Eeep I'm so glad people are excited that the series is back! Thank you for all the sweet comments and as a thank you and holiday gift, I've got the next chapter up earlier than I thought.
Piper rubbed her eyes sleepily. It was still dark outside and she knew that it was a Sunday, so she didn't have to wake up like normal for school. Usually Sundays meant that her mommy and daddy would sleep in and one of them (or both, if she was really lucky) would wake her up for pancakes or waffles or sometimes, a trip to the diner. Sundays meant that she could spend her whole day with her mommy and daddy, and most Sundays Will and Hank would come over for breakfast or dinner.
She was so happy that her parents and brothers were finally home. After cooking with Hailey, Piper sat at the dinner table with Hank, Will and Hailey while her daddy changed Liam and her mommy fed Ryan. She was really glad that Hank came by to visit because even though her parents were back home, everything was different. Instead of being silly like they usually were, her mommy and daddy were trying their best to make it so that the boys didn't cry too much. Even after they napped, Piper could tell they were tired. Hank brought over more food that she and Hailey had made earlier that week when she couldn't be at the hospital with the boys because the nurse said she had a fever. Last week, Piper didn't feel sick. She was still confused about why the nurse said she was, but Piper was glad that she didn't feel bad, because her mommy and daddy always got stressed when she wasn't feeling good. They did not need any more stress.
Piper promised herself that she was going to be on her best behavior when the boys came home. She remembered a little bit of what it was like when a baby arrived because of her time with the Chase's, a foster family she had when she was little. Baby Drew came home and cried all the time. Mr. Kyle and Mrs. Allison asked her and the other kids to be on their best behavior and Piper thought she was doing a good job, up until a lady came to the house and took her away forever.
She knew she was home with Erin and Jay forever. She was their kid and she wasn't going anywhere, ever – they promised her that all the time. But Piper didn't want them to have any reason to be more stressed or upset with her, which was why she found herself awake in the middle of the night.
Because being awake meant that she wouldn't have nightmares. And if she didn't have nightmares, she wouldn't wake up crying or yelling, so then she wouldn't wake up the boys. Piper really did not want to be the reason the boys couldn't sleep. The books that her daddy had left on the coffee table before they went to the hospital for the boys to come said that new babies needed lots of sleep. And she knew that her mommy and daddy needed sleep also.
For all the sleep her brothers were supposed to get, it felt like one of them was always awake. Piper laid in her bed and listened to the hushed tones of her mommy's voice trying to tell one of the boys to settle down. After her mommy's voice quieted, she heard her daddy. She had really missed their voices but she did not realize that now the boys' crying would accompany her parents voices late at night.
Having two babies in the house was loud.
Piper jumped when her bedroom door opened. "Shoot. Sorry. Go back to sleep, bug," Jay said apologetically, mentally kicking himself for waking his little girl. He hadn't been able to tell through the baby monitor if she'd been sleeping soundly and wanted to check before attempting to sleep again.
"Daddy?" she mumbled, propping herself up on her elbows, "You okay?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry for waking you up," he whispered, "Everything's okay. I was just checking on you. You can go back to sleep." Jay carefully padded over to the bed to press a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "I love you."
Piper wrinkled her brow. "I love you too but Daddy, you do not smell good." She grimaced when she caught another whiff of him. "I think you need a shower."
Jay sniffed his t shirt and nearly gagged. "I do stink," he murmured, "Sorry about that, kiddo. I'm going to hop in the shower and-" He paused when two separate wails echoed from the hallway. Jay glanced back down to Piper and sighed. "You haven't slept either, huh?"
She shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry," he repeated tiredly, "I know this is tough and-" He paused again when the shrieks intensified. "Shoot."
"I can help Mommy," Piper determined, shifting the comforter off her lap. "That way you can take a shower."
Jay resisted the urge to sigh. He was fairly confident that Erin would not be happy with the fact that they'd kept Piper up into the early hours of the morning with the boys crying, but he'd deal with that later. It was the first night outside the hospital and even with Will in the basement and Hank on the couch in the living room, it still felt like they didn't have enough hands.
"Liam blew out his diaper," Erin said by way of greeting when Jay entered their bedroom, "And Ryan is starving, apparently." She gestured to the wailing infant in the bassinet on her side of the bed and then the other baby wailing in her arms. "Oh, Noodle, did we wake you up?"
"She hasn't slept either," Jay supplied, rubbing his face with his shoulder. He immediately grimaced. There was definitely spit up on his shirt. "And I was informed that I reek." He reached into the crib, grimace on his lips when he saw how messy his son was. "I think you smell worse than Daddy, buddy. Might be bath time for you."
"Shh, shh, shh, little man," Erin begged Ryan, bouncing him lightly in her arms, "They haven't had a bath at home yet." She bit down on her lip. She wanted pictures of her baby's first bath like the other good parents, and she wanted to be there for it too. But one of her babies was hungry and the other was in desperate need of a good clean up. "We were going to get a video or something."
Jay nodded and reached for his phone before retracting his hand. "Ack," he muttered, "I uh, I'm covered in baby poop."
Erin resisted the urge to sigh. "We'll just have to tell him about his first bath," she said dejectedly, "I'll try to come in after I change the sheets and feed Ryan."
"I can change the sheets," Piper told her, wrinkling her nose when she saw the state of her little brother, "Daddy taught me how to do it before. And then I can help with the bath because I read the instructions with you when you set up the baby tub."
"That would be incredible. Thanks, kiddo." Jay gave a grateful smile to his little girl as he extracted Liam from his soiled pajamas. "Yikes, bud," he remarked, holding his son out in front of him, "Let's get you cleaned up."
"Okay, okay," Erin murmured, attempting to shrug off half of the maternity shirt she was wearing so that Ryan could eat, "Hang on, bubba, just a second." She frowned when she caught Piper's gaze. "Noodle, I-"
"It's okay," she assured her, "We talked about it when you were in the hospital with the boys. It's how they eat, right?" Piper gave a small smile and dropped the sheets into the growing pile of laundry in the corner of her parent's bedroom. "It was also in the books you were reading."
Erin let out a breath of relief. So much of this part of motherhood was new to her and explaining it to a perceptive little girl was a whole other challenge. "Shoot," she murmured when an angry scream came from the bathroom. She adjusted Ryan carefully in the hopes that she'd be able to stand and help Jay in the bathroom, but her other son let out a cry of displeasure.
"I can go help Daddy," Piper said quickly, taking Jay's cell phone off his bedside, "We can get a picture for you too." After a grateful smile from her mommy, Piper hurried into the bathroom. "Oh, he hates the bath," she remarked, frowning as Liam screamed his tiny head off in the baby tub.
"I don't think he'll be on the swim team," Jay replied, carefully running the cloth over his baby boy's soft skin, "It's okay, bud. Shh, it's okay."
Piper crouched down beside her daddy and offered her new little brother a smile. "It's okay," she echoed, tentatively reaching a hand out to touch his tiny fingers, "Daddy's just cleaning you up a bit because you didn't smell too good."
Liam locked eyes with Piper, his passionate cries dwindling. "It's not so bad," she continued as Jay wiped him down gently, "You're being really brave, little guy."
"He's watching you, kiddo," Jay said, watching as his son's gaze was trained on his little girl, "I think he likes your voice."
Piper beamed. "Mommy wants a picture," she whispered, pointing to Jay's phone, "We should get one when he's not crying."
"You are a lifesaver," Erin gushed, gratefully accepting the to-go cup of coffee from Officer Kim Burgess, "Thank you."
"Did you even sleep last night?" Kim asked, wrinkling her brow when she surveyed the lower level of their house, "Where's Jay?"
"Laundry room. We've already gone through all the baby sheets," she said after a hasty sip of coffee. The liquid splashed over the sides and joined another stain on her maternity top. "We haven't even been home a full day but both boys had diaper explosions last night. At least Liam had the courtesy to wait until he was out of my arms. Had to change our bedsheets as well."
Kim made a face as Erin took another sip from the coffee cup. It has been a morning. As soon as Jay emerged with a cleaned up Liam, Ryan felt it was an opportune time to use the bathroom while nursing, creating an undesirable mess in Erin's lap that extended to the bedsheets. It was Ryan's turn for his first bath, and he liked it even less than his brother.
By the time both boys were clean, fed and asleep it was almost time to get up again. Erin fell asleep on top of the mattress before Jay had a chance to put fresh sheets on and Jay ended up falling asleep for a grand total of forty-seven minutes on Piper's bedroom floor after carrying her back to bed.
"I thought Will was staying with you guys?" Kim said, making her way into the kitchen to examine the contents of the fridge, "Do you need anything from the grocery store?"
Erin shook her head. "I think we're okay. Will had a shift but he'll be back. Hank was here last night too but I'm not sure what happened with him." She paused when Liam made a fuss. "Hi, buddy. You want to meet your Aunt Kim?" She placed the coffee cup down and lifted her son gently, offering a small smile to her friend. "Do you want to hold him?"
Kim nodded and quickly reached for the hand sanitizer on the kitchen counter. "He's precious," she gushed, "Oh, those eyes, Erin."
"Ryan's got 'em too," Erin said fondly, "Big blue eyes, just like their daddy." She let out an exhale. "Appetites like their daddy too."
"Driveway is shoveled," Adam declared as he kicked off his boots, "Where's Squeaks at? I thought she was going to be here to supervise?"
"She's changing the sheets on in the boys' bassinets upstairs," Erin said, continuing to smile at her son in her friend's arms, "She was up all night with us too. I said we could watch a movie once the boys go down for a nap but she said she wanted to help Jay with the chores. She's such a good little bug."
"How about I go help Jay so that you guys can get some actual rest," Kim suggested, holding Liam back out to Erin, "I'll be right back."
"Woah, Kim gets to hold the kid and I don't?" Adam looked crestfallen. "You don't trust me with a baby?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Hand sanitizer first," she said, pointing to the bottle on the kitchen counter, "He's the wiggly one." She smiled when her former coworker cradled her son carefully. "I think he likes you."
"You are so much cooler than your dad already," Adam told the baby, "So much cooler. And you can come to your Uncle Adam for all the fun stuff since now that your dad's a dad, he doesn't have one cool bone left in his body."
"You look good with a baby in your arms," Erin teased, "But I don't think Jay's going to let you borrow the boys to land girls at Molly's."
"I've never seen so many diapers," Adam remarked, surveying the stack of boxes at the bottom of the steps, "How much poop can go through a body this size?" He examined the baby in his arms in confusion. "Well, I guess he is a Halstead."
"Ha, ha," Jay replied, carefully extracting Liam from his coworker's arms after emerging from the laundry room, "Eleven days old and my boys already know not to trust a word out of your mouth, Ruzek."
Adam's jaw dropped indignantly. "I am not wrong about the lifetime supply of diapers you purchased," he said, "You've got a stack taller than Squeaks."
"Over half our family is in diapers," Erin grumbled in response, carefully stroking her son's head, "Liam can go down, babe. They'll need to eat in like two hours."
"Three kids in diapers?" Adam asked, eyes wide, "Sheesh."
"Not Piper," Erin said, dragging a hand through her hair as she watched Jay place Liam into his bassinet, "One of the many fun things about pregnancy that nobody tells you." She resisted the urge to sigh when Liam let out a wail of displeasure after Jay removed his hands. "He's also the loud one."
"He needs a change," Jay determined, lifting Liam back up, "Alrighty bud, off we go." He shot a look to Adam. "You need some practice, man?"
"I'm good," Adam said quickly, raising his hands, "I was told I was needed for my heavy lifting skills. I'm pretty sure Kim's folding your laundry."
"And you're carrying it upstairs," Kim informed him, passing a basket of folded clothes to Adam, "It looks like Voight's keeping your fridge stocked. Are you sure you don't need anything from the store?"
Erin shook her head gratefully. "I think we're set. Thank you so much." She let out an exhale when Kim smiled. "I really appreciate everything."
"Of course," Kim said warmly, "Twins are a lot. If you want, Adam and I can take Piper for a couple of hours so you and Jay can get some rest."
She swallowed. Sunday was usually a family day. She'd been hoping to get some time with her little girl on the couch after a week away. The boys were amazing, but she had seriously been missing snuggles with her first baby.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry from Ryan. "He's probably hungry," she said, her body heavy with exhaustion, "Halstead appetites." Erin reached into the bassinet and lifted her son into her arms. "Hi, bubba. Mama's going to feed you in just a minute." She turned back to her friend. "Jay and I were going to try to spend some time with Piper after lunch but-" She paused when she saw Jay emerge from the laundry room where he'd set up another baby-changing station, a fussing Liam in his arms. "He's hungry too, isn't he?"
"Think so," Jay said apologetically, "We might be raising linebackers."
"There's no way this little one is going to be a linebacker," Adam said, gesturing to Piper who was following him down the steps, "She's got quarterback written all over her. She's definitely in charge."
"I helped Adam put away the clothes," Piper explained, "'cause we won't find anything if it's in the baskets."
"That's my kid," Jay beamed proudly, bouncing slightly with Liam in his arms, "You're allowed to tell Adam what to do, kiddo. Thank you for your help with the laundry."
A smile spread across Piper's cheeks. "Sergeant Platt gave me permission to be in charge," she said coyly, "Because she trusts my judgement."
"Well, what does your judgement say about a burger and fries?" Adam asked, "Kim drove but I think we can convince her that a trip across town to the best burger in Chicago is worth it."
Piper's eyes widened. A burger sounded yummy, but she really just wanted to spend the day on the couch with her mommy and daddy. Her mommy said the boys were going to take a nap in the afternoon and that they would watch a movie together and have Noodle and Mommy time. Except now both boys were fussing and Piper knew that meant they were hungry. Time with her mommy would have to wait.
She forced the smile to stay on her lips. "As long as Kim is driving," she said, "Because she is better at driving than you."
"We've got two sleeping babies," Jay determined, taking a heavy seat next to his fiancé on the couch. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "They're dry and full thanks to their Mama. You're amazing, babe."
Erin swallowed. "We have three kids," she rasped, gesturing to the bassinets beside the couch. "Three. There are only two right here." Her voice cracked. "She left with Adam. Adam, of all people. She left."
Jay shook his head quickly. "He's just helping us out. And Kim is with them. Piper is safe and totally fine."
"She's safe but she's not fine," Erin said flatly, dragging a hand underneath her nose, "Or if she is fine that means that our baby doesn't need me anymore and-"
"Babe," Jay interrupted, continuing to shake his head, "We're her parents. She's our kid and our first baby. Nobody's replacing her."
"She is replacing us." Erin drew in a shaky breath. "I-I replaced my mom with Hank and Camille. I got one taste of what it was like to have real parents who loved me and yeah my mom sucked but she was still my mom and I replaced her, just like that. A-and Noodle, she went through fourteen foster homes. She's had to cycle through mommies and daddies over and over again, who's to say she isn't going to do it again because we're not giving her what she needs, huh?"
Jay pulled her closer, pressing his lips to the top of her head. His girl was in the thick of postpartum hormones. Every emotion was heightened and she was beyond exhausted, running on barely any sleep and still feeding and loving two needy baby boys. He knew his partner's fears would never be realized, but in the haze of the fourth trimester, Erin believed them to be true. "I love our baby boys, but I also want my baby girl back," she whimpered plaintively, "I want to hold her and snuggle with her and listen to her talk about books and school and I want her to let us in."
"I know," he whispered back, kissing her head gently, "She's adjusting, babe. And if I know our kid, I'd bet that she's trying her best to be as grown up as possible because she can see how much work the boys are."
"But that doesn't matter," Erin said, pulling back from his arms, "It doesn't matter how much work they are or that there are two of them. She's our baby as well."
"I know that, and you know that," he murmured, rubbing her arm gently, "And we've told Pipes that, but our little bug is always putting other people's needs in front of her own. She's a Lindsay. And we've only been home for a day and I can tell you that it's because she loves you so much that she doesn't want you to worry about her."
"I want to worry about her. I do worry about her." Erin rested her head on Jay's shoulder. "How do I fix this?"
"There isn't anything to fix," Jay soothed, smoothing her hair back, "It'll just take time for us all to adjust. I said I'd try to talk to her and I will. Just didn't get a chance yesterday."
Erin opened her mouth to reply and stopped when she heard a gentle knock at the front door. "Kim texted," Jay said quickly, holding up his phone, "Didn't want to wake the boys with the doorbell." He stood to answer the door, hoping that the boys would remain asleep.
"We ended up doing takeout," Adam whispered, gesturing to the sleeping child on his shoulder, "Squeaks conked out the minute we pulled onto the highway."
Jay nodded. His little bug was exhausted. The poor thing had barely managed two hours of sleep the night before because of her little brothers. It was no wonder she fell asleep the second there was peace and quiet. "Kim's got the takeout. I can bring her upstairs-" Adam paused when Erin shook her head rapidly.
"Can you bring her here, please?" she asked, wiping her eyes quickly, "It's been too long since I've gotten to nap with my sleepy little Noodle."
Adam carefully placed Piper down on the couch beside Erin. "You've got a great kid," he whispered fondly, "I know you said she's a mini-Jay, but this one is definitely a Lindsay."
Erin leaned down to kiss the top of her first baby's head, the sweet smell of the coconut shampoo filling her heart a thousand times over. Piper was a Lindsay. She was her baby. The little girl shifted slightly, settling against Erin's arm. "She's so cute," Erin murmured, offering a tiny smile to Jay. Her partner had bid his coworkers good bye and thanked them for the lunch and was in the process of plating up some food for his girls. "She's also exhausted."
"Hopefully she'll sleep tonight," Jay declared, mouth full of hamburger, "You want pickles and onions?"
She wrinkled her nose. "That was a pregnancy thing," she determined, "I'm not hungry. I'd rather just watch her sleep."
Jay frowned. He knew from his reading that his girl needed extra calories. Even though she wasn't carrying two Halsteads, she was still feeding them. And breastfeeding took a lot out of her. "Babe-"
Piper stirred sleepily, roused by her mommy's voice. "Mama?"
Erin's heart practically burst at her sweet baby's nickname for her. Piper only really called her Mama when she was half asleep and it was one of her absolute favorite things in the whole world. "Hi, Noodle bug," she whispered, stroking her hair back, "You fell asleep in the car with Adam and Kim, so we got takeout burgers instead."
The little girl opened her eyes wider. "Oh," she murmured, "Adam started talking about his sneaker collection. It was really, really boring." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"That's okay," Erin assured her quickly, "You were up last night with us and the boys, so it's okay to be tired. You want to take a nap here?"
Piper yawned. "Can I um, can I have some burger first? I didn't eat breakfast."
Jay nearly dropped the burger he was stuffing into his mouth on the kitchen counter. They'd forgotten to give Piper breakfast. Voight had left after a call from Hailey and Will had a shift and the boys needed to be fed and changed and the laundry needed to be done…and they'd forgotten about breakfast. More specifically, they'd forgotten to feed their ten year old.
"We didn't give you breakfast?" Erin asked, looking down at her little girl in alarm, "Jay, we-"
"It's okay," Piper rushed out, "I wasn't hungry. And I'm not hungry now, I can nap instead."
Erin shot a desperate look to her partner. They'd forgotten to feed their child. Between the two of them, they were typically incredibly diligent about making sure Piper got enough to eat. She was well behind on the growth charts for children her age and had experienced a lot of trauma as it related to food before she was in their care. In their time together, both Jay and Erin had picked up on anecdotes of Piper not being given anything to eat for hours and days on end.
"We're so sorry about that kiddo," Jay said after swallowing. He quickly abandoned the hamburger he was eating. This was uncharted territory. He and Erin had made a point to be sure all of Piper's needs were met and rarely let anything slip through the cracks. Their little bug had spent much of her life falling through the cracks in the system and they had committed to each other to make sure that she didn't have to feel like that again.
But one day as parents to three kids in their new normal caused one of the most basic tenants of being a parent to be forgotten.
"It's okay," Piper repeated, shifting nervously on the couch, "I'm not hungry."
"You're allowed to be hungry," Erin managed, struggling to find the words she was looking for, "And you know you're always allowed to help yourself to anything in the fridge or cabinets, right?"
Piper nodded slowly. She knew that she was allowed to take snacks from the cabinet and from the counter whenever she was hungry. Her mommy and daddy would never get mad at her if she wanted something to eat. There was always, always food in their house that she could have. But with the boys crying and her wanting to help, she forgot about breakfast. Her daddy usually made it for her, which helped her remember to eat. Things were really busy and everyone forgot. "I don't want you to be sorry," Piper whispered, looking down at her hands, "You don't have to worry."
"You are our child," Jay said, doing his best to keep his voice steady, "You're our kid, Pipes. It's our job to make sure you have enough to eat and it's our job to worry about you. And if you're ever hungry, we want you to tell us. Whatever you're feeling, we want to know, okay? You won't ever be in trouble for telling us how you're feeling."
Piper nodded again. She knew that she wouldn't get in trouble, but she didn't like seeing her mommy and daddy worry or feel bad. "Okay," she said softly, "I um, I can do better, next time."
Erin felt her heart crack. "It's not you," she managed, "You don't have to do anything differently, okay? We know this is hard for you. It's…it's hard for Daddy and I too, getting used to our new family and the boys." Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them. "It is not your fault."
And then, Jay could see the writing on the wall. His little bug was trying to be brave and grown up because she didn't want to cause them stress and she didn't like seeing her parents upset. Erin was upset because their little girl was tamping her emotions down and it was making it hard for her to connect. It was a vicious cycle. Every time Piper saw Erin upset, his sweet baby tried harder to prevent what she thought was causing her mommy to be sad. Both of his girls were trying to protect the other.
"We're all adjusting," he said, reaching forward to stroke Piper's cheek, "And we're sorry that you've been feeling a lot of the adjustment, kiddo."
"I love having the boys here," Piper offered, giving a small smile, "Even though they cry, they're really cute." She rested her head carefully on her mommy's arm. She missed her parents so much. "I'm glad you guys are home."
Erin sniffed. "Us too," she rasped, leaning down to kiss Piper's head, "We missed you so, so much."
"How about some burgers on the couch?" Jay suggested, "They're really good. I can even pick off the pickles for my girls."
"I think my heart is going to explode," Erin said seriously, gesturing with her head to the living room. After lunch, she and Piper managed a nap on the couch which was honestly exactly what she needed. Erin had honestly expected her first baby to be clingier and needier with their new additions, but Piper was doing her best to be a good big sister. Her little girl was suddenly such a big girl in her willingness to be flexible to meet the boys' needs.
"That is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Will agreed, removing a plate from the dishwasher to put it back in the cabinet. "My little brother is definitely going to melt when he sees that."
Erin nodded in agreement. Will had stopped by with dinner which allowed an extra set of eyes to keep watch over her and the kids while Jay took a shower and cleaned up their bedroom. Having family close by and practically living with them was truly incredible.
Piper was lying with both boys on the baby blanket that Jay had spread out on the living room floor for tummy time. The boys were still little but were getting stronger by the day, and their pediatrician had recommended it after they were all discharged from the hospital. All of her babies had dozed off in the early evening after a few minutes, all flat on their backs just like their daddy slept. It was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen, and also gave her time to pump while Will kept watch over the kids.
"Look, babe," Erin whispered when she saw Jay coming down the steps. She put a finger to her lips and pointed to the living room.
Jay put a hand over his heart. "Oh my god," he breathed, "That's the most adorable thing in the whole world. She was playing with them?"
Erin nodded and rested her head against his chest after he pulled her close so they could marvel at their kids together. "Such a good big sister," she murmured, "I'm so proud of her." She swallowed. "She's so grown up."
He kissed the top of her head. "She's incredible," he said thickly. "You're incredible. Our boys are incredible. How'd we get so lucky, huh?"
Erin wiped her eyes. "I know we were so worried about how she would handle having them join our family," she rasped, "And she's definitely been feeling it but she's handling everything so well. She barely slept last night babe, and she hasn't complained. All she wants to do is help." Erin let out a breath. "I'm still worried but I'm also just so grateful for her."
Jay nodded. "What do you say we bring all our kids up to bed?" he asked, "I think we could all use an early bed time tonight."
She sucked in a breath as Jay led her over to their sleeping babies and carefully lifted Ryan off the floor. "We don't have enough arms," she choked out, the realization that one of her kids would be left downstairs, "Jay-"
"I can carry two babies," he said quickly, "If you want to grab Pipes-" Jay paused, immediately recognizing his mistake. Erin wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than one infant at a time. Carrying their ten year old was definitely off limits. "Babe-"
"Uncle Will is here," Will interjected, holding his arms out to take Ryan, "I'll stay down here with my nephews while you two tuck Munchkin in, alright?" He offered a reassuring look to his little brother. "I know you've been missing her."
Jay smiled gratefully and lifted the slack form of his first baby into his arms. The little girl was exhausted after a night of limited sleep and immediately settled against his chest. "C'mon babe," he murmured, holding a hand out to Erin, "Let's go tuck in our girl, hm?"
Erin followed her fiancé into their daughter's bedroom, swallowing the lump in her throat. Jay was so gentle with their little bug. Watching him be a father to Piper had her falling deeper in love with him over and over again, and now seeing him love their boys…Jay Halstead was the most incredible man she ever met. "Daddy?" Piper mumbled sleepily, "'s bedtime?"
"A little earlier tonight," Jay replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "Since you already brushed your teeth, Mommy and I are going to tuck you in so you can get some good rest, sound good?"
Piper widened her eyes when Jay carefully set her down on the bed. "Where are the boys?" she asked worriedly, "Are they okay?"
"They're okay," Erin promised, taking a seat on the bed beside her little girl. "They're still sleeping. I think you tired them out with tummy time." She offered a small smile and stroked Piper's hair back. "Thank you for all your help today, sweet girl."
Piper continued to look worried. "You…you have to go with them," she said, shaking her head, "They're little, they shouldn't be alone. I'll be okay."
"Will's down there," Jay promised, crouching down beside his girls, "The boys are all good." He exchanged a glance with his partner. "Are you worried about them?"
She nodded slowly. "They shouldn't be alone," she repeated, "They should know someone is with them." Piper drew in a breath. "I'm okay, really. You should go be with them."
"Sweetheart," Erin murmured, "The boys know we love them. And they are little so they do need a lot of love and attention, but right now, they're okay with Will." She stroked Piper's cheek lightly. "You're our baby too. And we don't want you to feel alone either. We love you so, so much."
Piper looked from Jay to Erin. "Am I making you worried again?"
"We're not worried," Jay supplied, "We just want you to know that we love you. And that no matter what, you're ours."
The little girl nodded in understanding. "Forever," she said, "Yours forever."
"Mm-hm." Erin continued to thread her fingers through Piper's soft hair. "No matter what. Last week was really, really hard for us." Her voice cracked. "We missed you so badly, baby girl."
"I missed you so much," Piper whispered, "I…I was really sad that I couldn't see you and the boys." She held her small arms out to her mommy. She could tell that she needed a hug. "But I know babies is really hard."
Erin nodded and leaned into her sweet baby's arms. "It's really hard," she agreed, "It's…it's a lot."
"But it's also amazing," Piper said, running a tiny hand over her mommy's head, "The boys get to be loved and snuggled all the time, even when they're smelly and crying." She smiled. "I love them a lot."
"We know you do," Jay praised, kissing Piper's forehead, "We're so proud of you, bug. And we're so glad you're our kid."
"I never got to be somebody's kid before you guys," Piper murmured, continuing to hold her mommy close, "I was never for real. But now I'm yours for real, and the boys get to be yours for real forever too." She swallowed. "Before…before I used to get worried that I would have to be alone again. But now I know I'm never gonna have to be alone because I have you guys and the boys and Will and Hank and Hailey. And the boys are gonna have all of us too."
Erin sniffed. "You won't ever be alone," she said thickly, "You always have us, and you can come to me and Daddy with anything."
"I know." Piper smiled when her daddy gave her another kiss to the forehead. She really missed his kisses. "I love you guys so much."
More baby and family content on the way! I can probably incorporate a few more requests if anyone has anything else they want to see :)