Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 10

Before Jay put the keys in the ignition, he began typing in Erin's address into his Google Maps application. Well, Voight's address, but that was beside the point.

Either way, he was extremely disappointed to be typing in the address so soon. He really didn't want this night to end.

"What are you doing?" Erin asked him, as he pressed the Start button on his iPhone and the directions came to life.

"Taking you home?" He turned the key, and the car roared to life.

"My house is way out of the way." She said, emphasizing the word, and hoping he wouldn't realized that it wasn't exactly true. "Take me to your place. I'll have Hank pick me up later."

Later. Without another word, he exited out of the application and smiled. She didn't want the night to end either.

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As soon as he turned the key into the lock and opened the front door to his apartment, Maddie ran towards him. "Daddy, Gracie doesn't feel good." Her face was sad and her eyes full of genuine worry.

"I know, baby." He lifted Maddie into his arms and gave her a comforting squeeze, then placed her back on the ground. "Where is she?"

"In the bathroom with Sam." The two Halsteads walked into the apartment, and Erin stayed behind to hang her jacket on the hook.

From down the hall, she heard him say, "Can you stay here with Erin, Mads?"

Maddie hadn't noticed Erin at first, and her face brightened when she heard her name. "Erin!"

"Hi, Maddie!" Erin slid off her heels and moved further into the apartment.

"You look pretty." Maddie said, shyly. "Did you have fun at dinner with Daddy?"

Erin sat down on the couch and laughed, "I did. Did you have fun at home with Grace and Sam?"

"Yes! We made chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter and then we played Hungry, Hungry Hippos AND Pretty, Pretty Princess." She pointed towards the games, still scattered on the living room floor.

"Wow! That sounds like a really fun night." Erin smiled. One of her favorite things about Jay as a father was his "No TV" rule, unless it was a special occasion. Instead of Maddie and Grace just sitting together in front of a screen, they were really spending time together, getting to know each other, and bonding.

"It was!" Maddie's face turned somber. "But then Grace said she didn't feel good, and she threw up!" Maddie walked over and deposited herself next to Erin on the couch.

Erin wrapped her arm around Maddie and Maddie leaned into Erin's body. "Well, your Daddy's here now." She said quietly into Maddie's ear. "So everything is going to be just fine."

She looked at her watch and realized that it was nearing 9 pm. "Are you tired, Maddie?"

As if on cue, Maddie yawned loudly. "Yes," she sighed. "I'm wiped."

Erin wanted to laugh at her use of the grown up term, but instead she said, "Would it be okay if I put you to sleep tonight?"

Maddie nodded, and threw her arms around Erin's neck. Erin took that as a cue to lift Maddie and carry her to bed.

It was the first time Erin had been this far into the apartment, and she marveled at how well decorated it was. Jay may have been a single father, but he made sure his daughter wasn't growing up in a bachelor pad.

Maddie's room was painted a light pink, and there were two twin beds on each wall. Both beds had matching pink and white comforters, but over one bed there was huge wooden letters spelling out Maddie. The letters were white, and they perfectly matched the rest of the furniture in the room. Erin walked towards that bed and laid Maddie down.