Author's Note: Whew! Those last few chapters were too stressful. I know it's only August, but it's time for a little holiday fluffiness. I have received lots of comments about Jenna and Erin's relationship, so I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 19-I Have So Much to be Thankful For
As Hank finished work for the day, he shut off his computer, grabbed his jacket, and headed out of his office. He was surprised to see Erin still at her desk, working on a report.
"What are you still doing here?" he asked.
Erin looked up at him. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Sometimes the sergeant has to stay late. Come on, let's get out of here. Reports can wait until tomorrow."
Shocked at his reply, Erin put her hand to her chest and teasingly said, "Who are you, and what have you done with my sergeant?"
Hank chuckled. "It's been a long day, and I'm ready to get home to my girl. Everything else can wait."
Erin smiled as she stood up from her desk. She loved this side of him, happy, in love. A year ago, he would've kicked her out of the office while he stayed until all hours of the night. Now, he was pulling her out of the office with him at 6pm, anxious to get home to the woman he loved.
"It's nice having someone to go home to, isn't it?" she asked.
Hank put his arm around her. "Yeah, it is."
"How is she doing? She always tells me that she's fine, but I don't think she'd tell me if she wasn't."
Hank thought for a moment. "She's…good. She still has an occasional nightmare, and one of her ribs is still a little sensitive, but she's good."
"And things are still good between the two of you?"
"We're good, kiddo. We're really good."
As they started down the stairs, Erin stopped him. "Hey, do you and Jenna have Thanksgiving plans?"
Hank shrugged. "We haven't talked about that yet."
"I've been thinking, and I want to host Thanksgiving at my place. I've never done it, and now that Jay and I are really building a life together, I want to start some new traditions."
"Are you sure? Have you talked to Halstead about this?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Yes, I've talked to Jay. He's…hesitant, but he supports whatever I want to do."
Hank couldn't stop his laughter. "Well, ok then. I guess you're hosting Thanksgiving."
"So will you and Jenna come?"
"I'll talk to her and see. She may be going to see her girls."
"Well ask her what her plans are, and if she's going to be here, bring her. Invite her son and his family too."
"How many people are you inviting to this thing?" Hank asked.
"You two, the rest of the unit, families. I think that's it for now."
Hank gave her a confused look. "In YOUR apartment?"
Erin thought for a moment and sighed. "I hadn't thought about that yet. Maybe not. Maybe just you and Jenna, her son's family, and Will. I think we could maybe fit in my place."
Hank shrugged. "You can use my house if you want to have the whole crew. It's big enough. I'll be there, even if Jenna goes to see her girls."
"Thanks Hank."
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That evening, Hank and Jenna were enjoying a quiet dinner at Jenna's apartment. Thanksgiving was the biggest holiday since they started dating, but they hadn't discussed plans yet. Hank hoped they'd be spending the holiday together, but he wanted to see where her head was.
"So...Thanksgiving is coming up."
Jenna looked up at him. "It is."
"Do you have plans? Are you going to see the girls?"
"I actually had this conversation with Sara last night. I'm planning to go visit for Christmas, and I'm not traveling two months in a row, so I was planning to spend Thanksgiving here with you. That is, if you'll have me," she said teasingly.
Hank put his hand on top of hers. "I was hoping you'd say that," he said, smiling at her.
"Nick has invited us over there, or we could just spend the day together, just the two of us."
"Actually, Erin has decided that she wants to host Thanksgiving and has invited us, Nick's family, and the unit."
"Really? To her place?" Jenna asked, sharing the same concerns Hank had raised earlier.
"That's what I said. I offered her my house since it can accommodate more people. So what do you say?"
Jenna moved to sit in his lap, putting her arms around his neck. "A big Thanksgiving with all of our people? It sounds perfect. I'll talk to Nick."
"Great." he said as he kissed her. When the kiss broke, Hank could tell that something was still on Jenna's mind. "Everything ok?"
"Yeah, I just…while we're on the subject of the holidays, any chance you're free December 23rd through the 27th?"
A small smile crept across his face. "Are you asking me what I think you're asking?"
Jenna rolled her eyes as she giggled. "I'm asking if you'd like to come to California with me for Christmas."
Hank pulled her closer. "I would love to spend Christmas with you in California." He kissed her again. "I'm happy to get to spend the holidays with you."
"Me too," Jenna said, kissing him deeply. "I have so much to be thankful for this year."
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The week of Thanksgiving…
"Jenna, I need your help!" Erin said, as soon as Jenna answered the phone.
"Sure Sweetie. What can I do?"
"I'm afraid I've messed up. Big time," Erin's panicked voice said.
"I'm sure whatever it is, we can figure it out. What's up?"
Hank raised his eyebrows, silently questioning if everything was ok. Jenna shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm trying to figure out the Thanksgiving meal, and I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Do you cook?" Jenna asked.
"Not well."
"Have you ever cooked any parts of the Thanksgiving meal?"
Erin bit her lip, buying time before she answered. "Camille let me butter the rolls."
Jenna covered her face with her hand. "Oh dear. Why did you decide to host if you don't cook?"
Erin fought back tears. "I just wanted it to be special. I wanted everyone to be together, and I wanted it to be perfect. But I'm an idiot."
"I'll help you figure it out. It'll be fine," Jenna said, choking down a giggle.
"You're coming, right?"
"I'll be there, and I'll help you however I can. Now, do you have a menu?"
"Um...turkey?"
Jenna picked up her keys. "I'm on my way over right now."
"Thank you Jenna."
"What's wrong?" Hank asked as Jenna hung up the phone.
"Thanksgiving emergency at Erin's. I'm going to head over and help her."
"Good luck."
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Erin rushed to the door when she heard Jenna knock, flinging it open. "You're a lifesaver!"
"It's ok Sweetie. We've got this."
"I-I don't know why I thought I could do this. Bunny NEVER cooked, and Camille tried to teach me but I wasn't super interested, so buttering the bread and setting the table was it. How am I going to cook a full Thanksgiving meal?"
Jenna pulled Erin over to the couch, making her sit down for a moment. She was surprised to see Erin like this. Normally Erin was the confident, in-charge detective, and Jenna hated seeing her upset like this. "The first thing we're going to do is take a deep breath and calm down."
Erin took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. Jenna was there, and she'd know what to do.
"Ok, ok, I'm calming down. Now what?"
"Let's put together a menu, and then we'll go from there," Jenna said. Erin pulled out her phone, and together they created a menu.
"Ok, I feel better having that figured out. What's next?" Erin asked.
"Do you have a list of who is coming?" Jenna asked.
"I do."
"Have you asked anyone to bring anything?"
Erin shook her head. "No. I assumed I'd just do it all."
Jenna breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the fix to Erin's problem would probably be much easier than Erin imagined. "Ok Sweetie, rule number one of hosting Thanksgiving is delegate. Text everyone your menu list, and ask what they can bring."
Erin sent a group text, and immediately everyone started responding with their contributions to the meal. She felt a huge relief when she saw she didn't have to provide everything.
"Ok, so what do we have left?" Jenna asked.
"Turkey, which I told them Jay and I are doing, dressing, gravy, and we probably need a couple more desserts."
"Great. So I'll go ahead and make the desserts I was planning to do, I'll teach you how to make the gravy on Thursday, and I'll make the dressing."
"Ok, thank you. What desserts are you making?"
"I'll do a couple of chocolate pecan pies, and I'll do brownies or cookies or something more kid-friendly."
"That sounds amazing Jenna."
Jenna quickly scanned the list one more time. "So, all that's left is the turkey."
Erin looked at her list, shocked to see that the overwhelming list had whittled down to just one item. "Wow. Just the turkey. That's so much easier."
"See! You've got this! It's gonna be great," Jenna said.
Erin sighed. "I sure hope so."
"Bring the turkey over the night before, and we'll get it ready and then start it early the next morning."
"You're inviting me to stay at Hank's house?"
Jenna laughed a little. "Of course. He loves having you there. It'll be fine."
"Thank you so much Jenna," Erin said as she gave her a huge hug. "I don't know what we'd do without you."
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Early Thanksgiving morning, Jenna met Erin in the kitchen to get everything started. As they worked through the remaining parts of the meal, Jenna taught Erin what to do. Erin loved learning from Jenna, and for a few moments, she got lost in the feeling of what a real mother-daughter relationship should be like, and her mind drifted back to memories of Thanksgiving mornings with Camille. She wished that she would've spent more time learning from her and soaking in those moments.
Jenna was fiercely missing her daughters, especially on a holiday they deeply loved, but she was glad to be spending the day with Hank and Erin, and having Erin beside her in the kitchen eased some of her sadness.
Hank sat in the kitchen out of the girls' way, but close enough he could help if needed, checking the turkey or reaching dishes that were too high for Jenna or Erin to reach. He loved watching his girls together. When the kids were at home, Thanksgiving was always one of his favorite holidays. He loved having a day for everyone to pause and really be thankful for the blessings from the last year.
The first Thanksgiving after Camille died was incredibly hard, but he suffered through it to try to give Erin and Justin a bit of normalcy. When he lost Justin, he didn't think he could celebrate another holiday, choosing to go to work to try to forget about the day. Eventually Erin was able to get him to spend at least part of the day with her. Now, after spending the last few months with one of the most incredible women he'd ever met, watching her teach his daughter how to cook, he knew he had so much to be thankful for this year. He couldn't help but smile as he watched them scurrying around the kitchen, making sure everything was perfect.
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Several hours later, the house was full of their family and friends. When all of the food was ready, they all gathered in the living room, where Jenna's son Nick said the blessing for the food. As they started to break, Erin got everyone's attention.
"I just want to say thank you all for coming. It's not often that we have this whole family together outside of work, and it means a lot that all of you are here. It's been a crazy year, a lot of good times, a few bad ones, and several new additions to this family. I just…want you all to know that I love you, and I'm so thankful you're all in my life," Erin said, fighting back tears.
"You're not going to make us all go around and say what we're thankful for, are you Lindsay?" Adam asked.
Erin rolled her eyes. "No, Ruzek, I'm not. I'm just trying to have a moment here, ok?"
"Shut up, Adam," Kim said, elbowing him.
"We love you too, Linds. Thank you for having all of us. It feels good to be together," Antonio said as he hugged her.
"Thanks. Ok, let's eat!"
They enjoyed a wonderful meal and afternoon together. Erin was a fantastic hostess, and Adam, Antonio, and Jenna's grandchildren kept everyone entertained as they played together on the living room floor. When she could, Jenna made her way over to Hank, who was sitting in a corner of the living room watching the kids. She sat down in his lap as his arms went around her.
"Are you having a good day?" he asked, kissing the side of her head.
"The best," she said, snuggling up next to him.
"Thank you for helping Erin so much this week. It means a lot to both of us."
"I really loved it. I was worried I'd be homesick this week, but having you and Erin and the rest of this family in my life…I really feel like this city has become home for me."
"I'm glad. I can't imagine my life without you here," he said, kissing her again. "You know, we met seven months ago this week."
"You remembered?" Jenna asked.
"Of course I did! How could I forget one of the best days of my life?"
Jenna leaned in and kissed him deeply. "I'm so thankful for you, babe. I love you."
"I love you, Jenna. More than you'll ever know."