The drive from the airport in New York to the Voight house in Connecticut seemed to be taking forever to Jay. It was probably because he was dreading arriving there and having to see Hank. That was a real shame because he greatly respected the boss, and had liked him until the relationship with Erin had started and Hank had reacted badly to it. Jay wanted to get back on good terms with Hank. The problem was he couldn't see it happening. His anxiety was insisting that things were about t blow up big time tonight, and possibly wreck his relationship with Erin.

The satnav in his rental car told him he had reached his destination. He was in an obviously wealthy area of rural Connecticut, not dissimilar to where Erin was about to move to. He stopped at a large gateway in the wall that lined what was apparently the Voight property. The gates stood open, but Jay wanted to take a moment to summon what little courage he could find.

"Get on with it already," he snapped at himself. Dithering was only making things worse. He drove up the driveway, approaching a massive colonial house with four dormer windows in the roof. That meant it was a three storey house, and there was also a single storey extension on the left side, including a quadruple garage. Even with four spaces in the garage, two sports cars sat parked near the house. Neither of them was Erin's Ford GT. Hank really did have money to burn.

Jay parked up somewhere he thought would be out of the way and killed the engine. He got out and looked at the hired Chrysler. It wasn't a bad car at all, but it looked out of place and pathetic in this setting. His anxiety told him that was exactly how he would look inside the house. Or mansion. That was probably the right word to describe it, he thought.

Feeling like his stomach was tying itself in a knot, he walked over to the front door and knocked loudly. He expected Hank to open it and a confrontation to begin immediately. But instead an attractive blonde woman who was maybe pushing fifty was standing there when the door opened. She smiled and greeted him. "Mr Halstead? I'm Trish. Please, come in."

A housekeeper, he thought. Of course they had a house keeper. Why wouldn't they? He came from a childhood where he and Will had been lucky if they were given a bath once a week. Erin came from a childhood where she'd had a nanny and a housekeeper. Now that he thought about it, he could remember her telling him about that in the early days of their relationship.

"Thank you," he said to Trish as he stepped into a grand entrance hallway. Grand was the word for sure. The massive wooden central staircase was grand. The stone floor was grand. The furniture was grand. The decoration and paintings were grand. The place even smelled grand. Jay disliked everything about it, not that he was going to say so.

"This way," Trish said, leading him towards a door on the left side of the hallway. She was dressed quite stylishly for a housekeeper, he thought, and she was pretty for her age. Although she wore glasses, they really suited her.

The room he was taken to was an expansive living room with a chairs in front of a large fireplace, he discovered. There was a real fire burning in the fireplace, which had the room very pleasantly warm. To Jay's horror, Hank was seated in one of the chairs and there was no sign of Erin. Having to talk to the old man with her around had made his anxiety bad enough. Now he was going to have to do it without her. That was so much worse.

"Jay. Come and have a seat," Hank said. His tone was neither welcoming nor hostile. "Get him a drink would you, Trish?"

"Of course. Whisky?" Trish asked Jay.

Noticing that Hank had a whisky in hand, Jay figured the right thing to do would be to join him. "Yes, thank you," he said.

"Ice?"

"Please."

"Coming up. I'll let Erin know you're here too," Trish said, and she left the room.

Hiding his reluctance, Jay walked over and sat in a leather chair. The warmth coming from the fire was nice. There wasn't much warmth coming from Hank.

"Never thought I'd be doing this," Hank said dryly.

"Neither did I," Jay replied. "Hank, I know you're not happy about me and Erin..."

"Not now," Hank cut in. "You've just walked in the door."

'Should we talk about the fucking weather first?' That was what Jay wanted to ask, but he didn't for obvious reasons. He didn't understand social situations the way Hank did. Maybe it was considered improper to get straight down to 'business' like that. Or maybe Hank wanted to see him with Erin before deciding what to say about the situation. Jay had no idea, and that only made things worse for him.

Trish came back into the room with Jay's drink and handed it over.

"Thank you," he said.

She nodded. "You're welcome. Erin will be down shortly. Hank, I'm heading out now."

"I'll walk you out," Hank said, getting up.

Jay found it a little odd that Hank would walk his housekeeper out, but what did he know about having staff working for him? All he cared about was Erin getting her ass into gear and coming downstairs as soon as possible.

Hank soon returned and sat back down, and some small talk about Erin's new house and the current state of house prices and the economy got started.

Jay only had to make his way through a few minutes of it before the door opened and Erin mercifully walked in. To him, she looked incredible. She had apparently been doing her hair and makeup upstairs, and it was all on point. She was dressed casually in black pants and a red sweater, but that did nothing to detract from her beautiful appearance.

"Hey," she said warmly, approaching Jay.

"Hi. You look... great," he said awkwardly, not wanting to be too effusive in front of Hank. He stood to greet her, and she pecked him on the lips.

"Thank you. So do you. How was your flight?"

"It was fine," Jay said.

"Right, sit down, both of you. I've got something to say," Hank said.

Here we go, Jay thought.

"I'd better get a drink," Erin said. She made for the door before Hank had a chance to tell her not to.

"I don't deserve her, you know," Hank said quietly once she was gone.

Jay sensed it was his first chance of the evening to make something of a connection with Hank. He made sure to look the man in the eyes. "Neither do I. You were right what you said that day in your office. She's better than all of us."

Hank nodded slightly, a distant look in his eyes. Then Erin returned, drink in hand. She too had gone for whisky.

"Okay, dad. Let's all sit down, and you can tell us what's on your mind."

Dreading what was about to happen, Jay sat back down in the same chair as before. Erin took one close to him, across from Hank. That seemed quite symbolic.

Hank sat down, sighed, then downed his whisky in one hit. "Erin, we've had several conversations about this relationship. Jay, we've had a couple too."

Jay wasn't sure conversations were what they'd had, but he didn't interrupt.

"There's one thing I can't deny," Hank went on, looking at his daughter. "Erin, I've never seen you happier. And you being happy is the most important thing in the world to me. I mean that. I'd do anything for you. And in this case, I've come to realise that what I need to do is accept your choice to be with Jay. You've got to understand that no matter how old you are, you're my baby girl. You're all I have in the world. I can't see you get hurt. Not by anyone. Ever."

Erin looked tearful, whereas Jay was pleasantly shocked, if it was possible to be pleasantly shocked.

"I'm not going to get hurt, dad," she assured him. "Jay has never so much as raised his voice to me. He treats me like a true gentleman, always. I mean, he's flown halfway across the country to have dinner with us and to help me move house tomorrow. He flew to New York to have lunch with me a few weeks ago. If only you had even half an idea of how blessed I am, you'd have no concerns at all."

Jay felt like he wasn't far from tearing up himself. All of his efforts were worth it when they were so greatly appreciated.

Her words seemed to have an impact on Hank. He looked as close as he ever got to being humbled. "Then I probably owe this man an apology. Jay," he said, offering his hand.

Jay noted that he hadn't actually been given the aforementioned apology, but the handshake was an olive branch. He had to take it. He wanted to take it.

"We want the same thing, Hank," he said, and accepted the handshake. "Erin means the world to me too. And I never wanted to be at odds with you, either."

"I'm going to... uh..." Hank vaguely gestured with his empty whisky glass as he got up and headed for the door. Jay could tell that what he really needed was a minute to compose himself. He just couldn't say that.

"Jay, I'm so happy," Erin said, taking his hand when Hank was gone. "I love you, you know?"

Shit, Jay thought. As amazing as it was to hear her say that to him, he had wanted to be the one to say it first. Now he never could be. He squeezed her hand. "I love you too, Erin. More than I could ever tell you. I was hoping to find the right moment to tell you that tonight. Well, there it is."

Erin smiled happily. "Oh, Jay. This is better than I dared to think tonight would go."

"Me too, believe me."

"Did you bring your things in? I don't see a case."

"Left it in the car," Jay realised out loud. He had been so anxious when he arrived that he hadn't even thought about his luggage.

"Let's go get it then. I'll show you around the house while dad takes a minute. That really wasn't easy for him."

"I know," Jay admitted. "I met your housekeeper by the way, Trish," he added as they got up and made for the door.

Erin laughed. "Trish isn't the housekeeper, she's dad's girlfriend. They've been dating for about a month. I figure she's played a part in what just happened."

"Oh God," Jay winced. "I'm glad I didn't say something embarrassing. You didn't tell me Hank's girlfriend would be here."

"She wasn't supposed to be. She was supposed to head out of town this morning but her plans changed last minute. I've had so much going on I plain forgot to tell you. Sorry."

"It's all good. I didn't embarrass myself. She's a very good looking woman, too. Not anything like as good as you, obviously."

"Nice save," Erin said, eyeing him as she opened the front door.

Jay decided to get cheeky, since that was what she had basically just accused him of anyway. "No gloves? It's cold outside."

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't take both of us to get your case. So no, no gloves. There will be time for that later anyway."

The way she said it made it a clear reference to sex, so Jay's ears pricked up like a rabbit's. "Oh, really? With your dad home?"

"His room is on the opposite side of the house. Go get your case, you're letting the cold air in."

Jay headed out to his car, feeling the polar opposite of how he had felt when he had walked from the car to the house. Now a cease fire had been declared with Hank, Erin had said the magic words and he had said them back, and he was even on a promise for sex. Suddenly, all was right with the world.

A/N: What do you make of how the night has gone so far?

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