"So, how is it?" I prompted through the slight scraping of our forks against the plate as we ate our waffles. She was sitting on her knees behind the counter, while I stood on the other side manning the waffle maker.

"Really good." Eva swallowed the food she had in her mouth. "How did you learn how to make these?"

"There was a lot of trial and error with my cooking, but I learned to masters these waffles so my brothers and I could eat." I smiled, knowing how much my brothers had enjoyed them, but it also brought back a lot of good and bad memories with it.

"It's so good. You should make them more often." She stabbed another piece and stuffed it in her mouth. "Can you?"

"I can't promise we'll have them all the time, but maybe on the weekends?"

"Okay." She seemed to accept that answer and it was good enough for me. "Hailey?"

"Hmm?'

"Are you sure you like waffles?"

"Yeah, Why?"

"Because you only ate about half yours." She eyed my plate and my half-eaten breakfast. Although she did have a point, I don't know if I would ever admit it. I didn't feel super hungry, so basically I was forcing myself to eat. I chalked it up mostly to having a lot on my mind, and eating wasn't exactly one of those things.

"Careful now. I've been busy making the waffles." I breathed out a sigh of relief as she dropped it for a moment and continued eating. As I pulled another hot waffle onto the plate and filled it with more batter as a knock echoed on my front door.

"Who's that?"

"I don't know. Just keep eating your waffles, okay?"

"Mhmm." Eva rocked back and forth on the stool as I walked down the stairs and peeked through the peephole. As I saw Jay standing there holding a white bag in his right hand, I wouldn't have expected anyone less.

"Hey," I greeted after opening up the door. "You checking up on me?" "You know it. Thought you could use some breakfast." He held up the bag in his hand as he sniffed the air. "Is that waffles?"

"Yeah."

"Since when do you cook?"

"Just started. Hey, do you have a minute to talk?"

"Yeah, sure." He agreed and stepped into the house and my stomach twisted in knots. I hoped Eva wasn't anywhere near where Jay could see her before I had a chance to explain everything. By the sound of, I was guessing she wasn't in the kitchen anymore.

"What's going on?"

"I don't even know where to begin-"

"Okay." Jay changed his stance as he stood in front of the door. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Good because what I'm going to tell you isn't easy for me to talk about." Rubbing at the side of my forehead, I ignored the wave of concern coming from Jay. "The day after we arrested Booth, I was visited by a woman by the name of Eliza Harwell. She came to me because she was trying to find a little girl's biological mother."

"I'm not sure I'm following."

"You probably will after I tell you the rest of the story." I paused, licking at my lips. Why did I think this was a good idea to tell him all this? "This little girl's mother gave her up for adoption the day she was born. Then her mother disappeared; all for good reason, because her mother was undercover at the time and she went back to the life she always thought she wanted to have. She thought she was doing the right thing by giving the little girl up. She told no one about her-even her family-in order to keep her safe."

"From Booth." He stated, not questioning the fact I had a child. I could tell by the look in his eye that it hadn't sunken in all the way. Heck, it hadn't sunken in all the way for me, and I had to remind myself that somebody else was living in this house after years of living alone.

"From Booth and all his men who could potentially use her child as bait."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it seem a little coincidental that the day after you put Booth in jail they just show up?"

"I thought the same thing that I even doubted that Booth was setting me up for something. I have a feeling that if he knew about her, he would have been after me a long time ago."

"Maybe. I wouldn't be so sure he doesn't have some kind of endgame in mind, especially since you put him in jail."

"I wouldn't doubt it. I did talk to my boss right after they showed up and determined if they were lying to me or not. He confirmed he sent them here to Chicago."

"Even so. Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"He's never given me a reason not to." I shrugged, trying to listen for anything that suggested Eva was nearby but I heard nothing. "If it weren't for Arthur Carson, I don't think I would have made it this far. He picked me up when nobody else would have. So until that day comes, we have to believe he sent them my way for a reason."

"Any reason why?"

"The only thing he told me was her adopted mother and father were killed in a car accident last week. When things die down a little, I'm going to dig for a little more information."

"Until then she's in your care, right?" He deducted, placing the white bag on the counter where Eva had been sitting, "That's why you made the waffles."

"Yeah. Although a part of me is freaking out a little knowing she's back in my life." Knowing Eva was out in the open now, I felt more relaxed and walked back into the kitchen to pull the last waffle onto the plate.

"You know you need to tell Voight."

"I know, and I will. I think I just need another day or two to let this all sink in." I drew in a deep breath as I unplugged the waffle machine. "I hate to say it, but I still have to figure out where she's going to school and who's going to watch her while I'm at work before I worry about anything else."