82. 365 Days

Thank you so much for your feedback on my last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well :)

82. 365 Days

″There's something I gotta ask you,″ Rylie said in the morning of 24 December when she shuffled into the kitchen where Jay and Erin were preparing some kind of super breakfast including pancakes, bacon, fruits, granola with greek joghurt, and crisped up buns from the oven.

Erin raised her eyebrow and threw Jay an asking glance, her husband looking equally confused and they were both wondering whether Rylie'd probably heard anything from their conversation under the Christmas tree last night.

″Uhm sure, go ahead,″ Erin said.

″So you guys go to Wisconsin on Tuesday, right?″ she asked and tried to make it sound casual. It seemed like this wasn't about last night.

″Yeah we do, why?″ Jay asked back.

″I was just wondering...there's no chance that you leave Luke here with me, is there?″

Erin had to give a lot to not laugh out loud by her question. Sometimes she wondered how far from reality Rylie lived regarding certain things because right now it seemed like she was living on an entire different planet. ″Rylie, you can consider yourself very lucky that you are able to spend time with Luke every day because you happen to live with us. Usually, you would only have supervised visits right now and then, in a couple of weeks, you'd be allowed to spend time with him alone. So in case this doesn't answer your question already: no there's no chance we leave Luke here because we have custody and it will stay like this for a couple more months.″

″I figured that...I just thought I could ask,″ she answered meekly, biting her lip.

″You've been out of rehab for four weeks now, Ry. You gotta be patient,″ Erin said.

″It's not always easy,″ the blonde girl admitted.

″I know."

″Huh,″ Rylie only shrugged in response because there was honestly nothing else she could say. ″So while the four of you are gone, what about me? We haven't talked about that detail yet.″

″Well, you will go to work. That's why you can't come with us,″ Jay explained.

″I know that. And I rather meant: where do I live while you're not here?″ she asked. ″You're not going to park me at your dad's place, are you?″ Erin didn't miss the nervous look in Rylie's grey orbs when she looked at her. Hank surely had an aura that made people that didn't know him being scared of him. Which wasn't the worst thing when it came to all the fishy suspects they had to deal with on a daily basis.

″Why? Are you afraid of him?″ Erin chuckled.

″No, I'm not of course,″ Rylie answered instantly, adding quietly: ″Well, maybe a little.″ Her cheeks blushed. ″Don't you dare to tell him though.″

″Your secret's safe. Because I totally understand you, Rylie,″ Jay laughed, remembering how exactly 365 days ago he'd been a total wreck because he was about to ask Hank for his permission to marry Erin and he'd honestly weighed his chances whether he would make it out of this conversation alive or probably end the day on the bottom of the Chicago River. ″But however,″ he winked at the young girl, ″Erin and I have indeed been talking about this and we would allow you to stay here.″

″Here?″ Rylie echoed and her eyes widened. ″As in your house?″

″Yes,″ Erin confirmed. ″We trust you, Rylie and we know you won't act negligently with the credit of trust we give you here.″

″I won't...I promise,″ she stammered, still completely perplex.

″No house party on New Years, okay?″ Jay made sure.

″Of course not,″ Rylie assured him. ″About New Years, there's something else anyway...Kim invited me to spend it with her and Adam at Adam's place. She said Kevin will come as well and bring his siblings. Soooo, can I go?″

Erin had to smile by her shy request, by the fact that she was asking for permission like she was their child. ″You're an adult and you can make your own choices. But you are responsible for these choices. So you can do whatever you want, as long as you show up at work the next morning, not hung-over or sleep-deprived or anything. Which I actually know you won't because you know what's on the line...″

″Yeah, I do. That's why I thought I should probably leave after the fireworks. I would still get enough sleep and not risk making any mistakes at work.″

″See, there you go,″ Erin smiled at her, hints of pride on her face. ″That's the reason why we trust you.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The whole Halstead-family, which right now of course also included Rylie and Luke, arrived at the house of Jay's dad in the early evening. Together with Will, Natalie and Owen, they would spend a relaxed Christmas Eve at Jay's and Will's childhood home, at least as relaxed as possible with three kids that young, energetic and loud running through the house. As Robert Halstead had demanded to prepare dinner all by himself, including soup, main course and dessert, Erin and Jay had used the day to prepare all the stuff they could already prepare for tomorrow as Hank, Justin, Olive and the boys, Jay's dad and their loyal nanny Carol would all come to the Halstead-house to celebrate Christmas together. Since all of their guests would bring something for their big Christmas menu, their day had not been too busy and they'd even had time to go outside with the kids to try to build a snowman with the little bit of snow that the other night had brought. For a real white Christmas it still had to snow more but right now, the sky didn't do them the favor and let those heavy, thick snowflakes fall that were filling those big, grey clouds that were covering the sky above them.

While Rylie went upstairs to the playroom to keep an eye on Luke, Owen and Emilia, Jay and Natalie helped Jay's old man with some final preparations and Erin and Will dedicated themselves to set the table. Just like Jay was the better cook in their relationship, regardless of the improvement Erin's gone through in the last few months, Natalie was beating Will in the kitchen by far, her skills definitely better than her boyfriend's.

″So, how's Rylie doing at Med?″ Erin asked as she put cuttlery on each place. Within the last few weeks she has only seen her brother-in-law for work reasons when the ginger had treated one of their victims or when they'd had a case that required his medical knowledge, so she'd never had the chance to ask about Rylie. Though she'd figured if there were any complaints, she'd have gotten a call from Goodwin firsthand.

″She doesn't tell you about all the compliments she gets?″ Will grinned at his sister-in-law.

″Uhm no, she's not that kind of person who's bragging about stuff,″ Erin grinned back. She actually liked people that were humble but sometimes she wished Rylie would be more proud of the things she achieved instead of not allowing herself to be proud. Because it would only help her to gain confidence in herself. ″This means she's doing well then?″

″So far, she's been killing it, Erin,″ Will smirked. ″She's working hard, is not afraid to do the dirty work that usually no one is a fan of doing and she's always there, asking whether she can do anything although she's not even allowed to work with patients yet. We literally have to force her to take a lunch break,″ he laughed. ″She's sweet and humble and dedicated and everyone likes her. Her drug tests are clean, which you probably know from DCFS, and she doesn't know yet but Goodwin is going to extend her internship for another five months.″

″She will be so thrilled about that,″ Erin smiled. ″Thank you so much for everything you've been doing for her.″

″You're very welcome,″ he winked. ″Rylie is a raw diamond and if she keeps doing like that, I think everyone at Med will be happy to help her to get into nursing college once she has that highschool diploma.″

″That's terrific,″ Erin smiled even brighter. Sometimes she couldn't believe that it's only been three months since she'd met Rylie for the first time. Within three months Rylie's life had changed from lack of prospects to have a real future for the first time in her life, to have the perspective of one day working a real job and getting her son back rather sooner than later. Though the road there was still a long one, with possible setbacks and hazards waiting all along that road.

″Jay told me you guys go to the cabin for New Years?″ Will changed the topic

″Yeah, we drive Tuesday, have 5 full days there and come back on the 1st so we can go back to work on the 2nd,″ she told him, a dimpled smile returning to her face. She couldn't wait to be back at this magical place, their very own escape from reality up in Northern Wisconsin in the middle of nowhere.

″That's hell of a drive with two kids,″ he mentioned. ″They will drive you up the walls.″

″Most likely,″ Erin chuckled. ″But we'll only leave on Tuesday evening and drive into the night, so they will hopefully both sleep most of the time and for the way back we still have to discuss the best option.″

″Hey guys, what's going on with the table?″ Jay asked, stepping out of the kitchen in that moment. ″We can start to eat any minute and there's not even one plate on the table yet,″ he sighed dramatically.

″Chillax Jay, we just somehow chatted away,″ Will laughed, shaking his head at his little brother's impatience when it came to food.

″So you guys chat while I'm close to starving to death? Nice.″

″My husband, isn't he quite the complainer?″ Erin laughed to Will and pecked Jay's cheek shortly.

″Yeah, seperating Jay from food has never been a brilliant move,″ Will laughed back and finally started to put the plates on the table.

″By the way,″ Erin said to Jay, ″your brother thinks we're nuts going on a more than 6-hour roadtrip with two kids.″

″You know babe, I can't even argue with him about that,″ Jay chuckled. ″But spending time at the cabin is worth any roadtrip. Although I might reconsider that statement in the near future.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

It only took around 15 more minutes and the whole family was sitting around the table, bowls with deliciously smelling pumpkin soup right in front of them and when Robert raised from his seat with his glass in his hand and cleared his throat so he had all the attention, Erin was sure that in the short moment of absolute silence, when even the kids all looked at the old man, she could hear more than just her husband's stomach rumbling.

″No worries, this is not going to be a big speech,″ Robert laughed, figuring that everyone was hungry and only waiting to be allowed to put their spoons into their soup bowls. ″But there is something I want to say,″ he smiled and inhaled a deep breath, tears sparkling in his brown eyes behind his glasses.

″Thank you for coming and spending this Christmas Eve with me. It really means a lot to me, more than you can possibly imagine. Because 365 days ago...″ At this point his voice broke and he had to take another deep breath. ″Because 365 days ago I spent this Christmas Eve all alone until Will showed up late after the end of his shift. 365 days ago I thought I have only a couple more weeks to live. I thought this would be my last Christmas. I thought I would die without reconciling with my youngest son,″ he said hoarsely and looked at Jay. Erin turned her head to her husband and saw tears sparkling in his blue orbs as well which made her hand automatically travel to his thigh. ″I thought I would never get to know my granddaughter,″ he continued, his eyes now falling on Emmy, who sat in her highchair next to Jay and was playing with her spoon. ″I thought I would never meet the woman my oldest son couldn't stop talking about.″ Now his eyes fell on Natalie, the woman that has now for more than 10 months been the woman on Will's side. ″But then my personal miracle happened,″ he said and his eyes traveled back to Jay, a warm smile rushing over his features when he looked at his son who was so much like his late wife. ″A miracle in various ways in fact. A miracle that not only allows me to witness another Christmas but that rather allows me to spend it with my family. So this is to the things that happened within the last 365 days and led us all here tonight,″ he smiled, his voice stronger again and now his eyes especially searched for Rylie and Luke to assure them that they also belonged here. ″This is to our first family-Christmas. Cheers!″

″To our first family-Christmas,″ Jay said and got up as well to clink his glass with his father's.

″To our first family-Christmas,″ Will also said as everyone except the two youngest in their highhairs got up to raise their glasses.

″Cheers,″ everyone chorused when they clinked their glasses and took some sips from their water, wine, soda or whatever liquid was filling the glasses they were holding in their hands.

Their feast started right after everyone sat down again and continued for almost two hours until the very last piece of pie was eaten and everyone's stomach was about to explode and even just moving from the dining table to the huge couch seemed to be a challenge. During dinner, Luke had told them that for the last two years, it has been his mom's, Ty's and his tradition to watch Frozen on the evening before Christmas and he asked whether even though Ty was in heaven now, they could continue this tradition and all watch the movie together. It was needless to say that everyone had had a big lump in their throat by the time Luke finished talking and looked at them with expecting eyes and of course everyone had agreed to keep this tradition of the Jackson-family alive and probably even include it as a tradition into the Halstead-family.

They all settled on the couch and started to play the movie, Emmy resting in Jay's lap but passing out after only ten minutes and sleeping in her father's arms for the duration of the movie, Owen resting in Will's lap where he fell asleep not even halfway through the film, and Luke snuggling into his mother's side, managing to stay awake until the movie was over, always humming along with the songs in the most adorable way. Afterwards they tucked all the kids in upstairs so they could have some more drinks and chats in the living room that was only enlightened by candles and the Christmas tree, a whole lot of Christmas-family-love-vibes in the air. It was definitely a different kind of Christmas Eve for all of them this year. But it was different in a beautiful, perfect way.

And by the time they all left and made their ways to the cars, thick snowflakes were falling from the sky to cover the world in white, the dream of a white Christmas about to come true, which made the anticipation for Christmas morning grow even bigger.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Chicago was completely covered in white on the following morning when Jay pulled the curtains in the bedroom back to take a look outside. In a huge amount of white to be precise, the snow still falling from the dawning sky.

″Wow,″ Jay whispered all amazed, a big smile rushing over his face. He was probably more excited for this years Christmas morning, his first as a father, than any Chicagoan kid was, which was the reason why he was awake already although the night hasn't consisted of a whole lot of sleep.

″What's wow?″ Erin mumbled, her voice thick of sleep. Jay should've known that she would wake up as soon as he gently pushed her aside and left the spot next to her.

″Look at this,″ he said and pulled the curtains back even further so Erin could see the outside world from her current position.

″And here I was, thinking my husband looks at his own reflection in our windows and is amazed by what he's seeing,″ she chuckled and gave him the most innocent smirk while her eyes roamed his bare torso and literally undressed him completely.

″Well, isn't this my wife's job to be amazed by what she sees?″ he asked with a low voice and raised an eyebrow at her as he made his way back to the bed.

″Who says I'm amazed?″ she teased him as he leaned down to capture her lips.

″Those beautiful hazel-green eyes of yours kinda give you away,″ he winked.

″Do they?″ she smirked up at him and kissed him again.

″Uh-huh,″ he murmured. ″They have this hungry glance in them.″

″Oh yeah,″ she whispered against his lips. ″Kinda like yours right now?″

″Probably,″ he breathed out and when their lips met in another passionate kiss that seemed to last forever and they both knew where their morning was headed to.

The kids being a nightmare last night, after waking up in the car and refusing to go back to sleep once they'd been home, which had resulted in no one of the Halstead-household going to bed before 2am, has just taken a turn for the best: some decent and undisturbed love-making on Christmas morning while the rest of the house was still sound asleep when under normal circumstances at least Emmy would be up already.

By the time Emilia decided that her night was over and that it was time for Christmas presents, breakfast, a new diaper and some attention, they'd long finished their early morning bed antics and were wearing their pajamas as they enjoyed the closeness by slumbering all snuggled up to each other, so they literally jumped out of the bed when they heard Emmy's whining resound from the baby monitor.

″Good morning, princess,″ Jay beamed when they stepped into the nursery together. ″You know what day is today?″ he asked her when he picked her up into her arms and pressed a kiss against her head.

″It's Christmas,″ Erin smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek as well. ″Your first Christmas.″

″You want to go downstairs and check whether Santa brought you something last night and drank the milk and ate the cookies we placed there for him?″ he asked her.

″Easy Mr. Halstead,″ Erin chuckled. ″Seems like daddy is as euphoric that he missed this smell, huh?″ she said to Emmy and took her from Jay's arms into her own. ″So let's get you changed first, bug.″

″I didn't,″ Jay grinned mischievously. ″But thanks for doing it,″ he winked cockily, earning a directed punch against his shoulder from her, and then watched her change Emmy's diaper, their little one thankfully beeing cooperative so it was done in a couple of minutes.

″That's better, right?″ Erin asked when Emmy was all changed and sitting on the changing table, ready for her first Christmas morning adventure. Their blue-eyed girl looked beyond adorable in her red-and-white striped Christmas onesie with a cute reindeer's face on front.

″Mama,″ Emilia babbled and smiled brightly as she reached out for Erin.

″There you go, that's the smile I've been missing so far,″ Erin laughed heartily and scooped her up into her arms.

They went downstairs and into their living room, the lights on their Christmas tree glowing, countless gaily-wrapped presents lying underneath it, waiting to get unpacked by mostly Luke and Emmy, the snow still falling from the sky in front of their floor-to-ceiling windows, making this moment look like those one would usually find in all the cheesy Christmas movies.

″Look at that, Em,″ Jay whispered, imitating an all amazed voice. ″Santa was here. You wanna take a look whether he left something for you?″ he asked her and took her from Erin's arms to carry her to the tree.

He bent down by a pile of gifts, Emmy's little hands instantly reaching out to grab whatever was reachable. ″This one reads Emmy. You wanna open it?″ he asked and picked up a small gift to hand it to her.

″We should wait for Luke, babe,″ Erin reminded her husband, who was completely captured in this Christmas-bubble. Between Jay and Emmy, Jay was definitely the more excited child right now.

″Just the small one here,″ he said, adding ″please,″ all puppy-eyed when she raised an eyebrow at him.

″I guess that's okay,″ she grinned and shook her head slightly because he knew as well as she did that she couldn't resist this super cute, pouting face he was making.

″Thanks honey,″ he smirked and settled with Emmy on the couch so they could open the present together.

″Let's see what's in there...″ Jay commented as he unwrapped the present, Emmy's little hands also reaching for the fancy paper in an attempt to help her father tearing it apart.

″Oh look at that Emmy, Santa brought you a xylophone,″ Jay grinned and immediately started to show Emmy how to use it.

″I'm still not sure whether it was such a brilliant idea of Santa to give our daughter something that she can make a whole lot of noise with,″ Erin chuckled as she watched Emmy using the xylophone, being completely mesmerized by the sounds she managed to produce.

″I think Santa landed a big hit with that,″ Jay winked at his wife, his smile all innocent because buying a xylophone had been his idea. Erin could vividly remember how he'd tried to convince her that musical instruments were fabulous for learning causality during their Christmas shopping trip and of course she'd somewhen agreed to buy such a toy for Emmy because no matter that one day this thing would most likely drive them up the walls and they would end up throwing it out of the window, he'd had some reasonable points why this was a great gift.

″I think we will curse Santa for that in the near future,″ she laughed and took a couple of photos of her two favorite people from the side, how they sat on the couch in their pajamas, Emmy resting in Jay's lap, his hand wrapped around her arm as they played the xylophone together. Precious moments captured in black-and-white that would probably soon find a special place on one of their photo walls.

They've been playing with Emmy and her new toy, that indeed made her squeak and babble excitedly all the time, for not even fifteen minutes when Luke, who was wearing a Santa pajama as well, came running into the living room, stopping in his tracks when he saw all the colorful presents that were underneath and around the Christmas tree.

″Wow,″ he whispered and it seemed like he was as fascinated that he didn't see anything else but all the presents. ″Santa was here,″ he said just as quite to himself before all his joy exploded. ″Santa was here,″ he screamed and took off into the direction of his mother's room. ″Mommy, Santa was here! You gotta see this!″

″You think he even saw us?″ Jay asked Erin as they watched Luke running away.

″Nope,″ Erin laughed. ″You know when people have literal dollar signs in their eyes? I guess he just had all these presents in his eyes.″

″Mommy come on, quick!″ They heard Luke's excited babbling and a couple of seconds later he appeared back in the living room, pulling a very sleepy Rylie with him. ″Look at his!″ he exclaimed. ″Santa found me here. He knows I'm living here now,″ he beamed.

″I told you he would find you,″ Rylie smiled at her son and knelt down in front of him. ″Santa knows everything.″

″You think he brought me the Lego set I wished for?″ he whispered to his mother. The Lego construction set, with a truck, a crane, a wrecking ball and lots more was what he has constantly talked about in the weeks before Christmas.

″I don't know, why don't you check it out?″ she smiled.

″Can I?″ he asked her and for the first time, he turned to Erin and Jay, looking at them expectantly to make sure that he was actually allowed to open his presents.

″Go ahead buddy, we've been waiting for you,″ Jay winked and Luke was by all the presents in light speed, Rylie following him to help him to find the ones that were for him.

Jay, Erin, Emmy and Crispin joined them as well and they all settled on the floor as Luke opened one present after the other and Erin and Jay helped their daughter to open hers, Crispin, their bundle of curiosity, always making sure to see what was inside, his wet nose always by Emmy's, Jay's and Erin's hands when they unwrapped the various presents. Soon enough, all the wrapped presents turned into the Lego Set, a bobsleigh with steering wheel for some winter adventures, a big Olaf stuffy, a monstertruck set and a color by numbers book for Luke and a Bobbycar, a pull-toy in form of a cowboy on a horse, a fluffy Elephant pillow, a developmental bumby ball and a picturebook for Emmy. Of course there were also presents for Rylie and neither Jay nor Erin had forgotten their four-legged kiddo, who got some new toys he could destroy and some treats he could gobble. And of course they hadn't forgotten presents for their other half either as there were two left in the end, one for Erin and one for Jay.

″So is this from Santa Jay?″ she whispered into her husband's ear, holding the present in her hand. They were still sitting on the floor in front of the tree, Rylie and Luke somewhere off to his room upstairs to play with his new Lego set, Emmy sitting close by with Crispin, their almost one-year-old more fascinated by making a mess with all the fancy paper than by her new toys.

″Uh-huh,″ he nodded. ″And it seems like Santa Erin didn't forget me either,″ he grinned and reached for the last present under the tree.

″Santa would never forget you.″ She gave him one of her famous dimpled smiles that were his favorite. ″Open it.″

″No, you first,″ he winked.

″Okay,″ she nodded and unwrapped what seemed to be some box. Driven by her curiosity, she opened the box quickly, her eyes finding a piece of paper. ″What's that? A love letter?″

″Maybe,″ Jay shrugged.

″Let's see,″ she grinned and unfolded the piece of paper, her eyes flying over the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz and the text that accompanied them and as soon as she knew what her present was, she couldn't help but start laughing.

″Why are you laughing?″ Jay asked in confusion. This was the last reaction he'd expected. He'd rather pictured how she would wrap her arms around him and tell him how much she loved this.

″Open yours,″ she chuckled and shook her head slightly.

″Ooooookay,″ he breathed out, a frown still covering his forehead, and unwrapped it quickly, only to find a little letter as well. He was quick to unfold it and once he'd read the hand-written message, he laughed out loudly as well.

″No freakin' way,″ he snorted.

″So you give me a 4-day-trip to San Francisco in February as just the two of us, to visit Teddy and enjoy some time together as average tourists...″ Erin laughed. Her brother was spending Christmas at the facility he worked at, with all the teens that didn't have anyone to celebrate Christmas with. She'd been sad when he told her that he couldn't come but of course she'd understood his reasons and she'd later told Jay how much she would love to visit Teddy in California in the foreseeable future.

″And you give me a 4-day-trip to Mackinac Island in May as just the two of us to enjoy some alone-time at the Grand Hotel,″ Jay laughed. A couple of months ago, when they'd discussed possible honeymoon destinations, she'd realized that one of the most beautiful, charming and peaceful places wasn't even that far away from Chicago, yet, they've never been there and she'd made a mental note to go there with Jay one day.

″Great minds think alike,″ she chuckled and pressed her lips against his.

″I think we both figured that we could use a couple of days just for us,″ he murmured against her lips.

″Uh-huh,″ she grinned. ″That was exactly my thought. And now we even have two trips.″

″I can't wait,″ he said and kissed her again. ″Thank you.″

″Thank you, too,″ she smiled, their lips meeting once more. And when they parted they could see all the anticipation sparkling in each other's eyes. Anticipation for seeing new places neither of them has seen so far, for some time as just the two of them, for an escape from their hectic and chaotic life for a couple of days.

″So Em, you are going to spend a couple of days with your Grandpas in February and May,″ Jay told his daughter, running his hand through her hair from behind.

″I don't think she cares right now,″ Erin noticed, their daughter still all mesmerized by the huge amount of fancy paper she was surrounded with and could tear apart or make any other mess with.

″No, I don't think so either,″ Jay agreed, adding with a chuckle: ″I think the next time there's an occadion this kid needs a present, remind that we only give her some fancy paper.″

″Way cheaper,″ Erin chuckled.

″Exactly,″ Jay nodded. ″And apparently way more interesting.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Their first Christmas as parents passed by faster than they wanted but why should time stop to fly by just because it was Christmas? Unwrapping the presents and spending some time with playing with the new toys was followed by a short breakfast. Other than Emmy and Luke, no one was really hungry anyway as they were still stuffed from Robert's extensive dinner last night. And the next extensive meal was only a couple of hours away. Breakfast was then followed by changing into thick winter clothes and spending the next hour in the garden with building a huge snowman that of course had to look like Olaf. Once their snowman more or less resembled the one it was supposed to resemble and they were all freezing, they went back inside, Emmy and Luke playing with their new toys, their youngest somewhen falling asleep using Crispin as her pillow once more, and Erin, Jay and Rylie were busy to prepare everything for the arrival of their guests.

Setting the table, preparing the dishes, showering and changing into some of their fancier clothes were all done just in time and as always, Erin was the last one to get herself ready. When she left the bathroom and stepped into the master bedroom with just a towel wrapped around her body, she found Jay standing in front of the window, phone on one ear, Emilia resting on his hip, the both of them already perfectly dressed for their Christmas celebrations. Emmy was wearing an absolute adorable red plaid dress, some of her blonde-brown strands pinned back with a hair clip and Jay looked beyond handsome in his black jeans and the button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

″Okay, bye Nick,″ he said into the phone just when Erin entered the room to change.

″Oh, tell him I say hi,″ Erin called quickly before her husband could hang up.

″Did you hear that, man?″ Jay laughed. ″Yeah, I tell her. Bye,″ he said and threw his phone on the bed after finishing the call with his cousin.

″He says hi as well,″ he winked. ″And they all wish us a merry Christmas.″

″Thanks,″ Erin smiled and slipped into her dark pants. ″How are they doing?″

″Pretty good actually. Michael and Susan are with them and Paul and Izzie made the trip from Australia, so for the first time in years they all spend Christmas together. And apparently they have lots of reasons to celebrate...″ he smirked. ″Right, Em?″ he asked his daughter, laughing slightly because he knew exactly that talking in secrets drove Erin nuts.

″Stop being mean and tell me already,″ she chuckled, narrowing her eyes at him.

″Your mommy can be so demanding and impatient,″ Jay grinned at Emilia.

″Mama,″ Emmy babbled, picking up on the word mommy.

″Yes, exactly, mommy,″ he cheered.

″Jaaayyy,″ Erin said strictly. ″Tell me. Now. Please,″ she pouted, a dimpled grin breaking through in the end.

″Okay, you won. But just because you're cute,″ he laughed, giving her this kind of glance that made her heart melt.

″Why thank you,″ Erin chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. ″So?″

″I had the chance to talk to Izzie as well, and...″ He made a pause because sometimes he enjoyed torturing and teasing her.

″And what?!″

″Paul proposed to her this morning. And she said yes,″ he smiled brightly.

″They are going to marry?!″ Erin exclaimed ecstatically, her smile equaling her husband's.

″They are,″ Jay confirmed. ″They want to marry in Australia because Paul's family and all their friends live there, so they have to wait until it's spring or summer again, so the wedding will probably be somewhen between September and December.″

″This means we're going to Australia next year?″ Erin asked, her eyes widening by the thought of traveling to Down Under for the first time. She wasn't a big traveler but Australia has definitely been on her bucket list for a while now.

″We'll see. But there's definitely a likelihood,″ Jay grinned.

″San Francisco, Mackinac, your cabin, Australia...when are we ever going to work next year?″ she laughed.

″There will be enough days where the bullpen rules our life, no worries,″ he winked.

″Yeah, I'm afraid there will be,″ Erin agreed with a sigh and reached for the blouse she wanted to wear today.

″Hey, there's another thing they are celebrating...″ Jay said meaningfully just when she thought this had been the whole surprise.

″There is?″

″Yep,″ Jay nodded and then dropped the news with a big smile. ″Mylo will get a little sister in May.″

″No way! I'm so happy for them,″ Erin beamed. ″How old is Mylo now?″

″He'll turn two in January. Finally some female support for you, right princess?″ he asked Emilia, who started to get impatient on his arm, and so he put her down on the floor, holding her hands from above as she eagerly tried to walk away.

″About time,″ Erin laughed. ″I guess your daughter wants to tell you that she rather wants to go downstairs than hanging out with her parents here,″ she noticed.

″Probably not the worst idea considering that your hair is still wrapped in a turban, huh?″ he smirked innocently, slowly making his way out of the room with Emmy walking in front of him.

″Yeah, and who's fault is that?″ Erin laughed as they walked past her.

″I have no idea...″ he laughed with her and then left the room.

″Erin, Jay!″ Rylie suddenly called from downstairs. ″Your first guests are coming!″

″Oh great,″ Erin sighed to herself. She closed the buttons of her blouse and tucked it into her jeans before she went back to the bathroom to throw some subtle make-up on and dry her hair to make some light last-minute curls into them.

By the time she was ready and went downstairs, all their guests were there already, naturally, and their huge dining and living room was filled with all the people they loved and called family. The afternoon and evening consisted of Justin and Jay building more snowmen outside with Luke and Daniel while Hank took care of 5-month-old Henry and Robert played with Emmy. In the meantime, Olive, Erin, Carol and Rylie prepared their big buffet so it was ready in time everyone started to recognize their growling stomachs and when Erin saw the mountains of food, she wondered how long they would all eat leftovers as they could easily host a feast for three times as many people with the amount of food they had.

Just like Robert the day before, Hank held a little speech before they started to eat, talking about how the family not only grew by Erin marrying Jay and by Emilia's and Henry's births within the last 365 days, but that of course also Carol, Rylie and Luke were a part of this family now, too, because family wasn't always blood but rather the people in your life who want you in theirs, who accept you for who you are and who would do anything to see you smile. Those were the kind of family vibes Hank and Camille had taught Erin when she lived with them and on this very Christmas day, Hank made sure that everyone around the table felt those family vibes, too.

For Rylie, it was the first time that she felt like being part of a real family, a family that did the word justice, and she only wished her brother could be here to experience those vibes as well. For Carol, it was the first time since her husband's death that she could enjoy Christmas and felt like belonging somewhere. And for everyone else, it was a special Christmas as well. Justin's and Olive's first Christmas as parents of two. Hank's first Christmas as a grandfather of three. Robert's first Christmas with his family in forever. Erin's and Jay's first Christmas with their little sunshine.

365 days ago, a much smaller group had sat around Hank's table on Christmas day, with Erin being 35 weeks pregnant and Olive only being a couple of weeks into her second pregnancy. And as Jay let his eyes wander around all the people who sat on their table and then gazed at Erin, who laughed heartily for some reason, her dimples showing off perfectly, as he asked himself once more how he ever got to be so blessed to call this beautiful woman his wife, as he then zoned out with his eyes still on her and didn't hear the words that were exchanged anymore because his mind was at another place, traveling 365 days forward from now and wondering how their table would look like then.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Even with everything around them being pitch-black, there was something magical and magnificent about the cabin, this charming, snow-covered, peaceful place surrounded by trees, open spaces and the frozen lake, this place that has become their second home, the place they would love to spend even more time at, if only it wasn't a six-hours-drive away from Chicago, if only their schedules would give them more time for such adventures.

It was almost 1.30am when Erin and Jay parked the car in front of the cabin and set feet on the snowy ground after what had been a surprisingly quiet, stressless roadtrip. Other than the narrow road up to the cabin, the roads had been cleared from the snow and with driving into the night, they'd avoided any kind of traffic jams. Emilia, dressed in her pajama and covered by her blanket, had fallen asleep not even an hour out of Chicago and has been in dreamland since and Luke, dressed in his pajama as well, had lost the battle against tiredness after around two hours of driving while trying to count cars and trucks.

Now it was their biggest challenge to get the two sleeping kids from the car to their rooms without waking them up, so these two troublemakers couldn't turn night into day and ensure that Erin and Jay wouldn't get any sleep to start off their vacation. They first let Crispin out of the trunk so he could stretch his legs and then went inside the cabin to make a fire in the living room and turn on the heaters in any other room. They unloaded the car and brought food, bags and toys inside and once the car was all empty, except two sleeping kids in their car seats, Erin picked up Emilia, carefully wrapping the blanket around her, and Jay picked up Luke, covering him with a blanket as well. This night provided them another pleasant surprise as neither Emmy nor Luke woke up and so they could tuck them in in their rooms, Crispin sleeping in Emmy's room as always, and then literally fell into their cozy, big bed completely beat to catch at least four to five hours of sleep before Emilia would end her night around seven.

Days in Wisconsin always seemed to pass even faster than days in Chicago, the Halstead-family having a blast making them feel like the days weren't long enough. The day right after their late-night arrival, it didn't stop snowing and Jay and Erin were already afraid to experience a deja-vu by ending up snowed in once more. Staring out of the windows, they could see the amount of snow growing by the hour and no matter that weather didn't show mercy, they went outside and tried to build snowmen and make snow-angels or were chasing snowflakes with their mouths. Beanies and quite frankly everything they wore were completely covered in snow after the shortest amount of time, their noses and cheeks red but their eyes sparkling and smiles plastered on their faces when they went back inside the cabin. They settled on the rug in front of the fireplace to warm up, various toys spread around them as they had time like never before to play with Luke and Emilia, steaming mugs with hot chocolate and marshmallows placed on the coffee table close by, hearty laughters and children's babbling filling the air.

The second day started with building a huge fort in the living room and when it finally stopped to snow and even the tiniest bit of blue sky broke through, they went back outside, Jay pulling two sleighs through the snow while Erin tried to snap every moment of their snowy adventure. Crispin loved to romp through the inches of white powder, Luke had a blast with letting himself fall into the fresh snow, knowing that it was soft and wouldn't hurt, and Emilia tried over and over to walk through the snow all by herself but was falling countless times because she couldn't possibly walk through those inches of snow with her short legs. Both Erin and Jay gave her kudos for not giving up anyway, the determination of their daughter shining through once again. Since it was dark outside as early, they went for a walk along the lake before dinner, Jay carrying a torch in his hand that showed them the way as they were all wearing their thickest clothes and Jay shared some stories how he'd done this with his grandfather when he was a child.

On Friday, Jay tried ice-fishing but had to accept that he probably wasn't the greatest ice-fisher around the globe when he called it a day after not fishing anything in two hours, explaining to Erin that he was sure that all the fish were complotting against him today. He was warming up over a bowl of soup and soon enough the whole family was back outside to build more snowmen, to try to build an igloo, which stayed with a pathetic try, to have more snowball fights and to go for more walks with Emmy tucked in on her sleigh and Luke riding his new bobsleigh.

But the biggest benefit of them spending so much time outside in the cold was definitely that both, Luke and Emmy were completely tuckered out in the evening, the both of them almost falling asleep during dinner, which meant Erin and Jay could have some hours of undisturbed togetherness. Hours they spent with snuggling in front of the fireplace, simply watching the flames and listening to the sounds of the fire as they found everything they needed in each other's arms. Hours they spent in the big bathtub in the bathroom upstairs, relaxing in the hot water that smelled of lavender, fingers lazily traveling over each other's naked skin before taking a bath ended in something else. Hours they spent with making love in their canopy bed. Hours that made them realize how little time, that was not bullpen-time, they had with each other in Chicago. Hours that made them wonder how they should go back to their daily routine when this routine was so much more beautiful, so much more desirable.

On Saturday afternoon, they visited their old neighbor Bill and his wife, those two lovely people that Jay has known his whole life and that were taking care of the cabin's garden when Jay and Erin were not around to do it themselves. The farm was the perfect playground for Luke and Emilia and not only could they stroke cats and rabits and feed the chicken, Bill even saddled them his grandkids's pony, so they could go for a ride around the farm, Jay taking the rope to lead the pony and Erin holding Emmy and making sure their little cowgirl was feeling comfortable, or walking besides Luke who didn't need Erin holding him. They stayed over for an extraordinary homemade dinner inlcuding pie with ice cream for dessert, and Erin was sure that after all these days of feasting and eating way too much, the buttons on her work-jeans would probably be brought to their limits next week. But then again, somewhen in the new year, Cruz's zumba class would resume and she would go back to hit the gym once a week and go for a run through the neighborhood on her free day, so she didn't actually care about calories or anything else and just enjoyed this delicious food without giving it a second thought.

New Years Eve followed their dinner with Bill and his wife, and in the evening, Jay made a big bonfire outside and they sat on the benches around the fire in their winter gear, each of them having one kid in their lap, and grilled sausages and made campfire twist bread and drank hot chocolate with melted marshmallows. They danced around the fire with Disney songs playing from Jay's phone and since Luke and Emmy would long be asleep by the time the year changed from 2017 to 2018, they enlightened some big sparklers just for them, which was their kind of firework out here in the wilderness of Wisconsin, without any noises that would scare the wildlife or Emilia, but still as fascinating and beautiful, especially for their littlest.

After tucking them in, they settled in front of the fireplace to spend the hours that were left until midnight with playing board games while drinking beer and eating the rest of the Christmas cookies they'd brought all the way from Chicago. They played two rounds of Scrabble, the actual game, not their version of it, two rounds of Parcheesi and countless rounds of Sequence and shortly after eleven, Erin's phone buzzed. She furrowed a brow when she unlocked her phone and read the message of Hank wishing them a happy new year.

″What's wrong?″ Jay asked as he tried to study her confused gaze.

″Nothing...it's just...Hank wishes us a happy new year,″ she said.

Jay looked at the watch around his wrist, his facial expression now resembling Erin's. ″It's not midnight yet,″ he noticed. ″And Chicago is the same time zone.″

″I know,″ she nodded. ″For a minute I thought we missed it over playing one game after the other but we didn't.″

″Can I see?″ Jay asked and reached for her phone.

″What, you looking for signs whether he's drunk?″ Erin laughed when she handed him the phone. ″The text is fine.″

″Yeah, seems like,″ Jay agreed. ″Maybe he's confused?″

″I honestly don't know. I mean, it's Chicago. You would definitely realize when it's midnight,″ she mentioned. ″And when it's not.″

Her phone buzzed again and a grin spread over Jay's face. ″Well, he's not in Chicago,″ he smirked and handed her her phone back.

″Where else should he be?″ she asked and grabbed it.

″I don't know, looks like New York to me,″ he grinned and when her eyes fell on the photo she seriously couldn't believe her eyes.

″What the hell?!″ she whispered and couldn't take her eyes away from the photo of Hank, Liv and Noah looking like some kind of family.

″I didn't know they were still a thing,″ Jay said casually.

″Me neither,″ she answered in disbelief. ″She wasn't at his birthday and he hasn't mentioned her in forever and whenever I skyped with Liv she didn't say a word about him. And I didn't want to dig because it didn't feel right. I thought whatever it had been between them was over for a reason we might never know.″

″Looks like they reconciled,″ Jay winked.

″Uh-huh,″ she nodded. ″They've been dancing around it for almost two years now. Seriously, they are worse than we were,″ she added with a raspy chuckle.

″Way worse,″ Jay laughed.

″I can't believe it,″ Erin shook her head slightly, her eyes falling on the photo again.

″You'll come around it, babe. And now,″ he said and took the phone from her hand to throw it one the couch, ″let's resume our game because I'm about to beat you.″

″Over my dead body,″ Erin smirked sweetly and just like this, they were back continuing their board-game-battle.

It was twenty minutes before midnight when they finished another game and still had no overall-winner because they've both won the same amount of games tonight but instead of going for another round to declare the king or queen of board games, Jay got up and said: ″I have a surprise for you.″

Somehow, these words reminded her of this very day 365 days ago, when shortly before midnight he'd also told her that he had a surprise for her. ″You going to propose to me again?″ she grinned and reached for his hand so he could pull her up.

″Since you already said yes exactly one year ago there's no reason to do that again,″ he winked and wrapped his arms around her back so he could pull her closer, the fire shining in their eyes as they both remembered this magic moment when he'd bent down on his knee in the snow and pulled out the ring to ask her to become his wife by chosing words that she would remember forever, that still had the capability of making her all emotional.

″So if I had said no, I would get a proposal every year?″ she joked.

″You want another proposal?″ Jay asked seriously and bent down on his knee before she could answer anything, his action leaving her speechless anyway. ″Er, I love you. And it's not because you make me happy and not because you make me feel special and also not because you're the sweetest person ever," he chuckled. "It's because I just love you. And I don't need any reasons for that," he smirked with his famous heart-eyes. "You are the one person that makes me smile and laugh like no one else can. The one person that makes me feel like an idiot because I'm that much in love with you and nothing's ever gonna change my love for you. You are more than I could ever have dreamed of and you've given me more than I ever dared to dreamed of. You made me a father and a husband and a different person. You are my other half. And you will forever be the person I would do anything for, even proposing to you again although I'm already allowed to call you my wife. So Erin Halstead, would you marry me again if you could?″

The tears that were looming in her eyes fell down her cheeks as she was sure she was falling for him even more, as she wondered how falling for him was even possible. But in this moment she realized that love was something that could never stop growing, no matter how full your heart already was, especially when your husband was Jay Halstead, a man who had a way with words and could make her all emotional with his actions that showed her how madly in love he was with her.

″Yes, I would marry you a thousand times if I could,″ Erin nodded, an unbelievable smile forming on her face and he got up again to kiss her for what seemed like forever but was still not long enough. ″I love you,″ she whispered against his mouth.

″I love you more,″ he breathed against her lips and kissed them again. ″Come on now, that actually was just improvising and not the surprise I talked about,″ he winked.

″You're pretty damn good at improvising,″ she chuckled.

″I know,″ he nodded with a cocky wink.

They slipped into their winter boots and jackets and put beanies on so they would stay warm and Jay told Erin to wait outside while he still had to get something. Erin did as ordered and by the time Jay joined her down by the frozen lake, the moonlight reflecting on the ice and the sky full of stars, it was five minutes before midnight.

Jay put some box on the ground and wrapped his arms around his wife from behind. ″2017 was amazing to us and I don't think 2018 can possibly be better.″

″Hey, don't jinx it,″ Erin laughed.

″Trying not to,″ he laughed as well. ″But seriously Erin, in between Emmy and marrying you I don't know how anything can ever top that.″

Erin turned around to him to look him in the eyes as she answered. ″Let's just see what happens in 2018,″ she smirked meaningfully.

″Yeah,″ he smiled back, totally reading her gaze, and then bent down to reach for the box.

″What's that?″ Erin asked.

″Those are sky lanterns,″ he said and handed her one. He enlightened the fire in hers and then also in his own. ″This is to an amazing 2017. And whatever 2018 may bring.″

″Whatever 2018 may bring,″ she echoed.

They let go of the lanterns in the same moment and watched them rise in the dark sky and towards the stars, being all snuggled up in each other's arms, a beautiful, peaceful, perfect moment just when the clock turned from 11.59pm to midnight, when the month turned from December to January, when the year turned from 2017 to 2018, 365 days of a new year ahead of them.

″Happy New Year,″ Jay whispered and turned his eyes away from the sky lanterns to Erin.

″Happy New Year,″ she whispered back before their lips met in their first kiss of 2018...

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know what you think :) So I guess next is someone's first birthday coming up, eh? ;)