i sighed, closing my eyes momentarily before i walk away from rosie's cot and down the stairs. as i enter the kitchen, i can see annie sat at the window sill in the living room, staring out of the window. i sigh again, going over to her.
"come on annie, you need to go to bed. it's a school night" i tell her, bringing her down from the window. her bottom lip sticks out as she looks up at me.
"but dad isn't home yet. and i wrote a story about him at school" she says, grabbing her english book from the table and holding the pages open to the story she'd written earlier today.
"you can tell him tomorrow, i promise. now come on, up to bed" i politely demand. she huffs, putting her book back on the table and walking up the stairs. jack was sat on the sofa across from where i was stood and he closed his maths textbook as his sister goes upstairs. as he does so, an idea pops into my head.
"listen, would you be ok looking after annie and rosie for literally an hour? two at most?" i beg of him, holding my hands together. he nods his head, asking me where i'm going. i hesitate before telling him.
"i'm going to nip over to uncle charles', to see if your dad is there" i say, grabbing my jacket, phone and car keys. he nods again, saying that he'll look after his sisters. i press a kiss to his head before leaving the house.
i set off in my car and check jake's precinct before going over to charles'. a lot of the time i find jake working late so i decided to come here first.
i head upstairs and into the bullpen, seeing amy and rosa working together. they spot me and say hi.
"do any of you guys know where jake is?" i ask them, opening the gate and walking over to them. they give each other a confused glance before looking back at me.
"no, sorry. he's been acting weird all day. he's been so quiet" amy tells me, clicking her pen. i groan, looking around the bullpen before back at the detectives.
"you guys doing ok?" rosa asks, siting back in her chair.
"kind of. we had a huge argument this morning and i kind of kicked him out of the house. i mean, he was leaving anyway but i made him leave quicker" i explain, giving an awkward smile. they nod their heads, saying again that they hadn't seen him. i thank them anyway before leaving the bullpen.
i weave through officers on the bottom floor in order to get outside and to my car. i sigh for the millionth time today and i plug the keys into the ignition. the engine hums to life and i drive away, going down the roads that led to charles' house.
within ten minutes, i was parked outside of his house. i turn the car off and walk up the stairs. i approach his door and tap my knuckles against it, waiting for a response. seconds later, nikolaj came to the door.
"auntie y/n!" he exclaimed, hugging my torso. i smile, hugging him back. as i was doing so, charles came to the door. normally, he would smile at the sight of me but his face was blank.
"charles. thank god, have you seen jake? he hasn't come home and he isn't at work" i ask him, detaching from nikolaj and letting him run back into the house. charles hesitates, looking behind him. i stand to the side and see jake sat on the couch. i step back and glare at charles.
"he's not here?" he says, giving me a guilty smile. jake stands up and walks to the door.
"i'll give you guys some privacy" charles tells us, walking back into the house. jake steps outside and stands metres away from me.
"why haven't you come home?" i ask him, tilting my head. jake gives himself a moment before replying.
"i don't know" he quietly says, holding his head. my chest hurts a little when i hear him.
"yes you do" i truthfully say. he is now the one to sigh, looking up at me.
"i didn't want to come home and argue with you again" he whispered in reply. i close my eyes, my chest now hurting even more.
"jake, running away from our problems is not the way to solve them. we have to talk about them" i tell him. he nods his head, knowing i'm telling the truth.
"i just love you so much and we've been arguing so much recently and i know for a fact it's upsetting the kids. i don't want to fight with you and i don't want to lose you. you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, along with our son and two daughters" he explains, taking a step closer to me. i take a deep breath in and out, trying to stop myself from crying.
"we're both so on edge with work, it's making us hate each other. you're my husband, like you said, we're in this together. from now on, i'll get up more with rosie" i tell him, sending him a small smile. jake shakes his head at me.
"you've got up with her so much these past few weeks. i don't care that i was tired today because you're tired everyday. i'm sorry for acting like a terrible dad and husband" he tells me. i shake my head, wrapping my arms around him.
"you're not a terrible dad or husband" i say. i detach my arms and jake's hand fall to my waist.
"i love you" he says, smiling widely. i smile too, leaving up and pressing my lips to his. the kiss deepens and, as they always do, jake's hips come forwards.
"i love you too" i tell him. we lace our fingers together and walk out of the apartment building, completely forgetting to say goodbye to charles.