58. I Knew You Were Trouble

Thank you so much for your lovely reviews and feedback! So let's see whether Crispin is here to stay ;)

58. I Knew You Were Trouble

Will, Natalie and Owen were already waiting for them at their agreed spot in Lincoln Park when Erin, Jay, Emilia and Crispin approached them in the afternoon, the whole city once again reveling in pure sunshine. Even against the sun and from the distance Jay could see the frown and questionmarks on his brother's face and the older Halstead didn't hold back with his question as soon as they were within earshot.

″What the hell is going on here?″ he asked laughingly, his eyes falling on the leash in Jay's hand and the black-and-white dog that walked beside him dutifully.

″Be patient and we'll tell you,″ Jay smirked before they all hugged each other and extended their picnic area in the shade of a giant tree with the blankets Jay and Erin had brought with them.

They all sat down, Crispin sitting next to them and scanning the surroundings attentively, and Jay told them the story about how the young dog's joined their family last night. However, he kept it rather short. There was no need that his brother and Natalie needed to hear about the cruel scenes he'd seen and he himself still tried to push those pictures as far away as possible. He just wanted to enjoy his weekend off, wanted to enjoy some family downtime and for once not think about work and all the brutal crimes he was confronted with on a daily basis.

Once the story was told, Will and Jay took Owen and Emilia to the playground for some entertainment, leaving the two women and Crispin alone.

″Sometimes it's so nice to just have a moment of silence,″ Natalie grinned as they watched the four of them disappearing in the distance.

″Hell yeah,″ Erin laughed, adjusting her sunglasses that a couple of minutes ago Emmy had tried to steal from her nose, and reached for one of the cooled sodas in the ice box. ″And Jay really needs to spend some time with his princess, so I won't complain at all.″

″Will and Owen can use moments like this to bond, so I won't complain either,″ Natalie agreed and grabbed a soda as well.

″How are things going with the three of you?″ Erin asked the woman who would one day possibly be family. They saw each other quite often thanks to the Zumba classes they were still attending but they never had time to talk about stuff like this, family stuff, when the other girls were with them as well.

″I wish we had more time for doing these kind of things,″ she sighed and gazed around the park. ″Everything's going well but Will and Owen still barely know each other because he either comes to my place in the evening when Owen's already sleeping or he has to work through the night. The only time we really get to spend time together as a family is in the mornings, in case he even spent the night at my place, or when we both have the same day off but that's it. So we're currently playing with the idea of moving in together,″ Natalie admitted, a sheepish smile rushing over her lips.

″Already?″ Erin asked and raised her eyebrows. But then she thought about it a little more and recognized that she was the last person to scrutinize someone else's reasonings of moving in so quickly. Natalie and Will have been together for four months now, she'd gotten pregnant six months into her relationship with Jay, so she was the last person to tell someone that they were possibly rushing things. Plus, rushing things wasn't always a bad thing. Her's and Jay's story was the perfect example for it.

″Yeah,″ she nodded. ″It would give us at least a little more time together. We already try to synchronize our schedules as much as possible, to take the same shifts as often as we can but his shifts still change between dayshifts and nightshifts while I only work dayshifts, so I can spend time with Owen in the evening, bring him to bed myself and make him ready in the morning and spend some more time with him before Helen comes and takes over. I mean, I see Will at work every day, that's not it, but I want us to be more of a...family.″

″I understand,″ Erin answered, knowing exactly what Natalie was referring to because her's and Jay's private life looked pretty similar at the moment although they lived together, and so she started to tell Natalie that their family life has been completely thrown off recently as well.

After they'd discussed this topic a little while longer, Erin really enjoying that she had someone who just simply understood all of this without further explanations, Crispin got bored of just lying around and not doing anything adventurous and brought Erin one of the various toys he'd gotten from Jay as request to throw it through the air so he could catch it.

″You're bored, right boy?″ she asked, petting his back, and took the toy from his mouth, his eyes following the movements of her hand attentively. ″Alright, you ready?″ she asked and threw the toy, Crispin chasing after it immediately.

″So you're having two kids out of a sudden, huh?″ Natalie grinned as they both watched the young dog picking up the toy and bringing it back instantly.

″Temporarly, yeah,″ Erin chuckled. ″But he's really easy and simply the nicest and sweetest dog I've ever met,″ she smiled when Crispin brought her the toy again so she could throw it once more.

″You guys are totally going to keep him,″ Natalie laughed as she watched Erin and Crispin interact. There was no doubt on her mind that the dog was already a loved member of the Halstead-Lindsay-family.

″No way,″ Erin said but to her own surprise her answer came somewhat reluctant and didn't feel right.

″Why not?″ Natalie frowned.

″We don't have time for a dog and he deserves to get all the attention all day long. We can't give him that. The wedding is in six weeks, then the honeymoon and afterwards we have a lot of things to do with the house and the move there, that's more than enough and we don't need a dog running around. Plus, with our jobs we barely have time for each other so we definitely don't have time for a dog. We'll look for a great family for him on Monday and I'm sure it won't be problem to find one for him.″

″You might be right. You don't need a pet when you can't do him justice,″ Natalie agreed.

″Exactly,″ Erin nodded pensively, gazing at Crispin for a second, watched how he trotted back joyfully just to bring her the toy again. It was without a doubt quite easy to make this dog happy.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Meanwhile Jay and Will conquered the swings on the playground, Jay settling Emilia in his lap, holding her safely and pushing the swing back and forth lightly with his feet, Will having Owen sitting in his lap and pushing the swing a bit stronger than his little brother. The one-and-a-half year old giggled joyfully the faster they seesawed and Jay gazed at his big brother somehow stunned. The ginger has become mature and acted and looked like a father. Until a couple of months ago Jay hadn't thought to see his brother like this as fast but Natalie Manning has obviously changed him, the wild child, that he always had been, slowly disappearing and leaving a loving father, a mature man behind, who was ready for the responsibility of having a family of his own.

″What?″ Will asked when he caught his brother staring at him.

″Ouh, nothing,″ Jay grinned.

″Bro, I thought we already agreed that you can't lie,″ Will laughed.

″Huh,″ Jay grunted because he was right. Other than when it came to working undercover he was the worst liar on the entire planet. Always has been. ″It's just nice to see you like this,″ he admitted, motioning his head towards the dark-haired toddler.

″It feels great to be somehow responsible for such a little person, to take care that he has everything he needs, to make him happy. I never thought it could be like this. I know he's not mine but I really enjoy this. All of it,″ he answered smilingly, his happiness being all evident, and gazed down to Owen who babbled something that sounded like faster.

″I'm happy for you, bro,″ Jay smiled, knowing exactly what his big brother meant.

″Thanks,″ Will said, fulfilling Owen's demand of seesawing faster. ″We might move in together, you know?″

″Wow,″ Jay smirked, ″you guys are moving fast, aren't you?″

″Says the guy who knocked his girlfriend up, proposed to her and will marry her all within less than two years,″ Will noticed all dry.

″Touché,″ Jay laughed and looked down to his daughter, who looked too adorable with her summer hat, her colorful shorts with a floral pattern and the white shirt with the matching print. Who knew where he and Erin would be without this little surprise turning their life around. There was no doubt on his mind that they would still be together but he was almost sure that they would have taken things in a different pace, more slowly.

″And now you're even adding a dog to the mix. Can you guys get any more domesticated?″ Will chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

Jay shook his head. ″We're not keeping Crispin. I think.″

″Seriously? He's potty-trained and very well behaved and I could've sworn you want to keep him,″ he answered somewhat perplexedly. Jay had always loved Carly, had had a very special bond with her and he knew that he's always wanted a dog of his own.

″I wouldn't mind if we keep him. Or maybe I really do want to keep him but this is not my decision to make. I don't think Erin wants a dog right now and I can understand her because she would be the one to get even more work to do in case we keep him,″ Jay explained. No matter that he didn't like the thought of giving Crispin to someone else, he knew it was most likely inevitable. The wedding and the house were their big projects for now and especially the whole buying-a-house-thing had happened faster than they both had anticipated and though he didn't feel like they were rushing things, he knew very well that they were moving fast. And adding a dog to their family now, too, was maybe too fast. They'd once agreed to take one step at a time but these days they were already taking a hundred steps at a time so they maybe needed to slow the pace and keep the plan of adding a dog to their family for the future, when things have settled and they were ready for this next step of extending their family.

″But hey, in case you want him,″ Jay said, trying to lighten his own mood. Deep down inside he felt bad to give Crispin to another family again so soon after losing the most important people in his life. He seemed to have settled into their family so quickly and so perfectly but he would soon lose it all again.

″Me?″ Will asked back. ″Sorry bro, no time for a dog these days.″

″Too bad,″ Jay answered, hoping that it sounded somehow light and not sad.

They fell into a moment of silence, only Owen's babbling and Emilia's sqealing breaking through as well as the birds that chirped around them and the voices of the kids that came from all over the playground.

″Will you come to Dad's next weekend?″ the older brother asked the younger somewhen after some moments of consideration whether approaching him about this topic was the smartest of moves.

″Uhm...haven't had time to think about it so far,″ Jay answered vaguely. Next Sunday was their father's birthday and he had called Jay three days ago to invite him and Erin and Emilia to come over for cake and dinner. Before his father calling him, Jay'd called him four weeks back. They hadn't talked much, he'd only wanted to know how he was feeling and doing and how it was to be back in Chicago but he'd nonetheless been surprised when his old man had called him to invite him for his birthday a couple days back.

Their relationship was indeed a tad bit better than back in December, when Robert Halstead had shown up for the first time in seven years, they could talk with each other, at least more or less, but he hadn't expected that his father would make a step into his direction and invite him to celebrate his birthday because usually his father wasn't the one to make steps into someone's direction and only followed his very own direction. But the feeling, that he had already had back in December and January, that he has changed for the better, got confirmed by this call. It seemed like his father really wanted to make up for some things. Jay just didn't know whether he wanted to take part in his father's path of redemption. And whether he was ready to go back to the place that once had been his home, naturally only his home thanks to his mother, the place where Diane Halstead had inhaled her last breaths before her eyes had fallen close for a very last time.

″Come on Jay, get over yourself and give him a chance,″ Will said and for the very first time he sounded more mature than his brother. ″He's still so grateful that you saved his life and he's really trying, okay? So what does it take you to just give in for once?″

″Overcoming,″ he answered pensively, pushing the thought of the final moments with his mother away because they still made his heart ache like it's been yesterday. ″It takes a whole lot of overcoming. All the things that happened still hurt and I can't just simply forget them.″

″Jay, you remember our favorite film? The one we watched over and over and over again when we were kids?″ he asked rhetorically, knowing very well that Jay knew. There was only one film they'd watched every two weeks when they were 9 and 11 years old. ″There's one quote that stuck with me because it's quite powerful: The past hurts, but you can either run from it or learn from it,″ Will said, throwing his brother a meaningful glance but didn't give him the chance to answer. ″From what I see, you definitely learned from it because you know exactly what kind of father you don't want to be and I know you'll never be like him, not only because of your past but also because you're so different than him. But what I also see is, that you're still running from it by avoiding everything that has to do with Dad.″

″I don't avoid him. I told him about Emilia's birth, showed him pictures and a couple weeks back I called him. He's just not the kind of person I need and want in my life, Will,″ Jay tried to explain.

″But maybe he needs and wants you in his life,″ Will shrugged.

″That's exactly the point Will,″ Jay said somewhat furiously but tried to keep his voice low because of the kids. ″He didn't need and want me for a very very long time and now things have turned around I shall just simply act like nothing ever happened? Sorry, but it's not that easy.″

″Okay,″ Will sighed frustrated. ″This is senseless and I don't want to argue with you on such a nice day.″

″I appreciate it,″ Jay said, before adding quietly, almost meekly: ″I think we'll stop by for a minute. I wanted to visit him anyway one day, I just always postponed it because it was so easy to find an excuse but now...I should maybe just use the occasion I guess.″

″You probably should,″ Will answered, giving his brother an encouraging smile and wondering whether his words have maybe had a bigger effect on him than he let him know.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Jay and Will returned to their picnic spot with a tired Emilia and a hungry Owen, the easy-going afternoon found a temporary end and the baby and the toddler both showed their dissatisfaction by being quite grumpy. However, Emilia drifted to sleep while Jay was giving her the bottle and after Owen had gotten a sandwich and some apple and melon pieces, tiredness overcame him as well. So while Emilia and Owen were dreaming sweet dreams in their strollers, Crispin once again lying directly under the handle bar of Emilia's stroller, Jay and Will started to goof around with a soccer ball and even persuaded the two women to join them so they could have a real match, tackling, bodychecking, hugging and kissing included. Not even once during their intensive matches the young dog tried to chase after the ball, like they all had somehow expected him to do, but he stayed by the strollers like he needed to protect the sleeping baby and toddler and make sure that no one else would come close to them.

They stayed at Lincoln Park for the remainder of the day, ate all their prepared food, which was a lot, talked about anything but work, played with Owen, Emilia and Crispin and kept the little ones entertained and satisfied in general. It was exactly what Jay needed after these stressful weeks of working almost 24/7. It was exactly what made Erin realize that this family life was the absolute best life and that something she'd never pictured herself in when she was young, a real family, was now her reality, was now her life. And she never wanted to live differently again other than with spending her days with all the people who had a special place in her heart.

The family vibes continued on Sunday, when they were at their new house to paint Emilia's room and the master bedroom, as Justin and Olive, who were already living in their new home, invited them to come over for a barbeque in the early evening. Self-evidently they didn't turn this invitation down and while Erin and Olive prepared the side dishes, and Hank, who of course didn't miss the opportunity to spend an evening with his whole family, kept his grandkids entertained by building a railroad line through the complete living room, Jay helped Justin to build up Daniel's brandnew swing in the garden. Erin still couldn't believe her own eyes when she watched Jay and Justin working hand-in-hand. Of course Justin was way more mature now than he'd been back when him and Jay had met for the first time and when it had been evident that there was no appreciation for Jay on Justin's side, but them having this kind of almost brotherly bond, this kind of bromance, was beyond her wildest dreams. Not that she would complain though. It was just something she hadn't expected and was therefore still a tad bit weird.

After enjoying steaks and burgers and baked potatoes and grilled vegetables on the patio, while Erin and Jay envisioned in anticipation that this would soon be their daily routine, a peaceful life in the suburbs, that the traditional Voight-BBQ's on Sunday including their extended families could make a comeback by alternately Justin and Olive hosting or Erin and Jay or Hank himself, Erin and Jay used the occasion to show Hank their new house before they went home. They showed him each and every room, even the basement, and the big backyard proudly and told him about their plans what they wanted to do and change before moving in in August after their honeymoon. Hank was pretty impressed by the house his two detectives had decided would become their new home and counting all the bedrooms he wondered what kind of bigger plans these two had he wasn't in the loop about so far. Not that it was any of his business or that he really wanted to know any further details about it.

And anyway, he loved being a grandfather, so the more the merrier and if Erin and Jay planned to expand their family by adding more little ones to their little brood, as in children, not dogs – though Crispin was a fitting addition to the family - he certainly wouldn't complain at all. Not anymore. Sure, one year ago, when he'd figured out that Jay had knocked his pseudo-daughter up, he'd wanted to cut the young detective's balls off but luckily for him things have changed since then. Emilia, their perfect, adorable princess, has made their all's world a little brighter, especially Erin's, and Jay has become an appreciated member of his family.

The place right next to Erin, the place on her side, this was exactly the place where the young detective needed to be, where he belonged, where he, Hank Voight, wanted him to be. And when he watched his daughter talking about their plans of redesigning and painting the rooms and buying new furniture, saw her eyes sparkling in excitement for a settled life in the suburbs, far away from the city turmoil that she'd always used to love, he couldn't help but smile by the thought that this girl was the same girl that had once had commitment and trust issues as huge as the Mount Everest.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Reality caught them again on Monday morning when they entered the bullpen and were faced with the crime that had happened on Friday night and had brought Crispin into their lives. The unit had a few leads so far but mostly lose ends and nothing that brought them anywhere, nothing that indicated that this case would be wrapped soon, and so Erin had to work a case that hit close to home for the first time since coming back from maternity leave.

Going through some files and talking with the rest of the team, which had worked through the weekend, they quickly learned that there were no family members that could take Crispin, who was with them in the bullpen as they didn't want Carol to also take care of the young dog, and so they had to contact the animal shelter for help with finding him a new home.

″What did they say?″ Jay asked Erin after following her into the break room. She'd just finished her call with Adrian from Paws and had motioned her head to the break room when Jay'd given her the 'what-did-they-say-look'. Needless to say that he was curious and maybe even a tad bit anxious.

″They asked whether he can stay with us until they find a family for him but from the description I gave them they think it won't be a big deal to find one and they could easily already pick him up within the next two or three days,″ she explained and kept herself busy with filling her mug. She didn't want to see his face while telling him those news because she was sure she would discover hints of disenchantment on it.

″Ouh...okay,″ Jay said and Erin tried to overhear the sadness in his voice. She knew he wanted to keep the dog rather than giving him to someone else. But they couldn't. Not now. This was the worst possible timing as their life was enough hustle and bustle and they needed to focus on other things, so adding a dog to the mix was simply not an option. Right now.

″They'll find a great family for him, Jay,″ she said when she finally turned around to him and gave him an encouraging smile that didn't reach her eyes.

″Yeah, I know,″ he sighed, biting his lower lip that signalised Erin that there was something on the tip of his tongue he wasn't sure he should hold back or blurt out.

″What?″ she asked, giving him a meaningful glance that showed him that she knew he was holding something back.

″Uhm...″ he stumbled. Sometimes she could read him like an open book, it was scary. ″Shouldn't we simply keep him? I mean the weekend was great and...″

″Jay,″ Erin sighed and placed her hand on his chest. It wasn't that she was completely against the idea of keeping Crispin, but they simply had to be rational here. And make a decision in Crispin's best interest. ″We can't. The weekend was great because we had a lot of time for him. But during the week, we simply don't have that time and it's not fair to him to take him to the bullpen with us every day or leave him alone at home. He's a great dog and that's why he deserves to live with a family that can really give him the attention he needs and deserves, where someone is there for him all day long. At the moment a dog simply doesn't fit into our life. And we'll soon have the house that'll be a lot more work regarding housework and everything and adding a dog would be even more work and I don't think I want that right now.″

″You're right,″ Jay nodded. What she said made sense but it didn't make things easier. ″But we only give him to the best family possible.″ A weak smile rushed over his face by his words.

″Of course. We only give him to a family we feel comfortable with,″ she assured him, cupped his cheek with her hand and brushed a short kiss against his lips.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The call came a couple hours later, shortly before Erin wanted to leave the bullpen to spend the afternoon with her baby girl. Paws had already found a possible family for Crispin and they wanted to meet him on the following morning. In the first moment Erin was quite shocked as this came sooner and happened faster than expected and she'd honestly thought they would at least have him around for another two days. But in fact the sooner he joined his new family, the better it was for all of them. They wouldn't get used to him, more than they already were, and Crispin wouldn't get used to them, more than he already was. The whole day in the bullpen he'd constantly changed places between lying under Erin's desk and Jay's and Erin had to admit that her heart broke a little by the thought of saying goodbye to him. Even though it's only been three nights it's become so normal that his bed was placed in Emmy's room and that he slept there and would greet them fawning in the morning when they opened the door to the nursery. But then she thought about all the things the other family could give him that they couldn't and she felt a little better with their decision, or in fact her decision, of giving the dog away.

After picking Emmy up from Carol, Erin took her and Crispin for a long stroll and only returned home when it was almost time to make dinner as her hungry man would come home anytime within the next two hours. Hopefully. She changed Emilia's diaper and then decided to spend a couple more minutes with her daughter. These were the best moments of the day, especially after a day and a case like today, so cooking could wait a couple more minutes. She sat down on the floor, Crispin lying down next to her instantly, his head resting on his favorite spot on her thigh. Of course the young dog wanted to be as close to them as possible, just as always. She settled Emilia in her lap and showed her her favorite stuffy, the big Eeyore, always brought it up in front of her face and pulled it back when Emmy tried to reach for it while making noises that were surely not from this earth, noises she'd once sworn herself she would never make. But here she was, playing with her almost five-month-old, talking in baby voices and letting her inner child display. Emilia's noises meanwhile were pure heart-balm, her joyful squealing and giggling sounding like music in Erin's ears. Never had she thought that a baby's squealing would one day be her favorite sound in the world instead of scaring the crap out of her.

″Okay, here you go, bug,″ Erin finally said laughingly and gave Emilia her beloved stuffy that was still way too big for her. But of course Emilia reached for it anyway, no matter that it was almost as big as she was herself. She was Erin's daughter after all so there was no doubt that this girl knew exactly what she wanted and went for it.

″We should take Eeyore to the living room and start to prepare dinner because daddy will come home soon and I bet he'll be super hungry. He asked me to make mac n' cheese, so I guess mac n' cheese it is today,″ she told Emilia while getting up from the floor. Of course Crispin jumped up from the spot he's been lying on for the last ten minutes as well and followed Erin on her heels as she walked to the living room. She placed Emilia down on the playmat on her tummy, made sure that all her toys were within reach so she could occupy herself for a minute and then started to make dinner in the kitchen, always keeping an eye on Crispin and Emilia. But once again there was no need for her to be worried. Not that she was anyway. Not anymore. She trusted him and she was sure Crispin would never hurt Emilia. He was so careful with her, it was incredible.

Witnessing these two interacting was heart-touching and Erin couldn't turn her eyes away. They were the cutest and most adorable duo. Instead of reaching for all her toys, Emilia aimed for Crispin's fur and the dog did her the favor and changed his position so he was lying closer by her side, as if he was able to understand what she wanted, as if he knew she couldn't reach him on her own yet, as if there was some sort of invisible connection between the two of them. He even encouraged her by giving her butt a soft nudge with his nose. She grabbed for the fur on his side and the moment she touched it, she squeaked joyfully, her whole body shaking due to her excitement, her happiness evident in her big blue eyes.

It was in that moment, when she watched her daughter smiling as bright as never before, when she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her because it looked like Crispin was smiling as well, when she once again realized that Crispin didn't bother at all that Emilia twisted his fur in her tiny fists but rather seemed to enjoy it, when she was sure this was one of the most beautiful scenes she's ever witnessed, that she decided that this dog would not go anywhere. That Crispin was here to stay. That this was his forever home, right in the middle of their little family. That he was in fact a member of this family already and that they wouldn't let him go or give him away. That he belonged into this family, was like a puzzle piece that fitted perfectly. He didn't need another family that maybe had more time for him or could give him more attention. He's found his place and he didn't need anything but this to be happy.

She stopped with preparing mac n' cheese, not that she had already really started anyway – she's been too occupied with watching Emmy and Crispin and maybe it was time for take-out for the first time in weeks - and joined the two of them on the floor again.

″So Crisp,″ she said and stroked the dog extensively, ″what do you think about staying with us permanently, buddy?″ she asked. ″I know that's crazy but you know what? I don't care. You belong here and we won't give you away. And I bet Jay will be over the moon with this as well,″ she chuckled, imagining her soon-to-be-husband's face when she would tell him that Crispin was here to stay.

Erin was still down on the floor, cuddling with Emilia and Crispin and enjoying this new reality to have a four-legged kiddo next to the two-legged one, when an unexpected ring of the bell on the door disturbed their little family moment.

Crispin jumped up immediately and for the first time since he joined them, he barked. Loudly. Almost aggressively. It seemed like their newest family member wasn't really into this kind of noise and he suddenly seemed to be a bit out of his comfort zone.

″Buddy keep cool,″ Erin told him, giving his head a pat. ″You stay here with Emmy and I check the door, okay? No one bad's coming, I promise,″ she said, suddenly realizing that he maybe remembered how the bell had rang a couple days back before some guy had killed his family. No wonder he was a bit jazzed.

″Stay Crisp, it'll be fine,″ she said. Yet, she had no idea.

Of course Crispin stayed, he was a well-behaved dog after all, but instead of lying or sitting down and starting to relax, he stayed on his four paws and watched her anxiously as she made her way to the door.

Erin didn't give it further thought but the moment she opened the door she knew that there was a possible second reason why the dog was acting weird. She only wished she could turn back time to look through the peephole before opening the door, just like she usually did. Except today. A whirlwind of emotions and thoughts hit her when she saw who was paying them a visit. Again.

″You gotta be fucking kidding me,″ Erin snapped at the woman with the wild blonde hair who stood in front of the door wobbling, not anywhere near of being sober. Erin could even smell the alcohol from her breath and her eyes told her that she'd mixed the booze with pills or some other drugs that made her triste life more enjoyable.

″Eriiiin,″ Bunny slurred and made a step into her direction, was almost falling into her arms, her fingers clawing around a bottle of rum. ″Lemme see my graaaaanchild.″

″Uhm, no. Never,″ Erin said and shook her head vehement, pushed Bunny back a little.

″Pleeeeease, Erin, I wanna...I wanna meet the baby,″ she hiccuped.

″Get out of here,″ she answered, her voice coming cold and strict, her finger pointing into the direction of the staircase. ″Right now,″ she added and a threatening undertone appeared in her voice as well. This time this woman would not triumph over her. This time Erin would be stronger than her. Maybe she had to slam the door in her face but she couldn't say she would mind. As long as this woman stayed out of their appartment and out of her life she would do anything, even hurting her physically.

″Erin, I'm the grandmother of your child,″ Bunny whined, making another attempt to get into the appartment. But Erin blocked the way and she wouldn't change her position. Not this again, Erin thought, wondering whether Bunny's forgotten about their last encounter. Because she sure as hell hasn't.

″Bunny, you're only one thing, and that's trouble,″ Erin answered all dry, trying to keep cool. ″The moment you were back and tried to sneak back into my life I knew you were trouble. I just honestly thought Jay made his point clear about what coming back again means for you.″

″Oh, your boytoy made his point clear, no worries,″ she laughed maliciously and out of sudden she didn't seem as high anymore. So Erin prepared herself for a possible comeback of the beast.

″Good,″ Erin breathed out. ″So what are you doing here then?″ she asked her provokingly.

″Getting my grandchild,″ Bunny answered and before Erin could do anything or prepare or react in any way, Bunny pushed her back as hard and brutal and sudden that she stumbled backwards over her own feet, not being able to hold her balance. She tried to grab for anything that could keep her from falling but it all happened too fast and her hands reached for nothing and the next thing she felt was a stabbing pain when the back of her head crashed against the edge of the sideboard. Within a second everything around her turned blurry, the burning pain made her stomach turn and her eyelids got unbelievably heavy. Crispin's intense barking seemed to be far away and the last thing she saw before the darkness closed in around her was Bunny, who was not able to walk straight, making her way to Emilia's mat. And there was nothing she could do about it...

Reviews are appreciated, as always! Meanwhile, I'll go and hide!