Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 108

Getting all of the paperwork and the legal nonsense – as Jay described it – out of the way had taken more than a month after he had made the deal to buy their new house. It had been a rough time. The apartment was too small, the weather was getting warmer, and work was very busy. The end of the bureaucratic nightmare was at least in sight though. They had been told to expect completion of the house purchase to go through any day now.

Now more than four months into pregnancy, Erin had what Jay would call a sizeable bump. It clearly showed under the tops she wore, and she had already bought some bigger ones in preparation for when she started outgrowing things. To Jay, she looked absolutely gorgeous, and the fact that she was carrying his child made him feel a kind of love that he had never experienced before. A few days earlier, she had reported feeling the baby moving, and that had been a wonderful moment. As yet, Jay hadn't been able to feel a kick, but he hoped that day wasn't too far off either.

His desire to make sure Erin had to do as little as possible was running him into the ground, he realised. He needed some down time, even if it was only an evening, ideally to spend alone. If not alone then at least with someone other than Erin, Clem or Kayla. He didn't feel bad about it, he knew that it was unnatural to spend every moment of his life either working or with his family. Everyone needed a break or some different company from time to time.

But there was going to be no break for him on this particular evening. He and Erin had just left the 21st to head home. On the plus side it was a Friday, and neither of them had any need to work on Saturday, at the moment at least.

"Good news about Adam isn't it?" Erin said from the passenger seat. She too sounded tired. Right now, life was tough for both of them, and she was having to do it while carrying a baby. What she was referring to was the news that Adam had given them that morning: As of the coming Monday, he was going to be qualified as a detective. That left only Atwater, who was very close to qualifying himself, Burgess and Purrazzo as team members who were regular police officers.

"It is good news," Jay said. "Never doubted he would pass of course. Now Kim can start the process too. How that girl is still only officer rank is beyond me."

"Me too. That's one thing I don't get about how Hank ran the unit. By the time I took charge everyone there should have been detective qualified. It's different for Purrazzo because she's not experienced enough yet to go for it."

He nodded. "Right. But as a unit we're getting there now. Is it still the plan for Adam to be your second-in-command now that he's qualified?"

"It is, and for the same reason I gave at the time. We're different people, and we're different cops. We look at things differently, and he's not afraid of saying when he disagrees with me on something. That's what I want from my second because I'm smart enough to know that I'm not always right. Plus I think he'll make a good leader of people. Some responsibility could take him to another level of performance, and I think it will."

"I don't have a problem with that," Jay said reasonably. "Not sure how Raquel will take it. She's more senior than he is, and she has FBI experience. She might be expecting to get that gig herself at some point."

"I already spoke to her about it some time ago. She knows what the deal is. Not sure she agreed with the decision, but she accepted it."

Their conversation was interrupted by Jay's phone ringing. They could both see the screen as the device was sitting in a holder fixed to the dash. The name on the screen was Richard Hawkins, the real estate agent they had been dealing with.

"Oh, shoot, this could be it!" Erin exclaimed.

"Maybe," Jay smiled. He couldn't think of any other reason for the call. He answered it. "Hi, Richard."