This chapter is quite long!

Chapter 4 - Greetings and Painting

Jay goes inside, leaving the door open as promised, he heads through the house and into the biggest room on the ground floor, where he finds Will trying to set out the big sheet to cover the carpet keeping from getting messy with any spills or splashes of paint.

"That's not working for ya is it big bro?", Jay asks standing in the doorway.

"No not really, a little help would be great lil bro, whenever your ready", Will says sarcastically.

"But I'm enjoying watching you try to do it on your own, it's entertaining me", Jay says jokingly.

"I know I put on a good show but please help it wont stay down and keeps curling up", Will says seriously.

"OK, since you asked nicely, I'll help, but first everyone saw us ut front, I told Karen I'd explain it to everyone later while we have food, so don't mention please, Karen's talking to everyone right now", Jay says.

"OK, I won't say anything until later when your ready to do to it, now help me", Will says. Jay starts to help him.

Meanwhile Outside

After Jay went inside, Karen took a deep breath and signalled for her family to come over, she moved closer to them too. Once everyone was standing in front of her, there was a long pause before ...

"OK, I wanna be the first to see that was really weird", Lucas says.

"Yeah, it was, what exactly was happening and why?" Nathan asks.

"Mama why was the man on laying down?" Lilly asks innocently.

"I think he was hurt, the other man looked like a doctor", Jamie says strongly.

"OK, listen everybody I know you all have questions, what we saw was a little bit scary but's OK now", Karen says calmly.

"Sorry Karen, before we go any further which one was, is he one you were speaking to just now?" Peyton asks.

"Yes Peyton, Jay is the one I was just talking to, I don't want anyone judging him by what just happened. I don't know what happened just now".

"Karen, you know we would never judge, and we won't, we promise, right guys?, Haley asks.

"Yes" is the unanimous answer.

"But do you know anything, I'm a little worried from what we just witnessed", Haley says honestly with worry in her voice.

"All I know is that Yesterday wasn't a good day, he told me that it was his last day at his old job in Chicago...".

"Hey Chicago, that's where Aunt Brooke is right now, isn't it", Jamie asks in his innocent voice.

"Yes Baby, that's where Aunt Brooke is but we can talk about Aunt Brooke at home OK", Haley says receiving a nod from her son.

"Anyway he told on the phone that it was rough and he had to spend a couple of hours in the hospital, I heard a snort and mumbling in the background, he apologised and said that his brother had to treat him, so I guess he might be a doctor. Before hanging up the phone, I must have said something funny because he laughed but then I heard him groan, he was pain by the sound of it, he just said it hurts to laugh", Karen tells the group.

"I'm going out on a limb and saying that it has something to do with what happened earlier", Nathan says.

"Yes, I guess so too but Jay isn't ready to talk about it, so we have to give him his privacy with it, he did promise to share later. When we have something to eat, he is more than willing to answer some questions about it but until I need you to respect that", Karen says.

"OK, we won't ask until the right time, but can we please go in and meet him now, I must admit I'm excited to get to know him", Peyton says.

"Yeah, we want to get to now him and see if he can help us gang up on you wonderful laddies", Lucas and Nathan share.

"I really must say that I want to see what you have been talking about Karen, he said he was very polite, a little humorous and sounded like an amazing dad, I wanna see all of those sides to him, get to know him a little before we invite him over at the weekend", Haley says.

"Grandma Karen, I wanna meet him too, he seems cool, can we go in now", Jamie says seemingly excited.

"Alright come on, he left the door open for us", Karen says bending down to pick up Lilly. They all started toward the house together with Karen leading the way. Walking in a line everyone enters the house quietly and looks around the room, Lucas is the last one in so he shuts the door behind him. They hear voices.

"So lil bro, you chose a good house, pretty much neighbour to the beach which Maddie will love by the way, but you haven't told me anything about your new work except that the station building is nice, so tell me what you thought of your team".

"I chose this house pretty much because I knew Maddie will love the beach, we've only taken her to a beach once in her life and she loved it so I wanted her to be able to experience it a lot more than before. The station building is old and nice, it looks beautiful, I'll show you before and you go back to Chicago. And lastly, I thought my new team seemed nice enough, the boss is Hank Voight, and the others are Adam Ruzek, Alvin Olinsky, Antonio Dawson, Kevin Attwater and Kim Burgess. I only met them briefly when I was here, we never talked or anything, so I'm kind of going in blind", the second voice admits.

"OK, well I hope that your new partner is one of the men, I wouldn't really trust a woman to have your back" kind of jokingly voiced. The woman in the group are a little angry hearing this.

"No Will you do not get to say that, you can't judge whether a woman can have my back on the job or off of it, I mean come on woman are just as bad ass as us men, I'm not going to judge Kim Burgess until I see for myself how she works, but to be honest I heard this unit is one of the best, everyone is like me, there not from Tree Hill but all over the place. And Hank Voight apparently only has good police in his unit, so if that's true everybody in the unit must be excellent at their jobs, I would be honoured to work with any of them especially Kim, she seemed really nice but tough at the same time. So I'll get back to you on that", Jay says. All three woman are smiling at that.

"Jay I didn't mean anything by it, I was only joking, I know Woman can do anything. I mean think about Natalie, she is a stand up Doctor, the only female one in my field. The ED is better for having her working in it and so am I, she's amazing and is one of the best, better than most of the guys. I'm not sexist I was really just joking with you because you've had no luck in the partner department so far. I mean look at yesterday, your so called partner wasn't there for you, he didn't even come in the ambulance with you", Will says. Karen decides to cut it off there, it's rude to listen in on the conversation.

"JAY WE'RE HERE!" she shouts.

Jay pokes his head out and sees a group of people and he comes into the living room slowly. "Hi guys, thank you so much for coming to lend a hand, it was gonna be tough getting the work done with just the two us, I'm Jay", he says giving a little wave.

"Well I think everybody should introduce herself just really quick, so Jay knows everyone's names", Karen says

"Hi I'm Lucas, it's nice to meet you", Lucas says shaking the Jay's hand.

"Hi Lucas, you too".

"I'm Peyton, Lucas's wife and this is our daughter, Sawyer", the blonde steps forward.

"Hi Peyton and Sawyer, it's to meet you", Jay says smiling at the young girl in Peyton's arms.

"Hi mista", little Sawyer says quietly.

"You can call me Jay sweetie, do you my daughter has that exact same t-shirt as you, she loves pink, it's favourite colour and we're about paint her new room that colour, do you wanna maybe me out with that", Jay says gently with a smile.

"Oh yes please Jay, pinks my fave colour too, and my rooms pink too", Sawyer says excitedly bouncing up and down a little in her moms arms.

"Wow what a coincidence, I bet your gonna be a really good helper aren't you", Jay asks animatedly.

"Yes, I'm gonna paint so good, and I'll try not to be messy, I promise", Sawyer says.

"Aw sweetie don't worry about being messy, can I show you something really quick?", Jays the little girl.

Sawyer sticks her arms and nods, "Is it OK, if I take her just over there", Jay asks the girls Mom.

"Yeah of course", Peyton says handing her daughter to the man.

Jay walks over to the bedroom door with the girl in his arms, "You see that big sheet on the floor", he asks the girl receiving a nod. "Well that sheet is there to protect the carpet from getting dirty and I'm guessing that your mommy doesn't mind if you get these clothes dirty, so that means that you can make as much mess as you want to, that tub over there is the colour that we're painting this room it's pink and I really don't mind if we get messy as long as we have some fun, do you think we can do that and get the walls painted?" he explains and asks the young girl still in his arms.

"Yeah, we can do it there's lots of us to help", Sawyer says.

"Yeah we can do it and everyone is very nice for offering to help", Jay says. Lets go back so I can learn everyone's names shall we.

"But who is that man in the room", Sawyer asks.

"Oh that goofball is my big brother, Will, she we ask him to come meet everyone too", Jay asks the girl.

"Yes, he should come too", Sawyer says.

"Alright, Will come on through we have people to meet", Jay says. Will comes out too.

"Hi there what's your name?, Will asks.

"Hi, I'm Sawyer and I'm going to help paint the pink room", Sawyer says with a wide smile.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Sawyer, I'm Will", he says.

"I already now your name silly, Jay told me" she laughs. The three make their way to join the group. Jay hands a still giggling Sawyer back to her Mom.

"Sawyer wanted to invite this guy. This is Will, he's my brother and is the other set of hands for moving in" Jay tells the group.

"Hi everybody, thanks for the help today we really need it" Will says.

"We already started the introductions this is Lucas, his wife, Peyton and Sawyer is there daughter, but that's as far as I got so far" Jay admits.

"Hi I'm Nathan and it's nice to me both", Nathan steps forward shaking their hands. In return they say you too.

"And I'm Haley, his wife, it's a pleasure to meet you guys", she says shaking their hands and again getting a you too from both men.

Jay is caught off guard when the young boy standing beside his Mom jumps up at him, his fast reflexes are intact and he is able to catch the boy, but with pain in his abdomen.

"I'm sorry, are you OK, did he hurt you, I can take him back?" Haley immediately asks with worry.

"No no, I'm good really, it was just a surprise that's all he's fine honestly", Jay says pushing through his pain not wanting the boy to feel bad.

"OK if your sure", Haley says stepping back to stand beside her husband.

"So little man, you must be the mysterious Jamie, am I right?" Jay asks.

"How do you know my name, I didn't tell you yet", Jamie gasps.

"Well I would say it was a secret but really I know your Grandma Karen and she told me about you, I know that your the same age as my little girl, Maddie and you might become friends".Jay tells him carefully.

"Oh right that makes sense, I am four and I got to day care. When is Maddie coming, I really want to meet her?" Jamie asks.

"Maddie will be here on Saturday, I wanted to get the house ready for her coming, my sister is bringing her and we're going to maybe watch a movie together to get settled in. But we really need some help to get the house ready for Maddie coming, do you think you'd be able to help us paint", Jay asks the boy.

"Yes, I love to paint but I don't really like pink", Jamie says with a pout.

"Can I tell you something?" Jay asks the boy and after receiving a nod. "I don't really like Pink either, but you what, after we paint Maddie's room pink, I'm going to need some help painting my room too, and it's my favourite colour, do you know what colour it is?", at a shake of the head, "It's blue".

"No way, that's my favourite colour too, I'm gonna help you paint your room", Jamie says.

"Do you mind helping to paint some pink too, it shouldn't take too long because there are a lot of us. Then we can move on to the blue and after we finish later on, we are going to order some dinner on me as a thank you to everybody for helping me to paint, what do you think?" Jay asks the boy.

"I think that sounds good, we're nearly ready to get started but I think I missed someone here, I don't a name yet", Jay says placing Jamie down on the floor gently. Then there was a voice.

"Me, you don't know my name yet", Jay turns to the voice.

"Oh I don't think we've yet but I may know your already, let's see is it... Lola?"

"No!"

"Is it Layla?"

"No!"

"No! then what is it, I don't think I know it after all", Jay says with a smile.

"It's Lilly silly".

"Oh Lilly! I was gonna say that next, Lilly's a very pretty name", Jay says.

"Thank you", Lilly says sticking her arms out towards Jay.

"Would you like a cuddle too?" he asks, at another head nod. "it is OK, Karen?".

"Of course Jay", Karen says. Handing her daughter over gently.

Jay takes Lilly in his arms and they share a warm hug. "Wow those were the first hugs I've had in Tree Hill and they were the best, I might need another one soon though but these ones should last a while, at least until next week right Will?" Jay asks his Brother.

"That's right bro, now that we know everyone everyone's names what you do you all say we start on painting and Jay can buy us dinner sooner rather than later after we finish, because I for one love pizza and I can eat a lot of it, does anyone else like pizza?" Will animatedly asks.

"Me" say all three children at once.

"Well it's settled then we'll have pizza after all of our hard work, let's get started". Jamie takes Will's hand and the children go with him to start putting the paint.

"Guys, before we start thank you doesn't feel like enough of an acknowledgement for you offering me your help, I mean you don't even know me but your going to help paint a whole house. Thank you doesn't even cover how thankful I am for all of you at this moment, I just wanted you to know", Jay says.

"Jay's our pleasure to help you, it's a town that we all stick together, not everyone is as nice but there is a big enough group of people that are happy help with anything. it's just what we do, and you offered a lot to. You were just so sweet to all three of our children, you made Jamie smile, he wasn't too happy about having to paint pink but you mentioned the blue at the right time", Haley says.

"And you made Sawyer happy, she is usually very reserved when meeting new people you just smiled at her and she opened up to you and top it off she went to you willingly, she stuck out her arms for you to carry her, she usually only does that with family" Peyton tells Jay.

"They seem great and can't wait to get to know everyone better", Jay says.

"We all feel the same Jay", Karen says.

"and we have an idea but we'll talk later or tomorrow after we learn more about each other and your daughter" Haley finishes for Karen.

"OK I'd like that, we have today while painting. Tomorrow and Friday Will and I will be emptying the moving truck and getting everything set up around the house but yeah we would love to get to know you all better", Jay says.

"Jay, you don't just have us today, we're all here for the three days to help you with anything you need, Lucas and I are good with tools, you probably have things that need put together so we can help with that", Nathan says.

"And not to be pushy but Karen, Peyton and I can help with putting fresh sheet on the beds, and arranging the rooms with the objects or drawers, photo's, putting clothes away or anything like that. We are here to help you so put us to work", Haley says.

"Are you sure you don't have other things to do because I totally understand, and it's your days off, you should be relaxing", Jay says.

"We are more than sure, plus because there are more of us, we should get everything done in no time. You could have Friday free to relax and we can hang out", Lucas says.

"You guys are amazing, and I think after all of this we will be friends, I would love to hang out on Friday, I'll have a few last minutes things to do but after or even before that I'm all yours", Jay says.

The rest of the grown ups then go into the room to start the painting, they place tape around the sides of the window so they don't get paint on the wood. Peyton is placed on Lucas's shoulders, Haley is on Nathan's shoulders and both woman work their way alng the tops of the walls to a certain level that is good for the rollers, the kids have been tasked with the bottoms of the walls. Jay and Karen are using rollers to fill in the biggest parts of the walls. Because Karen is shorter, she is doing above the kids work a little more than half way and Jay is doing the tops to where Haley and Peyton have. They work they way through each wall and are done not long later. They leave the rollers in case the walls next an extra coat and make their way into the living room,

"OK, so I this morning at the store, I bought some Capri-suns for the kids and either fizzy juice or beers for the adults, or there's water of course it's completely up to you what you have they are all in the fridge", Jay says before disappearing into the kitchen and coming back with three of the juices for the kids and handing one to each of them.

"Everybody help yourselves, I'm just gonna get some air before we start the next room", Jay says and heads out the back door not looking back or anything.

"I'm sorry, we won't be long, he just needs his dosage, he hasn't had one since before the flight this morning", Will says, not getting into any information, knowing he's not supposed to yet. Knowing his brother is in pain, he goes into his bag and pulls out a prescription bottle, that they picked up for Jay on the way home from the hospital yesterday. He also grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and follows Jay out the back door. He finds his brother staring out at the water, holding his ribs.

"Here lil brother, take these, they'll help, I promise", he tells his brother, holding out the pills and water. Jay takes him and swallows with the water.

"Thanks, that Lidocaine was good stuff, I was numb for ages only felt a little pain sometimes".

"When Jamie jumped on you?"Will asks already knowing the answer.

"Yeah but it wasn't his fault, they're three great kids and the parents are nice too, they're not just helping today Will they are giving up tomorrow too to come back and help with the moving van, it's honestly so nice of them, I don't know how to thank them for it, but they say that we should get everything done by tomorrow night they each are going to help with certain things, the guys with the heavy furniture and putting the beds back together also the draws if the movers have to dismantle them. the woman are gonna help with arranging with the furniture and making the beds stuff like that. I don't want the kids to get bored so I think I'm gonna get them involved in putting away Maddie's toys. Maybe another little surprise and because everything should be done by Friday they want us to hung out with them so we can get to know each other even better", Jay says surmising his ideas.

"Wow that's really nice of them and for the record I like them a lot, we should hang out with them on Friday, like a little break before Abi and Maddie come in on Saturday", Will says.

"Yeah I like them too, I think we're all going to become good friends and I have a feeling that Maddie will like them too especially Jamie, Lilly and Sawyer. Anyway lets get back inside, the painkillers are working", Jay says.

"I think Maddie is going to love everything about this place, and yeah lets go".

Jay and Will head back inside and are greeted with smiles, Jay returns a small one back to the group before grabbing another plastic sheet and heading into the second bedroom.

"We're are good new, just going to get the second room ready now, we've good more brushes and rolls so there's nothing to worry about". Will says while placing the bottle back in his bag. He then joins Jay. They set the sheet down and open the paint, stirring the paint thoroughly and then pouring some into the different utensils so everyone has some to work with. Jay then stands at the door.

"Hey Jamie do you wanna be the first to see the blue, that I picked out for my room", he sticks his head and asks.

"Yes please Jay, why is blue your favourite blue, oh I love this colour of blue it's lighter but I love it to", Jamie says and asks.

"Well this colour my favourite, it's called sky blue, because it's the same colour as the sky, it's been my favourite since I was about your age, it was my Moms favourite and I guess she passed it over to me too. Why is blue your favourite colour?", Jay explains and asks the boy.

"I love blue because that's the colour of the Ravens. My daddy and Uncle Lucas played in the Tree Hill Ravens it was their High School Team. Daddy got them all the way to the internationals. He is so good at Basketball and I wanna play in the Raven's too when I'm old enough", Jamie tells Jay. The two are painting together and talking. After a while Jay goes back to using the roller at the top where he starts talking to Nathan who doesn't have Haley on his shoulders any more.

"So tell me a bit about your self Jay", Nathan asks.

"Um well there's not really much to tell but I grew in Chicago with my siblings, Will who is the oldest and my little sister Abigail, it's been just since we quite young. I played a little bit of basketball early on in High School but I had to drop it for family reasons, my grades were average. Last day of High School went to a party, I went with my best friend Allie, we got a little drunk and kind of had a one night stand, we were never meant to be, so went our separate ways. After High School, I joined the police academy, Nice months later, I received a phone call from the hospital, saying I needed to come right away. That same day, I met my baby girl, Allie died after giving birth. It was hard but I had my brother and sister, I named my daughter Madeline Anne Halstead, it was hard and I'm glad I had my siblings, Maddie adores her Aunt and Uncle, their amazing with her". Jay says.

"And you finished at the academy?", Nathan asks.

"Yeah I graduated when Maddie was two, was a beat cop on the streets for a year and then moved to Detective work in the Gangs unit, it was OK. I had been there for nearly a year but I was really missing out on time with my daughter, I want to change that, so started looking for jobs online and that's where I saw this station needed a new team member, so I applied, long story cut short, I got the job and here I am".

"That's really admirable, Jay. I hope your new job is a good fit for you, we already like you", Nathan says.

"Thanks, I just want to spend more time with my little girl, I feel like she's growing up way to fast. And for what it's worth I like you guys too. So anyway enough about me, tell me about you", Jay says wanting the questions off of him for a while.

"OK, you sure your ready for this it can be a lot to take in?" he asks.

"I'm ready".

"So to start this, I have to start from the beginning. First you should know my Father is and always has been a jerk, in High School he dated Karen but was also sneaking around my Mother, Deb. So when High School, he still kind of that, Karen became pregnant with Lucas, he didn't want anything to do with him, he then went to Deb and two months later, she became pregnant with me, but instead and leave again, he married her. Obviously, Lucas was born first, Dan didn't even acknowledge he was born, he really was a jackass. Anyway fast forwarding, he was a horrible father and person and that made me kind of a horrible person too. Lucas and I never really knew each when we were younger, growing up we kind of hated each other but that all changed in High School. He wanted to join my basketball team the ravens, I didn't want that. Long story short, we had a one on one and he beat me, so he joined, there was a lot of rivalry. But because of my brother, I met an amazing girl, she was his childhood best friend, so was loyal to him, but she became my tutor and there was something there. Haley made me work for first for her friendship and then everything else. Because of Haley, I'm a better man today", Nathan says the last part lovingly.

"Aw Hun, you just needed to be shown the way to be better and now your the best husband to me and father to Jamie", Haley tells Nathan with a kiss. "I wanna say the last bits of the story please, we can still paint", she begs.

"OK, you can tell the last of the story", Nathan tells her.

"Thank you, so we fell deeply in love in School, we made a decision and got married on the beach at 17, it was the best wedding ever, just the two of us and the person marrying us, it was bliss. Then in senior year, I fell pregnant, Nathan was the best, he would go out at all hours to pick me up whatever I was craving at the time, it was pretty such anything that I wanted and he would go out of his way to get it. I couldn't ask for a better husband. But that's not even the best part, on Graduation day, I was the Valedictorian so had to give a speech. Half way through I announced that I would have to leave because I was in a lot of pain, we rushed to hospital, I had a little bleeding, and they warned me that I would have to stay bedridden for the last 3 months of my pregnancy, or else our baby would be born to early. So I did as I was told and stayed in bed most of time, the 3 months passed so slowly and then on my due date nothing happened. The baby apparently wasn't ready to come out yet, a week and half went by, and still no baby, the doctor decided to induce labour and that same night, Jamie was born, with a loud piercing scream, kicking and flailing his little arms, he wasn't too happy about coming out of Moms tummy", Haley and Nathan laugh together.

"Wow that's a story, thank you for sharing it with me" Jay says sincerely touched to have been told. Jay's room doesn't take too long because it is smaller than Maddie's. So leaving the paint to dry, the group moves quickly along to the next room, everyone has their jobs and are great at doing them. The kids focus on lowest parts, Karen bottom middle, Jay and Will are on the top middle, again on their husbands shoulders Haley and Peyton are on the tops of the walls. This room is the cream that Will picked up. By the time they are done with this room, the kids have fallen asleep on the bed.

They exit the room, leaving the children to sleep.

Continues!