Starting Over (A Linstead Story)

Chapter 7

For the first time in what felt like forever, Jay felt unequivocally happy. It had been a few days since he and Erin had agreed to try and start a family, and they'd had so much sex that he wondered how long he could keep going, not that he was going to complain. They had also talked about Jay moving out of his apartment and in with her, the downside being he had only moved into his current place when he had returned to Chicago, meaning he had almost a year to wait before he could get out of his lease - one more decision to add to his list of regrets.

Today though, he wasn't focused on negatives. It was his day off work, and he was meeting up with Jess at a clinic to get their DNA tests done. Within a couple of days, they would know for sure if they were related.

His plan after parking up was to wait for her near the clinic's entrance but he soon discovered that she had beaten him to that idea. She was there waiting herself, dressed smartly in black pants, a white blouse and a grey blazer. He wondered if she liked dressing that way, or if it showed she wasn't totally comfortable around him yet. Either way, she smiled broadly when she saw him approaching.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning. How are you?"

Jay reached her and they exchanging a rather tame hug. It was as if they both felt it was the right thing to do, but had to test it out for the first time.

"I'm good, Jess. You? All set to get tested?"

"I'm fine. Let's do it. Shouldn't take long based on what I've read online. A mouth swab, essentially. Then we wait for a phone call with the results in about two days or so."

"Yeah, that's what I expected," he said with a smile. "Are you still up for tonight? Everyone on the team will be coming out, even Sergeant Voight I think."

Jay had arranged a night out at a fairly new bar, Hunter's, that had opened not far from the 21st. Members of the Intelligence team had started going there whenever they felt like some after work drinks. At Jay's suggestion, they had all agreed to come out tonight to have a good time together as well as meeting his sister. Based on his own very positive first impression of Jess, he was confident they would like her.

"For sure. I'm looking forward to it. Don't get to go out often, since I probably work too much. It'll be nice to take some time to unwind a little. Shall we go in?" she asked, looking towards the clinic's entrance.

He nodded. "Let's go."

-----

That night, arriving at Hunter's bar, Jay found Erin and Hank there before him. Erin had on a dark blue dress, showing off some leg and some cleavage. It made him hungry for her again at first sight. But now wasn't the time to think about sex.

"Evening," he said, joining them at the bar.

"Jay. Beer?" Voight asked.

"Please," he said. "Hey," he added to Erin as they exchanged a peck on the cheek. That was as far as it was going to go in front of her foster father.

"Looking good, Jay," she said quietly.

He well knew she liked him dressed in a smart shirt and pants. This time he had gone for black pants and a pink shirt.

"Thank you. But not as good as you."

"So, tell me about your sister," Voight said pointedly after ordering Jay's beer, clearly none too impressed with their mild flirting.

Jay gave him some brief information on Jess's background, adding a description of what she did for a living, and planned to do when she started her own company.