1 Year Later

"Jay?" Erin called out after waking up in an empty bed. Once she pulled on a discarded t-shirt, she walked down the hall to their daughter's room, which she found empty as well. She furrowed her eyebrows and walked downstairs, where she found no sign of Ava or Jay. Great, she thought, it's my wedding anniversary and my husband's gone MIA. 'Husband' even after a year, the word still made her smile.

She attempted to call Jay, but she heard the faint sound of his familiar ringtone coming from inside their bedroom. She shrugged, wondering where they were. While a part of her was worried, she figured wherever they were, they were probably fine; and Jay forgot his phone all the time, they were fine.

Erin decided to take a shower to clear her head, and take advantage of the ever so rare silence. Walking into the bathroom, she stripped herself from Jay's shirt and stood in front of the mirror. She put her hands over her belly and smiled to herself, she was finally starting to show.

Finding out she was pregnant with Jay's baby was one of the happiest moments of her life. They were in a good place financially, and emotionally; they were ready. Finally, she stepped over towards the bathtub and turned the water on. She chose to take a bath instead of shower, since she had the time.

Half an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom, towel wrapped around her body, hair sloppily pinned on top of her head. Her bed was made, and she noticed Jay's phone was no longer on the nightstand where it previously laid. She quickly dressed herself and went downstairs, where she found Jay and Ava in the dining room, chowing down on freshly made waffles.

Ava noticed her first, "Mommy!" she screeched. She jumped down from her seat at the table and ran to Erin, giving her a bear hug.

"Morning, baby. Where did you and daddy go this morning?" Erin asked, hoping the toddler would spill the beans on Jay's obvious secret.

Before Ava could open her mouth, Jay had already stood up and scooped her into his arms. "That's for us to know, and you to find out in a little while," he said with a smirk, "happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you, too," Erin replied, rising up on her tip toes and giving him a quick kiss. "What do you have planned for later?" she asked, a mischievous grin spread across her lips.

"You'll see," Jay simply said before walking back to the table.

A few hours later, Ava was down for her nap, and Jay and Erin finally had some time with just each other for the first time that day. "So, you ready to tell me why I woke all by myself on my anniversary?" Erin asked as Jay approached her with 2 cannolis, Erin's favorite dessert. "Cannolis? From D'Amato's?

Jay laughed, and sat down on the couch beside her. He plated a cannoli for each of them, "Of course they're from D'Amato's," he smirked, handing her a plate. Erin raised her eyebrows, silently asking him to expand his answer.

Without saying anything, he set his plate down on the coffee table, before he even took a bite, and picked up a file from the bookshelf a few steps over. "We've officially been married for a year," he started as he made his way back to the couch, "and according to the state of Illinois, after a year of marriage, the husband or wife of a single parent can legally adopt their child. Er, you're the only mom Ava's ever had, so… this morning, Ava and I went down to the lawyers office to file the papers," he was smiling from ear to ear, "all you have to do is sign them, and in a few months she will be yours - legally."

Tears of joy were threatening to fall from Erin's eyes, "Jay I- I don't know what to say,"

Jay handed her the pen and papers and said, "You don't need to say anything. All you need to do is sign."

Not wasting another second, Erin scribbled her name on the necessary lines and crashed her lips onto Jay's. "I love you. I love you so much," she said, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"You're okay too I guess," he laughed into her hair. "This is gonna be a long process, and I understand if you want to wait until after the baby is born to finalize it." Jay said once she pulled away from his embrace.

Erin shook her head, "No, I want it done as quickly as possible. In fact, it'll probably be easier to get it done while I'm pregnant rather than having to care for a newborn."

He smiled, nodding his head, "Okay. I'll call my lawyer and have her set up a preliminary hearing as soon as she can."

Later that night, as they lay in bed, Erin's thoughts were spinning around her head. She couldn't believe it; she lived a perfect life. A perfect husband, perfect daughter, she lived in a beautiful house and was working her dream job. She snuggled closer into Jay's chest, inhaled his scent that she'd always been fond of, and placed her hand over his chest. She fell asleep watching his chest rise and fall with every steady breath he took.

Months passed and it was finally time for the finalization of Ava's adoption. The hearing went by rather quickly, considering how long it took to get to that point. As Jay previously said, the process was long. Seven visits from a social worker, three hearings, and four months was what it took to get Erin's name on Ava's freshly printed Certificate of adoption. The final step in the process, was applying for a new birth certificate for Ava, where Erin would be listed as her mother in replacement of Anna.

Jay opened the door to their house and in waddled an eight month pregnant Erin, followed by the chippy three year old that was Ava Halstead. "Mama, when is my baby sister gonna come out?" Ava asked in curiosity.

Erin sighed, she hated being pregnant, and she wanted the baby out of her uterus just as much as Ava did. She was sick of being on desk duty at work. Of course she knew after the baby arrived she'd be put on maternity leave anyway, but she hated being so close to the action, without being allowed to participate. "She'll be here soon, baby."

Ava nodded, content with the answer her mother gave. "Alright, Ava, time for a nap." Ava tried to protest, but she had already almost fallen asleep on the way home from the courthouse, and was out halfway up the stairs. It had been a long day for the little Halstead family. The public hearing that happened before theirs had some issues come up, and lasted twice as long as it was supposed to.

While Jay was putting Ava down in her new 'big girl bed', Erin went to take a nap of her own. Jay shut the light in their bedroom and went downstairs. He decided he'd try and catch the end of the Blackhawks game while his girls slept. Twenty minutes later, he was nursing a beer when he heard Erin cry out in pain. He harshly put his beer down on the coffee table and raced up the stairs, where he found Erin crouched over the edge of their bed, her hands cradling her large stomach. "Erin? Er, what's wrong?" Jay asked nervously, leaning down beside her.

"It hurts, everything hurts." Erin said through gritted teeth. "I think my water broke, I'm not sure. We need to get to the hospital, Burgess lives closest to us - get her over here to watch Ava," the last few words came out rushed caused by Erin having to scream again.

Jay reached for Erin's cell, which was sitting on the nightstand on her side of the bed, when he noticed the pool of blood on the sheets where Erin must have been lying before the pain in her abdomen started. His eyes went wide as he desperately tried to keep his composure for the sake of his pregnant wife. He dialed in Kim's familiar number and waited for her to pick up, "Burgess, hey. I need you to come over and watch Ava, Erin just went into labor," he said softly into the phone.

Kim agreed in a heartbeat and was walking through their door in less than ten minutes. Jay had managed to get Erin down the stairs and into the living room. He didn't pay any attention to the blood that stained their sheets and Erin's pants, his only focus was his unborn baby and getting Erin to the hospital safely. They barely greeted Kim, letting her know that Ava was napping, as they rushed out the door and into the car. Kim had watched Ava enough over the past year to know the drill. But she wasn't sure what she was going to tell the three year old when she woke up from her nap.

"It's too soon," Erin cried on the way to the hospital, "Jay I'm only 34 weeks it's too soon."

Jay grabbed her hand over the center console as he raced to Chicago Med, "It's okay. Everything is gonna be okay," he said, trying to reassure not only Erin, but himself as well.

Pulling up in front of Chicago Med, Jay swiftly put the car in park and ran to the other side of the car to help Erin out. He hadn't noticed that on the way to the hospital she had passed out, "Babe we're here, wake up. We gotta go inside," he panicked. In frustration and fear, he straightened his body and ran his fingers through his hair, looking for a solution. He spotted someone in scrubs a few feet away and waved them over, "My wife, she - she's in labor, she passed out on the way here. She's only 34 weeks along. Is she okay? Is she gonna be okay?" he asked, tears pooling in his eyes.

The doctor or nurse, or whoever it was, rushed to Erin's side and searched for a pulse, "Sir, I need you to step to the side, we have to get her to the ER."

He couldn't breathe. He should have known that things were going to well for them. Jay watched as a swarm of doctors huddled around Erin and lifted her onto a gurney. He tried to follow them through the doors, but he felt as if his mind and body weren't connected. When he had finally gotten his bearings, he realized he was standing in the middle of the waiting room, Erin having been rushed to surgery.

He paced, he paced for a long time before he was able to go and ask about Erin's condition. "Erin Halstead, my wife. We got here about an hour ago, she uh, she was going into premature labor, and I haven't heard anything since," he said to the nurse.

Jay stood anxiously while the nurse typed in Erin's information. "She went in for an emergency C-section. I'm sorry sir but that's the only information I have at this moment." Jay nodded and continued to pace around the waiting room.

A while later, the same doctor that had been the first to help Erin, came through the doors to the waiting room, "Mr. Halstead, I'm Dr. Adams, I wasn't the surgeon that operated, but I did assist. Your wife is fine. She did great, actually. Currently she's being held in the ICU to recover, but she'll be moved to a room shortly."

Jay was growing more anxious with every word she spoke. The doctor had yet to bring up the baby, he needed that baby to survive. Erin wouldn't be able to handle their baby not living; not after Nadia dying late last year. "And the baby?" he asked with hostility, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

Dr. Adams sucked in a breath, "There were some complications, as normal with premature births, but she's alive. She's in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where our neonatologists are checking her vitals. One thing I can say for sure, she's a fighter. That baby is one of the healthiest preemies that I've ever come across."

He sighed in relief, "Can I see 'em? Either of them?" he asked.

"Absolutely, follow me."

Erin's eyes fluttered open and she saw Jay asleep in the chair by her bed, "Jay," she croaked, her throat dry, "Jay!" she tried again, louder. Jay jolted awake and hopped up from his chair.

"Hey you," he said, gingerly taking her hand in his. "you want some water?"

Erin nodded, and after she sipped from the straw and hydrated her throat she realized where she was, and why she was there, "The baby. Where's the baby?" she asked with worry in her voice, attempting to sit up in her bed.

"Shhh, it's okay. She's okay, she's in an incubator in the NICU, but she's here, she's alive," he assured her, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

With permission from her doctor, Jay wheeled Erin down to the NICU to meet their daughter. They couldn't hold her, but they could see her. Erin struggled to keep herself from crying, "I wanna hold her." There lay their newborn baby, tubes attached to her left and right. Her skin was very pink and she was so tiny.

"I know," Jay said, rubbing her thigh.

The first week after the baby's birth was tough. Jay split his time between the hospital, taking care of Erin, and home, taking care of Ava. Ava had tons of questions that Jay was unable to answer. He'd brought her to see Erin a few times, but it was difficult for her to understand, and only made her upset. She wanted to curl up next to her mommy and meet her baby sister. Instead, she was instructed to sit still on her daddy's lap, and to be extra careful with her mom. She knew the baby wasn't in Erin's tummy anymore, but she never saw it. Ava was confused, and Jay didn't know what to do. "Will mommy be home when I wake up, daddy?" she asked as Jay tucked her into bed that night.

Jay sighed, and looked at his daughter with sad eyes, "Probably not, peanut. Mommy and the new baby need to stay in the hospital until they're better, and they're not better yet."

Ava nodded, "I hope they get better soon," she said.

"Yeah, me too, munchkin."

The next day, Erin was discharged, but their baby was not. Jay and Erin sat in the NICU before heading home that night, the baby lie underneath Erin's shirt, as they say skin-to-skin contact helps with several issues that are common with preemies. "She doesn't have a name," whispered Erin, "she's a week old and is still being called 'baby girl Halstead'."

"Let's give her a name then," Jay said, "what were some of the ones we liked?"

Erin thought back to the conversation they had a few weeks earlier, arguing over what to name their unborn daughter, "Uhm, I remember liking Kelsey a lot, but that's not her. She's not a Kelsey."

Jay laughed slightly, "I think you're right. So Kelsey is a 'no'. What about Hannah?" he suggested.

Erin shot him a look, "Really? Hannah Halstead, I think the alliteration is a little much," she peeked down her shirt to take a good look at her sleeping baby, "Natalie," she said.

"Natalie," Jay repeated, "I like it. Natalie Halstead."

A few weeks later and Natalie was strong enough to be brought home. She was breathing on her own, she was able to breastfeed without a tube, and her body temperature was stable.

Ava was ecstatic to finally meet her new baby sister, "She's tiny!" she exclaimed the second Erin took the newborn out of her car seat. Erin walked over to the couch and sat down, Ava hot on her heels. Ava hovered over her shoulder, desperately trying to get a good look at her new sibling. "Hey she doesn't have any hair," she said.

"She'll grow hair one day, peanut. And it's going to be long and beautiful just like yours," Erin said, removing the hand that was on Natalie's bottom and running her fingers through Ava's golden locks.

"I think I like her," Ava said matter of factly.

Both Erin and Jay laughed, "Well that's good because we're kinda stuck with her," Jay said.

While leaning on the doorframe that separated the living room from the kitchen, Jay Halstead watched his girls. The three most important people in his life. He reflected on how significantly his life had changed over the past four years. He went from being a man with a crush on his partner, to a husband and father of two. Marrying the woman he never thought he'd be able to land. He couldn't imagine a life without Erin Lindsay, and he didn't want to. He was happy and grateful for the life he had. Jay looked up and made eye contact with Erin, and he could see the same look in her eyes he was sure he had in his. While he never imagined himself to be living the life he lived today, he wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: Again, thank you readers! I hope you enjoyed the FINAL installment of Trouble is a Friend, and I look forward to upcoming works. I didn't expect Erin to have troubles with her pregnancy, but it just kinda happened. I tried to write out the scenes with the NICU and preemie stuff as accurately as possible, which is why I left out a lot of doctor/patient interaction. I realize I could have gone more into detail with that, but I chose to leave it as is. I honestly love the way this turned out. How it started in Erin's head and ended with Jay's. Remember, please request one shots either by PM or in the review section of this story or 'The Comet' and I will happily oblige! Who knows, maybe Jay and Erin had another baby. If there's anything you'd like to see, please let me know. I think a one shot I will write is this version of Erin grieving with the death of Nadia, I know it probably felt a little out of place just throwing it in that Nadia died when they seemed to be so happy, but I was just trying to stick to canon to make life a little bit easier. ANYWAYS, i'm rambling, so this is it. Again, thank you for everything readers and keep your eyes peeled! Don't forget to review! :)