40. Chapter 40

Hi :) Love love loved all of your reviews on the last chapter! So happy to see so many people are invested in these characters as I am! Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger yesterday :/ Hope you enjoy the resolution of it!

Happy reading :)

Chapter 40,

Erin hadn't been able to concentrate all morning at work. Thankfully, she didn't have any meetings scheduled for the morning, because if she had, she wouldn't have been prepared.

She stayed in her office with the door closed, staring at new lamp on her desk. True to his word, Hank had taken a lamp from his house and given it to her to place on top of the mahogany. She tried to let the calm colors of the porcelain relax her.

It didn't work.

After the sudden appearance of Eloise, and the subsequent nonappearance of Jay, she had started to seriously freak herself out.

Jay hadn't woken her when he crawled into bed after midnight, and he had merely given her a quick kiss goodbye at 5 am, citing the ongoing case and explaining that he had just come home to get a few hours rest.

She understood, of course, but it felt like terrible timing.

It wasn't as if she hadn't known that Jay dated. Of course he had dated. He was 30 years old and insanely attractive. He was much sexier and way more attractive than a man should ever be allowed to be.

He probably had women lining up to date him. And she was sure that Halstead grin had gotten him into a lot of beds and into a lot of hearts.

And it wasn't as if she expected him to mention the name of every girl he had ever slept with or dated, seriously or not. Other than Ben or Charlie, he probably wouldn't recognize any names from her past, either.

If it had been those things, she wouldn't have lost a moment's rest. And she certainly wouldn't be sitting at her desk, losing time, staring at a lamp.

No, it was neither of those things.

It was the fact that Eloise had known Sam. Sam, who had only been around for the past two - maybe three - years.

It was the fact that she said that she had bugging Jay to get a housekeeper for years.

She had been in his life for years.

And if that wasn't enough, which, by the way, it was, she had also slept over.

She had clearly slept in his bed, while Maddie had been in the nextroom.

And there it was, she realized. That was the crux of it. After the first night she had woken in his bed, Jay had confessed that he had never had a woman sleep over with his daughter down the hall.

He had made the comment in the morning, casually, off-handedly. He said he hadn't actually slept with a woman in years.

When she had raised her eyebrows and given him a surprised look, one that said that sounds like a line, he had just laughed and explained that sure, he had had sex with women, but at their place. And he had always returned home afterwards, to his baby girl.

She had believed him. And she had felt so special in that moment.

But now, she closed her eyes and thought:

Of course it was a line.

000000000000

Jay sat at his desk at work, going through the background checks of the three offenders in custody. They were currently being held separately in interrogation rooms. Voight and Olinsky were questioning one of the offenders, the one that seemed the least guilty but the most nervous, and the other two were being left alone to sweat it out.

He was sitting in the bullpen, with Ruzek and Dawson also on their computers, while Atwater and Burgess were out trying to attain security camera footage from the street cameras on Wabash.

"Halstead," Platt's voice interrupted his scrolling, and he looked up. "You have a visitor."

He looked at his visitor, and a confused smile reached his face. "El, what are you doing here?" He moved towards her and wrapped her into a tight hug.

"I'm here for a conference," she said, still wrapped in his arms.

He pulled away, looking her up and down. He always did this when she had been away for a long time. "When did you get back?" She looked thinner than when he had last seen her, but not in an unhealthy way.

"To DC, last week." She said, as she moved towards his desk and plopped down in his seat. "To Chicago, last night." She slung her big black purse onto the back of his chair and then turned to face him. "Actually," she paused, "I stopped by your place. Met the new Sam."

"New Sam?" He asked confused, as he sat on the edge of his desk and looked down at her. She was dressed casually in dark jeans and a light grey t-shirt. It was a deep v-neck, and it was a little low for his liking.

"Yeah." She said, "Except, does she live in? She was in her pajamas." Eloise had been surprised by her attire the night before. She had been wearing boxer shorts that were a little too short for a housekeeper. Actually, a lot too short. Although, when she thought about it on the way home, it didn't surprise her at all. Women were always trying to date her brother, why would his housekeeper be any different.

"What?" Jay was staring at her confused, but then it clicked. Pajamas. "Oh no," he said, now understanding. "That's not the new Sam. That's my girlfriend."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. A girlfriend? "Oh," she paused. She thought back to the woman's confused and maybe even slightly possessive facial expression. Yeah, okay. "That makes sense."

"But yeah," Jay continued. "She lives in."

Now her eyebrows shot up. That did not sound like the Jay Halstead she knew. "Wow," she said. Now I wish I had checked her out a little more thoroughly. "Good for you, big brother. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Shut up," he said, rolling his eyes and kicking her gently.

"So does that mean the guest room is still available?" She asked, lightly. "Because I only booked the hotel for one night, and as much as I love sleeping in the other twin bed in Maddie's room, I need to look presentable tomorrow. I'm presenting at the conference." Being the youngest, whenever she and Will stayed at Jay's together, she was always the one who slept in Maddie's room. She didn't mind the twin bed, it was more that Maddie snored like a trucker and she never got a good night sleep.

"Yes, you're bed is still available." Jay said, "But, uh, you missed a lot since you've been gone." Like the fact that the other twin is no longer available.

"I'd say," Eloise said, laughing lightly as she leaned back even further in her brother's chair. "You're shacking up with some woman I've never met."

He laughed at her terminology, rolling his eyes and kicking her once again. His sister had always loved giving him a hard time.

She loved giving his girlfriends a hard time, too, but in a way less playful way. No one would ever compare to Allie in her mind. "Yes, that and other things." He said, not wanting to get into it at work in the middle of a case. "You know, you could've called." He said, bringing out his big brother tone. The one designed the make her feel wracked with guilt.

"How many times did you call me when you were deployed?" She asked, her eyebrows raised. She may have felt guilty about not calling Maddie more, but she certainly didn't feel bad about not calling her brother. She'd been busy and he of all people should understand.

"Fair enough," he conceded. His sister was a surgeon training with the military. Combining medicine and serving your country, well, she had been the golden child.

And she never let them forget it.

He took his key off the ring and handed it to her. "I'll try to be home for dinner," he said.

"Thanks," she said, taking the key from him and putting it in the pocket of her big black purse. Then she stood from the desk, gave him another, shorter hug, and turned to leave. She had already checked out of the hotel, her suitcase was downstairs, and it was only a short Uber drive to his apartment.

"Oh, and El?" He yelled after her.

She stopped and turned back, "Yeah?"

"Be nice."

She smiled her sweetest daddy's little girl smile and replied, "I'm always nice."

He just rolled his eyes as she turned away and descended the stairs. That smile hadn't worked on him when she was a kid, and it certainly wasn't going to work on him now.

Because that justwasn't true. She was never nice.

He opened his phone to shoot Erin a text message, planning to warn her, when Ruzek walked over and momentarily distracted him.

"Dude, that's your sister?" he said, his mouth wide and his voice full of surprise. "She's hot."

He rolled his eyes. He was well aware. El had had guys fawning all over her for her whole life. Even some of his own friends. Well, actually, most of his friends.

He had always found it extremely annoying.

Because, of course, she would undoubtedly break their hearts, one heart after another. And then his friends would whine to him about it.

That was even more annoying.

"She's off limited, Ruzek." He said, his voice stern. At Ruzek's sad and mildly offended look, he added, "Seriously, I mean it."

Ruzek gave him another sad look, and before he could lift his arm and smack him, Voight and Olinsky came in with an update from the offender. He had given them a name, and now they had another lead.

And with that, Jay slipped his cell phone into his back pocket and got to work.

The warning text message to Erin had been forgotten.

00000000000000

By 3:00, Erin couldn't focus on anything. She had tried. She had, truly, truly, tried. But she had been at work for 6 hours and had accomplished nothing. So, she sent Sam a quick text message, letting her know she was going to leave early and pick up the girls from school. No sense in staying holed up in her office for another minute. She needed to see her girls.

When the three of them got home, she sent the girls in the living room to play while she went into the kitchen to begin making their after school snack.

When the kitchen came into view, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Eloise was sitting on the bar stool, nursing a cup of coffee, a phone attached to her ear.

"How's her heart rate?" She asked. Then she waited for a response, which presumably came, because then she followed it up with another question. "And her blood pressure?"

She clearly hadn't seen Erin yet, which gave Erin a chance to examine her a little more closely. Today, she was wearing dark jeans and a grey t-shirt. Her hair was in a casual pony tail today, and she was still wearing very minimal makeup.

"Yes, you can check the incision site. But I can't imagine that would cause such a drastic change in her vitals. Do a FAST scan, but then just get a CT abdomen and pelvis."

Erin forced herself to walk fully into the kitchen, to make her presence known.

Eloise seemed to see her, but she casually finished her phone conversation, detailing out a few more instructions to the person on the other end, and sipped her coffee as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

It wasn't.

"So," Eloise finally said to her, placing her cell phone faced down on the kitchen counter. "Not the housekeeper."

"Nope," Erin said, her voice steady.

"The girlfriend," she said, matter-of-factly.

"Yep," she kept her voice steady, and then asked, "And you are?" Even though she felt like she already knew.

"Eloise Halstead," she said, reaching her hand out for Erin to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Halstead? That she hadn't been expecting.

"Aunt El," Maddie cried, as she ran into the kitchen and catapulted herself into Eloise's arms.

Oh my god.

This was Jay's sister Elle? Elle was short for Eloise?

Why had she never considered that possibility?

Well, she knew why. Because Eloise was stunning and Erin jumped to conclusions.

And because Will and Jay were one syllable, and the name Elle just seemed to fit right in. Which seemed like a really dumb reason right about now.

Thank God.

Except, Erin noticed that Eloise was still looking at her coolly, appraising her once again, even more than yesterday if that's possible.

Grace walked in behind Maddie, momentarily distracting Eloise and giving Erin a break from her stare.

"This is Grace!" Maddie said, excited to introduce her aunt to her sister. Eloise's face brightened and she gave Grace a warm and friendly smile.

I should've known, Erin thought. Eloise had the Halstead grin. Not that I've seen it, she realized.

"Grace, Mommy, this is Aunt El!"

The friendly smile fell from her face. "Mommy?" She asked, her voice incredulous.

Erin was surprised by her tone. She wasn't just surprised. She seemed almost angry. Hank hadn't minded. Even the Corson's hadn't minded.

But evidently, Eloise minded a great deal. And it seemed like she wasn't about to let Erin off the hook without an explanation.

"What the hell?" Eloise continued.

"Hey," Erin said, without even thinking. "Watch your language."

Eloise rolled her eyes, but seemed to concede to her point. "Since when are you mommy?" She probed, not ready to let this go.

Erin ignored her question, and instead said, "I'm going to make the girls a snack. Why don't we talk when Jay gets home?"

Eloise simply nodded in agreement.

Then Erin turned away, keeping her eyes fixed on the kitchen counter, trying to focus on the task at hand. She could feel Eloise's eyes on her back. Watching.

She was watching. She had kept her eyes squarely on Erin as she sliced apples for the girls. She knew she should be focusing on Maddie, paying more attention to the story she was currently telling, but she couldn't help but feel incredibly skeptical of this whole situation.

She had only left for nine months. How much could really happen in nine months?

But then she thought about the news she had been keeping to herself, the one she had planned to come to Chicago and tell both of her brothers, and she realized that there was a whole lot that could happen in nine months.

Well, they had a lot to talk about when her brother got home.

That was for damn sure.

xoxo

Please Review