Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.

Gianna Marino - Rachael Taylor

Chapter Nine: Relaxing at Home.

Stepping into her home and dropping her keys onto the table by the door, Gianna sighed in relief as she shut the door behind her and started to remove her coat and scarf to hang it up by the door while she toed off her shoes. Apollo the black kitten that she had rescued a few weeks back poked his head around the corner, he mewed at her as Gianna made her way further into the home exhausted from the day at work.

It had been a few days since she had been confronted by Erin in the car park, she'd had to convince Julia that it wasn't the time to fly out since the news that she had one sister had been a lot to take in. Stroking the kitten, Gianna made her way into the kitchen and made sure that Apollo had fresh water and gave him his dinner before she moved to the fridge to see what leftovers she could have for dinner.

Her stomach grumbled as she checked the plastic tubs that she had prepared in advance for the week; each of them containing a different meal that she had prepared on her day off. Gianna pulled out one of the tubs that contained chilli pork ragu with parmesan polenta, she moved to put the food into a bowl before popping it into the microwave to heat up.

Leaning against the counter, Gianna pondered her plans for the evening; she had nothing spectacular planned for the evening, she was looking forward to some peace and quiet after the last few days. Her mind had been a whirlwind since the run in with Erin, Julia hadn't stop calling wanting to know what was happening; she kept talking about how she was going to fly out and deal with it herself.

Gianna honestly didn't know what her sister expected to do, there was nothing to be done right now since Erin was likely in as much shock as they were right now. There was no telling what was going to happen nor what Bunny might have said about the situation, Gianna didn't know her mother except what Julia had told her but her sister had been nine when Bunny had left.

Gianna had been two while Erin had been only one when all this had happened, they all had different views on the woman that they called mother and they would have been tainted by their experiences. Hearing the beep of the microwave, Gianna sighed and moved to grab her food; she gave it a bit of a stir before heading to the couch to catch up on some television.

There were moments that she still couldn't stand the silence that lingered in her home when she returned from work, her mind telling her that Michael should be there; he would have been singing over the oven making dinner for when she got home. His hips swaying to the music as he used the spatula as a microphone, he always had this big smile on his face as he danced around the kitchen until he saw her.

Not that it stopped when Michael saw her, he would dance his way over to her and make her join in; dancing away their troubles, laughing as they moved around the kitchen without a care in the world. Picking at her food, Gianna swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she thought about the happiness that they had shared together; it felt like forever ago that they'd been that happy.

The first anniversary of his death was coming up, his mother asking her if she would be attending the memorial that the family was hosting for him while Julia said that it wasn't her place to attend. Gianna hadn't said anything to Nancy about whether she would fly back to Seattle yet as she still wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do about the situation.

She still had a couple of days before the memorial was to be held, Gianna felt that she should be there as his widow; that it would make more questions for Nancy to answer than she deserved. It was the idea of facing Michael's sisters again, Cassandra had been hard to be around after Michael had died; she had blamed Gianna for what had happened to her brother and had said some horrible things after the funeral.

Slouching on the couch, Gianna sighed closing her eyes as she pondered what she was going to do; she felt like she was no further along in her life than when Michael had passed. Eating her dinner, Gianna thought on everything that was happening in her life right now; she guessed she wouldn't have to put up with Cassandra for a long if she did go.

Once her dinner was finished, Gianna set her bowl onto the coffee table before she picked up her phone and checked her messages; she paused upon seeing Nancy's invite to the memorial and she groaned wishing that she knew what to do. Gianna started to text Nancy back after a moment, it was something that she would have to deal with and she saw no reason to put off a visit any longer than she had been doing.

If she didn't go, she knew that she would regret it and she was sure that Nancy would appreciate the support after everything that she had done to look after Gianna when Michael had first died. Nancy was as always fast to respond to Gianna's confirmation that she was going to attend the memorial for Michael; the woman promising to send the jet to collect Gianna and not to worry about finding a place to stay.

The Nixons were rich, William Nixon was a Washington District Attorney while Nancy was editor-in-chief of Mode Magazine; the family had always prided themselves on their public image. Cassidy was on the board for some hospital in Seattle while Cassandra was Creative Director at Mode where she hoped to take over from her mother one day.

Gianna had always felt a little out of place around the Nixon twins, Cassandra having only growing more dismissive of Gianna since Michael had died and a part of Gianna understood her anger. As a doctor she should have been able to save her husband from his injuries, there wasn't a moment that she didn't think back to that night and wish that she could have done more to save him.

Clearing her throat, Gianna blinked away the tears before getting to her feet and moving to tidy away her bowl as she tried to shake the grief that crept up on her even now nearly a year later. There were so many things left unsaid, a fight that she wished that she could take back and Gianna had no idea how she would ever forgive herself for losing Michael like she had.

Reaching the sink, Gianna paused at the sound of the doorbell and she furrowed her brow since she wasn't expecting anyone to night; she put the bowl into the sink and turned on the hot water to let it warm up before she headed to the front door thinking that it might be her neighbour with a parcel or something. Apollo was curled up asleep on the cat tree that Gianna had bought him when she had made the decision to keep him, the kitten seemed to enjoy the height of the tree.

Opening the door, Gianna paused at the sight of Erin not sure how the other woman had found out where she lived and she had no idea what had brought her to Gianna's doorstep at this hour of the night. Erin looked awkward, she had been sat outside the house for the last half hour unable to make up her mind on what she wanted to say to Gianna. Part of her wanted to hide away and pretend that this wasn't happening, that Bunny hadn't lied to her for her entire life and pretended that her father was some guy from prison.

"Hi," Gianna greeted breaking the awkward silence that had descended, she was unsure what to do or say in this situation; she had believed that Erin would do her best to avoid her going forward.

"Hi," Erin replied just as awkwardly, she shifted her feet and glanced back over her shoulder as if expecting to see someone standing behind her waiting by the car to encourage her. Shaking her head, Erin knew that it was better that she had come alone especially after how her last talk with Gianna had gone and she knew that had been her fault.

She had wanted to defend her mother after seeing how scared she had been after her interaction with Gianna; she had honestly thought that the tale that Bunny had spun had been the truth for once. It made sense now why Bunny had pleaded with her not to go to the hospital and confront Gianna, why she had promised that it was for the best if Erin said nothing about what had happened.

"I'm sorry it's late," Erin said knowing that she could have come at a better time, but this was eating away at her; she had so many questions and she didn't trust Bunny to tell her the truth. Everything that she thought she knew for sure about her life was a lie, she wished that she had the answers on why her mother was the way that she was.

"Can I come in? I think we need to talk," Erin asked, she understood that Gianna might want to slam the door in her face especially after how they had acted when it came to the hospital but she hoped to talk with Gianna. There was silence for a moment before Gianna stepped to the side to allow Erin to enter her home.

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