Chapter 15
A few weeks after an interesting stunt as interim Sargent, Erin strolled up the stairs and sat down at her desk. Or more like slouched in her chair behind her desk. She was 19 weeks now, and her bump was still getting bigger. And unfortunately, that meant that she was a little more uncomfortable.
She also knew that she had one week left in the Intelligence Unit before she would be required to take maternity leave. And be stuck not being able to work for four months. It sounded unbearable to her at this point.
Her train of thought was interrupted by Voight coming up the stairs and stopping in front of her desk. "Morning Lindsay," he said.
"Morning, Sargent," she replied with a sort-of fake smile. Ever since the showdown with her and Jay and his three shift suspension, Voight and Lindsay hadn't been getting along as well as they had used to. Voight had given Jay the cold shoulder for nearly a week, but was beginning to warm to him again. But Lindsay still felt a tiny bit of resentment towards him, hence the sort-of fake smile.
"I think it's appropriate that we let 51 know that there's going to be a change in who is leading operations down there for the next few months, since you're going on maternity leave. Would you like to go, or shall I?" Voight asked.
"I'll go," she replied immediately. As she stood up to put on her coat, she asked, "Do I get to pick who takes over that stuff for me?"
"If you'd like to choose, then yes," Voight replied. She could tell that he wasn't entirely happy with letting her choose, but he had learned, like all the other guys in the room, not to mess with Erin and her prenatal hormones. "Thanks Voight," she replied, "Jay, let's go."
Jay tried not to smile as he chased after Erin, who was walking surprisingly fast towards the car. She stopped at the car's bonnet, then handed Jay the keys. "You're letting me drive?" he said in a mock-surprised way. "Shut up," she snapped. They both knew that Erin's bump would get a little in the way of driving, and after Erin's response, Jay just silently got in the car and turned on the ignition. As they left the parking lot, Erin said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just not looking forward to being away from here."
"I know," Jay said, trying to comfort her, "And you don't have to apologize, okay? I know you've got your hormones goin' on and stuff."
"I appreciate that," Erin said, smiling. Before she knew it, Jay was parking their cop car outside Firehouse 51. "I've always really like this place," she told him.
"Yeah, me too," Jay said, chuckling.
"Why are you laughing?" she asked.
"I just remembered that I know one of the paramedics here. I helped her and some of her firefighter buddies in busting a dangerous silent partner in their bar business."
"Sounds interesting," she said. "Did you like her?"
"A little," he admitted, "But not nearly as much as I love you."
"Aw, thanks," she said. "Come on, we want to try and catch Chief Boden before they get a call."
Jay and Erin got out of the car and walked up the wide concrete driveway to the firehouse. After they walked through the door to the area where all the trucks and ambulance stayed parked, Erin spotted Severide and the rest of Squad sitting at their regular table a little ways away. Severide turned around with the sound of the door opening, and his mouth opened just as he saw Lindsay's baby bump. "Uh, hi there," he said, standing up to offer a handshake.
"Hey Severide," she said, trying to smile. Jay waved from behind Erin as she asked, "Is Chief Boden around?"
"Yeah, he's in his office. You know the way?"
"I do. Thanks Kelly," she replied. "Hi guys," she said to the rest of squad. She turned around and walked through the double doors to the common room, and was greeted by multiple hellos from Casey and the rest of Truck 81. "Hey guys," Jay said.
"What brings you guys to 51?" Casey asked, standing up and walking over. "We don't have a new crisis, do we?"
"Fortunately not," Erin responded, "We just need to talk to Boden because…I'm going on maternity leave next week."
"Well, congratulations," he said.
"Thanks," Erin said, "Oh, Casey, this is Detective Halstead. As I'm about to tell Chief Boden, he's going to be the on-call detective while I'm off work so if anything happens around here, you can give him a call."
"Great, nice to meet you, Halstead," Casey said diplomatically. After Jay and Casey shook hands, Jay replied, "Nice to meet you too."
"This way," Erin said to Halstead, and he followed her to the back offices. Jay stood next to Erin as she knocked on the chief's closed office door. Boden looked up, smiled, and waved to them to come in. Erin opened the door and Jay closed it after they entered.
"Hello Detectives," he said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He shook both Lindsay and Halstead's hands, and noticed Erin's bump, but didn't comment.
"I'm going on maternity leave next week, so I just wanted to let you know that my partner, Detective Halstead, is going to be on-call in case anything comes up around here."
"I hope we won't have to call you out too much," Boden acknowledged.
"It will be a pleasure," Jay said.
"So," Boden said, "How are you doing, Detective Lindsay?"
"Good, thank you, just a little uncomfortable at times," Erin said. "Do you mind if I sit down for a moment?"
"Not at all," Boden said, motioning to the chair in front of Erin. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Erin replied.
"I hope that this doesn't create anything awkward," Boden began, "But are you two the baby's parents?"
Jay and Erin looked at each other, and Jay said, "Yes. We are."
"Well, I wish you both the best of luck," Boden said, going back to his chair. "I must tell you that I'm going through a similar experience myself. My wife, Laura is expecting a baby due early next year."
"Wow," Jay said, "Congrats to you too."
"Thank you, thank you," Boden said, nodding.
After an awkward pause, Erin stood up and said, "Thank you for your time, Chief."
"Of course," Chief said. "You two take care."
"Thanks," Erin and Jay both said. They left Boden's office and walked back out into the parking area. As they were walking towards the door, Erin almost ran into Dawson and Shay walking towards the ambulance. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Erin said.
"Not a problem," Shay said. She saw Erin's belly, gasped, smiled, and said, "Oh my gosh! You're having a baby?!"
"Yeah," Erin said. Shay embraced her in a hug, and Dawson did the same. They both said congratulations to Lindsay, prompting Jay to say, "I'll meet you outside, okay?"
"Okay," Erin said, slightly confused. She belatedly realized that he probably didn't want to listen to girl talk. "How are you two doing?"
"Good, good," Dawson replied. "I'm waiting to take my firefighter's test again, but other than that, I'm good."
"Good luck with that," Erin said.
"Thanks," Dawson said, "Oh, come over to the ambo! You can sit down!"
"Thank you," Erin said, grateful as she sat down on the back bumper. She sighed a little and Shay asked, "A little discomfort?"
"Just a little," Erin replied, and she laughed. As Shay and Dawson resumed packing things into the ambo, she said, "I can't believe I'm going to be a mother in four months."
"You're going to do great," Shay reassured her. "Thanks," Erin said.
"I hope you don't mind me asking," Dawson began cautiously, "But is Halstead the dad?"
"Yes, he is," Erin replied, "And yes, it's a totally acceptable question."
"How is he doing with all of it?" Shay asked. "What happened when he found out?"
Erin paused, then said, "Let's just say that he was initially very freaked out…but so far, he's been really on board and supportive of the whole thing. He really wants to raise our kid right."
"When do you find out if it's a boy or a girl?" Dawson asked, now really interested.
"Next week," Erin said, "I'm really nervous, actually, because then I'm going to have to start thinking about names."
Dawson and Shay laughed. "You can always bounce ideas off of us," Shay said.
"Hey," Dawson began, "Do you want to have a girls' night with us this Saturday? The guys are going out to the bar, so Jay could get a drink and we could hang out."
Erin smiled. "I would love a quiet girls' evening."
Shay came up with a better idea. "How about we come to you? I can buy some non-alcoholic beverages and Dawson can cook. And we can watch a fun movie."
"Oh, thank you guys," Erin said, "I'm really grateful. I can't wait." She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and the screen had already lit up with a text from Jay.
Voight just called. Situation on Brooklyn. Gotta go.
"I've gotta duck out," Erin said as she stuck the phone back in her pocket. She was a little sad that she had to go – she already liked Shay and Dawson as company – and it was nice to talk to other women for a change.
After they said their goodbyes and Erin started walking towards the door, she heard Dawson say behind her, "Erin?"
She whirled around. "Yeah?"
"Feel free to stop by and hang out anytime you want while you're on leave," Dawson said, smiling, "Any cop or firefighter we approve of, like you, is always welcome around here."
Erin smiled again. "Thanks guys. See ya!" She waved goodbye, and headed out the door to where Halstead was waiting.