Bless the Broken Road that Lead Me Straight to You

Chapter 33

"Yo Halstead, Dawson," Adam Ruzek stood from his desk, slung on his light jacket, and began gathering his things. "Kevin and I are heading to Molly's. You guys in for a drink?"

Ugh. Jay knew he should say yes. The case had been wrapped up in the early hours of the morning, and with the paperwork now complete, Voight had dismissed them and they were leaving earlier than expected. Plus, he had skipped out on drinks with the guys the last three times they had asked.

But he really didn't want to go. Actually, it was the last thing he wanted to do. He just wanted to get home to his girls.

"Sure," Dawson answered first. "Laura has the kids tonight, and I could definitely use a drink after this one." It had a particularly gruesome and tough case, involving three dead college girls. Each one had been sexually assaulted by multiple offenders, their bodies had been badly beaten and disfigured, and then they had been been dumped in the woods, left to rot, only to be discovered by a jogger and her dog. The case had taken longer than usual, and the more they learned about the case, the more depressing and difficult it became.

But he was past the days where cases like this made him want to bury himself in a drink. Now, cases like this made him want to bury himself in Erin. To inhale her lavender scent and to let warm her touch calm him from the inside, out.

"What about you Halstead?" Ruzek asked again, "I'm sure Erin can handle the girls for a couple hours."

He was right, of course. Erin had been officially moved in for three months now, and she had the mother thing down pat. They had even gone through the lengthy process of making Erin an official co-foster parent of Grace, and they were rapidly moving in the direction of adoption.

But it didn't matter that she could handle them just fine, that she didn't need him there. It was that he needed to be there.

He loved hearing the girls chat animatedly about their day over snacks in the afternoon. He didn't want to miss it. They were just growing up too fast, Grace was about to turn five next month, with Maddie turning five two months after that.

He just wanted them to stay little forever.

"I'm gonna need a rain check, guys." He said, hoping they wouldn't give him too hard of a time. "With the hours we've been pulling on this case, I haven't been home to see Grace or Maddie before bed time in days." He was pretty sure they couldn't argue with that. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Okay," Ruzek sighed, dejectedly. If Ruzek had a family to go home too, he would probably take a rain check, too. Things hadn't ended up working out with Rachel Stone. After he brought her to Molly's a few times, she had abruptly ended things, telling him that he was clearly not over his ex. And, well, he couldn't exactly argue with that one. "See you tomorrow."

"You're off tomorrow, Halstead." Voight's gruff voice descended upon the bullpen as he stood in the doorway of his office.

"What?" Jay asked, genuinely confused.

"You blocked off the day months ago," he said. His voice grew a little softer when he added, "It's April 15. You block it off every year." Jay recognized his soft tone of voice as the one usually reserved for Erin and his daughters.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, taking a deep breath.

How could he have forgotten?

The past few months had been a whirlwind. Was it really that time of year again?

Yes, he realized. It was. The freezing winters had abated enough that he was now only wearing his leather jacket. The air had begun growing crisp and fresh, the flowers were beginning to show signs of bloom.