It's here!

This is the sequel to Trust and will be a collection of one shots that are all in the same universe, but are not in chronological order. You do not necessarily have to read Trust to read this, but I would recommend it for some background.

I'm sorry for the long wait, I've been incredibly busy and I really struggled with how to begin this story, but I think I've finally gotten this to a place where I'm satisfied with it.

Warning you now, this chapter is really long. This will be an introduction to their family and their children and jump around to random points, like learning they are expecting, points in the pregnancy, births, things like that. It will not show all of these moments for each child right now because I have things planned out for other chapters. That being said, I will not have all of these individual moments (births, pregnancy reveals, etc.) for each of their kids. But I do have some planned out for later chapters!

If there is anything you would like to see, please let me know! I don't have all of the letters planned out yet and I really need some ideas, so I want to know what you all would like to see!

Please remember to review and let me know what you think!

A: Always

*Three years, four kids. But times flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?

Erin Lindsay had never really been the marrying, motherly type. She was born into bad news- her mother was a junkie and her father had been in and out of jail for her entire life. She had practically raised her younger brother, Teddy, for her entire childhood until he disappeared, later for it to be discovered that he had gotten taken into a child trafficking ring. She was a former heroin addict, she had been in too many abusive relationships to count, she had a lot of self-esteem issues, and she had so many walls built up that she didn't blame men for not wanting to even attempt to break them down.

But then, Jay Halstead came along. She wasn't expecting that when she signed up to join the Intelligence Unit, she would be partnering up with the man she would spend the rest of her life with. But her father figure/boss Hank Voight had paired them up and he had had her back ever since. First, they were just sleeping together behind Voight's back, then he was pulling her out of the hole she had dug herself into after Nadia's death, then they were actually dating, then they got engaged, and finally they decided to get married.

Now, she was Erin Halstead and she had never been happier.

It didn't take long after the wedding for her and Jay to find a house that they liked. They had never been big, flashy people, so they found something modest that could fit in their budget. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a decent backyard, and a room that Jay could use for his man cave. It was absolutely perfect, but Erin still felt her heart aching a little bit, and she knew why.

She was ready for a baby.

She and Jay had talked about it a lot. Even before they were engaged, they mentioned it in discussions about their future. They both wanted kids and had agreed that their dream was to have a little boy and a little girl. But now that she was actually wanting one, she wasn't sure how to approach the subject. What if Jay wasn't ready? She didn't want to make him uncomfortable or make him feel like she was trying to pressure him into something. But every time she walked past those two extra rooms in their house, even though they were set up as an office and a guest room, she felt her heart ache a little bit more.

"Erin?" she heard Jay call out her name and realized that he had been talking to her. She was sitting in bed and he had just gotten out of the shower. He was staring at her with a weird expression. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I've been talking to you and you're just staring at the wall and not responding."

"I want a baby." She blurted out. She immediately felt her cheeks flush at the admission and she stared down at her lap.

Erin felt the bed dip as Jay came over to sit next to her. He reached over to grab her hands from her lap.

"Hey, talk to me." He said gently. "What do you mean you want a baby?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry." She tried to pull away from him, but his grip on her was firm.

"Erin." His voice didn't leave any room for argument.

"I've just been thinking about it a lot lately." She admitted. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that, but I think I am ready to try for a baby. I just can't stop imagining us with a kid, Jay. What's stopping us? We always said that we wanted to get married, have everything be stable at work, and have a house. We have all of that." She finally got the courage to look at him and she was surprised to see a smile on his face. "What?" she asked self-consciously.

"Hey, if you're ready, I'm ready." Jay informed her. "I've just been waiting on you to give me the go ahead."

"Stop, this is serious. We need to have a real conversation."

"Why? Everything you just said is true. We've been married for six months now, everything else in our life is good. I am so in love with you that sometimes I can't believe it's possible. Why shouldn't we share some of that love with a baby?"

And Erin realized he was right. Why did it have to be a big conversation? They had already talked about having kids. They had already discussed how they would raise them and what kind of parents they would be. If they were ready, then they were ready.

"What are you thinking, baby?" Jay wondered.

Erin smiled. "I'm ready to have a baby with you."

"Then let's stop using protection."

She reached over into her nightstand drawer and grabbed her birth control pills. She took the package and threw it into the garbage can. When she turned back around, Jay wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards the bed. She giggled as he peppered kisses on her face and neck.

"I love you." He told her, finally landing a kiss on her lips.

"I love you too." She kissed him back more forcefully.

She couldn't believe they were going to try for a baby.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

It was May when she missed her period. They had been trying for two months and they were working a rough case, so it took her a few days to notice that she was late. Four days passed before she let herself get excited with the possibility that she could actually be carrying Jay's baby.

Erin wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know if she wanted to tell him right away or try and surprise him with the news. But when they got a break in the case that made Hank send Jay out to a scene with Alvin and Adam and he told Erin to go home and get some rest, she took that as an opportunity.

She went to the drug store and bought three different pregnancy tests, figuring that they could never be too sure. She was pretty much bouncing by the time she got to the checkout counter; she was ready to get home and know for sure.

She tried not to get her hopes up too much, just in case she wasn't actually pregnant. But with every passing minute, she could feel herself getting more and more attached to the idea that in a couple months, she would be a mother.

Erin got to the house and pulled her car into the driveway. She unlocked the front door quickly, kicked her shoes off, and then ran upstairs to the master bedroom. She pulled the tests out of the boxes and read the directions quickly, and then started to do what needed to be done for them.

It only took three minutes for the tests to tell the results, but it felt like the longest three minutes of her life. Erin left the tests on the bathroom sink and paced anxiously back and forth. She was kind of wishing now that she had waited for Jay; he would know exactly what to say right now to calm down her anxieties.

The timer she had set on her phone beeped and she practically ran over to check out the tests.

Positive.

Positive.

Positive.

She felt the tears fill her eyes as she smiled. She was pregnant. She and Jay were going to have a baby. She took a picture of the tests on her phone, figuring that she might want a memory of this for later.

Now, she wondered how she would tell Jay. She could try and keep it a secret for a little bit and come up with some big surprise, but that wasn't really their style. She wanted him to know as soon as possible.

She threw the tests in the garbage and washed her hands, then went out to the kitchen to start dinner. As she prepared the food, she stared to daydream about what their lives would look like from now on. In less than a year, they would have a baby boy or baby girl in their arms. A little one who was half her and half Jay.

Her hand drifted down to her stomach and she let it linger there for a second. In all of her life, Erin had never let herself imagine the possibility that she could be happy. But now, she finally was.

Her phone lit up with a text message and she looked to see who it was. She wasn't surprised to see her husband's name.

From: Jay

Lead was a bust. I'll be home in twenty minutes.

To: Jay

Okay. Dinner's almost ready.

She took a deep breath. Pretty soon, she would be telling her husband that she was pregnant with their first child. If someone would have told her that two years ago, she probably would have slapped them.

The tacos she was making were finished before Jay arrived, so she turned the stove off and decided to let them sit. She went over and sat on the couch and almost immediately after, she heard the key in the front door.

She watched Jay from where she sat. The first thing he did was straighten her shoes, which she had kicked off when she ran in instead of organizing them like he was always bothering her about. He took off his own shoes and then looked up and saw her watching. He smiled.

"Hey baby." He greeted as he removed his gun and badge. "I'm gonna go put this stuff away. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, everything just finished cooking."

"Perfect. I'll be down in a second." He went upstairs. She knew he was going to their bedroom closet where they kept the safe that held their guns and badges.

Jay came down a minute later and went straight to her, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. She put her hands on his cheeks to hold him there for a second and then rested her forehead against his. She knew that this would be their last moment when it was just them.

After he knew, he would be really protective. Everything would become about making sure she was comfortable and happy and safe. He would do everything in his power to create a positive environment for their baby to come into. She knew that he would hover and it would probably drive her crazy. It made her smile.

She was ready.

Erin pulled away from him and she could see the slightly curious look on Jay's face. He could obviously tell that something was going on, but she knew that this was probably the last thing on his mind. She pulled him so that he was sitting down on the couch and moved so that she was straddling his lap. He instantly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I love you." Erin said, bringing her right hand up to play with the hair on his neck.

"I love you too." He spoke slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

"Mmhmm." She leaned forward and hugged him, relaxing in his strong embrace. Jay didn't question it. She took a deep breath and then sat back up so she could look him in the eyes. She moved one of his hands so it wasn't around her anymore and put it on her stomach. "You ready to be a daddy?"

Erin watched his face for any signs of regret, but there was nothing. He definitely looked shocked, but she could see his eyes starting to tear up. "What?" he managed to finally get out.

"We're having a baby, Jay."

"How do you know?" she wasn't sure if he even noticed how his thumb started to stroke her stomach.

"I realized I was late on my period. I stopped and got three pregnancy tests on my way home. They all came back positive."

"We're having a baby?" he repeated.

"We're having a baby." She confirmed.

He hugged her to him tightly and kissed the side of her head. "God, I love you so much. I can't wait to see our baby. We should probably call and set up an actual appointment tomorrow so you can get all of the vitamins and everything that you need."

"I was already planning on it." Erin reassured him. "I'm just not looking forward to having to go on desk duty."

"I know you're not, but it'll be worth it." Jay kissed her again. "This is so amazing, Erin."

She smiled at his happiness. She was so lucky she had found a guy who was just as thrilled to be starting a family as she was.

"Jay, I'm starving. Can we eat now?"

"Of course. Sorry." He kissed her forehead one last time before letting her climb off of his lap.

Erin led the way to the kitchen and started to make her tacos. She could feel Jay watching her and she turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "Stop staring."

"I'm sorry. I just can't believe this. Our baby is in there, Erin." He gestured towards her stomach.

Erin saw her phone sitting on the counter and she grabbed it, pulling up her camera. She turned it towards him and took a picture, smiling at how happy he looked.

"Why did you do that?"

"I want to document everything."

"Why?"

"I think I've only seen two, maybe three pictures of me as a kid. Our baby deserves better. I want to remember everything and put it in one of those baby albums for them."

"Can't leave yourself out then." Jay grabbed her phone from her hand and turned it around on her. He snapped a picture. "Perfect."

Erin felt the blush rise to her cheeks. "Just eat your tacos." She tried to move past him, but Jay wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest.

"I want you to know how happy you have made me. I am so proud to be your husband, and now I can't wait to have a child with you. I love you so much, Erin."

She felt herself tear up at his words. He always knew exactly what to say to her to make her feel like the most special person in the world.

"Thank you, I love you too." She cuddled closer to him, enjoying this moment and letting it sink in that in a matter of months, she would be a mother.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

On February 4th, 2018, Erin and Jay welcomed their little boy into the world. Erin was in labor for almost 24 hours and she had nearly given up, but then, Connor William Halstead was born. The two parents were immediately in love with their baby.

Erin went on maternity leave and Jay was able to take two weeks off before going back to work. The rest of the unit was pretty understanding with the fact that their partners had a new baby at home, so it wasn't uncommon that Voight would send Jay home earlier than the others, or that one of the guys would volunteer to finish Jay's paperwork for him. Things were settling nicely and they were adjusting to being parents pretty well.

Jay finished showering after a long day at work, tossing his towel into the hamper and exiting the master bathroom to see what his family was doing. Erin was lying on her side with Connor in the middle of the bed, her gaze focused on the baby. He went over to the two of them and climbed into bed on Connor's other side, leaning over to kiss Erin quickly. He had fallen even more in love with her since their son's birth, if that was possible.

He turned his attention to Connor. That little boy had definitely captured his heart. They didn't have any baby pictures of Erin to look at, but Jay had gotten a few of his out and they were almost identical to what Connor looked like now. His son had big, blue eyes and a head full of light brown hair, along with all of his facial features. Erin argued that it wasn't fair that she had to deal with being pregnant and then the baby didn't even look like her, but he knew that she secretly loved the fact that Connor resembled him so much.

"When do you wanna have another baby?" Jay asked.

Erin looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Excuse me?" he repeated the question. "This one isn't even a month old. Can we get him to his first birthday before we start talking about having more?"

"So you want to wait until Connor is a year old?"

"I don't know." She sounded exhausted and Jay almost regretted bringing it up. "When do you want to have another baby? Clearly you have a timeline in mind."

"I want our kids to be close in age, like Will and I. I just don't imagine us being one of those couples with a five-year age gap between kids."

Erin wrinkled her nose. "No, I don't think we'll wait that long." She reached out and stroked a finger down Connor's cheek. "I think I would want them to be two or three years apart."

"I was thinking two years." Jay agreed.

Erin's eyes were starting to drift closed. "Can we talk about this when Connor is a little older?"

"Sure, baby." He just wanted her to get some rest now that their son was asleep. "How about you go to sleep? You look tired."

Erin reached out and gently lifted Connor into her arms. She moved him so that he was in his bassinet on her side of the bed. It wasn't unusual for him to sleep in bed with them, but Jay could already see where she was going with this. Erin scooted across the bed and right into his arms, burying her face in his chest. Jay let her cuddle into him and kissed the top of her head and closed his own eyes, feeling sleep overtake him almost immediately. Being a father to a newborn was exhausting, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

Positive.

Positive

Positive.

As Jay saw the tears well up in Erin's eyes, he wasn't sure what the right thing to say was in that moment. She knew that she hadn't wanted to be pregnant right then. Connor was only five months old and she had wanted to wait until he was at least a year to even talk about the possibility of getting pregnant again. Beyond that, she had only been off of desk duty for three months now and Jay knew that she was not eager to get back on it.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, babe. This is good news, remember? It might not have been at the best time, but we're going to be parents again! Connor is going to be a big brother!"

"But I'm not ready." Erin told him, her head resting in her hands. "I can't do this."

"Yes you can."

"No I can't!" she raised her head so she could meet his eyes. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Well we haven't exactly been careful and we both know how a pregnancy happens, so it's kind of our fault." Jay tried to lighten the mood. "It's going to be okay."

"How are we going to give Connor the childhood he deserves?"

Now, Jay honestly was confused. "What do you mean?"

"He has only gotten five months with just us. How are we supposed to pay attention to him when we are constantly worried about my pregnancy? Things will only get worse once the baby comes. I wanted to be able to focus on just him for a while. I never had parents around who paid attention; I wanted to do that for him."

"Erin, we still can. A baby isn't going to change that. This isn't a bad thing. We are just expanding our family. Yes, it's earlier than we expected, but this is still good news!" Jay grabbed her hands and put them on her stomach. "Tell me you don't already love this baby."

Erin's tears spilled over and he knew then that she did. She leaned towards him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him. "I'm scared, Jay."

"This is big news and it's scary." He kissed the top of her head. "But I promise you that everything will be okay."

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

Erin didn't take long to come around to the idea of becoming a mother again. She was still really nervous and felt guilty for getting pregnant so soon, but she had started to get excited about the fact that soon, there would be another little piece of her and Jay on this earth.

She sat in the waiting room of Med with six month old Connor in her arms. Today was her first ultrasound and she couldn't wait to get it over with. Connor was not happy, it was over a hundred degrees outside, and she wasn't sure if Jay would be there or not. She had opted to stay home today instead of going in for her usual desk duty and Jay had said he would do everything he could to meet her there, but Intelligence was working a big case right now and they had caught a big lead that morning that had Jay running out of the house before the sun was up.

"Erin Halstead?" the nurse called out. She stood up, shifting Connor to her right hip. She grabbed his car seat and diaper bag in her left arm and followed her back to the waiting room.

"Hello, my name is Angela. How are you today?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Good, thank you. I need you to step up on this scale. I can hold him for you if you need me to."

"Thank you." Erin wasn't sure how willing Connor would be to go to her, but she figured she might as well try. She put down the car seat and diaper bag first, then transferred the baby to Angela's arms. She stepped on the scale just as Connor's bottom lip started to quiver.

"I've got it; you can step down."

Erin quickly took Connor back before he started to cry. He was a relatively calm baby, but he didn't do well with strangers. She rubbed his back and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"He's adorable. What's his name?"

"Connor." She answered with a smile. She still found it a little weird that strangers would talk to her just because she was holding a baby, but it was sweet. Her handsome baby definitely attracted a lot of attention.

"I love that name." Angela finished making a note on her chart. "Alright, let's go back to this room." Erin grabbed Connor's car seat and diaper bag again and followed her to the exam room she would be in. She answered the list of questions that she was asked all while trying to keep Connor calm. He was starting to get fussy and she didn't know how they would be able to do an ultrasound while she was holding a screaming baby. "Alright, Erin, you should be good to go. The ultrasound technician should be in to see you in just a few minutes. Before I go, may I ask if you are related to Dr. Will Halstead who works in the ER?"

"He's my brother-in-law." Erin responded. "Do you think that you could page him for me?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Thank you so much."

Angela exited the room and Erin was left alone. She checked her phone and saw that she had no messages from Jay, which meant that he must still be tied up with work.

Connor stared to cry and she knew that meant he was hungry. She had breastfed him since birth, but she had packed him a bottle she had pumped because she knew they would be out and she didn't really feel like having the ultrasound tech or Will walk in on her while she was feeding.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're okay, buddy." She pulled the bottle out and rocked him gently. "You're alright, Connor. Mama's here. Are you hungry?" she stuck the bottle in his mouth and he immediately quieted. "There you go."

She heard two rapid knocks on the door before it opened, revealing the face of Dr. Will Halstead. He looked more worried than she had ever seen. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Can you sit with me for a little bit?"

"Of course. Where's Jay?" he questioned.

"He got stuck at work. I'm about to have my ultrasound and Connor is really fussy because he's hungry. I'm sure you have other stuff to take care of, but I don't know what else to do."

"Hey, I'm actually pretty bored down in the ER and besides that, there is nothing I would rather do than spend time with my nephew. Hand him over." He held his arms out and Erin transferred her son to him. She held her breath, waiting to see if Connor would cry. Will wasn't a stranger to him, but he definitely preferred her or Jay to anyone else, especially when he was in a fussy mood. But he must have been too engulfed with his bottle to notice because he stayed quiet.

A woman Erin had never met came into the room. "Good afternoon, I'm Amanda, I am the ultrasound technician." she noticed her colleague sitting in the chair. "Hey Will, I didn't know you were married. Congratulations on the baby!"

"Oh no, I'm not. This is my sister-in-law. My brother got held up at work, so I'm just sitting with her and helping out with my nephew."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She looked at Erin. "It's nice to meet you, Erin. I'm going to be doing your ultrasound today."

As Amanda got everything ready for the ultrasound, Erin watched her son. He still looked content, which was good. She was hoping that he would fall asleep on the car ride home so that she could get some cleaning done around the house after this.

Her thoughts drifted to Jay. She really wished that he was here right now. She could feel her nerves starting to settle in at the idea of seeing her baby for the first time. She hoped that there was nothing wrong with her child, and also hoped that Jay wouldn't be upset that his brother was seeing the baby before him.

"Erin, I've got some news for you." Amanda said, bringing her attention back to what was going on.

"What's wrong? Is the baby okay?" she felt her heart start to race as the possibilities started to run through her mind. This would be her karma. She hadn't been excited for the baby at first, so now, it would be taken away from her.

Erin looked at Will, who had a confused look on his face as he stared at the monitor. She knew that he could tell whatever was going on by his expression.

"Will?" she asked anxiously.

"The baby is fine." Amanda reassured her.

"Jay is gonna be pissed he wasn't here." Will chimed in. "Is that…"

"It is." Amanda confirmed.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Erin interrupted. She was sick of the back and forth between the two of them. She wanted to know what was going on with her child.

"You're a little over ten weeks along with twins!"

Erin felt like she was going to puke, and then she actually did lean over and puke into the garbage can next to the bed she was lying on. At the same time, Connor must have sensed his mother's mood change because he started to cry.

"It's okay, Erin." Will awkwardly tried to comfort her.

"I can't be having twins." She directed at Amanda. "There's no way."

"Lie back and I'll let you listen to the heartbeat." She said gently, probably understanding now that this was bigger news than she had made it out to be.

But Erin laid back and let the tech run the ultrasound wand across her stomach. She listened as a heartbeat filled the room, and then the sound intensified. She could still remember the first time she had heard Connor's heartbeat and she knew that it shouldn't be this fast or this loud. She knew that this would only happen if there were two.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to take a deep breath. First, she would take Connor from Will and get him calmed down. Then, she would call Jay and tell him that she needed him to come home. Then, they would figure this out together. They always did.

She opened her eyes again and sat up. Will handed her a towel in silence and she wiped the gel off of her stomach and adjusted her shirt.

"Thank you, Amanda." She told the ultrasound technician. "Do I set up my next appointment at the front desk?" Erin knew that she did, but she said it mostly to calm down the woman. She looked terrified.

"Yeah, you can make it before you leave."

"Thanks."

Amanda left the room, leaving Erin alone with Will and Connor. She got down off the table and grabbed her son from her uncle. After she did, Will got up to take care of the garbage can she had thrown up in. She was surprised; he didn't really seem like the kind of doctor who took care of patients' vomit. But she wasn't any ordinary patient.

"Shhh, you're okay. Calm down, baby. Mama's got you. You're okay." She bounced Connor gently against her shoulder and rubbed his back. She felt him burp and looked over to see some spit up come with it. She grabbed one of his burp clothes and wiped his mouth off and then her shirt. "Do you feel better, Connor? Huh? Was your tummy hurting? You're okay now." She sat down and he cuddled into her chest, quieting down.

"You're amazing with him." Will told her.

"I just get lucky." She stated.

"No, you know exactly what he wants. I had no idea why he was crying. Do you know why you knew what he wanted? Because you're his mom. I can tell that you're scared to have two new babies coming, Erin, but you're an amazing mother. You and Jay are gonna be just as annoyingly good at parenting twins as you are at everything else."

"Thanks." She said, partly because she was surprised by his words and partly because she wanted him to be quiet. She needed to think and she couldn't do that when he was talking. She just wanted to get home.

"Are you going to call Jay before you leave?"

"Yeah, I guess I should do it now." Erin didn't really want to call him while Will was around. She was scared that she would break as soon as she heard his voice and she didn't want Will to see her like that. She didn't know why she was so embarrassed; it's not like it would be the first time her brother-in-law had witnessed her tears.

Erin hit Jay's name in her contacts and waited for him to pick up as she stared down at Connor's face. He was starting to get tired and she was grateful for that at least. She hoped that he would take a good afternoon nap.

The phone went to voicemail and she hung up, deciding to text him instead.

To: Jay

Hey, call me when you can. I'm leaving Med now.

"No answer?" Will asked.

"They were working a busy case today." Erin informed him. "He's probably just tied up with a lead."

"He knew that you had an ultrasound though. Why wouldn't he step away to answer?"

"Are you trying to stress me out even more?" she demanded.

"Sorry, I'm sorry." Will shook his head. "I'm an idiot. Do you need help getting down to your car?"

"No, I can take it from here."

"Are you sure?" before he could offer any more help, his pager went off. "I can carry Connor's car seat down for you."

"I'm okay, Will. I promise."

"Alright. Well tell Jay to call me when he gets a chance, okay?" he hugged her quickly and kissed Connor's forehead. "I don't know if you're ready to hear it yet, but congratulations."

"Thank you for being here."

"Anything for you and my nephew." He smiled one last time and then left.

Erin loaded Connor into his car seat and grabbed the rest of her stuff. She made her way to the front desk and scheduled her next appointment, and then got out to the car and buckled Connor in. She realized that her car wouldn't fit three car seats in and that some changes were going to have to be made.

That led to her thinking that their kids would have to share rooms now. She had never wanted that, which was why she and Jay had specifically bought a three-bedroom house. They had planned on having only two children so that they could give them everything that they never had, but how would that change now with three?

She felt a tear slide down her cheek and cursed herself. She glanced at her phone, but there was still no reply from Jay. She started to debate on if she should call Hank and make sure he was alright, but then she convinced herself that she was just freaking out because of what Will had said.

Erin got home and put Connor down for his nap and then started dinner. As she was cooking, she got a message from her husband.

From: Jay

Sorry, rough case. Gonna be a late night. Don't wait up.

She felt anger surge through her. He couldn't even bother to ask how the ultrasound had gone? She knew that part of this was hormones. It must be a pretty bad case for Jay's mind to be that far gone that he didn't wonder how her first ultrasound was. But it still stung.

Erin went through the motions of their nightly routine. She fed and played with Connor, gave him his bath, put him to bed, took a shower, and watched TV. She was lying in bed staring at the ceiling when she finally heard the front door open. She glanced over at the clock and saw that it was almost 1am.

She could hear his quiet footsteps coming down the hall. She knew that he wouldn't come to their bedroom yet, and her suspicions were confirmed when she heard Connor's door open across the hallway. It closed a few seconds later and she saw her husband's shadow in the doorway.

"I told you not to wait up." He whispered into the darkness.

"Are you going to shower?" she replied instead.

"Yeah."

"Go shower."

Jay went wordlessly into the bathroom. Erin kept her back to the bathroom door as she struggled against the emotions bubbling inside of her. She wanted to be happy. She knew that she was supposed to be happy. But how was she supposed to handle three small children? Connor was only six months old; by the time these babies were born, they would only be thirteen months younger than him. How would they handle this?

She heard the shower water shut off and she knew that she couldn't keep this from him. She turned the light on and sat up, waiting until he came out. Jay came into the bedroom and noticed her sitting there.

"Erin, you should really get to bed." Jay told her as he threw his dirty clothes into the hamper. "It's late."

"What was your case about?"

"I don't want to talk about work right now."

"Jay, you didn't even ask." She couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice that time. "I want to know what has you so wrapped up in your mind that you can't even ask me what happened today."

He frowned for a second and then realization seemed to dawn on him. "The ultrasound." He sat next to her. "Is everything okay? Is our baby alright?"

"Yeah, our babies are fine."

"That's good." Jay's head snapped in her direction. "Wait…did you say babies?"

Erin's eyes filled with tears. "We're having twins."

Jay pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "Hey, it's okay. Don't stress out about this. This is good news, baby. I know we always said that we wanted two kids, but three kids could be fun. Neither of us know what that's like. We both only grew up with one sibling, so maybe it'll be fun for Connor to have two. Besides that, we're awesome parents. Connor's been alive for six months now without any major damage, and he's pretty cute, so I think that we can make that happen again."

Erin sank into his arms. "I needed you there today."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there, and I'm sorry I didn't ask about the appointment. We had a kidnapping case today that didn't have a happy ending." He kissed her head. "These cases have become so much harder now that I'm a dad, but I wouldn't trade that for anything. I love having you and Connor, and now our new babies to come home to."

"I love you." Erin said.

"I love you too." Jay squeezed her tight. "I promise you that we can do this. How hard can two more be?"

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

"I hope we're having boys."

Jay was driving to Chicago Med so that they could go to Erin's ultrasound. Today, they would be finding out if their twins were boys or girls.

"Really?" he commented. "We always talked about how we wanted a boy and a girl when we thought we were only having two. I figure that this is probably going to be it for us, so I really hope that at least one is a girl, if not both."

"I'd rather have boys. I've done well with Connor. I can handle boys."

"You would be an amazing mom to a little girl too." He glanced over at her to gauge her reaction to his words and he could see her obvious discomfort. Erin turned her head to look out the window.

This entire pregnancy, she had been…off. It was honestly pretty strange to him. He had always figured that when the time came for them to have a baby, he would have to do some extra convincing with Erin to reassure her that she would be a good mom. It just came with her past and what she had been through and the fact that she had grown up with Bunny as an example of what a mother should be like. But surprisingly, she had been pretty calm throughout her pregnancy with Connor. This second pregnancy was the one that was hitting her much harder.

"What about our little Sophia?" he brought up the name that they had discussed years ago when talking about having a daughter. "We always agreed on Connor and Sophia. If we have twin boys, we'll just have to have one more so we can get our little girl."

"No." Erin shook her head. "This is it. Three is enough."

"Do you have any more ideas for boy names?" Jay tried to change the subject. Up until right before Connor was born, they thought he would be Connor Henry Halstead after Hank, but they ended up changing it to William after his brother. "Maybe Henry?"

Erin turned to him and he could see the gratefulness in her eyes. "Really?"

"You know I don't have a problem with naming our son after Voight. But I draw the line at calling him Little Hank. He's going to have to be Henry."

Erin smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"Does that mean you like the name Henry?"

"I've always loved the name Henry, but I never wanted to step on any toes by using it as a first name in case Justin…" she trailed off, but the implications were made. Her brother was dead now and the only grandchildren Voight would be getting were from her, so if she wanted the name, it was hers. Jay was pretty sure if they brought it up to him, he would try and talk them out of it, so it would have to be something they decided on and didn't mention until they introduced Hank to the baby in the hospital.

Jay grabbed Erin's hand to try and offer some comfort to her. He knew that the subject of Justin's death was still hard for her.

"I like Henry." Erin stated.

"Then we'll use Henry if we have a boy. Any middle name ideas?"

She shook her head. "You?"

"We'll think about it."

They arrived to the hospital and Jay found a parking spot. He got Connor out of his car seat and held him close to his chest. Their little boy was 9 months old now and becoming more and more active. Because it was November and it was cold outside, Jay covered him with a blanket and tried to keep him warm. Erin walked ahead of him and opened the door so that he could enter without taking his hands off of the baby. They got onto the elevator together.

Jay started to envision what his life would be like pretty soon. It wouldn't take long before they had two little babies here. He couldn't deny that it was going to be rough, but he knew that they could handle it. He was excited to meet their babies.

They got into their appointment pretty quickly and Erin entertained herself by focusing on Connor. She had started out by breastfeeding him, but they had switched over to formula not too long after she found out she was pregnant. Luckily, it had been an easy switch and now Jay was able to help out with the feedings more, which gave Erin more time to rest. She grabbed a bottle from the diaper bag and fed the baby so that he would be calm during the appointment.

First, they went through all of the typical things that Erin had to do during an appointment. Then, it was time for the ultrasound. Jay sat next to her and held Connor on his lap as the ultrasound tech, a woman named Stacy, rubbed the gel across Erin's stomach.

"Alright, and there is Baby A." she brought up an image on the screen that brought an involuntary smile to Jay's face. "And there's Baby B." he couldn't help but lean forward and kiss Erin's temple. She looked over and smiled at him. "Everything looks to be normal with both babies' development. I'm just going to check on a few things." She started to move the wand around as she studied the screen. "Both of their hearts look good, head circumference is good, the spines look good, it looks like you have two healthy babies."

"Can you tell what we're having?" Erin wondered.

Stacy smiled. "It looks like you're having two little boys."

"Thank God." Erin breathed out a sigh of relief. "You hear that, Connor? You're going to have two little brothers!" she grabbed the baby's hand and started to play with his tiny fingers.

Jay was happy that he would have two more healthy sons. He had wanted a daughter, but boys were good too. He kissed Erin quickly.

"Two boys, just like you wanted."

"I'm sorry we're not having a girl." She said.

"Hey, healthy babies are good enough for me." He kissed her forehead. Stacy passed her a towel so that she could wipe her stomach off. She printed off copies of their ultrasound so that they could each have one, and they asked for a third that they knew Voight would love.

"The two of you can make your next appointment out at the front desk. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." They said in unison.

Erin made her next appointment and then it was time to go. Jay already knew where they were going; they had to give someone else the good news.

The ride to Voight's was nearly silent. Jay couldn't help but notice the parallels from the last time they found out the sex of a baby. When they learned Connor was a boy, the car had been filled with endless talk of nurseries and clothes and all the things they wanted to do with him.

"Talk to me, Erin." He finally broke the silence. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been different lately. Withdrawn. Quiet. I want to know what's happening inside of your head."

She refused to look at him. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. I'm not trying to argue with you, I just need to know what's happening. Is it the babies?" he could tell by her expression that he had hit the nail on the head. She had a good poker face, but not when it came to him. "I know that you weren't really sure how to feel about having twins, but I thought we talked through it. I thought you came to terms with it. You were excited for a while and then these past couple weeks, you've been acting different. What's going on?"

Erin bit her lip. "I'm just tired."

"Don't lie to me. Don't sit here with that ring on your finger and two of my sons inside of you and the other in the backseat and act like I don't know you well enough to know when you're lying."

"Bunny."

That one word was enough to explain it all. Whenever Erin's mother came around, she had a way of bringing Erin down.

"What about her?"

"I've run into her a few times."

Jay clenched his teeth, hard. "I love you and you know that I have nothing but respect for you. If for whatever reason you want to try and have a relationship with Bunny, then I trust you to do that and to know when that relationship is becoming toxic. But I don't want my son around her."

"Jay…"

"No, Erin. I have held you in my arms while you've cried too many times because of the aftermath of Bunny. I'm not willing to put Connor through the same pain."

"I don't even know if I want a relationship with her. I've only seen her twice and it wasn't planned."

"Was Connor with you when you saw her?"

"Not the first time, but he was there the second time."

"Did you let her hold him?"

"Yes, but I didn't let her out of my sight with him. We were just at the café and she walked up to me, we only talked for maybe five, ten minutes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to get upset."

"So you just didn't say anything?"

Erin's eyes narrowed. "I didn't know that I had to report back every little detail of my life to you." He knew she was getting defensive now.

"You don't, but you should tell me something that obviously upset you so much that you haven't been acting like yourself. When I brought up that you acting different had to do with the babies, you didn't deny it. What did she say to you?"

"Nothing."

"You see, I'm not buying that." He pulled up in front of Voight's and Erin all but dove out of the passenger's seat. She practically ran into the house, leaving Jay and Connor behind.

Jay sighed and went to get his son out of the backseat. "One day, Mama will realize Bunny is bad news." He grabbed the diaper bag and walked into Voight's.

"…that obviously has you upset. Are you fighting with Halstead?" he heard the older man rasp as he closed the front door.

"No." Erin answered.

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm fine." Erin insisted.

Jay came into the living room with Connor on his hip. He wanted to sell her out so badly. He knew that with him and Voight tag teaming her, she would give in and tell them what had happened with Bunny. But he also didn't want her to feel trapped or stressed out, so he let it go. For now.

"There he is." Hank's face lit up when he saw his grandson.

"Good to see you too, Sarge." Jay couldn't help but joke. The unamused look on Voight's face even earned a laugh from Erin. He passed the baby over and took a seat on the couch next to his wife.

"We actually came over because we have some important news." Erin told the man who had raised her. Voight looked at her questioningly.

Jay handed him the ultrasound pictures. Voight looked at the twins and he could see his face soften. He moved the photos out of reach as Connor desperately tried to grab at them. As Hank got to the last picture, he looked up at the couple.

"Two boys?"

"Two boys." Erin repeated.

"Congratulations." He pulled the girl he considered his daughter up to her feet and into a long hug. He even hugged Jay. "Two more grandsons. Looks like you're gonna be my only girl for a while longer." He said to Erin.

"We're gonna stop after these two." She told him. "Three is enough for us. We had always planned on only having two, so the twins surprised us a bit, but three is good. Four is a little crazy."

"I had always dreamed of a little granddaughter with your eyes and smile." Hank said. "But three grandsons…that's amazing." He went to hand back the ultrasound picture.

"That's yours." Jay informed him. "We got a copy for you. Figured you might appreciate it."

"Thank you." Hank stuck the picture in his wallet. He turned his attention back to the grandson in his arms. "Are the three of you staying for dinner?"

"If you're offering, I could eat." Erin agreed. Jay wondered if it had more to do with her actually being hungry or trying to avoid the conversation about Bunny. Whatever it was, he didn't want to bring it up now. He would just enjoy the rest of the day with his family.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

It was on March 9th, 2019 that Erin went into labor. She had been at home alone with Connor when the contractions started and she figured that she should probably tell Jay.

She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up, but the phone went to voicemail. She knew that he was at work and the case they were working had gotten an important lead a few hours ago, so it was pretty likely that he was out chasing that lead. She called Hank next, but he didn't answer either. She even called Antonio and Al, but they didn't pick up.

She started to panic a little. She didn't know what she could really do right now. Should she just wait it out? It probably wouldn't be that long until one of them returned her phone call. She made a quick decision and called Burgess, Ruzek, and Atwater too, but all three calls went immediately to voicemail. It was pretty obvious now that they were doing some kind of takedown or else someone on the team would have answered.

Her phone rang and she answered without looking. "Hello?"

"Erin! What are you up to, sweetheart?"

Bunny.

She hadn't had much contact with her mother over the course of her pregnancy. She had seen her a few times in passing, but that had been coincidence. She had never purposely planned out a meeting with her, and any consideration of that had gone out the window when Jay expressed his dislike for Bunny being around Connor. She wanted to respect his wishes, and she wasn't particularly eager to expose their son to her mother either.

"Mom." She felt a rush of fluid down her legs as she spoke into the phone and made a quick decision. "I need your help." She absolutely hated admitting that, but Bunny had called and she would most likely be available; it's not like she ever had a job to keep up with.

"What's going on? Need me to come take my grandbaby off your hands for a couple of hours?"

She cringed at the idea of that. There was no way she would ever allow her mother to babysit Connor, especially at a place that was out of her sight.

"I'm in labor. I need you to take me to the hospital."

"Oh wow, okay! Are you at your house? I'll come and get you!"

"Yes. I'll text you the address. Please hurry."

"Where's that husband of yours? Why isn't he doing this?"

"He's at work and he's not answering. I don't have time to answer questions. Just hurry." Erin hung up the phone and sent Bunny her address. She prayed that she wasn't making the wrong decision by involving Bunny, but she wasn't really sure what else to do at this point.

Erin changed her pants and tried to think logically. She grabbed the hospital bag that they had packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. She also grabbed Connor's diaper bag. But as she did that, she realized her fear of leaving her son alone with her mother may come true. Where else would her son go?

By the time Bunny got there, Erin was a worrying mess. Thirteen month old Connor was wobbling around the floor; he had just recently learned to walk and he was constantly on the go now. Erin was faced with another issue; they would have to get Connor's car seat from her car and put it into Bunny's and she was too big and in too much pain to transport it and she wasn't sure Bunny could do it correctly.

"Let's take my car. His car seat is in there." Erin stated, grabbing her keys. She shoved them into her mother's hand and picked up the bags.

"I'll take those." Bunny took the bags from her. "I'm here to help!" she leaned down and lifted up Connor, whose face immediately scrunched up at being picked up by a stranger.

"You're okay, baby. Mama's here. I'm right here." Erin tried to soothe. He reached for her, but Erin was in too much pain to pick him up. "Do you know how to buckle him in?"

Bunny gave her a look. "I realize it's been a long time since I've had a baby, but I'm not stupid, Erin."

"Okay, can you buckle him in, please?" Erin slid into the passenger's seat and checked her phone. She still had no messages or calls from her husband or the rest of the team.

A few minutes later, they were on the way to the hospital. Erin could hear Connor's whimpers from the backseat and she tried to reassure him the best that she could.

Erin focused on her breathing until they pulled up to Chicago Med. She looked at Bunny. "Connor is probably going to cry, but I need you to pick him up. I can't do it myself."

"I'll get him. He'll love his Grandma in no time." She smiled eagerly and got out of the car. Erin struggled to get out of the passenger's seat and they walked into the hospital together.

"I need some help! My daughter is in labor!" Bunny shouted overdramatically. Erin winced at the sound of her voice. Connor was crying in her arms and she wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab him, but she was scared she would drop him if she was standing up. The pain was starting to get worse as each contraction hit. She checked her phone again; still nothing.

"What's going on?" she was relieved to see the familiar face of Dr. Natalie Manning. "Erin, are you alright?"

"I'm in labor." She informed her.

"Can I get a wheelchair?" Natalie yelled. "How far apart are the contractions?"

"I haven't been timing them, but they aren't too far apart."

"How long have you been experiencing contractions?"

"Since this morning when Jay left for work, so around 7am. They weren't too bad this morning and I thought they were Braxton-Hicks at first, but then they started to get worse and I realized it was actually labor."

"Where is Jay?"

"I've tried calling him and the rest of the team, but no answer."

"Okay, don't worry. We'll get you taken care of. I'm going to get you up to labor and delivery." A nurse brought over a wheelchair and Natalie helped Erin lower herself into it. The doctor noticed the crying baby. "Hey little man, it's alright. Mama is just about to have your little brothers!"

"Little brothers?" Bunny commented. "It's two boys?"

"Yes." Erin said through gritted teeth. "Nat, can you hand Connor to me? I need to calm him down."

"How about I calm him down instead and…" she paused, waiting for the name of the woman standing in front of her.

"Bunny." Erin filled in.

"…and Bunny can push you."

"Connor is my grandson. I can calm him down on my own." Bunny stated defensively, holding the baby closer to her. It only made him cry harder.

"And Natalie is his aunt. Mom, just push the wheelchair so I can go have these babies. Let her calm him down."

"Aunt?" Bunny scoffed.

"I'm married to Jay's brother, Will." Natalie filled in. "Can you please hand Connor to me?"

Bunny reluctantly handed the baby over. Natalie gently rubbed Connor's back and spoke to him as she directed Bunny towards the elevators that would lead them to the labor and delivery flood. It didn't take long before Connor had stopped crying and was resting his head against Natalie's chest.

They got upstairs and Natalie once again led the way. "Bunny, you are going to have to wait in the waiting room while Erin gets situated."

"Okay, I'll watch the baby."

Erin could see that Natalie was about to hand him over so she reached out and grabbed Natalie's arm gently, subtly shaking her head. Natalie caught the message.

"I want to keep him with me for a few more minutes. Is that okay?" Erin asked.

"Yeah, if that's what you want. Let's get you situated and page your doctor." Natalie held Connor in her left arm and pushed Erin's wheelchair with her right as they left Bunny in the waiting room. She brought her to a labor and delivery room. "Alright, what's going on with your mom? Do you need me to have security kick her out?"

"She happened to call while I was trying to figure out what to do about getting to the hospital. I don't want Connor to be left alone with her. I don't know what else to do with him, but he can't be alone with her. I don't know if Will has told you anything about my relationship with my mom, but it's pretty rocky. She's a junkie and she's been in and out of my life. Jay is one hundred percent against her being around Connor and I don't like the idea either."

"Alright, I've got it. I'm off shift in a half an hour, I can keep an eye on him, okay? I'll even take him home and he can have a sleepover with Owen and I if you don't want him here at all."

"I just don't know what's going on and I don't want to have to worry about Connor too. I don't know where Jay is." Erin's eyes filled with tears. "What if he's hurt?"

"You can't think like that."

"I called everyone. It's been almost an hour. They all know I'm close to my due date and they wouldn't have been doing a takedown for this long. Something is wrong, Natalie." The tears finally spilled over.

"Hey, calm down, okay? I'm sure everything is fine. We'll get you situated and get Connor taken care of. Those are the situations that we can control right now. I'll find Will and see if he's heard from Jay and have him try and call him. Just worry about staying calm for your babies."

Erin nodded her head, hoping that what Natalie was saying was true. She didn't know what she would do if Jay was hurt.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

Jay held his hand over the bullet wound in Adam's stomach, trying desperately to keep the blood flow to a minimum. His eyes were still scanning the room, looking for any sign of danger. He saw movement and held his gun up with his right hand, firing off a round of shots.

"You're alright, Adam. Just hang on, man. Keep your eyes open." The bullet had gone through Ruzek's vest and Jay had already called for an ambulance, but it felt like this was taking forever.

He heard the sound of another body hitting the floor and looked to his left. Atwater had hit the ground hard. Jay couldn't believe it. It was rare for them to even have one man down, but two? That was unheard of.

The gunfire stopped and he realized that all of their targets had been taken out. Everyone gathered around Ruzek and Atwater as they tried to assess the situation.

Ruzek had been shot three times, two had been caught by the vest, but one had managed to get through and lodged itself into his stomach. Antonio was looking over Atwater as the rest of the team waited.

"Vest caught one in his chest." He announced. "You're good, Kev."

The sirens of the ambulance could be heard outside and it didn't take long before Ruzek was loaded inside. Jay's hands were covered in his blood.

The rest of the team loaded into cars and followed behind the ambulance, sirens blaring. They were going to follow this through and make sure he was safe and alive. Jay could see that Burgess was shaking, but she seemed to be holding herself together pretty well.

They all ran into Med as a team, following the stretcher as Adam was taken away. Jay was greeted with the sight of his older brother.

"You good?" Will asked.

"Yeah. Ruzek was shot." He informed him.

"I'm sorry."

"He'll pull through." Jay said confidently. Adam had to pull through this. That's when he noticed the blood on his hands again and he sighed. "I'm gonna go wash up."

Jay went to the bathroom and started to scrub the blood off of his hands. He was still in his bulletproof vest and he could see the wild look in his eyes. He hated knowing that Adam was back there and they didn't know anything about his condition. But at least they had some comfort in the fact that the guy who did this was dead.

He returned to the rest of the group and saw everyone sitting in the waiting room. Burgess had her head on Atwater's shoulder. He knew this had to be hard for her. He couldn't imagine what he would be like if it was Erin back there right now.

"Jay!" Will ran over. "Have you checked your phone?"

"No, I've been a little busy." He shook his head at his brother's insensitivity.

"Natalie just paged me. It's Erin."

That caught the attention of the entire team. Jay felt like the breath had been stolen from his lungs. He struggled to form his next words. Luckily, Voight did it for him.

"What do you mean? Why is Erin here?"

"She's in labor."

"Is she okay?"

"They just got her settled into a labor and delivery room."

Jay pulled his phone out of his pocket. He saw that he had three missed calls from her and a few text messages.

From: Erin

Hey, so this isn't really something I wanted to tell you over text, but it's baby time!

From: Erin

Jay, you're starting to freak me out. Where are you?

From: Erin

I really hope you're okay. Please call me as soon as you can.

"She called me." Antonio announced.

"Me too." Atwater chimed in.

"And me." Burgess agreed. It was quickly realized that she had called everyone on the team.

Jay felt horrible. His wife was upstairs in labor, in pain and scared, and she hadn't known where any of them were. "What room is she in?" As Will told him the number, he heard everyone else moving behind him. He looked at the group. "You all should stay here and wait for an update on Adam."

"Adam is going to be in surgery for a little while." Burgess told him. "Besides, some good news wouldn't hurt."

Jay couldn't argue with that, so they all went up to the labor and delivery floor. He was greeted almost instantly with the sight of Bunny yelling at Natalie, who was holding Connor in her arms.

"What's going on here?" Jay came over, standing next to his sister-in-law. His son lifted his head upon hearing his father's voice and reached for him and Jay happily took him, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"She won't give me my grandson!" Bunny cried.

"What are you even doing here?"

"I'm the one who brought Erin to the hospital." Bunny turned her focus back to the baby. "I want to watch him while Erin gives birth."

"Well, I'm here now so that won't be necessary." Jay was honestly questioning what kind of relationship Erin had had with Bunny over the past couple months if she had been comfortable enough with her to let her drive her to the hospital. "Nat, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah." Natalie walked with him to the other side of the room, far away from Bunny's listening ears.

"What's going on?"

"Erin said she tried to call all of you, but you weren't answering. She was scared that you were hurt. She told me not to leave Connor with her mother, but she's been yelling at me to give him to her. I told Erin that I would take Connor for the night and he could have a sleepover with us. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, of course. You know that I trust you with him. Erin didn't mind?"

"No, she was good with that. She just wanted him away from her mother."

"Thank you for dealing with her. She's a lot to handle."

"Yeah, I can see that." Natalie smiled. "I can take you to Erin. She's dying to see you."

Jay followed her down the hall to his wife's room. Natalie knocked on the door before entering. He was surprised to see Erin was already in a hospital gown and lying in bed, looking completely exhausted.

"Jay!"

"I'm here, baby." He went over and sat next to her, kissing her quickly. He put a hand on her stomach.

"I thought something happened to you."

"No, I'm alright." He grabbed her hand. "Ruzek was shot."

She gasped and he saw the tears in her eyes. "How bad is it?"

"He's in surgery. It went through the vest and lodged in his stomach. Atwater was hit too, but his vest caught it. It was a rough day." He stroked her stomach. "Until now."

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He kissed her again. "You're still wanting Will and Natalie to keep Connor?"

"Yeah, if Natalie is still willing." The doctor had stepped outside to give them some privacy, so they were alone for the moment.

"She is, she mentioned it to me in the hallway."

"I want her to take him. I want him away from Bunny."

"Speaking of Bunny, how did that happen?" he asked curiously.

"She called me while I was calling all of you guys. I answered without looking because I thought it was one of you. I didn't know what else to do so I had her take me. She drove my car here because I knew that I couldn't buckle Connor's car seat into her car and I didn't trust her to do it, so now we're kind of stuck with her here. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize. You did what you needed to do to get here. You did the right thing, baby. We can always have someone else take her home or call her an Uber. It's not a big deal."

Erin held his hand. "I haven't talked to her since around the time we found out the babies were boys. I didn't want to bring her into their lives. I promise, Jay. I listened to what you were saying."

"I'm not mad at you, Erin. You don't have to justify yourself to me." He kissed her forehead. "Do you want me to get her out of here?"

"I don't know. I feel kind of bad if we kick her out. She just wanted to try and hold Connor. She hasn't really done anything wrong and she was there when I needed her."

"Then we'll let her stay until she causes trouble." Jay said. "Let her see the new babies once they're born. Maybe we could even work out something in the future with her seeing them with our supervision. But right now, this isn't what you should be worrying about. You just need to think about bringing our boys into this world."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Natalie poked her head in. "Erin, you up for some visitors?"

"Yeah." She agreed.

The team, minus Ruzek, filed into the room. Erin reached her hand out for Burgess, who came to her side. Erin was grateful that she had come to see her when her husband was upstairs fighting for his life.

"Can you finally tell us the baby names?" Burgess requested.

Erin couldn't say no to her puffy red, swollen eyes. "Henry Christian and Noah Alexander Halstead." She stated. She looked to Hank when she said both names. They were both tributes to his family; Henry was for him, while Noah had been Justin's middle name.

"Perfect." Hank said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Connor, Henry, and Noah." Burgess listed. "They sound so good together."

"Thanks." Erin smiled at the group. "Thank you all for being here, but you should go be with Adam. Keep me updated."

Burgess nodded her head. "Keep us updated too. I want to know the second those babies come into the world."

"We'll keep you updated." Jay agreed. The team wished them good luck and everyone gave Erin and Jay hugs and filed out.

"You ready for me to take him?" Natalie asked.

Erin kissed Connor and hugged him close to her. Next time she saw him, he would be a big brother. He looked so much older all of a sudden.

"I love you, baby. Be good for Aunt Nat and Uncle Will. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you." Jay kissed Connor too and then passed him off to Natalie.

"I'll send you guys updates and pictures all night." She promised.

"Thank you. We'll let you know when the babies arrive." Erin said. "Take good care of our boy."

"I will." Natalie left the room with Connor safely tucked in her arms.

Now, they only had one thing left to do- have their babies.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

Erin felt like she had been pushing for forever. She didn't remember the pain being so intense with Connor. She screamed out as she pushed down, trying to bring the first baby into this world. She had opted to go for a natural labor, just like with her first son. Because of her past, she didn't like to deal with drugs and pain medication, so she would be doing this all on her own.

"Good job, Erin." Her OB/GYN, Dr. Montgomery, encouraged. "Again."

"It hurts." Erin cried. Her hair was matted to her head with sweat and Jay pushed it all back. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

"You've got this, baby. Pretty soon, we'll have our boys. But you have to push. You are so strong, Erin. You can do this."

Erin pushed again, letting out another scream as she squeezed Jay's hand. She knew she was probably hurting him, but she didn't really care. If she had to be in pain, then so did he.

"Jay." She whimpered.

He rested his forehead against hers and stroked her cheek. "I love you so much."

"Come on, Erin. Push." Dr. Montgomery told her.

Erin pushed down as hard as she could and felt the pressure and pain increase if that was possible.

"I can see the baby's head!"

Dr. Montgomery's words were enough to motivate her to push again. She took a deep breath and cried out as she pushed again.

"The baby's shoulders are out. Again, Erin, just like that."

"There you go, Er. You're doing it!" Jay cheered.

Erin pushed and pushed and then, she heard a loud cry fill the room. She let her head fall back against the pillows. She felt Jay's lips against her own, but all she could focus on was that tiny little cry.

"It's a boy!" the baby was placed against her chest and she reached down, running her hands along his back, just trying to feel his skin. She was already so deeply in love with this baby and she hadn't even seen his face.

"Henry." She whispered. She watched as Dr. Montgomery helped Jay cut the umbilical cord. She saw the proud look on her husband's face, who then returned to her side to gaze down at their baby boy.

The woman standing down by her legs smiled up at her. "Alright, one down, one to go. You ready to push again?" Erin nodded her head. A nurse came over and took the baby so she could get him cleaned up and taken care of.

"I'm so proud of you, Erin." Jay kissed her head. "You're so amazing."

Erin turned her head so that she could kiss him. She needed contact with him right now. It only lasted a second and then she turned her attention back to Dr. Montgomery so she could deliver Henry's brother.

She pushed down and could already feel things moving along faster than they had with Henry. It only took a couple pushes before the baby's head started to come out.

"You're doing great, Erin. Keep pushing." Dr. Montgomery stated.

Erin thought about how much she wanted to meet this baby. She had been so unsure of everything during the entire pregnancy, but if there was one thing she wanted, it was to hold her babies. She pushed hard and then heard a cry as her baby entered the world. He was lifted up and placed on her chest, just like his brother had been.

She reached down to touch him and couldn't help but look at Jay. She caught the confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

Dr. Montgomery spoke up. "It seems like your ultrasound wasn't accurate. You have a little girl."

Erin's breath caught in her throat. A girl? How could she possibly be a mother to a little girl?

"Dad, want to cut the cord again?"

Erin watched Jay cut the cord and then she saw him look at her. His eyes were filled with tears as he saw her hold their daughter for the first time. He had wanted this so badly and she realized that she had to be happy, regardless of her own feelings, because of how happy he was.

"I guess the name Noah isn't going to work." Jay broke the silence.

"We already know her name." Erin reminded him. "Sophia."

"Sophia." Jay repeated. Erin couldn't help but fall in love with him again because of how mesmerized he was by that tiny baby lying on her chest.

"Sophia Elizabeth Halstead." Erin stated. She knew that giving their baby his mother's name as her middle name was the right thing to do when the tears finally spilled over and Jay cried. She very rarely saw her husband cry, but in this moment, he didn't even try and hide it.

"I need to take her." The nurse stepped in and grabbed the baby.

Another nurse returned with Henry in her arms. She handed him over to Erin, who instantly pressed a kiss to her son's little cheek. She held him close to her and sighed out in relief. The babies were here and they were safe.

"Wanna hold him?" she offered the baby out to Jay and he took him without hesitation.

"Hey, little man." Jay grabbed their son. "God, we make cute kids. Are you wanting to stick with Henry Christian? If you're not particularly attached to it, I think Henry Noah would be a better fit."

Now, it was Erin's turn to tear up. "Henry Noah and Sophia Elizabeth."

As she spoke, the other nurse returned with their daughter. Erin was absolutely terrified of holding the little girl. But instinct must have taken over because her arms reached out and the baby was against her chest in no time.

"I know you're scared." Jay told her. "I know it's scary to have a little girl. I was terrified to have a son and imagine what it would be like raising a boy when I had a horrible example for a father. But I'm not my father, and you're not your mother. You're gonna be the greatest mom to a little girl, just like you've been the greatest mom to a boy. I love you, Erin."

"I love you too." They kissed quickly. Erin pressed her lips against Sophia's forehead. "I didn't realize I wanted a little girl until she was here."

"She's gorgeous." Jay commented. "She looks just like you. Henry has your eyes."

"Everything else is you though. It's not fair. I carry these kids; they should look like me. Connor looks just like you and now Henry?"

"At least you have Sophia." Jay moved Henry's hat. "He's got your ears too."

Erin smiled. "Switch?"

She and Jay switched babies and she couldn't help but stare at him as he took in their daughter's features. She could see his eyes welling up with tears again and one fell down his cheek. He sucked in a breath and held her close to him, kissing her forehead.

"Are you crying?" Erin teased.

"I just never thought that I'd have a little girl and now she's here and she's perfect."

Erin knew that Sophia already had Jay wrapped around her finger. Truth be told, there was just something special about their little girl. Not that she didn't love Connor and Henry with all of her heart and soul, but with Sophia, it was different. She just pulled at her parents' hearts in a different way.

"We're going to get you into a regular room now." Dr. Montgomery told Erin. "Congratulations. They are gorgeous."

"Thank you." Erin said with a smile. "Do you have to take them?"

"They're just going to go to the nursery for a check-up."

"Jay, go with them." She commanded. He was already on his feet and helping to put his daughter in the bassinet. He kissed Erin quickly and then followed them out the door, promising to inform the rest of the team about their births.

Erin watched them go with a smile. She couldn't believe how much had changed in the past couple months, but she already loved those two little changes more than anything in this world.

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Connor, Henry, and Sophia took up most of their parents' time. When they weren't at work, Erin and Jay were playing with their kids or taking them to the park or doing something that involved the three little ones. After the twins were born, things had been difficult; parenting more than one child had been a big change, but they embraced it and once a routine was made, things got easier.

All three kids had pretty laid back, easy going personalities. They could all have their moments, but for the most part, they were all pretty happy. Jay felt like their life was pretty much perfect.

"Erin, can you find Soph's boots?" Jay yelled up the stairs to his wife. He was holding his daughter in his right arm and trying to get her coat on her. At the rate they were moving, they were going to be late and they really couldn't keep being late to work. Voight never said anything, but he knew that he didn't appreciate it.

He finally got Sophia's coat on and he set her down on the floor. She and Henry would be two years old in four months, while Connor's third birthday was in three months. They were working on planning him a party and it was only adding to the rest of the stress they had going on in their lives right now.

Jay grabbed Henry as he ran by and got to work at putting his shoes on him. He squirmed and giggled the entire time, thinking it was some sort of game to get away from him. Normally, Jay would have entertained him, but today, they had to go. They were already two minutes late getting out the door. He slid his arms into his coat and then let him run off to play with his sister.

"Connor, let's get your coat on." Jay said to his oldest. Connor was trying to be as independent as possible right now, so he knew that he would most likely want to help. He put his coat on him and waited for him to try and zip it up. He knew that he did not have those skills yet, so the little boy struggled. "I'll help you." He zipped him up. Luckily, he already had his shoes on. Jay went over to the bottom of the stairs. "Babe! We have to go!"

He heard her gentle footsteps and watched as she came into view. Her face was pale and he could see how shaky she was. She had Sophia's boots in her hand.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I don't feel very well." She went over and lifted up Sophia, sliding her boots onto her feet. Erin put on her coat and shoes, waiting on him to do the same. Jay followed her lead and they were finally ready for the day.

"Are you alright?"

"I think I have whatever Connor just got over. I just woke up feeling really nauseous and I threw up." Erin picked up Henry, wincing as he squealed.

"Quiet, Henry." He scolded gently. "You sure you're good to go to work?"

"I'm fine." She carried Henry out. Jay lifted up Sophia in one arm and Connor in the other. Erin locked the door behind them and they went over to her SUV. It took a few minutes to buckle all the kids in but once they did, they were on the road.

"We're going to be late to work." Jay commented.

"It'll be fine."

They got to the daycare soon after and got to work at unbuckling all the kids. Erin ended up with Henry and Sophia that time while Jay took Connor. They moved quickly to sign the kids in and drop them off at the appropriate room before getting back to the car and driving to the district.

Erin pretty much jumped out of the car and ran inside. Jay followed her after turning the car off and saw that she went into the bathroom. He knew that she was most likely throwing up. He waited for her outside the door.

She came out looking even more exhausted than before. He saw that no one was around and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. Erin buried her face in his chest for a second and then moved back. They both knew that they had to go. Jay just hoped she'd get through the rest of this day okay.

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A week passed and Erin was still feeling sick. Jay was starting to worry about her. This was definitely not normal for her and he hated seeing how bad she clearly felt.

They had finished their morning routine with the kids and pulled into the district on time for once. Jay held the door open so Erin could walk ahead of him and she put her palm on the Intelligence scanner. They were both surprised to see three men standing at the front of the room. Next to them was Voight, who did not look happy.

Jay could see the defensiveness creep into his wife's posture almost immediately. He wondered for a second if she knew who these men were and what they wanted because he definitely had no idea.

Everyone had already arrived with the exception of Burgess and Ruzek, so they took their seats at their desks. Jay sized up the visitors and tried to figure out their purpose. Nothing stood out to him.

They heard Ruzek before they saw him and a moment later, he and Burgess entered the bullpen. They both stopped talking as soon as they saw the men at the front of the room and quietly took their seats at their desks. Even the two of them, who Jay thought played around more than anyone else in the unit, knew when to keep their mouths shut.

One of the men stepped forward before Voight could even get a word out. "I'm Commander Ashford, this is Detective Matthew Anderson and Detective Ron Madden. We are with Internal Affairs. Recently it has been brought to our attention that Intelligence has not one, but two married couples within the unit. Now, it is against protocol to have a husband and wife working together because of the conflict of interest it poses."

"Excuse me?" Ruzek interrupted. "So you're just going to force us out? This is…"

"Adam, shut up." Voight commanded.

"Because of the high success rate of Intelligence, some exceptions could be made if it was proved that all of the couples involved are acting in the best interest of the city of Chicago and not allowing their relationship to rule their decision making. That is where Detectives Anderson and Madden come in. They will be temporarily assigned to Intelligence to observe Detective Halstead, Detective Lindsay, Officer Ruzek, and Officer Burgess to make sure that everyone is following proper protocol." Commander Ashford continued.

"If you screw up, you'll be transferred out." Voight deadpanned.

Jay wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. He and Erin were pretty good at keeping things professional. They knew how to make decisions based on the job and keeping people safe. But he would be lying if he said that in those really rough, life-or-death situations he didn't put Erin's safety a little higher on the priority list; they have three kids at home who need a mother.

He glanced across the room and saw Burgess and Ruzek looking at each other. The two of them were definitely worse at maintaining professionalism. Hopefully they could keep it together for the time being. The last thing anyone wanted right now was a shake up in the team.

"Antonio, catch Anderson and Madden up on our current case." Voight barked. Jay could tell by his tone that he was not happy about this arrangement at all. He already didn't love having couples in his unit, but he made the exception because Erin was practically his daughter and…well, he wasn't really sure why he made the exception with Burgess and Ruzek.

Jay looked up and saw Erin's face was completely pale. He knew she still wasn't feeling very well so he hoped that she wasn't going to throw up.

Less than a minute later, she excused herself and left the room. Normally, he would have followed her, but he didn't want to risk it with these two new guys sniffing around. They couldn't take the chance at looking unprofessional.

"Halstead, my office." Voight called out to him. He stood and went inside, shutting the door behind him. "What's going on with Erin?"

"She's been sick the past couple of days. These guys coming around couldn't have come at a worse time."

Voight nodded, but Jay could tell that he was thinking of something else. "Listen, I don't know how this whole inspection thing is going to go. I'm going to try and pull any strings I can to keep this unit the way that it is, but my hands might be tied." Jay nodded his understanding; he had figured that when three random men popped up unexpectedly. "I trust you and Erin to keep things professional, but Burgess and Ruzek struggle a lot more. I don't know if one couple slips up if they're going to split up both couples from the unit. I'm figuring that if that's the case, then they'll let me keep one of each of you."

He suddenly understood where this conversation was going. "You want me to tell you to keep Erin."

"I wanted to have a conversation with both you and Erin on what you think would be the best decision, but I want you to hear me out first." Voight looked a little stressed out and Jay honestly felt bad for him. He was looking at losing part of his team without any notice. "The logical choice to transfer out would be you. You have the military background and sniper skills that other teams would be looking for. Beyond that, you're close with Antonio, which would look good for you."

Jay frowned. "We're all close with Antonio."

Voight sighed. "I didn't think I would have to spell this out for you. Erin's gotten a reputation as being loyal to me. For whatever reason, that's taken as a negative thing. She also bailed out on the Task Force, which doesn't look good. That may put other people off."

Jay understood all of that, but he still shook his head. "That's ridiculous. She's probably the best in our unit."

"I agree, but it's all about playing a game. Burgess and Ruzek are going to be even harder. As you know, some men have issues with female cops, so if Lindsay or Burgess are kicked out of Intelligence because of their relationships, that is going to be attached to them for the rest of their careers. Burgess already has a past breakup with Ruzek and the whole situation with Roman on her shoulders; she doesn't need this one too. Then there's Ruzek, who was a rookie cop pulled straight out of the academy and detailed to work under me. People might say that he isn't as clean of a cop as he could be because of that."

"So you transfer out me and Ruzek. Adam's a big boy; he can handle it." Jay decided. He knew that he was a better choice than Erin based on her past experiences anyway, and he definitely wanted her to stay in Intelligence instead of in a new unit where he had no idea who would have her back.

"But then I come to the issue of who I can partner up with who. I feel like male/female partners work better. Call it favoritism, but I don't want some fresh faced kid coming onto the team and watching Erin's back and I'm sure you feel the same way."

"Pair her up with Antonio." Jay stated. "Put Burgess and Atwater each with a new guy."

Voight nodded his head. "I just needed to hear it from you that you were okay with being transferred out if it came down to it. It could make family dinners real awkward if there was tension from that."

Jay shrugged. "You do what you have to do. I just want Erin safe."

"There may be a chance that I don't have a say in who stays and who goes."

"We'll deal with that when it comes."

There was a knock on the door and Atwater poked his head in. "We just got a call on the location of Maxoff."

Voight and Jay joined the rest of the team out in the bullpen. Jay noted that Erin had returned to her desk, though she was still looking slightly paler than usual.

"Alright, everyone suit up! We roll out in ten!"

Jay followed Erin down to the locker room. He grabbed her vest and helped her strap it on properly. This was one thing that he wouldn't budge on; he didn't care if Madden and Anderson watched him or not.

"You feeling okay?" he asked quietly.

"I threw up." She responded in the same tone. "I feel a little better now."

"Maybe you shouldn't go out."

"No, I'm going out. I'm not risking us getting kicked out of Intelligence because of a stomach virus. I'll be fine." She turned so that she could strap his vest on. "What were you and Hank talking about?"

"What would happen if someone had to be transferred out. I'll tell you about it later."

Madden came over to them. "Mind if I ride with you?"

"Not at all." Erin finished strapping Jay's vest. They went over to load up their weapons and then they all set off to their location.

"So, how long have you all been married?" Madden wondered from the backseat.

Jay could see Erin's grip tighten around the steering wheel until her knuckles were white. He guessed that she wasn't going to be playing nice right now, so he figured that was his job.

"Four years."

"You've got a couple kids, right?"

"Two boys and a girl." He provided.

"Three kids in four years? You've been busy." Madden tried to joke. Jay forced out a laugh, but Erin stayed quiet. He knew that she hated when people made any type of comments about their children. She didn't even like people to know about their kids, which he assumed was a rule that had been enforced in her by Hank.

Conversation picked up again after a few minutes. "So don't you ever get sick of seeing each other? You're together all day at work and then you go home and spend all that time together."

"We knew what we were getting into." Erin finally spoke. "I wouldn't have married him if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with him."

She pulled up where the rest of the team had parked and the three of them got out of the vehicle. They joined everyone else.

"Alvin, Halstead, I want you on the roof over there." Voight pointed to a point that was higher up and had good visibility over the building the rest of the team would be infiltrating. He turned to Madden and Anderson. "Any preferences on where you'll go?"

"I'll go with them." Madden volunteered, pointing towards the snipers.

"Alright. Everyone get in position."

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Detective Ron Madden didn't particularly enjoy his job today. He had heard rumors about Hank Voight and he knew that the man could make him disappear if he really wanted to. He also knew about Voight's connection with Erin Lindsay, and his overall protectiveness over his whole unit and that he was playing with fire by investigating the two couples within the unit.

Lindsay wasn't particularly friendly with him, but Halstead seemed nice enough, as did Burgess and Ruzek. He didn't want to have to kick any of them out of Intelligence. He knew that Intelligence was one of the best teams in Chicago and that the couples clearly weren't affecting the work they had been doing, but still, an investigation had to be done.

Madden was crouched on the roof near Olinsky and Halstead, watching to see what would happen once the rest of the team entered the building. He had definitely gotten the better job between him and Anderson. He wouldn't have to run into a building with bullets flying around him.

He had a pair of binoculars so that he could see all the action and an earpiece so he could hear the rest of the team. He could tell that the two men next to him had done this many times before and he knew from the little amount of research he had been able to do that they both had military background and were specially trained for this.

"Go." He heard Voight's voice and watched from his binoculars as the rest of the team entered the building. Almost immediately, they heard the sound of gunfire.

A few seconds later, he heard a frantic voice over the radio attached to Halstead's hip. "This is Officer Adam Ruzek. We've got an officer down. Roll an ambulance to this location."

"Ruzek, who is hurt?" he heard Voight's gravelly voice yell over the earpiece.

"It's Lindsay."

Madden turned his head to see Halstead's reaction. He could see the man's sharp intake of breath, but watched as he just took a deep breath and let it out. He also saw Olinsky reach over and put a hand on his shoulder for a second, patting it gently.

"Adam, is she okay?" Halstead asked calmly.

"She's unconscious but breathing." He responded.

The gunfire seemed to pick up. Madden noticed that Halstead kept his composure.

"We've got a gas leak!" he heard a woman yell, so he figured it must be Burgess.

"Everyone out of the building!" Voight called. "Ruzek, get Lindsay out."

Madden watched through his binoculars as Ruzek carried Lindsay from the building. She looked limp in his arms as the Intelligence unit ran from the building and to safety. Then, he noticed one of the offenders following after them, gun raised.

Halstead must have noticed too because seconds later, the man hit the ground with a bullet in his forehead.

A minute later, an ambulance and firetruck showed up. Olinsky and Halstead packed up their gear and the three of them ran to meet them on the street. They arrived just in time to see Lindsay being loaded onto the ambulance.

"What happened?" Halstead demanded.

"She was shot, but the vest caught it. When she fell, she hit her head pretty hard." Ruzek explained. "I'm sorry, Jay.

"Did we get Maxoff?" Olinsky wondered.

"Yeah, Burgess and Atwater took him in."

"I'm riding with Lindsay." Halstead informed the rest of the team as he got onto the ambulance. Madden couldn't really blame him; he would want to accompany his wife too if she had just been shot and knocked unconscious.

"We'll follow." Voight responded as he rejoined them. "The building just got cleared. They stopped the gas leak."

Everyone got into their cars and headed to Chicago Med.

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Erin struggled to open up her eyes, but she couldn't understand why. When she finally managed to get them all the way open, she had to close them again because of how bright the room was. She groaned at the dull throbbing in her head.

"Hey, it's okay." She turned her head towards the sound of her husband's voice and opened her eyes again, squinting against the bright light. "You're at Chicago Med."

"What happened?" she rasped out.

"You were shot. The vest caught the bullet, but when you fell down, you hit your head and it knocked you unconscious. You're okay, Erin."

She heard the door open and turned her head to see who entered the room. It was Will with a chart in his hand. "Hey, sleeping beauty. You've just got a minor concussion, I'm sure you know how to treat those by now."

"There's one more thing." Erin looked back to Jay when he spoke. "We found out why you've been so sick lately."

"Why?"

"You're pregnant."

Erin's mouth fell open in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Yep. We're having another baby." Jay smiled at her reassuringly. "I know this isn't what we planned and that we wanted to stop after the twins, but we can do this, Erin. We'll have a two-year age gap between them and the new baby. It'll be a lot easier than last time."

"Is the baby okay?"

"Yeah. They came in and did an ultrasound while you were unconscious. They guessed that you're already twelve weeks along." Jay grinned. Erin couldn't believe that they had done all this while she was knocked out. It was kind of amazing though that Jay had found out all this information before her, and she knew that he was probably loving it.

"We can find someone to come in and do the ultrasound again if you would like to see." Will offered.

"Yes, please." Erin told her brother-in-law. He excused himself to go find an ultrasound tech. "We're having another baby?"

"We're having another baby."

"Did we pass the test?"

Jay frowned. "What test?"

"Do we get to stay in Intelligence?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. I would say it would be pretty difficult for them to kick you out now that you got shot at. Hank and I had already discussed it though and we agreed that if he gets any say in the matter, he's going to keep you. It'll be easier to transfer me out, especially now knowing that you're pregnant."

"Okay." Erin knew that was true so there was no point in arguing. She didn't like the idea of Jay going off to some random unit, but they had to be smart. They had a family and couldn't afford to not both be working right now.

There was a knock on the door and Hank entered. "Hey kiddo. How you feeling?"

"I'm alright, just have a headache." She looked to Jay and subtly motioned to her stomach, trying to ask if Hank knew about the baby. He shook his head. "We have something to tell you."

"I have something to tell you too. I just got off the phone with Commander Ashford. Madden and Anderson reported back to him and said that all four of you were extremely professional, especially in such an intense situation. They were supposed to be here longer, but due to the circumstances, they said they had all the information they needed. Everyone can stay in Intelligence."

"That's great." Erin said with a smile.

"What was your news?"

"Jay and I are having another baby."

"What?" For a second, she thought he might be upset, but then his face quickly turned to a smile. "That's great! Congratulations."

"Thank you." Erin accepted the hug. Hank and Jay shook hands. Erin watched the two men and realized that maybe, this fourth baby wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

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On May 22nd, 2021, Erin and Jay welcomed their fourth baby. It had been Erin's worst pregnancy, filled with lots of morning sickness, fatigue, body aches, Braxton-Hicks contractions, and more typical aches and pains. Their baby girl was a little spitfire from the second she entered the world. Emma Camille Halstead.

As soon as she was born, the two of them knew they were officially done. They had said it before, but they knew four was the limit. They couldn't really stretch their money much further, and they had two boys and two girls now. Besides that, little Emma took a lot of her parents' attention. While Connor, Henry, and Sophia were all pretty calm and even-tempered, Emma was sassy and demanding. She was a very vocal baby right from the beginning and everyone joked that she already had Erin's personality.

But despite that, Erin and Jay knew that their family was complete. They couldn't wait for their adventures as a family of six to begin.

Up Next…B: Bunny

I don't plan on having any other chapters spanning over this long of a period of time, but I wanted to get all of the introductions to the children out of the way so that I'm able to jump around because they may not all necessarily be born in each chapter. Sorry this ended up being so long!

Please review!