The Family You Choose

Voight returned to the District one afternoon after a contentious meeting downtown. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. What a monumental waste of time. As he came up the front steps, he noticed something. Trudy was not in her usual spot at the front desk where she dispensed orders and sarcasm in equal measures.

"Sanchez, where's Platt?" he asked. The young man filling in pointed across the hall to the empty office. This caused him to fumble the phone receiver. He grabbed it up quickly. "Yes, ma'am, I'm still here," he said breathlessly as he searched for a pen.

Voight nodded and approached the door. Through the window he saw her talking to an unexpected visitor. He had not seen this person for a while, but immediately his mood improved. He opened the door and smiled.

"Well, look who's here," he said.

Trudy glanced up. "How was your meeting?"

Voight shook his head. "The usual. A lot of talking, but nothing productive."

"No surprise there," said Trudy with an eyeroll.

"But this one always brings a breath of fresh air."

"Indeed, she does. I said I would keep an eye on little Miss Halstead here while Hailey went for her CPD physical. Mrs. Upton would have kept her, but she has bronchitis."

Sanchez waved frantically from the desk. "Sergeant Platt, you have a call. It's your husband. He says it's urgent."

Trudy exhaled loudly. "Of course, it is. He probably wants to know what's for dinner."

"Go on. I'll watch her," said Voight.

Trudy got to her feet. "Athena, sweetie. This is Hank. He's going to sit with you. Is that okay?"

Athena was standing beside the battered wood desk, furiously coloring. "Okay," she said without acknowledging him.

Voight sat down and scooted closer to the desk. "That's a pretty picture. Who is it?" he asked.

"Jasmine. She's a princess."

"Is that right? You're doing a great job coloring her," said Voight. He studied the adorable blonde-haired girl. She was truly a replica of her mom. Jay would protest that there was some of him in there, too.

The blue crayon she was using snapped into several pieces. "Uh oh." She looked up at Voight for the first time.

"I think you're pressing down too hard," he said.

"My daddy says that, too."

"Daddies are usually right. Let's see if we can find another blue one." Together, they picked through the round plastic tub of crayons. "Here's one," Athena proclaimed gleefully. "Blue is my favorite color, but I don't like brown."

"Blue is a good choice."

New crayon in hand, Athena resumed coloring. For a few moments, the hustle and bustle of the 21st receded and Voight savored the quiet interlude. She's so darn cute. There was a time when he frowned on interoffice romance. But he couldn't deny that Jay and Hailey getting together was a good thing.

Abruptly, Athena stopped her artistic pursuit and really looked at Voight. She tilted her head and furrowed her brow as if something had just occurred to her. "Are you my grandpa? I have a yaya, but I don't know if I have a grandpa. My friend Mia has two grandpas." She held up three fingers as she said this.

Voight chuckled. He reached over and gently pushed one finger down. "That's two." He tapped the end of her index finger, then her middle finger. "One, two. See?"

Athena looked at her fingers, then to Voight. "Sure?"

"I'm positive," he smiled. The normally unflappable Voight was shocked by her question. Both Athena's biological grandfathers were deceased and his own grandson lived in another state. Sadly, he didn't get to see him very often. Could he be a substitute grandpa for Athena?

No one would label Hank Voight as a "warm and fuzzy" kind of guy. However, where kids concerned, he could be an absolute teddy bear. Some of that "warm and fuzzy" tugged at his heart now. Athena continued to scrutinize him with her big green eyes.

She deserves a grandpa. And I could be that person. But will her parents go along with it?

"Would you like me to be?" he said finally. He realized he was anxious for her answer.

Thinking about it for a moment, Athena said, "If my mom says it's okay."

"Just your mom? What about your daddy?"

"Him, too." There was a slight pause. "But mom's the boss," she confided.

That made Voight smile. "Good answer, kiddo."

Hailey was back from her physical and stood just out of sight. The door was ajar and she overheard the entire exchange between Voight and her daughter. Frankly, she was stunned. Athena was always chatty, but Hailey didn't know where she got the grandpa idea. She had to admit, however, that she and Voight interacted quite well.

"I'm hungry," said Athena suddenly.

Now Voight saw the tote bag on the other end of the table. "Coloring is hard business. What's in here?" He pulled out a small container with grapes and another with Goldfish crackers.

"Which do you want?"

"Both!"

He opened the containers and Athena grabbed a handful of crackers first. "Want some? Mom says it's good to share."

"Mom's right," he said and took a couple grapes. "Thank you."

Trudy walked over to Hailey. "Look at those two. They're best buds now."

"I don't know what to think. Athena is really wound up today. More than normal."

She turned to Trudy. "Did you give her candy?"

"What? Me? Okay, I may have slipped her one little piece. But only after she had her yogurt."

Hailey gave her a skeptical look.

Trudy held up a hand. "One piece. Scout's honor."

"You were a Girl Scout?"

"Well, I was in the Brownies for two weeks, but dropped out because I hated the uniform."

Hailey tried not to laugh. "If my daughter won't go down for a nap, I'm blaming you."