August 2024
Hailey stood in their brand new nursery and admired the result of her work. Everything was quite ready for the baby to arrive. Though, she still had two weeks before the due date. But since it had felt that she needed to get things ready, she had done it already. In fact, she had been nesting the last couple of weeks, a thing that Jay found totally adorable.
She had finally given up on working, this was her first week at home. That was the other thing Jay was happy about. Not that he wouldn't enjoy working with her, but he had been worried she would overdo herself.
Sudden wave of pain went through Hailey's pelvis. She frowned and rubbed her lower back. She had had irregular contractions the whole morning. That wasn't downright unusual, since she had Braxton Hicks before, but these felt somewhat different. She shrugged her shoulders, her doctor had said irregular contractions, even painful ones, could be totally normal at this point of pregnancy. Maybe this was nothing. This was her first pregnancy after all, she would probably be pregnant many more weeks, she thought and stroked her quite an impressive baby bump.
At the 21th district Jay sat at his office. They had been working on a big case and it was finally nearing completion. He was so proud of the team, this had been a very high profile case and they had handled it total effectively so far. They were about to do the final raid today and he had been coordinating it with a SWAT sergeant. Now it was time to go. Good thing there is still plenty of time before the baby's due date, he didn't have to worry about being out of the reach of Hailey for some time. It was good that Hailey was at home, she would worry for nothing while waiting for them to come back.
Jay entered bullpen and gave the departure command to the team. He followed them to the garage and put his gear on. Despite being a sergeant, which required desk work, he still liked the most about field work. That was still something he was good at. He felt adrenaline start to pump in his veins while he threw his vest on and fastened the thigh holster. He checked his guns one more time before moving to his truck. It was time to go.
Hailey sat on the couch, flipping through her phone. Baby was moving lively in her belly, she held her other hand on her bump. She felt another contraction coming and looked at the phone to see a clock. Still irregular, but this had come under ten minutes after previous. But since it hadn't been so painful, only uncomfortable, that was probably nothing. She got up to go to the bathroom.
Suddenly she felt like something pop up and felt something wet oozing down her thighs. She was shocked, had she lost the control of her bladder? She looked down. No, that wasn't a case. Somehow a little thicker fluid with a hint on pink had made a little poll to the floor under her. Her water had broken, she had no doubt of it.
She took a deep breath. This was not a time to freak out, she told herself. She tried to remember all the guidelines the doctor had given. This was probably the reason to go to the hospital, but since the baby was moving and there's no blood, there was no reason to call an ambulance.
Looking down, she chuckled. First she would probably need some clean clothes and pads. She decided to take a trip to the bathroom, then call Jay. When she was going to the bathroom, another contraction went through her lower body. It felt more painful than previously.
After she had cleaned up herself, Hailey called Jay. No answer, the call went to the voicemail. Okay, no need to panic, he was probably on the field. Only that the contractions are getting harder and more regular. She tried to reach Jay one more time. Voicemail again.
Hailey pondered what to do. She could call an uber, but that doesn't sound tempting. If Jay was out on the field, so would be the rest of the team. Hailey made her decision and dialed the number.
"Hailey, everything okay?" asked a worried voice almost immediately.
"Hey, Will! Well… I think my water broke, or I am sure that it did. The problem is that I can't get in touch with Jay and I think I have to go to the hospital…", she rambled.
"Whoa, whoa… Wait a moment. Your water broke. Do you have contractions?" The doctor in Will took a lead.
"Yes. I have had these all morning, but before the water broke they weren't so painful or regular. Now they are more regular, like nine or eight minutes apart", Hailey told Will.
"Okay. Now we do this way. You sit down and try to call Jay. I come there immediately and we go to Med. It sounds like everything is okay, but you need to go to the hospital", Will explained calmly.
"Okay. Thanks Will", Hailey said with a relieved voice.
"Just wait, I will be there as soon as possible."
Even though it felt like hours for Hailey, Will came in about fifteen minutes later, using his spare key.
"I could open the door, you know", Hailey joked while swaddling to meet him.
"You should rest… How's contractions?", Will worried.
"Still coming… about every 8 minutes."
"No bleeding?", Will ensured.
"No, just amniotic fluid", Hailey assured.
"Okay. Are you ready to go? Feeling well enough?", Will asked.
"Yeah. Just let's go. Can you take that duffel bag with us?", Hailey pointed to the bag in the hallway.
Will grabbed a duffel bag and followed Hailey out of the house. After helping Hailey into the car, he sat to the driver's seat.
"Have you reached Jay?", he asked carefully, knowing that Hailey would need his brother right now.
"No", Hailey mumbled, looking like she was going to cry.
Will reached out over the console, and took Hailey's hand to his own and squeezed.
"Let's think about it. You are a cop. How do you get connected to your coworkers when you are on the field?", Will asked.
"With police radio…" Hailey replied, clearly getting the idea. "Oh my god, how can I be so stupid. I swear, this pregnancy has melted my brains."
Hailey took her phone and dialed quickly the number.
"Hey, it's Hailey. Do you happen to know where Jay is?", she asked from the person on the other end.
"Okay… Do you think you can get in touch to him by the police radio? The thing is, my water broke and I kind of need him at the Med", she explained. "No no… everything is okay. Will is with me. I don't want Jay to get distracted during the op, so if you can call maybe Kim and ask her to help? Okay, thanks Trudy", she ended the call.
Will looked at Hailey questioningly.
"Jay is leading the big raid with the SWAT. Platt thinks they are almost done, but she calls Kim just in case. I really don't need Jay to get hurt now because he gets distracted. You know your brother as well I, he has been the first through the door, sergeant or not", Hailey sighed.
Will nodded. He knew his brother.
"Will, thank you for coming, for being here for me, for us", Hailey said looking at her brother-in-law.
"Of course I am here. You are my family, Hailey. Jay, you and the little one", Will answered sincerely.
"Besides, what do you think my brother would do to me, if I hadn't come? He would have killed me, or at least kicked my ass", Will laughed, wanting to distract Hailey.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Hailey to stiffen once again. Contraction. Will has been silently timing those, and they are getting more frequently. Good thing, that they didn't have a long ride to the hospital.
Jay was pleased. The raid has been successful and it seemed that they had wrapped their case and achieved a huge breakthrough even in the bigger picture.
He was just briefing things with the SWAT commander when Kim came to him and held out her radio.
Jay raised his eyebrows. "Can't it wait for a little?", he asked.
Kim smiled strangely wide. "Trust me, you wanna take this now."
Jay catched the radio. "This is 5021 George", he spoke to the radio.
"5021 George, 5021 Henry needs you at MED. Everything is okay, I repeat, everything is okay", said a voice on the radio.
Jay gathered his thoughts quickly. Platt. 5021 Henry. That's Hailey's call sign. Hailey. But Hailey wasn't at work. Med. The baby. Holy shit!
Passing the radio back to Kim so fast that she almost dropped it, Jay ran to his truck.
Kim shouted after him. "Jay, you have your gear on… maybe you should…"
Okay, so maybe not. Hailey was going to love this, thought Kim, before turning to face the SWAT's commander. The man looked stunned.
"Well… It seems that sergeant Halstead's wife went to the labor", Kim explained to him.
"Oh. That's big news and explains a lot", the man laughed.
Kim nodded enthusiastically before saying goodbye. She had to go to find the team and tell them. And also probably tell Williams that he was in the lead, since their sergeant had run to the hospital with his guns and armors. Oh boy.
Hailey and Will had arrived at the hospital. At the door, Will planted Hailey in a wheelchair despite her resistance.
"Hi Maggie!", he greeted. "I'm gonna take Hailey to the maternity ward. Can you guide my brother there, as soon he arrives?"
"Of course", the nurse answered. "Everything okay, darling?", she asked from Hailey.
"I think so", Hailey nodded.
"That's good to hear. I take care that your husband finds you. Good luck!", Maggie wished.
Not so much later Maggie saw very concerned looking Jay Halstead storming through the sliding doors. Jay had checked his phone on the red lights and seen many missed calls from Hailey. There had also been a message from Will, saying he would be with Hailey and everything was okay. That had eased Jay's worry a little, but he needed to see Hailey with his own eyes.
"Hailey… My wife", he blabbered to Maggie breathlessly.
"On maternity ward", Maggie pointed out the line on the floor.
Jay nodded and strided already away when exclaiming "Thanks Maggie!
"Good luck, sergeant", Maggie piped after him and shook her head. The first-timer dads.
Hailey had changed to the hospital gown and sat on the bed. OB had examined her and checked the baby. Everything really was okay, but the baby was coming. She was at 4 centimeters already and contractions came every 5 minutes. Pain was still tolerable. If only his husband was there.
The midwife was checking her blood pressure and talking something with Will, when the door opened and a very worried looking Jay rushed in. Hailey looked at him in disbelief.
"Jay Halstead, do you have a vest and thigh holster on? You came with guns?"she asked with a stern voice.
"Well, daddy seems to be prepared", the midwife grinned.
Jay looked at himself like he had just noticed what he was wearing. He has his bulletproof vest on and gun on his hip and another in his thigh holster.
"Well… it seems so. I kind of got in a hurry", he tried to explain.
"But nevermind that, are you okay? Is she okay?" He continued while moving to Hailey's side and kissing her on the forehead. Hailey smiled at him and took his hand.
"Your wife is doing very well, but it seems that you are going to meet your baby today", the midwife smiled.
"Isn't it too early?", Jay asked worriedly.
"No. It isn't her due date yet, but she is full-term and ready to meet you. Everything is processing perfectly normally", the midwife reassured him.
Jay looked at Will, like asking assurance. Will nodded him smiling.
"I leave you now. We don't need those in here, so maybe you can call someone to collect those", the midwife continued and pointed out Jay's guns.
"He will do it", Will laughed, looking at his brother, but Jay had already concentrated on Hailey, who just seemed to have a contraction.
"I'm so sorry, babe" Jay pleaded, rubbing her lower back.
"It's okay, you there was no way you could know she was going to be this impatient and come early", Hailey reassured him after the pain had faded.
Everything was really okay now. Jay was next to her, that's all she needed. Since the early days of their partnership she had found his presence somehow calming. There's something in his silent and steady nature, what had always made her feel safe and calm. It's kind of weird, that even if Jay sometimes was the most impatient and reactive person, he still was also very solid and reassuring.
Will laughed. "Considering whose genes she has, I would say that it's not surprising she is impatient."
"Very funny", Jay faked.
"You know I am funny", Will smirked.
"But now when the lost soul has been found, I think I leave you. Keep me updated though!" Will said and leaned to give Hailey a hug.
"We will, and thank you again, you were the saving angel", Hailey thanked Will, patting his back.
Jay followed Will to the door.
"I can't thank you enough for being there for Hailey, bro. I owe you so much", he said, looking so sincere that Will couldn't do anything but hug him too.
"Come here", he said, pulling his little brother into his embrace. "You are my family, your girls are my family. Of course I was there. I will always help you when you need it, little bro."
"I love you", Jay whispered.
"I love you too, all of you."
After Will had left, Jay looked at Hailey and saw that she had another contraction. Jay rushed back to her.
"Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?", he asked, like wanting every way to make up his absence.
Hailey shook her head and breathed deep, like signaling him to wait. Jay felt himself helpless, he hated to see Hailey in pain. It was totally excruciating for him. He massaged Hailey's back with his fingers and whispered soft nonsense.
"At first, you can call someone to come and get those", Hailey grinned, after the contraction had passed, and pointed to his holster and vest.
"Yeah, I suppose I could do it", Jay chuckled, digging his phone out from his pocket. "Anyone in particular, who do you want to come here?"
Hailey was once again happy, how well her husband knew her. "Well, I love Vanessa, but she can be just little too much for me right now. Adam and Kevin would be awkward and freak out. Williams would be okay, he had done this, but he is needed there since you are here. So Kim is the answer I give you."
Jay clicked his phone open, and chuckled when seeing messages. He showed the phone to Hailey.
If you at some point feel that you maybe don't need the whole gear there, I can come and get those. Tell Hailey we love her.
"You gotta love Kim", Jay stated and quickly typed a message before sending it to Kim.
After the next contraction, Jay looked at Hailey carefully, wanting to say something.
"Do you feel you would want some pain medication? Have they offered you something?", he asked.
"They said I can sure get an epi at some point if I want it, but right now I don't feel that I need it. I mean, this hurts like hell, but not so much that I would want someone to poke my spine with a needle", Hailey answered. "And you know… though it hurts, this pain has its purpose, somehow I feel that this is still something I can handle."
Jay looked at her in awe. "You are probably one of the bravest people I know, but remember, there's no reason to try to be some superhero. But I respect your decision, whatever it is. It just is so hard to see you like this, in pain."
He leaned to kiss his wife. His brave, amazing girl, delivering his other girl to the world. It was kinda overwhelming.
"I love you so much", he whispered against Hailey's hair.
Within the next hours Kim visited shortly, nurses came frequently to check Hailey and the baby. Contractions came more frequent, and Jay felt himself so helpless. Hailey moved around the room, trying to find a better position. Jay gave her ice chips, massaged her back and stroked her hair, not knowing what else to do to make it easier for her. For reasons which weren't quite clear to Jay, Hailey still refused to take any pain meds, saying she didn't need them yet. Jay suspected that Hailey's reluctance had something to do with her urge to control things, the reason that Jay understood very well. He also knew that determined look on her face too well, there's no point to argue with her. Midwives respected her choice and after examinations told that everything was proceeding like expected. Hailey was dilating more all the time and the baby was doing well. They can just wait.
After hours, which Jay thought felt for days, contractions started to take so much toll, that Hailey told Jay that she would like to take some aid. Jay pressed the bell immediately.
But unfortunately to Hailey, after examination the midwife told her that there wouldn't be enough time to get an epidural.
"You are already at 9 centimeters. I can ask the doctor if he can give you spinal anaesthesia, that will work quicker. I am sorry about this, Mrs Halstead", she apologized.
"Are you sure? My brother…", Jay started worriedly.
Hailey cut him out. "It's okay. In fact, Í don't want a spinal either. I have done this job from zero to nine, I can do one centimeter more", she pronounced looking very determined.
"But then there's still…" , Jay tried again. He was just so worried about Hailey. This whole childbirth looked so painful.
"I said it's okay", Hailey said gently but firmly.
Jay nodded. The midwife smiled.
"I call the doctor. Considering how this has progressed so far, it will be soon the time for you to meet your baby."
Hailey looked up at Jay, who stood next to bed and had wrapped her arm around her shoulder.
"Are you ready to meet our daughter?", she whispered.
"Couldn't be more", Jay answered and leaned to kiss her.