Chapter 28-We Have to Celebrate!

Erin and Paige made plans for Jenna for the night before the wedding. They decided to gather a few friends and take Jenna out for dinner and a drink. While they wanted to do something bigger, Jenna insisted that she and Hank weren't doing the traditional things, and they were too old for bachelor or bachelorette parties. Erin hoped they could at least talk Jenna into dinner, and Paige figured that an ambush would be the best way to get Jenna on board.

An hour before their dinner reservations, Erin showed up at Jenna's apartment.

"Erin, hey," Jenna said, opening her front door. She wasn't expecting to see Erin, so she was very surprised to see her.

"Hey Jen. Get dressed, we're going out," Erin said as she pushed past Jenna and walked into the apartment.

Jenna was extremely confused. She had planned for a quiet night at home with Hank and Paige, knowing tomorrow would be such a big day. "Sweetie, what are you talking about?" Jenna asked, following as Erin and Paige walked into to Jenna's bedroom.

"You're getting married tomorrow, so the girls and I are taking you out tonight."

"I don't know," Jenna said nervously.

"Nothing crazy, I promise. Hank would kill all of us if we talked you into something crazy. We're just going to dinner and to Molly's for a drink."

"Come on, Mom. You're getting married tomorrow. We have to celebrate!" Paige said.

"I thought we were celebrating tomorrow. At the wedding."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Seriously Mom?"

Jenna looked back and forth between the girls. Finally, she sighed, giving in. "Ok. I guess. Let me find something to wear."

"Let me," Erin said, going into Jenna's closet. She pulled out a little black dress. "This would be perfect."

Jenna reached for the dress, stepping into the bathroom to change and fix her hair and makeup. A little while later, she walked back out. "Freaking hot, Jenna."

"Oh Erin," Jenna said, rolling her eyes and covering her face with her hand.

"Ok, we have a reservation, and the girls are waiting, so let's get going."

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Jenna was happy to see Hailey, Kim, and Trudy waiting for them at the restaurant. They all rushed over to hug her.

"Thank you all for being here! This means so much," Jenna said.

"We're excited to get to celebrate you," Hailey said. "You've brought so much happiness to Sarge's life, which has honestly made our lives better too."

"He's so much nicer," Kim said as they all laughed.

Jenna shrugged. "Glad I could help."

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After dinner, the girls headed to Molly's for a drink. As they found a table, Hermann came over to get their drink orders. "What are we celebrating tonight, ladies?"

"We are celebrating Jenna getting married tomorrow!" Erin said.

"Oh yeah! Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Jenna said.

"You look beautiful. I don't know how Sergeant Voight ended up with someone like you, but he sure is a lucky man." He slapped the table in front of them. "First round is on me, ladies!"

As the girls were ordering drinks, Jay, Adam, Kevin, Antonio, and Hank all walked in. Kevin elbowed a couple of the guys and pointed over to the girls' table. "Should we crash?" he asked.

"Oh definitely," Antonio said.

They walked over to the girls. "Heyyyyy ladies," Adam said, putting an arm around Kim and Hailey.

"What are you guys doing here?" Erin asked as Jay slipped up behind her, kissing her cheek.

"We brought Sarge out to have a drink before he gets hitched, and we saw this table full of gorgeous girls, so we couldn't help ourselves and had to come over and say hi," Antonio said.

"Hey beautiful," Hank said softly in Jenna's ear as his hands went to her waist.

"Hey babe," she said, leaning back into him as he placed a soft kiss on her neck.

"You look incredible," he whispered.

"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself, Sergeant," she said, spinning around in her chair to face him.

"You think I could maybe take you home tonight?" he asked, a smirk on his face as his hands moved up her thighs, the tips of his fingers barely slipping under the hem of her dress.

Jenna nodded as she put her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "Oh definitely," she said softly.

Hank leaned in and kissed her deeply. The others started throwing napkins at them.

"Way to go Sarge!" Adam said.

"Save it for the wedding night," Hermann said as he brought the girls' drinks to the table.

Hank and Jenna broke away laughing.

"You two just can't keep your hands off each other," Hailey said.

"Can you blame me?" Hank asked.

"Not really, no," Adam said.

Hank punched his arm as Kim slapped his other shoulder.

"What? She's hot! I'm not blind!" Adam said.

"Keep your eyes off of my girl Ruzek," Hank said.

"Enough," Jenna said, poking Hank in the side.

"What? Am I not allowed to knock someone around when they look at you?" he asked her.

"Who cares if they look? They can't touch."

"But I get to touch, right?" he whispered in her ear.

Chills went racing down Jenna's spine. "You bet," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Let's finish our drinks and get out of here."

"Good plan."

The group spent the next hour sharing lots of stories and lots of laughs. While they originally planned to spend a quiet night at home together, drinks with the people that meant the most to them was much better.

When Jenna finished her drink, she squeezed Hank's hand, a silent signal to Hank that she was ready to leave.

Hank leaned close to Jenna's ear. "I'm ready when you are, babe."

When there was a break in the conversation, Jenna said, "This has been such a fun night, but Hank and I are going to head out."

"Already? It's not even midnight!" Erin said.

"I know, but we have a big day tomorrow, and Sergeant Voight needs his rest," Jenna said teasingly as she put her arm around him.

"Yep. I have big plans for you tomorrow," Hank said, pulling her closer.

"Gross," Erin said under her breath.

Jenna hugged all of the girls. "Thank you all for tonight. This has been so much fun."

"It's been great. We're so happy for you and Sarge," Hailey said.

"Thank you. We're really lucky." Jenna pulled Erin close. "Thank you so much, for everything."

"I'm happy to do it. I'm so happy Hank has you, that we all do."

"I'm grateful that I'm gaining you as another daughter. Thank you for accepting me."

"You're the best thing that's happened to him in a long time. You've made him so happy, and I love you for it."

"I love you Erin."

Paige gave her mom a hug too. "I'm staying at Erin's house tonight, but I'll be over in the morning to help you start getting things ready."

"Ok Sweetie." Jenna hugged her again. "I'm so glad you're going to be there with me. I love you, baby."

"Love you too, Mom. Have a great night."

Hank and Jenna finished their goodbyes and walked hand in hand out of Molly's. The team watched them leave. "They look good together, don't they?" Paige said.

"She looks good," Adam said, receiving another slap from Kim. "WHAT? She's hot!"

"He's happy. He really deserves this kind of happiness," Erin said. "Losing Camille really changed him. It was like a part of him shut off when she died. Since Jenna has been in his life, that part of him is back."

"He's really helped my mom too," Paige said. "I never thought I'd see her happy like this again, after everything my dad put her through. He's so good for her. I'm glad they found each other."

"I'm glad you came for this Paige," Erin said. "Jen has had such a hard time with your sisters' reactions, so I know how much it means to her to have you here."

"I'm glad to be here for her. Tomorrow is going to be such an incredible day, for all of us. A new beginning."

Erin smiled. "A new beginning."