Erin's POV
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the heavy arm across my body. Turning around, I nearly fell off the bed when I see Jay lying next to me until the events from the day before came back to me. He woke up and smiled at me. Smiling back, I realize that this is the happiest I have ever woken up before. Since I left, that is. Suddenly our lips collided and our tongues danced around each other before we jumped apart as a tiny little body jumped on top of Jay.
"Daddy! Daddy! I want pancakes!" Dean yelled as he ran away just as quickly as he had come.
I looked over at Jay in surprise and see him laughing at my expression.
"What?! I just didn't expect it!" I defend myself, laughing.
"Whatever you say, Lindsay. Deny it all you want, but you just got scared by a four-year old," Jay said, laughing.
"Whatever," I say in defeat.
When we get to the kitchen, it was crowded. I know what it's like to have a kid in the house in the morning. But four? It was chaos. Jay just laughed and headed over to the stove, where he began mixing batter and cooking pancakes while simultaneously engaging in conversation with three separate kids. I just stared at him in awe. He was amazing. I headed over to join Juliana and Hank at the kitchen table, where Hank stood and gave me a big hug.
"I missed you, kiddo," he said.
"You too, Hank. Hey, how's he been doing? I mean, I know I talked to him last night, but he closed off. I don't know how to get him to open up, Hank," I ask.
"Erin, you've been gone for sixteen years. Now I know he wasn't very open before you left either, but you broke his heart. It's gonna take time before he can fully trust you again," Hank explains, before going to help Mouse with Lincoln, who just woke up. When he got back to the table with the little boy in his arms, I asked him one more question.
"Hey, Hank, can I come into the District today? I mean, I get it if you don't want me there, but I would like to see everyone and stuff, but I get it if you—" I say as I start to ramble, but before I can finish, Hank cuts me off.
"—Of course you can, Erin. But just don't mention Sophie or the kids. The team knows about them obviously, but Jay just got back a few weeks ago. He hasn't told them about Sophie's death yet," Hank says.
"Okay, will do. Thanks, Hank," I respond, as he nods to me.
I start to head over to Jay when I see Lily tugging on my hand and dragging me back to her room.
"Erin! Can you play with me?" Lily pleads with me.
"Of course I can. What do you wanna play?" I ask, sitting down on her bed.
"Dolls. But we should talk first," she says with the most serious face she can muster.
"Okay. About what?" I say with the same amount of seriousness.
"You and Daddy, duh," Lily responds, giggling.
"What! Oh, um, no that's not—"
"—I saw you two kissing this morning, don't try to deny it," she says, brushing her doll's hair.
"Oh. Well, you don't have to worry, Lily, okay. I'm not trying to take your mom's place or anything. Me and Jay just have a bit of history that brought up some memories," I try to explain, wincing as I try not to make her mad.
"Oh, stop it. I know you like him. Just tell him. He likes you too, I can tell," Lily says with a smirk.
I smile back and relax immediately before responding with an okay, and picking up a doll and playing police with her.
Jay's POV
When I saw Erin being dragged away by Lily, I smiled and before I could yell after them about breakfast, Grayson brings up soccer practice and starts rambling about a boy he doesn't like. I tell him to be nice and try to be his friend, when Mouse walks up and puts a hand on my shoulder, telling me to go talk to Juliana. I thank him and go join Hank and Juliana at the table.
"Hey. Good morning. I hope you slept well," I start with.
"Yeah, I slept great. Thanks," Juliana says with a smile.
As I take Lincoln from Hank's arms, I happen to glance at the clock and realize the time.
"Shoot, I'm running late. Is there any way you can make sure they eat and get dressed?" I ask Hank, who agrees and walks off.
"I can take him, if you'd like," Juliana suggests, and gestures to Lincoln in my arms.
I thank her and hand him over before running to my bedroom, getting ready and poking my head into Lily's room on my way back. My heart melts at the sight. Erin and Lily are laughing as they play with the dolls.
"Hey, guys," I say, walking in.
"Daddy, you're messing up the arrest," Lily complains while Erin softly laughs on the side.
"I'm sorry. But Lily, you won't be going to Uncle Will and Aunt Natalie's house if you don't get ready soon," I tell her and her eyes quickly go wide as she runs to her closet to get ready. I laugh and turn to Erin, who is smiling as well.
"You can borrow some of Sophie's old clothes. They'll probably fit you," I say as she turns to me.
"Really? You'd be okay with that?" She asks, with a small smile on her face.
"Yeah. I heard you were coming to the district today. I figured you'd want to change after sleeping in that all night," I say with a smile. She just smiles back and follows me back to my room.
"Hey, Jay?" Erin asks.
"Yeah," I respond.
"Thanks for opening up to us last night. I really appreciated it. Juliana did too, I could tell," she says, and I smile and nod.
"So, Will and Natalie, huh? He finally worked up the courage to ask her," Erin laughs.
"Yeah. They're amazing together. Will's actually been practicing surgery again, under Rhodes, believe it or not," I tell her.
"Really? Well good for them," she says before asking, "Any kids yet?"
"Yeah, they have three. Owen, obviously. Will adopted him about one year after they got married," I say, and she smiles. "Then they had a girl and a boy, Zoey and Noah," I say, laughing.
"I bet they're adorable," she says before realizing I'm laughing, and asks what I'm laughing at.
"When I dropped the kids off last week, I walked in the door to see Zoey holding a stray dog in her arms, begging Will to keep it. Owen was running around the house screaming about rabies, and Natalie was trying to wrangle all three kids and cook breakfast all at the same time, while Noah was just sitting on the couch peacefully watching cartoons. I think it was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life," I barely get out, and by the time I'm finished, we're both dying from laughter.
"Oh, man, they have some wild ones, don't they," Erin says, laughing.
"Yeah. We take turns watching each other's kids. I watch theirs on the weekend, they take mine during the week," I say, finally calming down.
"That's awesome, Jay. I'm proud of you, you know?" Erin says, making me smile.
Before I know it, my lips are on hers, and she's kissing me back. Then I pull away and shoot her a smile before saying that we need to get ready to actually get to work on time.
By the time I get Lincoln ready and all the kids are in the truck, except for Grayson, who insisted on riding in Mouse's jeep, we are all running half an hour late. Hank and Mouse follow me in the jeep to Will's house, then to the precinct, where Trudy begins to summon me, before stopping upon seeing that I'm here with Erin and the mysterious girl from yesterday, along with Hank and Mouse, who are also late.
We rush upstairs and when the team sees Erin, everyone freezes. They all rush her at once, Antonio reaching her first, squeezing the life out of her. Then Ruzek, being Ruzek, begins to ambush her with questions, the last one being, "I can't believe Jay forgave you, what the hell happened," before I cut him off.
"Adam, come on, man, let her breathe," I say.
"Okay, everyone! Step back," she says, and everybody obeys, not wanting to experience the wrath of Erin Lindsay, which makes me laugh.
"Yes, I am back. But please, one question at a time, and before you ask, yes, this is my daughter, Juliana," Erin announces, shocking everybody. Juliana waves nervously, and I put a comforting hand on her shoulder, earning a smile from her.
"Wait, Jay, is she—" Hailey begins, before cutting herself off.
"Yes, this is also my daughter. Be nice. You don't want to get on her bad side, let alone Erin's, or mine," I say, getting the point across, jokingly. We all sit down and start on paperwork.
About four hours later, Trudy comes upstairs with two soldiers, who salute me and Mouse.
"At ease, soldiers," I say, before asking what they need.
"Master Sergeants Halstead and Gerwitz, it's an honor, we've heard about all the things you've done for this country," they begin, and I nod, along with Mouse.
"General Jackson wants you to report to Camp Benning tomorrow for your next mission," they report.
"I told General Jackson that I was taking some time off, does he not understand that?" I say, getting irritated, and I can tell Mouse is too, if the way his hands are shaking is any indication.
"He said it's urgent. Lieutenant Logan has been declared MIA. The last place he called in was Korangal Valley. They forbid any more soldiers from going in. But you two know that place better than anyone else. He wants to send you in, you two only, for a rescue," the younger one says, while the other one was already engaging in conversation with the rest of the team and explaining that Mouse and I are legends in the Army. Of course, we never told anyone what we've done. It's too hard to talk about the details. They finish, and the team looks at us in awe.
I look at Mouse, who shrugs, then Hank, who asks how long the mission is, and I look back at the soldier.
"About 2 weeks sir, they will return when Logan is in their hands safely," the soldier explains.
I reluctantly agree, but then they offer me condolences, and I freeze. The team comes to a realization and leads the soldiers out of the bullpen. Antonio and Hailey lead me to the break room, where Mouse talks me through breathing techniques, and hands me a beer. I take a swig, and snap out of it. Mouse takes me to the locker room, where he just stays and doesn't say a word, until I'm ready to return. I thank him, and when I can't continue my explanation of Sophie's death, he finishes for me.
Hank lets us leave early, and Erin and Juliana come with. When we get home, Mouse offers to watch the kids while I get some rest before tomorrow.
Erin lays in bed with me until it's dark out, and when she goes to leave, I ask her to stay, and she rejoins me in bed.
"I'm sorry, Jay. I know you didn't want them to know yet," she says, stroking my hair, which I let grow a little long, ever since Sophie died.
"It's okay. I'm kind of glad. I just couldn't bring myself to tell them, and now that they know, it's like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I don't have to fake a smile every day, and pretend everything's fine," I admit, and she nods, moving down to rub my back.
"Erin? Can I ask something big from you?" I ask her.
"Yeah, Jay, what is it?" She asks.
"I want you to stay here, with the kids. Help Hank with them. Whenever I'm away, Hank just stays here with them, and I want you to be here when I get back also," I say, hopeful.
She hesitates before answering with a smile, "Of course, Jay. I want the same thing."
I turn around and kiss her, and as she returns the kiss, all I can think about is that I can't wait to get back home already.
When we wake up, Mouse had my bags packed, and I drive to the airport with Erin, Hank, and Mouse. Juliana offered to watch the kids until Erin and Hank got back.
Erin kisses me again, and says goodbye, with a nervous smile before stepping back to let Hank say goodbye.
I look back once and wave goodbye to Erin before I walk onto the platform in my fatigues and my army bag in hand, with Mouse next to me.
"You ready?" I ask.
"Never. You?" He answers with a smile.
"Never," I say back, giving a weak smile.
