Over the next month Jay and I fell into a pretty comfortable routine. I got up at 5:00am five days a week to work out in my home gym for an hour. I would then make us breakfast. Jay would clean up the mess while I was showering and getting ready for the day. We would then leave the house separately by 7:30am and make the drive to Chicago Med. Jay and I would spend an hour with the twins, giving them their first feeding of the day. They amazed the NICU staff because they slept for 10 – 11 hours every night. Jay would then head to work while I would spend an hour twice a week with Dr. Charles. The other three days I spent the extra hour with Aiden and Quinn before heading to work. Jay and I would alternate days we would go back to the hospital at lunch. Each night we met back at the hospital at 7:30pm to spend more time with the twins. On the weekends I would usually spend all day Saturday or all day Sunday at the hospital. Whichever day I didn't spend at the hospital over the weekend I still went to give them their first feeding and to give them their last feeding of the day. Nat told us earlier in the week that she wants to keep them in the incubators for a little longer than originally anticipated. They're now scheduled to be in the hospital until they are ten weeks old. We won't be able to bring them home until September.
At the start of their second month in the incubators I got word that I need to travel for a week...for my "family" job which I decided to tie in with a legitimate work trip. I had to head to Myrtle Beach to check on the hotel there since I didn't have the opportunity to due to the kidnapping. I was then heading to Boston to look at purchasing a hotel there. I was informed by my Uncle Paddy that we would be meeting with the DiStefano family. Because of Joseph's actions amends needed to be made to me and my family. I was considering, if I could get Hank to approve some time off for Jay, surprising him and flying him to Myrtle Beach for a few days. The trip to Boston, along with my friendship with Kelly Severide, is causing some problems in our relationship. I told Kelly that Jay and I are back together. He may not have been happy hearing it but he respects my decision and would never cross the line...at least I don't think he would cross the line. I would like to have Jay come to Boston with me, but I'm not 100% sure how that would go over. Hank and I still have lunch together every Friday, so it was time to let him know of the developments and to see if I could get him to give Jay a few days off and to see if he would visit his pseudo-grandchildren in the hospital while we are gone.
Friday started just like any other day. Jay and I went to the hospital in the morning. He kissed me goodbye and then headed to work. Hank met me at the hospital at 11:30am to see the twins before we headed to lunch. "Have you and Halstead decided on when and where you're going to have them baptized? Here or in Boston? At what Church?" Hank asked as he held Quinn. "Yes, Jay and I talked about it. We've actually decided on Old St. Pat's here in Chicago. It will take place the weekend after they're sprung from their incubators and Chicago Med. I've asked Father Murphy to perform the baptism ceremony. He said yes, but I'm not sure he is actually thrilled about it. I don't think he has quite gotten over me yelling at him when he was giving me last rites. We're going to ask Will and Gabby to be Aiden's godparents and Connor and Kim to be Quinn's godparents. Please don't say anything to them yet. We're having Will, Nat, Gabby, Matt, Connor, Laura, Kim and Ruzek over to the house tomorrow afternoon for a barbeque. Do you have plans? You know I would love to have you there. Also, I have another question for you. I was going to ask you at lunch, but I was hoping next weekend...well actually for a long weekend...well in reality for a week, you would consider covering my shifts watching your pseudo-grandchildren. I need to go to Myrtle Beach and Boston. I'll be gone for seven days. God, being away from them for seven days seems like a lifetime. Anyway, I'm getting off track. I was hoping you would also give Jay, Kim and Adam seven days off as well. Jay hasn't been to the house in Myrtle Beach yet, and we could use some time away before the twins come home from the hospital. Not only that, but I want to bring him to Boston with me. I want to get his opinion on the hotel I'm looking to purchase there. I thought maybe having Kim and Adam with us will help him relax. Plus, I was thinking having three cops and my bodyguard would make things a little less stressful considering I still have the Cartel after me. I was thinking they could also keep my Dad occupied while Paddy and I attend to business." I said. After telling me he would give them the time off, he said we could talk about the rest at the restaurant.
I haven't been back to Piccolo Sogno since the day I was abducted, so when I walked out of Chicago Med to my car, I told O'Malley we were going to the Blackbird for lunch. He, Liam and Shamus were my top three lieutenants and because I didn't really have much for them to do yet they were responsible for my safety. O'Malley swore he would not let anything like that happen to me again. He felt horrible, but just as I told Jay, it wasn't his fault. O'Malley rode with me wherever I went, unless I was with Jay. Liam and Shamus always followed us. I know it drove Jay crazy, but he had told Hank he was all in so as far as I was concerned he needed to put on his big boy pants and deal with it. After Hank and I both ordered burgers for lunch, we got down to business. I told him that Paddy was having me run the meeting. Whatever I decided would be appropriate payback for what Joseph did. The DiStefano Family were going to have no choice but to comply with my demands. It would be either that or war. I'm planning on demanding they give me back all of Chicago to make amends. Our plan was to run the Italian Mafia out of Chicago before we took down the Irish Mob. Hank agreed with my plan and told me he would feel more comfortable having Jay, Kim and Adam with me in Boston. If Rixton hadn't already met Paddy, then Hank would have sent Rixton as well. I currently only had three protecting me at the meeting...Jesus I hadn't thought about that...Jay was going to be pissed that O'Malley, Shamus and Liam would be coming with us. But as I was saying, I only had three protecting me at the meeting and Hank would have felt more comfortable if I had at least two more. That gave me an idea. "Hank, there's something I didn't go into detail about from when I was abducted. There was a guy El Gato brought in to watch me. He was the one who gave me the gun I used to shoot El Gato, Joseph and Hailey. His name is Luis. I told him to leave because I didn't want him involved with what happened. What if we track him down? I can introduce him to everyone as the person who helped save me when I was held captive and as a result I'm bringing him on as one of my soldiers. What do you think?" I asked. "I think you're starting to act and think either like a cop or like a Mob Boss. Either way I still think my first assessment of you was correct. You have a good head on your shoulders. You're smart, and don't take this the wrong way but you're very cunning. You may not have wanted to be part of the family business, but that doesn't mean that you didn't pick up a thing or two from Paddy over the years. Nothing to be ashamed of." Hank replied. Okay, so I now had a lot of work to do over the next four days before we headed to Myrtle Beach.
I hadn't mentioned the details of the trip to Jay yet. I wanted to do it the following night, when he was relaxed. I decided to invite Connor and Laura with us to Myrtle Beach. I knew Connor, Adam and Jay could go golfing while Laura and I spent a few hours at the hotel on Wednesday and Thursday. Knowing Kim as well as I do, I would be willing to bet she would hang either at the pool or on the beach. We would be able to spend Friday and Saturday at the beach before heading to Boston. Laura and Connor could head back to Chicago on Sunday when the four of us head to Boston or they could hang out at my house for a few days. Whatever they wanted to do was fine by me. I also had gotten Red Sox tickets for when we were in Boston. Thought it would be fun thing for us to do with my Dad.
The next day Jay and I went to the hospital early in the morning and stayed with the twins until 2:00pm. We were expecting everyone to arrive at the house at 4:00pm and I had a few things left to do before everyone arrived. I had put together four boxes for Will, Gabby, Connor and Kim to open. Will and Gabby's boxes were wrapped in light blue paper and contained a picture of Aiden in a silver frame. Connor and Kim's boxes were wrapped in light pink paper and contained a picture of Quinn in a silver frame. The pictures were the ones that were taken by the hospital on the day the twins were born. I then had the frames engraved with the word's "Will You Be My Godfather / Godmother?" I thought it was a cute way of asking them. Jay thought it was a little cheesy. After Hank agreed to come today as well, I got another silver frame engraved and put pictures of the twins side by side in it. The engraving on his said "We Love You Grandpa Hank". Jay wanted to kill me. He didn't fully understand my relationship with Hank, but as I always say, he missed a lot when he didn't talk to me for almost two months when I was pregnant. Hank was the one I was always able to go to.
When we got home from the hospital I ran up to my home office, just off my bedroom, and quickly typed up a little itinerary on the computer and put a picture of the house in Myrtle Beach on it. I put on each itinerary that I had already chartered a private plane to take the six of us there and then four of us to Boston. My security team, with the exception of O'Malley, would be flying commercial directly to Boston and waiting for Jay and I there when we arrived on Sunday. O'Malley would be coming to Myrtle Beach and would be staying in the guest house. Shortly after returning from my trip to Myrtle Beach in January I had a small(ish) guest house built. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a decent size living room and kitchen. The house is set on the side of the property and faces the pool. I realized for as much entertaining I wanted to do down there three bedrooms was just not big enough. Now with having two children I was glad I added on the guest house. Jay was in his glory, manning the giant-ass grill I bought when I moved into my house in Chicago. It was only the second time we've used it since he moved in. We had plenty of steak tips, burgers, sausages and hot dogs along with all the fixings – mixed green salad, pasta salad, grilled vegetables, a chocolate strawberry grand marnier cheesecake trifle for dessert and as always plenty to drink.
As we all sat around the large Anderson Teak Bahama double extension outdoor dining table that sat up to twelve, I looked at the group sitting around the table knowing full well what we were about to ask of them would make them family forever, so Jay better keep his shit together in the future. I got up and grabbed the five boxes from the kitchen and walked back out to the patio telling the group "Whoever gets a box can't open the box until I give the go ahead." After hearing laughter and comments about how bossy I am, and Ruzek starting to freak out that Kim was pregnant with a girl and hadn't told him, I then said "For the four of you who have a pink or blue box please know that what's in there is very important. It's a big responsibility, so if you're not sure if you can handle it then just be honest. For Hank, yours truly is a gift with no additional responsibility. Go ahead, Gabby and Kim. You two can open the boxes first." As I went to sit back down in my seat Jay pulled me onto his lap. "I love you. And even though I gave you a ton of shit about the way you were doing this, I think it is pretty wonderful. Just like you." he told me. I kissed him softly and told him "I love you too." Kim and Gabby opened their boxes first, looked at Jay and I with tears in their eyes. They didn't show anyone what was in their boxes, they just smiled. "Okay, Will and Connor, your turn." I said. Guys being guys, they ripped the paper open and pulled out the frames. "Really? There's no way in hell I would ever say no. He's my favorite little guy in the world." Will said showing Nat the picture and the frame. Connor spoke next. "This means a lot to me. Of course, I'm saying yes but I also want to thank you. Because God only knows with the two of you as parents and Kim as her Godmother she's going to need at least one normal person in her life." "Kim accepts, and I just want to say thank you for not telling me this way that she's pregnant and that she's pregnant with a girl. Not quite ready for that." Ruzek said after Kim showed him the frame. I was concerned a little about asking Gabby.
Knowing what she and Matt have gone through in trying to foster a child, adopt a child, or have one of their own I thought this could go either way. Gabby got up and walked over to me. She pulled me out of Jay's lap, hugged me and said, "Thank you. This means more than you could ever imagine. You know I already love him." "Okay, Hank. You're next." I said smiling at him. He opened the box, wrapped in blue paper with a pink ribbon and smiled as he took the lid of the box. "I have the easiest job out of the four of you. I just get to spoil them...I don't have to help raise them. But if I see that you people can't do your jobs then I will step in" he said.
Later on, after Nat and Will left I went back inside and came out asking for everyone else's attention "Okay, I have a few more things to hand out. The first one, is to my Baby Daddy. It seems so weird to say that out loud. Okay, let's try again...the first one is to my love, and yes Ruzek I mean Jay and not you." I said handing Jay an envelope. "Jesus, what is with you and envelopes? Each time you hand me one it ends up changing my life one way or another. And why do you have four other envelopes in your hand? Well the other four envelopes are for Laura, Connor, Kim and Adam. Open them and see." I said as I handed Laura, Connor, Kim and Adam their envelopes. "We're going to Myrtle Beach? And Boston?" Jay asked as the rest of the group opened their envelopes. "We're going to Myrtle Beach, on a private plane?" Laura and Connor both asked. "Holy shit! We're going on vacation for seven days on a private plane!" Ruzek said. I explained the details of the trip, leaving out the business I had to do in Boston. The girls automatically started talking about what they were going to bring for clothes and shoes, while Adam and Connor began looking at golf courses on their phones.
Jay looked at me and Hank and quietly said, "Let's go have a quick chat. I know you're up to something." The three of us walked into the kitchen and I explained again the need to go to Boston. I wasn't doing anything illegal but I was going to have back-up in the form of him, Kim and Adam. Which was needed. Hank went into detail and said he would present it to the rest of the team on Monday morning, but before he left he reminded Jay that he had told Hank and I that he was "all in." "Halstead, it's mostly a vacation for you. You knew when we got Christine back that there was going to be times that she would have to put up more of a front in the family business to eventually bring it all crashing to the ground. You're going to have to support her. So if I was you, I would get my head out of my ass, and would take your beautiful woman back out there to where your friends are and plan a great trip to Myrtle Beach. We can take care of the Boston stuff on Monday at the District. I'll tell you this, she has come up with a great plan and if I was you I would support her without a doubt. She's starting to think like a cop and like a Mob Boss. It's actually pretty impressive" Hank said, before turning and hugging me telling me he would see me at the hospital the next day when he went to visit his grandchildren.
A/N: The last few chapters have been difficult to write. Not because I don't love the story, because I do. It is because of the emotional torture, stress and physical abuse that these characters have endured over the past few chapters. I wanted to write a chapter that was a little lighter and focused more on family bonding. The craziness that is Christine and Jay's life comes back in the next chapter. But, as Christine suspected, Jay is not going to have an easy time dealing with the her decisions and actions.