A surge of panic spreads through his body as he races through the emergency, wide entrance, automatic sliding glass doors of Chicago Med. Ambulances are lined up outside –one of them most likely being the source of transportation for his wife. Paramedics are wheeling in patients on gurneys and dodging him in the process. He's standing in the entrance, his eyes scanning his surroundings for a familiar face. There's chaos everywhere and his mind is playing some kind of trick on him. His brain perceives the world in slow motion. Nurses and doctors running up to the gurneys the paramedics wheel in, a child lost and crying in search of his parents, a few more unadmitted patients with varying degrees of injuries complain about the lack of immediate help –it all occurs in slow motion.

Halstead is in a heightened state of awareness; he notices every miniscule detail of sight and sound. As the faces of doctors and nurses rush pass him, he doesn't recognize any of them. He looks disheveled; he hasn't slept in hours, his eyes are wide and wild, pupils are dilated, heart is racing, brain is overworking his imagination and everything about him portrays a man suffering in a silent panic. He's standing in the middle of the walkway, medical staff rushing past him and he feels frozen in time. Jay is looking for Platt; she had left the precinct to go to the hospital around the same time the paramedics took Erin away. She should be here. She should know something.

"Jay," Platt's voice sounded small. It sounded light and sympathetic.

At the sudden mention of his name, his brain seems to normalize. The movement in his surroundings is no longer in slow motion. He can hear the chaos and chatter around him. He's starting to recognize the faces of the medical staff as they race around to tend to patients. He feels a hand on his shoulder –a hand that has never, once, touched his shoulder, "Hey," her voice nudges for his attention, and when his eyes avert from the chaos playing out around him towards her, she continues, "There's still not much word on her yet. Erin came in around twenty-five minutes ago. All I know is the doctors gave her a drug to slow down her labor; they're stitching her up, stabilizing her and giving her an emergency blood transfusion. The doctors want to take care of mother before delivering baby, especially since she's still dilating."

"Is the baby," he finds the sentence hard to finish, but Platt is aware of his implication.

"That baby isn't even here yet and she's already proven to be one of the strongest people I know," Platt asserted, "next to her mother of course, and that's big coming from me."

He doesn't say anything. He doesn't even acknowledge that he heard her, but he did. And she knows he did because her hand has been on his shoulder since she ran into him and she felt it physically ease from the tightness that was once building within it. Jay feels lost. He doesn't know what to do right now. He should be back there, but its surgery, not labor. He needs guidance and Platt picks up on it. They're a team –they're family. Platt wraps her arm around his shoulders and leads him towards the waiting room. It's just as chaotic as the emergency entrance, but Jay is too stuck in his own mind to even notice. Platt's arm drops from his shoulders, she spots two perfectly healthy people –nurses- sitting down, taking a break and drinking coffee. Without a word, she pulls them to their feet in order for her and Jay to have their seats. She pushes him down, "Sit."

Jay is in no mood to protest or argue; he sits and he watches her take a seat next to him. The hospital waiting room is stuffy and hot; the heat had been blasting since it's freezing cold outside. The air reeks of sick people mixed with a hint of bleach. It's a specific smell, but it's accurate. He has been to Chicago Med a number of times in an official capacity, never as the person waiting to hear word about their loved one. Of all the times he has been here, he has never really paid much attention to his surroundings. He is staring forward at some peeled off paint mark on the wall. It holds his attention. The bleak and bland wall maintains his focus until it drifts towards the lining of cheap photos meaning to uplift the spirits in the room –they fail. Photos of smiling families, peaceful scenery and adorable animals are not enough to lift his mood. All Jay can seem to think about is the last memory he had with his wife, the last time he saw her and spoke to her before today. His eyes close so he's able to fully picture the moment.

Jay was asleep. She was supposed to be asleep beside him. In present day, while his eyes are closed, a smile stretches across his lips. She hit him really hard in the stomach and he jumped awake, reaching for his firearm in the drawer of the end table. Her eyes were wide, he pictures it like it was a movie playing out right in front of him.

"Have you lost your mind?" Erin exclaims, sitting up in bed in a panic, "I thought we agreed to start locking our weapons away in the safe in the closet. We're about to have a baby in this house Jay. That's not safe."

He puts his gun back down in the drawer, "I'll put it in there with yours when she's here." He closes the drawer and snuggles back comfortably under the covers. His eyes close until she speaks again, "What are you doing?"

"...knitting a scarf, what does it look like I'm doing Erin? I'm trying to sleep." He's snippy, overworked and absolutely exhausted.

"You don't have to be mean."

Silence followed her remark. His snores indicate that he has fallen back to sleep and her loud sigh indicates that she isn't happy about it. She hits him again, "Jay!"

"What?"

"I can't sleep."

While his head remains pressed against his pillow, one eye opens so he's able to look at her, "That's because you're eyes are open and you're sitting up," he recloses the one eye, "maybe if you lay back and shut your eyes, you'll be able to go to sleep."

"I'm hungry."

Both of his eyes open, "Erin it's," he glances at the digital clock, "four in the morning. Go back to sleep. I'll fix you breakfast before I head into work."

"Your daughter's hungry now."

Jay sits up, "That's not fair."

"How about I tell you what's not fair," She throws the covers off her legs, and sets her feet onto the floor, "What's not fair is that I'm carrying around all this extra weight, spending my days, my months growing your kid inside of me and all I want is a hotdog. That's all I want and then we can both go back to sleep. Please, my feet hurt, my breasts hurt, my back hurts and I'm fat. I sacrificed my comfort to bring your child into this world."

Against his wishes, he throws the covers off his legs, "Alright fine, I can already see I won't be getting any sleep no time soon anyway," Jay gets out of bed and drags his bare feet across the white carpet towards the bedroom door, "what do you want me to make you?"

"I want a hotdog with all the fixns' on it." She answers almost immediately, licking her lips the second the craving appears in her head. She can already smell the aroma of it. With her eyes closed, her imagination picks up and she pictures the inevitable hotdog she'll eventually receive on a poppy-seed bun with yellow mustard, chopped onions, green pickle relish, a dill pickle and all of the other added fixings to make what is known as a Chicago-style hotdog.

Erin's salivating mouth almost drooled just at the thought and Jay couldn't help but be amused at the sight. He walks from the bedroom door over to her side of the bed, and pouted almost instantly knowing that he'll have to be the one to burst her happiness, "We don't have any of that. You didn't go to the grocery store."

She reopens her eyes to see him standing in front of her, "There's a diner six blocks over. It stays open 24 hours."

"You want me to leave the house?!"

She grabs his hand, "Please."

Already dressed in sweat pants, Jay turns to find a shirt, "That kid owes me," he jokes.

"Big time," Erin adds with a bright smile.

After getting dressed and heading out of the house in the freezing weather, Jay manages to make it to the diner in record time. Light snowfall covered the streets as he sat inside the diner waiting for his wife's food. He wasn't hungry. He just wanted to go back to sleep. Fortunately, the diner wasn't crowded and her food was finished ten minutes after he placed the order. Halstead shook the snow off his body the second he stepped into the house. He shut the front door and locked each latch, "I'm home!" He takes off his coat and lets it drop to the ground; he doesn't even have the energy to hang it up in the coat closet, "I got you a hotdog and I managed to keep it warm!" He throws his keys onto the side table before heading towards the staircase, "Erin!" No response as he climbs each stair slowly, "Babe, I got your hotdog with all the fixins.' Erin." He still gets no response, "Erin, your-" Jay stops talking at the sight of his wife, lying in bed fast asleep. Her rising and falling chest, her gentle snores and the small smile on her face prevented him from even getting upset; he had left out to get her a hotdog, only to find her asleep the second he gets back. Without waking her up, he kicks off his shoes and shirt, takes the hotdog downstairs to put it in the refrigerator and comes back up the stairs, physically and mentally exhausted and ready to go to sleep. Jay reenters the room and it takes him what feels like less than a second to climb into bed, slide beneath the covers and adjust himself behind his wife. His arm wraps around her and as he spoons her, he finds himself planting a small kiss to the back of her shoulder before falling asleep. His hand opened and lying flat against the curb of her large stomach, he feels a kick, it's not strong enough to wake Erin, but as he sleeps, he subconsciously smiles at the thought that in a month, she'll be here with them.

Time seems to slowly trickle by and Platt has noticed that Jay may be physically here, but mentally he's somewhere else, somewhere happy, and she leaves him there. She doesn't want to bring him back into reality, into a world where everything isn't as happy as whatever he's thinking about. From her seat, she can see the constant flow of ambulances arriving, wheeling in gurneys, doctors and nurses being dispersed and assigned to people based on severity. It's an emergency after an emergency in the hospital. Platt pulls her eyes away and turns to face a woman pacing a few feet in front of her and Jay. She has a shortness of breath and she's gasping loudly. No one, besides Platt, pays her any attention. Platt hears complaints from people around the waiting room; some have been here for a few minutes while others have been here for a couple of hours. The waiting room gets even more crowded when a family comes in, all looked banged up and bruised; they're arguing, apparently there was a car accident and some of their relatives were wheeled into emergency on a gurney. They're pointing fingers and laying blame. The driver, -Wesley- she overhears his name, is throwing up in a nearby trashcan, his mother rubbing circles into his back and trying to divert blame away from him.

Everything just seems so sad and so horribly wrong. Platt sees Jay still smiling and she desperately wants to join in his escape. She doesn't know what he's thinking about, but she's sure, almost positive, that it involves Erin. She starts thinking about her last memory with the detective. It was a few days ago. Lindsay was bored and stopped by the precinct on her way home from visiting Annie. Platt chuckles at the memory. Erin was crying. Trudy had to take her to the locker room to stop officers and civilians from staring. She envisions the short memory like it was yesterday.

"I don't know why you're crying, but I'm sure everything will be okay," Platt awkwardly pats Erin's shoulder; she had no idea how to console a pregnant woman, "What's wrong?"

"That's the thing," Erin looks up at her, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, "I don't know!"

Platt smiles, "You don't know why you're crying?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, you know? Or yeah you don't know?"

Lindsay doesn't answer; she simply glares in Platt's direction. The sergeant takes a seat next to the detective and begins rubbing circles into her back, "I don't have any kids. And I don't know what you're going through, but everything is going to be fine."

"Sergeant, I don't need cheering up."

"Of course you do."

"No I don't."

"You're crying!"

"I'm pregnant! Pregnant women cry!"

"Well you shouldn't…"

Erin wipes her eyes, "…tell my hormones that."

"Want me to go get Halstead?"

"So he can send me home? No thanks."

Platt stands up, "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Just hang here for a minute, I need the adult company."

The sergeant takes a quick glance around in confusion, "No one is in here."

"I text Burgess; she's going to sneak away and come down."

Platt nods, accepting her answer, "And here I thought I was good, adult company."

"You're awesome company!"

Platt comes out of her memory, chuckling at Erin's quick mood change, to find the team surrounding them with Jay giving them the update she gave him moments ago. Erin should be out of surgery any minute and once she's dilated fully, the baby is going to come. The pushing she did in Tyler's basement did nothing; she wasn't even fully dilated. It was so much going on at one time, Erin thought she needed to push, but it was the pelvic pressure on top of the lower back ache and the pain from falling down the stairs that had her sensors all over the place. The team disperses around the waiting room to either lean against a wall or sit in an empty seat. They needed time to think, space and just a minute to get themselves together. As Dawson takes a seat between an elderly man and a middle-aged woman, he pulls his phone from his pocket. The wallpaper on the screen is of his children; they're hugging each other, which was one of the few times they actually got along long enough to take a photo. He remembers the day Erin saw this photo and complimented him on his beautiful children.

"They're getting so big," she gushed, swiping through the pictures of Dawson's children on his phone, "Time is going by and I'm getting so old!"

"Tell me about it," Dawson laughs, leaning against the kitchen counter in the Halsteads' house.

She extends his cell phone back towards him, "They're such good kids. If my baby acts as good as your kids when she's older, I'll consider myself lucky. You're a really great parent Antonio."

"I try."

"How do you do it?"

He pockets his cell phone, "Do what?"

"Parent? Like, how do you do it? I don't know the first thing about being a mom. Bunny was my example until Camille came into the picture. How did you and Laura raise two good kids?"

"I want you to know that every parent has felt the way you're feeling," he assures, walking over to take a seat across from her at the dining room table, "You're not alone in your emotions."

"They say a book can't teach you how to be a parent."

"It can't," he agrees with a nod.

"So how do you do it? How did you plan for a baby? How did you know the decisions you were making were the best to make? How are you parenting so easily?"

"It takes a village," he cracks a smile, attempting to pull an identical one from her face, "And when Laura was pregnant with our first, we were both so unprepared. I was freaking out. She was freaking out. I wasn't where I wanted to be in my career yet. We were living in a small one bedroom apartment. It was a mess. We went from that to what you're calling as great." He leans forward and sets his hand upon her shoulder, "My advice to you Erin, don't sweat the small stuff. You're going to make mistakes, we all do and we all did. Your baby won't love you any less for it. And the best way to learn how to parent is through experience. Trust yourself. Trust your partner. You and Jay have this all under control, and from one great parent to another, you got this girl," he squeezes her shoulder just as Jay walks into the kitchen with a box of pizza.

Antonio remains in his reverie, continually letting the memory play out from the conversation to them eating pizza at the dining room table, waiting for the rest of the team to show up. Atwater leans his shoulder against the wall as he spots Dawson smiling, his hands clasped over his opened legs as he leans forward and daydreams. The detective is standing close to the hallway, watching both the waiting room and the chaos occurring at the entrance and in the hallways of the hospital. Chicago Med is overcrowded today. The hallways resemble a hospital that would be deemed as underfunded when really Chicago Med is far from that. The next nearest hospital, the nurses are on strike so many of the ambulances are diverting towards here. And it shows. Some of the halls are crammed with patients on gurneys, some with worried relatives and some alone. Each of them aren't severe enough to need attending to at this precise moment, but they're all lying on their backs, eyes staring up at the fluorescent lights shining above. The overcrowded halls filled with groaning patients and anxious loved ones. Nurses walking through the halls with a hardened expression, all desensitized from the repeated exposure, the over-work, and the stress of the job. Atwater feels bad for everyone here; he hasn't been to Chicago Med much, but the times he did come, he was able to flash his badge, get answers and then go about his day, no connection to the victim or the perpetrator.

This is different though. Now he's on the other side. He's the loved one waiting to hear word. His badge won't give him answers. He's just another person in the waiting room, patiently waiting on an update about Erin. She was one of the most self-less people he knows; she cares, she connects and she does everything in her power to help. She helped Nadia, Annie, Kim, a long list of unnamed victims and she tried to help her own disappointment of a mother a countless amount of times. That's just who she is. Kevin smiles as he thinks back to when she even helped him out. He had stopped at one of her favorite food places and surprised her with dinner. She was home alone; Jay had to stay late to finish paperwork. Atwater needed some advice and he figured she was hungry so he reckoned it wouldn't hurt to bring over some food and talk, and if his problem came up, she's the type of person who'll offer advice for him to either decide whether to take it or leave it.

They sat at her dining room table with cartons of food spread out and open in front of them. Usually he's able to eat more than her, but he gets full first. He sits back and watches her silently eat the rest of the food while thinking of a way to bring up the topic. Fortunately though, he didn't have to think for long.

"Alright," Erin leans back in her seat, "now that we both have eaten, what's the real reason you came over to my wonderful abode?"

"How did you know?"

She gives him an obvious look, "You should have seen your face the second you finished eating. It's like you were trying to think about how to approach a subject. What's up?"

Atwater scratches the back of his head, "I wanted advice."

"On?"

"Voight," he answers and then continues to explain, "I kind of messed up at work today. He sent me home early, but-"

She interrupts, "you came here."

"Yeah. Want to know what I did?"

"It doesn't matter," she sits up and scoots her chair towards Atwater, "Voight will get over it, trust me. You have no idea how many times I screwed up. He'll get over it. You're human. We all make mistakes, especially Voight. He's made plenty and some of them you can't come back from." She informs, rubbing her chest as she feels heartburn simmering inside of it, "Sorry for the facial expression, but I'm having a little heart burn, it happens a lot during my pregnancy, especially when I eat spicy food," she smiles to lighten his bad mood, "but anyway, trust me, you have nothing to worry about. You're not getting fired if that's what you're thinking. Voight just needs a minute to calm down and if he doesn't, give me a call and I'll use my pregnancy hormones against him," the two chuckle at her joke.

Atwater nods, a smile now clearly on his face, "I should be going. Thanks. You're the best."

"No, I didn't feel like cooking and you fed me and my baby, so you're the best," she asserts, using Kevin's knee to push herself to her feet; he stands up afterwards, "Also," she walks him to the door, "if you need anything, advice or anything, you don't always have to bring me something to get it. That's not how friendship works."

Mouse sees Kevin leaning against the wall, arms crossed and smiling too hard. His pearly white teeth shining as he thinks of something, what it is, Mouse doesn't know. He's currently at the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup as he spots Jay in his peripheral. His closest friend, the man who got him the job, the man who had his back for years was going through something and Mouse wanted to take his pain away. Mouse would trade places with Erin in a second. He owed that to Jay. He owed that to Voight for trusting him and hiring him for this job. The panic of Halstead's face was building with each second that passed. It creates an ache in the bottom of Mouse's stomach, one that he can't see going away until he knows Erin is safe and Jay is happy.

As he grabs the sugar to pour into his coffee, Mouse can't seem to concentrate on one thing. His mind is divided between his coffee, Jay, his team, the hospital and the chaos within it. His heart is beating faster as he tries to focus on exactly one thing, but it seems fruitless. His adrenaline rushes as he stirs his coffee entirely too fast. His thoughts seem to divide even more and he starts to experience negative thoughts, what-if scenarios that didn't end well for Erin or baby Halstead. The thoughts make him sweat; it makes his skin feel like it's on fire. The bad thoughts don't stop even though he's able to tune out his team, the hospital and the hectic noise. The thoughts come in bad waves, making him worriedly sip his scorching hot coffee while pacing in the waiting room. The bad thoughts are horrible and sweat seems to start covering his whole body. He needs to think of something else, something better and happier. He needs to channel those negative thoughts into positive ones. So, he takes the main subject of his thoughts –Erin- and he thinks back to the last conversation he had with her. They were all at the precinct. Erin stopped by to visit and bring lunch, but the team, minus him and Jay were out at a crime scene. She was sitting behind her desk, trying to wheel her chair completely up to it, but couldn't because her stomach was getting in the way.

"Damn it!" He looks up at the sound of Erin's voice.

Cautiously, he gets up, "Everything alright? You're not going into labor, are you?"

"No," she gives him a look and rolls her eyes, "I'm trying to push myself up to my desk, but my stomach creates the biggest gap between me and it. I'm huge."

"You're not huge," he walks over.

"I am huge."

He gives up on arguing with her on that and decides to switch tactics, "You're still a badass." Mouse sees Jay reappear from the restroom as he takes a seat on the edge of Erin's desk, "You're the most badass pregnant woman I know."

"I'm a physically huge pregnant woman."

"You're not that big," Mouse responds, seeing as Jay brings over a water bottle for Erin; he hands it to her, "You're just plump, but it's because you're pregnant, right Jay." He looks over to his friend for help; he didn't want to say the wrong thing and make her cry.

"Mouse is right," Jay nods.

He sighs in relief when Jay speaks up, "And don't forget you're a badass."

"But look at me," she looks between the two men, "I'm feeling pretty self-conscious right now. If I have to adjust my driver's seat once more because of my stomach, I'm going to cry. And I think I'm starting to lose that pregnancy glow."

"No," Mouse speaks up, shaking his head, "You're not. You need to take a look in the mirror Erin. You're hot."

"Alright," Jay nudged Mouse's side, "don't be hitting on my wife." The group laughs as the rest of the team soon joins them.

Ruzek sees Mouse almost spill his coffee on a stranger's lap. And it would have made for great entertainment if he wasn't in such a bad mood. Tyler had been right under their noses. He had been working with them for months to catch a killer that was right in front of them. He had been knocking them off their game, using his psychopathic tendencies to gain their trust only to betray them in the end. This was how they're spending the first day of December; it was almost the second day. This was the month for celebration; this was her last month of pregnancy and Tyler ruined it. He and Erin weren't best friends but they were coworkers, a team, she was the wife of his best friend and the best friend of the love of his life. It's hurting him almost as much as it's hurting everyone else. Adam is staring out of a window, watching ambulances come and go. Watching doctors and nurses run out of the hospital, meeting the paramedics at the back doors of the ambulance to wheel the patients served to only be a temporary distraction. The last time he saw Erin seemed to consistently make its way back into his head.

He was drunk. She had to pick him up from the bar after Jay called her. Apparently, Jay was called by the bartender to come get him, but Halstead was at work and couldn't get off until he finished up paperwork with Dawson and Olinsky. Jay called Erin to come get him. And she did, and the ride back from the bar to their house was awkward. She was mad. She was pulled from her sleep to come pick him up and he was too drunk to go home. She couldn't leave him unattended. When she helped him into the house and onto the couch, they both knew that was where he was going to crash. He was too drunk and she was too pregnant to get him upstairs to the guest room. She was so mean and sweet at the same time.

"Here's a pillow," she tosses it towards him, "and I made up the couch for you. I also put an empty trashcan beside it so you don't puke on my carpet."

He flops down tiredly onto the couch, "Thanks Erin," his words come out in a slur.

"Here's a blanket," she extends the folded cover towards him, "Sleep tight."

"Wait."

She turns around to face him, "What?"

"You're mad," he stated obviously.

"Why would you think that?" She sarcastically responded, "Is it because I was called out of bed at two in the morning to come get you from a bar outside of town? You couldn't go to Mollys! Oh wait, could I possibly be mad because I'm eight months pregnant, it takes me hours to find a comfortable enough position to fall asleep in and then when I do, I'm woken up. If those aren't reasons, maybe it's because I talked to Kim."

"She told you?"

"Yeah," with wide, angry eyes, Erin nods, "let me get this straight, you two get back together because you got jealous of her going out on dates, you two were good, better than good actually, I've never seen you and her so happy and in-love. And she proposes to you and you TURN HER DOWN! Why would you do that?"

"I can explain," Adam hops to his feet and stumbles slightly, "Erin, I can explain."

"What do you want from her? What do you want out of a relationship with her? When are you going to grow up and give the so called love of your life everything she deserves?" Erin interrupts to ask him a marathon of questions, "You do everything in your power to get her back and then you reject her proposal…in front of a restaurant full of people! You lost her the first time because of this and now you're willing to lose her again for the same reason. You need-"

"I wanted to propose to her!" He abruptly shouts before she's able to get in another word; he calms down and lowers his voice the second he gets her undivided attention, "Her proposal caught me off guard. I wanted to propose, but she beat me to it and I panicked and said no."

She's breathing loudly, "You could have went about it a different way," she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest, "She's thinking the worse right now. And instead of talking things out like an adult, you run off to the bar and get drunk! The bartender said you tried to start like five fights, you were belligerent and aggressive."

"I screwed up," he whines, covering his face with his hands.

She watches him and she feels bad; a loud sigh escapes and she takes a seat next to him, "It's going to be okay," she awkwardly pats his back, "Kim loves you and once you explain the truth, it'll all be old news."

"I hope you're right," he leans his head on her shoulder.

"I'm always right," she smiles and seconds after her statement, she hears loud snores. He's completely knocked out. And in the morning when he wakes up, he realizes that she stayed downstairs with him, not wanting to bother him because he needed the rest, especially if he was going to face Burgess the next day.

Olinsky walks back into the waiting room after recently stepping into the hallway to give Meredith and Lexi a call –an update- about Erin. They wanted to come down, but both Lexi and Meredith have work tomorrow. He promised to give them updates as he gets them, but other than that, it was nothing either of them could do to rush the process. As Al walks back into the waiting room, he sees Ruzek walk away from the window and take a seat next to a mute and distant Burgess. He slides his hand in hers before lifting her hand up and kissing the ring he placed there a day or two ago. Olinsky hears the clacking of keys coming from the receptionist as she pokes her head in the waiting room, scanning the varying amount of people in search of someone; she didn't find him and eventually left back out. He sees Voight, but he doesn't approach. If there's anything he knows about Hank, it's he wants to be left alone. The constantly repeated boring infomercials on the television drive them all crazy, Olinsky more so than everyone else. It's all he can focus on as he continues to scan the waiting room to look at the team, trying to deem who needs him the most right now. Ruzek is comforting Burgess, Platt has Halstead covered, Voight wants to be alone and Mouse and Atwater seemed to link up with Dawson. Everyone was covered.

They all wanted to rush the process. Olinsky wanted to know what was going on with Erin right now, not in ten minutes, not in an hour, not in a day; he wanted an update now, for all of their sake. He wanted to know for the baby's wellbeing, to rid Voight of the guilt he's feeling and to help Halstead feel some other emotion besides sorrow. Olinsky needed to know before his own brain shut down and accepted what may not even be true. He settles his thoughts, his mind on Michelle, on Lexi and Meredith. He couldn't imagine how Halstead is feeling, to have his wife and daughter in there and not being able to do anything to save them. At first, the idea of having a baby may not have been taken well for them, but they eventually grew to accept it. They were excited and preparing for the arrival of their daughter. Olinsky remembers just how excited she was three days ago when he paid her a visit.

He was off that day. He figured he should pay her a visit to see how she and baby Halstead were doing. To his amusement, she was absolutely bored out of her mind. She practically dragged him into the house when she saw he was at the door. She grabbed his hand and pulled him all the way into the living room and the entire time she talked and ranted and just absolutely enjoyed having an ear to listen to her complaints, "You don't know how much I was craving human contact."

"I take it you're enjoying maternity leave."

She takes a seat on the couch, "Not at all," Erin slides over to allow Olinsky to sit next to her, "It's so boring! And you guys are the best for finishing the nursery for me, but that gives me nothing to do but watch television and talk to myself." She leans her head back, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, both of her hands settle over her stomach.

He turns to face her, "I thought your friend, what's her name, Anna?"

"Annie," Erin kindly corrected.

"I thought your friend Annie usually pays you a visit at least a few times during the week."

Lindsay reopened her eyes and looked at the older detective, "She does, but Travis broke his leg snowboarding two weeks ago and she's been a little busy with that," Erin blows out a large breath of air before continuing, "And she got fired from her last job at Walmart and has been busy looking for work since."

"You know I think there's an opening for a position at the-"

"Not needed," Erin raises her hand to cut him off, "Jay and I have been talking and thinking about hiring her as a fulltime babysitter when I get off of maternity leave. Nothing is set in stone, but I'm really leaning towards the idea of it."

"That's big," Olinsky declares.

"She's been a mom since we were teenagers so she's experienced. She's one of the strongest people I know; Annie has been through so much."

"Do you trust her?"

It's a question that doesn't require silence or a minute to think; Erin knows the answer right away. She turns further to face Olinsky, bending one leg on the couch and adjusting the bottom of her large tank top, "If I'm considering leaving my kid with her, of course I do." And that says a lot about Erin's trust in Annie; it says a great deal about their relationship.

"What about that guy Charlie?"

Erin pulls her hair back and uses the hair tie around her wrist to pull it into a ponytail, "He's in Travis' life, not hers. Any communication between Charlie and her son is between them. Travis is 18 now and Annie gives him his space to handle whoever and whatever. And besides, she'll be watching the baby at my house and Charlie has no reason to come over."

"And if he does?"

Her smile reaches her eyes, her dimples pierce into both of her cheeks, "I'm going to beat his ass. He knows to stay away."

"Alright Miss. Feisty," he laughs simultaneously with her, "lets dial it down a notch. I'm getting too old to be jumping into fights."

Erin laughs even louder, shoving his shoulder and rolling her eyes, "You're not old Al."

"I'm old," he says matter-of-factly, grinning ear to ear, "but thanks though for the compliment."

"No problem," she responds, patting his leg before using it to push herself onto her feet, "So Al, what actually brought you over to visit lonely me?" He helps her stand fully.

He stands next, "Just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing. Meredith actually wants you and Jay to come over for dinner one day this week."

She clasps her hands together excitedly, "That would be great. I could use the conversation."

"When are you free?" Al questions, withdrawing his cell from his pocket the second it vibrates.

Erin sarcastically replies, "When am I not free?"

"How about you link up with Jay and see when he's free and we'll plan it around then?"

"Hopefully it's not too far away into the future," Erin remarks, leading her and Olinsky into the kitchen, "Jay's great and all, but you guys are overworking him and he's never really up for much conversation by the time he gets home."

Olinsky silently chuckles in present time, thinking of the remainder of their conversation. He stayed with her; they talked, ordered food and watched a movie until Halstead came home. He promised to visit her again so she doesn't go out of her mind from the isolation. They had all made plans to have dinner on the fifth of December, it's almost the second and they didn't even get to have dinner and adult conversation like Lindsay wanted. Olinsky scans the waiting room and this time his eyes meet the eyes of Burgess; they're filled with tears. She's scared for her best friend. She feels herself wanting to jump right out of her own skin. Burgess feels like a child, trembling and terrified, needing the comfort of Ruzek as she waits to hear about Erin. She feels Adam's fingers trace circles around her palm, it's keeping him distracted, but it doesn't prove to have the same effect on her. He twirls the engagement ring around her finger, before lifting her palm to press his lips against it.

Burgess is sitting in the waiting room getting silent comfort from her fiancé. That was usually always Erin's job. She had a way about cheering Kim up within minutes and now she's not here to do it. Adam kisses her hand again as if the kiss will magically make her feel all better. It doesn't work and she slides her hand out of his. She's not in the mood to be comforted. She's not in the mood to be bothered; she just wants to be left alone with her thoughts. Kim leans forward on her elbows and uses her hands to cover her face, mindlessly running them slowly up and down. Her eyes are closed, it's late and on top of her emotions, she's tired and as time slowly passes, she thinks back to last week, a simpler moment in time. They went to grab food and were done, heading back to Kim's truck when Erin slipped and fell flat on her butt; it was on one of the absolute busiest sidewalks in the city during lunch hour. Kim could remember laughing at the look of complete embarrassment on Lindsay's face, "It's not funny!"

Kim continued to laugh, setting down her leftover bag of food, "I'm…not…laughing," she said between giggles while Erin remains sitting. Soon enough, Kim's laughter became contagious and Lindsay starts chuckling soon after. She's sitting on the cold pavement, red face from embarrassment and butt growing cold from the freezing pavement.

"And I spilled my drink!" Erin whines through soft bursts of laughter, "That was a really good smoothie! And I spilled it all over my shirt! Pregnancy has made me such a klutz!"

"Come on," Kim waves, finally calming down, "get up."

And if looks could kill, Burgess would be done. Erin's glaring up at Kim even though a smile is still evident on her face, "If I could get up by myself, don't you think I would have already. This seat is not comfortable at all."

"Oh, sorry," Kim extends her hand to which Erin grabs, "ugh," she's pulling with all her strength, "I don't want to insult you, but-"

"I suggest you don't talk," Erin retorts, irritatingly swatting Kim away.

"Hey!" an unfamiliar male voice shouts causing the two women to glance around; they spot him, with two guys behind him, all of whom are jogging over, "Lady, are you okay?"

She extends both hands towards them, "A little help getting up would be nice."

Without argument, one grabs one arm, another grabs the other and the third man goes behind her. Teamwork pulls her to her feet and Kim is back at her side, using napkins out of her purse to wipe the spilt smoothie off Erin's jacket. Lindsay takes the napkin from her friend, "Thanks guys," she nods towards the men as they walk away, "and thanks for your lack of help," she jokingly retorts, "what would you have done if those guys didn't come over to help me up?"

Burgess shrugs, looping her arm with Erin's and turns back to head towards the restaurant they just left out of, "Let's not worry about that. Come on Er, you've already had a rough day. I'll treat you to another smoothie."

"I'll forgive you if you make it a large."

"If a large is what you want, a large is what you shall get."

Kim drags her hands down her face one last time before leaning back in her seat. The back of her head lays flat against the wall as she scans the room until she meets Voight's eyes. Besides her and Halstead, he's taking all of this the hardest. Hank tears his eyes away from Kim when he hears a toddler crying; he looks over to see the little boy in his panic stricken mother's arms. She's bouncing him as she speaks with a doctor. Whatever news she was informed wasn't delivered well. The woman suddenly breaks down. The doctor grabs the toddler from her arms moments before she drops to her knees. Someone died. He's sure of that; the woman wouldn't have reacted as strongly if it was better news. Hank understands how she feels; it was a few years ago when he was informed of his son's death. Justin had passed away six years ago in this very hospital. The team was there for him. Erin never left his side. He had told her weeks later that she was all he had left and now she might be gone.

Voight leans his forehead against the wall, his fists clench at his side and he tries everything in his power to refrain from punching it. Tyler was right under his nose. He accepted him into his unit. He had been played. This is on him. Voight cannot stop blaming himself. Maybe if he wasn't so desperate to solve this case as soon as possible, he wouldn't have allowed Tyler to temporarily join his unit? He wouldn't have so easily trusted him, taken his word and let him help. Tyler stood by them as they arrested Gregory Bishop. Tyler helped them create a connection between each victim, helped them create a character profile on the mystery assailant and worst of all; Tyler flirted and sought out to woo both female detectives in his unit. Hank pulls away from the wall to see each member of the team looking over at him nervously. They were scared about what he's going to do. And honestly, he didn't even know. He wouldn't know until he has an update on Erin and the baby.

As Hank begins clenching and unclenching his hand, he tries to do everything in his power to calm down, nothing was working, not pacing, taking deep breaths or even closing his eyes and thinking about his grandson. However, eventually the thought of his grandson led to a memory involving Erin. He had talked both her and Halstead into babysitting Daniel so he could join his friends for poker night. They had been reluctant until he convinced them it'll be good practice and preparation for when their baby came. Olive was sick and Daniel had been staying with his grandfather until she recovers. Voight finds himself smiling in present time as he remembers the look on Erin and Jay's face the second they stepped into his house and saw Danny running from the living room, to the dining room, to the kitchen and then back again. That day Voight tried to hold back a laugh when Erin exclaimed, "He won't stop running around!"

"He's six!" Voight reminded.

"Why does a six year old have so much energy?" Jay asked, watching in amazement as Daniel continues running around the house, "Where does he store it?"

Erin interjected, "When is Olive coming back Hank?"

"You guys have this all under control right?" there's a huge smirk on Hank's face as he looks between the expectant parents, "This is practice for when the baby comes."

"I'm not birthing a six year old Hank!" Erin argued, reminding him of the clear distinction.

"Look at it as practice."

Lindsay glanced over her shoulder to watch Daniel kick off his shoes before continuing his energized run around the house, "You didn't even leave yet and we're already exhausted."

"Olive says to not give him any sugar after four pm or he'll never go to sleep, don't let him jump on the couch because he'll try, make sure he eats his vegetables, he always tries to stash them in his pocket," Voight begins listing off instructions, ignoring her expression of concern, "She's picking him up in the morning. I should be back around nine."

"That's in six hours!"

He encouragingly pats her shoulder, "You have this."

"He's jumping on the couch," Jay snitched nervously.

Voight snaps his fingers in his grandson's direction, "Hey kid, get down! You know the rules!"

Daniel jumps down from the couch without a huff or complaint and continues his run around the house, exerting the energy that has been building up all day. Erin continues to watch, growing even more exhausted than she once was moments ago, "Oh my gosh, I can't babysit my six year old nephew without feeling overwhelmed and defeated, how am I going to watch a newborn, especially by myself?" She turns to look at Voight and then her husband, "I can't be a mother."

"Yes you can," Voight asserts while Jay remains quiet; he's unable to comfort Erin because he's feeling the exact same way. How are they supposed to raise a kid when the thought of watching Daniel for a few hours scares them?

"Look at me! I'm a mess."

"You'll be fine."

Erin continues to freak out, "You keep saying that."

"It's an instinct that's going to kick in."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me," he squeezes her shoulder encouragingly, "I'm sure."

Erin takes a step back and exhales a large breath of air, "Alright, I'm calming down, but you better leave before I change my mind."

"I'm leaving," Voight grabs his jacket off the coatrack and slowly backs away towards the front door, "He eats dinner at six and he should be in the bed no later than eight."

"Six, eight, we got it," Halstead saluted.

"He's sleeping in Justin's old room," the couple nods simultaneously and Voight can still see the stress on their faces causing him to hesitate at the door, "Are you both sure that you have this under control? I don't want to leave you if you're freaking out. Kids can smell fear."

"I'm fine. We have this. Don't we Jay?"

Halstead looks down to meet his wife's eyes, "Yeah, uh I guess."

"He doesn't sound confident."

Erin waves for Hank to leave, "Voight go before you're late." She opens the door and smiles when Voight hesitates once again before walking out of it. In all honesty, Hank couldn't bring himself to leave right away, so he snooped. He peeked through the window and watched for the first couple of minutes Jay and Erin attempt to babysit their nephew. It was adorable and extremely funny. Jay chased him around. Erin waddled around. The couple did everything they could think of to exert all of his energy so come bedtime he would go down without a fight.

His memory, his flashback, it's suddenly interrupted at the sight of Will rushing into the waiting room. His eyes scan the room in search of their familiar faces and once everyone spots him, they immediately run over, maneuvering through the crowded waiting area in order to approach him, "How's Erin?" Jay is the first one to speak up as his eyes plead with his brother for good news, "How is the baby? How are they? What's going on?"

Will sets his hands on his brother's shoulders to calm him, "I'm not Erin's doctor, but I spoke to her OBGYN and managed to get an update. It's all touch and go right now; too early to tell, but Erin is only seven centimeters dilated and they need for her to be at ten so she can actually start pushing. Her doctor doesn't want to have to give her a C-section, especially after the minor trauma received to her lower abdomen, but if the baby is in anymore distress, with your permission Jay, they'll do the C-section."

"Why me?" His worried voice questions.

"…because it's surgery and it's a risk for infection among other things especially because the doctors would have to cut into the exact same area she was recently cut in, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," Will assures, squeezing his brother's shoulders, "Erin and baby are both looking good. She's seven centimeters, she has three more to go."

"Well where is she?" Voight's demanding voice shouts from over the doctor's shoulder.

Will turns to face the intimidating man, "She's being wheeled into her hospital room, the room where she'll deliver when it's time. She'll stay there and within a few hours, depending on how everything goes, the doctors will determine whether it's best to wait and allow her to deliver naturally or to just take her in for a C-section. The goal is to have both mommy and baby pull through and because of the trauma Erin received, this is a high risk delivery. They don't want to take any chances."

"Can we," the group turns to face Burgess when her small voice poses a question, "can we go see her? I mean, are we allowed to go back there?"

"I'll take you back," he waves for them to follow, "you all can't stay long, Jay can, but soon enough the rest of you will have to leave out. For one it's about to be too many visitors back at one time. And secondly, none of you signed in. I could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"Thanks Will, we really appreciate this," Voight mutters, firmly nodding his head towards Will in gratitude. Hank will never forget this.

Dr. Halstead and the team finally reach the outside of Erin's delivery room. The door is brown and dull like all of the other doors down the hall of the maternity wing. He grabbed the handle of the door, "Well, here we are," he smiles kindly and opens the door, revealing a brightly lit hospital room. Seconds later, the team floods into the room, Dr. Halsted closes the door behind after they're all inside, surrounding Erin's bed. It's a traditional, stereotypical hospital room, sparse and functional; Erin's hospital bed ready to transform into the bed for the purpose of delivery the second it's time for her to give birth. Relief washes over all of their faces as they take in the sight of her. She's very pregnant, dressed in a hospital gown with the injured side of her face cleaned and bandaged. Her hair flowed down her shoulders and mid-back as she lay comfortably on her side; she's unblinking and staring at the fetal monitor. She finds comfort in watching her daughter's heartrate, it's strong, and it appears to be healthy. One of the lines on the machine, alerts her to another contraction, forcing her head back against the pillow, making her squeeze her eyes shut and clench the sheets of the bed in her fists, "Ugh," she grunts, trying her best to make her way through this bout of pain. She feels someone press a kiss against her forehead and she opens her eyes to see it was Voight, she would respond, but the contraction is still passing through.

They sit with her, Atwater, Dawson and Mouse sit on the worn couch in the far corner of the room, and Burgess and Voight pull the two empty chairs up to the side of the bed as Halstead and Ruzek stand. Erin lays there quietly, keeping her eyes closed while matching her breaths to the beeping of the machines –one monitoring her daughter and the other monitoring her. The contraction is slowly going away and she rolls back onto her side to watch the fetal monitor again. It has been her regular pattern since waking up from surgery and being wheeled into this room. She'll watch and monitor her daughter's heartbeat until a contraction comes and once it passes, she turns right back to watch the monitor. Jay is worried; she hasn't spoken a word since they came into the room. Their presence offered moral support, but Halstead wanted to offer so much more. He wishes he could take the pain away. He wishes he can trade places with her. He wishes he could forward time and have this process over. Halstead flattens the side of the hospital bed with his hands before crawling in; she says nothing. She accepts Jay cuddling up behind her; both are now lying on their side staring at the fetal monitor, his arm thrown over her waist. Surprising to all of them, she didn't push him away. She quietly placed her hand over his and continued watching the machine while remaining on edge knowing that at any moment the next contraction will come.

Lindsay suddenly feels it approaching. The medication given to her when she was first rushed into the hospital to slow down her labor had worn off. Her contractions were coming at a faster rate, more often than they were earlier. She remains on her side and the hand that covers Jay's suddenly clenches around his, she's squeezing tight, so hard that he has to bite his lip to keep from making a noise. Burgess notices that the next contraction has hit and she jumps to her feet, wanting to do something to help and deciding maybe to distract Erin from the pain, "This is it," Kim announces, walking over to the fetal monitor, observing the line that portrays what's left of this contraction, "Baby Halstead is nine months in the making."

Erin grits, "You mean eight months," it comes out strangled as she talks through the pain, "She's not going to make it to nine."

"Some babies are ready to make their debut early."

Erin's eyes shut, squeezing Jay's hand isn't enough but it's all she has right now, "This wasn't her decision," she growls through gritted teeth, "Tyler made the decision for her."

"I'm excited and you should be too," Kim responds, reading the machine and noticing how this contraction is coming to an end, "This time tomorrow," she turns to face Erin, giving her the biggest smile she could muster, "you're going to be someone's mommy! Can you believe it?"

Erin's grin is limited to her mouth; it doesn't reach her eyes at all. It's not because she isn't happy, she is tremendously happy, it's just hard to show it when you're having contractions or had just gotten finished having a contraction. She continues to watch the fetal monitor, but it seemed Burgess initiating a conversation with her opened the metaphorical door for everyone else to start conversing. She's trying to listen to the beeping of the machine, she found comfort in it, but everyone keeps talking, "Can you all please be quiet?" She asks kindly and Dr. Halstead takes that as his queue to usher everyone out of the room, except for Jay. Against hospital policy, he had allowed all of them to come visit at one time and now that the time was up and visiting hours were almost over, it was time for everyone to head on out.

"You have this all under control," Hank asserts, patting her reassuringly, "Camille and Justin are both looking over you. Call me if you need anything."

Each person bids a see you later, Voight gives Erin a kiss against her sweaty forehead while Burgess squeezes her best friend's hand supportively, a nod of strength and endearment translated from one friend to the other. Erin appreciates it and even though she doesn't want to talk over the beeping machine, she does it anyway to give her best friend a peace of mind; she knows Burgess is taking this hard and she most likely won't see her until tomorrow morning and Erin knows that if Kim is going to get some sleep, she needs to talk, "The next time you see me," Lindsay manages to stretch a dimpled smile across her face, "I'm going to be someone's mom."

"And I can't wait," Kim genuinely smiles, sliding her hand from Erin's grip.

Erin tunes back into the beeping machine as her team is escorted out of the hospital room. Her brother-in-law bids a see you later since his shift just ended, but he has an early shift tomorrow morning. Jay's hand intertwines with his wife's again and they both watch the fetal monitor, finding comfort in her strong heartbeat, "I thought I lost her."

"You didn't, we didn't," Jay whispers, pressing a kiss to the back of his wife's head, "Remember what I told you, we're going to take our daughter home."

Lindsay repeats, "We're going to take our daughter home."

Periodically throughout the night nurses would come into the room every once in a while to check to see how far she has dilated. On and off through the night she experienced contractions ranging in length and intensity. It was an hour later when the doctor decided Erin and the baby were safe enough for a vaginal deliver that he could rule out giving her a caesarian section. Hours continue to pass, it's now a couple hours into December 2nd and when the nurse checks this time, she gives the parents a smile, "It's time."

A breath of relief is released as Erin grins, "I can have my baby now."

"You can push once the doctor comes in," she replies, pulling off the gloves and tossing them into the nearby trashcan, "I'll go page him. Do you also want to get an epidural?"

She whispers calmly, "No…no epidural."

"Are you sure?"

"How many centimeters am I dilated?" She looks from Jay to the nurse.

"Nine."

"I don't need an epidural. I made it this long without it."

The second the nurse left to get the doctor another contraction hit; it's the most painful, the most severe and the most intense. She pushes Jay out of the bed. The grunts are no longer present, she's in a full out scream, a plea for Jay to help take the pain away. There's nothing he could physically do, but offer her his hand which she gladly accepts. Jay watches the machine and tries to patiently wait for the contraction to pass, but it's taking too long, the pain she's squeezing into his hand is immense, "Babe," he attempts to coach her through the contraction, "It's okay."

"It is not fucking okay!" She snaps, squeezing his hand even harder.

Fortunately, for the both of them the contraction soon stops and the doctor walks in with two nurses following closely behind him. He greets the couple, but Erin is too exhausted to respond. She's watching the machine, regrettably waiting for the next contraction to hit. And when it does, the nurses are already in the process of transforming the bed in preparation for delivery. With this contraction came a pain that ruled her whole body. In this particular moment, this contraction tore into her; she doesn't even notice that the doctor is sitting on a stool at the other end of her opened and bent legs and suddenly the pain ended.

Jay smiles nervously, running his hand through her hair, "You're doing great babe."

"Your husband is right Erin," the doctor assured, checking her dilation, "And you are fully dilated so we're going to start pushing at the next contraction. Are you ready?"

She wasn't, but it was time to push. She felt the contraction and she felt the urge. With a throaty grunt she followed orders and pushed until she was told to stop –once was enough for now. This labor, this pain was something Erin couldn't have imagined. There's no word that could be used to describe labor pains –nothing at all. No analogy comes to mind. And suddenly the pain comes back and she's being coached to push again, it hurts. She's holding Jay's hand, crying and leaning forward, "Is it too late to change my mind?"

"You're doing fine," Jay reassures.

"That's easy for you to say! You're not attempting to push something the size of a watermelon out of something that's definitely not watermelon size!"

Her stomach tightened and her own scream filled the room. Erin feels too weak to push through this contraction, but tries anyway; they're all coaching her, Jay is reminding her of the breathing exercise they learned together until the contraction passed. The doctor speaks in a resigned voice as he gives the next instruction, "Okay Erin, I want you to push through your next contraction when it comes. Okay?"

"I can't push it out," Erin admits, suddenly on the verge of tears, "You're going to have to pull her out of me. I can't do this!" It's a broken sob and the doctor looks over for Erin's husband to step in, "I can't do it Jay."

"Yes you can," he asserts, cupping the uninjured side of her face, "Do it for you. Do it for her. Do it for me. You're halfway there."

"It hurts," her voice breaking breaks his heart.

"I know babe, but you're the strongest person I know," he kisses her forehead, "If there's anyone I know who can get through this, it's you."

Once she agrees, the contraction soon hits her right after that causing for Lindsay to arch forward, grit her teeth, make a gurgling screaming noise as she squeezes Jay's hand with all of her strength. His hand turns a painful shade of red that he accepts as long as she keeps pushing. Her throat is dry. Her face is sweating and red. This process is repeated for what feels like a dozen times until the doctor gleefully shouts, "I see her hair!"

Jay excitedly announces, "She's coming!"

"I know she's coming! I can feel it!" Erin spats, flopping back and resting temporarily, "I am never doing this again!" She's completely out of breath and tired.

"I'm going to need one big and long push next, okay?"

She nods and leans forward, preparing to give the next push the second the contraction hits. And when it does, she follows the doctor's coaching and shuts her eyes to push with every ounce of her being. Soon, everything becomes a blur, she remembers hearing the doctor mention the baby's head and then the baby's shoulders until suddenly it's over.

Just like that, the baby is here. Erin gives a watery laugh as she exhaustively lays back. Her eyes scan the room in search of her daughter; she had thought that after the umbilical cord was cut, her baby would be handed to her to hold temporarily. Erin sees the doctor quickly hand the newborn over to a nurse as Erin quickly looks over to her husband, "What's wrong?"

"Erin," Halstead whispers, eyes still trained on the nurses, "she hasn't cried."

Lindsay wants to jump out of bed. She wants to do something. She pushes Jay away and points towards the nurses "Go do something! Go help them! Why won't someone tell me something? Why isn't my baby crying?!" The room is quiet; it's noticeably and eerily soundless. Halstead doesn't know what to do; he stays by Erin's side as she silently cries and struggles to see what the nurses are doing. She wants to get out of bed, but she's currently being cleaned up by another nurse as her doctor tends towards her little girl. The silence in the room is deafening –it's ironically loud. And suddenly, the silence ends and a piercing and high-pitched sound of a newborn's cry fill it. An infant's cry spreads through the room causing for Jay to immediately burst into happy tears and with a voice that sounds broken, he whispers, "You did it."

Elation and relief fill the room. Jay cups his wife's face and passionately kisses her. The last 24 hours had been tough. Their girl was finally here. She was currently being checked upon by the doctor, he's listening in on her breathing as she wails loudly –the sound is music to her parents' ears. The doctor pulls the stethoscope away from the infant, "Sounds like strong lungs, but since she's a preemie we want to make sure."

The new parents were briefly shown their daughter and the sight of her was absolutely captivating. She was beautiful and as quickly as they've been shown her was just how quickly they took her away for overnight observation. Their baby had light brunette hair, she was pink and her eyes were wide open and alert. She had seen her baby. They had seen their daughter. And it made the fact that they're officially parents so much more real. They had waited months for this moment, hours for this labor, and it made the finale so much grander. She doesn't even remember being cleaned up. She doesn't even remember the doctor and nurses leaving the room. She does however pay attention to Jay's phone call, "She's a month early and was taken to the NICU, but the doctor seems positive. She's breathing fine, a little underweight, but she is expected to make a full recovery." Her husband is beaming as he walks back and forth in front of Erin's bed, "Her birthday is December 2nd, and she was literally born like ten minutes ago."

Even though she wanted to bask in her new found motherhood, she was exhausted, extremely tired. The sleep she fell into was peaceful. The dark days seemed bright. The sun seemed to exist within her heart, within her world in the form of her daughter. She hasn't even held her yet and she's already smitten. Lindsay looked into her hazel eyes, so perfect, so innocent and so strong and filled with love. She had thought she loved her daughter before, but actually seeing her, looking into her eyes, taking in every physical feature made her fall in love with her even more. She would do absolutely anything to protect her daughter and once she looked up at Jay as he spoke to the team on the phone about their daughter, she knew the same can be said in regards to him. She was someone's mom. She was actually someone's mom. And Erin happily fell asleep knowing that.

When light snores fill the walls of the hospital room, Jay becomes aware of his wife's slumber. After everything she had been through today, she deserved a good night's rest. Halstead hit the light and the room was immediately submerged in darkness, he steps out into the hall, "Thanks."

Burgess extends the bag, "No problem. If there is anything else you guys need me to do, do not hesitate to ask. How is she?"

"…asleep."

"She deserves it," Burgess replies, walking side by side with Jay in the direction of the exit, "I just can't imagine having surgery done to me without any pain medication or any source of comfort. And I keep thinking about how she shared her fear of having a C-section with me," they come to a stop in the hallway; the chaos that was once in the hospital seems to have fizzled away, "I just feel so bad because I comforted her and told her she wasn't going to have one."

"She didn't," Jay reminded, setting his hand against Kim's shoulder, "Erin didn't have to have a C-section. She was able to deliver naturally. The little one gave us a little scare but the doctors have her in the NICU overnight for observations."

"So I guess seeing her is not an option?"

"Unfortunately, you all won't be able to see her until tomorrow; she's being observed and they're running tests to make sure she's a healthy preemie."

Burgess adjusts the strap of her purse around her shoulder before sighing, "Well I guess I should be getting on out of here. Ruzek is parked in a no-parking spot so I should get going."

"Thanks again for picking up and bringing the hospital bag," he proclaims, raising the bag into the air and dangling it in between them.

"It wasn't a problem at all," she waves it off, slowly backing towards the exit, "Give Erin a hug for me. The team and I will probably be back once visiting hours start so that's early in the morning. I expect all tests to be done with baby Halstead and for her to be in the room with her parents, if not, someone will have to answer to Aunt Kim."

Jay salutes and chuckles at her response while watching her disappear from the hospital. He adjusts his grip around the overnight hospital bag that was packed weeks ago and begins heading in the direction of his wife's hospital room. She's still asleep when he enters. She's laid back, legs stretched out, one arm dangling off the side of the bed while the other is thrown over her stomach. She was sleeping peacefully and without disturbing her, he lifts a chair and sets it down beside her bed. The worn, plastic chair will have to do for the night. Jay takes a seat, crosses his arms against the edge of the bed and lays his head down in the folds until he falls asleep. It takes a minute because he's uncomfortable, but pretty soon the exhaustion, the worry, the fear, the anger and the absolute relief all caught up to him in one moment making the dozing off period of the night better attainable.

At some point in the night Jay feels a hand nudging against his arm; he tries to ignore it, but it persists. The hand is gripped around his wrist and yanks to unfold his arms, "Jay," he hears his wife whisper, "wake up." He stirs. It was still dark in the room; it was still night outside. It was still time to sleep. Halstead pulled his wrist from her grip and leaned back in the seat, trying to find another comfortable position to fall asleep in without being bothered, "Jay."

His eyes remain closed, "Is something wrong?"

"Get in the bed with me."

Without argument or rebuttal he stands. The chair was too uncomfortable that her offer was one he couldn't refuse. He kicked off his shoes, climbed into the bed once she moved over and spoons her from behind. His chest against her back, his arm draped over her waist and they're both facing the direction of the window, watching the bright stars illuminate the dark sky. Sharing their body heat with one cuddled against the other, Erin's hand intertwined with her husband's as his remained resting against her stomach, "Does it feel weird now that your arm is able to wrap completely around me?" She smiles when she hears him chuckle and seconds afterwards she rolls around to face him; his arm still draped over her waist, her head now laid against his chest, "Jay."

"Hmm"

Her hand caresses the side of his face, "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"I am?" He teases, leaning in to kiss her hand, "What about the baby?"

"…her too," Erin laughs, snuggling further against him, pulling the sheet over both of their shoulders, "Truth?"

"What's up?"

Even though the room is basked in darkness, she looks up at him; their faces inches apart, "I kind of miss being pregnant."

"What?" He peers down at her with an obvious smirk on his face, "You ready to have another?"

"No. God no!" Erin proclaimed, hand falling to cradle her now empty stomach, "Only one baby, her. It's just…," she shrugs when she feels his arm pull her closer towards him, "I thought I had more time. I wasn't ready for her to be here just yet. I had another month to go. I had another month to mentally prep myself. I had another month to spend completely linked to her. I guess I miss the connection, feeling her and helping her grow. Regardless of how I felt, I wasn't alone. She was with me everywhere, but besides that, I hate all the other stuff about pregnancy."

His arms wrapped around her brings a sense of protection, like she's untouchable, and he knows it and kisses her against her forehead before responding, "She made it worth it though, right?"

"I feel like I'm supposed to say yes, but considering I had her a few hours ago and the whole Tyler incident, I deserve to say I don't know…" her fingers trail up and down his arm, "I love her, I want her here, but gosh Jay, the pain was indescribable."

"I respect that."

Another silence falls over the room. Jay takes that as his chance to get some sleep, knowing that his wife was tired with every reason to be, he had assumed the silence meant that she had fell asleep. Both of his arms circle around his wife, they're chest to chest, her face lay against his shoulder and when he feels her hand rub up and down his back, he knows she's still awake. He couldn't see if her eyes were opened or closed, but he knew her enough to know that if she wasn't sleep right now it wasn't because she wasn't tired, it was because she had thoughts racing in her head that wouldn't slow down enough to get sleep.

"We have a baby Jay." One of her thoughts is voiced.

And her sudden comment pulls a smile onto his face, "We do. Can you believe we're parents?"

"I miss her already." He can feel her words vibrate against his chest as her head remains lying against it; her hand still rubbing against his back.

"We'll see her tomorrow. Tonight is for running tests."

"She's so small," Erin expressed with concern.

"And she's strong," Jay adds.

Erin gushed, "And she's so cute!"

"The cutest," he agrees.

"That yawn she did," Erin draws her head back to glance up at her husband, "Did you see it? It was so adorable Jay."

He chuckles; she feels the waves of his laughter against her, "Are we going to be those parents that find every natural bodily function she does adorable?"

"You're damn right," her assertion was loud and clear.

Brushing a strand of brown hair away from his face, the laughter in the room dies down and the mood grows serious, "How are you feeling?"

"…like I just had a baby," she answers, as his lips pepper kisses against the side of her mouth.

A Cheshire grin spreads across his face, "Mission accomplished then," he holds his hand up in the air and waits her for her to high-five it, and when she does, he holds it and intertwines his fingers with hers. With their hand still intertwined, she brings his towards her, "You were a great partner," Erin pecked his hand, "I don't think I would have been able to do this without you."

"I love you."

Their hands separate and his arm wraps back around her waist, "I love you too. We should get some sleep," he whispers the second after hearing her yawn.

"Yeah, it might be the last night we get some."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Her brow raises, "Alright, I'll remember that when she wakes up at three a.m. crying."

"This is definitely going to be the hardest job we've ever done."

Her eyes close after she nods, "Oh, definitely."

"You know we still don't have a name."

She was half asleep, "We should actually get a start on that," another yawn arises as she struggles to keep her eyes open, "I want a name with a meaning that we connect with; something not common, something different, something safe," her voice is groggy and she finds herself struggling to stay awake, "something that resonates with the both of us."

"When you think of her, what comes to mind?"

She stirs, reopening her eyes to answer, "…a safe place; my safe place."

"What do you mean?"

"The thought of her kept me going when I was in Tyler's basement," she admits, her eyes drifting close as she continues to speak, "the thought of her kept me going, it kept me focused and it kept me safe. If I can get through that just by the thought of her, I can get through anything when I'm actually with her; she's my safety net, my escape, my safe place."

"I got it," Jay mutters the announcement, and moves his lips against her ear to whisper the name. He sees a smile tug at her lips as she finds comfort and approval in the name given. It's perfect. The couple dozes off peacefully, knowing that their daughter's name was chosen and tomorrow it will be imprinted permanently onto her birth certificate.

When sunshine beamed through the window, Erin felt the light shine upon her face. It causes her to stir; it causes her eyes to open and scan the room when suddenly, she sits up in an instant second, "Jay!" He jumps awake when she shakes him.

Halstead sits up, "What's wrong? What happened? Is it the baby? Is she okay?" He's looking around the room, expecting to see a doctor, the team or the baby, someone besides his wife, but when he doesn't, he turns to face her, a look of clear distraught on her face.

"Tyler, he's the serial killer!"

"We know," Jay whispers, taking a hold of her hand, "We solved it in time."

"What happened?"

Jay fills her in. He starts with the character profile which led to them questioning why she hasn't shown up at the precinct yet. He tells her about the team putting their heads together and realizing that Tyler was behind it all, or at least, he knew more than what he was leading on. He reminds her of everything that happened when they got there, when they freed her, when the paramedics came and took her away and each word brought back a memory, however, when she left, she didn't know what happened. She didn't know anything about the case. Erin sits up against the back of the bed and folds her legs, "What happened after I left?"

Halstead looks up at her and as he tells her the dreaded events of that night, he thinks back to them. He was angry. He was enraged. He wanted justice and at the moment he figured going to prison would be too easy of a punishment after what he did. Jay remembers seeing Voight's gun pressed against the side of Tyler's head, and some irrepressible force pushed him to say, "Do it."

Kim jumps from her seat on the stair, "Voight, no!" She runs over.

"Do it." Jay repeats his earlier demand.

She shouts again, "No!"

"Do it!"

"No!"

Jay immediately turns to face Kim, his eyes are wide and manic as he struggles to not direct his anger towards her, "You don't think he deserves this?"

"He deserves a lot," Kim avows, slowly approaching her best friend's husband, "but this isn't something Erin would want."

His eyes peer into hers, "How do you know?"

"I'm her best friend!"

"I'm her husband!"

"And I raised her," Hank interjects, hovering his finger over the trigger, "and this is something that I want. This is something that I need to do."

"It is not up to us," Burgess argues.

Jay shakes his head in disagreement, "Voight, do it."

"Sergeant no," she pleas, rushing up to him, "don't do this. There are officers upstairs. They can take him to the district, book him and throw him in jail! We need to go to the hospital."

"Let him do it!" Jay shouts in disagreement.

"I can't because I know you two will never forgive yourselves. You're not like him! You're not monsters! Jay, you are not like him. You won't be able to live with yourself if you take justice into your own hands," she explains, eyes averting back and forth between him and Voight. Tyler remains on his knees, no hint of remorse evident on his face as he waits for his fate.

Halstead stares at his; his own eyes grow watery at the lack of remorse, at the confidence and poise embedded on Tyler's face. He doesn't care what happens to him. Whatever the decision they make tonight, Tyler doesn't care; he'll accept it either way. That's what pains Jay the most. He wants him to beg and plead like all of his victims did before him. He wants him to suffer like he made his victims suffer. Jay just wanted to give him what he deserved. Tyler stared down at the ground, mind completely distant from the situation. He wanted the guy to beg, to plead with them to spare his life, to apologize for all of the lives he stole, apologize for hurting Erin, but he said nothing. And his silence is deafening, it speaks volume and it forces Jay to turn and grab Kim's arm, "Let him do it! He tried to kill my baby!"

"And he will pay for that!" Burgess snatches her arm out of his grip.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have faith in the justice system; I have faith that it won't allow someone like that to walk out a free man," she approaches Jay, hands placed on his shoulders as she watches the tears fall from his eyes, 'We have all the evidence we need! We have this!"

"He tried to kill my baby Kim!"

"I know, and I hate him for it. I hate him so much, but we need to be there with Erin. We need to lend our support and attention to her. She needs us more than him right now."

Jay pushes her hands off of his shoulders, "He tried to kill my baby!" He breaks this time, forcing Ruzek to stand up and walk over to him and pull into a much needed hug.

"Can you take him upstairs and send the officers down to take Tyler to the district?" Jay overhears Burgess ask Ruzek, and in the hug, he feels his best friend nod.

And when Adam grabs his arm and begins tugging him towards the stairwell, Voight calls out, "Halstead," he stops walking and turns around to face him, "I should do this. His life does not deserve to be spared; I can make it look like a suicide."

"I want you to do it," Jay agrees, snatching his arm from Adam's hold.

"If you do this," Ruzek finally interjects into the conversation, "Voight, you'll be a murderer and Jay, you'll be an accomplice! Don't ruin your life for him!"

Dawson and Atwater reappear downstairs; they missed the conversation, but by the looks on the team's face and the barrel of Hank's weapon pressed against Tyler's head, they gathered enough information to assume what's going down. Antonio sees his boss, he jumps down the last three stairs and pushes through the team, "Sergeant, hand me the gun."

"He deserves this," Hank's hand trembles; he's trying to compose himself and keep the weapon still, but with Antonio slowly approaching, extending his hand towards him, he finds himself distracted and dividing his time between looking at his detective and Tyler.

"That's not your decision to make," Dawson is casually reaching for the weapon; "Let's do this the right way," Voight moves the weapon away from Antonio, "Come on."

"Halstead and I…we need this."

Antonio's eyes meet Jay's, they plead with him to do the right thing. He has always looked up to and respected Dawson; he was his mentor. If Antonio gave him his word, he'll believe him, "What's going to happen to him?"

"He'll be locked away. He'll never see the light of day again. He's going to pay for everything he has done to Erin, to every one of his victims."

Halstead looks up to meet Voight's gaze; it still remains distant and angry, "I want you to do it," the team disappointedly sighs until he continues, "but I need you not to."

Antonio grabs Tyler by the handcuffs and pulls him up to his feet. He shoves the man forward once and then twice until they reach the bottom of the stairs, "Stop Dawson. That's an order!"

"There are two uniformed police officers outside. They'll take Tyler to holding and processing. You need to go be with Erin," Antonio turns to Jay, "And you need to be with your wife."

The gun is trained towards Tyler until Dawson takes a step in front of him, "Move."

"No."

"This isn't about you Antonio."

"If you kill him you'll be just like him."

Dawson's words are unheard on Voight's ear as he barks another order, "I said MOVE!"

"If you shoot him, you'll have to shoot through me," he stands firm; each detective in the room looking back and forth between the two, fearing the sergeant's possible reaction, "Let him suffer in prison; death is too merciful for him." He turns towards Jay, voice and eyes pleading, "Help me convince him to stop."

"I can't," Jay shrugs off.

"You can."

"Why should I?"

"Because you're going to be a father," Antonio answers; his own eyes on the verge of tears, "If you both do this, there is going to be an investigation done through internal affairs and Jay, you could possibly be taken away from Erin and your daughter. It's not worth it."

And that was enough to convince Jay. While every fiber of his being wanted Hank to go through with it, he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Deep down, it wasn't the right thing to do at all. Against his earlier judgement, Halstead turns to face Voight, "I need you not to do this."

"What if I need to do it?" The sergeant's voice growls as the gun remains trained on Antonio currently shielding Tyler.

Jay takes a step towards him, "It's not about us."

"Sarg, it's not about us," Jay repeats, reaching forward and snatching the weapon from Voight's grip, "It's not about us."

He didn't get a chance to tell her the remainder of the story; he didn't get a chance to tell her that the officers took Tyler away and they quickly got to the hospital as soon as possible. He didn't get a chance to say any of that because by the middle of his story, her arms were swallowing him in a hug. She's sitting up on her knees on the side of the hospital bed, both of her arms wrapped around him, and squeezing him tight, "Thank you. After what Voight did to Justin's killer…I-"

"You don't need to explain," he whispers, pecking against her cheek.

The two separate. Neither had any sense of time, but they knew it was around morning since the sun was beaming brightly. Erin disappeared to use the restroom and once she was done, the couple brushed their teeth and washed their face with some of the packed necessities in their overnight hospital bag, fortunately brought to them last night by Burgess.

As they leave the in-room restroom, Halstead turns on the hospital room light, "I'm just glad you remained strong. You fought."

"Yeah, well, you are worth fighting for," Erin replies, as she starts making the bed, "You and the baby were worth fighting for."

Before he's even able to respond, the door to their room is opened and a hospital bassinet is wheeled into the room, "We have someone who has been dying to see her parents." A shortness of breath is felt between the parents; they're both speechless and overwhelmed that it's finally the moment they can see, meet, hold and just love their daughter completely. Erin drops the pillow she was fluffing up and diverts her attention and her movement towards the nurse and her baby, "Oh my goodness," she's overwhelmed as she lifts the swaddled baby up into her arms, "this is really happening. Jay," she calls for her husband to come over, "look at her."

Halstead peers over his wife's shoulder at their newborn, rested securely in her mother's arms swaddled in a white blanket with a small hospital, newborn cap securely snugged on the infant's head. The nurse shuts the door behind her, "I'm here to teach you how to breastfeed," she informs, wheeling the bassinet over towards the bed, "You can take a seat on the bed." The next few moments seem to fly by as he watches as the nurse teaches his wife how to breastfeed, and the second his daughter latches on and begins eating, his heart suddenly starts beating faster. They're definitely going to be those parents who find amazement in every little thing their daughter does. With her opened eyes, she stares up at her mother as she consumes her breakfast. His wife's own eyes peer down at their daughter; eye for eye, they beam into each other's orbs and the small newborn has no idea the effect it has on her mother.

"How do I know when she's done?" Erin doesn't look away from her daughter when her question is posed. She remains engrossed in every little movement her daughter makes.

"She'll unlatch or stop eating," the nurse answers, coming over to check, "She's done. She shouldn't be too hungry. We fed her last night and about an hour ago."

Erin adjusts her shirt, "How do I know when she's hungry again?"

"She'll let you know," the nurse smiles, watching as the new mother stared down adoringly at her daughter.

Jay steps forward, "What about her tests? How are her lungs? Her breathing?"

"Did she stop breathing again?" Erin picks up on the questioning and continues it, "Were her tests looking positive? Is there anything we should keep an eye on?"

"She's fine. She's small, a bit underweight, but she's fine."

The new parents sigh in complete relief. Erin pulls the cap off the newborn's head and lays her down, on her back, in front of her. The baby's eyes are opened and she's embracing the world, her mother, peering down at her. She un-swaddles the newborn, "Jay, can you pass me the hospital bag? She's already in a diaper. I'm going to put her in a onesie."

"Getting her ready for visitors," the nurse commented, beaming happily as she watched the two parents dress the baby –who is less than a day old- in a onesie.

"When does visiting hours start?"

The nurse glances at her wristwatch, "It starts at nine am. It's ten minutes to nine."

The second Erin finishes dressing the baby in a purple onesie with a pink heart in the center, the nurse disappears to give the new family their well-deserved alone time. Lindsay lifts her baby back up and through her own exhaustion from last night's events, she smiles –it was an overwhelming urge to release the biggest grin. Her eyes scan her newborn's face, her wide innocent hazel eyes looking up at her mother, revealing the trust, the endless love and the absolute dependence she has on the woman holding her. In this moment, she starts to cry; the tears that fall are a mixture of the love, the maternal instinct and the protectiveness she had for her baby. How could she have lived before her? Now that she has her, she can't even remember how she was able to function without her. The little girl was only a few hours old and she was by far one of the strongest people Erin has had the fortune of meeting. Her eyes eventually close and a newborn baby smile arrived minutes afterwards; she had to be having good dreams. The smile, the smile that Erin cannot stop looking at reveals dimples piercing into her newborn's cheeks; the smile that filled her with love and a feeling that she has never known to exist in the world until now. The new mother looks up to meet her husband's eyes; he's looking at his two girls with an indescribable adoration, "Do you want to hold her?"

Gently and carefully, the infant is passed from one parent to the other. He cradles her, like a new father, nervously yet cautiously in his arms. When her eyes reopen minutes later, he's able to have his own peer into hers; eye for eye, they're looking into each other's soul. With the newborn secured in one arm, body laid against his chest, he takes his finger and slides it into her closed fist; her tiny hand can barely fit around his pinky, but he enjoyed watched her subconsciously attempt to do it. Jay walks slowly around the room, watching as her eyes take in the strange world around her. Technically, her newborn eyes are blurred; her vision is not supposed to start to settle in until weeks later, but the thought of being able to view the world through eyes not accustomed to it yet has him looking forward to the future. It has him looking forward to seeing and experiencing the world, the city, love and life through the innocent eyes of his daughter. And when her eyes slowly close once again, he carefully sets her back into the bassinet and wheels it even closer towards the bed her mother was currently sitting on.

Erin's eyes were so focused on the child that she didn't even see or feel her husband take a seat next to her. They're both engrossed by her image, by her smile and by her presence that their surroundings don't even seem important. Jay leans forward, his finger gently sliding against his daughter's dimpled cheek, "She's so perfect."

Lindsay temporarily breaks eye contact to look over at her husband, "Be careful saying that."

"You know what I mean," he smirks; eyes are still trained on the infant.

"Yeah, I do," she replies, sliding closer to her husband to lean her head against his shoulder, "I just can't believe I ever doubted having her."

"I know what you mean."

A silence falls between the couple as they sit and watch their daughter nap peacefully; a part of them actually watches to ensure that's actually okay, that she won't stop breathing and that the doctors didn't make a mistake. They watch her to convince themselves that it's all real; she's actually here, safe and sound and most of all, she's healthy. As they continue to watch her, they fill with even more love for the little girl. She's a stranger, someone they had just met, and already they're entranced. They hear a gentle knock on the door, and the couple undesirably pulls their eyes away from their daughter to see who's entering the room; it's the team. They're quietly tip toeing inside holding balloons, teddy bears and cards, each sporting a grin a mile wide on their faces. Burgess gasps in amazement when she approaches the bassinet, each member of the team slowly surround it. Without taking her eyes off the newborn, Kim extends the teddy bear towards the new parents, "Oh my goodness, look at her, she's so freaking small!"

"She's tiny," Atwater adds.

With his hand pressed against the small of Kim's back as he peers down into the bassinet, Ruzek comments "She looks so fragile. I'm scared if I touch her I might break her."

"She makes me want to have another," Dawson remarks, setting the vase of flowers down on the bedside table, "She'll definitely give anyone who looks at her baby fever."

Olinsky hands over his congratulations card, "This is from me and Meredith. And Lexi told me to tell you both that she's only a phone call away if you ever need a babysitter."

"We'll definitely probably take her up on that offer," Halstead agrees.

"She looks so precious," Platt declares, metaphorically feeling her heart melt at the sight of a small smile appearing on the little girl's face, "Look at those dimples."

And suddenly, the infant stirs awake before erupting into a large sob. Her little face turns red and her arms stretch out as her little lungs helped her scream at the highest volume. Burgess looks at her best friend, using her eyes to beg for permission to lift her up. Erin agrees and moments afterwards the newborn is scooped into Kim's hands, "Hi," she coos, bouncing the infant in her arms, "Hi little one."

Ruzek toys with the child's fingers, "My hand is like ten times bigger than hers."

"Want to hold her?" Kim turns to face her boyfriend, the tired child yawning in her arms.

"I shouldn't," Adam shakes his head.

Halstead stands up, "Come on man. You might as well start practicing now."

"No, I think I'll pass."

Kim extends her towards her fiancé, "Hold her."

"She's so small."

"Just hold her! You're not going to break her."

"What if I do?"

"…then I'll break you. Come on! Hold her."

Ruzek is given the baby and he awkwardly holds beneath her arms. His own arms are extended and her feet dangle freely in the air, "Support her head," Antonio worriedly orders, approaching Adam to assist him in handling the baby.

"Hold her up!" Olinsky chimes in.

"She's a baby not some hazardous waste!" Antonio remarks, his own hands extended towards the infant just in case she slips from Adam's hold, "One hand under her bottom and the other put under her head! Bring her towards you, lay her against you." Adam follows orders and with the little girl cradled against his chest, her head in the crook of his arm, he starts rocking her. Everyone else in the room begins to calm when the child is safely resting in Adam's arms, however, she doesn't stop wailing. Her tear ducts weren't formed yet, but it didn't stop her from crying her lungs out. Her cries overwhelmed their ears and Ruzek grew antsy, bouncing the small infant in his arms, "She's crying! What do I do? I don't know what to do!"

Erin hops to her feet, "Give her to me." She doesn't wait for Ruzek to extend her daughter towards her, she scoops her up herself. And the moment she was comfortably rested in her mother's arms, she stopped crying. It was instant, almost immediately after being taken from Adam's arms, "I swear she doesn't like me."

His comment is ignored as Voight approaches the newborn, "Let me look at her." He peers into her open, watery eyes scanning the blurred world before her.

"Want to hold her?" Erin asks, averting her eyes between her daughter and her sergeant.

The words were like magic to his ears; he had been waiting all day and night for this moment. With a nod of the head and his arms extended, she is placed into her grandfather's arms. His eyes glisten as he peers down at the human form of innocence resting peacefully in his arms; she yawns and it melts his heart. Voight brings her even closer and settles her against his chest, "Do we finally get to know this little girl's name?" Her head lies against his shoulder and her eyes flutter open and closed, battling against sleep. Circles rubbed into her back from her grandfather as he hums a sweet tune –a melody that Camille hummed to Justin and the same jingle he and Justin had hummed to Daniel when he was a baby.

"I am going to miss calling her Baby Halstead," Burgess whispers adoringly watching a stretched out yawn appear on the baby's face. She watches the parents –her closest friends- watch their daughter fall asleep in Voight's arms.

"I'm going to still call her that." Ruzek declared, crossing his arms defiantly.

Kim snickers, ensuring her voice is the volume of a whisper as she responds, "I can't picture a 15 year old Baby Halstead still letting you call her Baby Halstead."

"She won't have a choice; she'll always be Baby Halstead to me." Ruzek argued.

As the two bickered back and forth in whispered tones, Hank continued to rub circles into the baby's back, hum softly and rock side to side. A smile of grace and content appeared on his face when his eyes closed to enjoy and embrace this moment. He didn't get a chance to do this with Daniel when he was less than a day old. He saw Daniel on special occasions and the moments and milestones he missed with his grandson, he hoped and yearned to be there for his granddaughter's. When complete silence filled the room, his eyes opened and averted towards the new parents, "So, do we have a name?"

"We do," Jay answers, taking a hold of his wife's hand before answering, "It's Haven."

"Her name is Haven Camille Halstead," Erin added.

Dawson comments, scratching the back of his head in thought, "That's different."

"That's unique." Kim offers her opinion while mentally repeating the name in her head until it grew on her. She liked it. It's different, unique and special.

"That's adorable," Platt asserts.

"That's beautiful," Voight finally responds, walking the sleeping baby over to the bassinet, "She's beautiful. And I love it." He carefully lays her down and Jay approaches to lay the newborn hospital blanket over her exposed arms and legs; the onesie didn't cover much.

"How'd you think of it?" Olinsky questions, eyes averting between the couple, willing to hear an answer from either one of them. When Jay doesn't look up and keeps his eyes on his daughter, he turns to Erin for the answer.

Lindsay runs her hands down her hospital gown, while inhaling and exhaling an exhausted breath of air, "When I was in his basement," the second her incident with Tyler is brought up, it gains the attention of everyone in the room, "all I could think about was her," she walks over to the bassinet, "She kept my mind off the pain, off the fear and off of everything," momentarily tearing her eyes off her daughter to look up at her team, she continues, "It may sound hard to believe, but she kept me safe. She kept me protected. She kept me sheltered," Erin licked her dry lips, "The thought of her became my place of safety."

"Our safe place," Jay interjects into his wife's monologue.

"Our safe haven," Erin adds with finality.

"Hence the name," Voight ponders.

One tear escapes and trickles down Erin's cheek as nods, "Hence the name."

The end

A/N: Hello everyone! While Cat and Mouse has come to an end, I've been considering posting a sequel that follows their first year as parents. This story has been intense and I think we all deserve some light-hearted moments and family time. Let me know what you all think and thanks for your continued support and reviews; it's one of the many reasons I continue to write.