Hailey and Jay come down the stairs the next morning. They find Beth sitting on the couch reading.
"Hey kid," Hailey greets as she walks in and sits down next to her, "What are you reading?"
Beth holds up the book and it reads, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.
"I got it off your bookcase," Beth says.
"I read those when I was around your age. Do you like them?" Hailey responds,
Beth nods as Jay walks into the room and hands Hailey a glass of water and a granola bar.
"I was actually just going to wake you guys," Beth says, putting the book down, "I need my insulin," Beth walks Hailey through the process again. When they are done Hailey asks,
"How do you feel about having a guest over for dinner tonight?"
"Whatever," Beth says, shrugging, "Who?"
"Our boss, Hank, do you remember him?" Hailey asks
Beth nods, "Sounds good,"
"Okay," Hailey says standing, "Jay and I are going to go on a run so you can get your own breakfast when you want,"
"Or you can wait an hour and I'll make pancakes," Jay says,
"Can I come running?" Beth asks,
"Sure," Hailey says, "Go get changed,"
Beth runs up the stairs to get changed. She is back down the stairs as fast as she left. She goes to the fridge and grabs two juice boxes when Jay gives her a confused look she says,
"Incase my blood sugar drops," he nods as they all put on their runners and head out the door.
Jay expected to have a slow run. The girl was 4'11'' and had a broken hand but that did not seem to stop her. Around half way through they had to stop so Beth could drink the juice but they ran almost five miles and Beth seemed to keep up quite well. Jay was surprised to say the least. When they get home Beth goes right up to take a shower.
"She can run really well," Jay says, "I was not expecting that,"
"It is probably in her blood," Hailey responds drinking some water, "Did I ever tell you I ran track and cross country?"
Jay shakes his head, "Were you any good?"
"Ya I was alright but her father he also ran and he was really good," Hailey responds, "He went on to run for the University of Oregon. They are one of the best schools for track,"
Jay nods, "So we have a natural on our hands," Hailey laughs, "You should go shower. I'll get started on breakfast,"
They eat breakfast and after Hailey texts Hank to see if he wants to come over for dinner. He responds with a yes. They do a little bit of picking up around the house and then settle the couch. Usually it is Beth and Hailey playing the video games with Jay watching. He never really got into the video games but Beth had convinced him to play because she couldn't. However it was not going well, Beth was yelling instructions at Jay that he didn't even understand.
"JUMP! JUMP!" Beth says, "Nope nevermind you are dead again. We are never gonna get past this level,"
"Sorry kid," Jay says setting down his controller,
"I'm gonna go read. This is making me mad," Beth says, grabbing her book and heading to her room. Hailey looks at her phone,
"Hank is going to be here in an hour," Hailey says, "Are you going to stay?"
"Do you want me to stay?" Jay asks,
"Well if you stay he will probably put two and two together and find out about us," Hailey says,
"Hailey," Jay says, grabbing her hands, "Firstly, he probably already knows. Secondly, you are not something I want to keep a secret but I understand if you want to keep things on the quiet side for now. This is new,
"Beth is your kid and if this is moving too fast and you want me to take a step back that's cool. The ball is in your court just tell me where you want me,"
Hailey nods and looks up at him, "I want you to stay. I don't want this to be a secret either. I don't want us to slow down," Hailey says, "Also Beth loves telling that story about us so there is no way we are making it through tonight without her telling it,"
Jay laughs, "True, she has no filter on that mouth,"
About an hour later, Jay is putting the steaks on the grill while Hailey is working in the kitchen. Beth comes down the stairs asking,
"Do you want me to change into something nicer for dinner?"
"No," Hailey responds, "Jeans and a t-shirt are fine,"
Then the doorbell rings and Hailey wipes her hands on a towel before going to answer the door.
"Hey sarge," Hailey says, stepping back to let him in the house.
"Hailey, we aren't at work, you can call me Hank," he says,
Hailey smiles and nods as she leads him into the kitchen,
"Hey slugger," Hanks says, patting Beth on the arm, "How is the hand?"
"Not too bad," Beth responds, "Better than the other guy's nose,"
"That's what I like to hear," Hank responds,
"Can I get you a beer?" Hailey asks,
"Sure," Hank says. Hailey grabs one from the fridge and hands it to him as Jay walks back in,
"Hey Sarge," Jay says as he goes to the fridge to grab himself a beer as well,
"About ten minutes on the steaks," he says to Hailey. Then the room goes silent as the couple wait for their boss to say something as their boss waits for them to say something. Beth can feel the tension in the room and makes an assumption about what is about.
"Mr Voight do you want to hear a funny story?" Beth says breaking the silence,
"Nope he doesn't," Hailey says, Hank laughs and says,
"I think I know enough of the story,"
"We didn't want to hide," Jay says,
"I respect that and I am happy for you guys. But you guys were not hiding very well before," They all laugh a little before Jay goes out to get the meat off the grill as Hailey puts the finishing touches on everything else. They all sit down to eat and Beth, who has never been shy before continues on that train talking almost non stop asking everybody questions. Jay is always surprised that she finds time to actually eat in between all the talking. The adults are happy to let her lead the conversation. Once the plates Hank goes back to the door and grabs a game.
"This was my family's favorite game to play and I thought maybe you guys would like it," he says handing them a obviously used box,
"Clue?" Jay questions
"Justin and Erin always thought they could beat me," Hank says with a little laugh. Beth sees the sadness in his eyes at the mention of his kids,
"Would you guys play it with me now?" Beth asks. The adults nod their heads,
"I have to warn you I have never lost a game," Hanks says as they pull out the game pieces,
"Well you have never played against other detectives," Jay says back, "There is a first time for everything," Everybody laughs. In the end it was Hailey who came out on top after a race back to the middle area. They are settled into the couches as the conversation flows into cop stories. As Hank finishes up a story about his days in gangs and they look over to see Beth fast asleep leaning on the side of the couch.
"Don't take it personally," Hailey says, "She went on a run today and her hand is still healing up,"
"No problem," Hank says.
"I'll put her in her bed," Jay says picking her up bridal style,
"Don't wake her up yet. We are going to have to wake her later for her insulin so she can change then," Hailey says pushing the hair out of her face and smoothing it down. Jay nods in response before climbing the stairs up to the young girl's room and laying her down on the bed and pulling the blankets over her.
