This is my first attempt to write a oneshot. And I'm not very good at it. Please be nice and enjoy it.

This is based on a plot twist I had for a while in my mind.

"Happy birthday! I love you."

It's been almost a year since she left. Without saying goodbye. Almost a year without news of her. Almost a year without her smile. Today was her birthday. He knew she wouldn't answer that. Just like every message he wrote her last year. And yet he hoped every time.

"Jay!" he looked up from his cell phone and saw his new partner. "It's time."

"I'll be right there." Now he was alone in the locker room and looked at the photo that hung in his locker door. It was the photo he found in her empty apartment. Until today he did not understand why he still holds it. Maybe because he hoped she'd come back?

"In the first place, it was my fault."

He closed the door and went down to the garage to the team.

"So Halstead goes to the bar and makes contact with Santiago. He pretends to be a buyer."

The team nodded.

"Upton will stay in the background with Dawson all the time, watching everyone. Once the deal closes, we'll arrest him."

Arrived in the bar Jay sat down next to the bar next to Santiago and ordered a beer.

"Are you Ryan?" Santiago asked without looking at him.

"Yes."

"Then let's get right to the point." Now he looked at the detective. "How much will you pay?"

"Depends on what the stuff is." Jay replied and took a sip of his beer.

Santiago started smiling. "I see, but before we get down to business, I want to get to know you better."

Now Jay became suspicious. "Why?"

"I want to know if I can do business with you more often in the future."

Jay got involved in the conversation and after a few beers later he was asked a question for which he was not prepared.

"And do you have a girlfriend?"

He answered without thinking. "Yes, but she lives in New York right now."

"Is she pretty?"

"The most beautiful woman I have ever met."

"Tell me Dawson, does Jay talk about her?" Hailey Antonio asked.

"I think so."

"Do you have a picture?" Santiago asked him. The detective had to think for a moment.

"Yes, I do." He took out his cell phone and opened a picture. There they were to be seen. He looking at her and she looking at the camera with a smile.

"What's her name?"

"Erin..." he thought back in time and didn't notice Santiago agreeing to the deal and he was arrested by Dawson and Upton.

It's been a long night. After Santiago had confessed and the paperwork was finished, Jay left. And his thoughts were with just one person: Erin Lindsay.

At that point, he decided to call her, hoping she'd pick up. After ringing three times, she actually picked up.

"Hey, Jay."

"Hey. You picked up. I forgot what it was like." He greeted her with a little laugh, which she replied.

"Erin, I..." He was interrupted by her.

"I got your message." He stayed silent. "All of them, to be exact. I know about the little girl, about Camilla, about therapy, everything." He heard a sob on the other end of the line. "Jay, I'm so sorry that I left..." Erin admitted in tears.

But before she could continue talking, he cut her off.

"I'm the one who left first, Erin." Now his tears rolled down.

"But I'm the one who left without a word. You were there. At least you said you'd be back. I..." She took a deep breath. "I regret it every day. When I saw the news and saw you there about that little girl, I called Hank. I wanted to see you, but he said you'd be fine and I shouldn't worry. But when I got all your other messages, I realized that not everything was okay and I couldn't do anything because I had to listen to Hank as usual."

He continued to listen as she cried and could no longer suppress his tears.

"Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you back." She finally said.

"That makes two of us." He replied.

Erin wanted to say something when suddenly there was a knock on her door. "Wait a minute. Someone's at the door."

When she opened it, she couldn't believe who was standing there: Jay Halstead.

When they looked at each other, they both cried even more.

"Maybe one day?" He asked and answered with her dimpled smile.

"Oh, definitely!"

Without another word, they kissed and experienced the same night as when she went to the task force.

3 years Later...

It was three years ago that he was at her door and came back to Chicago with her.

That same evening, he proposed to her and she shrieked and accepted.

Two years ago they found out she was pregnant with a little girl.

Almost ten months ago they found out that they were going to be parents again, this time with a little boy.

"So we're good to go?" Jay asked his wife when he came into the hospital room. On his arm he carried his little daughter, Nadia.

"Yes, we're ready." Erin strapped her 2-day-old son, Benjamin, in the child carrier.

She felt an arm around her waist and a kiss was pressed against her temple.

"Thank you. For everything." He whispered in her ear. She could only smile.

"Mama!" Did they hear their little girl. She took her from his arms while he took the child carrier and her bag.

"Well, my little one." She gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The family left the hospital and drove home.

Everything was now perfect and the exertions of the last years had been worthwhile.