March 22, 2020
11
Jay woke up to something cold touching his face. Before he opened his eyes, he felt with his hand for it. It was Sophia's food. He frowned and put it off his face. He opened his eyes, while carefully turning Sophia so that her feet were under the covers again. Surprisingly, she kept on sleeping. He looked up to Erin, and saw she had an amused look on her face.
„Wasn't she in her crib when we went to bed?" he whispered.
Erin smiled at him still amused. „Must have crawled out. Can't blame her though. It's freezing."
He realized she was right. "Doesn't the heating work?"
"Yes, it did, but I turned it off, when I opened the window tonight."
"Why?" Jay asked irritated. "Why would you do that in Ohio, during winter?"
"Actually, it was the first day of spring yesterday."
"When did you become such a nitpicker, Erin? The outside temperature is still winterly cold, especially at night. It's below 30 degrees! Do you want to get a pneumonia now after all?"
"No, of course not! I woke up from coughing during the night, and thought cracking a window would be a good idea with three people sleeping in the same room, more ventilation, more oxygen..."
He looked at her worried. "You better now?" he asked.
"Yeah, just tired," she yawned. "I mean, I'm used to not sleeping through the night, but somehow it seems this virus robbed all my reserve energy."
"How are your ribs?" he kept asking.
"Better!" She touched the places where it had hurt the days before. "It's still a bit sore, but more like bad muscle ache. Maybe it was just that, or something had cramped from all the coughing. Dunno, but I should get fitter once I start my remote physical therapy sessions with Tina."
"In my man cave." He got an amused look on his face. "I think, they over did it a bit, don't you? People will think I am a workout fanatic!"
"Well, you kind of are. Couldn't even spend a week without a proper workout, could you?" She grinned at him.
"It takes an effort to keep the perfect body I have!" he said cockily.
"More so, the older you get!" Erin shot back.
"You're so right!" he sighted.
"Come on, old man. Let's make breakfast." Erin got up.
"And Sophia?" Jay asked pointing at the sleeping child.
"I'd say, we let her sleep till breakfast is ready. She's supposed to charm everyone at church today. I don't want her cranky for that."
Leaving Sophia alone in a room she didn't know for long, wasn't one of Erin's brightest idea. They were just in the middle frying eggs and prepare toast when Erin thought she heard Sophia scream over the frying noises and the loud kitchen hood, that was from back in the 1990s. She immediately stepped out of the kitchen, and unfortunately was right. The screaming was loud and sounded very panicked. Erin jumped up the stairs to the first floor into the master bedroom, where Sophia was sitting on the bed, hugging her Tommy and the mascot Jay had given her on their first night. She was shaking while screaming "Mommy!". Erin had her in her arms immediately. She hugged her tightly.
"My poor Baby-girl, I'm so sorry! I'm here! We were just downstairs." She kissed her daughter's hair. Sophia's panicked screams had become loud sobs, she was gasping for air in between.
"Shhh! It's all fine, I'm here! You're not alone!"
"Mommy!" Sophia kept crying.
Erin began to rock her, and to hum nursery rhymes. That finally made Sophia calmer. She still cried, but much quieter than before until there were only a few sobs interrupted only by her calling out to "Mommy".
"Shh," Erin ended her singing, but still petted her head and back. "Mommy's here!" She touched her wet cheeks. "Hey, Baby-girl, I'm sorry, you woke up alone. Daddy and I were just preparing breakfast downstairs. We thought you'd still sleep. I'm so sorry!" She gave her another kiss on her crown.
Sophia looked at her with still wet eyes. "Backfast?" she asked.
"Yes, Baby! Breakfast! We want to go to church later, remember? You wanted to wear your pretty new dress we bought at grandpa's, remember?"
Sophia looked at her contemplating. Then she nodded and smiled. "Daddy?" she asked.
"Yes, you can show Daddy your pretty new dress. He's coming with us to church. But first we are having breakfast, aren't we?"
Sophia nodded. "Pancakes?" she asked.
Erin smiled at her. "You can't have pancakes every morning! It has to stay something really special, and if we have it every day, it's not special anymore."
"Why?" Sophia asked.
"Because", Erin was thinking, "because, remember what fun we had on your birthday at Christmas?"
Sophia nodded smiling. "Yeah!"
"That was really special, and it won't be, if it were Christmas every day."
"Why?" Sophia asked.
"Because then we would have to eat all this sweet and fatty food every day and we all would look like Santa in a week!"
Sophia got big eyes. Then she looked behind Erin. "Daddy!" she said again.
"Daddy's downstairs preparing breakfast. Shall we go and join him?"
Sophia shook her head. "No!" she said.
"Why not?" Erin asked her.
"Daddy here!" Sophia pointed behind her. Erin turned around, and saw Jay wearing a cocky grin.
"How long have you been there?" Erin asked irritated.
"Long enough, you got quite a good singing voice." He kept on grinning.
Erin reddened slightly. "Thanks!"
Sophia crawled out of the bed and took Jay's hand. "Backfast!" she told him smiling.
"You wanna go downstairs with me, and have breakfast?"
Sophia nodded.
Jay looked at Erin. "You coming?" he asked.
"I, "she looked at Sophia who reached out with her other hand towards her. "sure", she got up and took her daughters hand. "I can take a shower later."
Because the FBI had forgotten about a highchair for Sophia, she sat on her mother's lap. Although she wasn't offered pancakes, she showed a great appetite, unlike her mother, who was just putting her fork into the eggs, without it ever reaching her mouth. With the other hand she was unconsciously stroking her daughters head. Jay looked at her. "Erin, you should really eat! You'll need your strength back!"
Erin startled at that and put the fork with some egg in her mouth, put the fork down and took a bite out of her buttered toast. After swallowing, she said: "I'm not really hungry. Why on earth do we have listening devices in almost every room but forgot about a baby phone?" she asked more to herself than to him.
"You heard her without the phone!"
"Yeah, because she was screaming so loudly. She clearly panicked, Jay!" She looked at him sadly. "I hope the neighbors didn't get the wrong impression."
"You still heard her. I didn't!" Jay offered. "Eat!" He nodded towards her plate.
"I was farther away from the stove than you, and I got this Mommy's ears," she winked at him.
"Mommy's ears?" Jay asked mockingly.
"Yeah, it's something evolutionary, woman can hear higher frequencies, and are supposed to hear their offspring from miles away."
"Offspring? Miles? Really Erin?"
"Well maybe not miles, but farther than men can. But you did hear her as well. You came as well," she realized.
"I saw you jumping away, turned the stove off, and then I heard her. I first thought, there might be an intruder. Luckily, there wasn't."
"No, there wasn't," Erin kissed Sophia's crown again. "She just panicked because she awoke alone in a room she didn't know. Didn't you?" she asked Sophia who was so absorbed in getting her scrambled egg on the fork, that she didn't even realize, that Erin was talking to her.
"She's occupied!" Jay commented.
"Obviously!" Erin replied.
"She's fine, you can eat !"
"Do we have fruit by any chance? Somehow greasy doesn't go well with my stomach this morning."
Jay got up and had a look at the fridge. "There are some blueberries. Do you want some?" He turned around. Sophia immediately grabbed in the direction of the berries.
"Bueberry!" she said.
"Blueberries would be great. Is there also some Yoghurt?"
Jay turned to the fridge. "Wow, even organic!" he turned around again. "I'll get you a bowl!"
"That would be great, thanks!" Erin smiled at him.
"Bueberries!" Sophia demanded.
"May I have some blueberries, please, Daddy!" Erin corrected her.
Sophia looked at her than turned back to her father smiling. "Bueberries pease!"
"Well can't say no to that smile!" Jay commented while he handed Erin the bowl with Yoghurt and berries, put some of the berries on Sophia's plate, and sat down again to continue his own ham and eggs.
"More!" Sophia immediately said.
"Eat what you got, then, maybe, Daddy will give you more." Erin told her, before Jay could get up again.
"More, pease!" Sophia said smiling at her father.
"Sorry, Erin, can't say no to that smile and 'pease'" he said getting up again getting more berries.
"You're such a sucker!" Erin commented amused.
"For that smile, always!" he winked at both of them while he put more blueberries on Sophia's plate.
"More!" Sophia said smiling at her Daddy again.
Jay was about to get up again, when Erin touched his hand, and said "No!" looking at him. Then she turned to Sophia explaining. "No, Babygirl, this is enough. We still need some for tomorrow, and you don't want to get a belly ache."
Sophia looked up to her. "Pease?" she asked.
Jay had to chuckle. Which didn't really help Erin to stay serious. She barely managed. "Sophie, it's great that you mastered the word please, and I'd love to hear it more often from you, but it won't get you more berries this morning, because you already have had enough, and" she was looking at her watch, "we have to get ready really soon to get to church. Do you understand that?"
Sophia nodded. "Pitty dress!" she said smiling at Jay.
"Do you have a pretty dress for church today?" Jay asked.
Sophia nodded excitedly.
"You can show it to Daddy later, now eat up, will you?" Erin demanded.
Sophia turned to her mother again. "Pease!" she corrected her.
Erin smiled amused. "Eat up, please, Sophia! You know you are way too clever for your age, don't you?" She stroked her head and kissed her crown, and the continued her yoghurt.
Jay smiled at both of them while clearing his plate. He got up. "I'm getting ready upstairs, you got this?"
"Always!" Erin smiled back at him.
They left the house when the church bells were already ringing to signal mass would start in 15 minutes. As they lived quite close to the church, they still managed to be there in time for the service. They even had enough time to find three seats on a bench in the back together. They nodded towards their new neighbors and congregants. The church was enormous for such a small town, there were much smaller churches to be found in Chicago. With the enormous size came the coldness. They kept on their coats, but Erin was still freezing, because she was only wearing a skirt. Therefore, she put Sophia on her lap, which also proved useful in keeping the child quiet. Till they had to get up, sit down, kneel, and sit up again. Erin had forgotten how much physical exercise came with a Catholic service. She also had forgotten about the intense stench of frankincense. Or maybe they used less frankincense in the churches in Chicago and New York. She couldn't remember to feel that dizzy from the stench before. Luckily, Jay next to her knew all the prayers, and hymns, so that she could still pretend sing and pray along despite her dizziness.
Sophia loved the service, the entry of the Pater with his three deacons and five altar boys, their costumes, the smell, all the movement, and she was amazed by all the candle lights in the darkened church. She turned around pointing at all the lights and the beautiful colorful windows. Her parents managed to keep her quiet, nevertheless. Erin watched her carefully as she was scrolling through the pages of her book of prayers. It was an edition she'd gotten from the Voight's congregation back in Chicago.
Jay felt quite at home at the service. It wasn't that much different than the ones he was used to from home. Only the sermon was a bit more conservative than he was used to. While the Paters at the churches he knew from Chicago more or less reflected a modern interpretation of the Catholic faith, this pater, Father Henry, talked as if the Second Vatican Council had never happened. That he wasn't preaching in Latin was the only thing that distinguished him from Catholic pastors from back in the 1950s.
The service wasn't in Latin because it was a mass especially for families with children. Accordingly, Sophia wasn't the only child at the service. Some families had up to six children between Sophia's age and teenagers. Jay couldn't make out all the small children, as most of their heads didn't reach beyond the backs of the benches they were sitting on, but he could easily guess, where they were sitting. Others sat like Sophia on one of their parents laps. The altar boys were between the age of seven and thirteen. All boys, which further reflected on the conservative interpretation of Catholicism by this congregation. Additionally, there appeared to be no lay preachers that participated in the service, especially no female ones. Everything was done by the Pater himself and his three deacons.
Towards the end, they offered peace to the people around them. There was old man alone sitting next to Jay, another family with two kids, about the age of the altar boys, an older woman sitting next to Erin and Sophia, and another family of five in front of them. They all were smiling at them, but also taken a bit a back, as they obviously didn't know them.
The Pater ended the service by inviting everyone to join the congregation for coffee, tea and talk in the church hall. He further informed them they still welcomed donation for the big bonfire planed for Easter Sunday, and that the women's group crafting the little Easter baskets for the kids would meet next Wednesday after the morning service again. After that, they were free to go, or join the congregation in the church hall, which of course, they intended to do.
As they were turning around, the old lady next to Erin, introduced herself to them. "Hi, there," she said waving at Sophia. "I couldn't help but notice, you're new here. My name is Marge!" she offered her hand to Erin who gladly took it with a smile. "Indeed, we are, we just moved here, yesterday. This is my husband Jay, and our daughter Sophia."
Jay took her hand after Erin. "Very nice to meet you. You have such an amazing church over here!"
"Yes, it really is. You wouldn't expect that in a small town like ours, would you? Hello, little Sophia! How are you?" she waved at Sophia who was now carried by Erin. Sophia smiled brightly: "Hi!" she said.
"Wow, you already talk!" she looked at Erin. "How old is your little angel?"
Erin smiled. "She'll be 27 months the day after tomorrow."
"And already talking! That's impressive little Sophie!"
"Yes!" Sophia smiled. "Phia talk!"
"Wow, she's amazing! And so cute! Is she your only child?" Marge kept on asking.
"So far, yes!" Jay answered smiling. "But of course, we are hoping, praying for more!"
Erin kept on smiling, although she felt like kicking Jay somewhere. "Children are such a blessing!" she said instead.
"You're so right! I got two sons; Johnny is working at the hardware store down Weis Street. He's got a son a year older than little Sophia here. Little Alex, he doesn't talk that much, but you really should meet them. They should be somewhere in the church hall. Will you join us for some tea or coffee? I have to introduce you."
"Sure, we will!" Erin said with another smile. They followed her towards the church hall.
"Unfortunately, it's lent, so there won't be any cakes or cookies, but I shouldn't have those anyways because of my diabetes," she sighted.
"Oh, dear!" Erin said with empathy in her voice.
"But the tea and coffeee are nice, too, and there's milk from the Miller's dairy farm for the kids. Do you like milk, Sophia?" Marge asked her.
Sophia nodded. She was looking very interested at the church hall when they entered. Erin let her down but kept her on her hand.
Marge waved at a blond woman with a boy attached to her hip. "That's my daughter-in-law, Brianna, with my grandson, Alex!" Marge said as they were approaching.
Erin and Jay exchanged glances. "Is your surname by any chance Carlson?" Erin asked.
"Yes, how did you know?"
Erin didn't answer, but directly turned to Brianna. "Brianna, hi! I'm Erin, Erin Halstead, we met your aunt Gretchen yesterday!"
Brianna smiled shyly. "You're the family from Chicago she told me about? Sorry, I didn't give you a call yet."
"No problem, we just arrived yesterday, and hadn't time to call either!" Erin smiled at her and took her hand. „So nice to meet you! That must be Alex?" Alex turned away in his mother's arms.
„Alex, you can say hello, to this young lady over here!" Marge told him.
Brianna let him down, but he vanished behind her. „He's a bit shy!" his mother apologized.
Sophia meanwhile was leaving Erin's hand and went for a curious look behind Brianna.
A brought shouldered, dark haired man joint them. „Hi, mom!" he hugged Marge, then he turned to Jay shaking his hand. „Hey man! I'm Johnny! I see you already met my family!"
„Yeah, I did! Jay!" he introduced himself, „and that's Erin, and behind your wife, it's our daughter Sophia."
Hearing her name, Sophia came closer again.
„Is Alex hiding again?" Johnny asked his wife a bit annoyed. Brianna nodded. „Can't believe it!" Johnny sighted. „ Alex, come on out there! Here's a little girl that likes to meet you. Be a big boy, will you? Say hello!"
At that, a very frightened looking three-year-old came out behind his mom.
Erin didn't like the tone Johnny was addressing his son. She bent down to Sophia and Alex.
"Hi, Alex," she said with a soft smile. "I'm Erin, and that's my daughter Sophia."
Alex looked from Erin to Sophia, and back but other than that showed no reaction.
"He doesn't really like to meet new people," Brianna apologized again for her son.
"He doesn't like to meet people!" Johnny corrected her laughing. He turned to Jay again. "Well, maybe he'll become one of these computer nerds one day, and can fix our computer problems, that way, Frank wouldn't have to come all the time," he winked at his wife, who looked a bit embarrassed. Erin got up again.
"It's smells a bit bad down there, I think, I gonna change Sophia," she said to Jay. He nodded. She turned around to Brianna. "Brianna, could you show me, where I can change Sophia?"
Brianna nodded. "Alex might need a new diaper as well," she said while he put him up again.
Erin got big eyes but didn't say anything. 'Didn't they say Alex was three already?'
As Erin and Brianna left with the kids, Johnny turned to Jay again.
"So, what brings you here, Jay?" he asked.
"Work, basically," Jay replied. "I'm starting a new job as correction officer at Mercer County Jail tomorrow." He tried to sound very proud.
Johnny and Marge got big eyes. "That's where my son Sam used to work until recently," she said surprised.
"Oh, maybe I got his job then?" Jay asked. "Why did he leave?"
Marge looked to the ground. "He...," she began.
"I'm sorry, Jay, my brother passed just recently!" Johnny answered fast.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I'm sorry for your loss, man!" he said trying a smile on Marge.
She looked up. "He was such a good boy, but the war had changed him," she began, but was interrupted by her other son again.
"I'm sure, Jay here, is not that interested in Sam's sad life story, mom!" He turned to Jay. "The accident still ways hard on her," he explained to him. Jay nodded. He turned to Marge again. "Was your son in the Army, mam?" he asked her.
Marge nodded. "He volunteered just after 911. Went to Afghanistan, did three additional tours in Iraq. When he finally came back for real, he'd changed. But he'd gotten back on his feet, started the training to become a prison guard. Worked there for a few years, till..." she stopped talking, before Johnny could interrupt her again.
"I'm really sorry for your loss, mam! I did some tours in Afghanistan as well. It wasn't easy, saw good people never coming back, and the ones that did, all changed, got new demons to fight."
Marge looked at him smiling sadly. "Then you understand. I bet your mother was worried sick as I was when you were over there."
Jay had to swallow hard. He wasn't really ready to bring his mother into this mission, but it might help him to bond with Marge and over that maybe with Johnny as well. "Yes, she probably was. It's also hard on the loved ones!"
"With which regiment did you serve?" Johnny asked.
"3rd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment," Jay answered proudly.
"Wow, did you hear that mom? He served as a Ranger!"
Marge smiled at him. "Wow, that's really impressive!"
Johnny turned around and waved towards another broad-shouldered guy about his age with lighter hair.
"Hey, Gary! Come on over, I got to introduce you to someone!"
Gary turned away from some kids and a woman with longer hair, that looked a bit younger than him, and came over.
"Hi, man, that's Jay, the new guard for Mercer County. He used to be an Army Ranger. Maybe we could take him to your father's range someday?"
Gary looked at Jay and offered him his hand. "Wow, Army Ranger, that's impressive! I'm Gary, the local mechanic. If you have any car trouble, you come to me." He smiled at Jay.
"Jay Halstead! Nice to meet you, Gary." Jay shook his hand smiling. "Your father's got a range?"
"Yes, he owns the gun range just out of town. Would you like to join us there one day?"
"Sure man! Got to stay in training, haven't I?" He winked at Gary.
"Then you'll probably should give us your number," Gary said.
"Sure thing!" Jay got out his new FBI-phone and showed them that number. "Just call me, then I got yours."
"So, what brings a former Army Ranger to become a Jail Guard in Mercer County?" Gary asked after he put down Jay's number. "Wouldn't you want more exciting jobs?"
"Well, actually, my years in the Army and afterwards at CPD, offered enough excitement for more than one lifetime. I got a family now; I want a more quiet and especially safer life for them than I could offer them back in Chicago."
Gary nodded; Johnny's face went darker. "You're a cop, man?" he asked suspiciously.
"I was, so was my wife, but we were both fed up with that job after everything got so P.C. and liberal over at Chicago. My wife was actually suspended because she used 'too much force interrogating a pedophile'. That's an actual quote from CPDs higher ups. Can you believe that? She wanted to save a little boy! And what she got for that was not a medal, but they asked her to leave for treating a child molester the way he deserved."
Marge got big eyes. "That's unbelievable!" she exclaimed.
"Right?" Jay continued and Gary nodded as well. "Well, after that I stayed on the force for a few more years, because, well she was pregnant, and we couldn't really afford our nice condo with only one income. So, I stayed, though I hated it more and more. We were allowed less and less during busts, interrogations and so forth and everything was filmed, checked, and re-checked that we did everything by the book. Meanwhile crime went up, so we were basically fighting a war without any real weapons, at least not the once we could have used if the bloody liberals hadn't been in control of our city council. I got shot at the beginning of the year, because we weren't allowed to use a no-knock warrant. After that, I had to promise my wife to leave the force for good. I was thus very happy, when I found the opportunity to transfer to Mercer Jail. I still want to serve my country, but in Chicago, I wasn't sure, if that was still the country I wanted to serve." Jay finished their cover story.
"I hear you man," Gary responded. "If you want to be proud of serving your country again, you definitely came to the right place. In Mercer, we still are more or less unaffected by the liberals snowflake's agenda. There's still no gun control, but crime control. We love our country, and stand by all its core values: freedom, trust in god, crime control, but no gun control, the pursuit of happiness for all of our people, family. We stand united to defend these values against everyone who threatens them, be it an invader from the outside, or an enemy from within, how we call the damn snowflakes over here." At that he winked at Jay.
"I'm so with you brother!" Jay offered his hand to Gary again. "Glad, I'm finally at the right place!"
He turned around and saw Erin talking to the woman standing by Gary's side before. Sophia was running around which appeared to be their youngest daughter. "Speaking of family! That your wife and kids over there?" he asked Gary.
"Yeah, they are. Got four kids and you? Just the one running around with my Rachel, or more?"
"Just the one!"
"But she's especially cute!" Marge added.
Erin had realized, they were talking about them, and waved them over.
The two men and Marge followed.
"Hey, Babe!" she said smiling at Jay. "Brianna just introduced me to Loreen. She wants to teach me how to craft Easter baskets for the kids!"
"That's great, Babe," Jay said smiling back at Erin, trying very hard to suppress a loud laugh at the idea of Erin crafting anything, especially Easter baskets. He turned to Loreen instead. "Hi, I'm Jay! I just met your husband, Gary. He wants to invite me to your father-in-law's gun range." At that he turned to Erin: "Jealous?" he asked her smiling.
"Nuh, that's behind me!" Erin immediately. "You boys do your thing, I'll rather learn to craft something, than improve my aim, which is probably still better than yours." She winked at him, and then turned to Gary. "Hi, Gary, I'm Erin!"
Gary nodded. "The badass cop, Jay told us about! Honored to meet you!"
The younger women looked something between surprised and impressed. Erin looked with questions in her eyes towards Jay. "Bad ass Cop? I'm a mom now!"
Marge interfered. "He was only praising you. I think it's impressive, if a woman fights the good fight for the law, and is still able to stay a woman, and not become one of these feminists, who don't know their place." At that she looked at another blond woman, that were standing a bit away from them.
Erin tried to not get offended by Marge's comment. She quickly realized that Marge had just given her a large compliment in her own world view. So, she smiled instead. "Thanks, Marge."
"You've been a cop?" Loreen asked impressed.
"Yeah, that was another lifetime ago!" Erin said humbled.
"She was fired for going after a child molester, can you imagine?" Marge told Loreen impressed and exited at the same.
Erin looked around, a bit nervous. What had Jay done? This was part of her cover story, but certainly shouldn't be discussed with children present at a Catholic Church! Before it went any further, she interfered. "Yes, that's true. Maybe, I'll tell you more about that somewhere else, not here, with so many kids around," she nodded towards their kids.
Loreen nodded fast. "Would really interest me, but not here. You're right."
The other blond woman, Marge had been looking at earlier, joined them. She had some resemblance to Loreen but looked a bit older.
"Hi, I'm Samantha, Loreen's sister. I own the hair salon in town." she introduced herself to Erin and nodded towards Jay. Erin did realize that she was scanning him and liked what she saw. "I happened to hear, you used to be a cop?" she said turning to Erin again.
Erin nodded. "Yes, that's true, used to be, that's in the past. I'm Erin." She smiled and nodded towards Jay and Sophia. "They are my present and future now," she said smiling even more. To her surprise, Samantha seemed a bit annoyed by her act.
"Yes, sure!" Samantha put on a fake smile. "But you haven't forgotten all your skills, have you?"
Erin was even more irritated. "Which skills do you mean, Samantha?"
"Shooting? Martial Arts Combat?"
Erin saw how Loreen, Marge, and Brianna all got big eyes, while the guys, especially Johnny, seemed more annoyed. Although Erin had the impression the annoyance was more towards Samantha than towards her.
"Uhm, yes, I mean, I probably am a bit out of training, but the basic moves and how to aim, and shoot a gun, I don't think you can actually unlearn that."
"Perfect, want to join me on the gun range one day? And help me motivate these two to join?" Samantha nodded towards Brianna and Loreen.
Erin checked for the others reaction, especially from the men's. Johnny looked annoyed, Brianna ashamed, Loreen also a bit.
Samantha began to defend herself . "What? With the hair saloon closed, I could at least learn something useful. And don't you guys want your women to be able to defend themselves?" she especially looked at Johnny at that, but Gary was the one slightly nodding.
"Actually, I think it's a great idea, if Erin could teach our girls how to defend themselves, you never know what's next to come in times like these," he said looking at Johnny.
Before Johnny could answer, Jay supported the idea. "Erin's' is the best female shooter, I know, and she's great at sparring. Sure, she can teach."
"I can defend my wife myself, thanks!" Johnny said darkly.
"You never know, what's coming, and you can't be always by her side. Look, what happened to your brother!" Gary continued.
"My brother was weak!" Johnny countered.
"John Richard Carlson!" Marge exclaimed. "You are never to call your brother weak! He was the bravest man there was! He saw things, you could never dream of. He went to hell and back, and" her voice trembled she had to stop. Brianna was by her side supporting her. She looked with reproach at her husband, stroking Marge's back. "It's ok, Marge, Johnny didn't mean that."
At that, Pater Henry came by. "Margret, dear, everything alright?" he asked.
Marge nodded. "Sure, Pater."
"It must be hard for you. You know I'm here, if you ever want to talk about Sam, don't you?"
"Yes, Pater, I know he's with god," she tried a smile.
The Pater looked at her reassuringly, and then turned to Jay and Erin. "You must be the new couple from Chicago, the Halsteads?" he greeted them with a warm smile.
Sophia had seen the Paters approach towards her parents, and immediately left her new friends and ran towards them. She knew that man in the costume was special, so she was very curious, why that man talked to her parents.
"Yes, we are!" Jay said smiling at the Pater, while scooping up Sophia. "And that's our daughter Sophia. Say hello to the Pater, Sophia!"
Sophia waved at the pater. "Hi!" she said.
"Hi Sophia, I'm Pater Henry! Welcome to our church!" Sophia smiled her best smile. The Pater turned back to her parents. "Which congregation did you belong to in Chicago?" he asked.
"St. Vincent. It's a small congregation close to my parent's home," Erin offered fast. "Sophia was baptized there."
"Were you?" the Pater asked Sophia the same question, Jay had in his head. Sophia nodded excitedly.
Jay really had to keep his emotion in check at that. Sophia was baptized in Chicago? While he was where exactly?
Samantha interrupted his dark thoughts and brought him back to the present. "Pater, could we maybe use the churches gym, for a self-defense class, taught by Erin Halstead, over here?" she asked the Pater.
Pater Henry looked a bit taken a back. He needed some time contemplating. "Uhm, I guess, in general, yes. We just learned, however, that the governor is imposing a stay-at-home order starting tomorrow. We are still allowed to meet for service, but all other activities have been canceled till at least April 6th."
Everyone looked shocked. Realizing, that that was news for everyone, the Pater decided to raise his voice to get everyone's attention. He then informed all the members of his congregation that where still present, about the stay-of-home order, and what it would mean for their churches other activities. There would be non, and the services would be reduced to the ones on Sunday and Saturday night, and that there would be more services on those days, that everyone would be able to attend without overcrowding the church. He ended, with requesting them to stay safe, and be sure that the Lord would look out for them.
After that people talked angry, some afraid. Many had questions, the Pater couldn't answer yet. He asked them to watch the local news tonight. That there would be a press conference by the governor later that day.
"Will there still be an Easter Egg hunt and the bonfire?" Loreen asked.
The Pater looked around. "The order is only valid until April 6th. That's the week before Easter. So, if we all stay safe and follow the order, there's no danger to this year's bonfire and Easter Egg hunt." He smiled reassuringly especially at his youngest parishioners. Then he turned to Loreen. "Loreen, you're quite good with computers and the internet. Maybe you can organize the crafting of the Easter baskets online?"
Loreen didn't look convinced. "Maybe," she said. "We would have to distribute the material though, today?"
"Take whatever materials you need from our crafting room and feel free to distribute it to the volunteers." The Pater smiled at the younger women around him but became serious again. "This might be our last time to be around each other outside mass for at least two weeks. So, let's enjoy the time together! Say hello to all the people here! Talk to the ones you haven't spoken to in a while! And say a warm welcome to our newest members Jay, Erin and Sophia Halstead!" He pointed towards "the Halsteads". "They came all the way from Chicago to start a new life here. Make them feel welcome! If you see them in the grocery store or whatever shop will still be open, greet them as you greet all other members of our congregation. Let them not feel lonely at their new home!"
Jay and Erin smiled carefully and nodded.
The Pater continued. "Stay as long as you want today! God bless you all!" With that he ended.
They stayed another hour or so and talked with their new contacts. When Sophia began to get cranky because she became hungry, they started saying their goodbyes. Before they left, Erin got some colored construction paper for the Easter baskets. She further promised Loreen to meet her for shopping at the grocery store the next day, where they also had arts and craft tools. Erin had admitted that she neither got good scissors nor knew which glue to use best.
Brianna was to come down to Erin's house on Wednesday, so they would participate in the online session of Easter basket crafting together. That was slightly against the stay-at-home order, but Erin had the strong impression, Brianna needed to get out of her house with that boy. While they were changing the kids, she'd seen blue and dark marks on Brianna's arms, and the fact that the boy wasn't talking and hardly communicating, worried her even more.
When Sophia was down for her afternoon nap, she told Jay about her suspicions. He reacted strangely. He shrugged, and just commented, that they weren't there to safe a woman and her son from a possible violent husband. He hadn't been talking a lot to her since they had left church. He was staring at the pictures on the mantel piece in the living room, while she talked to him from the couch. She got up and came closer.
"What are you looking at?" she asked him.
He turned around holding the framed picture of Sophia's baptism looking angry. She carefully stepped back again, while he accusingly asked her: "Sophia was baptized in Chicago? Why didn't you tell me? When was that exactly?"
Erin relaxed again taking a deep breath. "You believed that?" she asked unbelieving.
"Sophia nodded at the question, and this is the altar of St. Vincent in the background!" he said still angry.
"Of course, it is!" This was ridiculous, he couldn't have really believed that. "It's a fake picture, Jay! You know that! And Sophia nodded, because she liked the priest, I guess, or because I just said that. How should she be able to remember? She was less than 5 months old and is still only 2."
Jay looked at the picture again. He felt a bit stupid. "You lied to a priest? You let our daughter lie to a priest?" he asked unbelieving.
"Of course, I did. In acting as if we were married, you did as well. But if it's any help to your Catholic conscience, the priest knew we were lying to him."
"He knew?"
"Yes, he knows we're undercover. He was the one passing the information to the feds."
Jay felt more stupid. "Did I know that?" he asked irritated.
"Maybe not, that it was this priest, but I thought you might have figured. Plus, his name was in the briefing."
"Maybe... How could I forget that?" he wondered.
"Well that briefing was quite long, so maybe you skipped the part with the priest?" She became more serious again. "Listen Jay, I know this might be hard on you to act as if you have been part of all the big moments in Sophia's life, when you haven't. And these pictures, well, they probably make it even harder for you. I'm sorry, I got you into this mess. I am happy to tell you everything you missed, maybe that will make acting for you as if you've been there easier?"
He looked at her contemplating. "Maybe," he said.
She took the picture from him, sat down on the couch, and pointed to the place next to her. "Sit down!"
He did as he was told, and she began to tell him about the baptism again. "Sophia was four months old. It was in New York, because we lived there, and because Hank wouldn't want us anywhere near Chicago during that time. That was when..."
Jay had calculated himself. "When everything went down with Al. You'd helped to get away with the body. They had been looking for you as well," he remembered.
"Well, actually, Al had helped me, and they never knew, it was me, Hank made sure of that. But coming to Chicago during that time would have been more than dangerous to me. It was hard enough to persuade Hank to take a weekend off and come to New York for the baptism. In the end, he took a flight to Philly and Maggie's husband picked him up there by car."
"Did you ever ..." Jay stopped. He felt stupid again.
"Did I ever what, Jay?" she looked at him directly.
"Forget it, it was stupid." He shook his head.
She touched his knee. "Look at me, Jay Halstead!" she demanded. "You're not doing that again! Shutting me out! Especially, if it's concerning anything I did or did not do, do you hear me? We're on a dangerous mission, with a two-year-old we both love and want to protect. If we can't be open and honest with each other, this mission might be in danger, and so will we, and so will Sophia! Do you want that?"
"No, of course not!" he started to defend himself. "But doesn't mean this is easy for me. Fine!" he looked at her. "Did you ever, even for a second, thought of inviting me, letting me be part of that?"
"Yes, I did, more than once. I already told you, you were part of the reason, Sophia was baptized at all. But inviting you, letting you know during that time? It would have risked the ivory tower to remember me again, and my close relationship with Hank. That could have gotten me in jail as well. And then what? Sophia should have stayed with a father she didn't know? She was only a baby, and Hank told me you weren't at a great place either."
"Well, that was still partly due to you leaving." he admitted slightly angry.
"You weren't at a good place before I left!" she countered.
"Yes, but... I think we had this discussion before," he shrugged. "I'm just still wondering , how you could keep her from me for more than two years, counting the pregnancy, even three. Erin, that's a damn long time, and everything that went down with Al happened in about six months, that still leaves two and a half years , where you didn't tell me. I mean, even if you didn't trust me to 'be in a good place' for that kind of news, I got better, Hank had probably told you."
"Yes, he did, but he also told me that Hailey was part of that positive change."
"Hailey and I didn't start seeing each other until she came back from New York, which was two weeks before I came to New York."
"Well, that I didn't know, but still you must have been close before. I don't think, Hank would have made that up. Or did he?" she asked now uncertain herself.
"No, he didn't," Jay admitted. "So, you asked him about me? How I was doing?"
"Of course, I did. It really hurt to hear of whatever you were going through, but I still wanted to know. But I was also afraid of telling you, I have to admit. The older Sophia got, the more difficult it became to imagine, you would only be happy about her existence, and not angry with me for withholding her. And well, that fear somehow turned out to be true, didn't it?"
"Yes, of course! But what did you really fear that I would hate you, or that I might claim my rights and take her from you?" he asked looking at her.
"Both, I guess," she said honestly. „Although, I already imagined you hated me for leaving without saying goodbye, I feared this would make it worse. And how could you hurt me more than take away my daughter?"
"Yeah, maybe. But, honestly, Erin that would hurt Sophia even more. You have been her primary care giver all her life. Taking her from you would be devastating for her. I would never do that to her. Plus, I don't think any court on earth would give me the sole custody of a daughter I hardly know, who just met me, who has a healthy relationship to her mom and is not mistreated. Plus, I would have lost my job, obviously. And without income my chances at court would be even worse, don't you think?"
She tried a weak smile. "Guess, you're right. Maybe I didn't think that through."
"Maybe!" he said smiling. " Erin, I won't fight you on custody in court, but I do want to be part of all the big moments in her life from now on. All the birthdays, Christmases, first day of school, high school prom, that rocker boyfriend..."
Erin laughed at that. "You will be, I promise. If you're lucky, you're here now, for the first day without diaper!" she grinned at him.
"Still hanging on that plan, are you?"
"Oh, yes! Especially, after I met a three-year-old in diapers today! I won't let that happen to her!"
Jay's smile stopped. "Well, you said yourself, there's more than one thing wrong with that boy. Sophia is much more resilient. Probably suffered less trauma. Of course, she gonna be out of diapers sooner!" he said with a proud voice.
Erin smiled at that. "Listen Jay, I won't be able to leave the task force until after the election for sure. But maybe I could try to get a transfer to our Chicago field office afterwards. I'd hate to leave New York. Sophia has a family there, even if it isn't one by blood, but you are her family as well, and I guess, I owe you one, a big one. So, maybe we should look for those two houses, you were dreaming of three years ago, but instead of occasional sex, we coparent our daughter. What do you think?"
Jay looked at her thinking. „I love Chicago, but maybe these houses could be somewhere in or near New York as well. But we don't have to decide that now. The world is changing fast, and who knows, what's the best place to live by the end of the year? New York is hit hard at the moment, but the whole country will be. And seeing what these nice parishioners are planning, there are more dangers, than a deadly virus, a pandemic, and an economic collapse. I am glad that I am able to at least prevent some part of all that."
Erin nodded. They were quite for a while, thinking.
Then Jay got a grin on his face. "So, about the plan with those two houses: Sex is now off the table?" he winked at her.
She slapped him on his knee. "For now, it is!" she countered, trying to stay serious. "Last time we had sex; you didn't even know how to use a condom. The proof for that sleeps upstairs," she grinned at him. "And as you keep telling everyone how much you wish to expand our family lately, I have to be extra careful."
"So, whatever I say undercover is taken seriously, but I shouldn't take seriously what you say. Did I understand that correctly?"
"Not really, you should take everything I say seriously, always, except when I tell people something about our family life during the time we weren't one!" she looked at him more seriously again.
He nodded. "I'm trying to remind myself of that distinction in the future! And I keep in mind, that this means, sex is only off the table for now!"
Erin rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable!" she said getting up. "I'll wake up Sophia. She shouldn't sleep too long otherwise she won't tonight, and we both still have to write our reports for today later."
He nodded. "Do we exchange them before we sent them, like back in the days?"
"That would be great, thanks!" She smiled at him before she went up the stairs. She was glad to have him back as a partner. He'd always been much more supportive and understanding of her slight dyslexia than Su or anyone of the FBI had been, except for Maggie maybe, who'd helped her in Quantico. Well, and there were other reasons, why she was glad she had him back.