Chapter 42-Icing on the Cake

Jenna stood at the mirror as she prepared to get dressed for the wedding. She turned to the side to get a good look at her growing baby bump. What was barely a curve a couple of weeks ago had now become a more defined bump, and she was nervous. While her goal had been to get through the wedding before announcing her pregnancy, she feared that as soon as she walked out, everyone would be able to see the evidence of her secret.

Stepping into her dress, she held her breath as she raised the zipper. She let out a sigh of relief when the zipper closed and she was still able to breathe. Thankfully the dress she'd selected before she found out about the baby was looser and allowed for movement. All she needed was to get through a few more days, and then she could let everyone know about her sweet surprise.

As she slipped her shoes on, she stepped back into the room with the rest of the girls, seeing Erin in her dress for the first time.

"Oh Sweetie, you look incredible," Jenna said as she hugged Erin.

"Thank you Jen." Erin looked in the mirror for a few more seconds. "I can't believe I'm actually getting married. I never…imagined that I would get married, much less to someone as incredible as Jay."

"It was meant to be," Kim said.

Erin took a breath, trying to hold in her tears. "No crying, no crying, no crying," she said under her breath.

"It's almost time. Are you ready for Hank to come in?" Jenna asked.

Erin nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Jenna squeezed one of Erin's hands. "I'll go find him. Be back in a few minutes."

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Jenna walked down the hall to find her husband. When she came around the corner, Hank froze, taking in the sight of her.

"Wow," he said under his breath.

Jenna looked down, her hands smoothing down the front of her dress. "What? Is my dress ok?"

Hank finally managed to make his feet move, and he walked over slowly, pulling her into his arms. "You look incredible," he said softly in her ear, sending chills racing down her spine.

Jenna gently tugged the collar of Hank's jacket, pulling his face down close to hers. "Thank you. You're looking pretty hot yourself, Sergeant."

Hank walked Jenna backwards a few steps until her back was against the wall, his lips making their way down her neck.

"If you leave a mark on me, you're sleeping alone tonight," Jenna said softly.

Hank chuckled against her neck, reluctantly taking a step back. He looked around, making sure no one could see them, before letting his hand drift to her barely visible baby bump.

"Stop," Jenna said, moving his hand away. "Little Bit is trying to make its presence known tonight, and I don't need you drawing attention to it."

Hank shrugged. "We could just tell people. We're fifteen weeks, far enough along to talk about it."

Jenna shook her head. "This weekend is about Erin and Jay. I don't want to take anything away from them. We'll tell them next week."

Hank sighed. "Fine. But if I can't keep my hands to myself tonight, it's your fault for looking so gorgeous."

Jenna bit her lip, moving his hands to her hips. "You don't have to completely keep your hands to yourself. Just keep them away from the baby."

"Deal," he said as he kissed her. Before he could get too carried away, Jenna pulled back.

"Erin is ready for you," she said. "Come see her. She looks so beautiful."

Hank took Jenna's hand. "Let's go see our girl."

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Jenna opened the dressing room door, and Hank got his first view of Erin in her wedding dress. He was speechless, and he had to force himself not to cry. "Wow. Erin," was all he could say.

Erin held out her hands and he walked over to her, taking her hands and squeezing them before slowly spinning her around. "You look perfect," he said softly.

"Thank you," she said as she hugged him. "Have you seen Jay?"

"I have," Hank said. "He can't wait to see you. He loves you so much, Erin."

Erin nodded. "I love him too Hank."

"I know, and I'm so happy you two found each other."

Hank looked over at Jenna, unable to speak, but hopeful that she understood what his eyes were telling her.

"Girls, let's give them a few minutes alone," Jenna said.

When he and Erin were alone, Hank said, "You've come such a long way, Erin. I'm unbelievably happy for you and so, so proud of you."

Erin smiled at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "You've never given up on me. Even when I was self-destructing, even when I was spiraling out of control, even when I fought you, you've always been there."

"I'm always going to be here, kiddo. Until the day I die, I'm going to be here, cheering you on or dragging you out of a dark hole. You've always got me, and now you've got Jenna and Jay too."

"Thank you," Erin said softly before taking a deep breath. "I just hope I can do this."

Hank looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

Erin shrugged. "You know me; I'm not good at relationships. Look at my history. I either picked the worst guys, or I did things to screw it up. I hope I can be what Jay needs."

"Have you ever thought that things didn't work out before because you hadn't met Jay?" Hank asked.

Erin thought for a moment before a tiny smile crept along her face. "You know, you might be right."

Hank chuckled. "I'm always right."

Erin rolled her eyes but couldn't control the laugh that slipped out. "Ok, tough guy."

"Ok, before we go out there, I have one more thing for you."

Erin held up her hand as she began to object. "No, Hank, you've already done way more than enough."

Hank held up one of his hands to stop her as his other hand pulled a small box out of his pocket. "I don't know if people still do that old, new, borrowed, blue thing, and if you're doing it, you probably have that already worked out, but just in case you need something old, I wanted you to have this."

Erin opened the box and pulled out a dainty silver bracelet. "Oh my goodness. It's beautiful."

"I gave this to Camille on our wedding day, and I wanted you to be able to have a part of her with you today."

Erin lost her battle with her tears, as a few made their way down her face. "Crap," she said softly.

Hank pulled out a tissue and carefully wiped her tears. He took the bracelet out of the box and clasped it around her wrist.

Erin gently touched the bracelet, twirling it around her wrist before looking back up at him. "Thank you for this gift, for…this wedding, helping me in my recovery, giving me my job, partnering me with Jay, taking me in off the street…for everything you've done for me. Hank, I wouldn't have any of this life if it wasn't for you and your support and belief in me, and I am forever grateful for that."

Hank pulled Erin into his arms, hugging her tight. "It's been an honor to be your surrogate father, and I love you very much, kiddo."

"How will I ever repay you?" she whispered.

Hank smiled. "Lots of grandbabies."

Erin laughed, appreciating Hank's effort to lighten the mood. "Not too many, and not for awhile."

"Just don't make me wait too long. I'm old, Erin."

She put her hands on her hips. "That's not true. You've got a cute little wife that's keeping you young," Erin said.

Hank laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We've both been pretty lucky, haven't we?"

Just then, Jenna knocked on the door before poking her head in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's time. Are you ready?"

"Just give me a second to touch up my makeup," Erin said. "Your husband made me cry."

As Erin made her last minute fixes, Jenna slipped her arm around Hank's waist, leaning into him. "You ok?"

"Yeah. She's happy, and she deserves to be. I'm just glad we get to be a part of it."

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As they started down the aisle, Hank was determined to hold himself together, at least until his part of the ceremony was over. However, sensing Erin's struggle to hold in her own tears was nearly his undoing.

"Just breathe", he told himself over and over as they walked down the seemingly-unending aisle. When they reached the end, Hank pulled Erin into a hug. "Be happy kiddo," he whispered in her ear.

"We will," Erin said softly.

Hank turned to Jay, extending his hand. "Take care of her."

"Forever," Jay said, shaking Hank's hand. "I promise."

Hank took his place in the front row next to Jenna. As he put his arm around her, she softly asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he whispered, pulling her closer against him.

The ceremony was beautiful; full of laughter, tears, and so much love. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as Erin and Jay recited the vows they'd written themselves. The entire day was a celebration of not only Jay and Erin's love, but of Erin's recovery, as barely a year and a half ago, her survival wasn't guaranteed. Now, she was healthy, happy, and moving on with the love of her life.

During the reception, Jenna sipped on ginger ale as she watched Hank dance with Erin. Erin had made him promise to dance with her at least once, and it gave Jenna a few minutes to try to settle herself. For a few weeks during her pregnancy, she suffered from morning sickness that hit her in the evenings instead, and after a two week break, it seemed to be making a new appearance right then. Jenna brushed her hand quickly down her abdomen. "Ok little one," she said softly. "I can tell you're feeling left out today, but Daddy and I know you're here, and I promise everyone will know in a week. I just need you to settle down in there and let Momma enjoy the rest of the evening, ok?"

"Talking to the baby?"

Jenna jumped, startled by the voice that was outing her secret. She turned around to see Olivia Benson standing next to her.

"Oh. Olivia, so glad you could make it," she said, giving Olivia a hug.

"Me too," Olivia said. "And congratulations on your news. I'm thrilled for you and Hank."

Jenna choked down the lump in her throat. "You know about the baby? Is it obvious?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, I don't think anyone can tell just yet. I only know because Hank told me a few weeks ago, after your car accident. I'm sorry, I just assumed you knew that he told me."

Jenna dropped her head, closing her eyes for a moment before turning back to Olivia. "No, I didn't know, and while I will definitely have some words with my husband later, I am glad to have someone else to talk about it with."

Olivia laughed. "Sorry to spill his secret. He's so happy though, Jenna. All he wants to talk about is you, Erin, and this baby."

"I won't lie to you, there's a part of me that is really afraid of this. I'm afraid I won't be able to maintain the pregnancy, I'm afraid one or both of us won't make it through delivery, and I'm afraid I'm too old to be doing this." She looked down, resisting the urge to cradle her bump. "But I'm happy to be doing this with Hank. He's…lost so much in his life, and I want to be able to give him something beautiful."

"You already have, when you walked into his life. This baby…it's just icing on the cake."

Jenna opened her mouth to thank Olivia, but a wave of nausea came over her. She closed her mouth and her eyes, willing the nausea to pass.

Olivia could immediately tell that something was wrong. She put her hand on Jenna's shoulder and said, "Jenna, are you ok?"

Jenna held up her hand before finally opening her eyes. "Yeah," she choked out. "I'm fine." She took another sip of her ginger ale. "Sorry, I…the morning sickness is back, and it always hits me in the evening instead. The bump really showed up today too, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit in this dress. Clearly this baby is taking after it's father and demanding all of my attention."

Olivia laughed again as Hank walked up to them. "Hank, we were just talking about you," Olivia said as he gave her a hug.

"All good things I assume?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

Jenna lifted her hand to his cheek. "We were talking about how I've been sick tonight because of your baby," she said as her eyes went dark.

Hank's face dropped, and he looked over at Olivia. "You told her?"

"You didn't tell me not to," Olivia threw back at him.

"Jen, I…it just slipped out. Benson and I were talking, and it just came out before I could even think."

"Uh huh," Jenna said, elbowing him as she and Olivia laughed.

"Ok, well I'm going to go congratulate the newlyweds. Good to see you both," Olivia said, hugging them again.

"Thanks for coming, Liv. I know it means a lot to them, and it means a lot to us," Hank said.

As Olivia walked away, Hank slipped his arm around Jenna's waist. "Feeling any better?" he asked.

Jenna shook her head. "Not really. I feel sick, I feel huge, and as thrilled as I am for Erin and Jay, I really just want to ditch this dress and heels for pajamas."

"Want me to get you out of here?" Hank asked.

"Babe, we can't leave until they do. It wouldn't be right. I think they are leaving in the next half hour or so, so I'll be ok until then."

"Ok," Hank said, pulling her close as he kissed the side of her head. "If I haven't mentioned it already, you look absolutely amazing tonight."

Jenna smiled as she leaned into him. "You might have said it a few times, but I don't mind hearing it again. You're not going to be thinking that for very much longer. I'm going to be huge."

"Jenna, I'm going to tell you how gorgeous you are every single day for the rest of my life, so you should just get used to it."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah," she said as Hank pulled her out onto the dance floor. "Don't you dare make me throw up in front of all of these people."

Hank laughed. "Got it."

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After seeing Erin and Jay off, and after saying goodbye to their guests, Hank and Jenna headed home. As Jenna was changing out of her dress, Hank sat on the edge of their bed and watched, mesmerized by the changes to her body caused by their growing baby. He'd told her several times tonight that she looked beautiful, but seeing her like this, really getting to see her new curves, he could truly say she'd never looked more beautiful.

Hank didn't notice that Jenna was watching him stare at her. After a few moments, she said, "Could you be any more obvious?"

He looked up and saw her smiling at him, and he realized he was caught. "What?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't help it that you're standing there all gorgeous and pregnant, not making any effort to cover yourself. What am I supposed to do?"

Jenna rolled her eyes as she walked over to him. "You could maybe keep your eyes in your head."

Hank took her hand, pulling her to stand between his knees. His hands went to her baby bump, gently running his hands over it. "Do you have a feeling? Boy or girl?" he asked as he looked up at her.

Jenna shook her head, putting her hands on top of his. "I really don't. I have before, but not this time, at least not yet. In my dreams, sometimes it's a boy, and sometimes it's a girl."

"Do you want one more than the other?"

Jenna shrugged. "I just want a healthy baby. I want to carry it to term, and I want us both to be ok after delivery. Those are the things that keep me stressed. I will be happy with a boy or a girl, as long as everything is fine."

"Everything is going to be fine. You're going to be ok, and our baby is going to be ok. Anytime you start doubting, just let me know, and I'll tell you again. Ok?"

"Ok," she said, tears coming to her eyes as Hank leaned in and planted gentle kisses along her stomach.

"Hi baby. Calm down in there. Daddy doesn't like it when Momma is sick." He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. "I love you both, so much."

"We love you too," Jenna whispered.

Hank reluctantly released her and climbed into bed as Jenna pulled on one of his t-shirts. When she joined him in bed, she curled up beside him, turning over to face away from him as his arms went around her, pulling her back against him. He cradled her bump in his hands, holding them both protectively in his arms.

In a few days, the world would know about their sweet secret. Hank couldn't wait to share the news with all of the important people in their lives. While he and Jenna deeply loved this baby, he knew that once everyone else knew, their baby would be loved beyond measure. As he drifted off to sleep, cradling his two loves, he truly felt like the luckiest man in the world.