Shaken

Chapter 1- A typical morning

Chapter 1

Light seeped through the house, spilling onto the dark hardwood floor. The time flashed on an alarm clock, 7: 35 AM. Erin woke up to an empty bed, which was normal, Jay was quite the early riser. She pushed the covers off of her and yawned. She had slightly overslept by a couple of minutes or so. "It's fine" She thought to herself and got out of her cozy bed. Shivering, she made her way to the bathroom and proceeded to start her morning routine.

Meanwhile Jay was in the kitchen, reading over a quick briefing of the op that was going to go down later. They were busting a dangerous dealer out of Cicero, nothing they hadn't seen before. Once Erin had finished getting ready she looked at the clock, 7:43. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and made her way down the creaky hallway to the kitchen. She found Jay standing by the coffee maker studying the screen on his phone.

"Good morning." Erin remarked, sauntering over to him. He looked up from his phone and grinned "Good morning, Beautiful." He leaned over and kissed her.

"Hmm very minty." He said referencing the taste of toothpaste from her freshly brushed teeth.

" Are you looking at the op plans for later? How's it looking, from what Ruzek was saying about surveillance, this guy's gonna be an easy pinch."

Jay nodded " Yeah that's the hope, if all goes as planned we should be in and out pretty quickly.

Erin made a clicking noise with her tongue " Got it. Hey, I have to go wake up the bear now, can you put some bread in the toaster for her?" She asked him. Jay grinned "Already done." . She kissed him again and made her way down the hall to their daughter's room.

Piper Halstead lay sprawled out in her bed. She snuggled underneath her warm comforter, snoring softly. Erin entered the room quietly. "Hey Piper......" she whispered, gently nudging her shoulder. "Piperrrr.... It's time to wake up" she hummed. Piper lifted her head off her pillow " But I'm tired, please 10 more minutes". Erin shook her head and chuckled a little bit.

" I wish I could but, you've got a bus to catch. And I told you it wasn't a good idea to stay up late with your Dad watching hockey."

" No.... Please momma, 5 more minutes. "

" Come on, sleepy."

Erin dragged Piper's legs off the side of the bed. " Don't make me tickle you.... I will do it, trust me." Erin chuckled. " Please, 5 more minutes" She mumbled. Erin heaved the small girl into a sitting position. Piper yawned and stretched, wearing a tired scowl on her face. Erin smiled "Come on, let's go eat breakfast." she heaved Piper to her feet. Piper grabbed a blanket off the foot of her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Reluctant, the small girl walked down the sunny hallway. She stared at her bare feet as they shuffled across the creaky wood floor. Piper sat down at the table across from Jay, who was now drinking coffee out of a mug and reading the newspaper. Erin walked over to the toaster and placed the now lightly toasted bread onto a small plate. " What do you want on your toast today?" Erin asked. "Strawberry jelly, please." the girl said, yawning. Erin grabbed the jelly from the fridge, she glanced over at Piper who had her head resting on the table.

"This is your fault." Erin said, giving a side eyed glance to Jay. Jay chuckled " My fault? We were having fun."

"Mmmhmmm, and now you've created a grumpy lethargic monster."

"It was quality bonding time. Like I said, having fun. Plus, the hawks were having a hell of a game. Double overtime Erin."

" Jay Halstead, you're lucky I love you" Erin smirked, going over and giving him a kiss.

She set the plate of toast and a glass of milk on the table and tapped her daughter's shoulder. Piper's eyes snapped open, "I'm awake" she uttered. " Hurry up and eat your toast, we've got to leave in.... 15 minutes." Erin said walking back over to the kitchen counter. Piper, despite not being fully awake, managed to finish eating her breakfast in a hasty manner. Erin handed her a damp paper towel to wipe her hands and face, which were sticky from the jelly. Piper wiped her mouth and hands and went off to go get dressed leaving her blanket draped over her chair. Erin picked up the girl's plate and brought it over to the sink.

"So... Are you excited for firearm recertification? Don't forget I totally beat your ass last year and you had to sing karaoke at Molly's. You have a great voice by the way." Erin cackled.

"Yeah, believe me I remember. You should enjoy your bragging rights for the rest of the day, cause tonight, you are going down. Tomorrow morning, it's going to be me making fun of your singing." Jay said, taking a sip of coffee.

Erin shook her head laughing "In your dreams, Jay". Jay smiled and went back to reading the paper.

Erin grabbed a travel mug out of the cabinet and set it on the counter. She poured the remaining coffee from the pot into her cup. "Hey Piper! You need to be ready in 9 minutes!" She shouted down the hall. Two minutes later, Piper came skipping out of her room wearing a pair of navy blue leggings and a peach colored graphic t-shirt. It read " Be BOLD Be BRAVE Be BEAUTIFUL" across it in glittery lettering. Her snow boots clunked against the floor. "Daddy can you tie my shoes?" Piper asked. Jay smiled " Of course sweetheart." He said, pulling the chair next to him closer. "Sit down and put your feet up on my knees." he instructed. Piper rested her shoes on Jay's knees and waited patiently for him to tie them.

"I'm ready!" Piper said after her father had finished tying her shoes. Erin gave her a sideways look " Where's your coat? And what about your hat? It's pretty chilly out there." she said. Piper sighed.

" I don't want to wear my stupid coat. It's too big, besides I won't be cold."

Erin sighed, " It's not really a choice, it's too cold for you to not wear a coat. I won't make you wear a hat but you have to at least wear a coat alright?"

" But I don't want to wear it." The six-year-old whined.

"Piper, go put your coat on please."

"Okay....Fine." Piper said trudging back to her room.

"That fierce independence, that's on you." Jay chuckled looking at Erin.

" Oh please, you know you contributed . And besides, it's not a bad trait to have....except when we have to parent her. " Erin quipped back, grinning.

Piper came back, now sporting a large fluffy teal coat. Erin smiled " Thank you. Now, grab your backpack . We've gotta get you to the bus stop".

Jay folded his newspaper and set his mug by the sink. Erin took a five dollar bill out of her wallet and held it in her hand. Piper ran and grabbed her backpack, which sported a floral pattern with pink and white flowers on it. Piper came running back, back pack in tow and stood in front of her mother. Erin unzipped a pocket on the top of Piper's backpack and stuffed the 5, the girl's lunch money, into it. Erin hastily zipped up the backpack and nodded slightly.

"Alright, it looks like we're ready." Erin said sliding on her boots. She pulled a hat over her head and grabbed her travel mug, full of steaming hot coffee.

Piper opened the door and went outside hopping down the front steps. Jay grabbed the keys out of the small dish they kept on the entryway table, and followed Erin and Piper outside.

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A/N

Hello anyone who is actually reading this right now. You are awesome, thank you for taking a minute to appreciate my writing, even if you think it sucked. I know this was a slow chapter and I am encouraging you to please bear with me. I promise this story will get more interesting. Believe me I've got some stuff in the works. In addition, I realize Linstead is dead (which I've accepted), but hey I wanted to bring it back for a little bit, because they were a cute couple. I guess you could consider it an AU where Erin stayed, Married Jay, they had a kid and are still kickass detectives with the intelligence unit. Anyways I'm going to try to update weekly, so try to be patient with me, I may update sooner or slightly later. Also, if you have any suggestions, I will be totally open to hear them. Love You guys! Thanks for reading! ❤️❤️❤️