept smiling, while thinking it was impressive, that they weren't even 66 miles out of the city and already met racists, not that there weren't any in the city, but maybe not that obvious. Well, he had to train. „That's exactly why we are moving there!" he said with a smile.
He was happy, that Sophia chose that moment for running back from the rest rooms straight into his arms. „Daddy!" she screamed happily, while he scooped her up.
„Someone clearly missed her Daddy!" Gretchen commented with a smile.
„Where's your Mommy?" Jay asked his daughter, but at that Erin appeared.
„Uh, she found you good. Did you clear the table?" she looked at the sticky mess that was still on the table, and just wanted to go there, when Gretchen came around the counter and said: " Don't worry, Honey! I got that!"
"Oh, thanks! Did my husband here, charm his way out of cleaning again." She winked at Jay.
"She offered!" Jay defended himself.
Erin got out her wallet and gave Sophia a one Dollar Note. "Here, Sophia-Baby, you can put that in the jar." She pointed to the tip jar on the counter. Jay held her down, that she could reach the jar.
"Tank you!" she said smiling at Gretchen after putting the bill into the jar.
"Thank you, cutie-pie!" Gretchen smiled back. Looking at Erin she continued. "I just told your husband how adorable she is. You should make more of these."
Erin's' eyes widened. "Should we now?" she said, turning to Jay, who shrugged.
"I think, before we do that, we should head the road again so that we arrive at our new place before nightfall."
"Yes, your husband told me, you were moving to Mercer County. My niece lives there. She got a son a year older than your little girl, Alex. Maybe you should meet with her. Her name is Brianna Carlson. Wait, I'll give you her number." She went behind the counter, scribbling down a number from her phone. Then she came back, giving Erin the number while also proudly showing her a picture of an all American family in front of their house decorated with an American flag: Thin blond woman, with a toddler about Sophia's age and a strong muscled man with slightly darker hair. "That's them: Brianna, Johnny and little Alex. It was taken last 4th of July, so Alex is a bit taller now."
Erin put on a bright smile. "Oh, they look really nice! Maybe I can call her for a play date with Sophia or something. Where do they live exactly?"
"Coldwater!" Gretchen answered.
Erin and Jay both got big eyes. "That's where we are heading! What a coincident!" Erin answered. "In that case, it would be really great, if I could give them a call. I was afraid Sophia might not have somebody to play, because all day-care centers are in lock down already, and the playgrounds are rumored to be closed as well."
"Yeah, that's really ridiculous!" Gretchen admitted. "Those people in power of the states, they are really stupid. Johnny agrees with that totally . God bless, we got our president, who is a bit more level-headed."
Erin had to bite her tongue at that one.
"Yes, god bless our president!" Jay said smiling at Gretchen.
She smiled back at both of them. "You know what? I'll text Brianna right away! Tell her you are coming. What's your name?"
Erin almost said Lindsay, but luckily, Jay was faster: „Halstead. Erin, Jay and Sophia!" he said proudly.
„Halstead? That's Irish isn't it?" Gretchen asked.
„Yes," Jay nodded.
„You are Catholic as well!" Gretchen said excitedly.
„Yes, been an altar boy for three years, and we both went to Catholic school."
„Then you'll definitely fit in great in Mercer! Such a nice close-knit Catholic community!"
„Sure, we will!" Jay nodded.
„Thank you so much, Gretchen, for everything! I'm afraid though, we really have to leave. God bless you!" Erin said smiling.
„Yes, god bless you!" Gretchen responded.
„Say goodbye, Sophia!" Jay said to Sophia.
Sophia waved her little hand smiling. „Bye!"
„Bye, little Sophie!" Gretchen said smiling back. She turned back to the parents. "She's such a cutie. God bless you!"
And with that they left for their car.
"I think we did quite a convincing job as an all American, Christian family." Jay said when he was starting the car.
"Yes, it got me a bit worried, how easy that came to you." she winked at him while she was closing her seatbelt. "But, I agree, that was a good start. This Carlson family could be our key to that community."
"They at least look like the people we're looking for." Jay agreed.
"Da, da, da!" Sophia squeaked happily from the back.
"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this, when she's listening," Jay said.
"She isn't. I gave her my old iPod with Baby headphones. She's listening to children's music and some stories for the next hours."
"Wow, got all the Mommy tricks, don't you?" Jay joked.
"Sure, I've got them!" She smiled at him. "Or would you prefer to play all that over your radio?"
"Pitsy Pider!" Sophia sang from the back.
"Well, it could be cute," he said.
"Believe me, after an hour or so, it isn't!" She said and yawned. "Would you mind if I close my eyes for a bit?" she asked.
"Sure! I got this! Just sleep."
It didn't take long till he heard a light snoring from next to him, only broken by Sophia's singing once in a while. "Wound an wound, wound an wound. ... bus do wound an wound".
Jay smiled at himself. This could actually become one of his nicer undercover gigs, despite the right-wing conspiracy theorists. He got the best partner back.
After another stop for lunch, they arrived in Coldwater at 3 pm. That was much later than Jay had expected, but Erin assured him, that was a good time considering they were traveling with a toddler. Sophia had fallen asleep after lunch again. Erin had slept the two hours between their two rest stops but demanded to drive for the last hour. Jay's remark, that maybe women weren't allowed to drive in Mercer County, had only earned him a scorned look.
Erin wouldn't admit it, but she must have been still really tired. She had problems making out all the street signs and was happy, that the navigator told her where to go. That way, Jay didn't realize that she had in fact problems driving.
There was a second car parked outside their "new home", when they arrived. Another SUV.
"Ah, my new car has already arrived!" Erin said smiling when she parked.
"It's probably just Mouse's rental."
"Nuh, I was promised my own car by you know who."
Jay shrugged. "Let's get out and find out then!"
Mouse came out of the house when they exited the car.
"What took you so long?" he greeted them.
Jay looked at Erin who was busy getting a still sleepy Sophia out of her car seat. "Told you, we should've sent him a text!"
"So, why didn't you?" she asked.
"Because you, uhh, forget it!" Instead Jay turned to Mouse and greeted him with a hug. "Hey, man, sorry you had to wait!"
"Don't worry about that, had plenty to do."
Erin came closer with the still sleepy Sophia on her hips. She nodded towards Greg. "Like getting my new car?"
"I did that yesterday already, but maybe I should fill you in on the specifics indoors." He nodded towards the two-story house that was too be their home for the next three weeks or so. It had quite a large front yard, but no porch, at least not at front. They entered the house through a small hallway in which the wardrobe was situated. The hallway opened up to a large living room area with a couch, an armchair, a couch table, a large tv, a fireplace and several shelf's.
Above the fireplace were several pictures of them: a fake wedding picture, which seemed to have been made from an old picture of Jay and Erin back when they had been a couple, Mouses goodbye barbecue maybe? The other pictures were basically the ones Jay knew from the albums, he had seen the week before, except now he was added into them. According to these pictures he now had been present at Sophia's birth, her two birthdays and her baptism. Jay felt weird, looking at them, therefore he turned away from them fast.
There was larger hatch through the kitchen in the next room. The kitchen interior was very 1990s, no beauty, but would hopefully do its job. There was a small table with four chairs. The kitchens large window was facing the backyard. Next to it, a door that was leading into the backyard, which had a porch, a swing set and a sandbox.
Sophia immediately went for the swing but didn't manage to climb it on her own yet.
"Come on, inside, Sophia, we'll have a look at the rest of the house, then you can try out the swing!" Erin called out to her from the kitchen.
Sophia looked at her mother but tried to climb up again.
"Don't you want to see your room?" Erin asked.
Sophia looked, contemplating, but went back to the swing set.
Jay then came running towards her making loud noises, and just grabbed her. Sophia shrieked joyfully.
"You really should start listening to your Mom!" Jay said, while he bounced Sophia up and down.
"Thanks, Jay!" Erin said while stroking her daughters hair.
They went on with their tour in the basement. The basement was furnished with gym equipment, including a punching bag, and a treadmill. Additionally, it offered a bar counter, a fridge and a futon, a small very old tv, and large sound boxes.
"Uh, my man-cave!" Jay said happily.
"Yes, that's basically what it should appear to be. It should invite other men in this community to do 'man-talk'. For that, " Mouse went to the gym equipment. "this equipment comes with build in listening devices, you can turn on and off here." He showed him a small switch at the handle of the spinning bike. "Once it's turned on, everything said in this room will be recorded and sent to our server directly."
Jay and Erin nodded, not wanting to get into any more details in front on Sophia.
"There's another purpose to this room though, the Bureau wants you, Erin, to get back into shape ASAP. Therefore, you should use this equipment for your remote physical therapy sessions with Tina." Mouse continued.
"Who's Tina?" Jay asked.
"Our physical therapist, works wonders." Erin answered before Mouse could. "So not a full man cave after all," Erin concluded grinning at Jay.
"Come on, Erin, a room with a fridge full of beer, a bar counter, a tv for sports and gym equipment, is probably as much your thing as mine!" Jay said.
"You're probably right, although the big tv upstairs is better suited for watching sports." They both agreed on that one.
They went to the second floor. The rooms upstairs were connected to each other by a door. One was the said room for Sophia. All her toys, Mouse had brought with him, were already securely stored in colorful shelves and boxes. There was also a "big girl bed", and a small closet for Sophia's clothes and shoes. Sophia walked happily into that room and began to play with her toys while her parents entered the connected master bedroom with Mouse.
The room had a queen-sized bed with nightstands, a larger crib at its foot, and a larger build-in closet. When they entered the room, Mouse explained: "Su told me that Sophia is used to sleeping in bed with you. That's why the crib is here for now."
"We'll figure it out." Erin just said nodding.
„Are we both supposed to sleep in here?" Jay addressed the elefant in the room.
Mouse skin color turned slightly redder. He looked to his feet. „Actually..." he began.
„Yes, we are," Erin answered instead. „I had another talk with SAC yesterday, and they are expecting us to behave like a real married couple especially in the rooms, which can be viewed from the street." The large window was facing the street side of the building. "And the other thing is," Erin continued, "Sophia talks, I mean she's still two, but she talks a lot for her age already. We can't know, what she tells others about our living situation, especially, if she sleeps in here as well, or in the room connected to it."
„Maybe, you are right," Jay admitted.
Mouse tried to break the awkwardness and turned around pointing at another door next to the built-in closet. "That leads to your bathroom. There's another one downstairs, where you can also find a washing machine and dryer, and another toilet connected to Jay's man cave in the basement.
"Wonder if the listening devices will work in there as well," Jay wondered out loud.
"What for?" Erin asked amused.
"Just wondering," he replied.
„By the way, there are no listening devices in here, are there?" Jay asked Mouse.
„Not unless you activate the App on your phones."
Before they had left New York, Mouse had given Jay an FBI smartphone, which could be turned to a listening device using an app. Erin of course, already had one of those.
„Good!" Jay just said.
„Don't want your snoring taped for our team back in New York?" Erin teases him.
„I never snore!" he defended himself.
„Somehow I remember us having this argument before. Maybe this time I should turn on the listening app on my phone, so that the team in New York will confirm it." Erin winked at him.
"I guess , I better take the futon in the man cave instead. I'm sure, it's not that unusual for a couple married for three years, to sleep in separate rooms, after all." he shot back.
"Are we back to your dream of the separate houses again?" Erin asked not so innocently.
Mouse was confused what that was all about. "Uh, you really should sleep up here, Jay." he made clear.
Jay grinned. "Don't worry, man. That's the plan. I'm sure Erin would find a way to turn on the listening devices down there while I sleep as easy, as her app up here. I just have to risk it." He winked at Erin.
Mouse was still irritated on how back to normal both Jay and Erin appeared. He tried to ignore it for once and went on to finish his tour in the hallway next to Sophia's room. He looked around, if Sophia was still occupied, and then put his thumb on the frame of a body sized mirror that one would have expected in the Master bedroom. Immediately, the mirror moved to the left and a small room appeared behind them with a desk, some screens, and other equipment they knew from interrogation rooms. There was also a see-through mirror into Sophia's room.
"Wow!" Jay just said.
"Fancy!" Erin commented.
"Like in our interrogation room, the mirrors are see-through, meaning from here you could watch people inside the room and the hallway, but more importantly in the room." Mouse explained.
"Why would we need that?" Jay asked.
Mouse shrugged. "Might come in handy, when Sophia is on a play date and the mother's or parents talk."
„Aren't we expecting a stay-at-home order from the governor every minute?" Jay asked critically.
„Well, the Bureau doesn't expect the people you are investigating to follow that order, if it comes." Mouse answered. „Plus, Erin could work from here, and look after Sophia."
"Great idea!" Erin commented sarcastically . "when I work, she needs to see me to know she's supervised. Otherwise she either panics, that no one is there, or is happy that no one is there, and begins smearing things at walls or whatever comes into her mind."
"The room and the mirrors were already in here. This used to be a FBI-Safehouse. But you might still find it's features useful even if you don't want to spy on your daughter."
"Let's wait with that last one twelve years or so, when she won't talk with us anymore, because her long haired rocker boyfriend is much cooler than we are." Erin mocked.
"Long haired rocker boyfriend?" Jay asked. "Won't let him through the door!"
"He could be a cool guy! You won't know what you'd be missing out on!" Erin winked at him.
"Sure, you'll probably support her, and even drive her to his concerts." Jay said annoyed.
"I think, being driven by your mom to a concert disqualifies you for any cool rocker boyfriend."
"In that case, you should definitely do that!" They both grinned by now. "Okay, back to the matter at hand." Jay continued and turned to Mouse. "If the Bureau is right, and the stay-at-home order is largely ignored here, we gladly spy on toddlers and their parents. In any case, it might be useful to have this hidden room."
Erin nodded. They closed the door again and went back into Sophia's room.
"Well, that's basically it, except for the bathrooms, but I think you can check them out yourselves."Mouse finished the tour. "I distributed your large package of toilet paper between the three of them." Mouse said winking at Jay.
Jay rolled his eyes on that one. „This will probably never leave me."
Erin and Mouse both laughed. „No, never!" Mouse said.
„We'll make sure of it!" Erin added still smiling.
Mouse turned more serious again. „Well, guys, if you don't have any further questions, I would rather leave. My flight out of Fort Wayne leaves in a few hours, and I hate to miss it."
Erin looked at her watch. „Of course! Thank you so much for everything and be good to Su!" she hugged him tightly.
„You be good to Jay, and Sophia of course."
„To Sophia always. This one?" she pointed at Jay. „Depends how he behaves."
Jay rolled his eyes. „Come on, man, let's go and get you to the airport in time!"
Mouse said a heartfelt goodbye to Sophia, who still played happily in her new room, then the two men went downstairs again.
Jay wasn't really looking forward to spending another 2.5 hours in his car, but with Mouse as a passenger, at least the way to the airport passed quickly. They hadn't really had time to talk for real since Jay had come to New York three weeks ago. Either Sophia had interrupted their phone calls or Erin, and/or Su were present as well.
"Thanks, man!" Jay said once they were on the highway again.
„Well, it's my job, you know?"
Jay looked at him. „Yeah, that as well, but I actually meant for letting me know about Sophia. Without you, I'd probably still wouldn't know her, and I don't know how Erin would have managed the last two weeks. She probably would, it's Erin after all, but still, thank you, man!"
„Sure thing! Sorry, again that I initially thought you left them. When I see you now with them, it's clear to me that you never could have done that."
„Well, I kind of did," Jay admitted. "I called the breaks on Erin the moment she needed me most."
"But you didn't know about the baby."
"No, I didn't, but I also didn't really give her a chance to tell me."
"I thought, you were still partners for a few months, after you broke it off. Shouldn't she have plenty of opportunities to tell you?" Mouse asked.
„Yes, and no. She didn't say it out loud, but from what she said, I could make out, that she was struggling with being pregnant in the beginning, and maybe I got that wrong, but I think, she wanted me to come back to her and not a baby. At least, she said, she didn't want me to feel obliged to be with her to do the right thing."
„Knowing you that actually make sense." Mouse admitted.
„Thanks, for the vote of confidence!" Jay said sarcastically.
Mouse ignored his tone. „Does that mean, you're no longer angry with her for keeping Sophia from you?"
„If I think of all that I missed in Sophia's life, I am angry. But not so much anymore on Erin. I'm angry with myself, that I pushed her away which let to missing out on the first 26 months of my daughter's life. I'm angry at the Army, that they made us suffer through so much and failed to support us when we came back to be able to live a normal life."
„I hear you, man!"
„Still, it's been more than two years, and if you wouldn't by pure chance work with Erin, I still wouldn't know. For that I am still mad with Erin, and Voight for that matter. But I have to get past that, not only for this mission, but for Sophia. It won't do her good, if her parents resent each other, especially if we are to play happy family the next weeks." Jay sighted.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the feeling, that you are already past this anger, and almost back to normal with Erin."
"I'm trying," Jay admitted. "We both are. We have to for the mission, and for Sophie. We began acting in our undercover roles on the way here already. To test it, to get used to it."
"So that was all your bantering about? Not your old way of flirting, but trying out your cover?" Mouse asked unconvinced.
"Basically, yes," Jay answered, but he had to add. "I think."
"You think?" Mouse asked slightly amused.
"Well, with this kind of missions, lines can get blurry, but I think we both know that. I mean, we both did undercover gigs before, even together, pretending to be a couple. Just not for such a long time. And not with a child, of course."
"As far as I remember, you blurred the lines back then as well. Didn't Erin leave Severide after one of those missions?"
"Yes," Jay admitted. "But they weren't really a couple for long, and we didn't become one for over a year after that mission, I think."
"Do you think, your relationship with Hailey will survive this mission?" Mouse inquired.
Jay laughed sarcastically. "It already hasn't. But the mission wasn't the problem there."
Mouse looked shocked. "Well, that's big news! What happened?"
Jay shrugged. "Different ideas of a future together."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Mouse asked carefully.
"Not, really! Let's better talk about existing relationships than past ones. How are things with Su?"
A happy smile appeared on Mouses face. "Great!" He kept on smiling like a lovesick teenager. "You know, I would have never expected this to happen to me of all guys. She's so... amazing. I mean, she's funny, smart, loving, strong, sexy." He grinned at that one.
Jay looked at him amused. "You really deserve her; you know that don't you?"
"I'm getting there. She makes me believe that makes me think better of myself."
„Keep her! Don't let her go."
„I'm planning on just doing that!" Mouse said smiling. „Only an idiot would turn his back on luck like that, meeting the one you almost perfectly connect with, who completes you."
„Guess you can call me an idiot then," Jay murmured.
Mouse still heard him. „Are we talking about Erin or Hailey now?"
Jay looked at him annoyed. „I'd say both, but Hailey turned her back on me, so maybe Erin's right, and she's the idiot."'
„Erin said that?"
„She said, Hailey is an idiot for letting me go."
„Interesting," Mouse commented.
„I don't think, she meant it, like you think now."
„Sure," Mouse mocked him.
They arrived at the airport shortly afterwards, said their goodbyes, and Jay turned back to „his family" as Mouse had put it. That felt weird and good at the same time.