Hey, hey, hey! It's been like three months and I suck, but here it is! The final chapter. The epilogue. The last one. Whatever you wanna call it. I've finally gotten around to finishing it. I am so sorry for the wait. I know a lot of you have been asking about it. Thank you all for your messages and reviews over the last year regarding this story and my other work. I'm so happy that so many of you enjoy and appreciate it.

With that said, I have been toying around with a possible sequel thanks to a good pal of mine. She brought up some pretty interesting points that could cause some interesting drama. It would only be ten to fifteen chapters if I do end up writing it. If you're interested in a sequel, let me know in the reviews. Depending on the feedback maybe I'll just leave this story alone as it ends here.

I just wanna thank all of you again. Especially Carley (Carleystan) and Kathy (32Stars). The two of you are great pals and I owe you everything for pushing me and hounding me to write, not only this, but everything else. Thanks for everything ladies.

Without further ado, here is the final chapter. As always please let me know what you think! My apologies for any mistakes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own or have any affiliation to Chicago PD, its characters, writers, cast or crew.

Three years later…

It wasn't the blinding sunlight streaming through the bedroom windows or the argument heard down the hall that woke Erin from the first peaceful night's sleep she's had in weeks. Nope. She had to pee. Again.

Erin threw the blankets from her body and swung her legs out over the side of her bed before standing on her feet. She made her way to the bathroom, pulled her cotton pajamas shorts down her legs, and sat down on the toilet just in time. Once Erin finished her business and washed her hands, she walked back into her bedroom and headed for the door. She stepped through the doorway and into the hall, hearing familiar voices as she approached the living room.

"No! You promised you'd braid my hair! It's picture day!"

"I did not promise! I said maybe! Ask mom to do it. She's better at it anyways."

"I want you to do it sissy!"

"Gosh, you're so annoying. I don't wanna braid your stupid hair."

"Daddy! Make her do my hair!"

"Both of you need to cool it. Your mom is still sleeping."

"No, I'm not," Erin announced as she entered the kitchen.

Jay's eyes focused on Erin as she moved behind each of the girls sat at the kitchen table. She placed a kiss on the top of Gracie's head, then Jessie's. "Morning babes."

"Hi mommy!" Jessie grinned.

"Morning mom," Gracie said before spooning another bite of cereal into her mouth.

Erin walked past the table and made her way towards Jay who had a steaming mug of decaffeinated coffee waiting in hand for her. She took it gratefully and leaned in to give him a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I'm sorry they woke you. I tried," Jay pouted feeling horrible.

Erin took a sip of her coffee before she looked back at Jay with a smirk on her face. "Oh, they didn't wake me. Your child decided to use my bladder as a goalie net and was kicking up a storm. I hope you're proud."

Jay chuckled and stepped forward, placing one of his hands on Erin's waist and the other flush against the underside of her large six month pregnant belly.

"Well, now I don't feel so bad. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been the girls that woke you up though. They're driving me crazy today."

"Today?" Erin emphasized with a raised eyebrow.

Jay rolled his eyes, making Erin laugh, and leaned down to kiss her once more on her lips.

"Speaking of today. Are you ready for later this afternoon?" Jay asked.

Erin breathed deeply. "As ready as I'll ever be. I need this kid to cooperate with me though. I have paperwork to finish before the ultrasound."

Jay raised his eyebrows. "Cooperate? A kid that's biologically half me, half you. Good luck with that."

"You're stupid," Erin teased before she kissed him again. When she pulled back she rested her hands at either side of his neck. "Are you excited for this morning?"

Jay sighed and shook his head. "I hate competing against Tony. It feels wrong. It's because of him that I even got into Intelligence in the first place."

Erin squeezed one side of his neck tenderly and ran her thumb over his skin. "I know, but it's a huge opportunity that you both deserve and either way it goes down you'll still be there for each other."

"Yeah, but he's one of my best friends as well as a colleague. I guess I'm just nervous about things changing more than they have already."

Erin leaned in and kissed him again softly. She pulled away just an inch and smiled at him. "You're a good guy, Jay. The best guy. Things are definitely changing and I know it's scary, but it's also kind of exciting and no matter how today turns out I'll be proud of you either way. We all will."

Jay smiled back at her, quickly pecked her lips and gave her waist a squeeze as he pulled back to look at her. "I love you."

Erin's grin grew wider. "I love you, too. Even though you haven't touched me in weeks."

Jay rolled his eyes. "I told you I wanted to make sure that everything is okay at the next ultrasound first."

"You were sitting right next to me when I spoke to the doctor on the phone and she said it was perfectly fine. All couples do it when a woman is pregnant. It's completely normal."

"Erin, you know how paranoid I am and you're bigger than normal. I just wanna make sure things are – "

"You did not just say that to me," Erin glared at him with slanted eyes.

"What?" Jay asked completely unaware. He noticed the tears that quickly filled Erin's eyes and he stepped closer towards her. He tried to grab hold of her hands, but Erin pulled them away from him.

"You won't have sex with me because I'm too big? Are you serious?" Erin asked him, her voice cracking near the end of her question.

Jay's eyes bulged out, realizing what he had said, so he took another step towards Erin and grabbed her hands. Not letting her pull away this time.

"You know that's not what I meant," Jay told her.

"What do you mean that's not what you meant? You said it!"

Jay sighed, squeezing Erin's hands. "I did not mean it the way you think. I didn't mean it that way at all. I just wanna be sure it's safe."

"You promise it's not because I'm fat?" Erin asked in a childlike voice.

Jay squeezed her hands again and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "You're not fat. You're pregnant. You're carrying another human being inside of you. You're supposed to gain weight so that our baby is healthy when he or she gets here."

Erin nodded, fully aware that her hormones were making her crazier than she'd ever been. She didn't remember being this way with Jessie, but she had been told time and time again from her doctor that every pregnancy was different and to not expect the same thing twice.

The pair was interrupted then by an annoyed growl from the dining room table, followed by a loud, "Mommy! Can you please do my hair? Gracie's being mean."

"I am not! Stop being annoying!"

Jay sighed while Erin shook her head and reached a hand up to pat the side of his face before she took a step back. "I really hope this next one is a boy for both of our sakes or I don't know what we'll do with another girl."

"I'm fully considering admitting myself into a psych ward if the doctor tells you it's a girl today," Jay teased.

"Don't even think of leaving me here alone with these monsters," Erin joked back.

Jay laughed. "As much as they drive us both crazy you know you love it. Every minute of it just like I do. I wouldn't choose any other life except this one."

Erin nodded with sparkling eyes and reached down to grab one of his hands. She laced their fingers together and squeezed. "Come on. We've gotta get them to school and then head to the district."

Almost an hour later Erin and Jay had finally arrived at District 21. They made their way inside the building, nodding to their new front desk sergeant. He was a nice enough guy in his forties named Jerry; Trudy Platt had retired a year before with her now husband, Mouch from Firehouse 51. They'd been travelling for a while now and were due back a few months after Erin was due to have the baby. Erin and Jay made their way upstairs, buzzed themselves in like they always did, and climbed the next set of stairs to the Intelligence team's bullpen.

Once they entered the pen they saw everyone was strung about; Antonio Dawson was leaning against the same desk he'd been at for almost ten years. Kevin Atwater and Adam Ruzek were seated at theirs; Kim Burgess had taken Alvin's when he'd retired almost six months after Sergeant Platt. Kim and Adam had finally tied the knot almost a year after both of Gracie and Jessie's adoptions had been finalized and had been trying for a baby of their own.

Hank had ended up making an amendment to his six person team rule, deciding to bring up another desk for Sean Roman to make his unit eight members instead of his original six. Since Erin was six months along in her pregnancy both Hank and Jay had made their opinions extremely loud and clear on her being out in the field. She had put up one hell of a fight though; she didn't talk to either of them for almost three days unless she absolutely had to.

The final member of Intelligence had been none other than Nadia Decotis. Since the moment Voight had brought her upstairs from patrol she had been giving everyone a hard run for their money. She was good, really good. And her and Andy Warren had ended up hitting it off about a year after he'd gotten cleaned up. He'd landed a construction job and had been clean with the help of the clinic, weekly therapy sessions and Nadia's friendship. And once Andy had gotten the nerve to ask her out, the two had hit it off like a couple of crazy teenagers and had been together ever since.

Erin and Jay quickly made their ways to their respective desks, directly across from one another just like they had always been.

"How's it going Lindsay?" Adam asked as he spun in his chair to face the woman sitting next to him now. He picked up the coffee sitting on his desk and raised it to his lips.

Erin shrugged. "Oh, ya know. Tired, gassy. I eat more than you and Kev combined some days, and my fiancé won't have sex with me."

Adam all, but choked as he sipped his hot beverage while the rest of the team laughed. Adam looked over at Jay who had his eyebrows raised with a glare in his eyes as he stared back at Erin.

"What? You won't," Erin said nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders. The increase in hormones and low tolerance for bullshit had made the woman just not care about appearances anymore.

"So, that's not any of their business," Jay told her with wide eyes.

Adam shook his head. "Man, she's jonesin' for you and you're not putting out? What kinda man are you?"

"Apparently I'm too fat," Erin teased from her desk. She leaned back in her chair and rested her hands over her pregnant belly.

"It has nothing to do with that and you know it. I told you this morning," Jay said. He pointed a wagging finger at her and quickly shook his head before he turned and looked at Adam. "And it has nothing to do with my manhood either. Everything about my manhood is perfectly intact. I just have a few reservations about having sex with her when she's six months pregnant, alright? I'm paranoid."

Erin nodded, seeming to play along. "You know what, you're right. It's because of your 'manhood' that I'm like this to begin with so you go ahead and keep up with your whole weird celibacy-not-wanting-to-touch-me thing."

"Erin, you know-"

Erin shook her head. "It's fine. I'll just take care of things later."

"We're at work for Christ's sake. Can we not have this conversation here?"

"What conversation? Conversation is over," Erin said turning back to the file in her hands while the others around them laughed at him and shook their heads. At least they were all close enough to the point where conversations like this could be had and jokes could be made without anyone feeling uncomfortable.

Jay released a deep sigh just as the sound of boots hit the linoleum floor. He looked to his left and saw Hank Voight walking up the steps to the bullpen with a yellow envelope in his hands.

"Morning guys," he greeted the team. His voice had grown raspier as the last three years had gone by. His hair had more grey, and his face more wrinkles around his eyes and the corners of his mouth.

"Morning Serg," everyone greeted him in near unison.

Hank offered a small smile before waving the envelope in the air with one hand. "No bull. Let's get right down to it."

Hank glanced between Antonio and Jay as he made his way to the other end of the room. He stood in front of what was about to become his old office and looked once more between Tony and Jay.

"You both know how I'm doing this to make it fair. You're both more than qualified for my sergeant's position, but only one of you can have it. Highest score on the written exam gets the promotion. No hard feelings. Are we understood?"

"Yes sir," Jay and Tony said together as they now stood beside one another in front of Hank. They nodded in further acknowledgment.

Hank nodded once himself before he tore open the envelope and pulled out several pieces of paper. He examined the papers in his hands and smiled. He looked up at his two detectives and nodded once more.

"By two points, your new sergeant is Jay Halstead. Congratulations Jay," Hank smiled wider as he stepped forward and reached an arm towards Jay.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief as Antonio clapped him on the back.

"Congratulations, man. You deserve it," Tony smiled at him and shook his shoulder as Jay stepped forward to shake Hank's hand.

"Congratulations, Jay," Hank told him again as the two men shook hands.

Jay sighed again, smiling and shook his head. "Thank you, sir."

"Step in my – your office when you're freed up. I need to go over a few things with you."

Jay nodded, and then the rest of the team approached, offering hugs and handshakes of congratulatory words. Adam complained about his best friend now being his boss, but everyone was genuinely happy and excited for the transition they knew had been coming for quite some time.

"We're good right, man?" Jay asked Antonio.

Antonio scrunched up his face. "Why wouldn't we be? The only way I'd be pissed is if I thought you weren't right for the job. But I don't. If there's anyone I'd wanna lose to, it's you Halstead. This is a time to celebrate. Don't kill the mood man."

Jay smiled again. "Thanks, Antonio."

Antonio smiled and nodded just as Erin approached the two, and then he offered a smile to her as well. Erin returned the gesture and nodded towards the break room at Jay. He got the hint and followed after her, closing the door quietly behind them.

"Speaking to me again, are you?" Jay teased.

Erin shook her head, trying to suppress a laugh and stepped closer towards the man in front of her. She clasped both of her hands around the back of Jay's neck and leaned in just in front of his lips.

"Congratulations, Sergeant Halstead. I'm so proud of you," she whispered. Then her lips were on his and they were kissing softly. Jay brought one hand to the side of Erin's face while the other rested on the side of her pregnant belly. When they pulled away a moment later Erin unclasped her hands and slid one down to the middle of Jay's chest.

"I'm so ridiculously proud of you Jay," Erin told him once more as she kept her eyes on his. She was smiling so big and her eyes were bright with excitement, and it made Jay's stomach flip at the sight of her.

"Thank you. I couldn't have done this without you though. You're really pushy ya know?" Jay said with a smirk before he leaned forward and kissed her lips once more.

"I was only pushy because I knew you could do it. And now look at you. Sergeant Jay Alexander Halstead. Do you have any idea how turned on I am right now?"

Jay laughed and rested his hands on either side of her face. "I can imagine. And as much as I would love to help you take care of that I've gotta go over a few things with Hank before our doctor's appointment."

Erin rolled her eyes, a tiny smirk dancing on her lips. "Please, like you'd touch me anyway. Go. Be with dad. Learn your sergeant duties and make me even more proud."

Jay smiled and leaned in, barely grazing her lips one last time. "I love you."

She shoved him away playfully. "Yeah, yeah. Go."

Jay laughed and released her face before he stepped away from her and walked out of the break room. As he disappeared from her line of vision Erin felt a sharp kick in her lower abdomen and smiled. She placed a hand over her large belly, rubbing her thumb over the fabric of her shirt.

"Yeah, I love him too," Erin said to herself, her smile widening.

XXX

Later that afternoon Erin and Jay returned home to their apartment after their six month ultrasound appointment. They walked through the door, Erin ahead of Jay, both of them with blank expressions on their faces and neither still uttering a single word about their appointment.

Erin immediately headed for her and Jay's bedroom, toeing off her boots as soon as she entered through the door. She took off her jacket then and set it down in a reading recliner that was set in the corner of the room and sat down on her side of the bed. Erin rested her hands on her knees and took several deep breaths before she felt Jay's presence behind her, and then felt the bed dip. Moments later Jay's hands were on her and Erin closed her eyes at the contact as his fingers kneaded her shoulders.

"So," Jay said quietly.

"So," Erin repeated.

"Guess that explains a lot, huh?" Jay tried to joke wanting to lighten the mood.

"It explains everything," Erin said.

Jay sighed and leaned forward to kiss the back of Erin's head. "What's going through your head? Talk to me."

"I'm nervous. Are we ready for all of this?" Erin asked.

Jay chuckled. "Well, we don't really have a choice now, Er."

"I know, and I'm excited and I'm happy. We just didn't plan for this, ya know? We were already trying to figure out what to do with the apartment and now we really have to figure it out. This place is not going to be big enough for all of us, and – "

"Hey," Jay cut her off, squeezing her shoulders and leaning in closer to her. He kissed her neck and lingered by her ear. "It's gonna be okay, I promise. We'll figure everything out. You don't have to worry about it, okay? Everything will be fine. I'm here. I'm with you in this. You're not alone, okay?"

Erin turned her head and leaned into Jay's touch. He kissed the side of her head once before he pulled her down onto the bed with him. The two laid face to face, quiet for several minutes, Jay resting one hand above their heads to move through Erin's hair while his other rested over her large belly.

"How about instead of stressing over it, we celebrate it. It's not every day we get news like this. And it is good news," Erin suggested then with a raised eyebrow.

Jay sighed, knowing exactly what she meant. "I don't know, Erin. We just– "

Erin nearly growled as she moved her hands between them and raised one to grip the back of his neck. "You owe me, Halstead. You really owe me now. You seriously haven't touched me in weeks because you're so afraid I'll break. Now you know why I'm bigger than normal and my doctor still said it would be fine. I want you to touch me. I can only please myself so many times until it becomes boring. I miss you, Jay."

"Er – "

"Just ten minutes. That's all I need, please. Jay, please touch me."

Erin kept a firm hold on his neck as she leaned into him and kissed his cheek. She moved her lips down over his jawline to just below his ear, and then she placed several open mouthed kisses to his neck.

"Come on, Jay. You take care of me. I take care of you. It's all give and take, baby."

Erin pulled Jay's shirt up, sliding a hand beneath the fabric. She grazed her fingernails over the toned skin of his abdomen, and then unbuttoned his jeans.

"Oops," Erin whispered as she pulled the zipper of his jeans down. She teased him purposefully with several grazes to the front of his jeans before she moved her hand to the waistband of his boxers. She teased him with a finger between his skin and the elastic while she leaned in and continued an assault over his neck; a tantalizing combination of her lips and teeth and tongue.

"Erin, you know what the neck thing does to me and it's not fair," Jay breathed out, closing his eyes and sighing deeply again.

Erin moaned against his neck as she kissed his skin once more. "You wanna know what's not fair? Making your six month pregnant wife, who is carrying two of your babies inside of her, beg to be sexually sated by her husband. Now that, that is not fair."

"You pulled the wife card and the pregnant card all at once? You're playing dirty, Erin Halstead," Jay nearly growled out.

"You love it when I'm dirty," Erin teased.

Jay growled again and it was then that Erin knew she had won by the forceful pull of her hands away from his body to help in removing her sweatshirt. She giggled as Jay pulled the fabric over her head and tossed it to the floor, and then he pulled his jeans down over his hips.

"You've gotta turn over," he told her with a rasped voice.

Erin quickly obliged with a smirk on her face rivaling that of the cat that got the cream. She pressed the side of her face into her pillow, beginning to breathe quick, heavy breaths as the anticipation of Jay touching her ripped through her. She felt his hands at her waist a moment later pushing her yoga pants and undies down passed her hips together, exposing the smooth skin of her backside and thighs. She helped in kicking the garments the remainder of the way down her legs and Jay pulled them away, throwing both items over the side of the bed. All coherent thought evaporated from Erin's mind and dissolved into nothing as soon as she felt Jay's lips and the swirl of his tongue on the flushed skin of her neck. His hands left her waist and she heard the shuffling of fabric as he finally removed his boxers. He moved a hand to grip Erin's waist and leaned his head over her shoulder as he pressed his body against hers and dropped a kiss to her neck.

"Don't even think about teasing me. I need you," Erin nearly panted before tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. Her right hand moved to rest over Jay's on her waist and she squeezed it once. Jay nudged a knee between the backs of her legs and Erin lifted her right leg so he could settle himself behind her. He could feel her heat and already feel her shaking in anticipation before he pushed forward.

XXX

Jay kissed the side of Erin's face as she lied with her back still pressed against his front. His right hand gripped her waist while his left stayed lost beneath her locks of hair once again.

"So?" Erin asked over her shoulder as she held his hand in place on her waist. Her breathing was beginning to return to normal and a satisfied smile played over her lips.

"So maybe I missed you too. I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention to you before. I'm sorry for ignoring what you wanted," Jay told her. He leaned in towards her and kissed her below her ear, squeezing her side once.

"I'll forgive you as long as you don't ever do it again," Erin said, half teasing.

Jay chuckled against her ear and Erin smirked. "I won't ever do it again. I promise."

"Mmhmm, you better not. "

"Why don't you try and get some sleep, okay?" Jay suggested.

Erin nodded against her pillow, ready to pass out. "You gonna stay too?"

Jay kissed the back of her head and squeezed her side once more. "For a little while until I go get the girls."

"Mmkay," Erin mumbled as she drifted off.

XXX

Two hours later Jay had left and returned from picking up Gracie and Jessie from school.

"Alright, mom might still be sleeping so we've gotta be quiet okay?" He said to the girls as the three of them entered the apartment. The kids nodded in acknowledgement and kept quiet as they made their way to the dining room table to do their homework like they did every day after school.

As the girls pulled stuff out of their backpacks Jay made his way down the hall to his and Erin's bedroom. He entered the room and walked over to her side of the bed. She was sound asleep on her side, face pressed into her pillow. One hand was wedged beneath the pillow while the other was covered with the blanket that rested over her. She was deep in sleep and snoring lightly. She seemed to still only be wearing a t-shirt from their rendezvous earlier and he smiled as he watched her for a moment.

Jay looked at the digital clock on her nightstand and decided to let her sleep for a little bit longer; he figured she'd need all the sleep she could get while she had the chance. He leaned down and kissed her forehead once before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

He made his way back to the dining room and saw the girls both working in silence on their schoolwork. He walked towards them and kneeled down between their chairs, glancing between the both of them. "Your mom is still sleeping so I want the both of you to finish your homework out here without fighting, okay? And no fighting or making a lot of noise tonight, alright girls?"

"Is mommy okay?" Jessie asked looking at Jay to her right.

"Yeah, she's fine baby. Just sleeping," Jay told her.

"In the middle of the day?" Gracie pressed.

"It's just a nap baby girl. You know because of the pregnancy that mom is gonna be a lot more tired than usual, so she'll be sleeping more and more. Which is why I really need you to come through and help me out, okay? Please try not to argue with your sister. Can you do that for me?"

Gracie glanced at Jessie before she nodded her head.

Jay smiled and stood on his feet, leaning down to kiss the top of Gracie's head. "That's my girl."

"Daddy, can you help me with my math though? It's fractions again," Jessie said, lifting her workbook in front of her towards Jay as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Why don't you just do your best for now Little J, alright? I've gotta get dinner started. I'll check it out later and we'll work on it together."

Jessie pouted again. "But daddy!"

Jay turned towards the eight year old, but Gracie grabbed the workbook from her sister's hands. "C'mon Jess. I'll help you."

Jay smiled at his girls as Gracie pulled Jessie's chair closer towards her own. He leaned out of the kitchen doorway with a smile on his face. "Thanks Grace!"

Gracie turned and smiled back at him. "You're welcome daddy!"

XXX

An hour passed and just as the girls were finishing up their homework Jay had told them dinner would be ready in a few minutes. They packed up their stuff and put their backpacks by the door, and as they returned back to the table Jay was bringing out his spaghetti. He set a large bowl down in the center of the table, and then retrieved the sauce bowl from the kitchen.

"You girls dig in while I go wake up mom," Jay told the two of them as they sat back down.

"You're waking up mommy from her nap? Good luck, daddy," Jessie said with big eyes as Gracie helped with her plate.

Jay shook his head as he turned and walked down the hallway. He entered the room quietly just as before and made his way to Erin. She was still sleeping peacefully and he didn't want to wake her, but if he didn't now she'd most definitely kill him for it later.

"Erin," he whispered as kneeled down in front of her next to the bed. He reached a hand out and ran it through her hair, massaging her scalp with his fingertips. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Erin, you've gotta wake up," he said louder this time.

Jay moved his hand from her hair to her shoulder, and gave it a gentle shake. "Erin?"

As he shook her shoulder once more Erin began to stir from her sleep. She blinked her eyes open and gave a sleepy smile when her eyes focused on Jay.

"Hey," she said to him.

"Hey yourself. Dinner's on the table. The girls are eating and they've already finished their homework. I would have let you sleep longer, but when I did that last week you yelled at me."

"I know. I'm still sorry about that by the way," Erin told him.

Jay shook his head, smiling, and glanced down at her rounded belly. "Don't be. Come on. Let's get you dressed and then go get you guys some food. You've barely eaten today. You've gotta be starving."

Erin nodded and Jay helped her from the bed. A few minutes later they were sat at the dining room table with the girls. They talked about their days as they usually did. Jay and Erin always asked the girls about school. "Fine" was never an acceptable answer; Jay and Erin had agreed a long time ago that they would never be those types of parents. The type that didn't know what was going on in their kids' lives.

Once they wrapped up dinner, Jay and Erin tag teamed the dishes and called the girls into the living room.

"We've gotta talk to the two of you," Erin told them. The two girls sat on the couch while Jay and Erin sat in front of them on the coffee table. It was how they'd always had their serious chats. Face to face. Eye to eye. The girls knew to listen and pay attention.

"Daddy said you're gonna be sleeping a lot more," Gracie said looking up at Erin and Jay.

Erin nodded. "Daddy's right. You know how I have a baby in my belly right?"

The two girls nodded their heads.

"Well, daddy and I went to see the doctor today and the doctor told us it's not just one baby, there are two babies in my belly. I'm having twins! You girls are gonna have two new little siblings, and daddy and I are gonna need your help big time."

Jessie's eyes bulged out and a wide smile came over her face. "There are two in there?"

Erin and Jay both smiled, nodding their heads.

"Yep, two!" Jay said.

Erin looked between Jessie and Gracie, quickly noticing how quiet her oldest had become. She leaned forward and placed a hand on one of Gracie's knees.

"Are you okay, Gracie?" Erin asked.

Gracie shrugged, clamming up. "I guess I just have a question."

"Ask away baby," Erin told her.

"Are you gonna love the new babies more than me and Jessie?"

Jay and Erin glanced between one another before Jay grabbed one of Gracie's hands while Erin kept hold of the eleven year old's knee. Both Erin and Jay shook their heads at Gracie, and Jay leaned forward to speak. "Absolutely not baby. Mommy and I love you and Jess and the babies all the same. When they get here they're gonna be really, really small though so mommy and I will have to give them a lot of our attention, but I promise you that will not ever mean we love them more than we love either of you girls. Do you understand me?"

Gracie nodded, accepting Jay's answer and he smiled at her before he lifted her hand and kissed the top of it. "Good."

XXX

Later that night after the girls were tucked into their beds, Erin and Jay laid in their own. Jay was on his side, propped up on his left elbow, his right hand on Erin's exposed stomach. He had pulled her t-shirt up and couldn't stop staring at her belly.

"You that impressed that you basically knocked me up twice in one go, Halstead?" Erin teased, pulling him from his thoughts.

"What?" He asked.

"You were staring again," Erin told him with a small smile.

He smiled back at her. "I'm sorry."

Erin shook her head. "Don't be. I still can't believe it either. Dad's gonna lose it. He was excited when we told him I was pregnant and thought it was only one baby. How do you think he's going to react when we tell him it's twins? And Olive's pregnant again. We're gonna put that man in his grave. He's gonna have a heart attack."

Jay laughed and moved his thumb over Erin's skin. "He's going to be extremely excited. He likes spoiling all the kids. He goes straight into grandpa mode when any of them are around."

"He's a big ole softy and he knows it," Erin said turning her head to look up at Jay. She reached an arm out and lifted a hand to his face. She grazed the stubble covering his cheek with the pad of her thumb and smiled with bright eyes as she stared at him.

"I love you," Erin told him, her voice soft.

"I love you too, Erin," Jay said to her.

Jay quickly leaned down and kissed her and she kissed him back for a moment before they pulled away. Jay lied down and Erin scooched in closer to him, as close as her babies would allow her to. She felt his hand on her skin again and she smiled as she placed hers on top of his.

"I love our life together," Erin whispered as her eyes drifted between stay open and dropping closed.

Jay turned his head and reached to kiss her forehead. He felt a sharp kick beneath the palm of his hand. "It's the best life."