The trio make a few stops before going home. Once they are home, Hailey and Jay start making dinner. They are only back home for 25 minutes before the doorbell rings. Beth goes to answer the door and behind it are Adam, Kevin and Kim.
"That's our girl," Adam says once he sees her and holds up his hand for a high five. Beth gives him one. They all make their way to the kitchen and Hailey looks up,
"What brings you guys here?" Hailey asks,
"We came to celebrate," Kim answers, "This is for you," handing Beth a bag. The girl looks in it to find a container of ice cream.
"We are so proud of you," Kevin says patting Beth on the shoulder,
"Why?" Beth asks,
"I told them about your fight," Jay says as he puts pasta in the pot, "Do you guys want to stay for dinner?" They all say yes.
"You are proud that I punched someone?" Beth says confused,
"Of course," Adam replies,
"Okay slow down," Hailey jumps in, "There is a difference between not being mad and being proud. I mean we can't encourage her to get in more fights,"
"No you can't" Kim says, "You are her mother it looks bad for you to encourage fighting but we are the cool aunt and uncles so we can,"
"You said it was what you would have done?" Beth says,
"Ya it was but that doesn't mean it was the right choice," Hailey says, "For the bra snap sure punch him but you can't punch everyone who underestimates you. You are a girl. You are going to get underestimated everywhere you go. Ask Kim," Hailey is pulling out another jar of sauce adding it to the pan, "If you guys are staying one of you can make salad," Kevin walks over to the fridge pulling out vegetables,
"It's true," Kim says, "If I punched everyone who underestimated me I would have to punch every man in this room and probably every man I have ever worked with on the force,"
All the boys look ever at Kim ready to defend themselves but both ladies give them looks that say very clearly shut up. Beth laughs at this and asks how long till dinner.
"Like 5 minutes," Hailey replies.
"Okay well I am going to need one of you to give me an insulin shot," Beth says waking over to her backpack grabbing her diabetes kit. All the adults look in between each other.
"I'll do it," volunteers Adam. Beth nods. She grabs her glucose monitor. She makes Adam hold the pen as she pricks her finger and puts a drop on the swab turning on the machine. Hailey grabs the packages the food came in handing them to Beth.
"So what do you need to do?" asks Kim.
"Well I test my blood sugar levels so I know what it is and I know what I want my blood sugar level to be. See they are pretty high now which is understandable. I have done little to no physical activity this afternoon and I had a glass of juice and a package of cookies at the hospital. So I calculate how much I need to give to compensate for that. Now because I am eating I need to calculate how much to take related to the amount of carbohydrates I eat. I add those together and that's how much I give myself now," Beth explains,
"So you take it 3 times a day," Kim says, Beth shakes her head,
"There are two different types of insulin I take. Long lasting insulin which I take twice a day. When I wake up and before I go to bed then rapid working insulin that I take that at least 3 times a day before each meal," Beth corrects, "Okay I need you to fill this needle to this line," Beth passes a bottle along with a needle to Adam, "Don't touch the actual needle part,"
She watches very carefully as he does what she instructs. Once he has it ready Beth pulls up her shirt slightly, "So just pinch the skin and then put the needle in and push the top down,"
Because Beth is so much shorter than Adam he has to lean down a lot. He is trying to find a good angle when Jay comes around and picks up the young girl setting her on the counter so she is sitting. Beth looks between Hailey and Jay and says,
"I am having flashbacks,"
"What?" Adam ask,
"Nothing," Hailey responds to quickly to not not cause suspicion,
"I'll tell you later," Beth says laughing a little bit, "Anyway let's get this over and done with I am hungry,"
Adam pinches her skin and goes to put the needle in when he pulls back.
"I can't do it," Adam says,
"Yes you can," says Beth, "It is just a little pinch. You aren't going to hurt me,"
Hailey steps up and grabs the needle from Adam,
"So you just pinch the skin then put it in," She asks hesitantly,
"Yep," Beth nods, "Just put it in,"
Hailey doesn't move.
"If you don't I can die," Beth says, "You are hurting me by not giving me the needle,"
Hailey's hand approaches, she pinches the skin but still doesn't stick the needle in,
"Just do it," Beth says, "Now," and with that Hailey pushes the needle, pushes the insulin out of the needle and pulls the needle out.
"Good job," Beth says, patting Hailey on the shoulder, "You did good,"
"It's kinda funny that the girl that had to get the needle is comforting the person that gave it to her," Kevin says. They all laugh a little,
"At least there was no one crying on to my stomach so I am happy," Beth says jumping down from the counter, "Let's eat,"
After dinner the 3 officers leave and the other three are cleaning the kitchen when Hailey remembers,
"So are you going to tell us what the other fights were about?"
"Nothing much really," Beth replies, " 3 of them where girl fights and the other one I kneed a guy in his...you know,"
"Why?" Hailey asks, Beth shrugs,
"They were pissing me off," Beth replies, Jay and Hailey look at each other. Before the adults can continue the conversation Beth says,
"I'm really tired so I'm going to go to bed. But I'm going to need another shot later in the evening so I'll just come down when I need it okay. So no funny business"
"Can we give it to you now so you can just stay asleep?" Jay asks,
Beth shakes her head, "For long lasting schedule is important so it has to be at similar times,"
Both the adults nod as Beth turns around to head up the stairs. Jay walks over to the fridge and grabs a couple of beers. He hands one to Hailey and they head into the living room taking their spots on the couch. Hailey tucks her legs underneath her as she leans into the couch.
"5 is a lot," Hailey says,
"Ya, but we don't know everything about them," Jay says
"But there's a better way to deal with these things than fighting," Hailey says, "She is only 13. Her first instinct when some makes her mad shouldn't be to punch them,"
Jay nods in agreement. They sit in silence for a couple moments,
"I haven't had to parent her," Hailey says, Jay looks at her with confusion,
"She has lived here a 6 weeks and I haven't had to be a mom," Hailey explains, "She makes her own lunch, she gives herself her meds, she goes to bed without being told, she does her homework without being told, she always helps in clean up after supper, her room is pretty clean, she does her own laundry, god, she asked if I had laundry she wanted me to do, she is a little sassy but she doesn't really talk back. Did you do any of those things when you were 13?" Hailey asks.
Jay laughs a little and says,
"No, my mom made my lunch and did my laundry until I graduated high school,"
"She is only 13," Hailey says running her hand through her hair, "She can keep a household running but she can't control her emotions and she speaks with her fists,"
"Well it is probably what she was taught or what she wasn't taught," Jay says, "Now she has the best example to learn from," Hailey smiles at him not saying anything, Jay continues,
"You know who might be a good person to talk to about this? Hank," Hailey looks up at him with a questioning face. He takes this as a sign to continue,
"He took in Lindsey when she was 14 and he raised a son. It isn't the exact same situation but I'm sure there are some similarities and he might be able to give us some pointers on how to approach situations because let's be honest we don't have a lot of experience with raising a kid,"
Jay sees Hailey turning the idea over in her head before she nods,
"That is a good idea. Maybe I'll invite him over for dinner tomorrow. He did say he wanted to meet Beth as my daughter instead of as a witness so…" Hailey shrugs.
"That sounds like a good plan. You can call him tomorrow morning," Jay nods, "Now let's watch some tv," Jay wraps his arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side, "What are we feeling… action, comedy, documentary, cooking show...
