Chapter 4
"Use both hands, Ellie," Jay coached. "You can catch the ball with the mitt and then cover the ball with your other hand to keep the ball from coming back out."
She nodded as Jay tossed her the ball again, this time she had both hands ready and did as instructed, succeeding in keeping the ball in the mitt this time. Jay was tossing very lightly to her just to get her used to catching since she didn't have much practice. Hailey was sitting on the grass nearby, sunglasses on but her eyes on the two ball players.
"Can I bat now?" Ellie asked after a few more tosses. They had been playing catch for about fifteen minutes only because of Jay's suggestion to start there. He gave in quickly to her request though, knowing she was so eager to do it.
Hailey grabbed the package from the ground next to her, peeling off the plastic before handing Jay the bat and one of the plastic balls. He walked over to Ellie, dropping down to one knee so he was on the same level as her.
"Have you ever swung a bat before?" Jay asked the little girl as she reached for the bat.
She shook her head, taking the bat and getting ready to practice swinging.
"Hold on," Jay said, putting a hand on the bat again to keep her from swinging. "First rule with a bat, I know this is only plastic, but usually bats are metal and heavy, and that means they can hurt if you hit someone with it. So before you swing, make sure no one is around you that could get hit." She nodded in acknowledgment, so he continued. "Ok, now when you swing, it's most important to keep your eye on the ball, cause the only way you're going to hit it is if you can see if and meet the ball with the bat."
"Ok, I'm ready," Ellie said, bouncing up and down in excitement. Jay laughed, standing up and taking a few steps away from her in order to toss her the ball. He glanced over at Hailey and saw she was smiling at her little mini-me.
"Ok ready?" Jay asked as he prepared to toss her the ball.
"Yeah!" Ellie shouted eagerly, holding the bat awkwardly behind her. Jay wanted to go back and fix the way she was holding the bat but he knew the little girl was so excited and he didn't want to delay her being able to swing anymore. He tossed the ball underhand to her, making sure to keep it nice and slow and at the perfect level for her to be able to hit it. She swung the bat around and nearly fell over, missing the ball owing to her early and way too fast swing.
"Don't swing quite so fast," Jay said encouragingly, turning towards Hailey who tossed him the other ball. "Keep the bat nice and level, too."
Ellie got set again and Jay tossed the next ball. She swung slower this time, but angled the bat down too much so it nearly hit the ground on her follow-through. She missed the ball again entirely, letting out a groan of frustration.
"Want some help?" Jay asked, walking towards her to retrieve the two balls in the grass behind her.
Ellie nodded sullenly. Jay glanced over at Hailey, gesturing for her to come over. She pushed herself up off the ground and approached, stopping where Jay had previously been standing to toss Ellie the balls. Jay lobbed the two wiffle balls to Hailey and then got down on his knees behind Ellie, covering her small hands on the bat with his own.
He showed her how to hold the bat over her shoulder while waiting for the pitch and then practice swung with her a few times, repeating each time how the bat should be kept level. Once he had told her everything he thought she should know, he nodded for Hailey to toss the ball. With Jay's hands guiding her, the bat met the ball for the first time, popping through the air and landing on Hailey's right side.
Ellie squealed in delight and Jay let his hands drop so the little girl could throw her hands up in celebration, the bat falling to the grass at her feet. Hailey raised her arms to mirror Ellie, cheering for her daughter's first hit while Jay smiled and clapped.
"Again, mommy," Ellie said once she had finally stopped celebrating and had picked up the bat again.
"Do you want to do this one yourself or do you want my help again?" Jay asked as she got herself set the way he had taught her.
"You can help me one more time," Ellie said after debating it for a moment. Jay quickly obliged and Hailey tossed the pitch, again they made contact with the ball, this time popping it up in the air more so that Hailey was able to catch it before it hit the ground.
Ellie celebrated her hit again despite the fact that Hailey had caught it and then prepared again to hit, this time on her own. Jay stood up and backed away from her, standing behind her where a catcher would ordinarily be as Hailey tossed the ball.
Ellie missed, but only narrowly. "Keep your eye on the ball, Ellie," Jay encouraged as she reset for the next pitch. She had a determined look in her eye as she got set for the next pitch. Hailey tossed the ball and Ellie swung, meeting the ball squarely and sending it whizzing over Hailey's head.
The three of them all cheered, Ellie loudest of all, so proud of her accomplishment. "I did it!" she shouted. "I hit it all by myself!"
"That was awesome, Ellie!" Jay said encouragingly.
"You hit that so good, baby!" Hailey said sweetly, before walking to retrieve the ball.
"I wanna do it again," Ellie said, raising the bat again.
Jay and Hailey laughed but obliged, spending the next thirty minutes taking turns pitching to her. She was hitting the ball with almost every swing by the time they stopped, gathering all their baseball materials and settling down on the grass, looking out towards the lake.
"That was so fun!" Ellie said, laying down on the grass to look up at the sky. Hailey and Jay sat on either side of her, Hailey's legs crossed under her while Jay's were splayed out in front of him, one ankle crossed over the other. He was leaning back against straightened arms, enjoying the perfect weather. This was the best time of year to be outside in Chicago, before the real summer heat kicked in, and he couldn't imagine better company to have to enjoy it.
They sat enjoying the views and relaxing for a while before heading over to Maggie Daley park, which Ellie had a great time running around. Jay and Hailey sat together on a bench watching her as she played.
"She seems to be adjusting well," Jay said as they watched Ellie chatting with another little girl around her age for a minute before running off with her.
"Yeah, you know what they say, kids are resilient," Hailey said, never taking her eyes off Ellie. "I think she's really glad to be out of that group home."
"Was it bad?" Jay asked.
"It seemed like the foster family was very nice and treated the kids well, but there were just a lot of kids there of all different ages," Hailey explained. "I think Ellie probably felt a little lost in the shuffle and didn't really have anyone to count on to deal with her grief about her parents."
"Has she talked to you about them at all?" Jay asked.
Hailey shook her head. "I mean, here and there she'll say something random about them, but nothing very detailed," Hailey replied. "She tends to avoid serious feelings."
"Hmm, I wonder where she gets that from," Jay teased. Hailey rolled her eyes at him. She was well aware that she tended to suppress a lot and internalize more than she should. "Speaking of, how are you doing with all of this?"
"What do you mean?" Hailey asked, genuinely unsure why he would be asking that.
"Well, this is a major life adjustment for you, too," Jay said. "You went from being a detective beholden to nobody outside of work to a single mom in a month. That's a pretty drastic change. I know you're gonna say you're totally fine, but I know you too well to believe that, Hailey. I know you're crazy about her and that she's a great kid, but your head's gotta be a little all over the place right now."
Hailey was quiet for a beat. "You overanalyze everything, do you know that?"
"Hailey," he said warningly. "Just talk to me, would you? Tell me what you need or what you're worried about. You've been pretty quiet most of the day so I know you've been thinking about something or many things I guess."
"Pretty sure you're freaking out enough for both of us," Hailey said, deflecting again.
Jay gave her a knowing look, letting her know her act wasn't working and it wasn't going to make him let this line of questioning go. Being able to read him as well as she could, this was very apparent to Hailey.
"Fine, at the moment I'm worried about talking to Voight," Hailey finally confessed. "I know it seems strange, but I really feel okay about having Ellie living with me now. I feel like I can handle it and we seem to get along well so far. It's the work aspect that I'm not as sure about. I have to figure out the day care thing and how I'm going to balance her and our job. As much as I love the unit, I want to be there for Ellie, too, not just always have her with a sitter."
"Voight's gonna be supportive," Jay said, so sure of his words. "I know he's all tough, but he's a softie when it comes to family stuff. And he needs you in the unit. He's gonna work with you to make sure you'll stay."
"I don't know about that," Hailey said, looking down at her lap. "I'm not the same cop I was when I first joined the unit. I've strayed from the lines, a little too far even for Voight's liking. So much so he sent me to New York."
"And you don't think Ellie's gonna be another step back in the right direction?" Jay asked. He turned his body on the bench so he was facing towards her more. "Hailey, we've been partners for three years now and I know you've changed, but it's not all bad as you seem to think. I know you've done some things that aren't exactly by the book, but I also know that everything you did was to protect people you care about. Good people. You've never let any innocent person get hurt by your actions. Intelligence is better with you in it, and I know I'm better for having you as my partner, too. Kim's great and all, but she's not you. You're the only partner I've ever had who I've ever truly felt in sync with at all times."
"Lindsay?" Hailey reminded him.
Jay scoffed. "You worked with both of us for a little bit. Did we seem in sync to you?"
"Well, your situation was a little complicated," Hailey conceded.
"Well, even at the peak of our relationship, we never really matched up at work," Jay confessed. "We didn't really do each other any favors. When we had bad cases we'd usually just distract each other or just completely avoid whatever was bothering us. Doesn't exactly make for healthy coping."
Hailey was a little surprised by this admission. Did Jay really see her as a better partner than Erin? She had always thought she was trying to live up to the expectations Jay had in a partner, but his words now made her wonder if maybe she hadn't needed to feel so compared.
"Ok, we're getting off track," Jay commented. "Did you talk to Natalie?"
Hailey shook herself from her reverie. "I texted her a little while ago asking if we could talk. I didn't really want to go into everything over text message. She hasn't responded so I'm assuming she's at work."
"Alright, well I'm sure she'll get back to you by tonight," Jay assured her. "What's your plan for Monday? I know you said you'll tell Voight, but what are you going to do with Ellie?"
"I'm not really sure yet," Hailey said. "I'm hoping Nat has some ideas for me."
"Hailey, are you gonna tell your family now?" Jay asked, knowing anything to do with her family was always a sore subject.
"Yeah, I think I'll have to," Hailey said. That had been weighing on her mind as well. She didn't talk to her family all that much, but this was going to be a big bombshell to drop.
Jay nodded, not wanting to push any more on the subject. He was happy enough that she hadn't diverted the question or snapped on him for bringing them up.
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Ellie came running over to them. "I'm hungry," she said, as she approached, stopping to stand in front of them.
"Yeah, I guess it has been a long time since we had those bagels," Hailey said, looking down at her phone to check the time. "What do you have a taste for?"
"I don't know," Ellie said.
"Have you had Chicago pizza yet, Ellie?" Jay interjected. Ellie shook her head. "We could get deep dish," he suggested to Hailey.
Hailey glanced at Ellie who was bouncing eagerly up and down. "It's different than New York pizza, Ellie. The crust is very thick here."
"I like crust," Ellie insisted.
"Okay, pizza it is," Hailey stated, and Jay pulled his phone out of his pocket to order. "We can pick it up on the way home."
He placed the order and then stood, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "Giordano's will be ready in thirty minutes," he informed them. Hailey stood up as well and helped him gather the baseball materials they had set down while Ellie played on the playground. They slowly made their way back across the park and down to the level where Hailey had parked in the underground garage.
Jay loaded the gloves and balls and bat into the trunk while Hailey helped Ellie strap into her seat and then the two detectives climbed up front. Thirty minutes later they had picked up the pizza and were pulling back up in front of Hailey's house.
They are their pizza companionably, chatting with Ellie about things she had liked on the playground and her other interests. By the time they had finished eating the pizza, which Ellie had loved, it was about five in the evening. Hailey cleaned off Ellie's pizza sauce covered face and then freed her from the table to go play, leaving Jay and Hailey alone in the kitchen.
Jay helped her clean up, putting the leftovers in the fridge and washing and putting away the dishes they had used. For the first time, Hailey really paid attention to the fact that Jay knew where everything went in her kitchen, owing to the fact that he spent a lot of time and ate a lot of meals here with her after work. They had just finished putting everything back in place when Hailey's phone rang on the island counter. She walked over to it and picked it up.
"It's Natalie," Hailey announced before accepting the call. She gestured towards the back door and Jay nodded as Hailey walked to the sliding door that led to the backyard. She went out so she could talk without Ellie overhearing her.
Jay wandered out to the living room and settled onto the couch, flipping on the tv. A White Sox game was on, so he turned to it, settling back to watch while he waited for Hailey to finish her call. Ellie strolled down the stairs as Jay sat there and she came over to join him, standing by the couch, not sure if she would sit with him.
"Did you like one of the baseball teams in New York?" Jay asked her. "The Yankees?"
"Yeah, my daddy liked the Yankees," Ellie informed him. "My mommy liked the Mets though."
"Hmm, well that's kind of like our Chicago teams since we have two teams here as well," Jay explained. "I like the White Sox, that's who's playing right now. You wanna watch with me?"
She nodded and climbed up onto the couch next to him, leaving a small space between them. They watched companionably, cheering together when the White Sox hit a home run and when the left fielder made an amazing diving catch for the third out. Hailey came back into the house as they were cheering one such accomplishment, smiling at the site in front of her, seeing two of the most important people in her life high-fiving on the couch.
"Good game?" Hailey asked as she approached. They had been cheering so loudly they hadn't heard the door open announcing her return.
"Yeah!" Ellie shouted enthusiastically. Hailey laughed at the jubilation on her daughter's face. She sat down on the couch with them, Ellie in between the two partners, to continue watching the game.
Hailey spent most of that time watching Ellie and Jay instead of the game. She liked watching their interactions and they way they were so invested in the game. This was only the first day they were spending time together and Hailey could not have been happier with how they were getting on. Jay wasn't around kids very often but he clearly had a gift with them. His laid back demeanor and kind smile could win over anyone, as Hailey knew from experience. As she had told Jay before, she had pretty much trusted him from the day she met him, and it seemed Ellie felt the same.
The game ended just before eight o'clock and Hailey instructed Ellie to go get ready for bed and then she could come back down for a little while. She obeyed, giving Jay and Hailey a few moments alone together again.
"So how was the call with Nat?" Jay asked once the little girl had climbed the stairs.
"Really good actually," Hailey said. "Her nanny was there and she said she would ask a few of her friends but in the meantime she'd take Owen and Ellie. They're about the same age so I figured it would be good for her to make a friend here."
"That's great," Jay happily replied.
"Nat is working overnight tonight so she told me to come by with Ellie in the morning when she's getting home so Ellie can meet Owen and Maddie, the nanny," Hailey said. "Then I can drop her off there on Monday on the way to work."
"That's awesome," Jay said, glad that this was one less thing weighing on Hailey's mind.
Hailey nodded in agreement, feeling more relaxed with this settled. She folded her legs up under her on the couch, turning slightly so she was facing Jay on his end of the couch.
"Thanks for hanging out with us today," Hailey said sincerely. "I'm sure hanging out with a five year old was not on your list of things you wanted to do on your day off."
Jay shook his head. "Best day I've had in a long time," he said simply, and he meant it. He had missed hanging out with Hailey when she had been in New York and now that she was back, he couldn't believe he had lasted that long without her. And yes, Ellie had changed their dynamic slightly, but she was a great kid and Jay was really enjoying getting to know her. How could he not love this kid when she was so much like the woman sitting next to him.
Hailey smiled appreciatively at his words, agreeing that this had also been the best day she had in a long time.
"I should get out of here," Jay said finally after a moment of silence, pushing himself to the edge of the couch and standing up. Hailey followed him to his feet. She wanted to tell him to stay, that she wanted to hang out with him, just the two of them for a little while, but she knew he was right. She had to get Ellie to bed, and she was pretty tired after the day herself. She and Ellie would have to be up early in the morning to get over to Natalie's to meet Maddie and Owen. And with tomorrow being Sunday, Hailey knew she had to figure out how she was going to tell Voight come Monday morning. She was grateful it was now summer so she had a few months to figure out a school for Ellie because she couldn't imagine trying to figure that out too.
As Hailey walked Jay to to the door Ellie came back downstairs wearing purple pajamas with stars on them.
"Good night, Ellie," Jay said as she approached.
"You're leaving?" Ellie asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"Yeah, I've gotta get home and you guys will be heading to bed soon," Jay said.
"But Mommy said I could stay up for a little bit, so you could stay until then," Ellie countered. She glanced at her mother, who was doing her best to hide the smirk growing on her face. Hailey had wanted to ask him to stay, but here Ellie was, no qualms at all about asking.
Jay laughed at the little girl's quick response. "Well, I can't argue with that," he said.
"I think we have some ice cream," Hailey said, walking over to the freezer and pulling out a pint of Neapolitan. Ellie eagerly climbed up onto a stool at the counter in anticipation, causing her mother to laugh again. "I guess you want some. Jay, would you like ice cream?"
"Sure, I can't say no to that either," Jay said, settling down next to Ellie at the counter while Hailey grabbed three bowls and spoons and dished out the ice cream. After they had enjoyed their ice cream and cleaned up the sticky drips, mostly around Ellie's spot, Jay insisted that he should really go this time. Ellie wasn't quite as disappointed this time since he had stayed a little while longer.
She slid down from her stool and walked over to him at the door, surprising him by hugging him around his waist, the highest part of him she could reach. It was quick, and Jay barely had enough time to react by putting a hand on her back before she was pulling away again. "Bye, Jay," she said sweetly, looking up at him. "See you tomorrow?"
"Bye, Ellie," Jay said, and he was surprised to find that he felt ever so slightly choked up by her actions. "Yeah, I'll probably see you tomorrow at some point," he said, glancing over at Hailey. She wasn't looking at him, however, instead busying fiddling with something by the sink. Little did Jay know, Ellie's actions had completely choked up Hailey and she had turned away so he wouldn't see the happy tears springing to her eyes. She quickly choked the emotion back, blinking away the tears before turning back to him. Ellie had run off to the living room to play with some of her toys, her goodbyes said for the night.
"Well, at least we know she likes you," Hailey said as she walked over to him, standing by the door. Jay nodded, smile still plastered to his face.
"I'm glad we got today," Jay said after a minute. "With our job, days off are few and far between, but I'm glad it worked out."
"Yeah, me too," Hailey said. She smiled and then leaned in to hug him. It was very unusual for the partners to hug, especially this much in a matter of twenty-four hours, but she couldn't resist. It was the only thing she could think to do to show that she appreciated Jay being here and being so understanding. Like her daughter before her, she kept the hug short, allowing his arms to just wrap around her before she started pulling away. Truthfully, she didn't trust herself for too long in his arms. They felt too good, wrapped around her.
She smiled again as she pulled away, moving to open the door for him.
"Talk to you later," Jay said as he walked out the door, and the way he chose those words instead of goodbye made Hailey wonder if she should be expecting another bedtime call from her partner tonight. As she thought about the possibility, she realized she could very quickly get used to seeing her partner's face every night before she closed her eyes. She stood in the open doorway until his truck had pulled away from the curb, wondering if she would ever get the chance to fall asleep with him physically there next to her, instead of just on a phone screen. She certainly hoped so, not that she would ever tell Vanessa that.
A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've got a little bit of writer's block with this one I think. I'm debating having a small time jump in the next few chapters to keep things moving. Let me know what you guys think of that idea and about the rest of the story so far. Thanks for reading!