Chapter 6
Jay woke up the next morning to the sounds of whispered conversation and cereal being poured into a bowl. He had a crick in his neck and quickly realized it was from sleeping upright on a couch. It took him a few seconds to realize that it wasn't even his couch and for recollection of the night before to come back to him. The blanket covering him assured him that Hailey had been okay with his sleeping there, something he had never done before. He stretched out his neck, looking across to the kitchen where Ellie was kneeling on a stool, eating cereal. Hailey was standing at the counter across from her, a cup of coffee clutched in her hands, a tired look in her eyes. She glanced away from her daughter and over to the couch, smiling when she saw her partner was awake.
Jay pulled the blanket off of himself, setting it on the couch beside him and standing up, stretching for a moment before heading out to the kitchen. A loud yawn escaped his lips, making Ellie swivel around in her chair, milk dripping down her chin.
"Morning," Jay greeted as he reached the counter. "I see your messy eating habits aren't just limited to dinner." He grabbed a napkin from the counter and wiped the dribbles from her chin, his comment eliciting a giggle from Ellie.
"Morning, Jay," Ellie said, still smiling as she returned to her cereal. "Want some?"
"Hmm, Lucky Charms, my favorite," Jay said, spotting the box on the counter. Hailey handed him a bowl and a spoon as he sat down next to Ellie at the counter, soon filling a bowl for himself and digging in. Hailey knew Jay was a bit of a health nut and there was no way the sugary cereal he was now consuming was his favorite, but he eagerly ate alongside Ellie.
"How'd you sleep?" Hailey asked, handing him a cup of coffee to go along with his cereal.
"My neck doesn't feel the greatest, but I definitely slept well," Jay replied. It was rare for him to sleep through an entire night without waking up with some dream or nightmare. Hailey nodded, seeming to understand this.
"Yeah, I really should have suggested you take the guest room," Hailey said. "With Vanessa gone now, it's wide open."
"Next time," Jay said with a smile, not sure if there would ever be a reason for him to plan to sleep at Hailey's house other than in her bed with her.
"You don't have to work today right?" Ellie interrupted.
"Actually, I do have to go in for a little bit," Jay replied. Hailey raised an eyebrow in question. "I want to finish those court reports, and I have a couple of other case reports I should finish, too. It's getting to the end of the month so I might as well spend a few hours today getting it done instead of having to stay late after work this week."
"Mommy, do you have to go in, too?" Ellie asked.
"No, honey," Hailey reassured her. "I get all my paperwork done on time, which means we get to spend the whole day together, just the two of us."
Ellie clapped in excitement at the prospect of spending the day together. It was rare for Ellie and Hailey to have much time together, just the two of them. The bulk of their time spent together without Jay was spent either getting ready for the day or getting ready for bed. While they both enjoyed having Jay there, it was nice every once and a while for them to spend some quality mother-daughter time together without him as well.
Jay hurried to finish his cereal and coffee, wanting to allow the girls to get their day started without him. He stopped home on his way to the district for a change of clothes and then headed in. No one else was in the bullpen so he quickly got to work. He had just finished his first court document when he heard the cage open at the bottom of the stairs and voices coming up. He looked up from his computer and was surprised to see Adam and Kevin entering the bullpen.
"What have we here?" Jay said, leaning back in his chair. "You two are volunteering to come in on a Saturday?"
"Eh, I don't know about volunteering, but Kim made it pretty clear that we needed to get our reports done and she... advised us... not to wait until the last minute," Adam replied, causing Jay to laugh. He knew Kim, like Hailey, was very organized when it came to her paperwork, preferring to get it all done right away. He knew it must drive her crazy working with Adam especially, as the whole team knew that he hated doing paperwork more than any of them.
The three boys quickly settled into their work, occasionally sharing some banter back and forth. When the cage buzzed again they all groaned, seeing their sergeant coming up the stairs.
"Hey, boss, we got a case?" Adam asked as Voight walked into the bullpen. Despite the fact that he knew landing a case would likely make for a long weekend spent working, Adam tended to prefer this option rather than sitting at his desk for a few more hours just to do paperwork.
"Not a new one," Voight immediately shut him down. "That wire case we worked a few months ago just got a pre-trial date for this week, and it's assigned to Judge Barnes, who we all know can be a hardass. I want the team scrubbing through those case files, make sure there is nothing for Barnes to pick apart and dismiss the case off of. Get Burgess and Upton in here, too. Upton was lead on that case so she knows these files better than anyone."
"Uh, Sarge, she was spending the day with Ellie today and I think her babysitter is off," Jay informed him, recalling what Hailey had said about Maddie that morning over breakfast.
"So tell her to bring Ellie with her," Voight said, nonplussed. "She can hang out in the break room. We won't have to go anywhere and it'll just be a few hours." Voight didn't wait for a response, continuing past Jay and into his office.
"Copy that," Jay replied under his breath, pulling his phone from his pocket to follow his boss's orders. He didn't like interrupting Hailey's day off with her daughter. They were so rare in this job. He also knew that there was a reason Hailey had been waiting to introduce Ellie to the rest of the team, and he was pretty sure that any plans she may have had for how she was going to do it did not involve being at the police precinct.
"Please tell me we don't have a case," Hailey's voice answered through the phone immediately.
"Not exactly," Jay replied. "That wire case from right before you went to New York just got a pretrial date with Barnes so Sarge wants everyone in here going over the case files with a fine tooth comb. He says you can bring Ellie. It should only take a few hours."
Hailey scoffed on the other end of the line. "A few hours? That wire went on for weeks. That'll take days to get through," Hailey said.
"Sorry," Jay said sincerely. "Maybe Natalie would take her? Or Will? I think he's off."
"No, I promised her we'd spend the day together," Hailey replied. Jay heard her turn away from the phone to talk with her daughter. "Hey Ellie, I've got to go to work for a little bit. Do you want to come with me?"
Jay heard Ellie cheering in the background. "Wow, she's an easy sell," Jay said in response to the little girl's enthusiasm.
"I guess so," Hailey said with a laugh. "Ok, we'll be there in a little bit. We can bring lunch. Let me know what everyone wants from Portillo's."
Jay did as requested, giving her their orders over the phone and then hanging up. He went back to work, hurrying to finish up his reports from their most recent case while Adam and Kevin went down to the file room and started carrying up boxes. Seeing how many there were, Jay soon joined them, finding a cart to load them up on and piling them all up on the conference table down the hall from the bullpen. Kim joined them as they unloaded the last box, helping organize them chronologically and then each taking a box to bring back to their desks. Jay grabbed an extra one for Hailey, setting it down on her desk to wait for her.
He opened his boxes and started shuffling through things, not really paying attention. He found himself distracted, thinking about Hailey and Ellie's imminent arrival. He knew the rest of the team were aware that Jay was the only one who had met the little girl. They understood that Jay and Hailey were partners and had a close friendship, but Jay started to wonder if his close bond with Ellie now would seem a little strange. It had only been a month and while Jay thought it seemed natural to be over there a lot to help out Hailey, he wondered if the team would see it the same way. Jay knew things between him and Hailey had been changing, especially recently, but neither one of them had addressed it. He just hoped that the team wouldn't make any of their usual teasing comments, especially around Ellie. He didn't want to confuse her.
He didn't have to wait any longer as the cage soon buzzed again and Hailey and Ellie came up the stairs carrying bags of food and two drink trays. Kev, closest to the stairs, jumped up to help, relieving Hailey of the drinks and a bag of food. Ellie was being slightly shy, tucked into Hailey's side as her mother introduced her to Kevin, Kim, and Adam. She said small hellos to each of them, but not much else, not at all her usual chatty self.
"Come on, I'll get your lunch set up in the kitchen," Hailey said, knowing her daughter wanted to get away from the six eyes trained on her. They continued through the bullpen. Voight had emerged from his office and was standing next to Hailey's desk waiting to meet them.
"Ellie, this is my boss, Sergeant Voight," Hailey said to her daughter.
"Hi Ellie, you can call me Hank," Voight said, squatting down to be more at her level. "It's really nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you," Ellie said quietly, moving away from her mother just enough to shake Hank's outstretched hand before quickly retreating again.
Hank smiled at her before standing up and returning to his office. Hailey glanced over at Jay who gave her a reassuring smile. Ellie had finally spotted Jay when Voight walked away, quickly running over to him at his desk.
"Jay!" she said eagerly. "You're here!"
"Yeah, I told you I would be," Jay replied with a smile for her.
"We brought lunch!" Ellie informed him, pointing to the bag still in Hailey's arms.
"Well let's dig in then," Jay said, standing and leading Ellie into the break room. Atwater had carried the rest of the food in and was pulling styrofoam containers out of the bags. He grabbed his, Adam, and Kim's food and carried it back out to their desks, doling it out. Hailey went to the bags and pulled out Voight's food, delivering it into his office before returning.
Jay was already setting up Ellie at the table with her food. Jay then grabbed his own food and carried it out to his desk, soon joined by Hailey at her own desk. They worked as they ate, flipping through files, checking time stamps, and reviewing the footage to make sure it matched. It was tedious and boring, but necessary.
Their work went on for several hours, combing through boxes of footage and logs. Ellie stayed in the break room watching TV and coloring. She shared minimal conversation with everyone who walked into the break room for coffee or water or just to stretch their legs.
Out in the bullpen, they all took turns complimenting Hailey on Ellie's behavior or how adorable she was or how much she looked like her mother. It was nearly five o'clock when they were packing up the last box, feeling the case was tight enough to warrant a trial, even with Judge Barnes presiding over the pretrial.
Ellie emerged from the break room, noticing the increase in activity and conversation out in the bullpen.
"Can we go home now?" Ellie asked, sidling up to Hailey's desk.
"Yeah, sweetie, just a few more minutes," Hailey said.
"Jay, can you grill for dinner?" Ellie asked, turning her attention to Jay, who was standing at his desk loading files into a box. He paused to look over at her.
"You're hungry already? What are you going through a growth spurt?" Jay asked. It had been almost five hours since they had eaten lunch, but Ellie was tiny like her mother, usually only eating small meals.
"Ellie, you just had a burger for lunch," Hailey commented.
"Well Jay could do his barbecue chicken!" Ellie suggested. "I love that and we haven't had it in a long time."
"I'm pretty sure we had that last week, but if Jay wants to make it again..." Hailey trailed off, looking over at Jay.
"Sure, I can stop at the store when we leave and come over," Jay gave in easily.
"Wait a minute, Jay cooks?" Adam interjected, not believing his ears.
"I grill, there's a difference," Jay answered, earning a few chuckles from the adults in the room.
"Still, I gotta see this some day," Adam said.
"Well, you guys can come by for dinner if you want," Hailey offered. "When else are we gonna get off this early?"
"Sounds good to me," Atwater said, as Kim and Adam nodded their heads.
"I'll bring beer," Adam offered.
"I'll bring dessert," Kim said. "Ellie, what's your favorite?"
"Ice cream!" Ellie said excitedly.
"Ok, ice cream it is," Kim said with a laugh. The team quickly finished packing up, extending the invite to Voight who declined, before heading out of the district. Hailey and Ellie headed for home while Kim and Jay headed to the store for dinner items and dessert. Adam and Kevin headed to a liquor store to pick up drinks as promised.
Jay and Kim were the last to arrive at the house, and Jay quickly set to work marinating the chicken. He sat it in the fridge to soak in for a while and headed out into the backyard to join the rest of the team.
Ellie seemed much more comfortable with the team on her own home turf. She had pulled Kevin and Adam into kicking around a soccer ball with her while Hailey and Kim sat on the patio watching, bottle of beer in their hands. Jay quickly retrieved one for himself and went to join them, taking the open seat on the swing next to Hailey.
"Where's the chicken?" Kim asked as he sat down.
"Marinating nicely," Jay replied. "It'll be ready for the grill in about twenty minutes. Can't rush perfection, Burgess."
"You might not wanna amp it up so much, it's just chicken," Hailey teased with a laugh.
"Excuse me, but it happens to be Ellie's favorite," Jay joked back indignantly.
"Yeah well, no offense but I'm pretty sure that kid would think peanut butter and jelly was the most gourmet sandwich in the world if you made it for her," Kim teased him. "She clearly worships you."
Jay blushed at her words, taking a swig of beer to avoid responding. He could see Hailey smiling slightly out of the corner of his eye.
"You've had an unfair advantage though," Kim continued. "Now that I've met her, you'll be replaced as her favorite soon. My nieces love me."
"Ha, no way!" Jay argued with a laugh. While he may have been embarrassed at being called out as someone the little girl worshipped, he loved being so close with Ellie, and he certainly wasn't going to let himself be replaced by Kim.
As if taking his comment as a challenge, Kim stood up and walked out into the grass to join the soccer game, leaving Jay and Hailey laughing behind her.
Jay leaned back into the swing, knowing that he probably should have moved over to one of the open chairs instead of sitting so close to Hailey, but he didn't want to. He was enjoying the brushing of their shoulders as they sat there swinging gently, looking out at Ellie and their coworkers playing together.
"See, you had nothing to worry about, introducing Ellie to everybody," Jay said after a moment of silence.
"Who said I was worried?" Hailey asked, taking a sip of her beer.
Jay gave her a side eyed look, as if to ask if she was kidding. Hailey quickly relented.
"Ok, yeah I was a little worried," Hailey admitted. "I just don't want to overwhelm her. She's had enough to adjust to with the move and the change in parent... it's a lot for a five year old."
"Well, she's resilient, just like her mom," Jay told her sincerely. Hailey bumped her shoulder against his in a silent thank you and they resumed their companionable silence.
"Hey, Jay, you ever gonna get the grill going?" Adam called from the grass. "Ellie's kicking our butts, we could use a break!"
"Coming right up!" Jay called back with a smile. He glanced back over at Hailey and saw she was still smiling widely at the sight before her eyes. Jay had certainly seen her smile before, it was one of her best features, but he wasn't sure he had ever seen her as genuinely happy as she had been ever since Ellie came back into her life.
Surprising both of them, Jay reached out a hand to Hailey's knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her eyes whipped around to his, her surprise evident. They were always close, but they usually did their best to avoid physical contact, only allowing it if necessary at work. Their hugs when she had returned from New York had been a first for them, and since then, even as they had been growing closer, they kept a physical distance, which was why his action now surprised Hailey so much.
He kept his hand on her leg for just a moment, but their eyes stayed locked the whole time. He kept a small smile on his face as he removed his hand from her leg and pushed himself up off the swing and towards the house to get the chicken. He didn't turn around, but he could feel Hailey's eyes on his back the whole time. As he entered the house, his palm still tingling from the contact, he couldn't help but imagine similar occurrences in the future and look forward to them.
A/N: Thanks for the continued encouragement for this story. Keep the reviews coming and I will do my best to update again as soon as I can!