ERIN

"You know I must really love you, since I keep going to your fancy parties with fancy people," I tell Jay as I fasten a tiny gold chain around my neck.

"Oh you know that you love them," He replies with a laugh as he shrugs on a navy blue jacket.

"No," I reply quickly. "I love you and your family, not the other crazy fancy people."

"Okay dear, though I got through your dad near threat to my life the first time I met him, so I think we're about even," He offers, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Car's downstairs, we gotta get going."


ERIN

"Is everyone going to be there tonight?" I ask Jay as the skyline of downtown Chicago rolls past us.

"Uh, Emerson and Owen are staying in a hotel room with Abby's nanny, the race doesn't usually get called until super late and no one needs the stress of that meltdown at 10 PM," He explains. "So it'll just be family in the suite and then all the press will be downstairs in a hotel ballroom with the majority of the staff and after the results come out, she'll take the car to Grant Park and make her speech."

"Good call," I tell him with a laugh as we roll up to the Langham Hotel.

"Have a good night Mr. Halstead," The driver tells Jay as he smiles and escorts me out of the car. I feel my breath catch in my throat as I notice the clamour of photographers and reporters waiting outside for us. My first instinct is to climb right back into that car. But I have to remember. I'm okay. There is nothing to hide from anymore. It's just us.

"Hey," He say, noticing my hesitation. "C'mon,"

"Okay," I say, looking into those bright blue eyes. "Lets go,"


JAY

"Oh good you're here!" Abby says as Erin and I walk through the double doors of the aptly named Presidential Suite on the top floor of the Langham. "Mom is hounding us on when I plan on giving her another grandchild and I think Graham is about to pass out. Distraction please?"

"Of course," I tell her with a laugh. "Go rescue your husband,"

"Thank you, you are my favorite brother now," She replies exasperatedly as she grabs my hand and drags me towards our mother, who for the first time in months is not surrounded my aides.

"JJ!" She exclaims, embracing me in a tight hug. "Oh good you brought Erin with you!"

"President Halstead it is so nice to see you again," Erin tells her as attempt to politely greet her. After all, they've only really met once and it wasn't under the greatest of circumstances. I hold back my laughter, my mom is going to think her formality is hilarious.

"Oh stop it with that," She replies, "You are my son's girlfriend, please call me Juliette,"

"Alright," Erin says with a smile, slightly taken aback. It's a weird thing, to be on a first name basis with the President of the United States.

"I was so sorry to hear about your mom." She tells her genuinely, "She sounded like an amazing woman, she had to have been to raise you."

"Thank you so much," Erin tell her, a tiny tear surfacing in the corner of her eye "She really was."

"It's okay," I tell her, giving her a reassuring rub on the shoulder.

"Yeah," She replies with a deep breath, carefully wiping the tears from her eyes. "No tears tonight, tonight is a good night,"

"Yeah," I respond, giving that shoulder another squeeze, "It's a really good night."


JAY

"You seem happy," Allie tells me as my eyes linger on the girl in the pink dress across the room, intermixing with family and friends that my mom invited here today. "She makes you happy,"

"She does," I tell her, "The happiest."

"You don't deserve her," She tells me with a digging laugh. "She could do so much better,"

"Yeah I know," I tell my childhood friend with an eye roll, "Let's just hope she doesn't figure that out."

"I'll keep quiet," She tells me with a giggle. "So, you think Auntie J is going to get another four years?"

"Yeah," I say quietly, making sure my very superstitious mother doesn't hear me. "She's got this. I really believe that."

"Well," Allie says as she raises her glass. "Cheers to that,"


ERIN

"Did I miss anything?" Jay asks me as he rushes back from the bathroom.

"They just called Arizona for your mom and they're about to call Nevada. If she wins there, she'll have the 270." I tell him excitedly as try to keep myself from jumping up and down. Watching election returns has always been exciting for me, but this year is a whole other kind of exciting. I hear that ever familiar music begin to play over the huge TV we're all watching as the graphics for a projection appear on the screen. I grasp his hand excitedly as Will McAvoy begins to speak.

"In another key race, ACN is now calling the state of Nevada and the White House for President Juliette Halstead. It looks like she'll be spending another four years in Washington." I feel a huge smile spread across my face as the entire room bursts into applause, arms being victoriously thrown around each other before all eyes turn to our President, Juliette Halstead.

"Okay people," She says, with tears of joy in her eyes. "Let's get to work."


JAY

"Thank you," Erin tells me, turning her head towards me from her place in front of me between my arms as we watch on from the sides of the stage as my mother makes her second victory speech to the nation, hundreds of thousands of supporters cheering and waving signs.

"For what?" I ask, feeling her slight shiver in the November Chicago chill.

"Everything," She tells me, looking into my blue eyes with those big hazels. "For bringing me into your world and picking me back up after Camille died. Just thank you for loving me."

"Oh Erin," I tell her as I spin her around in my arms to look at her. "You don't have anything to thank me for. If anything, I owe it all to you. Thank you for not running, even when every sign told you to bolt. You had faith and I can't thank you enough for that." I can't help but smile as I press my lips to hers, oblivious to the giggling of my siblings and campaign staff around us.

"Hey," I tell her as we come back up for air.

"What?" She asks, looking at me with that gorgeous smile.

"Marry me," I reply. I don't know where that came from, but it feels right. And I don't want to wait anymore. I found my girl and I don't want her to go anywhere.

"What?" She asks as she looks up at me, not trying to hide her shock.

"Marry me," I tell her again.

"Jay, we can't get married." She tells me, pulling away from me slightly.

"Why not?" I ask her. "I'm not rushing into this Erin."

"Jay, I'm 23, you're 24. We're way too young,"

"Babe, your parents got married at 21 and 22, mine at 23. Our ages are not the issue. We love each other, we've been through hell and we came out the other side in one piece. Stop looking for a reason to say no, I know that's what you're doing. I love you and you love me, neither of us are going anywhere. Why not make it official?"

"You're serious about this?" She asks me.

"More serious than I've ever been about anything in my life."

"Okay," She says with a smile.

"So?"

"Yes," She tells me with a huge grin. "Yes Jay I'll marry you."


SIX MONTHS LATER
ERIN

"You know I really can just buy a dress of the rack you know," I say as I walk down the street with Natalie, Hailey, and Kim. "I really don't see why we had to do this whole custom dress thing."

"I tried to make the same argument when Will and I got married," Natalie tells me, referencing her early December wedding to my fiance's brother. "Halstead's don't play like that,"

"I think it's been," Kim adds. "All the sketches have looked great,"

"It's been a little bit of a pain in the ass," I admit. "I really feel like I could've done this with a designer in Chicago,"

"Yeah it's just tradition." Natalie offers. "Celia King did Juliette's dress way back when, she did Abby's, she did mine and she'll probably do Nora's too. Hell when Owen and Emerson decide to get married, if she's kicking, she'll design their dresses too,"

"That is morbid Nat," I say with a laugh.

"She's just speaking the truth," Kim says with a laugh.

"Yeah," Natalie adds with a laugh. "She was like 22 when did Juliette's, so she's only like 50 now, so chances are, all of our kids will have Celia King dresses in their weddings."

"They do love tradition," I add with a sigh.

"Oh here we are," Hailey announces song songily as we approach the beautiful facade of her shop on the Upper West Side. As always, a swarm of Secret Service agents have infiltrated every corner of the store, standing staunchly with those black aviators.

"Erin!" Celia announces, coming at me with open arms as she pulls me into a hug, her perfume somewhat comfortingly reminding me of Camille. It kills me that she couldn't be here today. She always talked about what she thought I'd look like in a wedding dress, how she'd cry. I never paid much attention to it, but I really wish that we'd had that moment now. So it really means a lot to me that Jay's mom has taken the time out of her schedule to come up to New York for my final fitting.

"Thank you so much for getting this done on such short notice,": I tell her with a smile.

"Oh it's been my pleasure, I'm always excited to get to dress another Halstead wife,"

"Not yet," I say with a laugh.

"Soon though," She says with a grin as she pulls up my left hand. I can't help but smile as I look at the ring. He didn't have it when he proposed to me in the early hours of the morning after election night, but he made it up. Without letting me in on it, he talked to Hank and got ahold of one of her old necklaces that actually belonged to her grandmother. He used the tiny diamonds to create a halo around an emerald from a Halstead heirloom brooch. It's a little flashier than my normal style, but I love it. It's perfect.

"We're only a month out now," I tell her, the smile not leaving my face.

"Where's the wedding again?"

" It's at the family house in Lake Geneva,"

"Beautiful," She tells me with a smile. "Alright, well let's head upstairs and get this dress on yeah?"

"Yeah." I tell her with an excited grin.

"Come, come." She ushers my friends past us into a room where I'm sure Juliette, Abby, and Nora are already waiting.

"Okay," She tells me as she leads me up the stairs. "So I worked on the bodice, that fit should be just right and we added some of the buttons that you wanted down the back,"

"Oh I'm excited," I say with a small squeal.

"Here we are," She tells me as we walk into a dressing room. I feel my heart skip a beat as I look up at the gorgeous ivory frock hanging on the wall. It's beautiful.


"Oh my goodness Erin," Juliette says as I walk out, a glorious veil trailing behind me. "You look absolutely beautiful."

"Stunning," Abby says with a smile as I step onto the pedestal in front of them and take a look at myself in the mirror for the first time. Everything has happened so fast. I don't think it's all really registered with me that I'm getting married. Until now. Now I'm looking at my reflection in a wedding dress, my wedding dress. I'm wearing a wedding dress because I'm getting married. And that's a wonderful thing.

"Alright ladies," Celia says from beside me. "Erin is in her final wedding dress, it has a lace bodice with a sweetheart neckline that transitions into a tulle skirt with lace appliques and it has ivory covered buttons down the back. So what do we think?"

"You look gorgeous," Nora tells me, and i have to hold back giggles as I see tears forming in Natalie's eyes. "My brother has no sense of fashion, but he will love this."

"It's perfect," I say as I look back at them. "Absolutely perfect."

"Alrighty then," Hailey says, speaking up. "Now all we have to do is get you married."


To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! I am certainly grateful for all of you and I hope you have a wonderful holiday! Also, if anyone caught my little reference to one of my other favorite TV shows, let me know in the reviews! Thank you reading!

xoxo,

Addie