On the way into the station the two girls stop to pick up lunch for everyone. When they hear Trudy call:
"Hey blondie and short blondie," and they walk over to her desk. Hailey pulls out a sandwich and puts it on Trudy's desk. She hands the rest of the bag to Beth and tells her to head up stairs. Trudy buzzes her in and she walks up the stairs. Nobody hears her as she walks into the bullpen. Beth shyly announces her presence and everybody looks up at her.
"Finally," Adam says as he jumps up from his desk and walks over to Beth grabbing the bag of food from her hands. Adam starts shouting out the food and passing it around as Jay motions for Beth to come sit down.
"Where's Hailey?" he asks as she sits down next to him.
"She is talking to the lady down stairs," Beth answers, "I don't remember her name…"
"Trudy?" Jay replies and Beth nods in agreement. Once everybody has their food Kim speaks up,
"So your name is Elizabeth right?"
"Ya,ummm Beth," she responds. The three officers nod their heads and introduce themselves. Just then Hailey walks over to the group and Jay stands up to give her his chair. She waves him off telling him she has to talk to Voight. Hailey knocks and heads into his office shutting the door behind her.
"How are you doing?" Hank asks.
"I'm good but," Hailey hesitates, "I am taking Beth in. She is going to live with me,"
Hank stays silent and Hailey continues to ramble, "You know she hasn't had a steady life and I left her once before. I don't want to do that again…"
Hank cuts her off, "You don't have to explain yourself Hailey. I get why you want to do it but I just want to make sure you are sure. A kid is no small job,"
"Ya I know but she needs me and I don't want to let her down again. I'm sure." Hailey says nodding her head.
"Then I am happy for you and if you need anything me, and this family are here for you guys,"
"Thanks," Hailey says, "I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda scared."
"Everybody is but look at the bright side, yours is competent. Most of the time when people take in a kid they can't do anything for themselves," Hank jokes, "You are going to be just fine," Hailey laughs.
"Do you need anything right now?" Hank asks.
"I talked to Trudy about putting her on my insurance because she needs her medications so that's dealt with. I was wondering if I could take tomorrow too, you know, to get her settled"
Hailey says.
"No problem," Hank replies.
"Also I need a reference and a background police check,"
"I'll get those for you by Tuesday," he says.
"Thank you for everything," Hailey says standing up.
"Hailey, I would love to meet her officially whenever you are ready," Hank says. Hailey nods and walks back into the bullpen.
Beth is talking about something and everybody is laughing. Jay looks behind him at her smiling. She walks over to the group and sits down on Jays desk. She grabs her lunch and starts to eat. Jay puts his hand on her knee and Hailey covers his hand with her smaller one squeezing it. She tunes into what Beth is saying just as she is finishing up her story,
"That is the last time I ever let anyone else give me insulin," Beth says and everybody is laughing.
"Why was the lady crying when you were the one getting stabbed with a needle," Kim says through a laugh.
"I don't know but she was actually really nice. She wanted to help, she just couldn't do it," Beth says.
"Go home guys," Hank says stepping out of his office, "We can finish this tomorrow,"
Everybody starts to clean up their garbage when Jay asks what they two blonds were up to for the rest of the day,
"Well we need groceries, but that's it," Hailey says. Jay nods as Hailey motions for Beth to grab her bag, "But you still gonna come over later right?"
"Of course," Jay replies, Hailey smiles and says,
"Good I'll make stir fry,"
They smile at each other before Beth interrupts
"Are we going?"
"Ya," Hailey says, shaking her head, "let's go," and the two girls walk out of the building.
"I'm calling bullshit," Beth says as they walk to the car.
"On what?" Hailey asks.
"On you and Jay just being partners,"
Hailey ignores Beth and tells her to get in the car.
The trip to the store is a lot longer than what Hailey is used to when grocery shopping. Hailey has to make sure she isn't going to run out of food during the week. Usually if she ran out she would just order take out and eat out for the rest of the week but she can't do that with a kid. Beth explains what she needs and what she can't have a diabetic and it is a lot more complicated than what Hailey would have guessed. A trip that before would have taken Hailey a quick 15 to 20 minutes before now took over an hour. By the time the girls get back to the house Jay's truck is already parked across the street. Hailey looks at the time and sees that it is already almost 5:30. She gets out of her car and Jay is opening up the trunk and grabbing a couple bags. Beth grabs the rest of them and they all head into the house. They put the food away and Hailey starts making dinner. After testing her blood sugar levels Beth realizes she had been walking for over an hour and needs some sugar. She starts drinking some juice as the adults make dinner. Throughout the preparation of the meal and the eating of the meal itself Beth talks nonstop. Not really about anything but everything at once. Both Hailey and Jay watch carefully as she goes about her normal life measuring, calculating and then administering herself insulin. Beth is still talking as she washes the dishes while Jay dries and Hailey puts them away.
"How about Jay and I finish up here and you go choose a movie for us to watch?" Hailey says. Beth nods and dries her hands before walking into the living room.
"Good god does she ever stop talking?" Jay says with a laugh,
"She is a 13 year old girl," Hailey says putting the last dish away, "I was exactly the same way,"
Hailey grabs to beers from the fridge handing one to Jay. She opens it up and takes a sip before gasping and asking,
"Is it bad to drink in front of the kid?"
Jay thinks for a moment before shaking his head, "No, my parents drank in front of me all the time,"
Hailey takes another sip before saying, "Good I thought there it might have been just mine for a second,"
"Well neither of us had model childhoods so… who knows," Jay answers.
"Do you think I can do this?" Hailey asks not looking at Jay. Jay puts his finger under Hailey's chin and pulls it up so her eyes meet his,
"We both didn't grow up with great role models in our lives but for the rest of her childhood she will because she has you. You are going to be great at whatever kind of relationship you have with her," Jay explains and Hailey sees the sincerity in his eyes. She nods chewing on her bottom lip. They are brought out of their bubble by Beth yelling that she found a movie. Jay takes a step back realizing that they were very close to each other. Hailey takes a deep breath before asking if he is going to stay for the movie. Jay nods and they both head into the living room. Jay looks at the movie she chose seeing that it was an action one,
"Good choice I was kinda scared you were going to choose a rom com," Jay jokes.
Beth starts the movie mumbling under her breath,
"Why would I need to watch a movie where people who are in love refuse to admit it and dance around each other when I am watching it live," Both of the adults hear her but refuse to acknowledge the blaring dig at them.
As the credits start to roll Hailey grabs her phone and looks at the time.
"You should go to bed Beth, you have school tomorrow," Hailey says.
Beth nods as she yawns. She bids the adults goodnight as she heads up the stairs. They sit there for a second before Hailey remembers,
"Shit," Hailey says standing up, Jay looks at her confused, "Vanessa left boxes in the room and I keep forgetting to move them out of Beth's way,"
"We can do it right now before she goes to sleep," Jay says standing and they both head to the stairs. Hailey knocks on the door and Beth opens it.
"We are just going to move these boxes out of your way," Hailey says grabbing a box. Jay grabs two that are stacked together and they bring them down stairs and puts them in the office. Jay runs up the stairs to grab the last one and Hailey watches as he carries it down the stairs. Jay settles back on to the couch beside Hailey,
"So what are the big plans for tomorrow?"
"Not much," Hailey says, "I need to make sure everything is good around here. There is an inspector coming on Thursday and then once Beth is out of school I was thinking of taking her shopping. She needs clothes that fit her. She has been wearing mine for the past couple days," Hailey says.
"I thought I recognized some of those clothes," Jay says as he laughs.
They sit in a comfortable silence. Hailey drops her head to Jay's shoulder and Jay lifts his arm to wrap around her shoulders pulling her against him. Hailey starts to fall asleep against him; he whispers her name in her ear. She opens her eyes and she shifts her head to meet his eyes.
"You should go to bed," Jay says in a whisper, "and I should go," Hailey nods her head as she lifts it from his shoulder. Jay doesn't move his arm from around her. He holds her eyes with his before pulling her towards him. He presses his lips to her forehead. Hailey closes her eyes as she feels him softly kiss her about 20cm from where she wants him to.
"Not right now," Jay whispers. Hailey nods understanding what he is doing for her. Allowing for this one life changing event to sink in before doing something that would cause another.