Chapter 3
Hailey woke up on her stomach, hair splayed out across her pillow. She had slept quite soundly after talking to Jay, a weight lifted from her shoulders after sharing the whole story. She wasn't sure what time it was but it still felt early. She hadn't yet heard Ellie moving around and she was usually awake by 8:30.
"Morning," a voice cut through her waking revelry, startling her. She glanced around the empty room before her eyes settled on her phone still propped up against her night table lamp. She was shocked to see Jay sitting up in his bed looking down at her through the screen. He looked as though he had been up for a while. His hair was still damp from the shower and he was wearing a t-shirt now.
"Hey," Hailey said groggily. She was surprised to find that their FaceTime call was still going. She felt self-conscious now about the fact that he had clearly been watching her sleeping for a while. She rolled onto her side, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to tame it. "How long have you been up?"
"A little while," Jay replied. "Don't worry, I haven't been watching you sleep or anything. I took a shower and I only just came back and saw that you were awake."
"Good to know," Hailey laughed. "What time is it?"
"Almost 8," he replied.
"You always get up this early on the weekend?" Hailey asked.
Jay nodded in response. "I can't really ever sleep in," he added.
"Old Army habit?" Hailey asked.
"I guess so," Jay said. "I've never really thought about it." He got lost in thought for a moment but quickly snapped back out of it. "So, I was thinking I could pick up something for breakfast," he went on. "How does Ellie feel about bagels?"
"She loves them. I think it's the New Yorker in her," she joked.
"Hmm, well she can keep eating bagels, but we're gonna have to get rid of the rest of the New York crap," Jay said. "Chicago pizza is the only pizza worth eating and we'll definitely need to get her to some Sox games this summer."
"Slow down, Jay, I think she's got enough adjusting to do without all that," Hailey said with a laugh, appreciating that he was so invested in Ellie.
"Yeah, okay," Jay said, shy smile on his face. "We'll stick with the bagels for now."
"Good idea," Hailey agreed. Hailey's door opened then and Vanessa's head popped in.
"Who are you talking to?" Vanessa asked, looking around the room.
"Morning, Vanessa," Jay's voice said in reply from the screen.
Vanessa's eyebrows went up as she locked eyes with Hailey for a moment before walking into the room. She came over to sit on the edge of the bed next to Hailey so she could see Jay.
"What's up, Jay," Vanessa said in greeting. Vanessa was already fully dressed for the day. She was another early riser Hailey had found out.
"We were just discussing bagels," Jay told her. "Do you have a flavor preference?"
"I'm not picky as long as there's coffee," Vanessa said in reply.
"Coming right up," Jay acknowledged. "Alright, I'll see you guys in a bit."
"See ya," Hailey replied, and then the call ended. She bit her lip nervously, avoiding eye contact with Vanessa, whose eyes she could feel boring into her.
"So you video call each other in the mornings now?" Vanessa asked pointedly, a smirk on her face.
"No," Hailey corrected quickly. "We video called last night," she mumbled under her breath then pushed off the covers and climbed out of bed.
"Excuse me?" Vanessa asked, still sitting on the bed, eyes following Hailey as she moved around the room gathering clothes for the day. Hailey knew Vanessa wouldn't let it go so after a moment she turned back to face her roommate.
"We FaceTimed last night," Hailey said, loud and clear this time. "I couldn't sleep cause I hadn't finished telling him about Ellie so I called him. He switched it to video cause I thought it should be a face to face conversation." She turned away from Vanessa again, not wanting to see her reaction or for her to read Hailey's own expression.
"So you're telling me that FaceTime call has been going the entire night?" Vanessa clarified. Hailey glanced back over to her and instantly regretted it, seeing the giddy expression on Vanessa's face.
"Don't," Hailey interjected as soon as she saw Vanessa opening her mouth.
"No, I'm sorry I can't ignore this," Vanessa said, jumping up from the bed. "You literally slept with Jay last night."
"Vanessa," Hailey warned her. "We are just friends and partners."
"Yeah, who also happen to be in love with each other," Vanessa exclaimed.
"Ugh, Vanessa you have got to let that go," Hailey groaned. "I said I loved him as my partner, nothing more."
"Hailey, partners don't act like you two do," Vanessa told her. "And they certainly don't sleep with each other."
"Would you stop saying that!" Hailey exclaimed, trying to hold back a laugh. "We did not sleep together!"
"Yeah, you did, just virtually and minus the sex. Unless you had a little phone sex?" Vanessa teased.
"No!" Hailey immediately corrected. "We were talking and then we just fell asleep. I didn't even know the call was still connected until I woke up this morning."
Vanessa still had a knowing smile on her face. "Well, I still say that's adorable and you guys are totally in love," Vanessa said. Hailey rolled her eyes just as Ellie came walking into the room.
"Morning," she said sleepily.
"Morning, sleepy-head," Hailey greeted her, smile coming to her face at the site of her daughter with messy hair and pajamas.
"Hey, Ellie," Vanessa greeted as well.
"What are we doing today?" Ellie asked, climbing up on Hailey's bed and sitting back against the pillows, legs crossed under her.
"We can do whatever you want," Hailey said. "My friend Jay from last night is coming over again if that's okay? He's bringing bagels."
"I love bagels!" Ellie said excitedly.
"I know," Hailey said, glad that she was happy about it. "So why don't you go get dressed before he gets here. He's going to hang out with us for the day I think, too."
Ellie jumped down from the bed and headed for the door. She turned back in the doorway. "Is Jay your boyfriend?" Ellie asked suddenly. Hailey was caught off guard by the question. She heard Vanessa chuckle behind her.
"No, I told you I work with him," Hailey said finally in response.
"Ok," Ellie said, but she didn't sound convinced. She didn't push anymore though, instead continuing her path out of the room and down the hall to get dressed.
Hailey returned to her own clothes she had gathered for the day. Vanessa turned to follow Ellie out of the room, but couldn't resist commenting on her way out.
"Smart kid," Vanessa said with a smirk, and then she left the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her so Hailey could get dressed.
Hailey shook her head, nervously biting her lip again. There was no denying she was confused about her feelings towards Jay, but she didn't think it was outwardly obvious. Vanessa lived with her and worked with her, so Hailey could somewhat see how she may have picked up on some things, especially after Jay had gotten shot, but Ellie. She was five years old and had only seen Jay and Hailey together once for about five minutes, so if she had picked up on something then maybe Hailey wasn't doing as good of a job as she thought about hiding it.
Trying to shake these thoughts from her head she focused on getting dressed. She chose a pair of light jeans and a striped v-neck top. The weather had warmed up considerably since she had last been in Chicago so she didn't want to be too hot in one of her usual flannels if they did anything outside. She pulled on a pair of socks and slipped into her gym shoes before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. She couldn't get her hair under control to her satisfaction so she opted to pull it up into a messy bun and called it a day, heading out of her room and down the hall to check on Ellie.
Ellie had managed to pick out a reasonable outfit of leggings and a t-shirt and was just pulling on gym shoes when Hailey walked in. Hailey was glad to see that she wasn't one of those little girls who always wanted to wear a frilly pink dress and a tiara. She seemed to air more on the side of tomboy, just like Hailey.
"Did you brush your teeth?" Hailey asked, giving her outfit a nod of approval.
"No, I will," Ellie said, walking over to Hailey in the doorway. "Can you braid my hair?" Just as she said it, the doorbell rang announcing Jay's arrival.
"Yeah, go brush your teeth and then bring your hairbrush and a hair tie downstairs," Hailey told her.
Ellie happily agreed, bouncing down the hall to the bathroom she now shared with Vanessa while Hailey continued past it down the hall to the stairs. She wondered if Vanessa would answer the door again, but it seemed Vanessa had returned to her bedroom. Hailey got a sneaking suspicion that she had intentionally stayed upstairs so Hailey could greet her partner first.
When Hailey opened the front door Jay was standing there with a large brown paper bag in one hand and a tray of three large coffees in his other hand. He had another small brown bag clutched in his mouth, which Hailey grabbed from him as he walked in.
"Thanks," Jay said, grateful to be free of the bag.
"Couldn't you have just shoved this in the big bag?" Hailey asked as she set it down on the counter as Jay deposited the big bag and tray of drinks.
"I guess, but it's all the cold cream cheese and I wanted the bagels to still be hot when I got here," Jay explained.
"Dork," Hailey teased with a smirk.
"It's called consideration," Jay quipped back.
"Mhm," Hailey huffed, not convinced. She helped him unload the large bag full of far more bagels than the four of them could ever hope to eat.
"Jeez, Jay did you leave any at the store?" Hailey joked.
"I didn't know what flavors you guys liked so I got a variety," Jay replied nervously.
Hailey picked up on the nervousness in his voice and was touched that he wanted to make a good impression for Ellie, even if it meant buying every possible bagel flavor to make sure he would have her favorite one. Ellie came downstairs moments later, a smile on her face at the smell of fresh bagels. She climbed up on a stool at the island and set her brush and hair tie down on the counter before turning to the pile of bagels.
"Are there any bagels with chocolate chips?" Ellie asked, inspecting them all.
"Ellie, how about you say hi first," Hailey scolded kindly.
Ellie looked away from the bagels and made eye contact with Jay. "Morning, Jay," Ellie said, much less shy than she was the night before. "Thank you for bringing the bagels. Did you get any with chocolate chips?"
"Good morning, Ellie," Jay said, and then proceeded to hunt through the pile and pulled out one with chocolate chips, setting it down on a plate and sliding it across to her.
"Thank you," Ellie said excitedly, digging in.
"You want something to drink?" Hailey asked her, moving over to the fridge.
"Milk please," Ellie replied, mouth full of chocolate. Hailey obliged, filling a cup and passing it to the girl before sitting down next to her. Jay handed across one of the coffees which she gratefully accepted before grabbing a bagel at random from the pile.
Jay joined them at the counter around the corner from where they sat, his usual spot, his own coffee in hand. He picked out a cinnamon bagel and smeared cream cheese on it before taking a bite. Vanessa came down a few minutes later to join them, grabbing her own bagel and coffee with a muttered thanks to Jay. She sat down at the counter next to Jay to eat her bagel before standing up again.
"Thanks for breakfast, Jay," Vanessa said.
"Where are you off to?" Hailey asked.
"I'm meeting Kev at the gym and then my old undercover sergeant asked to meet for lunch to catch up," Vanessa said as she gathered her gym bag and keys. "I might be back for dinner. I'll let you know."
After Vanessa left Jay turned back to Hailey and Ellie. Ellie was licking the remaining chocolate off of her fingers after having finished her bagel.
"Eliana, we have a sink, you shouldn't be licking your fingers like that," Hailey scolded.
"But then it would be a waste of the chocolate," Ellie whined.
"I have to say I'm with Ellie on that one," Jay said, licking a bit of cream cheese off his finger.
Ellie laughed at Jay's antics and he smiled at her before grabbing a napkin to wipe off his hands, handing one to Ellie as well.
"So, Ellie, what do you want to do today?" Jay asked after they had cleaned off their hands.
"I don't know," Ellie replied. "What is there to do around here?"
"Lots of stuff," Jay told her. "Chicago's great. We've got awesome parks, zoos, not to mention the best baseball team."
"The Cubs?" Ellie asked.
Jay dropped his head in defeat as Hailey laughed. "Actually honey, Jay's a White Sox fan," she told her daughter.
"But didn't the Cubs just win the World Series?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah but before that they hadn't won in over 100 years," Jay found his voice again and was passionately explaining. "The Cubs are a bandwagon team."
"What's a bandwagon team?" Ellie asked.
"It means a lot of people claim to be Cubs fans just because they won or because they get a lot of press," Jay explained. "The Sox were the original Chicago baseball team. And they're the South Side team, which is where we live."
"Ok," Ellie said, not sure what else to say to his rant.
"Do you like baseball?" Jay asked, easing up.
"I guess so," Ellie said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've never been to a game but I like playing it sometimes."
"Okay, well I'll definitely take you to a Sox game this summer," Jay said. "And we can play any time you want."
"I don't have a mitt anymore," Ellie said quietly. "Or a ball."
"That can easily be fixed," Hailey said, running her hand on Ellie's back soothingly.
"Really?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah, of course," Hailey replied.
"I think there's a Dick's Sporting Goods around here," Jay said. "I'm pretty sure I've passed it."
"Yeah, I think it's closer to Greektown," Hailey said, trying to think. "Alright, how about we head out to the store. We can get you a mitt and whatever else you want and then head to Maggie Daley Park."
"Can you do my hair first?" Ellie asked, picking up her hairbrush again. Hailey had nearly forgotten she had promised to braid her hair.
"Oh yeah," Hailey said, taking the brush from her. She quickly brushed through Ellie's hair and then set about braiding it. It had been a while since she had braided hair, so it didn't look the best, but it was passable. Jay had bagged up all the extra bagels again and piled the plates into the sink in preparation for them to leave.
"Want me to drive?" Jay asked, unsure if they should drive together or if he should meet them.
"No, I have to drive cause Ellie needs her booster seat," Hailey explained.
"Oh right," Jay said, again letting his inexperience about kids show.
A few minutes later they headed outside towards Hailey's car, loading up before Hailey pulled away towards the store.
"Do you like music, Ellie?" Jay asked, turning his head so he could see her in the backseat behind Hailey.
"Yeah!" Ellie responded excitedly.
"What songs do you like?" Jay asked, turning the radio on and starting to flip through stations.
"This!" Ellie exclaimed on one of the stations.
"You like Styx?" Jay asked as the first few notes of 'Come Sail Away' played.
"Yeah I love this song!" Ellie said. "My daddy used to play this in the car all the time!"
Jay glanced over to see a sad smile cross Hailey's face. She quickly shook it off though as Ellie started singing along to the song.
"I'm sailing away," Ellie sang. Jay didn't want to turn around for fear of embarrassing her and thinking she should stop. Instead, like Hailey, he watched her through the rear view mirror as she continued to sing along to the song. Jay and Hailey didn't often play music during their car rides, and typically if they did, there was no singing. The occasional head bob or steering wheel taps were the closest they came to even acknowledging the music most of the time. But today, with Ellie proudly singing all the words, Jay and Hailey found it hard not to join in. Before they even knew it, they were all singing together in the car as the song really kicked in.
"A gathering of angels appeared above my head," they all sang together. Hailey was certain she had never heard Jay sing before today. He was one of those guys that Hailey never pictured singing along to songs even if he was in the car alone, but he proved her wrong as he unashamedly belted out all the words. They were pulling into the parking lot as the song ended, Ellie clapping in the back seat.
They unloaded and Hailey reached for Ellie's hand to walk through the parking lot to the store. She had never been in a sporting goods store before but it seemed Jay had as he led them over to the baseball section. He had Ellie try on several different gloves before they decided which one was best for her. Hailey left them to it, not having a clue herself. She wandered over to the shelf of baseballs and softballs, unsure which Ellie preferred. She opted for one of each, just to be safe.
As she walked back towards Ellie and Jay, a store worker came up to check on them.
"Are you finding everything alright?" the lady asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Jay said, standing up from where he had been crouching holding a few different mitts for Ellie.
"Is your daughter going to be playing softball this summer?" she asked.
Hailey could tell Jay was a little flustered by the question. "No, she's still a little too young for a league. This is just for practicing at home," Jay replied, opting to ignore the fact that the worker had referred to Ellie as his daughter.
"How old is she?" the woman asked, looking over to where Ellie was running her hands across the bats.
"Uh, five," Jay answered, hoping he was remembering that correctly.
"Wow, she's tall for her age," the worker remarked. "Might want to get her a basketball, too."
"Yeah, I'll think about that," Jay said, ready for the conversation to be over. Thankfully the worker took the hint and walked away and Jay returned the extra mitts, keeping only one in his hands as Hailey walked up to him. Jay hadn't seen her standing there as the worker talked to him so Hailey didn't bring it up, not wanting him to feel awkward about not denying that Ellie was his daughter.
"Find one?" Hailey asked.
"Yeah," Jay said, holding up the winning mitt. "I might grab a new one myself. I'm pretty sure I have one in my truck but I didn't think to grab it in case she wants to play at the park today."
"You don't have to do that," Hailey said. "They're expensive aren't they?" Hailey actually had no idea how much any of this would cost.
"Not really," Jay said. "Depends what you're getting, but they're like 20 or 30 bucks." He wandered over to the rack of men's gloves, trying out a few before settling on one.
"Want anything else, Ellie?" Hailey asked as the little girl walked back over to them.
"Can I get a bat?" Ellie asked, looking back at the shelf she had just come from.
"I think any of those bats are still going to be a little heavy for you," Jay replied, seeing the uncertainty on Hailey's face. He glanced around and quickly walked over to a large basket. "How about a wiffle bat?" He picked up a package containing a child sized wiffle bat and two balls.
Ellie nodded enthusiastically, taking the package from Jay and cradling it as they headed for the register.
"Funny isn't it, that the mitt and the balls are the most expensive things and yet her favorite is the 5 wiffle set," Jay commented.
"Well, as the saying goes, money can't buy happiness," Hailey commented, placing the items on the checkout counter. Jay insisted on buying everything, telling Hailey it had been his talking about baseball that had sparked Ellie's interest in buying this stuff. Hailey reluctantly agreed, not quite sure if she should be letting him buy stuff for her daughter. Jay often paid for their drinks after work, but this felt very different from that, far more personal.
As they walked back out to the car there was an air of domesticity about them. Hailey had butterflies in her stomach as she watched Jay help Ellie climb into the car and buckle her seatbelt before climbing up front to join Hailey.
"Alright Ellie, are you ready to see the city?" Hailey asked as they pulled out of the parking.
"Yeah!" Ellie responded excitedly.
"Alright Ellie, I think it's only right that we listen to this song for your first visit to the city," Jay said, queuing up a song on his phone and syncing it to the car stereo.
Hailey glanced towards him, wondering what he would choose. She was expecting Blues Brothers but was surprised to hear the first few bars of Frank Sinatra kick in.
"Have you ever heard this song, Ellie?" Hailey asked with a smile in the rear view mirror.
"I don't think so," Ellie said, listening intently.
"Well get used to it, cause you're a Chicago kid now, squirt," Jay said, affectionately nicknaming her.
Ellie started bopping her head to the beat as the song kicked in and Jay started to once again sing along. Hailey soon found herself joining in as the skyline came into view.
"Chicago is one town that won't let you down. It's my kind of town," Jay and Hailey belted out as Ellie bopped and laughed in the backseat. As they pulled into the Millennium Park parking garage Hailey couldn't help picturing the three of them singing in car rides for many years to come.
A/N: This chapter was getting really long so I decided to cut it here. Hope you enjoyed some fluffy sort of early family dynamics between these three. Reviews appreciated as always.