Begin Again

2 - Not Easy

Jay's POV

Jay had no days left to spend with Erin and the baby. As he helped Hailey pull on her pink hoodie, he heard the cries of his four-week-old son in the kitchen.

"Jay!" Erin called out desperately from down the hallway.

"I'm coming!" He rushed into the kitchen to find Erin holding Ethan, her hair a mess and her eyes weary. She was covered in the puke of the infant, looking worse than ever before. He quickly took the messy baby from her hands and bit his lip when he saw her pajamas covered in throw up.

"I'm on my last nerve," she said with a shaky breath, covering her eyes with her hands.

"I know," he sighed, taking Ethan to the sink and wiping his new onesie off. "Hang in there, okay? I'll be back tonight as early as possible." Jay set him in his bouncer seat, but he immediately started bawling with dry eyes, stretching out his arms and kicking his small legs. Knowing he had to hurry, he grabbed his grey shirt from the counter and put it on. He grabbed his black jacket from the coat rack and slipped his arms through it. "Hailey! We gotta go to school!"

Erin looked down the hallway when their daughter didn't reply. She walked in her bedroom and gasped.

"Erin?" Jay ran into the room next to her to find Hailey on her hands and knees, hurling her breakfast onto the carpet.

Erin quickly grabbed her from the floor and carried her to the bathroom as Jay stood in shock, slowly turning away from the nasty substance.

Ethan began screaming in the kitchen, and Jay made his way back in and scooped him up. He held him against his shoulder, praying he wouldn't puke on his jacket. He walked back to the girls to find Erin pulling Hailey's hair out of her face as she leaned over the toilet on her tip-toes, gagging.

"Hey, I gotta get out of here. I'm two hours late." He checked his watch worriedly.

Erin closed her eyes and swallowed, nodding.

Jay kissed the top of her head and rubbed Hailey's back before setting the still crying Ethan in his crib and handing him his small pacifier. He spit it out a few times but eventually relaxed, his tiny arms and legs still flexing and squirming. Jay kissed his head and stroked his face before jogging to the kitchen and grabbing his boots and keys and heading out to his car.

The snow fell softly on his face as he exited his SUV and headed into the Chicago Police Department. He nodded to Platt and buzzed in before heading upstairs towards his desk.

"Hey, man," Adam nodded to him from his desk. "How's it going back at home?"

"It's a hellhole," Jay admitted, sticking his keys in the pocket of his jacket. "Erin's exhausted and now Hailey's sick."

"If it's helpful I could give you guys a night off to give you a break," Kim offered.

"I might just take you up on that," he replied tiredly.

"Okay," Voight exited his office with Kevin behind him. "We've got an early case."

"Amanda Philipson," Atwater placed a small photo of a young graduate on the whiteboard. "Disappeared with her two days ago, left behind another one of their so-called-friends' bodies on the street of Dearborn with a P99 bullet taken to the abdomen. She's been there for approximately two days, according to forensic pathologists."

Voight nodded. "We have no lead on where they are now, but the one who called for their disappearance was their mother, and we've got her address." He motioned to Jay and Kim. Jay grabbed his jacket from his chair and put it back on, while Kim looked surprised and grabbed her coat.