Hailey looked around the small banquet room and took a deep breath. There were a lot of people in the room all talking to each other and eating the snacks Kim had placed on the tables.
"Looks good, don't you think?" Vanessa hugged Hailey from the side.
"Yeah," Hailey breathed, "It's really nice."
"And look at all the presents," Vanessa smiled, "You and Jay are really lucky to have so many people in your life that care about you."
Hailey nodded and nervously played with her necklace.
"You okay?" Vanessa asked softly.
Hailey looked at her and tried to smile, "Yeah."
Vanessa raised her eyebrows, "Hailey?"
"Okay!" Kim clapped her hands at the front of the room, "Hi everyone. Thank you so much for coming. I am so glad you were all able to come celebrate Baby Halstead with us. Once everyone has food and starts eating, we can have the raffle with the diapers. Also, please feel free to fill out the cards on the table with name suggestions and advice for Hailey and Jay. Thank you!"
"Want to go say hi to everyone?" Vanessa asked.
"Sure," Hailey said quietly and walked away to the first table.
"Hailey's not answering my texts," Jay sighed.
"She's at a party," Adam rolled his eyes, "Let her enjoy it."
"She seemed nervous this morning when she was getting ready, though," Jay said.
Adam shrugged, "That's normal. Neither one of you really likes parties."
"I guess," Jay chewed his lip and set his phone down.
"What do you want for lunch?" Adam asked, "Kevin said he'll pick something up on his way over."
"Um, whatever's fine, I don't care," Jay said.
"What does Drew like?" Adam looked around the corner to the living room, "Where'd they go?"
Jay pointed to the backyard, "They're playing soccer."
"Right, I knew that," Adam walked to the backdoor and opened it, "Hey, kids, what do you want for lunch?"
"McDonalds," Cara said and ran over to him.
Adam nodded and looked at Jay, "Are you okay with Drew eating McDonalds?"
"That's fine," Jay shrugged.
"Sweet," Adam set his hand on Cara's head and led her inside, "Chicken nuggets?"
"Duh," Cara sat on the floor and tugged her shoes off.
"Drew," Adam waved him over, "What do you want?"
Drew sighed, "I don't know."
Jay looked over, "Bud, want a burger?"
"I don't really think my stomach wants that," Drew said.
"Well what does your stomach want?" Adam closed the back door behind him.
"I guess chicken nuggets," Drew sat next to Cara.
"Hey! Twins!" Cara laughed.
Jay smiled, "Sounds good."
"Do you play Uno?" Cara asked Drew.
"Sometimes," Drew said.
"I know what we're doing next!" Cara ran up to her room.
Hailey glanced to the presents and sipped her wine.
"Ready to open them?" Kim asked.
"Not yet," Hailey answered.
"Is something wrong?" Kim looked around, "Did something happen?"
"No, no," Hailey set a hand on her arm, "Nothing happened, it's okay."
"You're sure?" Kim bit her lip.
"Absolutely," Hailey nodded.
"You've been acting weird for a while now," Trudy said.
Hailey blushed, "I'm fine."
"You're a terrible liar," Trudy shook her head.
Hailey sighed and looked around, "I…fine. Fine, I'm not okay."
"What can we do to help?" Kim asked.
Hailey lowered her voice, "I feel like a fraud. I'm not pregnant and everyone's giving me presents."
"You're still having a baby, Hailey," Vanessa said.
"I'm not! I'm adopting a baby," Hailey ran a hand through her hair, "And what will happen if the birth mom decides not to let us adopt the baby?"
"You can't think like that," Kim squeezed Hailey's hand.
Hailey swallowed hard, "It's just becoming really real. Look at all of that," she pointed to the presents, "That's meant for a baby. A tiny human is going to move into my house."
"And you are going to be an incredible mother," Trudy said.
Everyone looked at her slightly shocked.
"What?" Trudy asked, "I saw her in 'mom mode,' she's a really good mom and deserves to be recognized. I can be a good person."
Hailey laughed softly, "Thank you; that's really sweet."
"Do you think you can open the presents?" Kim asked.
Hailey took a deep breath, "I think so."
"Then let's get this show on the road," Kim smiled.
"Reverse."
Drew winced and bit his lip as he watched Adam put down a new card.
"It'll be back to you in a minute, bud," Jay said.
"I know," Drew mumbled.
"Oh, me!" Cara jumped up and slapped a blue card on the pile.
Drew set his card down and lightly rubbed his arm.
Jay kept his eyes on him as he played.
"Kev should be here in a minute with the food," Adam said while putting down his card.
"I'm so hungry," Cara put down a skip card.
Drew's jaw clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Drew," Jay said softly and played, "It's just a game."
"We can end it," Adam looked to Jay.
"No, no," Cara whined, "Please, I'm so close!"
Jay sighed, "It's okay, just let her go."
"Okay," Adam eyed Drew and put down his card.
"Yes!" Cara quickly placed a wild card on the pile, "Plus four Drew!"
Drew groaned loudly and turned to shove Cara off her chair.
"Hey!" Jay jumped up and grabbed Drew.
"Care-Bear," Adam hurried around the table and picked up Cara.
"She was being mean!" Drew yelled.
Cara started crying, "He hurt me! My elbow hurts!"
"You do not hurt girls," Jay said while carrying Drew to the backyard.
Drew kicked his legs, "I didn't mean to."
"Do not lie to me," Jay closed the door and set Drew on the ground. He crossed his arms, "I am super upset right now."
Drew stomped his foot, "You don't understand!"
"You pushed Cara off a chair!" Jay couldn't help but roll his eyes, "We specifically told you not to hurt girls."
"Cara doesn't count!" Drew yelled back.
"Oh yes she does!" Jay nodded, "She's even younger than you! That was completely uncalled for, Drew. I'm going to talk to Mom about this, but you are in big trouble."
Drew clenched his fists and fought back his tears, "She made me mad."
"I don't care, I do not care," Jay shook his head, "You need to march back in there and apologize, right now."
"I do not," Drew shook his head.
"Yes, you do," Jay said, "You go in there and apologize."
"You can't tell me what to do," Drew crossed his arms.
Jay looked around, "Are you talking to me like that? Drew, you need to stop talking, right now."
Drew huffed and angrily wiped his face.
Jay watched him and shook his head, "I'm so disappointed in you."
Drew kicked the ground and turned so his back was to Jay.
"Sit," Jay said.
Drew shook his head and held back quiet cries.
"Now, Drew," Jay stepped forward, "On the step, right there."
Drew kicked the ground again, but did sit on the patio step.
"You need to sit and think about what you did," Jay said before walking back in the house. He looked out the window and watched Drew pull at the grass and throw it in front of him. He sighed and rubbed his face.
"Everything okay?"
Jay turned to see Adam sitting at the table with Cara in his lap holding ice to her arm. He shrugged and shook his head, "Cara, I am so sorry Drew did that. He's going to apologize to you."
"Okay," Cara mumbled and wrapped her arms around Adam's neck to hide her face in his shoulder.
"Knock knock!" Kevin called out while walking into the house, "I have lunch!"
Hailey laughed while holding up a blue onesie with the Chicago Police Department shield on it, "Oh my gosh, Stella, this is so cute."
"Kelly picked that out," Stella laughed from her table.
"I love it," Hailey smiled and set it down to look through the rest of the bag.
"Is that her mom?" Vanessa whispered to Kim.
Kim looked over from writing on the back of the card, "Um…yeah, yeah. Hailey?"
"Hmm?" Hailey glanced up, "Oh my gosh."
Christine waved a little from her spot in the entryway.
"Mom," Hailey stood, "Hi." She walked over and quickly hugged her, "I had no idea you were coming."
"I'm sorry I'm late," Christine smiled a little, "I feel terrible, but I'm here now and I brought you something. It's just kind of big for me to carry, so it's in my car."
"Oh, thank you," Hailey nodded, "Here, come in," she led her mom over to Trudy, "Trudy, this is my mom, Christine."
"Very nice to meet you," Trudy smiled and shook Christine's hand, "Please sit here with me. I'm going to hand out some raffle prizes soon to help break this up."
Hailey rolled her eyes and went back to her spot at the table.
"Here's the next one," Vanessa slid a big box over to Hailey.
"Thank you," Hailey said and opened the card.
Christine looked around the room and smiled at all the people who had showed up for her daughter.
"You can't punish him forever," Kevin said, looking out to the backyard with Jay.
"I agree," Adam mumbled through his burger.
Jay looked over, "He pushed your daughter out of a chair."
"Adam's not my dad," Cara reached for another chicken nugget.
Jay sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "He needs to learn his lesson."
"Cara's fine, Jay," Adam said.
"My elbow still hurts," Cara held her arm out.
Jay put his hand out, "See?"
Adam stood and walked over to Jay and Kevin, "Jay, he was clearly upset going into the game and she just pushed him over the edge. I know his…emotional control isn't the best. Am I pissed? A little, but, she's over it and I don't think you need to starve Drew for pushing her out of the chair. It's not like he punched her."
"He still hurt her," Jay said.
"He's scratching himself," Kevin lightly hit Jay's arm, "That's not good, right?"
Jay looked back to the doorwall and sighed. He stepped out of the house, "Drew."
Drew didn't turn around and continued crying quietly while scratching his arms.
"Bud," Jay sat on the step, "Stop scratching."
Drew groaned and reached down to rip more grass from the ground.
Jay looked down, "You're ruining Ms. Kim's yard."
"I'm just a terrible child, aren't I?" Drew asked loudly.
Jay sighed, "Drew, don't start with this. You are not terrible, you've just made some bad choices today."
"She made me so mad!" Drew slapped his hands to the patio.
Jay winced, "I know, but violence and hurting people is not the right choice."
"You're confusing me," Drew whined.
"What's confusing?" Jay asked.
"You said I should fight people who hurt me, but you just said hurting people is not the right choice," Drew said and put his head in his hands.
"Look at me," Jay knocked his shoulder against Drew's.
Drew scratched his arms and looked up.
"Protecting yourself and lashing out are two different things," Jay held up a finger, "Protecting yourself means fighting back when someone else tries to hurt you and I will always support you when you do that," he held up a second finger, "Lashing out is what you did today – it's when you do mean things without thinking and hurt people."
"Did I really hurt Cara?" Drew bit his lip.
Jay raised his eyebrows, "Are you really asking that?"
"You're sassy," Drew said.
Jay couldn't help but laugh, "Oh my gosh," he rubbed his face, "Yes, you hurt Cara."
Drew lightly scratched his arms again, "That's not good."
"It was not," Jay nodded.
"If I apologize, will I still be in trouble?" Drew looked up.
"Yes," Jay grabbed Drew's hands.
Drew groaned, "My life sucks."
"No it doesn't," Jay scooted closer to him.
"Do you still love me?" Drew asked.
"I'll always love you," Jay pulled Drew against his side.
"Do I really have to apologize?"
"Yes."
"Gosh darn."
"Last prize goes to Ms. Natalie Manning," Kim said and walked over to Natalie to give her a gift bag with lotion and nail polish.
"Thank you," Natalie smiled.
"Okay, next up, guessing the due date," Kim turned to the front of the room.
"No, wait," Hailey stood and put her hand out, "Um, let's not."
"Are you sure?" Kim asked quietly.
Hailey nodded, "It's not a good idea. W-We don't know if he'll be born early o-or on time."
"Okay," Kim rubbed Hailey's arms, "That's fine."
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Christine walked over.
"I don't want everyone to play this game," Hailey admitted.
"Then we won't," Kim shrugged, "It's not a big deal."
"I feel bad that you worked on this," Hailey said.
Kim leaned forward, "I bought a poster board two days ago and used sharpie to make the calendar, it's not a big deal."
Hailey laughed softly, "Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome," Kim hugged her.
Christine smiled and set a hand on Hailey's back, "Are we done then?"
"I should probably say something, right?" Hailey looked to her mom.
"If you'd like," Christine nodded.
"Okay," Hailey breathed and walked to the front of the room. She cleared her throat and nervously waved at everyone, "Hi. Um, wow," she glanced to the pile of open presents, "I just want to say thank you to everyone who came and even to people who didn't come but still gave a gift like boyfriends and husbands, this all means so much to me and my family. We..." she took a deep breath, "We are really excited for our future together with this little boy and I know he's going to be surrounded by so much love, so thank you."
The side doors open and Jay walked in with Drew and Hank. Jay waved at her and smiled.
Hailey smiled back, "And so yeah," she shrugged, "Thank you again for coming. Please take some dessert if you'd like or another sub. Thanks!" She hurried over to Jay and hugged him tightly.
"Whoa, hey," he chuckled and hugged her back, "How'd it go?"
"Terrifying," Hailey breathed in his ear then stepped back, "How was spending the day with Adam and Cara?"
Drew looked away from her and scratched his arms.
Hailey raised her eyebrows, "What's that mean?"
Drew bit his lip and looked up at Jay.
"You need to tell her," Jay said, "That's part of your punishment."
"Oh boy," Hank breathed and walked over to Kim.
Drew groaned and scratched faster.
"What's going on?" Hailey gently tugged Drew to her side, "Stop scratching, sweetheart." She looked to Jay, "Where's his stressball? What's happening?"
"Bye Hailey, congratulations!"
Hailey turned to see Sylvie and Stella standing behind her.
"Oh, thank you," she smiled slightly and hugged them both, "Thank you for coming."
"And you too, Jay," Sylvie reached over and squeezed his arm, "Congrats on the baby."
"Thanks," he smiled.
"See you both soon," Stella said as they walked away.
Hailey turned back to Drew, "All right, you didn't get out of that, what's going on?"
Drew lightly kicked the floor.
"Hey," Jay raised his eyebrows, "No."
Drew sighed and pressed his face into Hailey's side. He mumbled something then wrapped his arms around her.
"What?" Hailey asked and stepped back so she could kneel next to him.
"Hailey, do you want us to start packing the truck?" Vanessa asked.
Hailey sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She looked up and nodded, "Sure; Jay has the keys."
"Here," Jay passed them over.
"Thank you," Vanessa smiled and bounced away carrying a few bags.
Hailey turned back to Drew, "You have about five seconds."
"I hurt Cara," Drew whispered.
Hailey raised her eyebrows and glanced to Jay, "What?"
Drew bit his lip and shook his head.
"No, no, repeat yourself," Hailey said.
Drew breathed shakily and looked around, "I-I hurt Cara."
Hailey's eyes widened and she straightened up, "Why?"
"She made me mad," Drew mumbled and stared at his feet.
Hailey looked at Jay, "I told you-"
"Stop," he said and set his hands on her arms, "He didn't punch her; he pushed her off her chair while we were playing Uno."
"Uno," Hailey repeated and turned her gaze to Drew, "You got mad while playing Uno, so you pushed your friend off a chair?"
Drew blushed and nodded, clenching his fists.
Hailey shook her head, "Drew Alexander, that-"
Christine walked over to the three of them, "Hailey, I have your gift in my trunk, do you want to come out and see it."
Hailey closed her eyes briefly before turning to smile at her mom, "Yes, we'll be right out."
"Great," Christine smiled and walked out.
Hailey turned back to Drew, "This is not over." She followed her mom out to the parking lot.
"Come on," Jay set his hand on Drew's shoulder and led him outside.
"Mom's mad," Drew said quietly.
"Yeah she is," Jay nodded, "And so am I."
"But I apologized," Drew whined.
"Doesn't erase what you did," Jay shook his head.
Drew stomped his foot and groaned.
Hailey spun around and raised her eyebrows.
Drew bit his lip and hid behind Jay.
"Okay," Christine opened her trunk, "I'm sorry, I didn't have enough paper to wrap it, but I did put a bow on the box. Surprise!"
Hailey's eyes widened at the crib, "Mom, you didn't have to."
Jay stepped forward to look, "Oh wow."
"Do you already have one?" Christine asked, "I still have the receipt."
"No, we don't have one," Hailey sat on the edge of the trunk and read the box, "Oh my gosh, Jay, it can be a toddler bed too."
"There's storage under there too," Christine pointed out.
"Thank you so much," Jay shook his head, "This…is super generous."
Christine smiled, "You're welcome." She hesitantly hugged him.
Hailey bit her lip over a small smile and reached out to rub Jay's side. He looked at her and she mouthed, 'Thank you.'
He nodded and smiled back at her.
Hank walked over to them and held Jay's keys out, "Need help getting that into your truck?"
"Yes, please," Jay nodded and the two of them lifted the crib to bring it over to the truck.
"I'm glad you like it," Christine said softly.
"I love it," Hailey stood and hugged her tightly, "Thank you, Mom."
"You're so welcome," Christine replied.
Hailey took a deep breath and stepped back, making eye contact with Drew. She crossed her arms and shook her head.
Drew blushed and rubbed his arms.
"Come here," Hailey whispered and held her arms out.
Drew shook his head and mumbled, "Don't touch me."
Hailey's face fell and she bit her lip.
"It's okay," Christine set her hand on Hailey's arm.
"I know," Hailey nodded.
Across the parking lot, Jay called over, "Hails, Hank has something for us."
Hailey put a smile on and walked to them with Drew, "You didn't have to get us anything."
"I wanted to," Hank pulled a jogging stroller out of his car.
"Oh, this is cool," Jay squatted down to look at it, "Thank you!"
Hank chuckled, "You're welcome."
"Thank you," Hailey smiled and hugged Hank, "I know Jay will definitely get a lot of use out of that," she laughed.
"Not a problem," Hank smiled back.
"We're so lucky," Hailey shook her head.
"You two deserve everything you got today," Hank said, "Don't doubt yourselves."
Jay stood and shook his hand, "Thank you, again."
"As long as you let me meet him," Hank laughed.
Hailey smiled at the two of them, "You definitely will."
"Do we ground him?"
"I don't know, he seemed to feel bad once I explained what was wrong with what he did."
"But he needs to learn on his own."
"I completely agree."
"Early bed time?"
"He's going to throw a fit."
"I know, but-"
"Yeah."
Hailey sighed and took Jay's hand. Together, they walked up to Drew's room. Hailey knocked on the door before pushing it open, "Time to talk."
Drew was sitting on his swing with his head in his knees.
"Drew," Jay said, "Come sit on your bed. Mom and I need to talk to you."
They waited a minute before Hailey walked over to him, "Drew," she set her hand on his shoulder, "Head up."
He sniffled and propped his head up on his knees, "Are you kicking me out?"
"No," Hailey stepped back and put her hand out, "We will not kick you out of this house."
Drew shakily took her hand and dragged his feet as they walked to Jay on the bed. He rubbed his eyes before grabbing his stuffed bird and hugging it to his chest.
"You and I have already talked about why what you did was wrong," Jay started, "So how about you catch Mom up to speed?"
"I don't know what that means," Drew mumbled.
"Tell me what you and Dad talked about," Hailey explained.
"Oh," Drew sniffled, "Um, well, I lashed out," he glanced to Jay, "And hurting girls is not okay, especially younger girls."
"Yes," Jay said softly and nodded, "Good."
"So," Hailey took a deep breath, "Like we told you months ago, there are consequences for your bad choices."
Drew whimpered and started shaking.
Jay glanced to Hailey and bit his lip.
"Drew," Hailey gently tilted his chin up, "Dad and I are never going to hurt you."
Jay nodded, "Get that out of your head because we are never going to hit you or anything like that."
"Okay," Drew whispered.
"But we are going to have you go to bed half an hour early all this week," Hailey said slowly.
Drew's eyes widened and he looked between Hailey and Jay, "What?"
"Your bed time for this entire week until next Sunday is 8pm," Jay said.
"Even on the weekend?" Drew gasped.
"Yes," Hailey nodded.
Drew put his head in his hands, "I'm so stupid!"
"You are not stupid," Hailey shook her head and set her hand on Drew's back.
"We know you understand why what you did was wrong," Jay said, "So no, you are not stupid."
"I am," Drew cried.
"Hey," Jay whispered, "Don't do this," he slipped his arms around Drew and lifted him onto his lap, "We're not doing this because we hate you or want to get rid of you, we're doing this because we want to make sure you remember why hurting Cara was wrong," he tucked Drew's head under his chin.
"I won't do it again," Drew whimpered.
"Thank you," Hailey lightly rubbed his back, "But what we said stands, okay?"
Drew nodded and gripped Jay's shirt.
"Deep breaths for me," Jay leaned back against the wall.
"Let me be sad and mad at myself," Drew said into Jay's shirt.
Hailey smiled sadly, "We can do that."
Jay chuckled and kissed the side of Drew's head, "Copy you."
Drew laughed and curled up on Jay's lap, "Don't make me laugh."
"Got it, got it, sorry," Jay smirked.
Hailey leaned her head on Jay's shoulder and lightly tickled Drew's side, "We love you."
"So much," Jay nodded.
Drew sighed and peaked his eyes up, "I love you too."
A/N: Thank you for all the kind reviews last chapter! I super appreciated it and am super glad to be back. Please let me know what you think of this one! Thank you for reading and have a great day!