This is a continuation of chapter 8, hope you like it as much!
Enjoy!
Erin finished chewing on a piece of buttered toast as she tapped away on Jay's laptop, Scrolling through pages of apartment listings on various websites. She had been searching for close to three weeks now. Every time she found one to her liking it seemed too high priced or had an hour commute to work. Sighing loudly, she placed the laptop next to her on the couch and got up to rinse off her plate in the kitchen.
She plopped back down on the couch, sitting cross-legged with a pillow on her slowly disappearing lap. It gave her a comfortable position knowing she would be fixated on the computer screen for hours if she was determined to find an apartment. Truth be told, she hadn't really been in a rush to find a new place in the past. She had gotten so used to living with Jay, that she was hesitant to leave. However, she didn't want to overstay her welcome, knowing that she had been imposing on Jay and his brother for much longer than she had originally intended. The apartment was definitely too small for three adults, let alone the three of them and a baby. So time was running out and she needed to put some effort into it.
Jay stepped out of his bedroom, his hair still damp from showering. He gave Erin a small smile as he stepped closer to her. "Have you been on that thing all morning?" It was almost ten and Jay had seen Erin get up only once since he had woken up.
"No." Erin sighed, "I just got up and walked to the kitchen."
Jay laughed softly, shaking his head in disbelief as he sat down next Erin. "What are you doing on that thing anyway?"
Erin turned the laptop slightly out of Jay's contact. "Nothing...just stuff."
Jay raised an eyebrow taking note at her sudden secrecy, "Baby stuff?"
He tried to scoot closer to her, looking over her shoulder but Erin was too quick and slammed the laptop shut. She tried to place the laptop on the end table next to her but Jay was able to snatch it out of her hand.
"Jay!" she groaned. Why couldn't he respect her privacy?
Jay gave her a smile of triumph as he opened the laptop. He moved his finger on the scroll pad to stop the screensaver from moving. Moving the cursor over the web browser he clicked it open. His smile soon fell as he saw open. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to look to Erin who hugged onto the pillow, slightly hiding behinding it. "What is this?"
Erin could hear the hurt in Jay's voice as all she could do was stare at him with her mouth open in shock. "I was just looking…"
"But why?" Jay wondered, "I thought you were fine staying here?"
Erin sighed knowing Jay would take the apartment hunt too personal, "What happens when Will comes back? I kick you to the couch?" she still hadn't left her gaze from Jay, who still clicked away at the listings. "It's not fair for you guys to move your life around because of me."
"It's not because of you Erin," Jay finally turned to look at her, "it's for you." He reached over to grab one of her hands that had been holding the pillow up close to her body. The pillow fell to the floor as Erin curled her legs under her, sinking further into the back of the couch. Jay used the pad of thumb to rub small soothing circles to her hand. "Beside, this is my apartment. I get to choose who stays and who goes."
Erin's eyes widen a bit, worry spread across her face. Jay quickly noticed her sudden expression change, "Not you! I'm referring to my brother. I'll kick his ass to the curb if I have to." Jay let out a chuckle which caused Erin to smile and shake her head.
"You can't do that to your brother."
"Why not?" Jay shrugged, "It'll be payback for the time he broke my G.I Joe."
"Seriously Halstead?" Erin smirked, "You can't hold a what...seventeen year grudge like that as a result of kicking your older brother out."
"He's not here the majority of the time anyways, he's a doctor he can afford his own place. Plus you're close to work here, it's just convenient," Jay reasoned. He knew now not to push too much too fast with her so as not to scare her off again. He looked at Erin as he still held onto her hand, "so stay."
"I'll think about it." It was all Jay asked of her. He didn't want her to jump into anything she didn't feel right about. After all, he planned on her being around since she was the mother of his child. He had to admit, he liked having her here.
Jay's phone vibrated in his pocket, he shifted as he went to reach for it. "Halstead," he answered. Erin couldn't hear much of the other end but it had to of been work because Jay mentioned something about making sure everyone was registered and the range was open. "Yes, sir, goodbye." Jay ended the call and tossed his phone behind him on the couch cushion.
"Work?" Erin wondered.
Jay nodded, "They want me to come into the academy to sub a firearms class. Do you want to come?" he offered.
That sounded like fun, she didn't have anything to do since it was Sunday and her day off. "Sure."
"Well I have to be there at noon," he informed. "Did you need to do anything before we go?"
"I think I'll shower," Erin said before getting up.
Twenty minutes and an episode of Seinfeld later, Jay looked up to see a towel clad Erin scurrying past him. "Erin, what are you doing?" he laughed as she froze. He also couldn't help but stare; she looked amazing. Her belly was poking at the towel and her growing breasts were spilling over the top of it. Water droplets dripped from her brown hair and onto the smooth skin of her shoulders.
"I forgot my underwear!" she explained, "Halstead, up here." That earned a cheeky grin from him. She knew where he was looking but for some reason, she didn't care.
"You sure you didn't just want to prance around naked in front of me?" he asked, sitting up.
Erin reacted to his comment by grabbing a thick coaster off of the coffee table and chucked it at him, "Go away!" She laughed before turning and walking to get dressed.
"Hey what'd you bring Juno here for?" Jay heard as he and Erin perused the line later that day at the shooting range. He knew that voice, it was Tommy, a cadet, also in his close combat class, who probably shouldn't still be in the police academy.
Jay whipped his head around , "Excuse me?"
Tommy didn't back down, "yeah, why's she here with a bunch of cops? Shouldn't she be on bed rest?"
That pissed Halstead off. He made his way over to stand next to Erin and faced the class, "This, cadets," Jay pointed to Erin before glaring at Tommy, "is officer Lindsay. She's good police
You respect her, you learn from her. Now she's going to show you how to use one of these brand new 9mm Glocks."
Erin proceeded to go through the steps and demonstrate safe wielding of the pistol. Jay and the rest if the class watched her closely, she was sharp precise and swift. Once she was done, the class lined up to each shoot a full magazine at the target.
As Jay roamed the class he spotted Erin walking up to a female cadet, not much taller than herself and showing her how to correctly hold her elbow. He was snapped out of his trance by the same voice. "She your girlfriend?" Tommy asked.
Jay crossed his arms and looked at the kid, "No."
"Looks like you wish she was. So that's not your kid?"
"She's my old partner, get back in line, cadet," Jay ordered firmly. He didn't have time for this kid to jerk him around about Erin.
The way Jay's "no" played on repeat in her head made Erin scold herself for the fact that her heart had sunk a little bit when she'd heard it; She had been the one to repeatedly put the distance between them, she shouldn't have felt so disappointed at him saying it out loud. Of course, she wasn't his girlfriend, so admitting to the child being his would spawn all sorts of questions? A detective who knocks his partners up? What a role model; that might as well cancel out "decorated Army Ranger."
By the time the class was over, Erin needed some space.
"Detective Halstead," she addressed him so as to appear professional in front of the cadets, "I'm going to go out for a little bit, I'll just meet you at home." Fuck, she'd said home; that wasn't professional at all. She might as well have called him Jay.
Jay nodded. "Be safe," he smiled before he saw her file out with the rest of the class. He packed up his binder of lesson plans and went home.
At around eleven o'clock, Erin finally returned to Jay's apartment, exhausted. She had done a good amount of shopping for maternity clothes. Her belly was getting bigger faster than she had expected and suddenly her t-shirts weren't fitting anymore.
Erin kicked off her shoes in the hallway next to Jay's and... Will's? He was home? She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks, although Jay said he had come home one afternoon when she was on shift.
Sure enough as Erin poked her head into the bedroom she'd been sleeping in for a few weeks, Will Halstead was fast asleep. She wasn't going to go in there for pajamas either. Luckily, amongst the many new articles of clothing she'd bought that evening were a pair of shorts and a cami. She went into the bathroom to change and settled on the couch.
After about five minutes, her back began to ache, whether or not the extra weight around her middle intensified it, she knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep. Erin immediately felt bad for not moving to Will's bed sooner. How Jay had slept there for a couple of weeks, she had no clue.
Jay was asleep comfortably in his large bed. It was only eleven at night but he was tired and no matter how hard he tried to stay up until Erin got home, he couldn't.
The sound of his wooden pocket door sliding open woke him (the army had trained him to be aware of his surroundings, even while sleeping) but he didn't open his eyes. He heard bare feet padding on the hardwood floor and a weight sink his bed a bit. Jay squinted his eyes open a tad just in time to see Erin, mid yawn, pull back the covers and lay down next to him.
Jay rolled onto his side, facing her, He smiled as he looked down; she was captivating. The way her soft, brown curls draped over her bare shoulders and thin straps of her sleep shirt. The shirt clung to her curves and outlined them impeccably. Their height difference and position gave him a perfect birdseye view of her expanding belly, where their baby was growing. "Er-" he started softly but instead of a response, Erin curled into him, burying her face in his bare chest. She didn't want to talk, lest it would make her overthink what she had just done, so she just closed her eyes. In an instant, she was asleep.
The next morning, a refreshed Erin slowly blinked awake. Tanned skin filled her vision; Jay's chest. She wiped the sleep from the corners of her eyes and held back a well rested yawn. Jay moved, "Er?" he asked softly. He still hadn't pulled his hand away from her waist.
"Hmm?" Erin asked, still snuggled comfortably against him.
"Not that I mind, but why'd you come in here?"
Erin shrugged and hummed an 'I don't know.' Insecurity started to spread through her veins at the rash decision she had made last night; maybe she had been too brave, but it had felt right last night. She had finally wanted to bridge some of the distance between them.
Jay nodded before clearing his throat. "I like you here" he boldly admitted. Bold because Erin was unpredictable. Jay half expectedly her to get up at his comment, but she remained still and even snuggled closer to him.
Erin bashfully smiled in the warm skin of Jay's chest. Maybe it had been the right call, she thought as his eyes wandered from her curved lips to her belly and he moved his hand from her waist to rest lightly on it.
As she looked up and met his eyes, she could have sworn she saw hesitation or regret for a moment before it disappeared. When she didn't say anything in protest, he kept his hand there.
"How is the baby?" he asked, cupping his large hand to the underside of her bulging abdomen where, he discovered, her shirt had ridden up a bit. The slight brush of his pinky finger over the exposed skinned caused goosebumps to form.
Jay looked down at Erin trying to figure out if what he was doing was the reason she had just rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.
"Jay?" Erin looked up at him again. Her eyes danced from his sparkling blue eyes to his lips before looking back into his eyes again. Erin sucked in a silent breath.
Jay melted under her gaze, she looked so beautiful there, looking up at him in the crook of his arm. He had a deep inclination to kiss her.
The two stared at each other, slowly moving closer, their lips barely touching.
"I'll stay," Erin blurted before they could kiss. They each moved their heads back to a comfortable distance.
Jay at first questioned what Erin meant, but it dawned on him what she was referring to. A small smile fell across his lip, "You mean are you done apartment hunting?"
Erin looked over to him, seeing his goofy grin, and nodded, "I'll stay."