Hi guys! Here is the final part of The Locker Room, which started as a little one shot and ended up as 15 chapters! Thank you so much to every person who reviewed or favourited this story, you are why I continued to do it. This story may be over, but I will continue writing for these two beautiful characters that deserved better than the show ever gave them. If you ever have an idea for a story about these two, please send me a message. I can't promise I will write it, but I'm open to suggestions! As for the last reviewer who suggested the road trip we never got to see, I love the idea and I'm currently working on it, so that will be the next story. And the previous two reviewers who suggested a pregnancy storyline, I laughed to myself because this chapter was almost finished! I hope you enjoy this! Thank you for reading, please let me know your thoughts!
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Erin stares down at the paperwork in front of her, trying to stem the rising wave of nausea for what feels like the tenth time that morning. She knows one of her greatest strengths is the ability to soldier on no matter how she's feeling, but she's also aware that her stubbornness is one of her biggest flaws. Part of her had wanted to stay in bed that morning, while the rest of her hadn't wanted to acknowledge that her husband had a point when he told her to stay home.
"Babe, you really don't look well." He'd told her, concern evident in his expression. "Why don't you take the day off?"
"I'm fine." She'd insisted. "There's nothing wrong with me."
"But you've been feeling bad for a few days now," he'd said, taking her into his arms. "I'm getting worried, Erin."
She'd brushed off his concern, but now she's sitting across from him, trying to conceal how she's feeling in order to prove him wrong. Yep, that stubbornness of hers is a killer.
She stands suddenly, heading towards the break room. Maybe some more coffee will settle her stomach. Halfway there though, her stomach tells her that she's wrong, and she heads down the hallway to the locker room instead.
Passing the blue lockers and heading straight for a stall, she slumps to the ground and empties the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
She's not sure how long she stays there, half on the floor and half against the toilet, but it isn't long before she feels a familiar hand on her back.
Jay.
"I won't say I told you so." His soft voice says as he gathers her hair back into a ponytail and ties it up for her. Her heart jumps a little when she realises he must've had a spare elastic in his pocket for her.
"And I'm very grateful for that." She replies, her voice even raspier than usual.
"Do you want to get up?" Jay asks.
She nods, feeling as though the worst of it is over. She's wrong though, and no sooner has Jay helped her to her feet than she's dropping to her knees once more.
It takes another few minutes before she tries to move again, and this time Jay simply picks her up and carries her over to the benches, making sure she's sitting steadily before he goes to fetch her some water to rise out the taste of bile in her throat.
"Here you go, babe." His voice is low and comforting.
She whispers thanks to him as she takes the cup, drinking the water before shifting forward to rest her forehead against his stomach as he stands before her. His fingers card through her hair gently, and she lets his actions soothe her.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah." She mumbles against his shirt.
Jay lets out a low chuckle. "Liar."
"Then why did you ask?" She throws back.
"Because I'm a concerned husband, of course."
"Well, a concerned husband should be nice to his sick wife."
"I am being nice. I was also being nice when I told you to stay at home today, but I married the most stubborn woman alive."
"Shut up." She mutters, having no other comeback.
He chuckles again, and keeps running his fingers through her hair.
A noise sounds behind them, and Jay turns to see Voight beside the lockers, watching them both.
"Everything alright?" The older man asks.
"Yeah. What's up Sarge?" Jay answers for them both.
"Got a call about a body. Everyone's getting ready to head out, so I came to check on you two. You alright, kid?" Hank addresses Erin this time.
She nods weakly. "Yeah, of course. Let's go." She grabs hold of the hem of Jay's shirt and tries to pull herself up, but his hands come out to rest on top of her shoulders to steady her.
"Erin, you really shouldn't be going out right now." Jay tells her, before turning around to address their boss, and her father figure. "Hank, Erin's been throwing up, I don't think she should be going with us."
"Tattle tale." She mutters petulantly under her breath. Jay and Hank's relationship has only improved over the years, and when the two of them gang up on her, she stands no chance.
Hank fixes her with that serious stare of his for only a moment. "Erin, stay here. If you're not feeling better by the time we get back, Jay will take you home."
"Don't I get a say in the matter?" She snipes back at him.
"Not when you look like that, you don't." He replies flatly. "Meet us downstairs when you're ready, Halstead."
"Will do." He nods, before turning back to her. "Are you going to be alright?"
"You mean while you're all out there? Sure." She frowns.
Jay leans down to press a kiss to her damp forehead. "Be careful and I'll be back soon."
"Okay. Be safe out there." She tells him.
He flashes her one of his trademark smiles, and heads off, blowing her a kiss as he leaves. She rolls her eyes but smiles anyway, wondering how she ended up with such a good man.
After ten minutes, she makes her way back into the bullpen and tries to get on with her paperwork, but she ends up right back in the locker room. Eventually she decides to stay there, leaning her back against the bottom lockers as she absentmindedly scrolls through her phone.
"Hey, Lindsay. You alright?" Platt's voice from behind her startles her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She reassures the older woman. "Hank and Jay are just being overprotective as usual."
She barely gets the words out before she's bolting for the toilet again.
"Hey Lindsay?"
"Yeah?" She sighs.
"Have you considered the thought that you might be pregnant?"
Erin's head snaps up. "What? No. That's not what it is. I've just caught a bug."
"Okay, I'm just saying." The older Sergeant shrugs.
Erin stops, thinking back to the last few weeks. Come to think of it, her period is a bit late, she'd simply put it down to stress from work. And Jay's right, she has been feeling unwell all week ...
She mouth drops open and her eyes flicked back to Platt, who's watching her with a knowing look.
"But - I ..." Erin isn't sure what to say.
Platt's face softens in a way that it doesn't for most people, as she comes to sit on the bench beside Erin.
"Hey, it's alright. Whatever it is, you and Halstead will figure it out."
Erin just stares blankly at the floor.
"Hey, I didn't mean to freak you out." Platt says quickly. "I just wasn't sure if you'd considered it."
Erin shakes her head dazedly. Sure, she and Jay have talked about having kids, and they have been married for almost two years, but they hadn't put themselves on any sort of timeline.
"I need to know." She says suddenly. "Now that you've put the thought in my head, I need to know if I am or not."
Platt nods. "Okay. I'll go out and get you a test."
"Trudy, you don't have to -" Erin starts, but she's cut off just as quickly.
"Don't even worry about it, I'll be back as quickly as I can."
The older cop is leaving the room before Erin can even catch up, taking her mission very seriously.
Erin doesn't know how she passes the time until Platt gets back, but one minute she's staring into space and the next, the sergeant is shoving a bag into her hands. Erin peeks inside to see three different pregnancy tests.
"What do I do?" She croaks out.
Platt's eyebrows rise in disbelief. "Take it out of the box. Pee on it. Wait the amount of time as stated on the box."
"No." Erin sighs. "What do I do about taking it? Do I do it now? Do I wait til Jay gets back? Should I wait til I get home? I don't know what the right thing is here."
Platt's expression softens. She comes to sit beside Erin once more.
"I don't know. That's up to you, really. Do what you think is right for you and Jay."
Erin stares down at the packages in her lap.
"I'll wait." She whispers.
Platt nods. "Ok. I'll let Jay know when he gets back that you're here."
Erin smiles at the woman who's been her guardian angel today. "Thanks, Trudy."
The older woman smiles and returns to her desk.
Erin sighs as she reads the back of the boxes, hoping Jay won't be much longer.
/
Jay hurries up the stairs once he arrives back at the district. He'd managed to focus on the task at hand when he'd been out in the field, but once they'd finished, his thoughts had strayed to his sick wife. Voight had given everyone else tasks, then told him to go back to check on Erin. Jay's not sure if he should be relieved or concerned by that fact that he hasn't heard from her while he's been gone.
He passes Platt's desk with a small wave, intent on making it to Erin, when the older woman's voice stops him.
"She's okay. She's still in the locker room though."
Jay's eyebrows rise as he realises that Platt must've checked in on her, and he nods a thank you as he continues upstairs, punching in his numbers. Sure enough, the bullpen is still empty, so he makes his way to the room where he'd left her a few hours earlier.
"Erin?" He calls as he enters the room. "You okay, babe?"
"Over here." She calls softly.
He makes his way to her side, brow furrowing at her nervous expression. She definitely hadn't looked that way as he'd left. She's biting her lip, something she only does when she's worried. He lowers himself to the bench beside her, reaching over to cup her pale cheek with his palm.
"Sweetheart, you don't look well at all." He says honestly. "I think we need to go home."
"Yeah." She sighs. "But before we do, there's something I need to tell you."
His eyes widen and a hand falls to her thigh, squeezing comfortingly.
"What is it?"
She turns her head to face him. "I think I might be pregnant."
He freezes, letting her words sink in.
"Okay. Well, we'll stop and get some tests on the way home."
Erin reaches to her side and grabs a plastic bag that he hadn't realised was there, dropping it into his lap. He peers inside to find three different pregnancy tests.
"Platt went and got them for me." She explains. "She was the one who asked me if I'd considered it. I hadn't even thought of it."
He nods, taking all of the information in. "You haven't taken them yet?"
"No, I wanted to wait for you. I was too nervous to do it myself." She says softly.
Jay's heart lifts at the fact that even though she's clearly terrified, and desperate to know, she'd waited for him to find out. The Erin Lindsay he had met all those years ago wouldn't have waited for someone else.
"Okay. Let's find out then."
"I'm scared." She whispers.
"Me too." He admits, pulling her into his body. "But no matter what it says, we'll be okay."
She nods. "I'll go … take them then."
Jay nods as well, waiting for her to return to his side, losing himself in his thoughts.
He won't lie; the thought of having a kid is both terrifying and exciting. He has been thinking about it a bit lately, but he and Erin hadn't had the conversation since the first few months of their marriage, deciding to enjoy being married for the time being. Then they'd become busy at work, and never returned to the conversation. But now that's he's thinking about it, it's pretty cool. He just needs to know where Erin's head is at.
A couple of minutes later, his wife returns, immediately cuddling into his side. That tells him exactly how she's feeling, since she normally doesn't allow much affection at work.
"What are you thinking, sweetheart?" He murmurs against her hair.
She sighs before answering him. "I had no idea there was even the possibility I could be pregnant. I should know, shouldn't I?"
"There's no reason you would be expected to know." Jay reassures her. "The majority of women don't even know they're pregnant before they find out. What about all those women who don't even know until they're in labour? You'll have them beat."
She cracks a small smile, but sobers quickly.
"So if I am pregnant, I'm not a terrible mother for not knowing?" Her voice is small, telling him just how vulnerable she's feeling.
"No, baby, of course not. You would never be a terrible mother. Why would you even think that?"
She sighs again. "I didn't have the greatest example of how to be a good one."
Jay sighs himself as he realises where her fears are coming from.
"Erin, you are going to be an amazing mother. You'll be nothing like Bunny. You are a much better person than she ever was. And you did have a good example in Camille." He points out.
Erin's mouth stretches into a small smile at the thought of her surrogate mother. "Yeah, that's true."
Jay hugs her even closer. "I have no doubt you'll be a fantastic mom. You're the most loving and caring person I know, plus you always make the kids we work with feel safe. You'll be amazing."
Erin smiles again as she snuggles into his side. "You'll be amazing, too. Any kid would be lucky to have you as a dad."
"Thanks, baby." He murmurs, pressing a kiss to her temple.
Erin sighs, and he feels a slight bit of tension enter her body again.
"What if it's negative?" She whispers. Jay knows what she's not saying, that she wants it but is scared it might not be true.
Jay sighs. "We'll be disappointed, but we'll move on and talk about when we want to start trying. No matter what it says, it'll be okay. And you know I love you no matter what, right?"
He feels her smile this time, rather than sees it, and feels her lips press into the column of his throat.
"Yeah. I love you too, Jay."
Jay smiles himself, revelling in the feeling of his wife in his arms, no matter how used to it he may be.
The sound of the alarm on Jay's phone snaps them out of their bubble. They tilt their heads to look at each other, and Jay is relieved to see some of the worry in her eyes has dissipated.
"Whatever it says …" he reminds her. She nods in response.
Erin removes herself from the warmth of his arms and heads over to the sink where she'd left the tests resting. Her sharp intake of breath causes Jay's chest to tighten as he waits for her to turn around and give him the answer.
Unable to wait even a second longer, Jay jumps to his feet and makes his way towards his wife.
"Erin?"
She whirls around, tears glistening in her eyes. Jay can't tell if they're tears of joy or disappointment until her face breaks into the biggest smile he's seen.
"Are you ready to be a daddy?"
She's holding up the test to prove the answer to him, but all he can see is her and he barrels forward to tug her into his chest.
"Oh my god. Erin, I love you so much." He whispers, his own voice shaky with tears.
"I love you, too, Jay." She gasps, letting the tears fall. She pulls back to stare up at his face. "We're going to have a baby."
Her face is full of awe and Jay's positive she that in this moment, she is the most beautiful she has ever been.
His face reaches up to cup her cheek and his brings his lips to hers, trying to convey all of his love and gratitude for her with one kiss. They eventually break apart, breathless and pressing their foreheads to each other.
Jay wraps his arms back around her, pulling even closer than possible. His heart pounds and all he can do is squeeze his wife, thankful for every single moment this little locker room has given to them and the journey that they're about to start together.