"Why won't it stop?" Jay asked through the gauze he was holding to his nose.

"Because you're moving around so much and were touching it," Will said and held out an ice-pack, "Try this."

"You were the one touching it so much," Jay mumbled.

"Shh, don't," Hailey took the ice and shooed Jay's hand away so she could hold it against him.

Jay winced, "It's really cold."

"It's ice," Will rolled his eyes, "I'll go grab your discharge forms."

As he walked out the door, Hailey and Jay heard fast footsteps coming down the hall and then a quiet, "Uncle Will, where's my dad?"

"Crap," Jay breathed and sat back.

Hailey clicked her tongue softly and pushed him up again, "Head down, you don't want to swallow the blood."

Drew pushed open the doors and stood frozen with wide eyes, "Dad."

Kevin caught his breath as he caught up to him, "Hey, sorry, he insisted and Voight actually called and asked that I get back as soon as possible."

"Not a problem," Hailey nodded and put her hand out, "Come here."

Drew dropped his backpack and slowly walked to Hailey, "Hi."

"Hi honey," she kissed the top of his head.

Jay glanced up and waved slightly, "Hey bud."

"You good here?" Kevin asked, "Is it broken?"

"Not broken," Jay said, "I'm fine."

"Thanks Kev," Hailey said before he walked out.

Drew couldn't take his eyes off Jay's face as he chewed his lip. He hesitantly set a hand on Jay's leg and leaned against the bed.

Jay smiled slightly, "How was school?"

"I think you're more important than school right now," Drew said.

Hailey laughed softly and reached for more tissue to wipe Jay's face, "I think talking about school will help Dad take his mind off of his nose."

"Does it hurt?" Drew asked.

"Yeah," Jay cleared his throat then breathed, "Nasty."

"Swallow some?" Hailey held the cup of water under him and steadied the straw.

"Mhmm," Jay hummed before taking a sip, "Thanks."

"How can I help?" Drew looked at Hailey.

"Tell us about school and distract Dad from the pain," Hailey smiled.

"I guess," Drew breathed out and carefully jumped up to sit on the bed near Jay's legs, "Next week I'm star student."

"That's great," Hailey said softly and rubbed Drew's arm with her free hand, "So what do you get to do?"

"I have to fill out a poster and can by line leader and I'll be the teacher helper and I can have a parent come in one day to help," Drew played with the sheets on the bed .

"That's super cool," Jay smiled and looked up, "Are you-"

"Head down," Hailey cupped more tissue under his face, "It's slowing down, but I don't want you to get sick."

"Thanks," Jay mumbled and coughed.

Drew crawled across the bed and lightly pat Jay's back, "Does this help your cough?"

Jay chuckled quietly, "Sure."

Drew's face lit up and he continued patting his hand, "I'm good at taking care of you guys."

"You are," Hailey smiled and lightly nudged his chin.

"So, like I was saying," Jay said, "Are you excited?"

Drew frowned and shrugged, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Hailey asked.

"Everyone's going to be looking at me all week," Drew sat cross-legged behind Jay, "And how am I supposed to pick just one of you to come to school?"

"We can talk about who goes to school later," Hailey lightly brushed Drew's hair back.

He moved away from her and shook his head.

Hailey breathed out slowly, "But with everyone looking at you, I don't think they'll be constantly staring everyday all week."

Jay nodded, "Do you introduce yourself to everyone or something?"

"Yeah, I have to talk about my poster," Drew said.

"That'll take like five minutes and we can even practice before you have to do it," Jay reached back and squeezed Drew's knee, "It'll be okay."

Will walked in, "How's it going?"

Hailey pulled the tissues away, "I think the bleeding's stopped."

"Will you let me sit up then?" Jay asked.

Hailey rolled her eyes and tilted his chin up, "Yes, but if you start bleeding at all-"

"I know, I know," Jay wiped under his nose with the back of his hand and winced.

"You'll probably be pretty bruised for a week or so," Will said and held a paper out to Jay to sign.

"Thanks," Jay signed his name and ran a hand through his hair.

"You gonna take care of your dad?" Will asked Drew with a smile.

"I'm going to try," Drew nodded and got off the bed, "What do I need to do?"

Will winked at Jay, "Make sure he keeps ice on his nose and doesn't do anything crazy."

"Got it," Drew held his hand out, "Let's go Dad."

Jay carefully got off the bed with Hailey's help and took Drew's hand, "Thanks, buddy."

"I can sleep, right?" Jay asked.

Will nodded, "Yeah, no concussion, you're good."

"Thank you, Will," Hailey smiled and slipped her arm around Jay's, "Let's go. You're glued to the couch until further notice."

"Wonderful," Jay breathed.

Drew picked up his backpack, "I'll keep you company."

Jay chuckled, "Thank you."

Drew laid the poster out on the coffee table and crossed his arms, "This is going to take a lot of work."

Hailey leaned forward to look at it, "There's a lot to color, but we can all work on it together."

"No, I can't cheat," Drew shook his head.

"It's not cheating, it's helping," Jay said.

"You shouldn't talk," Drew looked at him, "So shh."

Hailey laughed and covered her mouth.

Jay smiled, "Just because you don't like my answer doesn't mean you can shush me."

"It's for your health," Drew said.

Hailey squeezed Jay's knee, "So what do we need to do?"

Drew sighed, "We need lots of pictures, see?" He pointed to spots on the poster where it asked for a family picture and a selfie, "And then I need to bring at least five more to hang on the board."

"We have a lot of pictures, so that's not a problem at all," Hailey said.

"I need to do a ton of writing too and I hate writing," Drew plopped down on the couch next to Jay.

"What're you talking about?" Jay asked, "You're always writing in your bird journal."

"About birds and dinosaurs," Drew rolled his eyes, "Not about me. I don't like to write stories, it's silly."

"But you like to read," Hailey said slowly.

"Reading's different than writing," Drew shook his head, "Duh."

Jay laughed and smirked at Hailey, "Yeah, Mom. Maybe you should stop talking."

"Don't be sassy, Dad," Drew put his head in his hands, "I don't know how I'm going to do this."

"No reason to stress so much about this," Hailey knelt next to the coffee table, "Let's start with some of the easy stuff. We'll do just this box today. Go get some crayons."

Drew sighed, but got up and grabbed his box of art supplies.

"You can write some of this," Hailey patted the ground next to her, "Sit here."

"I need to do homework at the kitchen table though," Drew said.

"Dad's staying on the couch, don't we want to watch him?" Hailey gestured back to Jay.

"True," Drew nodded and knelt down.

"Read me some of the questions," Jay lightly nudged Drew's back with his foot.

Drew took a deep breath and looked where Hailey was pointing, "Um, name, age, favorite color, siblings and pets, favorite animal, favorite song, and favorite movie."

"Easy-peasy," Jay said, "First two answers are Drew and seven."

Hailey passed Drew a crayon, "Here you go."

Drew rubbed his face, "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Hailey nodded, "We'll go piece-by-piece each day, you've got this."

Drew sighed and started writing on the poster.

"Thank god you had your vest on," Hailey said softly and ran her hand over Jay's chest.

"I'm okay, Hailey," Jay rubbed her back.

"I know," she whispered, "It's just…"

"Scary," Jay finished and kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah," Hailey breathed and curled up further against him.

Jay stared at the ceiling and played with Hailey's hair. After a while, he asked softly, "Mind if I lighten the mood?"

Hailey smiled and looked up at him, "Sure."

"I know where I want our babymoon to be," Jay said.

Hailey laughed and turned her face into his shirt, "Oh really?"

"Mhmm," Jay smiled, "My family cabin."

Hailey sat up a little, "In Wisconsin?"

"Yeah," Jay nodded, "Let's go after Halloween and spend a weekend up there. There will be all the fall colors that you like."

Hailey ran a hand over his hair, "I'm in."

"Yeah?" Jay's smile widened, "Are you serious?"

Hailey nodded, "It's really pretty up there and we haven't been in the fall in a couple years."

"Perfect," Jay squeezed her waist and slipped his hands under her shirt.

"Careful," Hailey breathed and set her hands on his, "Not tonight."

"Babe, please, I'm injured," Jay said.

Hailey laughed, "That's exactly why we're not."

"It's just my face," Jay squeezed her again and smirked, knowing she wasn't going to budge.

"Which is a very important feature of you," Hailey smiled and ghosted her fingers over his face, "So no."

"Fine," Jay sighed, "I'll survive."

Hailey softened and held his hand, "You really are amazing, did you know that?"

Jay chuckled, "I did, but why are you saying it now?"

Hailey smiled and squeezed his hand, "You never pressure me and I appreciate that more than you'll ever know."

Jay sat up, "Like I've told you from day one," he brushed his thumb over her cheek, "I will always respect you and what you want – nothing will change that."

Hailey nodded and breathed, "I know."

"And about tonight," Jay shrugged, "Let's be real, I wouldn't be much fun."

Hailey laughed, "It'd be painful."

Jay smiled as she relaxed and said softly, "Come here," he gently pulled her against him, "I love you."

"I love you too," Hailey whispered.

Jay ran his hand over her hair, "Thank you for trusting me."

Hailey closed her eyes and remembered the two of them years ago in Jay's old apartment when he'd said those same words to her on his bed the first night she stayed as more than just a partner. She kissed the side of his head and laid down on her pillow.

"Need to sleep?" Jay asked and laid down with her.

Hailey nodded, "I think you do too," she lightly touched his nose, "Try to stay on your back."

Jay winced slightly, "It hurts to just imagine laying on my front."

Hailey smiled, "Wake me if you need anything."

Jay laughed and shook his head, pulling her against him.

"What?" Hailey asked.

"Waking you in the middle of the night is never a good idea," Jay said.

Hailey rolled her eyes and hid her smile in her pillow, "Oh whatever."

Jay chuckled and rubbed her back, "Goodnight, Hailey Anne Halstead."

Hailey blushed and looked up, "Goodnight Jay."

Hailey sighed while walking through the stack of books in the library, "This is too overwhelming."

"You're telling me," Kim asked from the aisle over, "There are like a million books on blended families, but we're not really blended. Where's the book for your birth dad is nowhere to be found, your biological mom is dead, and your foster mom is engaged to a man who has been helping raise you the past few months?"

Hailey laughed, "That's a tough one." She read the back of a book about friendship and groaned while putting it away, "I don't even know what I'm looking for."

"Hey, look," Kim poked her hand around the shelf with a book, "This one's about one of the parents having PTSD."

"Really?" Hailey walked around and took it, "I wouldn't even think that'd be a book."

Kim shrugged, "They have books for everything."

Hailey looked through the shelf and saw a book titled Does My Child Have PTSD? She bit her lip and grabbed it.

Kim glanced over at the title, "Do you think he does?"

Hailey looked up and nodded, "Yeah."

Kim smiled sadly and rubbed her arm before walking around to the stack Hailey was just looking at.

Hailey breathed out and tucked the book under her arm as she looked at the other titles.

While they walked through the adult section, Jay and Adam were sitting on a child sized couch watching Cara give a puppet show while Drew sat in a chair with a stack of dinosaur books to his side.

"Can you hear her?" Adam whispered.

"Not really," Jay rubbed his chin and looked to Drew, "He hasn't moved in a while."

"He's busy learning," Adam chuckled.

"Did I tell you he's a genius?" Jay asked.

"Kev was actually telling me," Adam nodded, "He blew you all away at the zoo?"

Jay chuckled, "He did. He had stuff memorized. I don't know how, but it was amazing."

Adam glanced behind him, "Where are the girls?"

"No idea," Jay said and clapped for Cara as she started bowing for them.

Adam looked at her and stood for a standing ovation, "Wonderful job, Care-Bear."

Drew sighed and didn't look up from his book, "Shh."

"Don't be grumpy, Drew," Cara put her hands on her hips, "I just put on a show for Mr. Jay and Adam."

"We're in a library," Drew looked up, "Libraries need to be quiet."

"Hey, no fighting," Jay motioned for Drew, "Come over here."

"Am I in trouble?" Drew asked while walking over with his stack of books.

"Not at all," Jay lifted Drew onto his lap, "Read to me."

Drew smiled, "Which book?"

"Let's see what you picked out," Jay sorted through the books and held one up, "This one."

"I wasn't sure about this one," Drew said.

"It's okay, we'll figure it out together," Jay wiggled the book, "Take it. Read it. Then we'll judge it."

Drew laughed softly and opened it up to start reading.

Hailey walked out onto the porch and sat at the table with the few books she brought home from the library.

Jay looked up from his phone, "So what'd you pick out?"

Hailey sighed and slid them over to him, "One about PTSD in kids, one about autism, and one about babies."

Jay raised his eyebrows and picked up the third book, "I didn't know you were getting a baby book."

"I saw it and it didn't seem like a bad idea," Hailey said softly.

Jay nodded and flipped through the pages.

"I think we should finish the nursery next weekend," Hailey ran a hand through her hair and watched Drew fill his bird feeders with seed.

Jay glanced up at her, "Not a problem at all."

"Thanks," Hailey breathed.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jay walked around the table and squatted next to her, "You seem off."

Hailey brushed her hand over his hair, "Don't judge me."

"When have I?" Jay asked.

Hailey rolled her eyes and smiled slightly, "I think I'm starting to…nest."

Jay looked at Drew, "Like a bird?"

"Yes," Hailey nodded.

Jay blinked, "What?"

"I'm starting to get anxious about getting everything ready," Hailey played with her fingers, "I made this list," she unlocked her phone and showed it to Jay, "We need to deep clean the entire house and finish the nursery and get clothes and pick a name."

"I understand," Jay slowly nodded, "But why are you feeling like a bird?"

"It's just a saying," Hailey laughed, "It's when pregnant women get this urge to clean and fix everything before the baby is born."

"Well," Jay lightly set his hand on her stomach, "You're not pregnant."

"But we're having a baby," Hailey sighed, "And soon. I can feel it."

"He's not due for two months," Jay said.

"We both know he's going to come early," Hailey squeezed his shoulder, "So we're doing this. Next weekend we are full on finishing the nursery and buying a lot of his clothes and picking his name."

"We've never even met him, how are we supposed to pick his name?" Jay moved to sit in the chair next to her.

"We can make a list of ideas," Hailey said quickly.

Jay chuckled, "I'm getting the feeling you've been thinking about this for a while."

"Obviously," Hailey nodded, "You need to focus."

"And you need to breathe," Jay touched the side of her face, "We're going to be okay, I promise you."

"I really hope so," Hailey breathed.

Drew walked on the patio and panted, "That's hard work."

Jay smiled, "But it's necessary work. Nice job, thanks for your help."

"You're welcome," Drew sat at the table and looked at the books, "What're these?"

"Oh," Hailey blushed and gathered them into a pile, "These are the books that I picked out today."

"Are they about me?" Drew reached for them.

"They're to help me and Dad help you," Hailey said.

Drew nodded a little and chewed his lip, "All right."

Jay nudged Drew's chin, "Tomorrow we're going to pick out your Halloween costume while Mom runs to work for a bit."

"No blood, no crazy mask, nothing scary," Hailey listed off.

"That's everything fun," Jay winked.

"Oh, don't worry, my costume is not going to have any of that," Drew said.

"You finally picked?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah," Drew smiled, "I'm going to be Michael Phelps. If I want to get better at swimming, I need to be him."

Jay's eyes widened, "How…how am I supposed to find a Michael Phelps costume?"

Hailey shook her head and lightly hit his arm, "I like it. Does this mean you want to rejoin swim lessons?"

Drew took a deep breath, "Dr. Charles said I shouldn't give up."

Jay nodded, "I agree."

"So yeah, I guess I'll try again," Drew rubbed his arms.

"Good," Hailey smiled, "Dad and I are so proud of you."

"Thanks," Drew blushed slightly and stood up, "Time to shower, Dad," he walked in the house.

Jay chuckled and took a deep breath, "My creature of habit."

Hailey patted his arm, "He'll stop eventually."

"We'll see," Jay kissed the top of her head and walked inside.

Hailey looked over the books and took a deep breath. She was about to open the one about babies when her phone beeped and a notification from her Pinterest page popped up. She bit her lip and clicked on it…maybe she could procrastinate a little bit just like in college. Preparing his nursery was just as important as learning how to feed him. Sure. She could convince herself of that.

A/N: Thank you so much for those of commented wishing me well and saying it's okay if I take my time – it really really meant a lot to me. I hope you liked the fluff in this chapter! Have a great day/night/morning!