Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 14

"Halstead," Voight, who had just leaned in and kissed Erin on the forehead, now turned towards the break room to summon Halstead. Erin hadn't rolled her eyes like he had expected her to at his fatherly and - okay let's just called it what it was - territorial gesture, but she sent him a look that said she had indeed seen right through it. "My office."

"Oh shit." Ruzek whispered to Jay in the break room. "You're in trouble now."

Dawson couldn't help but chime in. "That's the second time today, man."

"Does he know you're seeing her?" Ruzek asked, his voice was a little louder this time, and carried past the doors of the break room.

Jay finished stirring the cream into his coffee and began walking towards the door. "Shut up, man." Jay was pretty confident that this meeting had to do with Grace, seeing at Erin was dressed professionally, it was the middle of the day, and she had someone else with her. That being said, the words My office coming out of Voight's mouth never ceased to instill fear in him. It was like a Pavlovian response, and he couldn't help the automatic way his heart rate picked up speed.

Because Jay had procrastinated slightly by taking the time to finish making his coffee, when he walked into Voight's office, he was the last one there to arrive. Voight motioned for him to close the door, and when he turned around the tall blonde stood from her chair and reached out her hand to shake his.

"Rachel Stone, with DCFS." Her voice was soft and kind, and he let it ease his nerves slightly. He really wanted this meeting to go well.

"Jay Halstead," he said, shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

There were only two chairs in Voight's office aside from Voight's own, and that left Jay standing uncomfortably in the small room.

"Erin," Voight stood from his chair, and motioned for her to take his seat. "I'll leave you all to it." He nodded slightly towards Jay, and left.

Erin sat down in Voight's chair and leaned the chair back comfortably, as if she had done it hundreds of times. For some reason, Jay couldn't take his eyes off of Erin in Voight's seat. It was kind of surreal, and it momentarily distracted and disoriented him.

As if sensing his discomfort, Erin sat up a little straighter and began to speak. "Rachel will be taking over your case from here on out. I have briefed her on your home situation and she has read all of your paperwork. Everything seems to be in order from my end, but from now on, she will have complete jurisdiction on this case. That means she'll have the largest amount of influence on whether or not you can become an official foster parent to Grace. If she feels comfortable with you and Grace, which I believe she will, she will be your biggest advocate."

"Jay," Rachel cut Erin off at that comment. Everything she said was, in fact, true. She did have the largest amount of influence, and if she felt good about Grace's home situation, she would be Jay's biggest advocate. That being said, she didn't want to give Jay Halstead any false impressions. He was a single father and was new to the foster care system. This was her first time meeting him, she had never been in his home, and she had never seen him interact with his daughter or Grace. "Everything Erin is saying is true. I took this job to match children with caring and capable foster parents. From everything Erin has told me about you, I believe this will be a very positive experience. That being said, you should know, you won't be receiving any special treatment from me. I will be paying close attention at dinner tonight, and if dinner goes well, I will be dropping by unannounced several times in the next few days and weeks."

Jay listened intently to her words and ingested all of the information. His head was spinning as he tried to make sense of it all. Rachel sounded positive, hopeful even. But there was a slight edge to her voice, one that reminded him exactly who was in charge. She seemed to be trying to tell him that the situation was tenuous, his guardianship of Grace was temporary, and that with one wrong move he could lose Grace. "I understand," was all he could come up with to say.