Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 17

It was a little after 1 pm, and the Intelligence Unit was all gathered together in the bullpen. Two hours earlier, one of Atwater's CIs had finally come through. They finally had someone in custody, and after only a few minutes in an interrogation room with Voight, he had confessed. Jay was sitting on the edge of his desk listening to the final briefing when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. The call was from an unknown number, with a Chicago area code.

"Detective Halstead," he answered, still in work mode.

"Jay, Hi. It's Rachel." At the sound of his voice, he instantly jumped off of his desk. He motioned to the rest of the team. Everyone knew today was the day, and Voight immediately waved his hand to Jay to excuse him from the pen.

He walked into the break room and closed the door quietly behind him. "Hey, Rachel." He checked his watch as he spoke. It was only 1:15 pm. Was that a good sign or a bad sign? He couldn't tell by the tone of her voice, warm and professional, as always.

"I just heard back from the judge." Jay held his breath, and it seemed like hours before she finally spoke again. Hours. Even though it was more likely a couple seconds, just enough time for her to inhale and exhale in preparation for sharing her news. "And I have really wonderful news."

Jay let out a huge sigh of relief and a smile immediately formed on his lips. "I can keep her?" He couldn't believe it. He truly couldn't believe it. He had been so busy mentally preparing himself to get his heart broken, to have to break Grace's heart and Maddie's heart, and even Erin's heart, that he hadn't allowed himself to actually get his hopes up. "She's going to stay with us?" We're going to be a family.

Rachel's laugh filled the speaker in his ear as she responded, "Yeah. You can keep her."

Thank. The. Lord.

He knew that fostering was just the first step in a long line of steps. Erin had taken the time to walk him through it one night when they were lying in bed. He would still have the occasional surprise home visit, although they would space out considerably. Grace would be interviewed, along with her teachers, several times throughout the next few months. Then, if everything went well, he could petition the courts to adopt her some time next year. Then, she would really be his.

But this... this was a start.

This was where it all started.

"Rachel, thank you so much. Thank you for everything." He wanted to thank Rachel properly, but he also really wanted to get off the phone. He wanted to march into the pen and tell the team. He wanted to call Erin.

He couldn't wait until 3:30 when he got to pick up his girls. Both of his girls, and finally, finally tell them the news.

The news they had all been waiting for.

"Your welcome, Jay." He could hear the smile in her voice now, too. "There's paperwork involved, of course, and I'll be in touch tomorrow." She paused, allowing that to settle in. "But for now, go celebrate with your family."

My family.

He thanked her again and then hung up, not even closing his phone before he dialed Erin's number.

Damn, he though, when the phone went straight to voicemail. He checked the time again, 1:20 pm, and resisted calling her a second time. He knew she was going to have a busy day today, especially after she had told him last night. He also knew that she had promised to try and squeeze everything in as early as possible so she could get out of work early. She was probably working through her lunch hour as we speak.

They had planned to meet at home after the girls got out of school. They were going to wait for the call together.

But, now, it had come early and he was anxious to tell her. He had to force himself to close the phone, to not dial her number again. He didn't want to bother her at work. He would tell her soon enough.