His feet sink into the soft mud as he takes the first few steps out of the woods and wanders onto the ranch in what has become something of a nightly routine for him. He roams the perimeter – stalking his unsuspecting target from where the grass turns to gravel. But a light flickering on in the distance catches his eye and stops him in his tracks. It's enough to make him duck back into the woods and wait it out.
He stays close to the ranch but does move further into the woods before circling back to his previous spot. The light is still on and this time he can see someone moving within, it spooks him and gets him to leave for the night. His eyes zero in on her once more before he disappears into the woods again.
XXXXXX
Jay's eyes slowly survey the small, run down ranch around him as soon as he gets out of the truck. Wooden panels are missing from the exteriors of both the barn and house. The metal fixtures on both gates he came across are barely screwed into the worn wood of the fences. And the awning over the front porch is concaved – looking as if it's one snowfall away from collapsing.
"This is Commissioner Halstead." He hears Kevin introduce him, snapping him out of his daze. Jay nods his head in greeting before he pulls his hand down the bottom half of his face as he stops in front of the cow carcass that they were called here for. Both him and Kevin take in the state of the deceased animal's hocks – the bloody bite mark's confirming which predator killed it.
"Have you seen the pack at all?" Jay questions as he squats down a little more.
The rancher shakes his head before a look of realization comes to his face. "But I did hear some howling a couple nights ago, didn't sound like a pack though."
"Meaning?" Kevin asks.
"Meaning it was alone." Jay answers with a nod as he looks at the tracks around the dead cow.
"Which explains why it attacked. They always go for the easy kill but without a pack a single, sick cow with nowhere to go was the easiest meal in the valley." Jay adds causing both the rancher and Kevin to nod.
"Is the rest of the herd in good health?" Jay gestures toward the group of cattle in the pasture not too far away.
"I think so, better than this heifer at least." The man shrugs as he looks over to his house where a woman is stepping out onto the front porch – both of her hands moving up and down her rounded belly. "But I can't afford to get a vet to look at them or men to watch over them at night."
"Which is why you separated them." Jay understands – knowing it would be even more costly if what the ill heifer had, had spread to the rest of the herd. And as he looks from the woman over to the young, aspiring cowboy beside him, he thinks of Erin and how it's been preparing for their baby. With his own family remaining on his mind, Jay decides to help out the rancher.
"Kev, can you go grab one of the trail cams from the truck and set it up in the pen with the cow facing north?" Jay looks at his friend who silently nods and goes to the truck.
"I'll take a look at the herd, make sure she's the only one who was sick." Jay gestures towards the arena with the rest of the cattle.
"Commissioner I can't pay-"
"Don't worry about it." Jay brushes off as he too walks over to his truck to grab his med kit before he and the rancher make their way to the herd.
"This place was my wife's grandparents. Her grandpa left it to her before he died. It's where she was raised and she knows the trade more than I do. But since finding out she's pregnant, she can't be out here like she was. I thought I was getting the hang of it but then the fence broke a few weeks back and this happens. I'm afraid to tell her how bad we're doing – especially with the added expenses of the baby."
"Things like this happen more often than you think. Don't think too much of it or blame yourself. You're a team in multiple ways, so ask her for advice. And when it seems like it's too much, just focus on your family before trying to figure out what you can do to stop it from happening again." Jay offers and the younger man nods with a small smile before looking back at his wife.
Jay too looks back. "How far along is your-?"
"Six months." The guy answers before Jay can even finish his question.
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Jay inquires next and he can see the cowboy shake his head almost immediately but he doesn't offer a verbal response.
"My girlfriend and I wanted to find out at first but decided against it at our last check-up." Jay admits and the other man nods again with an almost disappointed or maybe embarrassed look on his face. It's an expression that makes Jay wonder if the young couple's decision to not find out the gender of their baby was one they got to make or if their financial woes have prevented them from getting even the most basic of prenatal healthcare – much less being able to find out the gender.
"How far along is she?" The younger man asks, interrupting Jay's thoughts.
"Seven months next week." Jay replies, a small smile of his own coming to his face as he thinks of Erin while they finish the walk to the pen with the cattle – pushing his previous thoughts of the other couple out of his head for now.
Jay examines a few of the cows and draws blood from a couple of them before telling the rancher that he'll get the results within a few days.
"Kevin and I will be back tonight to try and get rid of the wolf." Jay adds.
"You mean kill it?" The rancher's wife asks as she finishes walking over to the fence.
"No ma'am, we don't believe in killing them right away. We'll try to scare it off first." Kevin tells her.
"But wolves are incredibly intelligent animals who prefer to go after prey that run rather than stand their ground – especially without a pack to help take them down. I'm afraid if he stays, with a herd this size..." He nods towards the small group of cattle in front of them. "He'll return to eat more, get used to coming here for his meals and by summer you won't have any cattle left to sell. And by then he'll move on to another ranch."
She just huffs as she turns and retreats back to the house.
"I'm sorry about her-"
"Nothing to be sorry about, our girls are the same way." Kevin reasons and Jay chuckles lightly with that as he packs up the kit and takes it to the truck, placing it in the back as Kevin replaces some tools he used to set up the camera.
"I had a hard time finding that trail cam with all the baby stuff – Mama Bear still not sleeping?" Kevin asks – referring to last week when Jay mentioned that Erin hasn't been sleeping well which results in her researching different baby things – including "must have" items that she buys online and has shipped to the closest department store and then asks Jay to pick up.
"I'm pretty sure she hasn't slept more than a couple hours total in the last few nights." Jay replies, his heart sinking with the thought as he looks at the bassinet box behind the passenger seat. He turns to look out the windshield and at the little house where the young couple is talking. Then he's backing away from the truck and walking over to them.
"Do you need a bassinet?"
"No, we don't need your handouts or your kid's hand-me-downs." The woman answers bitterly and Jay can see her husband gently squeeze her hand to get her to stop.
"What she means is that we couldn't take that from your baby." He corrects and Jay shakes his head.
"You wouldn't be. I picked up three from the store the other day and found out when I got home that my girl accidentally ordered one too many. She asked me to return it on my way through town. So you'd be saving me the trip." Jay tells them earnestly – not waiting for another response as he turns back to get the box from the truck and brings it over to the couple. He just nods his head as he quietly puts the box down by them and begins to walk away.
"Commissioner?" The man says and Jay turns his head to look at him.
"Thank you." He adds sincerely and Jay nods once more before climbing back into the driver's seat.
Jay thinks about picking the conversation with Kevin from just moments ago back up and admitting how worried he is for Erin – how he feels that if she continues like this she'll make herself sick. But he keeps it to himself – letting the thought fuel him to get home to her. He hopes that he'll be able to somehow get her to at least nap when he gets home before he has to leave again tonight. The drive back is rather quiet – both men thinking of their respective girlfriends on the way back to the ranch.
XXXXX
A hiss falls her lips with another sharp kick from her little one nestled within her. She adjusts her glasses and then gently presses one hand on the spot where the baby is moving. Her other hand remains on the table that runs along the back of the couch – propping her up as she moves her hips back slowly in attempt to stretch out the a aching muscles of her back. She stays focused on the computer screen in front of her as she tries to alleviate some of her discomfort. There's only three more left to close before she's officially done with the last of her Chicago caseload.
She gets sidetracked for a moment – debating whether or not she should continue her job search once the last case is closed. And with that she thinks of Jay's suggestion of her not going back to work if she didn't want to but if she's being honest she's not sure how she feels about that. She doesn't get to ponder her racing thoughts for much longer as she feels her man's arms wrap around her causing her to tense briefly before melting into his embrace.
"Hey Beautiful, how are you feeling?" He greets with a couple kisses to her neck.
"Not so beautiful." She admits as she leans into his warmth and closes her eyes – not having the energy to elaborate any further. Her exhaustion becomes apparent as she feels like she could fall asleep just like this – standing up but leaning against him. The feeling of his hands rubbing the bare skin of her belly alone is almost enough to lull her to sleep.
His voice asking if there's anything he can do to help and make her feel as beautiful as he sees her, has her eyes opening and then she's turning to face him. She leans in and presses her lips to his before looking into his eyes – seeing the color of his light green irises darken with the sight the flannel of his that she's wearing being almost completely undone with the exception of two buttons so that her full breasts are just barely covered. He cups the bottom of her rounded belly with both of his hands again, smiling as he moves in to pepper kisses to the stretched skin of her midsection. The view the new position affords him along with her weaving her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck leaves him gulping.
"Maybe…" She raises her eyebrow as he stands up straight again and her gaze falls to the bulging zipper of his pants.
"I don't-"
"..want me?" She cuts in and he immediately shakes his head to rid her of that thought.
"Of course I want you Erin, I just don't want to hurt either of you." A slight pout comes to his face with the truth of his words. He feels bad that he's made her feel like he doesn't want her in the past several weeks – dodging her advances every time she tries anything – especially since he's knows she's becoming more and more insecure with each passing day.
She takes a step back and pulls the two sides of the shirt she's wearing closed to cover herself. "I'd get if you didn't want me, but-" She looks back down at her bump before continuing. "… it's the only thing we haven't tried to help me fall asleep. I've – we've tried baths and massages, breathing exercises, warm tea and hot milk. And I've missed you, so if you still want me like you say then-"
"Hey." He steps forward and cups the sides of her face before continuing. "I've missed you too. And there will never be a day where I don't find you the most beautiful, gorgeous, sexy woman I have ever met. And this-" He pushes the shirt to the sides of her belly so he can gaze upon it once again.
"The fact that you're growing our baby inside you, makes you even more breathtaking to me than ever." He whispers against her lips just before he gives her a gentle kiss.
"I love you." She whispers to him and he repeats her words back to her.
"Can I just take a quick shower?" He asks next and she nods with a look that silently says 'of course'. Then with another peck to her lips, he's disappearing up the stairs in a hurry.
By the time he's done drying off, she's lying down in their bed but to his surprise she's just reading one of her books. His eyes land on her bare belly again. He crawls onto the bed with her and moves to press kisses to her stomach. She closes the book and tosses it onto the nightstand as she reaches out for him.
"You promise to let me know if something doesn't feel right or you experience any pain, right?" The worry obvious not just in his question but the expression on his face as well.
"Yes babe, but you're not going to hurt either of us. I've read that our little Cubbie is almost overly protected in here." Her hands fall to cover his still on her distended abdomen and can practically feel him smile against the side of her face, at their newfound nickname for the baby since they decided not to find out the gender.
He just smirks and leans in to give her a kiss that quickly deepens. Then he's unbuttoning her shirt the rest of the way and she unties the towel from around his waist. He breaks from her lips and moves to lie on his back so she can climb over him. She leans over to kiss him again before sinking down on him causing both of them to toss their heads back with the pleasure that instantly washes over them.
XXXXXX
His hand moves underneath the flannel she put back on after she rolled off of him and before she laid down next beside him. He traces his finger up and down her spine, as she teeters on the edge of the deep sleep her body craves and desperately needs.
The thought of his looming departure causes a nagging feeling to ebb away the pure bliss that's come with the last couple hours with her. He presses a kiss to her forehead – letting his lips linger in hopes that it'll hold him over until he returns home later. But it only serves to make it harder to pull away.
His body instantly misses the warmth of hers as he slides off the bed and bends down to pick up the obnoxiously large pregnancy pillow. He lays it in his place and watches as she cuddles into it for a moment. A quiet chuckle falls from his lips when he sees the adorable pout that comes to her face as she recognizes that he's no longer lying with her. He presses another lingering kiss to the frown lines on her forehead as he buttons his jeans – hoping to ease her mind. But when he backs up, she still has the same worried expression on her face and it causes him to consider just lying back down before the sound of his phone ringing breaks him from his trance.
"Yeah, I'm on my way out." He answers quickly in hopes that the ringtone doesn't disturb his sleeping beauty.
"If you're not outside yet, then who's been standing on your porch for the last couple minutes?" Kevin questions as Jay finishes pulling a shirt on – not registering what his friend just asked until he walks out of the room and stops at the top of the stairs. The front door ominously creaks open – not yet revealing the intruder. Jay, grateful that he's concealed in the darkness of the upper level steps back into the room to grab a gun from the dresser and then he locks the door with Erin still sound asleep on the bed and Poppy lying protectively at her feet. When he starts down the stairs he sees the hooded figure walk just out of sight as he moves towards the back of the first floor. Jay slowly descends the stairs, his body turned sideways so that he can keep his gun pointed out in front of him and shoot if the intruder walks back into view.
Meanwhile Kevin leaves the truck and goes to get Mouse, and Adam from where he last saw them in the stables – wondering where Harvey went as they run to the cabin at the far end of the gravel driveway.
Jay sneaks up on the intruder – clearing his throat to let the other person know he's been caught. The guy, who was peeking into in the office, tenses briefly but remains facing away from Jay.
"Turn around slowly." Jay demands and he sees the smaller man pull off his hood – revealing his dirty blonde hair before doing what he was told. His hands goes up in the air in surrender with the sight of the pistol being pointed at him.
"Harvey?" Jay questions to which the younger man nods before deciding to explain.
"I thought you and Kevin left already. So when I saw that guy move around the back of your house, I just wanted to check on your girl-"
He's cut off by the sound of glass shattering and Poppy barking from upstairs followed by a sharp yelp. Then an eerie silence falls over the whole house. Jay glares back at the younger guy as he rushes upstairs just as his friends enter the house. A single gunshot booms through the house and causes them all to move even faster.
The bedroom door is still locked but Jay doesn't waste time getting the key and instead kicks the wood down – shards of the frame flying in all different directions along with it.
Just in front of the bed they see Erin sitting on the floor with Poppy who's whimpering with blood staining the white fur of her chest. But Jay and Kevin are too focused on the obvious cuts on Erin's neck and belly as she applies pressure to the dog's wound. There's tears running down her cheeks as her eyes lock with her boyfriend's before he looks at the man lying by the nightstand between the bed and windows. With his gun aimed at the guy's head, Jay steps towards his girl – just wanting to make sure she's ok before anything else. He only stops when he sees the injured man sit up from his slouched position – a shard of glass in each of his hands as he lunges for Erin. There's no hesitation as Jay's finger meets the trigger, sending two bullets right into the other guy's chest. Mouse keeps his gun pointed at the man as he goes to check for a pulse while Adam removes the glass from his already cold hands.
"Erin." Jay almost whispers as he gets her to stand up and then sit on the foot of the bed. His heart drops when he sees the blood dripping from her skin in three spots. He can immediately tell that the crimson liquid isn't from Poppy. No, he can see that she's actively bleeding from the cuts to her right forearm, belly and neck.
"Look at me baby, deep breaths." He instructs as she seems to struggle to breathe normally – her eyes remaining focused on their dog lying on her side next to Jay.
She doesn't even notice when Jay wraps her in the duvet off their bed until he's picking her up.
"Grab the dog and someone call Antonio, tell him to get here now." Jay says as he adjust Erin into a bridal style hold and walks out of the room. He carries her down the stairs and outside to the truck, waiting for Mouse to get in the backseat.
Then the truck takes off with so much speed that the tires kick up gravel and mud as Jay races to the hospital.
XXXXXX
His head is in his hands and his elbows are resting on his knee as they bounce up and down. He's sitting in the ED waiting room – waiting impatiently to hear about his girl and about the baby. And he's pissed that he was asked to step out while they assessed Erin's injuries and he's anxious to be back by her. He makes a pledge to himself – to her and them – that he's not going to let her out of his sight again.
"Commissioner Halstead." A female voice calls out and it takes his brain a minute to register that she's talking to him.
"My apologies sir, you can wait with your girlfriend in her room. I didn't-" The nurse starts after he looks up at her but he doesn't bother listening to the rest of her sentence. He instantly stands up and brushes past the nurse as he goes to the room they took Erin into. A sigh of relief passes through his lips seeing her sitting up in the bed as she gets stitches to the cut just above her bellybutton. And he's grateful to see that the wounds to her neck and arm are already dressed. He even manages a smile hearing his girl pester the doctor about making sure the baby is ok.
"I'm just going to put in this last suture and then we can have a look at your baby." The doctor assures and this time Erin sighs in relief as her eyes lock on Jay's. She actually manages a smile of her own as he makes his way over to stand by her side as the doctor sets up the ultrasound.
Jay leans down and presses a couple kiss to her head and temple. Then they're focused on the screen when the black and white image of their baby pops up.
"As I suspected everything looks good and he appears unharmed. It looks like he's actually sucking his thumb right now." The doctor notes as he keeps his gaze on the screen along with the mom and dad-to-be.
"He?" Then Erin looks up at Jay as she feels him squeeze her thigh.
"It's a boy." She whispers to Jay and it gets a nervous smile from him – he's excited about them having a boy but he's not sure if she's happy about the doctor's slip up. They both agreed that they didn't care if they were having a boy or girl, they just want their baby to be healthy, hence why they were going to let it be a surprise. But now, as more tears trail down her cheeks he's not sure how he should be react. And he can't read like he usually can.
The doctor begins to apologize. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"It's ok." Erin murmurs rather unconvincingly but Jay can tell she's been sincere.
"We needed that kind of news tonight." She adds and Jay nods at her in agreement. He leans in to press a kiss to her head and she closes her eyes with the contact. Her tears begin again – feeling everything the last couple hours start to weigh on her. The adrenaline and shock giving way for her to really begin to process what happened.
The doctor sneaks out as the couple has their moment – a few rather. And they become so wrapped up in each other – busy encapsulating themselves in a buddle that they don't notice Antonio step into the room along with Deputy Rixton.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we need your statements." Antonio tells them and Jay instantly feels his blood begin to boil even before he looks at his old friend.
"Our statements?" Jay quips with his eyes still focused on a random spot on the blanket.
"Jay, we can either do this here or at the station." Rixton offers and Jay's head snaps up then.
"Are you sure you have time for that?" Jay growls and both Antonio and Rixton look confused by the question.
"Since you couldn't take the time to tell me that he was out – that Andrew could be coming back to hurt my family. I guess I didn't think you'd have the time to question us." Jay snarls and Antonio looks mad.
"Jay how about we step outside." Antonio suggests, nodding towards a now distraught Erin. Jay pushes down his anger for a moment to place his girl's head again before nodding and following Antonio into the hall.
"I didn't want to worry you when there was a real possibility he wouldn't make it back to Montana." Antonio admits almost as soon as the door is closed. Jay chooses not to look at the other man and instead watches as Rixton gets Erin's statement. He lets the image of her hands rubbing her now covered belly where their son is growing, calm him.
"No matter the probability of him getting here – getting to her. You should have told me." Jay replies and he can see his friend nod in his peripheral. "Why was Andrew even released?"
"He wasn't, he was being transferred to an out of state prison with a couple other convicts. The van hit some black ice and crashed. The officer's were able to catch two prisoners but the other three got away."
"How long ago was the accident?" Jay asks next but Antonio just looks down.
"A few days? Weeks?" Jay questions further but still nothing.
"Months?" He pushes further.
"It was about three months ago." Antonio answers – not missing the way Jay tenses and clenches his hands into fists.
"He could have killed them. They could have been the ones in the body bag instead of him." Jay chides as he looks down at the floor.
"I'm sorry Jay, if I could go back and tell you I would. But I can't and I get you being pissed at me-"
"Yeah." Jay murmurs as he pulls his buzzing phone from his pocket. "I don't know when or if I can forgive you, but I know she probably already has. So can you stay with her until I get back? I have to go out to the truck to check on our dog."
Antonio nods as he walks back into the room. Jay eyes landing on Erin as she gives their friend a sad smile.
When he gets out to the truck, he sees Mouse holding a towel up to Poppy's chest again.
"What happened?" Jay asks as he presses the buttons to turn all the interior lights on.
"She was scratching her neck and one of her nails caught on a suture. She's been whimpering ever since." Mouse explains and Jay sighs as he pulls the med kit back out. He gives Poppy a little more sedative and then asks Mouse to remove the towel so he can look at her stitches. He sees that two were pulled out and he looks at her back right paw where there's blood on two of her toes.
Much like he did when he came out here to tend to her after he was first asked to leave Erin's room. He cleans the edges of the wound and begins replacing the sutures to the spot where the young dog tore out her stitches.
"You think she'll be ok?" Mouse asks and Jay nods as he locks the med kit back up.
"She'll be fine, she just needs to relax." Jay nods before telling him that he'll ask Antonio to drop him off at home. Then Jay's moving back to the ED's entrance, throwing away the bloody gloves and garbage in the trash can just before he walks into the automatic doors sensor.
He does what he says he would do and asks Antonio to give Mouse a lift home. But there are no other words said to the Sheriff before Jay takes his place next to Erin.
"Hey." She says to get his attention and he lifts his gaze to meet hers.
"How is she?" She asks, referring to their puppy.
"She's doing alright, just a little anxious so I gave her some more meds to help keep her calm." He answers, starting to feel the exhaustion set in.
"I'm ok – we're ok." She tells him and his eyebrows furrow in disbelief – even though deep down he knows she's right. The doctor said so himself. But it doesn't mean that the events of the last few hours didn't scare him or make Jay think of how close he was to losing them.
"How are you handling this so well?" He inuqires genuinely.
"Have you not seen me crying almost constantly since it all happened?"
"You know what I mean." He squeezes her thigh gently and she nods as she looks down at his hand and places her on top.
"Yeah, I do. I know how bad or how much worse it could have been." She admits and he tries to swallow the lump forming in his throat with the knowledge that she was having those same thoughts.
"But Andrew's gone. He can never hurt either of us or our family again." She picks up his hands and places a kiss to the back of them both before resting them on her belly again – letting the movements of their son calm them both.
"These cuts will heal and our little Cubbie – our son is still healthy and left unscathed – seemingly unbothered by the terrifying events of tonight. He's fine, you're fine, even Poppy's ok. And you guys still being here, well that's all I care to focus on." She concludes and it's those words that has him seeing reason – he understands and tries to do as she said and focus on the fact that they're fine and they're still here. And he thinks long and hard of what to say next as they wait for her to be discharged. But still, he manages to surprise himself with the words that make their way through his lips. She looks up through her lashes – tears once again glistening in her eyes as she wonders if he'll retract what he just said. And when he repeats the sentence with a little more certainty she releases the breath she didn't know she was holding before whispering her response.