Well, this is it! The final chapter of this story. I hope you enjoyed this little piece of puppy fluff! Huge shout out to a&c for providing the inspiration and early direction for the story. And of course so much love to everyone who has left reviews or sent me messages, brainstormed ideas or encouraged me when I felt stuck on this and all my writing. It's overwhelming to have so much support. Your words mean so much, I can't even tell you! I'm not always great at replying to every review but please know how much I appreciate the feedback. I know this story took a more serious tone for a bit but I decided to end things off the way they began, light and fluffy, hope you enjoy xoxo.

/

They let Alfie tell the team about the baby. With the craziness of Erin's moods and the constant doctor's appointments it had been hard keeping it a secret from the tight-nit group that they were getting help trying for a baby. She was pretty sure the boys were terrified of her the way she'd been acting lately and would be relieved to know that the craziness would be ending soon.

So after the follow up appointment to make sure everything looked good they came into work with treats for the team and a 'I'm gonna be a big brother' bandana tied around Alfie's neck. They took him up to the bullpen instead of the roll up to make the announcement. Erin knew it was a bit early to be sharing the news but she, Jay and Hank decided if she was going to stay on active duty as long as she could the team needed to know and help take measures to keep her and the baby safe.

To say they were thrilled was an understatement. Erin had more than her fill of squeezing hugs from everyone as the team took a moment to celebrate before getting back to work. Thankfully she wasn't as emotional as she was the night when they'd stopped by Hank's to give him the news. Poppa Hank had been over the moon, surprising even Jay with an affectionate hug.

/

Jay Halstead was cuddling a doll. A damn doll. Why? Because when your partner was thirty five weeks pregnant and someone told her a story of how their seemingly docile dog attacked their new baby out of jealousy you spend the next three nights getting no sleep while she panicked over how to get their dog ready for the baby. Jay tried to reassure her Alfie would be fine. He already seemed attached to the baby, the way he followed Erin everywhere, she even had to kick him out of the bathroom daily. There was no way Jay would believe Alfie would have a problem but Erin was stuck on it and stressing herself and everyone around her out about it. He was sure this had more to do with her insecurities about being a mom than the dog. Eventually he'd had enough of hearing her freak out over all the shocking things she was reading thanks to google and called the trainer they used when Alfie was a pup. They'd booked an appointment and left it with a list of things to help Alfie adjust. This damn doll was one of them. Because apparently preparing your dog for a baby was actually a thing.

So now he had to hold the damn thing while he watched the hockey game because it was supposed to help Alfie understand his position in the family or some nonsense. He knew two things for sure though; Erin was letting him sleep now that the doll was in the house; and Jay swore Alfie was laughing at him every time he saw Jay with the doll. Jay knew his brother was laughing at him. And Jay swore if Will looked across the couch and snickered at him one more time he was gonna make sure he hit him hard enough Will's jaw would be wired firmly shut for the next six to eight weeks.

/

Of course Jay wasn't home the evening she went into labour. She was home alone with Alfie. She'd had a long shower, because climbing in and out of the tub was not an option at thirty nine weeks and three days pregnant, not that she was counting, and she curled up on the couch with a cup of tea and her favourite snacks, savouring the peace.

She had a hunch with her and Jay's DNA mixing together this baby was gonna make its presence known all through the building, it was already doing backflips all night long preventing her from sleeping, and she just wanted one last night of being Erin. So she'd convinced Jay to go hang out with his boys and blow of some steam so she could have the apartment to her self one last time.

At close to midnight she decided to call it a night. She took Alfie for a short walk, grateful she wouldn't have to climb the stairs with her beachball of a stomach much longer, sent Jay a quick text letting him know she was back, because he panicked now if she was out late with the dog for too long, then went to use the bathroom.

The blood she saw in her underwear sent her heart racing. It took a moment for her to remember that at this late in the game she was supposed to expect things like this. She'd been terrified for weeks her water was gonna break in the middle of the bullpen, because yes damn it she was still working even if it meant being reduced to a glorified secretary. But she didn't want to have to spend the rest of her life with the embarrassment of going into labour like that in front of the boys. She was supposed to BE one of the boys and they'd never look at her the same again if that happened.

She called Jay but when he didn't pick up, the noise level in the bar was probably too loud, she called Will. He was on shift but thankfully picked up on the second ring. He reassured her that she was probably okay, just loosing her mucous plug, but wanted her to come in and get checked out. He kept her on the phone but had one of the nurses call her an ambulance.

"Will, I'm sure Jay will call back any second, he can come bring me," she pleaded not wanting the fuss or embarrassment of having an ambulance show up. And there was no way in hell Will would be the doctor examining her.

"I'd feel better if I knew you were on route. As soon as the ambo gets there I'll track down Jay and have him meet you here," he stated leaving no room for arguments. Will was almost as overprotective as Jay, continually reminding her of his status as soon to be uncle who was also a doctor and knew best.

Erin sighed and went to grab her bag. She had no fight in her tonight. She was supposed to be relaxing. Apparently the baby never got that memo.

Erin let the ambulance attendants in, thankful one of them was Brett. Her partner, Dave he'd said his name was, she didn't recognize. Alfie had been pacing the apartment since she'd called Will, likely picking up on Erin's own anxiety. When Dave sat next to Erin to take her blood pressure Alfie lost it barking and growling. Erin tried to calm him, yelled at him to go lay down, even tried to move him out of the way but no way was he going to let Dave touch Erin. Dave panicked, apparently he was terrified of dogs. Had Erin known she would have locked Alfie in the other room before she let Dave in the apartment. At the sight of such a large dog becoming aggressive he stood quickly, backing away and yelling for Erin to call the dog off. This hightened Alfie's anxiety. Brett and Erin tried to tell Dave to relax, act calm but he was genuinely scared.

"I'm calling animal control," he said fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"No!" Erin yelled, "you can't do that!" The room was chaotic with yelling and barking, Erin becoming more upset, upsetting the dog further. Dave, refusing to listen, bolted from the apartment phone to his ear, Alfie chasing him as far as the door. Years later when she'd tell this story with a chuckle Erin would admit that had she been calm Alfie would have likely calmed quicker and the whole mess would have been avoided.

"Erin?" Jay called from the doorway. "What the hell is going on?" He asked coming into the apartment and seeing her and Brett sitting on the couch, Brett checking her out.

"Oh Jay, he called anima control, they're gonna come and take Alfie! You have to stop him!" She wailed.

Jay, torn between assisting Erin and running after the attendant stood unsure of what to do.

"Erin's okay, physically," Brett said, "you get her to the hospital, she's refusing to go in the ambo. I'll take care of my partner. Don't worry," she assured Erin. "It will all be okay."

Erin thanked her and stood, but a crippling pain shot through her abdomen. Brett reached out to steady her. Alfie moved to her other side.

"Contraction?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, probably," Brett said.

"We should go in the ambo then." Jay said decisively.

"NO! Absolutely not! I'm fine," Erin countered firmly.

"I'll carry her down." Jay said ignoring Erin.

"No!" Erin protested. "It's fine. It's the first one. I can walk. And we will drive. Sylvie needs to stop animal control from coming!"

"I'm not arguing with you!" Jay insisted scooping her up. Brett opened the apartment door and Alfie slipped past Jay into the hall. A few more stressful moments passed as they all tried to coax the dog back into the apartment, but he refused to leave Erin. Another contraction ripped through Erin and she lost her patience. "It's fine Jay, just bring him in the car, he won't be able to get out, we can call someone to take him home once we get there."

Brett helped Jay down with the bag, dog and Erin, helped them in the car then rushed off to deal with her partner.

"What are we gonna do?" Erin stressed. "What if he did call animal control. What if they take him? Oh god Jay, they don't take complaints like that lightly, especially when it's a big dog like Alfie," she continued.

Jay had no idea what was going to happened but he knew he had to calm Erin down so he tried to reassure her it would all be fine.

Will met them in the hospital parking lot with a wheelchair. Alfie, unable to get out of the backseat of the car, barked and whined like crazy as the boys helped Erin into the hospital.

"We can't leave him like that!" She'd complained. Jay wanted to point out that it had been her idea to bring the dog but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

"Don't worry," Will reassured her, "once you're inside and out of his sight I'll take care of him." Erin visibly relaxed and Jay almost forgave Will for the weeks of teasing he'd endured over the doll.

An hour later Will popped his head into the delivery room. Erin's contractions progressed surprisingly quickly and she was admitted, they expected the baby before sunrise.

"Alfie?" Erin asked as soon as she saw Will.

"Napping in the doctors lounge," Will said.

"He's in the hospital?" Jay asked astonished. "You still have a job?"

Will chuckled, "it took a bit of fancy talking but yeah, it's all good. I'm done my shift in a bit and I'll run him home for you then."

"What about animal control?" Erin asked, still worried.

"Brett popped by to make sure you got in okay and said to let you know the call was never made," Will reassured her.

Erin sighed in relief. "Thank you, and tell Brett the same if she comes back in before you leave."

Will stayed and helped Erin through a few contractions , giving Jay a few minutes to refuel before Will returned to work.

Three hours later he was back upstairs cradling his new nephew in his arms.

"So what are we calling this little slugger?" Will asked, smiling proudly at his nephew.

"Nathan," Erin said sleepily as she snapped a picture of them with her phone from her bed.

"Well it's nice to meet you Nate!" Will cooed at the baby.

/

If you asked Erin the doll had worked out perfectly. Jay on the other hand knew Alfie deserved more credit than that. After Erin gave birth and settled in for a few hours sleep from their long night Jay popped home to shower and take the dog to the district. Platt had insisted on watching him until they were home from the hospital.

After his shower Jay sat on the floor and rubbed the dogs belly. It was time for a little talk, man to man.

"What the hell was that last night?" Jay asked the dog. Alfie's ears flattened and he looked cautiously at Jay, sensing trouble. "You realize you could have gotten yourself thrown in jail for acting like that? Since when don't you listen to your mom? I mean I know she's been acting a bit crazy lately but you can't be carrying on like that once Nate comes home." Jay gently scolded the dog. Alfie tilted he head more to the right so Jay could scratch his jaw better.

"Look," Jay began, "This is pretty strange and new and scary for all of us. I've no idea what to expect or what kind of dad I'm gonna be and I know your mom is nervous as hell. But Nate is coming home tomorrow whether or not we're ready so I really just need you to be cool with it okay? Can you do that for me? For your mom? Because she's been through enough and I really just need her to have something go perfectly for her right now." Jay pleaded with the dog.

Alfie lifted his head off the floor and looked at Jay for a moment before nudging his hand to keep rubbing him.

Jay laughed, "so glad we had this talk and understand each other," he said. "Clearly I need some sleep if I expected to have an actual conversation with a dog," he said self deprecatingly. Last night had been the scariest and most wonderful night of his life and he was completely exhausted.

But when they brought Nathan home the next day Alfie was perfect. He was clearly excited to see Erin and curious about what was squirming in the baby carrier but he sat calmly, aside from his thumping tail, when asked and waited for Erin to get situated on the couch with the baby before coming over to thoroughly inspect his car seat. He then smelled and licked at Nate's toes when Erin showed him the baby before settling at her feet while she fed Nate.

It would become the norm. If you wanted to find Nate, just look for the huge dog laying on the floor and you'd be sure to see him. Alfie followed and watched over Nate constantly. At first Alfie would lay close by, keeping watch over the tiny infant. When he slept at night the dog would lay across his doorway. When Nate learned to crawl Alfie lay patiently as the boy climbed up and over him, pulling on his ears or tail. When he learned to walk, or run rather, Erin never could remember a time when Nate wasn't going at warp speed, Alfie would run ahead leading the way as Nate giggled behind. When Nate was upset Alfie would appear and let Nate bury his face in his soft fur until he felt better. Jay got his boyhood wish watching his son and dog become best friends.

"See," Erin said one day when Nate was about eighteen months, "that doll worked wonders!"

Jay looked down at the little boy holding his hand. They were on their way to the store for a treat, Nate had insisted he didn't need to ride in the stroller, he was a big boy and could walk the dog, so he'd said, and took the leash from Jay's hand. Alfie walked obediently beside him.

As usual Jay just nodded at Erin. There were some things you just let Erin Lindsay believe she was right about, especially if you enjoyed sleeping in your own bed.

/

Alfie followed Nate over the the wooden slat play bridge to the slide. And then he sat patiently as Nate sat and situated himself at the top of the slide.

"Ready Daddy?" The three year old called down to Jay below.

"Ready buddy," Jay called up.

"Three, two, one blastoff!" he screeched and launched himself down into Jay's waiting arms. Alfie followed once Jay scooped Nate and tossed him in the air making the boy giggle before setting him down so he could repeat the process all over again.

"Did you see Mommy, did you see?" He called to Erin who had opted to rest her swollen ankles and aching back on the bench. Baby number two, a girl they'd found out, may have been a surprise (who needed birth control when you couldn't get pregnant on your own?) but she certainly was good at not letting Erin forget she was due to arrive any day.

"I saw baby!" Erin called to her dare devil of a son, "you were super fast that time!"

Nate beamed with pride and took off for the stairs, Alfie in tow.

Jay turned to look at Erin, she looked tired, their daughter not letting her find more than a minute or two of comfort at a time, but happy. "You doing okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, let them burn off some energy, maybe he'll nap and then we can too," Erin said hopeful.

Jay nodded, at three years old Nate was in full on protest of afternoon naps but Erin was determined to get a few more months out of him while she adjusted to life with a new baby again.

They wandered back towards home when Nate finally let out a few yawns. As they walked up the front step Erin still couldn't believe they'd bought this place. She loved her little condo but when they found out baby number two was on the way they knew there'd be no way they could live comfortably there. So Jay had suggested turning it into an income property to help fund their retirement, and pay for the two kids they were apparently now going to be putting through college, and they went house hunting.

There were still a few boxes lining the front hall to unpack before Sara, yes they'd already named her Erin could only handle so many surprises, arrived but Jay had promised to take care of that before the weekend was out.

"Feel like laying down for a bit buddy?" Jay asked Nate hoping to corral him upstairs.

"No!" No nap!"

"What if we let Alfie lay down with you?" Erin bargained. Jay knew Erin was exhausted when she'd pulled that out, she was still pretty firm on the no dog in the bed rule.

Nate tipped his head to the side. "Can it be your and Daddy's bed?" He asked in his sweetest tone.

Erin was so desperate to lay down she decided not to pick a battle and risk getting Nate wound up again. She could nap on the couch in peace just as well.

"Sure sweetie."

"Will you and Daddy come too?"

"Sure, why not," Jay answered without looking at Erin much to her frustration.

"And can we watch a movie?" And there it was. Just like that Nate had talked his way out of a nap.

Erin sighed, well laying in bed was better than nothing. "Sure buddy," she relented.

They climbed the stairs and got situated in bed, Nate cocooned between Jay and Erin, Alfie delighted he was allowed to curl up on their feet. About fifteen minutes in to Nate's favourite kids movie Erin glanced down to see him sound asleep. Jay's eyes were also closed and Alfie was long since snoring, enjoying the comfort and warmth of the bed. She muted the tv and ran her free hand across her belly, snuggling down and closing her eyes.

If you'd asked her five years ago where she saw herself in this moment, this would have been the last thing she would have pictured. But she could clearly see now that the day they'd found that frightened little pup had been a huge milestone for her. Alfie had somehow helped her heal and open to experiences she never thought she wanted, never thought she deserved.

Erin wasn't naive enough to believe in happily ever after. She knew there would be plenty of hard days ahead for their little family but she knew they'd weather them together, because she knew they loved each other right.

-THE END-