His Forever Family

1. Two years ago & Today

Two years ago it was Christmas 2017 and the Halstead's had settled in nicely at their new home at their cabin. Their family had come up for the holidays and the basement had been turned into guest rooms and the kids all shared rooms. Jayla and Jayden were four months away from turning two; Grace, Will and Nat's daughter, was three months away from turning one; Jayson still had seven months until his first birthday, and Kelly and Shay announced they were expecting.

It had been crazy and chaotic with everyone under one roof, but it had been one of their best Christmases.

Now it's 2019, and Lauren was standing at their big windows looking out over the back yard watching the snow fall as her husband and children played in the snow. The twins were almost four and were so full of energy; Jayson was almost three and tried everything his older siblings did.

They'd gotten the kids a dog for Christmas after much begging on their parts and he was playing with them. Striker was a retired police dog that Jay had found, but he was just three years old. So he was young enough to still play with the kids but old enough he was trained well. They'd made him a home in the basement with a doggie door cut into the door already there so he could go out when needed. They'd fenced in part of the back yard too so he couldn't escape.

Lauren ran her hands over her eight month pregnant stomach as she watched and smiled. Next month they'd welcome baby number four to their crazy mix. This baby was definitely planned. After Jayson went on formula, Lauren got back on birth control declaring there would not be any more babies in her future. Three was more than enough to handle. But when the twins turned three, she felt like they were missing something. Her babies were growing up and she missed having a little one around. So she and Jay decided they'd try for another one. If it happened they'd be thrilled, but if it didn't then they'd know their family was as perfect as it was going to get. Surprisingly enough she was pregnant almost right away and now baby four would be here next month. They'd decided not to find out what this baby was wanting to be surprised for a change. Jay swore it was another girl, but Lauren had bets it was another boy.

They'd added a room and a bathroom onto the kids end of the cabin for their new addition. Each kid would be able to have their own room now. Kelly had been a big help with that. They'd also turned Jay's half of the basement into three bedrooms and bathrooms so when everyone came up for holidays they all had somewhere to stay. The kids all loved being able to bunk together so they saw no need to add bedrooms for them.

Will and Natalie had completed their family with the addition of Matthew William, "Mattie," in September the previous year. They both declared two was more than enough for them with their busy work schedules. He was a mini version of his father and they loved him dearly.

Kelly and Shay had a baby boy, Braxton Cole, in August the pervious year, and were already adding to their family. They hadn't planned on adding so soon, but they'd welcomed the addition lovingly after Braxton. Shay was due in July, after Lauren, and was expecting a girl. Lauren knew she'd be one of the most spoiled little girls around with Kelly doting on her but she couldn't wait for her niece to arrive.

Jay was still working for the police department in Silver Lake, but he'd made chief this year so he was in even less danger than before. Lauren had gone back to school and finished her online medical coding and billing degree at Kelly's suggestion. She was currently working from home doing medical coding. She loved that she was able to stay home with their kids but still take some of the load off Jay. It'd been rough while she'd been in school, but they'd managed. She'd started selling clothes from home while going to school and managed to keep doing it now.

Will had made head of emergency at Chicago Med last year and Natalie was currently the top pediatrician at Med.

Kelly had made chief of his own house in the city fire department, and Shay was head EMT in Kelly's house. Both had worked their asses off to prove they belonged in the same house, and it had paid off.