Jay's arrival was perfect timing on his part because as he slowly walked down the hallway, scanning the door in search of the apartment number that Erin had sent to him weeks ago, he saw her exiting out. She was dressed in leggings, a sweatshirt and tennis shoes with a retractable leash held in one hand as she used the other hand to close her front door. Connected to the leash he assumed was Milo, the German Shepherd she told him about in the waiting room weeks ago. The dog's eyes were on him, glowering in protection of his owner while she faced the door to lock the top and bottom latch. He took a step closer and that's when he starts to growl, suddenly alerting Erin to his presence, "I'm sorry," he apologizes for startling her after seeing her jump and drop her keys. She's frazzled, on edge and Milo hasn't stopped growling.

"I- I just didn't hear you," she grabs for her keys before tucking them into the front pocket of her sweatshirt, "Um is everything okay?" He should have text her; he realizes that now because things are awkward at his sudden appearance at her apartment. And it's the first time he's ever come, he had no reason to visit in the past and he honestly has no reason now.

"Yeah," he rocks side to side on his feet, hands shoved into his front pockets, "everything is fine. I was in the neighborhood," he points his thumb over his shoulder as if that explains it, "I'm off today and Abby works a couple of blocks away from here so I met her for lunch. She's back at work and I saw you lived close by so I thought I could visit, maybe talk for a bit."

"I was just about to take Milo for a walk," Erin notices his eyes cast down towards her growling dog who decided to escalate from the growls to the occasional bark, "I'm sorry. It's just because he doesn't know you. He doesn't trust strangers." This was a huge reason why Erin wanted an apartment that accepted dogs, regardless of if her pet was an emotional support animal or not, she didn't want to get a letter from her therapist just for a no pets allowed apartment complex to allow her pet. It was reasons why she didn't go the extra step to get it written down. She was concerned about neighbors; their allergies and she didn't want to suddenly move in next door without thought and consideration towards them. She didn't want people in her business, no one knows her dog is an emotional support animal unless she tells them or puts the red vest on him that signifies his training. She likes when some of her neighbors have their own pets and it isn't just her walking her dog around the premises. And as Milo barks, it reminds her of another reason, her neighbors aren't annoyed by a barking dog because this place allows pets. It's expected. If she wanted to move into a no pets allowed apartment, showcasing a letter from her psychiatrist to practically grant her permission to move in then the neighbors she would have had would have been displaced because when they signed their lease and moved in, it was understood that there would be no animals and they wouldn't be bothered by the animals of other tenants.

Milo barks again, "Stop," she reprimands and he begrudgingly listens, "Sorry, like I said he doesn't know you and he's really protective of me."

"He'll come around. He'll be seeing a lot of me."

"…then you'll eventually grow on him," she smiles, thinking of the progress their friendship has made after remembering how weeks ago he didn't even entertain the thought of ever meeting her dog or coming to her place, "He doesn't bite," she rubs the top of Milo's head, "not unless I tell him to and he's a good boy, a really good boy, aren't you Milo?" The dog's eyes close as he enjoys the massage that Erin applies to the spot behind his ear, -his favorite spot.

Once she stops, he reopens his eyes, looks back at Jay and growls. His tail contradicts his growl because it wags side to side as he runs his face against Erin's leg, "He's just mad at you for cutting into his walking time," she pats the top of Milo's head again.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all," Erin waves for him to follow, "Milo might though, but I don't." Jay chuckles at her words, jogging to catch up as she goes to take the back stairs. He had come from the direction of the elevator and apparently, as she explains it, she tries to take the stairs as much as possible because she's gaining a lot of weight and more stretchmarks are appearing on her stomach and legs. She's currently 23 weeks pregnant, a little over five months. No one will judge her -pregnant or not- over a stretchmark or two.

The exit door shuts behind them and the fresh air blows through Milo's fur. He walks forward, leading Erin and Jay around the building and down the sidewalk, "So, how was lunch?"

"It was fine," he shrugs, thinking to himself that it could have been better, "I've been working double shifts so we fit it in to see each other. She has her therapy appointment after work so by the time she gets home I'll probably be gone. I'm working overtime, I'm on patrol tonight."

"How often does she go?" Erin's so nosey, but she's been wanting to ask questions about Abby for the longest and only until recently did she feel like they were close enough for her to ask.

"…once a week."

"Cool," she nods, watching as Milo approached a fire hydrant and lifted his leg, peeing and proving every stereotype right about dogs and their love of fire hydrants.

"I uh…I appreciate you not judging. I know therapy has such a bad stigma."

Erin shrugs, because it's no big deal to her, she understands, "I've been in therapy," she admits, looking forward even though she can feel his eyes peering into the side of her face, "It can definitely help with whatever it is she has going on."

"…so you've been to therapy?" He already knows the answer but it's more so for clarity as he processes the information that she told him.

"Yeah," and now she takes a glance in his direction, affirming, "but I don't talk about it."

He ignores the vibration of his cell phone in his pocket as he accepts her way of telling him to change the topic. They might be new friends but they weren't close, not close enough for her to reveal parts of her life that only her closest circle knows about, "It's nice outside." By default, he goes to the weather, a boring topic that has managed to fill the silence for generations.

"Yeah it is," she agrees, following behind Milo as he continues his walk, "and this place is nice too. Milo really likes it, especially because of the frequent walks. We couldn't go on many in New York, but here, I don't know, maybe it's the change of scenery but the fresh air does me good."

He wants to ask about New York but he knows that he'll only be shut down. He has a feeling that it's linked towards whatever reason she was in therapy.

His phone vibrates in his pocket again, but he chooses to ignore it and ask another question, "Is this neighborhood safe?"

"…as safe as can be expected." It wasn't the worst area but it can definitely improve.

"What does that mean?"

"It's safe enough, especially for a single mother and a newborn."

"If you want, I can see if there are any vacancies in my building."

"No," she chuckles and shakes her head at the thought of that, "I just moved here and I really like this place. And besides, my neighbor is the sweetest. She's elderly and her son, his wife and their two kids live in Missouri so she visits me a lot and brings me food. You should be thanking her actually," she stops and turns to smile up at him, "she makes sure your baby is well fed and brings me vegetables of all different colors. Vegetables that I didn't even know exist. The woman is an amazing cook and her husband died a year ago so she likes the feeling of cooking for someone which actually works perfect because I really needed to cut back on takeout."

"How did you meet her?"

"She dropped a lasagna off at my place the day I moved in officially. It was delicious."

The two of them resumed their walk, excusing themselves through a group of friends that were loitering in the middle of the sidewalk. He used the silence between them as an opportunity to check his messages, both are from Abby and both are wondering where he's at and what he's doing. He doesn't answer. He doesn't feel like being checked up on.

"So," Erin starts, after unhooking the leash from Milo's collar as he took off in the dog park, running around to stretch his legs and exert his energy, "I've managed to check a few things off my to-do before the baby comes list."

"…like what?" He follows her to the bench and takes a seat next to her.

"I've set up a dentist appointment and yesterday I took my car through inspection. You already know that I found an apartment, paid the security deposit, signed the lease and officially moved in," she lists, "I'm all unpacked and moved in."

"…maybe one day you can give me a tour?"

"Yeah," she nods, leaning back and glancing up to the sky, squinting because the sun was so bright, "one day." Erin watched as Milo ran up to another dog, the two of them playing around as the owner of the other dog started to toss two sticks for them to fetch.

Jay's arm stretches out behind her on the bench, the two of them watching Milo as he grabs a stick and runs over to Erin, wagging his tail when she takes it from him and he excitedly goes after it when she throws it. This happens twice before Erin leans back, his arm still behind her on the back of the bench, "So," he starts, watching her as she throws the stick again but since she's leaning back it doesn't go as far as the first few did.

"…so?" she repeats.

"Have you…" his question is interrupted when Milo runs back and goes back on his hindlegs to rest his front legs on her lap, leaning forward for her to rub his neck.

"Have I what?" Even though Milo temporarily distracted her, she was still listening.

"…thought about finding out the gender. At our 22-week appointment, the doctor said that we can find out at any time. I just thought that maybe we can find out at our next appointment," he reaches to scratch the back of his head, "That's only if you're cool with it though."

Erin leans further back, "I wouldn't mind," she reaches behind her to rub against her lowering back, "I've finished every room but the room that'll become the nursery," the more her stomach has expanded, the more frequent she's experienced an ache in her back, her only fix for it is to rub it with the side of her fist, "I kind of don't know what to do with it and maybe that's because I don't know the gender. I think it's a good idea to find out," her face scrunches up in reaction to the dull pain, "And now that some time has passed, how are you feeling about all of this? "

"Honestly?" He repeats.

"Yeah, honestly, how do you honestly feel?" She stands up, hoping that if she stretches then it'll take some of the pressure off.

"I know you said you didn't want a baby but then you changed your mind," she twists side to side to stretch out the kinks, "and now you want this. What made you change your mind?"

"It wasn't just one thing for me and what changed my mind won't change yours. If I can be honest,"

He sits up, watching as she moves her hand to rest at her lower back, "That's what we agreed on."

Erin smiles gratefully when Milo brings the stick back over and Jay reaches to take it out of his mouth, "then," she continues, "I think you're not totally against the idea of the baby as you were in the beginning. I saw your face when we heard the heartbeat, that's not the face of someone who doesn't want this. I think your hesitation comes from fear. I think you think of your relationship with your dad and you're scared of a repeat happening with you and your kid."

Before Jay can throw the stick, it drops from his hand, causing Milo to grunt and lift the stick up with his mouth before carrying it over to Erin. Jay had never looked at any of this like that. It was interesting getting a new perspective from someone on the outside of his relationship with his dad and now that she mentioned her thoughts on it, it gave him a new angle when examining his own back and forth, up and down and good and bad emotions towards his baby.

"I think," she wasn't finished, "it was just easier to say you don't want children, and that might still be true, but I think you're scared that you'll be a dad to the baby the same way your dad is a dad to you. I get it. I do. When I think of my birth mom, I have the same reservations."

His cell phone vibrates again but now that he knows it was Abby the previous two times, he assumes it's her again. And he isn't surprised to find out that his assumption was correct. He doesn't respond because it's simply her informing him that she's going to call him when she gets off from work. Knowing himself, he probably won't answer and she'll just leave a voicemail.

"…but at this point there's nothing I can do about it but face it head on," she tosses the stick again and watches Milo chase after it before lowering herself back down onto the bench, "Have you thought anymore about telling your dad and brother?"

"I've thought about it briefly, and I know I should. There's a small part of me that wants to because I figured just because I don't have a good relationship with them doesn't mean they won't have a good relationship with the baby. Kids change things, so I always thought, maybe this baby will change things for the better? But then I think maybe I'm expecting too much and for them to think of me as a disappointment or to treat me like a foreigner in my own family is one thing but to witness it as an adult to my own baby," he's looking down at the ground, staring at a pebble that Milo steps on the second he runs back over, "I don't think I could handle that," he looks back up to meet her eyes, "I don't know what to do."

"Give them a call."

Of all the responses he expected, that wasn't one of them. He's confused, "What?"

"Your dad and brother, you should call them. I know they don't deserve anything from you and if they don't want to be in the baby's life then that's on them, it's their loss, but at least you gave them the opportunity, the option. And you don't have to do it by yourself," she tosses the stick as far as her arm could throw, choosing to focus on Milo and not Jay during this emotionally fused moment, "I'm here. And I don't have to say anything but it'd probably be nice just to have someone there, on your side for moral support."

He doesn't want to do this but he knows that he needs to because at the end of the day, it's his dad and his brother and despite how much he despises them, he does love them just as much. Weirdly so, they always manage to arouse feelings of frustration even though they always say it's out of love, out of concern, thinking they always know what's best for him. He's 31 years old, he's old enough to know what's best for him. He's not Will, he never wanted to be a doctor. He never saw himself in a suit and tie profession. He's the outcast of the family, the one with sleeve tattoos, licensed to carry a weapon, a man that's made more enemies in his profession than he's made friends.

He's always been rough around the edges but with age, he's tamed it enough to be a functioning adult but apparently not enough to gain the approval of his father and brother. His mother, she was different, God rest her soul, she was different and he'll never understand to this day what she saw in his father. Jay sighed and reached to pull out his cell phone again, he saw he'd had a few more text messages from Abby but with the way Erin was looking at him with such kindness in her eyes had him releasing a heavy sigh and nodding in agreement.

She nudged his side with her elbow, "Go ahead, give him a call."

Jay didn't want to go forward with it. Despite what Erin may think, he knows his father and he knows how he's going to react to the news. He won't be happy. How could you expect the man to be? His son is having a baby, not with the woman he approves of, but with a total stranger? What parent would be happy about that? Yet despite what Jay knows, despite the years of memories he's had of his dad's disappointment and disapproval, he calls him. Dialing his number with a slight hesitance before placing the phone call on speaker, "Hello."

His dad doesn't sound happy but when is he ever happy to hear from his son.

"Hey dad," he greeted his father with just about as much excitement as his father greeted him.

"I was beginning to think that you had lost my number," Patrick grunted and Jay knew his father well enough to know that he's probably sitting on the couch, flipping through channels with a remote and on his third beer, "Will is here. Will, say hi to your brother."

"I've been trying to say hi for the past few months but it seems Jay has better things to do. He never picks up the phone. I think he has me blocked."

"If I had you blocked I wouldn't be getting your text messages that I've been responding to."

"You started responding like last week despite me trying to reach out to you for months!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, this conversation was already starting off on a bad note and if it wasn't for Erin's hand currently placed on his knee then he probably would have hung up the phone, "Guys, I didn't call to argue. I called to tell you some news."

Will uttered, "Good news?"

"It depends on how you look at it."

Jay watched Milo run around, stretching his legs as he played around the dog park. His tongue was hanging outside of his mouth and flapping with every gallop. Erin wasn't watching her dog though, he was trained and well-behaved, she trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't act out while her attention was on Jay, "You got this," she squeezed his thigh and gave him a small smile.

"We're waiting, Jay. I didn't answer the phone to listen to you breathe. What's this it depends on how you look at it good news?"

"I'm uh," he starts to lift his hand to scratch behind his ear but Erin grabs it, stopping his nervous tic before he's able to do it, "I'm having a baby." He's looking at her, meeting her eyes despite the blinding sun shining behind her urging him to look away.

"You're having a baby," his brother repeats, and Jay doesn't know how to take it. He can't read his brother as well as he can read his father. And his father is silent. He's not saying a word.

"Yeah," he reaffirms, "I'm having a baby." Jay knows how that sounds, he knows that they're going to assume that Abby's the mother but he's in no rush to correct their assumption, "and I know we're not married or anything but we're keeping the baby. We're going to co-parent and things are going to be fine and no it wasn't planned but sometimes things happen."

"How are you having a baby with Abby before we even had a chance to meet her?"

"That's another thing," if Erin didn't release his hand, he probably would have snatched it out of her grip, he needed to scratch behind his ear, "Abby isn't having a baby. She's not the uh, not the mom."

"Now I have to chime in here because I am confused. How is your longtime girlfriend, your current girlfriend not pregnant yet you're having a baby?"

No one answers that question because the answer is obvious. It just took a few seconds for it to click inside of his dad's head, "Well you cheating bastard," his father chuckled dryly.

"We were on a break in our relationship," Jay offered by way of explanation.

"…but when we text the other day, you mentioned that you and Abby are living together. Are you and her raising the baby together?"

"It's complicated but the baby's mom and I are raising the baby together and Abby and I are staying together, we're working through things."

"This is just another reason for you to quit the force and move back here. You make dumb decisions when you're on your own," his brother reprimanded and even though Jay wasn't with them, he knew Will was pacing in the background and running both hands through his hair, "Here you go again, making stupid mistakes and telling us so we can bail you out of them. I can still put in a good word for you at my alma mata but no promises or guarantees that you'll get in. And if you don't want the baby, you don't need to have the baby. Does she need money? Maybe we can pay her off? How far along is she in her pregnancy?"

"We're past the halfway mark. She's a little over five months."

"And we're just now finding out about this?" His father interjected; the sound of disappointment clear in his voice.

"To be honest, I didn't want to tell you at all."

"Well that's just disrespectful."

"I'm not trying to be disrespectful dad; I'm trying to be honest."

"I swear, I always think you can't possibly disappoint me more than you've already have and you take it as a challenge and prove me wrong every single time. You're getting too old for this, Jay," his dad growled, "When are you coming back to Wisconsin?"

"Why would you think I'm coming back?"

"…to get your ass out of this mess, why else," his brother answered and it took everything in him to remain calm, to not hang up on his father and brother but with the way Erin was looking at him, he knows she wouldn't judge him if his finger slid over the red hang up button.

"I don't need your help. I don't need anything from you. I just thought you might want to know that you're going to be an uncle and pops is going to be a grandpa. I don't expect anything from either one of you, I don't even expect you to meet the baby. I just wanted you to know that there is a baby. That a baby, my baby exists and will be here in a few months. That's it. That's all. I'll talk to you later." And without giving either one of them a chance to remind him about how much of a screw up he is, he hangs up, clenching his hand around his phone because if he didn't do this then he'd probably throw his phone across the park and send Milo to fetch it.

His hand tightened even more around the phone when it vibrated again and he doesn't want to check it because if it's another text from Abby then he might actually throw the phone across the park, he took in a deep breath and shut his eyes before pressing a button to lighten the screen, scanning the message blocking his phone wallpaper before reading it out loud, "My brother says that I couldn't possibly disappoint them anymore than I just did," he pockets his cell and glares forward, at nothing and no one specifically, just the world, "I guess it's safe to say they don't want anything to do with me or the baby." He rises from his seat and extends his hand to help her up, it's a silent suggestion that this walk was over. She called for Milo and fell in step next to him.

"I'm sorry, Jay."

"…not your fault, not your responsibility, can we just change the subject please?"

No one could blame him for shutting her out, for not wanting to talk about it or think about it anymore. He already suspected this would happen, it's one of the reasons why he didn't want to tell them in the first place, he didn't want to give them the satisfaction of making him feel like this.

And Erin felt bad about it. She was the one who suggested he make the call now despite his trepidations so she felt the least she could do was change the mood and the conversation.

"I bought the cutest night light yesterday," Erin admits, and it feels like such a big step considering it's one of the first purchases she, herself, has made for the baby, "It's a gray cloud," she adds, his shoulder bumping against hers after every few steps they take, "I think I should paint the nursery once we find out the gender. I'm not really feeling the neutral colors like gray, white, green and yellow."

"I uh," he scratches behind his ear as he admits, "actually got something too. I don't have it with me because I didn't plan to say anything about it. I didn't want it to look like I was rushing or taking charge of everything. I just happened to be at the mall and walked by a baby boutique and it caught my eye so I bought a few in different styles with different designs and-"

Erin comes to an abrupt stop, reaching to grab his wrist with her free hand, "Jay," she waits for him to turn to look at her, "It's okay. You don't have to hold back on buying things you like for the baby because you don't know what I'll think about it," she releases his wrist and drops her hand to her belly, "This is your baby too and if you like something, don't hesitate to get it."

"I bought," he smiles as her eyes widen in anticipation to hear what he has to say, "pacifiers. A lot of them actually. I figured it's a necessity for a baby and I guess we can't have too many but I may have went overboard," he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his cell phone, "I took pictures of all of the ones that I bought, I didn't take them out of the package but I did lay them all out on the counter to get them all in the photo."

Erin takes a hold of his phone, and while she expected to see maybe four or five pacifiers, she was shocked to count twelve of them. She smiled, looking at the different brands and colors of each one, "The lady in the store told me that babies are picky and they might not like a certain kind of pacifier so I bought one of each brand they had," he glances over her shoulder to look at the picture with her, "that one right there," he points to the one with a Chicago Cubs design logo on it, "is my favorite one. Hopefully the baby accepts that one." She takes a glance at the other eleven pacifiers ranging in eleven different colors and designs: clear, black, yellow, a pink one with rhinestones, a red one that reads mute button in the center, a green one that says volume in the middle, one that was light blue with a crescent moon design in the center, a gray one with words in the middle that read 'if you are stressed out and confused, my work here is done,' a white one that says 'proud baby of a detective,' an orange one with the picture of a lion colored in the center and a brown pacifier that's attached directly to a small stuffed giraffe. Erin smiled, seeing that he went all out for their baby already, "I got different sizes too and I didn't take a picture of it, but I also grabbed three pacifier clips in white, black and gray since we don't know the gender. The lady says it's good to clip onto the baby's clothing so when they spit their pacifier out it won't fall to the floor."

She handed him back his phone and waited for him to pocket it before throwing her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug and resting her head against his shoulder, "Thank you."

He's confused, but he does hug her back, "What for?"

"…for all of that. I just…I thought I was the only one who was going to have to buy things like that but you're," she pulls away and bites her lip, "you're just a really good person."

"…because I bought way more pacifiers than we're going to need?"

"No, because you stood by your word. You meant it when you said you're in this and I'm not going to be alone and I know it's just pacifiers to you but to me…it means more."

The two of them walk in silence, Milo walking a few steps ahead without his leash attached, and with the trained eye of both Erin and Jay watching him to ensure he didn't wander too far. It's only silent between the two of them, not in the actual world because there are birds chirping, people talking and laughing, other dogs barking, car horns honking and the sound of a tire hitting a pothole in the near distance. That car probably has a flat tire but that's neither her nor his business. Instead their business, their life was slowly starting to be all about the baby with doctor's appointments, preparing the nursery, shopping for the baby and telling family and friends.

And speaking of telling family, "You probably don't want to hear this but you know the longer we wait to tell my dad, the worse it's going to be for us, especially you? I've known him for majority of my life and he isn't such a forgiving man."

"No matter when we tell him he's going to be pissed."

"That's true," she nods in agreement, "but he would have just been mad about the idea of us sleeping together, being irresponsible and getting pregnant, now he's going to be mad because of that and because we've sat on this information for months."

"…and he has to know?" Jay smiled weakly. She actually feels bad for him, he's been through a lot these last couple of months.

"Of course, Jay, he's my dad and if he doesn't know he's going to be pretty confused about why I insist for your name to be on the birth certificate and why you're visiting the baby so often."

Just as they arrive back to the back entrance of her apartment building he speaks in regards to the latest topic, "the bonfire is coming up," his hands are tucked in his pockets and he's rocking forwards and backwards, "how about we focus on you and Abby having a successful first meeting before actually sitting down and talking about how and when we want to tell Voight? It's not going to be as easy as you telling your best friend. We need a game plan for this."

"We do but no matter how fast or slow we rip off the band-aid it's still going to hurt and we're still going to get the same reaction."

That might be true but procrastination and putting things off have always been his way of protecting himself. He wasn't ready to tell Voight, not today, not after that conversation with his own brother and father. His job is the only thing he really has left now. He couldn't lose that too.

"Hey," she looks over her shoulder after keying in her card to get access through the back -only the front is open to the public, - "the last thing you want to do is be stuck thinking about my dad and the many possible reactions he might have to this. That's not a path you want to go down. So come on inside, I'll give you the official tour of my place and show you a few of the other little things I bought for the baby that I didn't mention." She doesn't wait for a response, she simply waves for Milo to enter before falling in line behind him, knowing that Jay caught the back-entrance door before it shuts and locks him out.