I feel like I used to be way better at creating content for these stories but this is the best I could get to and I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. I loved the requests for Mama Bear Erin and Jay & Erin getting back to themselves so I hope you like it!

Erin opened her eyes slowly. "Babe?" she mumbled, catching Jay's baby blues shining in the light that seeped in from the bathroom night light. She paused when he immediately retracted his hand, sheepish look on his face. "Were you…were you checking my pulse?"

Jay's cheeks darkened and he immediately felt guilty. With two infants, sleep wasn't something that either of them got enough of – but especially Erin. In their sons' first twelve weeks of life, Jay knew that Erin was averaging less than three total hours of sleep every night and he could see it weighing on his girl. Nearly four weeks of dedicated therapy sessions and introducing formula to the boys had helped with Erin's overall outlook but she still didn't sleep enough. And now he'd been the one to wake her up.

"Sorry," he whispered guiltily, "Go back to sleep. Everything's fine."

Erin glanced over her shoulder to the sleeping babies on her side of the bed. Both Ryan and Liam were fast asleep in their bassinets that they were quickly growing out of, full tummies and fresh diapers courtesy of Grandpa Hank.

Over the baby monitor, Erin could also see that Piper was sleeping. She let out a breath. After managing to get a few meager bites of dinner into the exhausted child, Piper had fallen asleep between her parents on the couch before Jay carried her up to bed. She'd anticipated some nightmares after Piper had broken down in tears earlier that evening, but all her babies were settled, with the exception of her babe. "Why're you up?" she asked sleepily, reaching over to stroke his cheek, "'s the middle of the night. Were the boys making noise? Did Noodle have a nightmare?"

Jay shook his head. "Sorry," he repeated, "I was just checkin' on you. That's all."

She furrowed her brow. "Checking my pulse? Was I not breathing or something?"

He shook his head again. Erin had been sleeping so peacefully. It was one of the few times in a day where he could see his girl truly relax. And she really needed to relax.

Erin was strong – he knew that when he first met the woman who was going to be his wife – but she had taken a lot over the years. He had to bear witness to her body taking on more than it could handle. And he'd come far too close to losing her too many times to count.

So when he was lying awake at night, thinking about the loves of his life…he couldn't help but check to make sure that the woman who'd given him everything he could have ever dreamed of was still beside him.

"Babe?" Erin propped herself up on her elbows, "What's going on?"

Jay shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said again, "I really didn't mean to wake you up. I was just…I was just making sure that you were okay." He swallowed when Erin's eyes softened. "You know me, I worry."

"You do." She stroked his cheek gently. "I'm okay. C'mere." Erin held an arm out and gestured for him to lie closer. "I've made you worry a lot."

"Not your fault," Jay replied, scooting closer to rest his head against Erin's torso. He rubbed her arm lightly. "You've been through a hell of a lot, babe. Sometimes I just…I just gotta check to make sure you're still here."

Erin managed a tiny smile and scratched his scalp with her fingertips. "I'm here," she promised, "Not going anywhere."

Jay closed his eyes. "I know," he murmured against the t shirt of his that Erin had worn to bed, "I'm not letting you go anywhere." He let out a soft breath as Erin continued to gently massage his head. "I was just thinking about the day the boys arrived."

"Mm." She turned her head to check on the boys. "That was a day."

"Almost lost you," Jay whispered hoarsely, "After they came I…I felt your hand go slack." He opened his eyes to glance up at Erin. "I know you're okay now but in that moment I…I've never been so scared. And I kept thinking about how I wasn't there when-"

"Babe," Erin interrupted, pausing with her fingertips in his hair, "You've been there for me every moment since then. And I'm okay."

"But you almost weren't," he managed, "I had this moment in the hospital when they shoved me out the room where this whole life flashed before my eyes. A life without you and I can't…I can't do that." He took in a breath. "Pipes…Pipes was so angry. The boys were young but they could feel it too and I just-"

"Needed to make sure I was still here," Erin supplied. She leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "I get it. I…I've had dreams like that." She held him closer, the weight of her partner against her chest bringing a sliver of security to the anxiety in the air. "Keeps me up at night."

Jay nodded slowly. "And now I've kept us both up."

Erin waved her hand flippantly. "Who needs sleep?" she joked, tracing her fingertips over his biceps, "Close your eyes, babe. I'll be here."

"You better sleep too," he mumbled sleepily, "And I'll be up early to make my girl a good breakfast as an apology for waking you up."

"Hey Er," Jay said into the receiver of his cell, "I'm not late, am I?" He frowned when he heard the distinct wail of one of his sons. "What's wrong? Are you in the car?"

"I'm going to Piper's school," Erin replied over the Bluetooth, the blinker clicking echoing over Ryan's cries, "I got a voicemail from that new vice principal and turns out he's a huge fucking asshole, so I'm picking her up right now."

Jay grimaced. Piper had been subdued over breakfast and the ride to school despite sleeping through the night. Before he left to take Piper to school, he and Erin agreed that she would call the school to talk about Piper's recent test grade and see if there was any way to get her additional help. As evident by the emotional evening, their little girl was clearly craving connection and comfort from her parents, and both Jay and Erin were in agreement that waiting to talk to the teachers at school would be a good first step before approaching Piper about her current experience. Neither of them anticipated that the conversation with the school would complicate things further. "Babe-"

"He told me that next week, Piper is going to have to join a recess club. And you know what that is? They put kids who don't pass a test in some kind of classroom at recess instead of letting them be with the other kids." Erin huffed, anger seeping through the phone, "That's why we got the email about the test. It's some new policy for fifth graders to prepare them for middle school. As if our child wasn't under enough stress. I'm on my way to school now. Noodle's going to come with us to the pediatrician."

He took a deep breath. "Okay," Jay said slowly, quickly recognizing that attempting to rationalize with his partner when she was in full mama-bear mode wasn't going to be a good option, "Why don't I meet you at the school? I was about to head home anyway." He gave an apologetic look to his partner over the desks. In truth, there were a few hours remaining before the boys had a pediatrician appointment and he'd been hoping to tackle a couple of outstanding items, but his family needed him.

"I'll explain it to Voight," Hailey told him, "Go. I've got Piper after school too."

"I will be there in five," Jay promised into the phone, snatching his keys off the desk, "Five minutes, okay?"

Jay gripped the steering wheel tightly as he sped down the street toward Piper's school. He understood Erin's anger and was pissed off as well – punishing a child for bad grades wasn't a good answer. Especially not for his kid. He and Erin had not even had a chance to talk to Piper about her recent bad grade on a history test. The child who sat quietly at the breakfast bar and picked at her pancakes (that were a special weekday treat because Jay promised Erin a good breakfast after waking her up in the middle of the night) was in no place to hear about her failed test.

His grip tightened. Piper wasn't like the other kids. His little girl was beyond exhausted after the last few months – and truthfully, the last ten years. The teachers at the school he spoke with before had assured both him and Erin that they would understand and help adapt to some of Piper's needs while also working to provide her with the most normal school experience possible. With all the turmoil, he and Erin finally felt like they gotten her into a good place. Piper had friends at school and she wasn't being bullied, to his knowledge. All he wanted was for her to feel normal. Ripping her out of school in the middle of the day wasn't normal.

Jay turned into the parking lot of the school and pulled up next to Erin's car. Even through the window he could see that Erin's jaw was set. She was a mama on a mission. And he needed to talk her down.

Piper had been taken from school several times due to extenuating circumstances. At first, the simple act of Hailey or Will swinging by the school when Jay or Erin was running late put their little bug in a state. He couldn't blame her – not after Hailey picked her up from school to bring her to the hospital when Erin fainted at work.

Slowly but surely, integrating other people into pick up had been a moderate success. It would be another hurdle to add in another caregiver, like the nanny or babysitter Jay was hoping to get Erin on board with, but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. Piper was accustomed to Will, Hailey, Hank or even other members of his team in the pick up line, but she was not prepared to be taken out of school early. The last time he'd picked her up before normal pick up time was when the verdict from Bunny Fletcher and Kenny Charlton's trial was due to be announced. That pick up sent Piper into a tailspin. Had it not been for Hailey's quick thinking, Piper was close to running across the parking lot into traffic to get to Jay as quickly as possible.

It was not a situation he wanted to relive, especially given that his little girl was already on edge and fragile from the day prior.

"Hey babe," he greeted softly, sliding into the passenger seat of Erin's car, "Hey guys." Jay reached behind to stroke the top of Ryan's head. Liam was fast asleep in his carseat, whereas Ryan appeared to have just finished a marathon wailing session. "He really hates the car, huh?"

"Screamed from the moment I pulled out of the driveway to the moment I parked." Erin exhaled. "Puts Liam right to sleep though."

"Mm," Jay mused, turning his focus from his son to his partner, "Talk to me, Er. What happened?"

"I'm livid," Erin said honestly, blowing out another heavy breath, "I'm ready to find her a new school. Or maybe we just homeschool her. I'll stay home and teach her history myself."

"It was one test," Jay reasoned, "Just one. Homeschooling might be a little extreme."

"Extreme is punishing our child when she is struggling!" Erin exploded, "Recess club my ass. It's a punishment and I'm not letting our daughter get punished when it's my fault she's barely able to keep her eyes open at school."

Jay wrinkled his brow. "It's not your-"

"She doesn't sleep," she rasped, "Piper gets woken up throughout the night because the boys cry or she has bad dreams and I never get to her in time. She…she needs me, Jay. Us. Both of us and-"

"She has us," Jay interrupted, "We're doing our best, Er. We knew that the boys would be an adjustment but it's going to be okay. We'll talk to the school and figure out the best way to handle it. I agree that punishing her isn't the right way to handle anything, but we can talk to them about it. And we'll get Pipes help. But right now, I don't know if taking her out of school when she's not expecting it is a good idea."

Erin swallowed the growing lump in her throat. There was so much of motherhood that had her feeling powerless, but hearing that her child was struggling in school was up near the top of the list. When she heard the vice principal's voicemail, her mama instincts went on high alert and all she could think to do was to remove her little girl from the situation that was causing her stress.

"I um, I sucked at school. I barely graduated and I had to stay after school and feel like an idiot while everyone else got to leave. It felt like shit and if I can prevent our daughter from feeling half as shitty as I did every day, I'm going to do it." Erin let out another harsh breath when Jay didn't immediately reply. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"I get it," he said gently, reaching for her hand, "Trust me. I wasn't at the top of the class by any means and I don't want Pipes to have to struggle either." He rubbed her fingers lightly. "But maybe we see what the teacher has to say. And if we can get her sleeping better, maybe school will get easier too. And we could try an after-school tutor or something if the teacher thinks that could help."

"She's going to hate us if we do that," she sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips, "She wants to be at home with us."

"She won't hate us," Jay countered, "Pipes isn't that kind of kid. She might be disappointed, but we're her parents. We're supposed to make the tough calls and help her."

"We're also supposed to empower her to be independent," Erin said dryly, "Already got that lecture from the Vice Principal." She sighed when Jay's eyebrows raised. "I…I honestly forgot to tell you about it. I have to dig up the email but…but when I got out of the hospital and you were at Hank's, I sent an email to Noodle's teachers and the main office just letting them know that we were going through some stuff, so that people would be looking out for her during the day."

Jay nodded in understanding, continuing to slowly rub her fingers. He would have done the same thing. "This new vice principal, the one who was hired to replace the shitty one who got fired, thanked me for my email but said I should be cautious about babying her." Erin swallowed the lump in her throat. "But he doesn't understand everything that Piper's been through and now I'm afraid we're babying her but she spent so many years without anyone doing it so-"

"Hey," Jay interrupted gently, "You did everything right, Er. The vice principal doesn't know anything about our family, or our kid, and he doesn't get a say in how we raise them. Raising her is up to us, right?" He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll see if I can chat with the history teacher and vice principal in person when I drop Pipes off tomorrow." Jay paused. His girl was still in full mama-bear mode. "Or-"

"She should go to school," Erin said with an exhale, "She should. Pulling her out in the middle of the day with no warning isn't fair. We can't…we can't protect her from every single thing, even though every fiber of my being is telling me to keep her home forever, with us." She managed a small smile. "You're going to have words with them?"

Jay nodded. "Calm words," he said, "You know. Chill. Casual." He grinned when Erin's smile widened. "I'll be good, babe. You've been doing your job. I can do mine. Even if it means time in detention."

"I practically lived in detention," she mumbled, smile falling from her lips, "Bunny's boyfriend had to come pick me up once since I needed an adult signature and Charlie was passed out." Erin reached behind to adjust the beanie on Ryan's head, her son's soft skin helping to counter the uneasiness in her stomach at her memories of growing up.

"Babe-"

"I know," Erin interrupted, "I know…I know it sucked. And I want…I want to tell you about it. You know um, we haven't really kept up with that. The stories. At night." She adjusted the hat on Liam's head as well. "Mostly because…mostly because I want to keep them away from that part of me. But I want to let you in. Keep letting you in, I mean." She managed a smile when Jay stroked her cheek gently. "Maybe we could start again tonight after the kids all go down."

"I'd like that," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss her lips, "I never get tired of your voice, babe."

"I can't believe you're not tired of my hormonal ass though," she said against his lips, "I dragged these two out of the house with the intent of pulling Noodle out of school. I was being irrational."

"You're her mom," Jay said simply, "You're doing everything you can to protect her. Even if it means barging into the school in pajama pants." He chuckled when Erin widened her eyes, the realization that she was still in a pair of Jay's pajama pants hitting. She'd left the house in a blaze of glory and forgotten to change.

"Your pajama pants, no less," she said with a groan, "The vice principal would probably laugh me out of the office. Or call CPS on me. Insane parent shows up and can't even dress herself."

Jay shook his head. "I love it when you wear my pants." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and moved a hand to her thigh. "It's a real turn on."

Erin's cheeks darkened. "You know um, the appointment isn't for a few hours. And since you're already away from your desk-"

"I'll meet you at the house in ten," Jay said quickly, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips, "Can't have my girl showin' up to the pediatrician in my pajama pants. I wouldn't make it through the appointment."

"I forgot how good we are at that," Erin said breathlessly against Jay's neck, feeling his heart beating through the pads of his fingertips that were slowly caressing her back, "You haven't lost your touch, Halstead."

Jay chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Worth the wait," he murmured, moving his hand up her back, "So worth it."

"You and taking your time," she replied, leaning up to kiss his jawline, "But you're right. It was worth the wait. Can't believe it's been so long." Erin lifted her head to glance at the baby monitor. "Boys are still sleeping too."

"Miracle," Jay joked, "Maybe they like sleeping in their own room. We should ask the pediatrician about it." He widened his eyes when he caught sight of the clock next to the baby monitor. "Shoot, babe. We gotta go."

"Mm," Erin bemoaned, "How come we didn't think of you taking paternity leave after I stopped bleeding, huh?" She buried her face in his neck when Jay chuckled again. "I'm serious. You should get a furlough refund since you spent your entire paternity leave takin' care of me."

"Taking care of you is my favorite," he replied seriously. Jay kissed her forehead again. "Nobody took care of you for so long, babe. You deserve to be taken care of." He nuzzled her cheek gently. "And you take care of me too you know."

"I can take care of you again," Erin offered, raising her eyebrows suggestively, "Doctors are always running late."

"Shh, bubba, it's okay. We're almost home." Erin shot a desperate look to Jay who was driving carefully down the slippery streets. "Babe, I know we have precious cargo, but little man hates the car."

Jay glanced into the rearview mirror as Erin attempted to comfort Ryan. The red-headed baby Halstead absolutely detested the car and had wailed his little head off to and from the pediatrician. While Ryan was quiet throughout the checkup, his brother filled the gap with his own piercing screams from the moment they set foot in the doctor's office to the moment they got back in the car. "It just snowed," he said, pointing to the heaps of snow on the side of the road, "Roads are slick and you said it, precious cargo."

Erin blew out a breath when Jay turned into their driveway. Silence filled the air for the first time in hours when the car slowed to a stop. "Are my ears ringing or did they stop?" Erin joked, resting her head back against the car seat, "The lungs you guys have not from me, I'll just say that."

Jay snorted and turned around in the driver seat. "I don't know, their mama can be loud. I'm surprised they didn't wake up." He raised his eyebrows. "You've got some pipes, Lindsay."

"Hadn't been put to good use in a while before today," she reminded him, her cheeks darkening, "Mama tried to rush things yesterday boys, but your daddy is a gentleman." She tickled Ryan's tummy and earned a gummy smile. "There's my happy little man."

"Happy and healthy little dudes," Jay said, carefully lifting Liam's car seat from its secure spot in the backseat, "With stellar hearing and killer motor function." He extended a hand to help Erin from the car. "Not to mention the most handsome."

Erin took Liam's carseat so Jay could lift Ryan's. "They get their good looks from their daddy," she breathed, leaning up to kiss his lips. "We did good, babe."

"We did great," he replied, returning the kiss, "You did great. You're doing great." Jay kissed her neck. "I'm forever in awe of you."

She blushed. "Jay, I literally drove to our daughter's school in my pajamas with the intent of pulling her out of class because of one voicemail from the vice principal."

"I'm in awe of that too," Jay insisted, brushing some hair from her cheeks that was caught in her beanie, "You're fiercely protective of the people you love. One of the things I love most about you." He smiled when Erin blushed again. "You're looking out for all our babies. And it's working. Pipes finally talked to us last night. That's huge."

"She barely ate dinner though." Erin brought a hand to her forehead. "You got her to eat what, three bites of pancake this morning? How much you wanna bet the lunchbox is going to be full when Hailey drops her off?"

"One hurdle at a time," he said, carefully opening the door to their house, "After tomorrow we've got all weekend with her too."

Erin exhaled and reached into the carseat to lift Liam into her arms when he fussed after being woken up by the move from the car to the house. "We have all weekend with all our kids," she said, kissing his forehead. "Don't we, buddy? Are you gonna be a good sleeper this weekend? Maybe let your brother get some shut eye, and your big sister too?"

Jay nodded again and reached down to lift Ryan. "The doc did say that we could try them in the nursery." He patted his back gently. "Might allow you to get a little more sleep too."

"Mm," Erin murmured, tilting her head up to kiss Jay's lips, "More sleep sounds good." Her eyes widened when a squeal emerged from Ryan's lips.

"Did he…did he just laugh?" Jay asked, lifting Ryan up higher, "Did you laugh? Do you think kisses are funny bubba?" He grinned when Ryan giggled again. "Babe!"

Erin beamed. "C'mere," she said eagerly, tugging Jay closer by the collar of his shirt. The second Jay's lips connected with Erin's, Ryan squealed again. "Oh you are your daddy's son," she teased, "Such a romantic."

"That is the best sound ever," Jay said, the smile threatening to crack his face, "You gonna show your brother how it's done?" He bounced Ryan slightly in his arms and grinned at Liam, who was tucked in Erin's embrace. "You want to laugh too, buddy?"

"He's in a mood," Erin determined, rocking back and forth on her feet, "I think he misses his car seat." She tickled his tummy gently. "Our boys are polar opposites, babe. This big guy loves the car and his sleep suits while Mr. Ryan can't be contained."

Jay kissed Ryan's forehead. "I love how we're seeing their personalities more and more," he mused, "Reminds me of when Pipes first opened up. That kid's got a silly streak."

Erin nodded slowly. "We haven't seen that silly streak in a while," she said sadly, "Little bug gets shy when she's stressed." She sighed. "We should talk to her this afternoon, about the test."

Piper clasped her hands together tightly as she sat in the back of Hailey's car. It was a normal thing to have someone other than her mommy or daddy pick her up because of how busy things were with the boys, but she really missed seeing her daddy right after school.

She missed a lot of things. Piper missed getting to make dinner with her parents in the kitchen and watching her daddy give her mommy kisses after she got home from work. She missed waking up to kisses from her daddy and going to sleep with her mommy stroking her hair.

But she loved the boys. She loved the boys so, so much. For most of her life, Piper didn't get to be a big sister. It was usually just her and it was pretty lonely, especially when she lived with people who weren't good. The boys wouldn't ever have to live like that. They would always have each other, and her, and their mommy and daddy.

"You hungry for dinner, Snipes?" Hailey asked lightly as she turned into Erin and Jay's neighborhood, "Your dad mentioned something about salmon for dinner which made me pretty jealous."

Piper shrugged her shoulders. Her daddy did make pretty good salmon, and they hadn't eaten it for dinner in a while because when the boys were in her mommy's belly the smell made her feel sick.

But she didn't really want to go home. Not today. Not when she was going to have to give the test that she got a bad grade on to her mommy to sign. Her friend Julia said that she could write on it, but Piper knew that would be lying. She was going to have to do it even if she really, really didn't want to.

Piper took a breath. Maybe she didn't have to go home. She was already upset and it always made her mommy and daddy more upset when she was upset…so maybe it would be better to go home with Hailey. She was a good partner for her daddy and she was nice to her. "I want to go home with you," she managed, "P-please?"

Hailey raised her eyebrows slightly. "Your parents want you home," she said slowly, "I'm sure they're missing you. But we can totally hang out another time. Maybe we do a sleepover next weekend?" She swallowed when Piper's face fell. "What's goin' on, kiddo? You don't want to go home?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't want them to hate me," she whispered shamefully, clasping her hands together tightly, "I don't want to ruin everything."

"Your parents don't hate you," Hailey promised, turning around to face Piper after stopping at a stop sign, "They love you so much. And the boys do too. Why do you think they're going to be upset?"

Piper shrugged her shoulders again. She didn't want to talk. If she talked, she was going to cry. And she didn't want to cry.

"It's going to be okay," Hailey promised. She offered a reassuring smile. "Would it help if I came in with you for a little? Maybe hang out with the boys while you and your folks chat?"

"Hey guys," Jay greeted, offering a wide smile to his little girl, "Did you have a fun after school date with Hailey, Pipes?"

He paused when he caught sight of his daughter's features that showed the telltale signs of her trying to remain stoic. Jay immediately looked up at his partner, hoping to get some kind of indication as to what had transpired. "What's goin' on?"

Piper looked up at Jay, tears swimming in her eyes. She was trying not to cry because she knew her daddy always got sad when she cried, but she couldn't help it. She was safe with him.

Jay crouched down and she barreled into his chest with a sob. He held her closely, his heart in his throat. He could feel just how tired and overwhelmed his little bug was. "It's alright," he soothed, rubbing her back carefully, "We're here, kiddo." He grimaced when Piper choked out a sob against his neck.

"She's worried you guys are going to hate her," Hailey explained softly to Erin as she set Piper's backpack down, "I didn't get details but she was quiet for most of the afternoon."

Erin nodded and bit her lip in frustration with herself. She should have trusted her gut and taken Piper out of school that afternoon. Something had clearly transpired to send her child into a tailspin and it almost certainly happened at school. "Thank you," she managed, "For picking her up."

"I've got some time," Hailey offered, holding out her arms, "You need an extra set of hands for a little?"

Erin gave a grateful nod. "Thank you," she repeated, carefully transitioning Ryan into his godmother's arms, "Say hi to Aunt Hailey, bubba." She smiled when the baby attempted to grasp Hailey's long hair. "No pulling, little man."

Jay continued to rub Piper's back gently. "What's got you so upset?" he asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "How can we help?"

Piper sniffed. She could hear her mommy talking to Hailey. "When…when Griffin was at school and he didn't get good grades, he got detention," Piper said tearfully, "And when I got detention because I got punched, Mommy hated me." Her voice cracked again. "I don't want her to hate me again."

Erin felt her blood run cold.

It was a low point of parenting that she never liked to think about.

Jay was undercover and she and Piper were alone together for the first time. She was overwhelmed to say the least, and after receiving multiple calls of Piper getting into fights at school, she hit a breaking point. Piper was suddenly a defiant and sassy little girl, a stark shift in the ordinarily sweet and agreeable child. The frustration got the better of her and Erin sent Piper to her bedroom only to learn that Piper had been the one getting bullied.

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. It wasn't the prospect of not doing well in school that was causing her child turmoil. Her little girl was afraid of her.

"Mommy doesn't hate you," Jay promised, wiping Piper's cheek with his thumb, "Nobody hates you." He glanced up at Erin and back down to his little girl. "Can you tell us what happened today so we can try to help?"

Piper sniffed. "I didn't do good on my test in history," she whispered, "T-there were two pages and I only did one b-because I forgot to turn it over." More tears trickled down her cheeks. "I don't want to do fifth grade again."

"It was one test," he soothed, "Just one, kiddo." He swallowed the lump in his throat. He could feel the exhaustion in his child's trembling from. "It's tough to have a class at the end of the day when you're ready to go home, isn't it?" Jay managed a small smile when Piper nodded. "We know you're tired, Pipes. And it's hard to keep up with all normal school stuff when you're feeling super sleepy." He stroked her hair gently. "You're not in trouble and we're not mad. We just need you to tell us when you're going through tough stuff so that we can help. We're on your side, bug. Always."

"I could never, ever hate you," Erin choked out, finally finding words. She crouched down beside her partner. "No matter what. I've never hated you and I promise I never will. You are mine, Noodle. Ours."

Piper wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "I don't like making you upset," she whispered, "It's all I do."

Erin shook her head fervently. "Not at all," she promised, "You make us the happiest. And you make the boys the happiest too." She reached forward to stroke Piper's cheek. "Daddy and I just want to be there for you when you're having trouble."

"I don't wanna have trouble," Piper replied sadly, "I just-" She stopped. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't want things to go back to before, because that would mean the boys wouldn't be there. And she never, ever wanted to lose her brothers. But Piper also didn't want things to stay the same.

"We know," Jay murmured against the top of her head, "We're going to figure it out, bug." He leaned over to kiss Erin's cheek and stopped when he heard a squeal from across the room.

Piper widened her eyes. "Was that…was that Ryan?" she asked, glancing over her Daddy's shoulder.

"Ryan thinks it's funny when Daddy gives me a kiss," Erin explained, her cheeks reddening slightly given that her fiancé's partner was holding her son, "He just started right before you got home."

A smile spread across Piper's features. "That is so cute," she said, excitement building in her voice, "Can you do it again?"

Jay chuckled and kissed Erin's lips gently, earning another giggle from Ryan and a grin from his little bug. "That's so cool!" Piper exclaimed, the tears from earlier momentarily forgotten, "We gotta try it with Hailey and Will too!"

Hailey's cheeks heated. "Oh, I don't know-"

"My brother's due to stop by any moment because he's borrowing a tie," Jay said, offering a cheeky grin to his partner, "Something about wanting to make a good impression on a date tonight."

"Let's try this." Erin gave Piper a playful kiss to the cheek and pulled her into her arms, holding her baby close. Piper giggled when Ryan squealed but then immediately melted into her mommy's chest. "I love you, sweet girl. Nothing's ever going to change that."

Would love to hear what you think! I'm planning to add some other characters back in to spice things up - who do you want to see?