Buckled in, leant back in her seat, slowly breathing, and chest rising and falling rhythmically with her daughter's infant hand wrapped around her pinky finger. Snuggled in a pink winter romper and strapped into her car seat, the baby was in a deep snooze; a slumber that resembled her mother as Erin sat in the back seat, beside her daughter. Both mother and daughter sleeping peacefully until the car hits a speedbump and pulls Lindsay from her slumber, "Slow down," she says through gritted teeth; her obvious annoyance laced in her words. She yawned, and turned her body to the side –fully facing her daughter, "She didn't wake up, but drive a little slower."

"I'm already driving under 20 miles per hour," he whispers, eyes focused on the road and both hands steering the wheel.

The car hits another speed bump, irritating the stitches from her surgery weeks ago. Angrily she looks up to glare at him and his eyes meet hers in the reflection of the rearview mirror, "Sorry." This is the first time they've left their home since welcoming baby girl into the world. Both mom and dad had been cooped up in the house for an entire month post-baby. Jay starts work on Monday, and Erin has a few more weeks left of healing before returning. Most of her gained baby weight has shed and the last remaining pounds that seem to be nearly impossible to get rid of should hopefully be lost when she's back at work, when she's back performing the physical aspects of the job. After venturing out into the cold January temperature to take the baby to her first official checkup, they were finally on their way back home. The doctor's appointment was a success; she was weighed and measured, her heart and lungs were good, her eyes, ears, mouth and head were checked and approved, her tear ducts are fully developed, her body, belly, hips and legs were examined and all of it was a painless process, until…until it was time for her to get a shot in her thigh. The poor baby…the poor parents as they were forced to watch and attempt to console their screaming and crying infant. It was nothing they could do but hug, rock and kiss her little cheeks. She cried until she was red in the face. She cried continuously until tears poured out of her eyes and soaked into the shirt of her mother. She cried until she fell asleep.

The parents felt horrible; Jay was wide-eyed, watching in fear as his wife attempted to soothe their inconsolable baby. On and off through the night she usually cries, but they'll either feed, cuddle or change her diaper and she'll be fine, but this time, this time she was beyond the comfort her parents were able to provide. This time they were forced to pass her back and forth between each other and walk her around the small examination room until she was quiet enough to leave the hospital. When the baby was in her daddy's arms, head on his chest, mouth opened wide and screaming, the look in her daughter's eyes pained her mother's heart. Erin had half a mind to hunt that nurse down and give her a shot to show her how it feels. The exhaustion from crying and the fight against sleep was eventually lost by Haven and her parents immediately rushed out of the hospital, buckled her up in her car seat and set their destination for home.

During the slow car ride, the ease of the vehicle sent Erin dozing in and out of sleep. Her daughter's head was tilted to the side, pacifier in mouth and she slept comfortably and warm in the winter romper. The ride was hot, but the heat was on only to counter the cold air outside. Erin has a winter baby whose eyes seemed to light up at the sight of snow. With her daughter's hand still wrapped around her finger, Lindsay felt her eyes begin drifting shut again, finding comfort in the quiet atmosphere, her daughter's heavy sleep and the smooth ride. She learned soon after having the baby that she needed to get as much sleep while the baby was sleeping. Haven's schedule became her schedule. This was little Havie's world and they were all living in it, jumping to their feet at the sound of a cry or a murmur and doing whatever the baby pleased to get her to stop crying. As she falls asleep again, her head tilts to relax uncomfortably against her shoulder; Jay calls out to her, startling her awake, "Jay, what is it?"

"She's too calm and quiet," he comments worriedly, abiding by every traffic law to ensure the ride was as safe as possible, "Is there such a thing as looking too asleep?" At the red light, he takes a glance back at the sleeping infant, "Wake her up, she looks too calm and asleep."

Lindsay floats her finger below the baby's nose, "She's breathing," she unzips her romper, "and her chest is rising and falling normally. She's fine Jay."

With the zipper of her baby's romper down, Erin pulls her little leg out of it. She carefully pulls the Band-Aid back to expose the area she received a shot in, inspecting it for swelling, bruising, redness or a combination of the three. No sign of discoloration or allergic reaction against her white skin. She's fine. Erin gently presses the Band-Aid back down against her daughter's skin before inserting her leg back into the romper, "How is it?" She meets her husband's eyes in the rearview as he worriedly watches her zip the romper back up.

"It looks fine," she answers, zipping the romper to the top, "you worry too much."

Jay laughs, "I worry too much? This is coming from the woman who sterilizes the bottles after I wash them because you want to make sure it's done right."

"No, I do it because I don't want her drinking any germs or bacteria," Erin defended while her hand softly rubs up and down her daughter's tummy as she peacefully sleeps, "And I know you're not talking, for the first week of her life; you were scared to even dress her! And when you did dress her, it took you almost an hour!"

He laughs, "I didn't want to hurt her!"

"She's more resilient than you think."

"I'm starting to notice," he whispers, eyes quickly averting from the rearview mirror to the road.

The silent ride, her husband's smooth driving and her hand rubbing against the cotton of her daughter's romper creates the perfect atmosphere for her to fall asleep –she inevitably drifts off. When the stillness caused by a deep sleep lands upon Erin, her hand stops moving and it rests lazily against her daughter's rising and falling chest. She doesn't know how much time has passed, but the next time she suddenly wakes up, she's in a daze. Her hand is no longer on her daughter's chest, the car seat is empty and the back door is wide open, "What is what's her face doing?" She wipes her eyes to clear her blurred vision. Her sleep deprivation is a pain, causing her to temporarily forget her own baby's name.

"Haven," Jay emphasized the name, "is fine," he chuckles, holding the sleeping infant against his chest, while using his freehand to unstrap the car seat from the base.

Jay, the ever dotting father, holds sleeping baby in one arm and the car seat in the other as he patiently waits for his wife to get out of the car. Since she's breastfeeding, she has been the one waking up the most in the middle of the night. She undeniably hated the breast pump and only really used it if it was absolutely necessary. Erin is moving slow; she didn't have time to gradually wake up and process the world around her. Her husband and baby were waiting for her to so they could get out of the freezing Chicago winter. She grabs the diaper bag, takes a hold of the keys from her husband, locks the car door and unlocks the entrance to their house. Stepping into the heated house, Erin lets her husband enter first, and she sees her awakened baby's head lying on Jay's shoulder. Her eyes are taking in the world around her, starting with her mother's face. Through her tiredness, Erin manages to make a silly face as she scoops the baby from her husband in order to start discarding the warm romper from her small form, leaving her dressed in a diaper and onesie. Her eyes are taking in everything that's in her immediate proximity, including her dad as he sets the car seat down; her distant vision hasn't yet set in.

With her arm wrapped around the baby's tummy, she heads towards the kitchen, "I would say we should take a nap, but that powernap did me good in the car. And if I go to sleep now, I'm not waking up until tomorrow. Also, we have to be at Atwater's birthday dinner in an hour," she sets the diaper bag down onto the dining room table, "I pumped two bottles before leaving for her doctor's appointment. Could you restock her diaper bag with a few more diapers, burp cloths, and a few extra onesies and bibs? She has enough wipes and there are a few toys in it too."

"Sure," he replies, swiping the diaper bag from the table to take it upstairs.

Erin follows closely behind him; the baby positioned comfortably on her hip as she climbs each stair carefully. She's sucking on her yellow pacifier as her head lay against her mother. They enter the nursery; the same nursery the team put together to surprise her and the same nursery her daughter has yet to sleep in. For the first month of her life, she has been sleeping either in her parents' bed or in the bassinet –most nights, it was in the bed between her parents. Jay opens the diaper bag after setting it down upon the dresser, "I'll pack the diaper bag while you change her. While we get ready, we can probably lay her in the crib or bassinet, or maybe even put her in the swing downstairs. She might do better in the swing since she doesn't seem to be sleepy."

"I'll put her in the swing," Erin responds, laying the infant on the changing table, "I could easily strap her in and put the setting on low," she expertly changes the messy diaper within seconds as she multitasks with talking to her husband, "maybe it we're lucky, she'll fall back asleep."

"Yeah," he grabs a few onesies to stuff into the diaper bag, "she needs at least one more nap in before we drag her into a restaurant full of people."

Erin smirks, stripping the onesie off her baby, "Besides here and the hospital, she hasn't been to many places. The poor baby is going to be in for a surprise." She lifts the baby up and holds her with one arm as her free hand throws the milk-stained onesie into the hamper, "Everyone's going to want to hold her. They'll pass her around like a trophy," she rolls her eyes.

"The germs Erin," his eyes are wide as he mutters the realization.

She nods and repeats, "the germs," her hand pushing through the different outfits hanging in the closet, "they're all going to be holding her, passing her around and kissing her little irresistible cheeks. Oh gosh, my baby is going to be a germ magnet."

"We can always cancel."

Lindsay pulls an outfit from the closet –it's a pair of black leggings and a black and white checkered shirt with a matching headband. She couldn't remember who specifically brought the outfit, but it looked warm enough and comfortable enough for dinner, "We can't cancel. Atwater has been looking forward to this since we agreed to come. The doctor said we can start taking her out of the house and this is a good opportunity to do so. We have to go."

"Fine, you're right," Jay remarks, swiping the bottle of disinfectant from off the top of the dresser, "but I'm bringing the hand sanitizer with us and anyone who wants to hold her has to sanitize their hands first."

She salutes, "Yes sir."

The hour seemed to fly by since most of it was spent dressing the baby, packing her diaper bag and putting her stroller in the trunk of Jay's car. Little time was left for them to get ready. As she silently swung in the swing, an instrumental child's song filling the air as the baby monitor is left on the end table directly beside the swing, her parents use the time they have left to simultaneously get ready. His dinner was in less than an hour. Any tardiness was easily going to be placed on the baby. Any parent would understand. Rushing to get ready while consistently coming downstairs to make sure Haven was still strapped in the swing rocking back and forth was time consuming. They were the stereotypical new parents who worried about absolutely everything Haven related; if she sneezed, they checked her temperature, if she slept too long, they checked her breathing and if she was too quiet, they would peek into the room to see what she was doing. She was still a little underweight, but that's because she has a lot of gaining to do after being born underweight. It was an informal dinner at a restaurant that opened up a few weeks ago. Neither knew who was invited and who was going to show up, but they promised Atwater they would be there with Haven –he really wanted to see the little girl anyway.

"Make sure you turn off all the lights upstairs," Erin hollered out to her husband, placing the diaper bag strap around her shoulder as she carefully walked down each stair, "I'm going to put her bottles in the diaper bag and then put my earrings on and I should be ready to leave."

"Alright," Jay responds, hitting each light before making his way downstairs, "I'm dressed and ready to go. I'll put her coat on and get her strapped into her car seat."

The diaper bag is packed and set by the door. Erin grabs her and Jay's coats and set them near the door. She pulls her earrings out of her jeans pocket and hooks them into her ears. As she slides the snow boots onto her feet, she hears Jay in the living room, "Come here baby," he coos, picking the infant up after unbuckling her, "Hi," he beams fondly, her little legs dangling in the air as he transfers her from the swing to the car seat, "You ready for a night out on the town."

"It's just dinner," Erin laughs, commenting from the hallway.

Jay notices a dimple pierce into one of Haven's cheeks as he tugs a knitted cap on her tiny head, "It's just dinner for us, but it's a night out for her. This is the first time she's venturing out. We'll start at dinner, but we don't know how the night it'll end."

"How it'll end?" Erin repeated, pulling her own coat on and zipping it up, "She's a month old. I don't think it'll end on the wild side."

He pulls the baby's arm through a sleeve, "I'm not saying it'll end with us at a club or anything, I'm just saying, we haven't opened our house up to visitors because of the whole keeping her away from germs thing, so this is everyone's second time actually seeing her since she came into the world, they're going to want to hold onto her for as long as possible."

"I see your point," Erin walks into the living room, "Here's your coat," she tosses it towards him.

The parents switch responsibilities. The baby rests in the car seat with her opened coat and snugged hat on her head. Erin takes over and zips up the child's forest green coat –it matches her own coat, "We're running a little late," she zips the zipper all the way up, "Maybe if we're lucky, she'll take another little nap in the car, it might put her in a good mood for all the attention she's about to get," Erin leaned forward and pecked her daughter's rosy cheeks, resulting in the little girl giving a subconscious side grin. Using her cell to take an adorable photo of the little girl in the car seat, she soon grabs the handle and extends it towards her husband, "Let's go."

While Jay carries the car seat and hooks it into the base, Erin locks the front door. This time she is driving; they've agreed to rotate on who drives and who rides in the backseat. He's buckled in beside the car seat by the time she's in the car, buckled in and starting the ignition. Lindsay looks back as she carefully backs out of the driveway, "What is she doing?" She asks, noticing the smile on Jay's face as he peers down at the loveable face of his daughter.

"She's fighting sleep," he whispers, the back of his finger caressing against the dimple pierced in her cheek. She yawns and her eyes blink rapidly –she's trying everything to fight sleep, but it's a losing battle, especially with her dad gently rubbing against her cheek. The little girl licks her small, pink lips as her eyes flutter open and close; the pressure of sleep will inevitably take over. Jay has an idea that will ensure the baby will drift off to sleep; he digs into the diaper bag and withdraws a bottle, after inserting it into her mouth, sucking noises fill the quiet car. And by the time Erin turns off of their street, the bottle is half empty and the baby is asleep.

During the ride, Jay finds himself occasionally checking the frequency of his baby's breathing. Her underdeveloped lungs made him a worrier and his wife would always remind him that the hospital wouldn't have released her if she wasn't healthy. Her lungs were fine now. Her breathing was good, but Jay still found himself checking just to be on the safe side. She doesn't snore. She doesn't sleep loudly, gurgle or move much when she's asleep; she gives no indication of being alive so in order for him to have a peace of mind, he has to check. He either eyes her chest to watch the rising and falling of her tummy or his finger hovers below her nose to feel for the exhalation of breaths. Whichever it is leaves Jay content and relieved.

Her nap ends up being only thirty minutes long due to rush hour traffic; the average time it takes to get from their house to the restaurant is fifteen minutes, the added cars and aggressive drivers ready to get home from work extended the travel time an extra fifteen minutes. Downtown Chicago was brightly lit and filled with couples, families and tourists. Erin carefully parallel parked on a side street and the second the car comes to a complete stop and is placed in park, a loud wail erupts. Haven enjoys the motion of the car; she enjoys the movement of the car as it glides across the street. It comforts her. It rocks her to sleep. And it seems that once the car is stopped, the keys are out of the ignition and the parents are unbuckled, Haven wakes up and screams out a cry requesting comfort. Erin watched the cars fly pass until a minute of opportunity arose for her to have a safe moment to open her driver's side door and step out, "This is the plan," she talks over her daughter's high-pitched wails, "I'll console the baby and you get her stroller and set that thing up," she directs, watching Jay toy with his daughter's hand.

He nods. He gives in. He tried to console her, but she wouldn't stop crying. Erin gets a moment and takes full advantage of it. She slides out of the driver's side and rushes over to the back seat. Standing on the sidewalk, she opens the door and unstraps her baby from the car seat. By the time Erin safely pulls the one month old from her car seat, Halstead is at the back of the car, maneuvering the stroller from the trunk. He's fumbling with the contraption as she delicately wraps her arms around her baby to flush her daughter up against her chest, "It's okay baby," she coos, but the child continues to scream and cry, "Havie, it's going to be okay," she bounced the infant in her arms until her cries eventually stopped, "It's amazing how something so small has the biggest piece of my heart," she kisses the skin beneath her daughter's eye. She wasn't aiming for it, she wasn't aiming for any particular spot, but wherever her lips landed, she was content. With the baby laid against her chest, head lying upon her shoulder, Erin continued to pat against the infant's back until a small burp sounded, "That was a good one baby." She wasn't crying because the car ride ended; she was crying because she had backed up gas. Normally after feeding they burped her, but Haven's dad had put her down for a nap while feeding her a bottle and the second she woke up, the built up gas that had manifested in her tummy needed to be released. Haven's head lay against her mother's shoulder and Erin uses her free hand lift up the baby's hand to press a kiss against it, "It's getting colder out here Jay."

"Ready," he announces, finally getting the stroller opened. He reaches into the backseat of the car, grabs the diaper bag –which seems to have recently started doubling as Erin's purse- and sets it in the compartment beneath the stroller. With her arms wrapped around her bundled up baby, she presses another kiss against her rosy cheek, "Jay, let's go!"

"I'm behind you," he remarks, nodding for her to start walking.

She holds the baby securely in her arms and begins to carefully walk down the frosted streets. In her peripheral, she can see Jay steering the stroller through the crowd of people. When she approaches the outside of the restaurant door, she smiles at a kind man who held the door open for her and Jay to enter into the family friendly restaurant.

The crowd is live and loud; families are out having dinner and the new parents would be lying if they said the sight of children and teenagers didn't loosen them up. This was their first time going out with Haven and the family atmosphere in the restaurant made them feel less bad about bringing their one month old baby to a restaurant at night. Jay leads now, steering the stroller through the waiting guests and those already seated as they search for the familiar faces of their team. And soon Jay spots the table; it's large and round with the team –minus Voight- sitting around it. Excusing themselves through the crowded restaurant, Kim lays eyes upon them, "Havie!" She's waving them over, calling the name of the one person who cannot respond. Her excitement to see the baby overpowers her enthusiasm in seeing her friends. And as her friends walk closer, she finds herself absolutely ready for the baby; her arms are out and instead of the baby being placed in them, Jay hands her the bottle of hand sanitizer, "And then I want her."

The bottle of hand sanitizer is passed around the table, each person who wants or plans to hold the baby has squirt some into their palms. Halstead parks the stroller between his and Erin's seat, locking the wheels once it's situated. Erin has the baby on one hip, and takes the bottle of hand sanitizer from Atwater once he's done, "Happy Birthday," she leans down and gives him a sideways hug, making sure the baby wasn't caught in the middle.

"Happy Birthday Kev!" Jay hollers from his seat on the other side of the round table.

"Thanks guys," Atwater replies, watching Erin approach her seat.

She sits the baby on her lap, facing her, "Where's Voight?" It's really warm in the restaurant, forcing her to take the hat off the baby and toss it into the stroller.

"He's running a little late, but he's on his way," Olinsky answers, eyes browsing the menu.

With Burgess sitting next to Erin, she turns to reach for the baby, "I'm ready for her!"

"It's my birthday," Atwater reminds, rubbing his hands together as he stands, "I get to hold her first." He extends his arms as Erin walks over with the baby; her jacket unzipped and once she transfers the baby to Kevin's arms, she takes off the rest of her daughter's coat, "She just woke up so she might be a little grumpy," Erin warned, heading back to her seat.

It was a relief and a welcomed break. Everyone wanted to hold Haven giving both mom and dad a break for the time being. Jay didn't seem to mind and neither did she. She retook her seat between Burgess and Halstead, the stroller locked between her and her husband. On the other side of Jay, it's Dawson; he's uninterested in the casual conversation filling the table because he's distracted by Atwater and baby Halstead. She's going to be one loved and adored little girl. Watching her interact with Atwater, even though she's so small and young, he's holding her up by the waist and her feet are standing –with his support- on his legs, and he's making the silliest faces a grown man could form.

"Did you have to work today?"

Atwater looks away from the baby to answer Jay's question, "Nah, Voight gave me the day off."

"What did you do for your day off?" Erin chimes in.

"This morning I went out to breakfast with my brother and sister," he started to answer, eyes gearing back towards the infant as he continued to talk to her mom, "and then afterwards we hit up an arcade, caught a movie and then they sung me happy birthday back at my house, surprised me with cake, ice cream and a gift."

"And what-"

"Alright, my turn," Kim's impatience interjects into Erin's follow-up question, "My turn to hold the baby." She's antsy and she's been unable to tune into the conversation because of her need to hold Haven. She hasn't seen her in weeks and she missed the little one a lot. Atwater fortunately doesn't make her beg for long. He holds her up as Burgess rushes over to take her.

Burgess wraps the infant in her arms, hugging her and breathing in the fresh baby smell. She feels the little angel's hand touch her mouth and she smear kisses into her palm in return. The baby is distracted though; the bright lights in the restaurant draw her in. She is blinking at them; their too bright, but when Kim takes a seat, it pulls her short attention away from the bright beams. With her hands wrapped around the baby's small waist, she sits the infant down in front of her on the edge of the table. The baby's legs dangled and her head relaxed towards the side; her neck muscles weren't fully developed to hold up her head yet, "You look uncomfortable," Burgess slides her from the table and onto her lap, having her small feet stand upon her jeans, "is that better?" She leans the baby against her chest, taking the weight off her legs and the stress of having a lack of control from her neck. Holding each hand, Kim pulls the infant back and looking into her hazel eyes, her own heart melts. She wants one. She wants a baby. Kim leans forward and presses a kiss against Haven's cheek, "You are just the cutest," she draws back and notices a minor red cut on the baby's nose, "Er, what happened to her nose?"

Lindsay leans over to look, "She scratched herself. Jay was making the funniest noises and she started kicking her little legs and moving her arms all over the place and she scratched herself. We keep forgetting her mitts at home so we can prevent that, but I misplaced them." Erin's finger brushes gently over the small cut, "She didn't cry or anything so she's fine, aren't you baby?" The toothy grin that stretches out across the new mother's face warms Kim's heart.

"How have you been Erin? You know, considering what you've been through…"

Lindsay looks away from the child to answer Dawson's question, "I've been better," she straightens her posture in her seat, "but honestly, with the baby, I haven't really had the opportunity to even think about it…so that's good. And Dr. Charles comes over once every other week to sit and talk with me and that helps too. I'm fine."

Erin and Jay avert their attention from the next conversation and towards their menus, debating over what they wanted to order. She only tunes back in when she subconsciously turns to eye her baby sitting in Kim's lap; her best friend holding the little girl's hands and making them clap as she bounces her legs up and down. If there was anyone, besides Halstead and Voight, she trusted with her baby the most, it would be Burgess. She looks at Haven through the eyes of a mother, through the eyes of a person who desperately wants to be someone's mother; she has the maternal instincts, she just doesn't know what to do with them. And then there's Ruzek; he looks absolutely terrified when he's near the child. He doesn't want children, he thought he could make an exception because he's in love with Kim, but since having the baby, he realized that's not something he wants; it's not something he thinks he'll be able to do, but Kim refuses to believe it. She keeps trying to force the idea of a baby on Ruzek and she is definitely not opposed to using Haven to do so, "Hold her."

Adam shakes his head, "I…I'm good."

"Come on Adam; she's not going to bite," Kim replies, extending the baby towards him.

"I can't."

Mouse scoffs, "Are you scared?"

"No, I'm more uncomfortable than scared," he corrects and Burgess doesn't heed his words. She extends the baby further towards him, forcing him to take a hold of her. And he does hold her firmly. She won't slip or fall from his grasp, but he's holding her at an arms' distance. She's extended away from his chest; his hands holding her hips, her legs dangling and the look on her face makes him nervous.

"My baby doesn't have the plague Adam," Halstead argues, a clear tone of irritation and annoyance in his voice and seething through his words, "She's not contagious or anything!"

Burgess looks fed up, "Are you seriously scared of a one month old baby?"

And before he can even answer and deny what everyone can obviously see, the infant's bottom lip drops and she suddenly bursts into tears, loud sobs blare out as her face turns red.

Jay is ready to grab her, so is Erin, but Olinsky who is sitting next to Ruzek swipes her from his arms. One hand of his is behind her head and the other is around her bottom and he leans her against his shoulder –the shoulder closest to Ruzek. With his eyes still on the baby, he answers Kim's earlier question, "I just don't do well with babies! They don't like me!"

"I wouldn't like you either if you held me like that!" Dawson defended, watching Olinsky console the crying infant. Bystanders glance over as the baby's screams increase in volume.

Olinsky starts patting her back, "Are you upset with mean ol' Uncle Adam?" The vibration of his chest as he speaks consoles her. Her cries start to decrease in volume and sniffling takes its place. Even though her wailing stopped, her sniffling still persisted; she's calming down.

Ruzek turns away from the baby and notices each face around the table staring at him, "Hey, it's not my fault that kids don't like me!"

Her head remained lying against Olinsky's shoulder comfortably. She continues to sniffle. It's the sweetest and the most adorably innocent sound they've heard. As a one month old, she isn't able to see a far distance away yet, but she is able to see up close. She is able to see Adam because he's sitting right next to her and Olinsky. A small whimper escapes and Olinsky stops patting her back and starts rubbing it. Erin watches and gives a warm, side smile; a dimple pierces into only one of Erin's cheeks, "You're a natural with kids Al."

"What can I say? Babies love me."

Her sniffles and whimpers continue and Kim feels bad; she pouts, "Aw Adam, you really made her sad." She continues to watch the teary-eyed baby and out of an angry frustration, she elbows her fiancé in the abdomen.

"Ouch!" He exclaims, grabbing his side, "What was that for?"

"You made her cry!"

Ruzek does feel bad, but he didn't want to hold her in the first place; Kim made him and he tried to do it right, but he was uncomfortable; his hand continues to rub his waist, "It wasn't on purpose Kim! I'm sorry! And I told you I didn't want to hold her. I told you."

The whimpering, the crying and the sniffling all stopped the second Haven yawns. Crying is exhausting and it was starting to take its toll on her little body. The toothless yawn she does is proof that within the next thirty minutes, she'll be asleep. And fortunately Voight arrives, greets everyone, and gets some hand sanitizer from Jay before scooping the baby right from Olinsky's arms. It was perfect timing because if Haven fell asleep, Erin and Jay wouldn't have let Voight wake her in order to spend time with her. He would have had to wait until she woke up, if she woke up before they left the restaurant. Hank didn't even get the chance to take off his leather jacket, but he was too eager to hold Haven, and with her seated on his lap, Mouse and Dawson who are seated next to him, help him safely maneuver out of his coat without bothering her. He's so distracted by her presence, he doesn't see Erin take a photo on her cell phone; he's only broken out of his distraction to place his order and once that's done, his attention is back on her.

She's so small. She's so innocent. She's so adorable and lovable that Voight gives the angel the largest smile he could muster. He turns her around in his lap, her little legs bent and crossed. His hand brushes over the few strands of brunette hair she has atop of her head and he notices the puffiness, the redness and the moisture within her eyes, "Has she been crying?" He scoops her up and holds her up close to peck her cheek in an attempt to cheer her up; he draws her back, makes a silly face before bringing her back towards him for another kiss.

"Ask Ruzek," Mouse comments.

"I said I was sorry."

Burgess pats his thigh, "Ruzek, it's okay."

"She's going to hate me."

"She's not even going to remember this incident," Erin says in an attempt to cheer him up, "You'll learn. It's not the first time you held her and it won't be the last."

"I'm surprised you're still going to let me hold your kid."

Halstead sighs through his irritation, "Only under adult supervision."

"Well that's embarrassing…"

"Once you learn how to hold her, you'll be fine," Erin gives him an assuring nod of the head.

"I'm not a kid person; I keep telling her that."

Kim rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, "I'm never going to have children," she sighs.

"You'll always have Haven." Ruzek reminded.

"But that's my baby…" Lindsay's brows furrow as she confusedly remarked. She missed the point Adam was trying to make; she missed the fact that the words he was spewing was only said to cheer his fiancée up, and when he provides her with a pleading look for help, she gets it, "Oh," she nods, immediately willing to give in, "But Adam is right though," she takes a hold of Kim's hand, "It takes a village to raise a kid. You'll always have Haven."

The wheels in Kim's head starts to turn; she's convincing herself that she doesn't need a baby. She may want one, but she doesn't need one. She can make that sacrifice for him. He didn't want to get married, but he made the sacrifice to do so in order to keep her, in order to maintain his relationship. He was willing to do that for her so she should be able to do this for him. Kim peers across the table to glance at the baby in Voight's lap, "And she's perfect," her eyes draw away from her, "I don't even think I would have been able to produce a child that measured up." She smiled to ease the mood of the conversation.

"If she understood you, she would blush," Erin replied, squeezing Kim's hand gently.

Burgess focuses back on the baby in Hank's arms as conversation picks back up around the table. She doesn't know what's being discussed because all of her focus and her attention are on Haven. She's fighting sleep, but she's losing it and eventually she's gone, she's in a dream state with her head resting against her grandfather. Her chest rises and falls with every breath she takes and soon enough her dad notices. Voight was completely smitten with the angel in his arms; she had him wrapped around her little finger. Halstead nudges his wife and nods his head towards the sleeping baby and while she cleared the infant's hat and coat out of the stroller, Jay went to go get her. He grabbed the baby blanket and laid it over his shoulder before carefully scooping the sleeping little girl from Voight's arms; once connection was lost, the sergeant felt the smile on his face falter as she was carried away.

Jay pressed a smooch against the side of his daughter's head; a few strands of brunette hair are sprinkled on the top, but the side remains bald. With both hands around her, he lays her down in the stroller; both he and Erin maneuver her inside of it until she looks comfortable and Erin pulls the blanket up to her shoulders. And if perfect timing existed, it presented itself just now as the food came out. Neither parent had to worry about holding the baby and trying to eat. As each plate is placed down in front of them, conversation surrounding the table is sparked, "I know what you did before dinner, but what are you doing afterwards?" Erin asks, pulling the stroller cover over the baby so strangers wouldn't peer into the stroller as they walk pass. It's also pulled to block out the bright, streaming lights in the restaurant. She needed Haven to at least sleep through her meal so when she wakes up both she and Jay can tend to her fully.

"We're actually going out clubbing," Atwater answers, referring to him, Dawson, Ruzek and Burgess, "You both should come," he recommends, as Kim eagerly nods in confirmation.

"If you want to go, I can watch Haven," Voight offered.

"I think I'll speak for me and Erin, we can't make it this time," Jay unfortunately had to let them down easy; "It's not the right time."

"Why not?"

"Kim, I had a baby five weeks ago. She doesn't sleep through the night. I had at least a total of three hours of sleep last night," Lindsay exclaimed, "Unless you want me passing out in the middle of the dance floor, I'll have to pass. And besides, she's only a month old, she needs her parents right now and I'm not ready to leave her just yet."

"I'll have enough fun for the both of us then."

Erin smiles at her best friend appreciatively, "Have a drink for me too."

"Of course," Kim nods while simultaneously taking a bite of her food, "I hate that you're going to miss out. We're supposed to be meeting Atwater's lady friend too."

Most of the team straightens their posture; they turn to face Atwater, all eyes on him as he bashfully avoids eye contact. Erin is grinning from ear to ear, practically bouncing in her seat and clasping her hands together, "Who is she? When did you two start going out?"

"It's new," Kevin answered, shrugging indifferently, "It's very new."

"She's already meeting the team so it has to be getting serious. What's her name?"

"So," Jay interjected, cutting in before Kevin could respond, "we'll definitely have to come next time. Erin and I are looking forward to meeting her. Anyway, how's the food Kev?"

After a sigh of relief and a mouth of thanks to Jay, he answered, "It's good."

Halstead had only chimed into the conversation, bringing up an irrelevant topic that everyone couldn't care less about only to save his friend from the prying questions of his wife. It was a good enough distraction because by the time Atwater answered, Erin is in another conversation with Dawson and Voight. Burgess is distracted; she's currently ordering a slice of birthday cake for the birthday boy, her former partner and one of her closest friends. Atwater doesn't hear because he's wrapped in a conversation with Olinsky, but Burgess excitedly places the order, accepts the additional charge to add extra whip cream and chocolate syrup and then sends the waitress on her way before Atwater notices. Erin catches it all in her peripheral and she turns to comment, but she hears a small, short whine. It's short and quick. Erin and Jay both freeze and take a look at each other; they're frozen and with wide eyes they peer into the opening of the stroller after Jay slowly lowers the stroller cover. They see the baby; she's stirring in her sleep, her little hands clenched in fists that rest against the side of her head. Her adorable face is scrunched up and Jay looks up at his wife in concern, "I think she's having a bad dream," he says in a whisper, being mindful not to startle the baby, "Should we wake her?"

Before Erin could come up with an answer, Haven makes the decision for both of them. Her eyes remain close, but she erupts into a crying rage, face turning red, but no tears trickling down her cheeks. Her mouth is wide open; revealing her pink gums as she cries out for her parents, arms flailing around in the air. Erin grabs her, scoops her right up and feels the added weight to the baby's diaper; she reaches beneath the stroller to grab the diaper bag before heading off to the bathroom. Halstead watches until she disappears, until she's no longer in his line of vision, "Jay," his name is called by Dawson and he tunes back into the conversation, "Are you ready to come back to work? We're eager. The place hasn't been the same without you."

He shrugs, "I'm looking forward to coming back while at the same time I'm not."

"Do you think it's going to be hard?"

Halstead turns to answer Kim's question, "I know it's going to be hard. I know I'm lucky because not many new dads are awarded the opportunity to stay home with baby for a month, but I kind of gotten used to it and comfortable with the idea," he subconsciously reaches into the crib and pulls out the baby's blanket, "Erin and I have this setup going on that works. We have a routine and once I go back we'll have to start a new one."

"And then you'll have to start another one once Lindsay comes back," Dawson added.

"I don't know how parents do it," he says, dropping his fork onto his empty plate, "She has never been out of my sight for more than a couple of minutes. I can't imagine not seeing her for eight or more hours; it seems unrealistic."

"From one dad to another," Olinsky decided to chime in and add his expertise, "this won't be the last time you'll feel like this. You'll have the first day of school and when she leaves for college. It's a never-ending feeling when your child is out of your sight."

"Your daughter is an adult Al while mine is a baby," he retorts, staring off into the distance; every part of him wishing he had more time on paternity leave, "And I know I'm lucky because not many professions and not many bosses offer paternity leave, but every single day since December 2nd I woke up to my baby, patiently and tiredly cared for her and watched her grow into the one month old she is today. It's going to be a hard habit to break. I'm excited to come back, but at the expense of my daughter…not so much."

And once he finishes he spots her. She's holding the baby and the diaper bag while making her way back to the table. He didn't want to talk about this when she's around. It's going to be hard for him, but she had a few weeks left before she had to come back and he wanted her to enjoy those, not feel guilty because he won't be enjoying them with her. As Erin continues to walk over, her nose brushes gently against the baby's which elicits a small grin on both of their faces. He can honestly say he never gets tired of Erin's dimples and now their daughter inherited them which made him one lucky husband and father. She approaches the table, puts the diaper bag back in the compartment under the stroller before extending the infant towards him, "Here," she suppresses a yawn as she tiredly extends the child, "Take your baby," and he pulls Haven into his arms. And his time holding her was just as brief as the time it spent for him to take her from Erin's arms because by the time Haven is laid on his chest, he feels Dawson pry the baby away.

They all want their time with Haven in before she leaves with her parents. She already spent a brief amount of time with everyone –including Ruzek- and besides Mouse. Dawson was getting his time in now. She's on his lap; her legs exposed because after changing her diaper, her mom put a long-sleeved onesie on her. Pants were thrown somewhere inside the diaper bag. Her little legs are bent as he holds her up in a sitting position on his lap –facing him. He grins, makes the silliest faces and reenacts the goofiest sounds. She stares at him, a ghost of a smile on her face, not yet fully able to crack up laughing, but fully able to offer him the tiniest hint of a smile. When a dimple pierces into a cheek, he knows he's successful. She doesn't offer the dimpled smile up to everyone. When she gets a little older, he knows he'll be able to get a bigger smile –one that she is incapable of doing right now at a month old- and he knows he'll be able to get a hearty laugh from her –a laughter that she currently is not old enough to emit.

Dawson is ready to move along to his next silly face when he hears the team clapping. The waitress walks over; a large slice of birthday cake deliciously rests in the center of a white, well-decorated plate. Everyone around the table starts singing happy birthday. He lifts Haven up from his lap as he tunes into the song. His own voice is adding to the lyrics and the pitch of the happy birthday melody. Atwater is surprised. He peers down at the cake before looking up at all of his friends sitting around the table. They're smiling –beaming ear to ear. Antonio is holding the baby against his chest; her head is laid down, facing the direction of her dad. She's unable to recognize faces yet, but she stares at him anyway. She'll eventually know the face of her father, of the man who will raise her and protect her. She'll eventually know her mom and dad, the people who created her, brought her into the world and will raise her around their beliefs, practices and morals. She watches him because he's in the immediate proximity of her vision. Her far-sighted vision has yet to come in; it'll come with time. However, her near-sighted vision has her staring at the side of her father's face; she watches him smile, clap and sing happy birthday. She watches him until Antonio shifts her in his arms; he moves her from one side to the other.

"You all are the best," Atwater announces after blowing out the candle, "Thank you and if I never said this before I'm saying it now. You guys are my family; forever and always."

They all repeat after him, "Forever and always."

The bill is requested seconds after Atwater begins eating his cake and it's split in six different ways; the two couples accounting for two while Voight, Olinsky, Dawson and Mouse account for the other four. Atwater doesn't have to pay. It's his birthday after all. Jay reaches into the diaper bag and pulls out the baby's leggings; the shirt she wore here remains inside since she's now in a long-sleeved onesie. He hands the pants to Antonio for him to put on the baby as the bills are brought to the table. Each one is passed around and when he is handed the black leather folder with their check inside, he hands it to Erin. She's usually in charge of the funds. She quietly checks the bill and pays accordingly, being mindful to add in a few extra dollars to account for tip. She hands it back over to the waitress, "We should be getting up out of here."

"That means I have to say bye," Kim exclaimed, scanning the table in search of the baby; she's now in Mouse's arms.

"You can visit any time."

"Good," Kim responded to Jay's words, "because this whole month it drove me crazy that I couldn't come see you guys and Haven."

Erin argued, "We talked on the phone."

"It didn't make it any easier."

"She was a preemie and the doctor wanted us to keep all outside germs away from her until she was a few weeks old," Erin felt the need to explain to her overly dramatic friend, "She had her doctor's appointment today and we got the green light to start taking her out more."

"How was the appointment?"

"Horrible," Erin and Jay answered in unison.

"I thought you said it was good," Voight chimed in from across the round table.

"We got good news, but she had to have a shot," Erin further explained to ease the worries of her friends, "Poor baby cried her heart out. She cried herself to sleep. No one was able to comfort her."

With wide eyes, Kim looks over at the fussy baby in Mouse's arms, "The more I know, the more I start not wanting kids," out of surprise, everyone turns to face her; she continues, "I don't think I can do the pregnancy thing, the labor, and I can't deal with listening to babies cry," her voice cracks as she hears Haven begin to fuss louder, "It makes me want to cry." In her peripheral, she spots Jay reaching into the diaper bag to pull out a bottle; he quickly fixes it at the table and shakes its contents until it's all mixed together. He hands it over to Mouse to feed her.

"Well if you want kids, you'll have to get used to it," Erin asserted, rising up from her seat in preparation to leave, "That's how they communicate as babies." She shrugs.

"Your baby is my baby." And they both chuckle at that. Maybe Burgess will come around to the idea of not having a child.

At one point, one unseen to Erin, Mouse ends up with the baby, feeding her. He's holding her. One of his large arms are around her small body and his other feds her the bottle; she's quiet, no longer fussy and she's sucking up the breastmilk in her bottle. Erin grabs her coat and begins putting it on, watching amusedly as Ruzek watches Mouse in awe, "How is everyone so good with her besides me?"

"Because you need to relax," Erin answers, zipping up her coat.

Kim elaborates on Lindsay's answer, "Babies can smell fear."

"Or at least sense it," Atwater comments.

Ruzek sighs, "That kid doesn't like me," his hands run down his face in frustration.

"She probably remembers how much you irritated me during my pregnancy," Erin jokes in an attempt to lighten his mood; she sees her husband get up to start putting on his coat.

"I don't know what it is, but she doesn't like me."

"Give it time man," Halstead asserts, zipping up his own coat.

"It has been five weeks."

"She's just a baby," Erin defended.

"Eventually that excuse won't work."

"Are you letting a one month old baby get to you?" Kim asked, nudging his side jokingly.

"She has it out for me."

"She doesn't know what she's doing," Lindsay continued to defend, tucking her hands into her coat pockets, "The way you held her practically set her off."

The baby had just finished her entire bottle; she was now contently full. Jay pushes his chair up to the table and then reaches under the stroller to grab a burp cloth from the diaper bag. Tossing it over to Mouse, he watches his longtime friend position the cloth and the baby over his shoulder. His hand hitting against her back until the inevitable burp lightly erupts out. Voight takes the empty bottle from Mouse and passes it over to Jay, "She was probably just tired."

"No," Ruzek remarks to Voight's excuse for the baby, "watch, let me see her." He gets up to walk over to the well-fed, well-rested, and recently changed and burped baby.

Halstead shook his head, "You are not about to use my kid as an experiment."

"I just want to prove my point to Voight."

Once Mouse gets a nod of approval from both Halstead and Lindsay, he allows Ruzek to take a hold of the infant. He hands over the burp cloth back to Jay while Adam nervously walks back to his seat, the baby in his hands, dangling and extended away from his body like he's scared to rest her against his chest. Voight sees it for the first time, "Ruzek, hold her right!" He demanded.

Adam takes a seat, "I'm trying!" He's not. It doesn't look like he's trying at all.

With no hint of amusement on her face or lightheartedness in her words, Erin says, "I swear if you make my baby cry again it's going to be a problem."

"I'm not going to drop her."

"That wasn't my concern," she retorts; her hands wrap around the handle of the stroller, "You're holding her exactly like how you held her earlier and that didn't work out for you. Have you noticed the way we all held her? Hold her like that!" She loved Adam, she did, but she absolutely adored and loved her baby even more and she doesn't, does not, want to hear her cry again.

"I'm trying!"

Her arms cross, an irritated look on her face, "You have three seconds to hold my baby correctly. She doesn't look comfortable at all."

It's something about Ruzek when he's in contact with a baby that makes him nervous. He doesn't want to hurt her. He doesn't want to do the wrong thing. He continues to hold her up and out; she's extended and her little legs dangle. It's the exact way he held her the first time until he gently sets her feet down onto his lap. Adam is sitting, holding her weight up; his face is nervous as he starts to bounce her up and down. She's quiet as he bounces her and for the first time, the nervousness on his face disappears. He bounces her more.

"Don't do that," Jay orders.

"Why not? She's not crying."

And before Halstead is able to give him an answer, he finds out for himself, "That's why." He's referring to the spit up now running down Ruzek's shirt. His best friend is stunned in silence as Jay comes over to lift the baby from his hold. Everyone around the table tries to silence their chuckles, but it was impossible. Even Kim found herself laughing as she hands him a couple of napkins to wipe the spit up off his shirt. Jay takes a napkin to dab at the spit up around his daughter's mouth, "This doesn't mean she doesn't like you."

"Your child puked on me!"

With the baby held in one arm, he dabs the napkin against her chin, "She just ate. Everyone knows not to bounce a baby around right after they eat!"

"I didn't," Adam grunts, taking the napkin from Kim's hand.

"We should really be getting out of here," Erin interjects into the conversation; her hand gently settles against the lower portion of her husband's back.

"I'm going to get that kid to like me," Ruzek aggressively throws the used napkin back onto the table, "I'll make sure of it. To get her to like me is my goal by the end of this year!"

Tugging the baby's hat onto her head, Erin responds, "I'm sure you'll be successful."

"I'm serious Lindsay. I have it all planned out. I'm going to visit regularly so she starts to remember my face. I'm going to bring her gifts and sweet snacks when she starts eating things besides milk. And I'm going to practice the silliest faces a baby has ever seen. I guarantee you."

"We believe you," Jay laughs, holding the baby in one arm as his wife slides the infants coat on her before zipping it up snugly. She pecks a light kiss against the baby's upper cheek before heading to grab the handle of the stroller.

After bidding the team a farewell and a see you later, the couple, their daughter and Kim headed out of the restaurant. She wanted to walk them out to get a little extra time with Haven. Even though the baby remained in her dad's arm as her mom pushed the stroller ahead of them, Kim walked alongside Jay and the baby. Once the cold, brisk air hit them, Jay pulled his daughter closer into him; her face against his face as the cold wind blinds them. She's cold. He's cold. They're all cold. Jay sacrifices the warmth in his hand as he pulls it out of his coat pocket to rub heat and friction into his daughter's back. Her little cheeks turn pink. And he speeds up his walk to get her to the car as fast as possible, "Can I strap her in?" Burgess asks, following behind them.

He doesn't argue. He takes the keys from his wife and hands the baby over to Burgess. She keeps her just as warm as her dad. Jay quickly checks for traffic before hopping into the driver's seat; he wants to warm up the car and turn the heat on. Erin closes the stroller and carefully puts it in the backseat of the car; once done, she hops in the backseat of the vehicle, preparing to help Kim put the baby in the car seat from the inside. Burgess holds her freezing arms around the baby, keeps her close to her chest, "Okay, how do I do this?"

"Sit her in here," Erin directs, watching cautiously as Kim prepares to pull Haven away from her chest, "Careful. Careful, watch her head, careful."

"Erin," Kim snaps annoyingly, "I need help strapping her in, not putting her in the car."

Lindsay rolls her eyes, "Sorry." Kim continues her earlier act and sets the baby in the car seat. She looks up at Erin to wait for her next direction, "Put her arms through the straps and buckle it over her chest," as Lindsay orders, Kim follows, "her seat is already connected to the base, so you're pretty much done once you snap her in." And once the buckle snaps, the baby's bottom lip drops and she immediately starts crying, sending a wave of panic through Kim.

"I did something!" She shouts, pulling her hands away, "Oh gosh, I did something! I did something! What did I do? Did I hurt her?"

"It's alright," Erin assures, buckling her own seat belt, "She's buckled in and safe. She'll stop crying once the car is in motion."

Burgess didn't know whether or not Erin was only saying that because it was the truth or to make her feel better. When she looks up at Jay, spotting him watching her with a smirk clearly across his face, she realizes that her words were true. Haven was fine. She wasn't hurt or uncomfortable. She was just ready for the car ride. Kim gives a breathy smile, leans in and pecks the little girl's cheek, before backing out of the car, "Alright my friends, I'll be stopping by tomorrow to see you all."

"Who are you fooling?" Erin scoffs, inserting the pacifier in the baby's mouth, "You're only coming to see the baby."

"You got me!" Kim joked, leaning against the opened door, "I don't even know why I thought that was going to work. I should have known you would see through it."

"Yeah, yeah," Erin rolls her eyes jokingly, "alright, close the door. You're freezing my baby."

"Drive safe," Kim responds before closing the door.

As the motion of the car calmed their agitated baby, Erin extends her hand to take a hold of the little one. Her finger runs casually over the infant's hand; her baby is awake, her wide eyes staring at what's in front of her which is simply the backseat of the car. Her finger leaves her daughter's hand and casually roams up her daughter's onesie until she's gently tracing against the side of her baby's face, "She is the best thing that has ever happened to us."

Jay glances up in the rearview mirror, "She is. And to think, she wasn't even planned."

"She's the best gift I didn't even know I wanted."

"Yeah," he glances back up at the rearview mirror to watch as his wife's eyes remain glued to the baby; a look of love and adoration are filled within them and he doesn't want to look away, but he has to in order to continue driving safe, "She's only been in our life for a month and I already can't picture life without her."

The car ride was consumed with warmth from the car's heater, darkness with the occasional light emitting from a street light and silence. It created the perfect atmosphere for the baby to eventually fall back asleep. It seems that's all babies do; eat, sleep and use the bathroom. It's a repeated cycle with the occasional time for play added in. Erin even feels herself dozing off. For a new mother who had been cooped up in the house for a month with a baby and her husband to venture out and spend so much time with friends has been exhausting. She's envious as she watches her baby lose the battle with sleep. If Erin was to doze off, she would have to wake right back up to go into the house –it was pointless. Haven could remain asleep, she can remain in whatever innocent dream that overpowered her newborn mind. The ease of the ride seemed to have placed her in a zombie-like trance that ended once the ride stopped. Finally home and minutes away from getting comfortable in her own bed, Erin hops out of the car, ventures around to unstrap the car seat and carry it up to the front door. Carrying the diaper bag around one shoulder, Jay unlocks the front door and allows his wife and the baby to enter first, "Do you want me to put her down?"

"No, I have it," Erin responds, walking further into the house before heading upstairs, "She's asleep, so it shouldn't take me long."

He shuts the door and locks it behind him, "Alright, call me if you need me."

"You know I won't hesitate," she replies, chuckling softly.

Jay drops the diaper bag to the ground beside the door, discards his jacket and hangs it on the coat rack before heading upstairs to get ready for bed. Erin is humming softly to the baby as she changes her from her outfit and into a warm pair of pajamas that covers her little toes from the brisk chill in the house. Lifting the sleeping baby from the changing table, she hears Jay call out, "I'm turning the heat up. It's warm, but for her little body she's probably freezing."

Lindsay doesn't respond. Her response isn't needed. If she disagreed, she would have voiced it, but because she said nothing, her silence was agreement. It was warm in the house, but her baby was still cold. Even though the little girl was snuggled in her long-sleeved pajamas, she couldn't lay her down yet. She used her own body to heat up the smaller one. Rubbing her hand against Haven's back, her baby's face lying in the crook of her own neck, as she gently rocked back and forth, feeling the small breaths of the baby tickle against her neck. She remained asleep, and when Haven's cheeks warmed up, Erin carefully laid the child into her crib. It was the first night she'll be sleeping in her own room. It was a test they're trying out. It was discussed and agreed upon by her and Jay on their ride to the doctor's office earlier today. Laying the baby down on her back, arms sprawled out beside her head; Erin grabs the baby blanket and spreads it out over the infant before leaving the room. She cracks the nursery door and tiptoes down the hallway.

Arriving back to her own room, she sees her husband comfortably dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, sitting on top of their made-bed, back resting against the headboard as he flips through television channels, "Is she asleep?" He doesn't take his eyes off the television screen when he curiously asks.

Kicking off her shoes, she responds, "Yeah, I think this is the first night she hasn't fought it."

"Well, she's exhausted. She had a long day," he affirms, turning off the television when nothing interesting appears to be on.

Erin grabs the baby monitor from on top of the dresser and turns it on, "You have a point there," she sets it down onto her end table; she goes to grab the nanny cam screen from on top of the dresser and brings it over to Jay's end table, "Hopefully she's tired enough to sleep through the night," Erin begins removing her clothes in preparation for bed.

"She's tired, but I don't think she's that tired," he jokes, looking as she goes to the dresser to grab one of his shirts. She pulls it over her head and he watches as it falls to her mid-thigh. He watches with a smile as she silently gets ready for bed, her attention elsewhere until she feels his eyes on her; he's smiling, his pupils following her around the room.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she winks.

"I'd rather have the real thing."

Sitting up, with his back resting against the headboard and body sat above the covers, he watches as his wife climbs onto the bed, crawls up and takes a seat on his lap –facing him, with one leg on each side. They're practically chest to chest; her bare legs are folded as she rests comfortably on his lap. Her own hands cup his face, her wedding ring beaming in the well-lit bedroom, "You know, since having the baby, I missed this," she whispers, before suddenly feeling his lips press against hers; she's happy until he pulls away, "It's hard to find time for us to spend together with a baby always in the same room."

"Tell me about it," he responds, coming back in for another kiss.

It's important for them to always find time for themselves. He knows it. She knows it. Her arms wrap around his neck and she twists and twirls the strands of brunette hair at the nape of his neck, "You know," she whispers, her mouth mere millimeters away from his; as her lips move with each word, he feels them gently and occasionally brush against his, "I'm back on the pill and the doctor gave me the green light today. There's nothing holding us back."

Jay grins at her words, mouth forms into an open-mouth smile. He doesn't respond; he brushes her hair behind her shoulder and moves in so close that she can feel his breath against her cheek. He simply pecks it. Her hands fall from the nape of his neck and slowly slide down his back, pulling at the material of his t-shit as he begins trailing kisses down her face, towards her neck. He's aware that once he kisses her neck, all amount of gentleness will crumble, "Jay," he looks up the second she calls his name, "just be careful…and mindful of my stitches." Erin pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it somewhere onto the floor. And once he continues trailing kisses down her jawline, she smiles; she feels his breath on her neck as his lips hover above it. She patiently waits; she wants his kisses now. She wants him now. Then suddenly, she feels the tender brush of his lips, burning as they make contact with her neck.

Her head falls back, giving him more room to kiss as his hand slides around her waist to pull her closer to his bare-chest. His opposite hand begins tugging at his shirt covering her upper body before it's soon discarded like his was moments ago. His kisses are now on her shoulders, trailing back up her neck until he pulls back. She frowns, but he takes the moment to look at her, to really look at her; she's his wife, his best friend, the love of his life and the mother of his child. She's everything. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for her. And abruptly all thoughts stop in their tracks. She feels the warmth of his lips hover inches in front of hers, waiting for the inevitable moment they'll touch again, waiting impatiently for the moment they become one. Then he cups her face in his hands and presses his lips against hers, both of their wishes, desires, urges and impulses finally being met.

A hand runs through her hair as the kisses become harder, more urgent and desperate, her hands pulling the strings to his sweatpants loose when suddenly the mood, the feeling, the moment is interrupted by the baby. Her cries echo out of the baby monitor. Her cries fill the hallway and make its way to their bedroom. Erin disappointedly groans; she leans her own forehead down against his shoulder and exhales a dramatic sigh. He smiles and kisses the side of her head and whispers, "I'll go get her." She doesn't move right away. He kisses the side of her head again as his hand pats against her bare back, "I'll bring her in the room."

Lindsay leans down to swipe her husband's shirt up off the floor before rolling over onto her side of the bed. Within seconds, her shirt is back on and she's watching him get out of bed. After tying the drawstrings of his sweatpants, he begins heading out to bring his daughter back into the room with them. It was the first night they tried it. She's not ready to sleep alone yet. She reaches over to grab the baby's bassinet and wheel it closer to the bed. Now all that's left to do is wait… she turns off the baby monitor, lays in bed and patiently waits for her husband to come back with the baby. And when he does walk into room, the infant is laid against his bare chest, fast asleep. He meets her eyes and chuckles, "Once I picked her up, she stopped crying."

"It's like she knows," Erin laughs quietly, reaching for her cell phone to take a picture, "You two look adorable by the way, but I swear, it's like she knew."

"She's not ready to sleep in the room by herself."

"How did she know?"

Jay lies the baby down in the bassinet, "That's something you're going to have to ask her."

"I guess we should get some sleep," Erin whispers, turning off her bedside lamp, "especially while she sleeps. She'll probably be up in an hour or two ready for her next feeding."

Before climbing into his side of the bed, he turns off his bedside lamp. The room is filled with darkness and once he climbs in, he feels around for his wife and spoons her from behind. Both of their bodies facing the direction of their daughter who is quietly and comfortably sleeping in the bassinet beside their bed. She's content in her bassinet; she's at ease when sleeping in the same room as her parents. They're a few feet away, ready to tend to her beck and call at a moment's notice. And as their eyes close and their conscious loses the battle against sleep, their exhaustion seeps over, reminding them just how tired and drained they are, and the moment they fall into a deep sleep, she wakes up, screaming and ready for her next feeding. Erin hits Jay's side, "Hey, wake up," her voice is groggy, "the baby is crying."

"You're closer," he groans, rolling over to his opposite side, "And she's hungry. You didn't pump anymore breastmilk. I can't feed her."

Erin exhaustively sits up, throws the covers off her body, "Starting tomorrow, we're getting formula. I'm done breastfeeding," she leans over to grab the baby, "I'm serious Jay. That's going to be our next adventure," she lifts the baby and brings her over to the bed; once Haven is latched on, she continues to talk, "Once we wake up, we're getting formula."

"Mmhmm," he grumbles, snuggling beneath the covers. She glares as she fights sleep, patiently waiting for her baby to finish. Erin can't even help but watch him sleep, envious as his snores fill the room. She yawns and glances down at the baby; her eyes are closed and she's still feeding. Fighting the exhaustion and the fatigue proved to be an unfair battle that she inevitably loses.

And when Jay wakes up the next morning, he sees his wife leaning back against the headboard, holding their baby, both fast asleep.