A week later and they were ready for there trip away although with an 8 month old they didn't realise how much stuff they'd need to take, bottles, formula, snacks, toys, more toys, stroller, portable cot, clothes, extra clothes and the list went on. Erin had a bag packed for her and Jay and it felt like about ten bags for Lily but she didn't care, she was so excited to go away as a family for the first time and to a spot that meant so much to Jay.
After Jay opened up to Erin about how he felt and told her about all his not so strong moments he felt closer to her then ever, they needed that. He needed her to know that sometimes he wasn't the strong man she always new and stood by and she was so glad he let her in, little by little she thought. But if they were going to hopefully spend the rest of there lives together they needed to know all the nitty gritty things about each other.
So here they were standing at the back of Erins SUV trying to play Tetris, with the amount of things and the amount of room available in Erins car they were trying to make it work.
"Do we really need all this stuff Er?" Jay said scratching his forehead.
"Yes Jay, I have packed the bare minimum." She replied bouncing Lily on her hip.
"Okay well maybe if we move these couple bags into the back seat we can fit the stroller in." He said moving things around, then finally with a bit of shoving the boot shut.
"See told you it would all fit it," Erin nodded towards him, then looked down at her daughter, "Now what do you say munchkin, time to get this show on the road?"
"Four hours in a car, let's see how well this goes." Jay smiled and then headed to the drivers seat.
"Well she has plenty of snacks and I have hooked the iPad up onto the back of the seat so hopefully there's enough Disney to keep her occupied." Erin said as she buckled their daughter in.
Jay got into the drivers seat and got comfortable, he looked over to Erin and squeezed her hand, "Once I get a truck it will be a whole lot more practical."
"Well maybe we could even buy a few things to permanently leave there, make it a regular thing." Erin shrugged.
Jay looked at her shocked and smiled, "Regular thing huh?"
"Only if I like it first," Erin said holding her finger up, "I will let you know after this trip okay? Now start driving otherwise your daughter is going to throw a tantrum."
"Wonder who she gets that off, impatient little thing." Jay smirked.
Erin playfully hit him in the arm, "Hey!"
"Ouch! Don't hit the driver Erin."
"Shutup and drive Halstead or you can go back to being the house husband." Erin said shaking her head, trying not to laugh which would only encourage him. He just looked at her and smiled, reminiscing on all the early memories they shared when they were first partnered up.
Finally after a good seven hours they arrived at Jays family cabin, yes it was only meant to take four hours but let's just say Lily wasn't the biggest fan of being stuck in the car for a long period of time, she wouldn't sleep, wouldn't be occupied nothing, between stopping at rest stops, changing who drove and who sat in the back with their daughter they finally got to their destination and boy was Erin amazed when she saw the so called cabin that Jay always talked about.
Erin stepped out of the backseat and quickly unbuckled Lily, then she felt arms wrap around her waist from behind, "So what do you think?"
"Jay it's amazing, this is more then just a cabin." She said as she took in what was in front of her.
It was two stories, big deck surrounding it and it had the most perfect view of the lake. She was even more excited to see the inside.
"Yeah well it's come a long way." Jay smiled, he was happy it was making such a good first impression, he always envisioned bringing his children up here to holiday and he was just thankful he could do that with her, hopefully for the rest of their lives.
They made there way in and Erin was once again amazed, this place was like nothing she'd even seen before. It was all done up but definitely still had the feel of a cabin that was hidden away in the woods.
Erin explored with Lily on her hip while Jay bought all their luggage in and got all of Lily's things set up. It was later in the afternoon but he knew they'd all be in for a early night.
Although they thought Lily would go down without a fight she was completely against the idea. Of course she had started teething, so although Jay thought this was going to be a relaxing getaway he was completely wrong. But he didn't care, he just loved the fact that he had his two girls with him for an entire weekend without interruptions.
"Here let me take her babe." Jay said holding his arms out for an exhausted little girl.
Erin passed him Lily who was quick to snuggle in to Jays chest, grabbing his shirt to suck on, "She's fighting sleep."
"You know how she gets when she's teething," Jay said kissing the top of Lily's head, "Picked a good weekend to go away, probably why she wouldn't go to sleep in the car."
"Probably, but oh well. It will still be a good weekend," Erin said rubbing her daughters rosey cheek, "This place really is amazing."
"Yeah it really is, do you want to go sit outside? Maybe the outside air will put this one to sleep?"
"Yeah sure just let me grab her, her blankey."
They walked outside and got comfy on the lounge that faced the lake, it was absolutely breathtaking. Jay laid back with Lily on his chest, wrapped in her blanket while Erin snuggled into his side.
"This is perfect, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else you know that right?" Jay said.
"Really was a good surprise huh? Even if I did screw it up to begin with." Erin chuckled.
"Well I think we have both made our fair share of mistakes. I'm just glad we finally got past all them and we are here now."
"Me too."
