After everything Jay and Riley have gone through, will the war be the one thing to take away their safe place?
They thought they had it all figured out but as live goes on, they meet new obstacles and have to find new way to fight for each other.
W...
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Jay leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the team discussing the case around him. His eyes followed his colleagues moving across the room, but never once did his mouth open. He wasn't distracted as much as he was exhausted. The detective saw his wife walking around with an energy in her step that he could not match. Not even close.
The dark circles under his eyes spoke volumes and had been perfect material for inappropriate jokes from the team whenever Voight wasn't around. Riley laughed each one of them off, refusing to say whether or not their suspicions were true. Safe to say that the team had a field day with Jay's exhaustion.
While he had trouble properly concentrating, the team was moving forward with the case bringing them closer to the end of the day. Jay was grateful for them at that moment because there was nothing he wanted more than to sit on a chair at Molly's and have a drink with his wife before going home to their kids.
He thought forward to the small amount of time he'd get cuddled up to his daughter. He would then get to wish good night to Nate and end up the evening with his wife. Life couldn't get any better than this. Apart from his exhaustion, of course.
Which lead them to closing the case and filling up all the proper paperwork in a record time as they all wanted to head to Molly's. Jay and Riley walked out last, waving to Platt who wished them a good night. Later, Jay wrapped his arm around Riley's shoulder as they walked towards Molly's bar. Once they walked in, they were welcomed by a wave of warmth. The couple was surrounded by people they loved and it was all they could ask for.
Riley headed straight to the table where Kim and Hailey were sat while Jay gave her a kiss on her temple before getting them drinks from the bar. The three women were soon joined by Stella and Sylvie from Firehouse 51, who told them all about a crazy call they got in the morning. The officers listened intently, interested to know more about the way it worked in the fire department.
Jay walked back towards Riley, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he slid a drink over to her. She smiled widely, thanking him before watching him walk towards a table where Adam and Kevin were sitting with Will, Matt and Kelly. Riley adored watching everyone come together for a night and mingle. It felt good to be surrounded by people who understood what the rush of adrenaline feels like at work.
"So, how has married life been, Ri?" Stella asked, leaning forward on the table they were all sitting around at.
Hailey jokingly scoffed, "They've been married for six years now, they're practically an old couple at this point." She gently patted Riley's hand.
Riley laughed at her words, nodding in agreement. "We kind of are." She shrugged, hearing the women around her laughing. "But it's going so well. I recommend."
"I bet Jay might not say the same today." Kim jokingly added, gesturing to a tired Jay behind them.
Sylvie chuckled, sipping on her drink. "Busy night?"
Riley shrugged, "We were celebrating." They all frowned, wondering what the hell they could have possibly been celebrating on such a random day. "Four year mark since we adopted Nate."
"Well, I'll raise a glass to that." Hailey announced, raising her glass for a toast. "To Nate finding his forever home." The group of women smiled and simultaneously raised their glasses, letting them clink together.
"To celebrate properly, I'm buying a round of shots." Stella smirked, pushing herself off the table and heading straight to the bar. Riley chuckled as she watched her, amused.
They drank some more, enjoying themselves as it had been a while since their last night out. Eventually, the couple decided to head home to their kids after drinking a couple of glasses of water. Jay wrapped his arm around his wife the whole way home, keeping her close. She giggled the whole way there as Jay snuck kisses on her cheek and neck from time to time.
"All right, all right." She chuckled, eventually pushing him off of her as they stumbled into their home. The couple greeted the babysitter, paying her before letting her go home with a large tip and a warm thank you. They were aware that Nate was old enough to babysit his six years old sister, but the nineteen years old had homework from college to do so they didn't want to burden him.
"Let's go wash up before going to see 'Rora." Jay suggested, dragging her to their bathroom so they could do so. They brushed their teeth and changed into more comfortable clothes before strolling to their daughter's room.
They rested on each side of the girl, cuddling up to her. Riley pressed kisses all over the side of the little girl's head. She stirred in her sleep, without necessarily waking up. They heard the door of the room creak open, the light from the always lighting up the room.
"Mom? Dad?" Nate's voice was heard by the two detectives as they turned to face the boy. He was standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. They figured he might have just woken up and heard them come in his sister's room.
"Get over here." Jay whispered back, hearing the boy walk closer to them. He rested on the bed with them on Riley's side. The mother of two slid on her back, wrapping her arm around Nate to include him in the hug. "How's your homework coming along?"
"Good, good. Almost done." The two nodded in response, staying silent afterwards so they wouldn't wake the young girl. The family of four stayed in each other's arm for a little while, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Riley breathed in the feeling, taking the time to realize how lucky she was to be there with them.
And she never felt more safe.
________________________________ Hiiii so this was a really hard one to write. I've written Riley and Jay for so long and I've grown to love them so much. Letting them go is so hard, which is mostly the whole reason why this book exists lmao.
Anyhoo, their adventure is over now. So thank you all so so much for reading! And I am especially grateful for those who stuck with me throughout the books, voted and commented. Thank you SO much.
