Hi all! Well done with all the reviews! They all made me smile and laugh at how much you are enjoying this story (and how annoying the cliffhanger was!). Sadly this is the second to last installment of Bad Timing, but I am excited to announce that sequel is in the works! Yay! Enjoy – this one's really long!

The final chapter (hint: it's an epilogue) will be posted when I receive 10 more reviews. Thank you, and happy reading!

Chapter 25

Jay sat in Erin's hospital room, tightly holding her left hand. He was so worried about their baby that he wasn't sure how much longer he could sit still.

After Erin had passed out, they had given her local anesthesia to keep her unconscious while they performed the c-section. Jay had been so scared the entire time, and once they had delivered the baby, the doctors had taken him away to get him some oxygen.

And he was still waiting to hold him for the first time.

Jay looked over at Erin again, who the doctor said should be waking up within the next hour. All her vitals were now back to normal, but Jay had been informed that she had been through a lot and that she would be very tired for the next day or so. Jay was totally fine with Erin being tired – he was just relieved that she was okay.

And now he wanted to know that their son was okay.

His train of thought was interrupted by a nurse walking into the room, a little blue bundle in her arms. "Halstead and Lindsay?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Jay replied, standing up to meet the nurse at the foot of Erin's bed. She carefully handed the little baby boy to Jay and said, "Everything looks great. He's one of the healthiest babies we've seen this month. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Jay replied, his eyes focused on the little boy now in his arms. The nurse left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving the new family alone in the room. Jay sat down at the food of Erin's bed, and he started to cry tears of joy as he looked into his son's eyes. He was so small, yet so adorable. "Hey little buddy," Jay said to his son. The little baby smiled a little, and when Jay stroked the baby's head with his pointer finger, his son wrapped one of his tiny hands around Jay's finger.

The baby then started to cry, and Jay, after freaking out for a second, started rocking the baby in his arms. Luckily, he calmed down after a couple of minutes. Jay was still teary eyed when he heard Erin say, "Jay?"

When Erin had come to, she hadn't been able to see if Jay was holding anything as he sat at the food of her bed. But when she said his name and he turned around, she felt overcome with emotion. "Oh my God," she said out loud. "What happened? Is that…" she trailed off.

"Yes," Jay replied, "This is our son." Without hesitating, he handed the little baby boy to Erin, who was now crying as well.

"Did I seriously pass out?" Erin asked suddenly.

"Uh, yeah, basically. After you did they had to do a c-section," Jay responded cautiously. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Erin began, "And happier than I've ever been in my life."

Erin and Jay laughed lightly together as they both looked at the little boy in Erin's arms. "You know…I've been thinking," Jay began, catching Erin's attention, "That maybe this little guy should be Peter instead of Sean or Simon."

Erin smiled and said, "I knew I'd convince you." Jay leaned over and gave Erin a long kiss, and as he sat back up again, his phone vibrated loudly from his jacket. He walked over to the chair on the other side of Erin's bed, pulled out his phone, and read the three new text messages in his inbox.

Gabby Dawson had texted, Any news yet?

Antonio had quickly followed up with, Is everything ok?

And, surprisingly, the third and most recent text had come from Voight. Let me know when I can see Erin. Please.

Jay raised his eyebrows at Voight's text, prompting Erin to ask him what he was reacting to. After he explained, Erin heaved a sigh of relief. "At least he's finally okay with this," Erin replied, waving her hand around to signify Jay, herself, and their son. "Actually, do you know who is waiting outside? If at all?"

After thinking for a couple of seconds, Jay replied, "I don't know. Only Dawson and Shay were out there when I came in. The whole unit is probably here by now though. They were all in the same room as me when Gabby called to tell me that you were in labor. I was so scared for both of you as I ran out of there."

"You didn't need to be scared," Erin replied sarcastically, "We both made it through in the end."

Jay chuckled, then said, "I love you so much, Erin."

"I love you too, Jay," Erin replied. After another kiss and more crying from Peter, Erin said, "So…Peter Lindsay Halstead. Welcome to Earth."

"Yeah, and welcome to Chicago," Jay followed. He gave Erin a peck on the forehead and asked, "Who do you want to see first? Because I assume that there are people out there who want to see Peter."

"Uh…Voight?" Erin asked.

Jay simply nodded, then said, "Then I'll be right back, okay?" He exited the room and as he neared the doors to the waiting area, it looked like there was a whole crowd outside. He stepped out, and once people noticed that he was there silence filled the room and he nervously began to speak.

"Wow, uh, okay…" Jay began, now feeling extremely weird, "It's a healthy baby boy."

Cheers filled the room and everyone present came up and gave him a hug, including Dawson and Shay. Jay informed everyone that they would all be able to see Erin and Peter soon, and as people began to sit down again, Jay said out loud, "Voight?"

Voight immediately stood up and said, "Yeah?"

Jay decided to forget everything that had gone down between them in the past year and focus solely on how much he had done for Erin when he said, "Want to come in?"

Voight nodded and silently followed Jay to the room. When he walked in and saw Erin holding Peter in her arms, Jay say Voight tear up for the first time ever. "Hey there," he said, and he gave Erin a hug. "How's my girl holdin' up?"

"Eh, you know, I'm doing good," Erin said sarcastically.

"I'm sure," Voight said, looking at little Peter.

"Do you want to hold him?" Erin offered. Voight, not expecting it, hesitated, then reached out his arms. Once he had Peter in his arms, he began to say a few words to Peter out loud.

"Well, Peter, I hope we become good friends. And you be nice to mom and dad, okay? They're great police and I don't want them off the job for too long." His last sentence made both Erin and Jay crack up, and as Erin took Peter back she said, "Thanks, Sarg."

"Thank you," Voight echoed, turning to Jay and offering his hand for a handshake. Jay, glancing at Erin, who was equally surprised, lifted up his right hand and shook hands with his boss. And with that, Voight said bye and headed out.

After Voight had shut the door, Jay let out a breath as Erin said, "Wow. I wasn't expecting that."

"Me neither," Jay admitted. When he sat down on the bed, Erin let out a huge sigh and smiled. "What?" he asked.

"I'm just happy that he finally has gotten to a point where he respects that we are a family. Just because it makes me feel better."

"Yeah…me too."

***The next day***

Shay and Dawson walked into Erin's room at the hospital, went all girly over Peter for the second time in less than a day, and then helped Jay pick up all the bags. Erin was putting Peter into his carseat when Antonio and Laura joined the group.

"Hey guys!" Jay said enthusiastically, giving Antonio a pat on the back and giving Laura a hug. "I didn't know you guys would be coming too."

"Well," Laura replied, smiling at Gabby, Antonio, and Peter, "Antonio here heard from his sister that she and Leslie were going to come, and we thought that we should be helpful godparents. So, here we are."

"Well then, thank you so much," Jay replied. After more conversation, Gabby, Shay, Antonio, and Laura had picked up all the bags between them, so Erin walked out while leaning against Jay, while he was holding Peter in his car seat. Her stomach still hurt from the c-section, and she was still understandably exhausted. In that moment, Jay couldn't feel any more thankful that he had his girl, his son, and all their supportive friends around him. He was a happy guy to say the least.

Antonio winked at Jay as the new family got into Jay's car, with Jay driving and Erin sitting next to Peter in the back seat. They drove to the new apartment and as Jay got out to help Erin, Erin said to Peter, "Welcome home, buddy."

***Five hours later***

After what seemed like an eternity, Peter was finally quiet and asleep in his room. Erin came out from Peter's room and proceeded to collapse on the sofa. Jay, who was sipping a glass of water, asked, "Want anything to drink?"

Erin responded quickly. "Beer please." She sighed looked out the window before Jay got her attention to hand her a beer. Antonio had been right – Erin had drunk a glass of champagne and two full bottles of beer in the hospital the night before, and she had not hesitated to say that it was the best drinks she had ever had (probably because she had been sober for so long). Erin took a big sip as Jay asked, "You would let me know if you need anything, right? If you want painkillers or if you just want to nap?"

Erin put her beer down on the table, put her hand on Jay's shoulder and said, "You know I would. And I appreciate that. But right now I'm just feeling a bit off and tired. And right now I'm happy being here with you and our son, who is finally asleep."

Jay laughed and then put his own beer down on the table. "Okay, I want to talk to you about something, and if you want to think about it for a while, then that is totally okay too."

"What is this something you're referring to?" Erin said with curiosity.

Jay took both of Erin's hands in his before replying, "Erin, I love you so much and I don't know where I would be today without you. That being said, a little guy named Peter brought us closer together, and I have you to thank for him. Really. You are such a strong, confident person and I was wondering…" he trailed off, pulling a little box out of his pocket with is right hand and seamlessly flicking it open with the same hand, "…if you would marry me?"

Erin, who had certainly had emotional and tiring 24 hours, was overcome with surprise and even more emotion after Jay finished talking. She gasped when she saw the beautiful ring, and she didn't even have to hesitate before she said, "Yes!"