Erin Lindsay doesn't know this, but I don't set my alarm on Sundays. She's right when she says I still get up way too early, even on a Sunday, but it is not by choice. I just can't seem to sleep past 5 AM anymore, no matter how tired I am.

Today though, I'm alright with the fact that I woke up so early. It has afforded me an extra few hours to stare at Erin as she sleeps peacefully next to me. I smile at the fact that she has all three of my pillows on her side of the bed, leaving me with just the mattress to lay my head on. I'm not sure how she ended up with the one that I fell asleep on last night, but I figure she needed it more than me.

There's a strand of her hair resting on her cheek that I can't help but push back behind her ear. Erin Lindsay is a pretty girl, there's no doubt about that. But when she's sleeping like this, with no makeup on and not one worried frown line to be found, she's absolutely gorgeous.

Erin Lindsay worries constantly. She worries about her mother, her brother Teddy and Hank. She worries about the cases we work and the kids in our community. Even though she only admits it once in a while, she worries about me too.

That same piece of hair falls in front of her face again and I reach over to move it back. This time, I allow my thumb to gently brush against her cheek. The movement causes her to stir.

"Halstead" she warns quietly. I have to smile, because Erin Lindsay is so far from being a morning person that she might as well not start her day until noon. But even cranky Erin is better than no Erin.

"Good morning" I say quietly. She opens her eyes, blinks a few times. I take the opportunity to lean towards her for a kiss. Instead of her lips, I'm met with the palm of her hand pushing my face away. Not exactly how I pictured this.

"If I kill you because you woke me up early on a Sunday, it wouldn't be premeditated and I'd do less jail time" she explains. I don't know if it is because I'm a cop or because I know her so well, but her comment makes me smile.

She groans and then rolls over and I know she's set on falling back asleep. Maybe I should let her.

I find myself moving to her side of the bed and wrapping my arms around her though. She sighs contently and I know she's not completely against our new position. "We have some time off coming up" I say quietly.

"Four days off" she reminds me. I think about how much we all really need these four days.

"I was thinking about going to my family's cabin in Wisconsin" I say casually. I haven't been in probably five or six years. "You should come with" I add bravely. "Fresh air and quiet might do us some good." She's silent for way longer than I want her to be and I know her brain is working overtime to analyze what I have just asked her.

Finally, she rolls over so she can face me. She looks serious. But then, she pulls a classic Erin with a sarcastic question. "Ice fishing and meth labs?" she asks. That dimpled smile slowly appears and I swear if it were possible, my hearts skips just a little. I silently remind myself as a brother of a doctor, that if my heart really did skip, she'd be calling 911.

"It isn't cold enough for the lake to be frozen over yet, so that's a no on ice fishing" I tell her. "But I'm sure we could find you a meth lab or two if you have your heart set on it." I can't help my grin, and she falls for it because she's rolling her eyes. "Hot tub, fireplace, morning coffee on the back deck overlooking the lake …" I list off, hoping to entice her. If I could retire right now, I'd stay there and never come back. I love Chicago, don't get me wrong, but nothing beats a cabin with a lake view.

Erin focuses her attention on my bare chest, rather than my eyes and I think she's going to tell me no. "I was planning on getting a few things done on my to-do list" Erin tells me. It isn't a no for sure, but it isn't a yes either.

"Think about it" I tell her. I want her to genuinely want to go with me. She smiles and I know that's her way of thanking me for not making her choose right this moment. "Do you want breakfast?" I ask. I realize that by offering, I've just turned whatever this is into something a little more. I try not to think too much about that because whatever this is, is nice. I don't want to ruin it.

She raises an eyebrow like she's impressed with my offer, yet skeptical as well. "You makin' it?" she asks.

I nod. "Pancakes and bacon sound good?" I ask.

"Yeah" Erin smiles. "You're not going to the gym?" she asks.

I sit up, already regretting that I'm no longer touching her. "I figure you gave me a pretty good workout last night, so I could have the day off" I tell her. I don't even try and fight the grin I feel appearing.

She rolls her eyes at me again. "Go make breakfast, Halstead" she says, rolling over and taking the blankets with her so I'm sitting naked in my bed. I shake my head and try not to laugh at the fact that I can still annoy her with my humor. I find my sweats in a pile on the floor and pull them on. Clearly, I was a little preoccupied last night to fold them.

I'm walking out when I hear Erin call out. "Make sure the bacon is crispy, Halstead!" she tells me.

"Got it!" I call back as I make my way around the corner to my kitchen. She's incredibly demanding.

In about 25 minutes, I have the pancakes on a plate and I am just finishing up her slices of bacon, because they needed to be left on a tad longer. I'm watching them closely so they do not burn when Erin walks out in her underwear and my t-shirt.

I must be staring pretty hard because she stops, tilts her head just a little and raises her left eyebrow at me. "You got something to say, Halstead?" she asks.

Yes. Yes I do. But my brain and my mouth won't work together fast enough to tell her that she looks gorgeous first thing in the morning dressed like that. "Um, this good enough?" I ask lamely, pointing the fork in my hand toward the bacon strips sizzling in the pan.

Erin finishes walking to me, stops right in front of me and evaluates my cooking. I'm no chef, but I can make a decent meal when I need to. She reaches over and turns the stove off. "Perfect" she answers. I don't get time to reply because she's already grabbing for a plate.

Erin Lindsay is the kind of person who drowns her pancakes in syrup. This is not a newly learned fact. I've known this about her since the first time I went out to breakfast with her while we were working a case. I made sure to put a new bottle out for her this morning, too.

She reaches for my newspaper that I have not yet read and opens it. I join her at the table, and we sit in comfortable silence while eating our breakfast.

I fold and neatly place the last shirt into my duffel that I'm taking with me to Wisconsin. Even though it is early, I am thankful to be off for the next few days. I love my job and the people I work with, but I need the break. So much so that I cannot even remember the last time I had one.

I sent Erin a text last night letting her know I was heading out at 4 AM. I wanted to get an early start so I could spend as much time at the cabin as possible.

I had not seen Erin really at all yesterday because we were so busy. But I wanted her to know that my offer still stood. She never replied, so I figure she's not coming. The thought is disappointing, but I've been to the cabin by myself before.

I grab for my bag, turn off the lights in my apartment and head out. The cooler than usual air temperature outside right now is surprising, but not as surprising as seeing Erin's SUV running. Either someone is stealing it, or Erin is actually awake at 4 AM.

I make my way to the passenger side and try the handle. The door opens and I see Erin messing with the heat, trying to get warm as quickly as possible. "Get in, you're letting my heat out" she tells me. I hop in quickly, close my door and toss my bag in the back seat. I fail miserably at hiding how happy I am that she's going with me to Wisconsin. "I figured we could take my SUV. It rides better than your car" she tells me.

This is true. Her new SUV is nice. Really nice. So nice, that I halfway suspect that Voight might have helped get it for her. I don't pry with any questions though. The girl works her ass off and deserves it. "I can't believe you're up this early" I say, putting my seatbelt on as she backs out of the parking spot. She's dressed in a winter jacket and a beanie. You'd think it was snowing outside by looking at her. Always so cold, that one.

"I haven't had my coffee yet either, so watch yourself" she replies.

I know better than to mess with her before she's had caffeine. Don't get me wrong, I need the stuff too, but Erin really, really needs it. "We'd better get you some then" I say, sitting back in the seat. I look out the window and fail to hide the smile on my face. I'm really happy she's going with me.

Three hours into the drive and we need to stop for gas and breakfast. There's a gas station off the highway and a diner across the street that has a few cars in the parking lot. We fill the tank up and I watch her carefully. She's tired, though she's trying hard not to show it.

We grab a booth and open our menus to see what we want. It is pretty pointless though. Erin's going to have pancakes and I'm going to have bacon, eggs and toast. Our waitress is extremely cheerful for 7 in the morning and she keeps calling us "kids" every time she addresses us. She's nice though and brings us a cup of coffee to start out with. Erin and I both are busy taking a sip when our waitress makes a comment about us being a cute couple. I'm not sure if Erin chokes on her coffee first or me, but we're definitely caught off guard.

We shouldn't be. We've let people believe we were a couple before, usually when we go undercover. She's been my wife, my cheating wife, my girlfriend and my girlfriend strung out on drugs. Ruzek got to play her boyfriend once, after weeks of begging, only to almost blow the case because he got nervous going in to kiss her. The kiss was awkward as hell for the rest of us watching from afar and Erin refused to go undercover again with him.

Erin and I have never had that problem though. Maybe because we spend so much time together, we just find it easier to play a couple. That, and I am pretty confident that I am a better kisser than Ruzek, though Erin would never admit that.

"Well, Honey" Erin says, grinning at me. "Do you know what you're having?" she asks me. The waitress is beaming with Erin's use of "Honey" and I feel like I should play along.

"Of course, Babe" I reply, smiling at Erin as I collect our menus and hand them to our waitress.

We place our orders and Erin waits for our waitress to leave before she says anything. "Well, I suppose the good news is, she thinks we're seeing each other, which means there will only be one check" she explains. Erin leans over the table a little towards me. "I guess you're buying" she adds.

I raise my eyebrow at her. "I paid last time" I remind her.

"We're in a small town, Halstead. You would get judged so hard if they saw you making your girl pay" she tells me with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

I know she's right, and I'm going to pay because technically I invited her on this trip. She starts to yawn some and reaches for her coffee. "We've probably got another three hours or so" I tell her.

"Have you checked the weather recently?" Erin asks, holding up her phone. "They're calling for snow tomorrow night at the lake."

I take her phone from her to look because I don't believe her. Its not even October yet. "No way" I say, scrolling through the app. Sure enough, there's a snowflake pictured.

"My parka and beanie don't look so ridiculous now, do they?" she asks. She's sipping her coffee, but I see the smirk she's hiding behind the cup. She saw me eyeing her outfit when I got in the SUV this morning.

"I've got a winter jacket at the cabin" I tell her. Now I really am glad that we brought her SUV along, though Erin is horrible when it comes to driving in the snow. Mostly because she continues to drive like she normally would, rather than taking slippery road conditions into account. On average, she nearly puts us in the ditch at least a dozen times during the winter each year. But she'd never admit to it.

I do the honorable thing and pay for our breakfast. But not before Erin gets our waitress to box her up a piece of homemade pie for the road. Our waitress also cashes us out and asks about our plans and where we are headed.

Erin makes up some story about us going to Wisconsin to pick out the spot where we want to get married. On a lake, at sunset. I listen to Erin talk details with this woman, who looks like she's about ready to invite herself to this wedding I'm apparently in.

We say goodbye and as we head for the car, I start to think about why Erin has so many details about a wedding. Has she ever pictured herself getting married? Does she really want to get married by a lake at sunset? I don't get time to answer myself because she's headed for the driver's seat.

"Hey" I say, jogging to catch her. "I'll drive the last few hours" I say, wanting to give her a break. I know she's tired because she doesn't fight me on it. She hands over the keys and walks around to the passenger side.

I probably drive for about half an hour before she's finally out.

The slight bump from turning off the paved road and onto a dirt road wakes her. She looks a little confused at first, but then rubs her eyes and looks out the window.

The cabin comes into view and I feel this sense of relief. Relief that it is still standing and relief that I get to spend the next few days here. With Erin. "This is it" I say, putting the SUV in park and shutting it off.

Erin is looking through the window and I can tell she's impressed. But she makes a smartass comment first. "Jesus Halstead, did you hit every bug in Wisconsin?" she asks, pointing to her windshield that is in fact, covered in squashed bugs.

"There are a lot of bugs here" I tell her as I open the door and step out. "Hope you brought bug spray, 'cause they'll eat you alive" I add as I shut the door before she can roll her eyes at me. I know she does anyway.

I open the hatchback and grab for our bags. I notice Erin packed light – just a medium sized duffel and a backpack. As I sling her bag over my shoulder and grab for mine, I notice she's outside of the SUV now, looking at the cabin again. I grab her backpack too and shut the door. "Built in the 20s" I say, adding a little history for her.

"Looks like something out of a storybook" Erin replies, still in awe of the rustic logs fitted together so perfectly. The cabin is weathered, being almost 100 years old. But I know it would take a hell of a lot for it to fall down.

Erin grabs for one of the bags and follows me up the gravel path that is being taken over by weeds. I fish out my keys and jiggle the door handle a bit, remembering that it can stick when no one has stuck a key in it for a while.

I do finally get the door open and step aside for Erin to go in first. She drops her bag on the floor and turns in a slow circle, admiring the space. It is not overly decorated, but there are photographs of my family along the fireplace mantle and decorative photos of wildlife hanging on the walls.

The cabin is cold inside and even though Erin doesn't say anything, I know she's thinking the same. "Look around. I'm going to grab some firewood and get the fire going."

I walk back out the front door and around to the back of the house. There's about five or six pieces of wood already chopped and laying haphazardly on the ground near the chopping block. I set up another piece of wood to chop and grab for the ax. It only takes one swing, even though the ax is dull due to having not been sharpened in … well, never. But the wood is dry and splits easily. I grab for another round and keep going, because we are going to need enough for the next few days.

I don't know how long I stay out there, but something behind me catches my attention and I realize Erin is standing on the back deck watching me. Her arms are crossed and she looks amused. "You a lumberjack too?" she asked.

Her question makes me grin. "I just refuse to listen to you whine that you're cold the whole time we're here" I reply. I hear her mutter something but don't quite catch what it is. I pick up an armful of wood and make my way up the steps towards her. Instead of following me inside, she heads down the stairs.

I get the fire started after a few minutes and Erin comes in, kneeling beside me. She sets down an armful of wood she grabbed. I don't tell her that she didn't need to grab the wood, but I like the fact that she is embracing life in Wisconsin. "Boy Scout too" she adds, holding her hands up to the fire to get warm.

"Don't forget the rugged good looks and razor sharp mind" I remind her.

Erin laughs, really laughs. "That's debatable" she says.

I just shake my head and stand up. "I was going to head to the store and pick up a few things" I tell her. "You can come with or hang out here."

Erin stands as well and looks around the cabin again. "I think I'll stay here. Unpack. Maybe take a nap." She looks around again, looking unsure. "Where am I sleeping?" she finally asks.

I point up towards the loft. "The loft has a pretty comfy bed" I tell her. "There's a room down the hall too."

Erin thinks for a moment before making her decision. "I'll take the loft" she decides. She walks to her bag on the floor, picks it up and heads for the ladder to go up to the loft.

"You want anything from the store?" I ask.

Erin pokes her head out from the loft. "Popcorn and hot chocolate" she answers.

Her answer makes me smile. This girl can eat her weight in popcorn. She drinks a lot of hot chocolate too, especially in the colder months. "Got it" I tell her, fishing the keys out of my pocket and walking towards the door. "Text me if you think of anything else" I say, walking out and locking the door behind me.

I have just sat down in the driver's seat when I get a text message notification. It's from Erin, telling me we need coffee, and not the cheap stuff. I do not buy cheap coffee. I consider myself to be somewhat of a coffee snob. I think Erin forgets that she's the one who buys cheap coffee, but I won't remind her. At least not on this trip.

I make it back to the cabin in less than an hour, with everything I planned on buying, along with all of Erin's last minute requests. "Erin?" I call out. I don't get a response, so I put the groceries away quickly before going in search for her.

I don't have to look far. I see her through the screen glass door, asleep in one of the chairs on the deck that faces the lake. I grab a blanket and quietly make my way outside. When I cover her up, she stirs just a little. "Jay?" she whispers.

I smile as I bend down towards her. "I'm back" I whisper. "Go back to sleep" I add, pressing my lips against the top of her head. It is nice outside and she looks beautiful with the sun shining down on her. We came on this trip to relax, and I'm happy to see that she is doing just that.