A/N: Hi! I realized I made a mistake last chapter and Cara is almost 7, not 8. I just wanted to clarify before this one and will make sure to fix it :) Talk soon!

Jay woke up Monday night to Drew patting his side. He squinted through the dark, "Are you okay?"

Drew shook his head and pulled at Jay's arm.

"What's going on?" Jay asked while sitting up.

He then heard it. His head snapped to the monitor as it lit up with Blake coughing. Scrambling from the bed, he hurried to Blake's room with Drew on his tail.

"Blake," Jay said, "Buddy, are you okay?"

Blake coughed in response and put his arms up.

"I went to the bathroom and heard him," Drew frowned, "It sounds scary."

Jay nodded and held Blake to his shoulder to pat his back, "I'm here, I'm here."

Blake gasped for breath and whined before bursting into tears causing him to cough harder.

Jay gently shushed him and ran his fingers through Blake's short hair, "You're okay, buddy."

"Jay?"

Drew and Jay looked away from Blake to see Hailey standing in the doorway.

Blake coughed hard enough that he gagged. He gripped Jay's shirt and sucked in another breath.

Hailey hurried over to put her hand next to Jay's on Blake's back, "When'd he wake up?"

"A little bit ago," Drew rubbed his eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to wake up."

Hailey shook her head, "No, no, when this happens, it's okay to wake me up." She brushed her thumb over Blake's cheek, "Oh, sweetie."

"Does he have a fever?" Jay asked.

"I don't think so, but I'll grab the thermometer," Hailey replied before going to the boys' bathroom.

"I'm worried," Drew said with a wince when Blake coughed again.

"No, it's okay," Jay put his hand on his shoulder, "Let's get you back in bed."

"I want to make sure Blake's okay," Drew shook his head.

"You have school," Jay said softly, "Come on." He walked Drew back to his room and held up his blankets for him to climb into bed.

Hailey came in the room, "Wait, let me take his temperature too."

"Are we dying?" Drew asked.

"No, no one's dying," Hailey breathed as she held the thermometer to his forehead. She sighed in relief as it blinked green then straightened up to take Blake's. The thermometer turned yellow and showed he had a 100.1 fever.

"That's not horrible," Jay said quietly.

Blake barked out a cough and everyone winced. His tears dampened Jay's shirt that he was holding in a death grip.

"Okay, we'll take him to bed," Hailey said.

"I'll call Will," Jay nodded.

Drew shot up in bed, "You can't just leave me here."

"Buddy, it's fine," Jay lightly squeezed his shoulder then headed to his own room with Blake still coughing in his arms.

"Mom," Drew said quietly.

"He'll be okay," Hailey breathed, "Get some sleep." She bent down to kiss Drew's head who grabbed onto her. Taking a deep breath, she rubbed his back and whispered, "I know, I know."

"I don't want him in the hospital again," Drew said.

Hailey nodded and squeezed her eyes shut, "I don't want that to happen either, so Dad and I are going to help him out, I promise we will."

Drew held onto a lock of her hair for a moment then sat back to rub his eyes.

"Sleep," Hailey said as she guided him back down to his pillow. She brushed her thumb over his cheek before resting her hand on his back while she waited for him to close his eyes and finally fall back asleep.

Blake was still whimpering softly when Hailey returned to her bedroom. Jay had him on his chest and was standing near the open window in their room.

Hailey frowned, "What-"

"Will suggested cold air," Jay interrupted, "I don't know if it's working, but," he shrugged, "He just needs to calm down."

"He's scared," Hailey said softly. She walked over to put a hand on Blake's back, "Daddy and I are here."

Blake coughed and pushed up to press his face in Jay's neck.

Hailey watched him for a moment then said, "Take your shirt off."

Jay's eyes widened, "Excuse me?"

"Just like when he was little," Hailey gently tugged Blake from his arms and carried him to the bed to undress him, "It always calmed him down before."

Jay shook his head and chuckled, but still pulled his t-shirt off.

Blake coughed and started crying again.

"I've got you," Jay said and picked him up, "Oh, buddy, I'm so sorry this is happening."

Hailey lightly traced her fingers over Blake's back, "Mom and Dad are right here. We're not leaving you. We promise."

Jay nodded as he sat on the bed against the headboard. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over Blake's skin, "I'm scared."

"Shut up," Hailey hissed. She sat next to him, "We can't-"

Blake coughed loudly and whined.

Both Hailey and Jay immediately began soothing him with soft noises and gentle touches on his back.

When he was settled again, Hailey continued quietly, "We can't think like that."

"Oh, so you're not scared?" Jay shot back, "You're not thinking the worst?"

"Of course I am!" Hailey's voice cracked, "Do you think I want to see him in that incubator again? Look at him through glass with tubes and wires taped to him? I don't want that, but I need to stay positive right now and I need you to help me. Please."

Jay breathed in and nodded after a moment. He tugged her closer to him and pressed his lips to her temple. "We'll figure it out," he whispered, "He's going to be okay."

Hailey nodded and rubbed her face. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Blake as he whimpered into Jay's chest. His eyes were squeezed closed making him look like he was willing himself not to cough. She reached out to lightly trace his small ear only for him to not even react. He was in pain and it broke her heart.

The night was rather miserable for all of them.

Jay attempted to sleep while sitting up so that Blake would be upright as well. It wasn't comfortable and made his neck hurt to the point that he needed Hailey to rub it before he left for work. He was also freezing. Hailey had put a blanket over him and Blake, but the open window still brought in a small breeze that sent a chill through him.

Hailey's eyes burned. She tried staying awake as much as possible to make sure Blake was breathing. That wasn't difficult, though, seeing as every time he'd cough, both her and Jay's eyes would shoot open to watch him struggle for what always felt to be the longest ten seconds of their lives.

Blake's barking cough was just as bad in the morning. It'd shake his whole body and leave him with tears in his eyes. He was dead weight on Jay's chest then in Hailey's arms – all he did was look up at her and lightly play with the ends of her hair he could reach.

"Call me if anything changes," Jay had whispered to her before he followed Drew to his truck so they could leave for the day.

Hailey reluctantly watched from the doorway as Jay drove away. Without him, everything became scarier. She was pregnant and home alone with a sick baby – it was the exact opposite of what she wanted.

"Are you hungry?" she asked Blake softly, "Can you eat for Mommy? Big boys need to eat breakfast."

Blake closed his eyes and coughed.

"Maybe just some warm milk," Hailey suggested, "It'll be okay, baby."

She spent the morning trying to get Blake to eat, and he wasn't having any of it; all he wanted to do was lay on her and hold onto her hair. She managed to get him to eat half a popsicle and he had a sip of water – it stressed her out to no end.

Her stress only increased when she got a call from Drew's school at the same time Jay walked back through the front door at lunch time.

Jay easily finished a pot of coffee on his own in the bullpen. He sat on Hailey's old desk and stared at the white board as he absentmindedly sipped his third cup. All he could think about was Blake.

His tiny chest had been moving so fast whenever he coughed. It was clear he was scared and in pain and Jay really couldn't do much about it.

He could hold and soothe him, but Will told him that was about all he could do. They just needed to make him comfortable and make sure he didn't stop breathing.

And Hailey was trying to do it on her own while also dealing with beginning her third trimester.

Jay shook his head and finished his coffee. He didn't like it.

"Jay," Adam said, "Come look at this."

He rubbed his face and turned to look over Adam's shoulder at the security footage. It took him a minute, but then his eyes widened and he stood up. "Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"The pharmacy three blocks over, figured it wouldn't hurt," Adam said while writing down the time and address.

"Thanks," Jay grabbed the piece of paper and quickly texted Vanessa and Kevin.

Adam stood up, "I'll grab Kim and we'll see if we can find some other cameras."

"Appreciate it," Jay nodded. He stuck the paper to the board and started rereading everything. "I'll call you if I hear anything," he said over his shoulder.

Adam waved behind him and jogged down the stairs.

Jay took a deep breath and stared at the board for another minute before taking his phone out and looking up coughing toddlers.

It seemed like Blake had croup and just the name scared Jay. He'd heard of it before, but he really didn't know what it was. Thankfully, his internet search didn't scare him as much as it would when Blake was in the hospital.

"Halstead."

Jay looked up to see Trudy walking up the stairs, "Yeah?"

"Did you check your email?" Trudy asked.

"Uh," Jay glanced at his watch and winced as he realized that it'd been close to forty-five minutes since Adam left, "Not in a bit, sorry."

"It's fine," Trudy crossed her arms, "Everything okay?"

Jay debated saying 'yes,' but then sighed and put his phone in his pocket, "Blake has croup."

Trudy shook her head, "Were you up all night?"

Jay weakly chuckled, "Yeah, it was…rough."

Trudy smiled slightly, "It happens, he's a kid."

"Yeah, I guess," Jay sighed, "I feel so bad, though. Hailey's with him now."

"I'd hope so," Trudy said.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I don't know, I'm trying not to worry too much. It's common and Will and, well, Google are telling me it'll pass, but he's hurting and I can't do anything while I'm here."

Trudy raised an eyebrow, "Then leave."

"What?" Jay asked.

"Take your lunch," Trudy said, "Leave for an hour, everyone will survive."

Jay glanced at the board, "I can't do that. We're in the middle of this one."

"Aren't you always in the middle of one?" Trudy asked, "Check your email then head home for an hour. It'll be fine."

Jay took a deep breath, "All right. Thanks."

Trudy nodded, "Don't forget to check your email first."

Jay smiled slightly, "Got it."

By the time he had checked his email and was heading out, he was back on his phone looking to see what exactly he should buy at the store on the way home. He was so distracted that he ran right into the garage door.

Stumbling backwards, he mumbled, "Dammit." He rubbed his face and glanced around to see if anyone saw him.

A woman caught his eye contact and laughed softly, "Saw that."

Jay sighed, "Great." He turned to walk through the door, but the woman hurried over to him.

"Hey, wait, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Jay said without looking at her.

"Sergeant, are you sure?"

Jay paused and his hand clenched around his phone. He looked at her, "Yes. I'm sure."

She shrugged and waved slightly, "Okay. It was nice to meet you."

Jay narrowed his eyes then started walking away, "You too."

"Ramirez," she called out, "Megan Ramirez. I'm heading to my patrol job. See you around."

Jay rolled his eyes and headed to his truck. He appreciated the hustle, but now wasn't the time.

Drew stared at the blank Word document on his screen and sighed. He was supposed to type up the paragraph he wrote about a dog going to space, but it was so unrealistic that he hated it. He couldn't bring himself to start typing it. He hated typing anyway. It always took too long. He thought his fingers were too small.

Next to him, Rosie hummed and tapped the keys. Her story was about a bunny rabbit living on the moon. Drew thought it was fine, but he thought the little smiley faces she was adding instead of periods were dumb.

He couldn't take the blank page anymore and glanced around. No one was watching and Mr. Reed was helping Jessica save her paper. Drew minimized his window to open up the Internet.

In addition to really not liking the creative writing assignment, he couldn't stop thinking about Blake all day. He was worried. The coughing had been horrible. It was like when they saw the seals at the zoo. They all knew Blake was a very little baby; he wasn't allowed to get sick again. Drew needed to figure out how to get him healthy again.

He took a deep breath and opened Google to start researching.

baby with loud cough

fixing baby cough

stopping baby coughing

He was able to scan some of the pages pretty quickly. At least until he heard Mr. Reed clear his throat behind him.

"Drew," he said, "What're you doing?"

Drew bit his lip and shrugged slightly without turning around.

"You're in trouble," Rosie whispered.

"Shut up," Drew whispered back.

"Drew," Mr. Reed repeated.

Drew squeezed his eyes shut.

"You're supposed to be typing up your space story," Mr. Reed said while squatting down next to him.

"I don't want to," Drew admitted without looking at him.

Mr. Reed's eyes widened, "You don't want to?"

Drew shakily rubbed his hands over his legs, "No. I-I don't like the story. I think the assignment is dumb." He blushed once the words were out of his mouth, but it needed to be said.

Mr. Reed slowly nodded, "What do you want to do then?"

Drew absentmindedly scratched his arm and swallowed the words he wanted to say. He couldn't bring it in himself to make eye-contact with Mr. Reed. He was doing bad things.

"Let's go for a walk," Mr. Reed said while standing up.

Drew shook his head.

"Yeah, we're gonna go for a walk," Mr. Reed said.

Drew breathed in shakily and pushed his chair back.

"Come on, buddy," Mr. Reed put his hand on the chair.

"You can't call me that," Drew said.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Reed stepped back.

Drew sighed and started following Mr. Reed out. He heard some of the kids begin whispering that he was in trouble and felt tears come to his eyes.

It was all Blake's fault. If Blake didn't get sick, Drew wouldn't get worried, and then he wouldn't be getting walked out of the media center.

Hailey stood up with Blake on her chest to look at Jay, "What're you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check in," he said softly and held up a bag from the store.

Her phone kept ringing and she sighed before grabbing it, "Hello?"

"Mom? It's Drew Halstead."

Hailey smiled slightly, "Hi, honey."

"Is that Drew?" Jay asked.

Hailey looked up to see him opening up a box next to her. She nodded then said, "What's going on?"

"I-I was really bad-"

"Drew."

Hailey's eyes widened at his teacher's voice and she said, "Drew?"

He mumbled, "I'm not having a good day. I broke rules, Mom, and I said some not nice stuff to Mr. Reed. I'm just really worried."

"Oh my god," Hailey breathed.

Blake coughed into her shirt and she winced.

"This is why!" Drew yelled, "Mom, I can't be here. I'm going to call Dad to come get me. I'm too worried."

The call ended before Hailey could reply.

"What's going on?" Jay asked.

"He's…he said he's worried," Hailey bit her lip, "And he said he's not following the rules? I'm confused." She rubbed Blake's back and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, "What're you doing?"

"This is supposed to help him breath," Jay said while plugging the machine in, "It's a cool-mist humidifier."

Hailey let out a breath, "I hope so. And why-"

Jay's phone rang, so he answered it saying, "Halstead."

"Dad," Drew said quickly, "It's Drew Halstead. You need to come get me."

"But why?" Jay sat back on his heels.

"I can't do school today!" Drew yelled, "Dad, it's not working. I hate what we're doing. You need to come get me."

Jay sighed and looked at Hailey. She closed her eyes while shaking her head. "Bud, I…fine. Fine," he said.

Hailey's eyes shot to him, "Jay."

"I'm not fighting him right now," Jay whispered.

"Thank you so much," Drew replied before ending the call.

"Give me a sec," Jay said quietly. He hurried to fill the humidifier then set it up near Hailey.

She frowned when Blake started coughing again, "What the hell is happening? This is chaos."

"I have no clue," Jay stood and kissed her head.

"But why are you here?" Hailey asked.

"Trudy said it was fine since it's my lunch break," Jay put his hand on Blake's back and tried to avoid thinking of when Blake was just the size of his hand.

Hailey let out a breath, "Jay, this…I hate this. He's hurting."

"Which one?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

Hailey shook her head before resting it back against the couch. The baby kicked her ribs and she whimpered just as Blake fell into a coughing fit.

"Hey, hey," Jay breathed and sat next to her. He brushed her hair back from her forehead then slipped Blake from her arms to hold him to his shoulder. "Take a breath," he said softly. He gently tugged her to his side and kissed her temple, "Breathe. We're going to figure it out."

Hailey looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "But we're going to have three kids. Three."

"I know," Jay said softly, "But we'll be doing it together. I can take the rest of-"

"You just took Friday off," Hailey shook her head, "Don't do that."

"You're stressed out," Jay said.

Hailey glared at him then pointed toward Blake still barking on Jay's chest.

"I know, I know," Jay sucked in a breath, "It's not going great today."

"Chaos," Hailey repeated.

Jay nodded and rubbed his hand over her thigh. Her bottom lip wavered then she turned to bury her face in his shoulder.

"I've got you," Jay whispered. He slipped his free hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck, "We're going to be fine."

Hailey wrapped her arms around him, "I hope so."

"I know so," Jay kissed the top of her head, "I know we will be."

There was no hiding that the morning was chaotic. Hailey felt like she was losing her grip on reality, but once she'd cried and let out her stress, all she needed was a deep breath and a cold glass of water before she was ready to go.

While Jay was running up to the school to get Drew, she softly read to Blake and held a pouch of applesauce at his mouth for him to slowly, very slowly, eat it. When Drew arrived, he checked to make sure that Blake "was alive and not choking to death" then let Jay lead him to the bathroom upstairs for a cold shower in an attempt to calm the burning and itching he said he was feeling.

"I'm overwhelmed," Drew had said from under the showerhead.

Jay had smiled sadly and glanced up from his place on the closed toilet, "I know, buddy. I'm sorry."

Hailey wasn't worried when Jay's lunch hour was up. She just waved to him and made herself comfortable on the couch. She had Drew curled into her left side with his hand pressed to where the baby was kicking and Blake laying on top of her chest practically sitting on her stomach so his head could be buried in her neck and his hand could be twisted in her hair. Together, the three of them watched movie after movie after movie until they each fell asleep cuddled up together.

By that night, at its root, the day still felt chaotic – Blake's cough hadn't gone away, Drew had cried when he admitted to telling his teacher he thought the writing assignment was dumb, Jay had too much paperwork to file at work, and Hailey's ribs were aching from the baby kicking her – but it felt real.

Whenever Hailey pictured a family, she just pictured love. She didn't know what it'd look like exactly, but she wanted her home to be filled with love. Growing up, she wanted to be the opposite of her own parents. She thought maybe there'd be small fights over laundry or dishes, but she knew she would love her children more than anything in the world.

She never thought she'd be spending an evening sitting in a warm bath in her bathing suit with her youngest son on her chest in his own swim diaper so he could breathe in the steam while her other son sat on her husband's lap next to the tub and read his newest chapter book to them. It really did look like chaos…but she didn't want anything else.