20. Chapter 20
Surprisingly, Jay drove back to the district while Erin and Maggie sat in the back. Half way through the drive, once Maggie had run out of things to talk about, she had fallen asleep, haphazardly curled into her mother's chest.
Jay peaked through the rearview mirror as he approached a stop light and was about to say something to Erin when he noticed she was asleep as well. Maggie had carefully gripped her hands onto Erin's t-shirt, while Erin had her arms wrapped around Maggie's small body.
Jay couldn't help but smile at the sight. It wasn't wrong to say Erin hadn't been a mess when Maggie was gone for couple hours. When they found her although, Jay knew then that his partner - well technically girlfriend now - loved his little girl just as much as he did, maybe even more. Now, that he had the girl of his dreams, all Jay wanted to do was give her the family she deserves.
As the hour long car ride came to an end, Jay put the car into a parking space in front of the district. Getting out of the car, he opened the car door and saw Maggie and Erin still sound asleep.
Leaning down, Jay gently pressed a kiss to Erin's forehead as she began to wake up.
"Hey, we are here", he said softly.
Erin gave him a sleepy smile before she looked back down at Maggie, who was still passed out asleep, "I will just carry her in", she suggested.
Jay nodded knowing that Erin wasn't going to be letting Maggie out of her sights for a while. Picking her up, Maggie barely even stirred in Erin's arms as she rested gently on Erin's hip.
Platt immediately took notice of the couple carrying in the small child as they entered the district. Erin gave her a smile as she walked up the steps towards the Intelligence Unit.
"They bring Kaitlyn in", Jay asked as he approached the front desk.
"Just got here about thirty minutes ago. She should be resting comfortably in an interrogation room", Platt answered as she fingered through some paperwork.
"Thanks Platt", Jay stated as he walked away from the desk.
xxx
"Halstead", Voight's voice boomed as he came up the steps to Intelligence. Jay immediately walked towards where he was standing outside his office.
"Where's Erin and Maggie", he asked entering the office.
"Break Room", Voight said pointing to where Maggie was now awake and coloring in Erin's lap.
"I need to have Ruzek take her statement", Voight requested. At the sound of a statement being made, Jay immediately was alert to what Voight was saying.
"I don't want her testifying in a case, Hank", Jay immediately requested.
"And I am not saying she will have to. You know that we have to take the statement to close the case. If we are lucky, your ex will plead out and then there will be no trial", Voight explained.
Jay nodded in agreement. He was right. Maybe Maggie wouldn't even have to testify in court and Kaitlyn would go away permanently.
"Speaking of ex, Antonio and I are about to interrogate her", Voight said taking Jay away from his thoughts.
"Can I watch", Jay quickly asked.
Voight gave him a hesitant look for a second, "Yeah, sure Halstead", he agreed clapping a hand on his shoulder.
xxx
"To start off, I don't even understand why you abandoned your child in the first place", Antonio stated as he took a seat at the table across from Kaitlyn.
"That's none of your business", Kaitlyn spat as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Then, why did you suddenly want her back after five years", Voight simply asked.
Kaitlyn turned in her seat, looking in Voight's direction where he was leaned up against a wall. "Because she's my daughter. I was young and reckless when I had her, but that never meant I stopped loving her and thinking about her", she explained.
"But, you gave her away. You signed your parental rights to Detective Halstead. You are no longer that little girl's mother", Voight stated.
"You're just saying that because you are close with that little girlfriend Jay has. You don't want to ruin their family, when you know that little girl is as good as mine", Kaitlyn said giving Voight a cold look.
"But, why kidnap her? What if you were going to win the custody battle", Antonio asked.
Kaitlyn turned back towards Antonio as she put her head in her hands, "Because Maggie screwed me on the stand the other day. She started crying saying that she wanted to be with her Dad. I knew that if I wanted her to be with me then I would just have to do it myself", she explained.
"You know, if you guy's hadn't come for her, she would still be perfectly fine. I had no intentions of hurting her. She was going to be perfectly happy there", Kaitlyn finished.
Jay ran a hand over his face as he watched Antonio and Voight continue to question Kaitlyn. She was delusional. She really thought that she could have gotten away with this.
"Jay", a voice suddenly called out from the hallway near the interrogation room.
Jay turned around to see his lawyer standing there with a pack of folders in his hand.
"I heard you found your daughter", his lawyer said upon entering the small room.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't call you. Things have just been a little crazy", Jay answered looking over at Kaitlyn in the interrogation room.
"That's a good place for her to stay", Mr. Evans said as he also looked over to Kaitlyn.
Jay nodded in agreement looking back over to his lawyer who had since set the pack of folders down on the table.
"What is all this", Jay asked.
"While you were out finding Maggie, the judge called just the lawyers back in for her ruling. You won full custody", his lawyer explained.
Jay couldn't remove the smile from his face as he heard those words leave his mouth. There was no longer anxiety or worry that the courts would mess up and give custody to Kaitlyn.
"You just have to sign these papers, I can have them filed by tonight and a letter explaining the terms of full custody will come in the mail", Mr. Evans explained.
Jay quickly grabbed a pen as his lawyer handed him the paper. He had almost initialed and signed everything that he had to, when he began to think. What about Erin?
As he signed the last papers, Jay handed them back to his lawyer. "I know that I only hired you for this, but is there anyway you could get me", Jay began.
"Adoption papers", Jay's lawyer finished for him.
Jay gave him a smile as he handed him the last pack of papers. "I already made them out in your girlfriend's name. All she has to do is sign them and bring them back to me", he explained.
"It may take awhile to make the adoption official, but I know of a few ways to speed up the process", he finished.
Jay flipped through the paper's as he saw Erin's name on every one of them, declaring her Maggie's mother officially.
"Thank you so much for everything", Jay said as he extend his hand towards his lawyer.
"If you need anything else Jay, just let me know", Mr. Evans said as he shook his hand.
Jay's lawyer turned and left the small Interrogation room, passing Voight on his way out.
"I didn't even noticied you finished", Jay stated as Voight entered the room.
"Yeah, there's nothing she could do to try to hide her guilt. What did your lawyer bring you", Voight asked pointing to the papers in Jay's hands.
"Oh, I won custody", Jay said giving him a smile.
"Congrats, kid", Voight stated returning the smile.
"Yeah, do you know if Maggie and Erin are still being interviewed by Ruzek", Jay asked.
"They actually went to the park, Maggie was getting a little cooped up", Voight explained.
Jay took his phone out of his pocket and saw the text message from Erin, saying that they were going to the park.
"I can give you ride over there if you want", Voight offered.
Jay honestly couldn't believe what Voight was saying. Just a months ago, Voight wanted to practically send Jay to another planet so he would stay away from his pseudo daughter. Now, he was easy-going with their relationship and he actually supported it.
"Yeah, that would be great", Jay agreed.
xxx
Half and hour later, Jay watched Maggie in the park as Erin pushed her on a swing, enjoying the cold, yet sunny, day in Chicago. The park was practically filled with other children and their parents, but Jay only saw Maggie and Erin. Maggie finally got the mother she had always dreamed of and Jay had the girl of his dreams.
"They just booked Kaitlyn", Voight suddenly announced as he pocketed his phone and stood next to Jay.
Jay was taken away from his thoughts as Voight stood next to him. He turned his head and saw Voight also looking over in the direction where Maggie and Erin were playing.
"Do you know the reason I didn't want you two together in the beginning", Voight asked.
Jay shook his head as he looked towards the older man next to him, "I knew she was going to fall for you the second I partnered you two up. That's where my rule for no in house romance came from", Voight began to explain.
"But, when you told me about Maggie, I got even more worried about the potential of you being together", he continued.
"Her past was rough. I was worried that if she started dating you, she would grow attached to Maggie and something would go wrong and it there would be an ugly break up and..", Voight trailed on.
Jay gave him a small smile, as Voight stumbled with his words. Jay had never gotten to see this side of Hank. This was the caring side Erin always talked about. The one that she grew up with.
"I was wrong and if I haven't apologized already to you, this is my apology", he said.
Jay nodded as Voight continued, "You two actually remind me of my wife and I when we were kids, as crazy as that sounds", he finished.
"Was her Dad overprotective", Jay joked.
"Put it this way, I didn't have a kid to worry about, but I had issues of my own", Voight returned with a slight laugh.
Jay laughed along with him and as soon as it ended he turned to his boss, "Listen, Hank, I really love Erin. Like you said I have since the moment I stepped into the unit and I saw her. I want to give her that perfect life she never got, but has always imagined. I want to be with her for the rest of my life", Jay stated.
"And I was wondering if..", he began.
"Yes", Voight simply said. Jay looked at him with a stunned expression on his face.
"Halstead, you need to marry my 'daughter' already", Voight stated. "And I feel I can completely trust you to do so", he finished giving him a smile.
"Thank you so much sir", Jay smiled shaking Voight's hand.
"Daddy", Maggie suddenly exclaimed running over to the two men and immediately colliding with her father and grandfather.
"Daddy, will you come push me on the swings. Or we can play tag", Maggie offered.
"Yeah, or you can play tag", Erin said as she snuck behind Jay leaning against him, gently wrapping her arms around one of his.
"I will go play with you, Mags", Voight offered before Jay even got the chance to reply.
"Okay", Maggie quickly responded taking Hank's hand in hers and leading him towards the small playground.
"What were you guys talking about", Erin asked as she looked up towards Jay.
"Oh nothing", Jay answered wrapping his arms around Erin's waist pulling her into his chest as he pressed a kiss into her hair.
He was so lucky to have such an amazing girlfriend. Well, soon to be wife.
A/N: I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter! If anyone is reading my other story Finding Mia along with this one, I apologize for the time between updates. I am having really bad writers block as to where to go with that story, so if you have any tips feel free to let me know. As for this story, I hope you guys are enjoying it..as always I have a lot planned. Review and let me know what you thought of this chapter :)