"Jess and Kevin are officially a couple," Jay told Erin. They were sat opposite each other at their dining table, having just started to eat dinner.

"How do you feel about that?" she asked him. Putting some food into her mouth, she studied him while he answered.

"To my own surprise, I had a totally positive reaction to it. I think I'm finally past being pissed at Kev for getting with my sister. Now I'm happy for Jess that she has some happiness that she needs and deserves, and I feel the same way for him. If it blows up between them, things could get messy. But unless that happens, I think it's all good."

"Good for you," Erin said positively. "I hoped you'd get there sooner than later. They adore each other, Jay. All you've got to do is look at them together to see that. I'd bet their feelings for each other are about as strong as ours, they just don't have the history behind it."

Jay smiled while chewing. "As strong as ours? Now that I refuse to believe."

"Okay, maybe not that strong," she conceded and they both laughed.

They ate in contented silence for a minute or so before Jay changed the subject. This one was more predictable, since of late they had been having this conversation every day.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Still the same," Erin said patiently, well aware of what he was driving at. "As I've said, I can tell my hormones are going crazy and my body just feels different. Oh, and my tits are starting to feel sore."

Jay had to try hard not to laugh at the matter of fact way she added on the last piece of information. "But you've not had any morning sickness yet."

"Not all women get morning sickness, Jay. Maybe I'm lucky. Or maybe I've got the joys of morning sickness still to come. Either way, I'm still confident that I'm pregnant, and in another week or so we can do some tests and find out. Until then, can I enjoy not being sick while I eat this?"

"Sorry I keep going on about it all the time. I'm really excited to be a dad, that's all. And I want to make sure you're okay."

"Believe me when I say I appreciate that," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Can you back off slightly with it though? It feels a bit smothering. I don't want that to hurt your feelings, it's just that in the long term it's going to be better for both of us if I tell you when I'm getting uncomfortable rather than if you keep asking me."

Erin had always been an independent woman. Jay knew that well. She needed a partner who allowed her that independence. It wasn't easy on his part to back off, but he could understand why she felt like he had been a bit smothering lately. "Sorry, I haven't meant to do that. Just trying to do my job as your partner."

"I know, Jay. How about we do this: I'll let you know when something changes or if I feel ill. If I need you to help me with anything, I'll ask you. This is coming across really bitchy, isn't it?"

"No," he said genuinely. "I understand what you're saying. We've not been back together long, now there's what we're pretty sure is a pregnancy, it's a lot to get right mentally. Does that make sense?"

She reached out and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "It does. I love you, Jay. I'm sorry I'm not the easiest person to live with."

"Yeah, well neither am I," he said frankly. After all, he was the one with a pending divorce.

"Not sure I'd agree with that," Erin said. There was love in her eyes, making it a memorable moment for Jay. He thought about it while they ate. There was a level of happiness that could only come from being truly loved by someone. No matter what difficulties they faced, he knew Erin's love would endure, and so would his. That was so precious and meaningful.

"Oh, speaking of Jess, we were texting earlier," Erin said. "We got to talking about that YouTube series she's going to call Crime Scene Cleaning Explained. You know, the one where you and I go around a crime scene with her and she teaches us how to clean it. I told her we're both off work tomorrow and she said she's got a homicide clean-up booked in. She asked if we want to go film the first episode."

"Sure," Jay said. He was looking forward to doing the series, both with Erin and with Jess. Having his sister explain the profession she was so good at would be interesting, and he would have been lying if he said some potential internet fame didn't appeal to him.

"Alright, I'll let her know."

BREAK

Appearing in Jess's video had necessitated an early start for Jay and Erin. Jess and Raquel had a full day of cleaning ahead of them after filming the video, so they understandably wanted to get it done first thing. With that in mind, Jay had driven himself and Erin to the residential address that had been texted to him by his sister.

"They're here already. That's good," Erin commented as Jay parked up out front of the house. The Bio-Clean Chicago van was parked on the short driveway, although there was no sign of Jess or Raquel. They were likely inside, getting a measure of the task that lay ahead of them for the day.

"Let's go in. Do you want me to get your door for you?" Jay asked. He was making a joke of the way Erin didn't want to be treated like she was fragile now that was pregnant. Hopefully pregnant anyway.

"Don't even try it," she said menacingly, playing along.

"Remember that when you're nearly nine months and badly need my help."

"It'll be different then."

He laughed as they got out of the car. "Somehow I thought it might. So, let's go star in a YouTube video."

"Maybe we should text Jess or call her so she knows we're here?"

"I think we can just go in," Jay said, leading the way to the front door. He tried it, and sure enough it was unlocked. Aware that they were entering a former crime scene, he didn't go any further than stepping into the hallway. Here at least, nothing was amiss.

"Jess! It's Jay and Erin!" he called out.

"In here," came Jess's reply from the direction of the kitchen at the end of the hallway. The door was partially closed.

"Can smell blood," Erin commented as they walked towards the door.

"I'm getting a cold, I think. Can't smell anything, which is probably a good thing today."

Just before they got to the kitchen door, it was opened by Raquel. She had a white Tyvek suit on, currently not fully zipped up and without the hood up.

"Jay, Erin. Good to see you again," the strikingly tall woman said. Jay was happy to see her again, but he was most looking forward to spending time with Zelina again when the couples managed to get together for their Cards Against Humanity night. The exchange of banter at the bowling alley had been a lot of fun. Unfortunately, finding a night that worked for all six people involved in the new friendship group was proving quite tricky.

"Hey, Raquel. Good to see you again too. Woah, that's a lot of blood," Jay said as he stepped into the kitchen. A large majority of the tiled floor was covered in it, and it was also spattered all over some of the kitchen units, and even on the ceiling.

"A stabbing?" Erin guessed.

"Hey, guys. Looks like it," Jess said. She and Raquel had indeed been eyeing up the job when Jay and Erin arrived. She was also wearing one of the Tyvek suits. Approaching Jay, she gave him a brief hug and thanked him for coming. Then she did the same with Erin. Jess had a business-like air about her. Workaholic Jess was working, Jay thought, wanting to smile to himself.

"You don't get told what has happened at the crime scene?" Erin asked her.

"Other than it being a homicide, no. Don't need to know any more than what kind of job I need to prepare for. Homicides are the simplest jobs I'll take now that I'm running Bio-Clean."

Jay looked around the room that looked like it was straight out of some kind of horror movie. "Cleaning this up is simple to you?"

"I said simplest, not simple. But yeah, it's not hard. This crime scene is restricted to one medium sized room, and there's only blood to deal with. This is nothing compared to a meth lab or a fentanyl lab. But we'll come to those in future videos we make together."

"So, how is this going to work? Filming, I mean," Erin said.

"First of all, we get you into some PPE. Actually, we could film that too. Let's do an intro outside with you dressed as you are. I've shown Raquel how to operate the camera so she's ready to do the filming."

"Let's do it," Erin said with excitement that Jay found endearing. Of late, he found everything she said and did endearing, probably because of his belief that she was carrying their baby.

"Follow me to the van," Jess said. She led them out there and unlocked the back doors. Unsurprisingly, the van was loaded with cleaning supplies and PPE.

"Shall we film the first bit in front of the van with the doors open?" Jay suggested.

Jess smiled at him then retrieved a video camera from inside the van. "Exactly what I was thinking."

Jay wondered if that was evidence of a growing sibling connection, or if he had simply stated the obvious. He chose to believe the former.

"Okay, first off I'll introduce you both," Jess said, handing the camera to Raquel. "I'll give your first names and say that you're detectives, and I'll explain the synopsis of the show we're going to make. Jay, I'm not going to mention you being my brother. Personal information is not something I've ever put online."

"Smart," Jay said. He was proud of being her brother, but he knew the internet was full of weirdos and had no doubt that there were some out there who followed Jess's content obsessively. That would be the case with any attractive woman on YouTube. That made him feel defensive of Jess, but now wasn't the time to focus on that.

After fixing them up with battery-powered microphones that clipped to their clothes, Jess positioned Jay and Erin together to one side of the van and herself on the other side. Raquel stood a few yards away and began filming.

"Hi everyone, I'm Jess from Bio-Clean Chicago. Today I'm joined by Jay..." She paused for him to say something.

"Hi guys," he went with.

"And Erin..."

"Hey everyone," Erin said.

"Jay and Erin are detectives here in Chicago. In this series I, as a crime scene cleaner, am going to take these experienced detectives around the kinds of crime scenes they are used to working and show them how they are cleaned up." Jess had been standing with a pair of black nitrile gloves in hand. She quickly put one on and snapped it against her wrist for effect. "Join us inside."

After a moment, Jess told Raquel she could stop filming. Then it was time for them all to properly gear up. Jess provided them with Tyvek suits, N95 masks, shoe covers and gloves. Jay geared up and watched Erin do the same.

"You still look hot," he said quietly.

"Shut up," she said, giggling.

"Okay, want to go learn how to clean up a homicide?" Jess asked with infectious enthusiasm.

"Let's do it," Jay said.

They went inside and spent over an hour filming various scenes for the YouTube video. Jay did find learning about the cleaning process interesting, and appreciated the new perspective it gave him of the work he had done for years. They filmed a final segment where he and Erin talked with Jess about what they had learned. With that done, filming was wrapped up and they headed back outside.

"The three of you work great together on the screen," Raquel opined. "Jess, you're such a good presenter. I suppose you have a lot of experience though from your cleaning channel. And Erin and Jay, you looked natural too. In my opinion anyway."

"Thanks, Raquel," Jay said as he and Erin began removing their PPE. "To be honest, I pretty much forgot we were filming because I was focussed on what Jess was showing us."

Erin nodded. "Exactly. Jess, you're the real deal when you say you're a cleaning expert. You could get a job training people if you didn't already have your own company."

"You guys are so kind," Jess said. She had kept her mask on but Jay could see a smile in her eyes. "Thank you for coming and helping me with the video. Hopefully it'll get the new channel off to a good start. Next time I have a meth lab job come up I'll let you know and we can hopefully make that the next episode."

As he took of his Tyvek suit and watched Erin do the same, Jay saw for the first time that Erin was starting to get a glow about her. The realisation delighted him because he knew about the pregnancy glow. If he hadn't been sure she was pregnant before, he was now. All they needed was a test to confirm it.

It wasn't long before they exchanged goodbyes with Jess and Raquel, who needed to get on with the job of cleaning the crime scene. Jess promised to call Jay that evening, and the four of them all agreed that they were overdue for the Cards Against Humanity night that had been on the cards, as Erin put it while denying that the pun was intentional, for some time.

With that, they parted ways. Jay got behind the wheel of his car and started the engine, but he wasn't ready to leave yet. He looked at Erin, who met his gaze with a slightly shy look on her face.

"What?" she asked, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment, which was unlike her.

"You've got a glow to your face. You look absolutely beautiful."

"I'm warm. All that crime scene gear."

"No, no. That's not it. It's a different kind of glow. It's a pregnant glow, I know it. I love you." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"Love you too, Jay. Give it a week or so and we can do some tests to find out for sure."