Chapter 10 - Ceremony
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"Have I ever told you how good you look in that uniform?" Hailey asks, leaning up against the door frame, looking into the bedroom as her husband adjusts the tie around his neck.
His head turns at the sound of her voice and he bobs his head, fixing the collar of the shirt. "On many occasions, and we're not getting distracted today."
The subtle suggestive look in her eyes wipes away with a swift eye roll. Her head falls to the side and lands on the wooden frame. "Do we actually have to go to this?"
Jay's chin edges forward. "Hailey, it's your award ceremony."
Her head raises again. "That doesn't answer my question."
He doesn't respond straight away, instead he finishes with his tie clip before spinning on his heels and taking a step closer toward her. "Yes we do, but how about I make you an offer?" He suggests, immediately peeking her interest. "We go to this ceremony, have a few drinks at Molly's, come home and put the kids to bed and then you can take yours and my uniform off?"
She purses her lips slightly, putting on the face as if she was considering it. After a second she draws her eyebrows together. "Are you sure we can't do that now?"
"Yes."
Hailey lets out an audible huff before she nods, agreeing to his offer. Before she can say anything, the faint sound of the doorbell can be heard downstairs. Jay glances down at his watch and slides his way past Hailey.
"That will be Kev."
"What's Kev doing here?" Hailey asks from behind him, the detective keeping up with her husband on the way down the stairs.
Jay sends a brief look over his shoulder as he steps down on to the middle floor of the house. "He's come to pick you up and take you there, I've got a couple errands to run before the start and you're not allowed to be there."
Hailey stops suddenly on the last step, turning herself to stare at her husband. "If you're planning something, Jay, I will divorce you."
"No you won't, and it's only food because you know choices will be limited with Herrmann, but it's supposed to be a surprise so when you arrive just act surprised or Trudy will have my ass."
"I'll be surprised."
The two of them carry on their way downstairs, Jay stopping by the front door to open it. He sent Kevin a smile as the officer stepped inside the house, thanking him for offering to take Hailey. Jay invited him into the living room but they can't move anywhere when Macie meets them at their feet, a dip in her eyebrows.
"Why am I not wearing the same that what all you're wearing?" She asks.
Jay's hand falls on top of Mae's head, shooting her a smirk. "We're in our police uniforms, we have to wear them for special occasions."
Her head tilts to one side, looking up at her father. "Then why's is yours different to Momma and Uncle Kevin?"
Kevin is the one to respond, a smirk riding up his face as he did. "That's because your Daddy's a hotshot and is a sergeant."
Jay cuts in, swiftly changing the subject before Macie questioned why in fact he was a sergeant or why that meant his uniform had to be a different color. "Aren't you supposed to be taking Hailey to the ceremony?" He asks.
Kevin simply nods his head. "Yeah."
"Then I suggest you get a move on." Jay says.
With that the officer places Macie back down on the floor, Jay instructing her to go and find the shoes she would want to wear that day. Macie took off down the hall, disappearing into the kitchen whilst informing her parents loudly that she had put them in there. While she was gone, Jay leaned forward, pressing his lips against Hailey's briefly and despite pulling away almost instantly it still earned a grossed-out noise from Kevin.
They both pulled away with a roll of their eyes and they ignored the comment the officer made and Jay sent Hailey a small smile.
"We'll see you there."
She quirks her eyebrows slightly. "Are you sure we need to go?"
Jay bobs his head, placing his hands on top of her shoulders. "Yes," he responds, using the leverage he had on her to spin her around so she was facing the door. "We won't be that long, we'll meet you there."
He says goodbye at the front door, thanking the officer again for offering to take Hailey and watches as the two climb into the car parked outside and Kevin drives off. Just as Jay turns on his heels and shuts the front door Macie runs out of the kitchen, now with her shoes on her feet - granted on the wrong feet though.
Her face drops slightly. "Where's uncle Kevin?"
Jay takes a step closer toward her as he replies. "He left with Momma, but you'll see him in a little bit when we go to watch Momma get her award," he says, coming to a stop in front of her and he bends down, lifting her up under her arms. "Come on." He mumbles, adjusting her so that she was lying flat on his hands and carrying her over to the stairs, sitting her down on the bottom step.
He kneels down in front of her, patting his knees to tell Macie to put her feet up on his legs. She does as she's told and tilts her head to one side, a furrow in her brow.
"Why is Momma getting the award?" She asks.
As Jay fixed the shoes over to the right feet, he looked up to meet his daughter's curious gaze. "Because she saved a man's life."
This just seemed to intrigue the girl even more. They had explained to both of the kids that Hailey had been hurt at work the day it happened because Hailey would wince every time she had to move, but they hadn't really needed to go into all the context as to how exactly she had gotten hurt, all the kids cared about doing upon learning their mother was injured was staying stuck by her side and making sure she was comfortable.
"How did she do that?" Macie questions.
He pulled the strap over the top of her foot, securing one of her shoes on her feet before sending her a smile. "Well there was a bad guy who had already hurt one person and he was gonna hurt this man but Momma jumped at him, which is how she got hurt, but it meant that she could stop the bad guy from hurting the other man," he replied, fixing the other shoe and he tapped Macie's feet when he was done. "All finished. Where's your brother?"
Macie pointed through the banister toward the living room. "He's watching the iPad."
Jay nodded, beginning to stand up. "Okay, go get your jacket on and stay by the door, we'll go in a minute." He said and Macie bobbed her head, getting to her feet also to collect her jacket from beside the front door as her father stepped into the living room to get Alfie.
He leans over the back of the couch, tapping the youngest's shoulders and he looks up from the video he was watching, sending his father a grin.
"Come on, Buddy, we gotta go. Where are your shoes?" He asks.
Alfie places the iPad down on the couch cushion beside him and scoots himself forward, climbing down on to the floor and running around the side of the couch, coming to a stop in front of Jay.
"Daddy help?" He asks, holding up a light blue tie.
Jay can't help but knit his eyebrows together. "Where'd you get that, Bud?" He wonders and in response, all he gets from his son is a point toward the stairs. So Jay kneels down again, taking the tie from Alfie's hand. "You want me to put it on you?"
Alfie nods and moves his arm, tapping his small pointer finger against the knot of Jay's tie. "I want that like Daddy."
Jay bobs his head and pulls the collar of Alfie's shirt up. He shoots the toddler a smile. "Okay listen and watch carefully," he says, making Alfie look down at the two ends of the tie now wrapped around the back of his collar. Jay knew there was no point in explaining this to a two-year-old, he would forget this and it would probably be much faster to just tie the knot, but at the same time something told him to do it regardless, his father had taught him and his brother at a younger age how to tie a tie, and it wasn't like there was any harm that would come in showing Alfie that same way he was taught now anyway.
Jay starts moving one end of the tie over the other, talking Alfie through it as he does up the knot. "The rabbit jumps over the log.. and back under the log.. he runs around it one more time to trick the naughty fox.. and the rabbit dives through his little rabbit hole," he adjusts the knot, bringing it up to Alfie's collar. "Now the rabbit is safe and sound. All done."
Alfie brings his hand up and taps the knot of the tie and smiles. "Like Daddy."
"Like Daddy," Jay repeats before tilting his head to the side quickly, gesturing toward the door to the hall. "Go get your shoes and jacket, okay? We gotta go." He says and Alfie nods, taking off toward the hall to put his coat and shoes on.
By the time Jay has caught up, Alfie has only just managed to get his jacket on, and Jay helps with his shoes before he checks if he has his keys and phone, grabbing the hat sitting on the end table and swinging his jacket over his shoulder, locking up the front door on his way out. He leads the kids forward the truck, loading them up in the back and making sure they're strapped in before he climbs in behind the wheel and starts up the engine, pulling out from beside the curb and down the street.
When they reach the first turn, Macie moves her gaze from out the window and leans to one side, peering through the gap in the front seat. "Where are we going?"
Jay glances at her through the rearview mirror before putting his gaze back on the road. "We need to go to Target first, get a few things to give to Aunt Trudy and then we're gonna go watch Momma get her award."
Hailey looks over the console and at the officer's profile. She knits her eyebrows together and props her elbow up on the inside of the door. "How did your exam go yesterday?" She asks, breaking the silence that had fallen over the car.
She watches Kevin swallow slightly before he purses his lips. "Yeah, it was okay, I guess."
The detective leans her head against her hand. "When do you find out your result?"
Kevin taps the steering wheel as he turns around a corner. "Should know by the holidays, so still got a couple months."
The corners of Hailey's lips upturn into a smile. "Well I'm sure you did great. And the next ceremony will be the one where they pin that detective badge to your chest, just you wait. And trust me, the detective badge is much nicer than the officer one, just don't tell Kim and Ruze I said that."
Kevin lets out a breathless chuckle, bobbing his head up and down subtly. "Got it."
Jay pulled the truck to a stop a block away from the event five minutes to three. Miller had told them their ceremony would start at three, giving them time for everyone at the main one to clear out before they had the private one due to Intelligence's status going undercover.
He jumped out, grabbing the kids and running toward the building and for the kids it was a chase and they spent the whole way unable to contain their laughter when all Jay was trying to do was get them in the building before the ceremony either started or the ominous cloud hanging in the sky decided to let out everything it was holding in. Once under the shelter of the main lobby he stopped the kids for a beat, giving him time to do up the buttons on his jacket and place the hat on top of his head.
Jay looks down at the kids, who were huffing to catch their breath, Macie still giggling from the race. "Okay, do you remember what I said to do when you get in there?"
The two of them nod, recalling the conversation where their father had told them they needed to stay quiet from the moment they stepped into the hall.
"Good, let's go." He says, pointing them off in the direction down the corridor.
He made sure neither of them ran off now they were inside the building and only once did he have to jump forward and turn Macie around so that she didn't walk backwards into a column. They rounded the corner and that's when he couldn't stop the kids from getting away, both of them spotting their mother standing outside a closed door surrounded by her friends. Jay let them run off toward her and they shouted down the corridor as they made their way over, both of them crashing into her legs when they reached her.
"Good of you to finally join us." Platt spoke down the corridor as Jay slowed down his pace, coming to a stop beside the rest of the huddle a few beats after the kids did.
He flicked his gaze down to his watch and looked back up at the sergeant. "I'm not late, I'm early actually."
"One minute early." Adam pipes up from beside him.
Jay shrugs his shoulders. "One minute early is still early."
Before anything else can be said, the door to the hall opened and the chief stepped out, greeting Hailey instantly and he moves out of the way to allow everyone inside. Everyone except for Hailey make their way to the rows of empty chairs, all taking a seat in the front row as Hailey comes to a stop in front of them, her back to the people allowed to attend the ceremony as support and she faces the chief and all the other white shirts standing up on the stage.
The ceremony started shortly after and for the first few minutes, the chief just gave a rundown of the case that brought them here in the first place, explaining what Hailey had done that day that was the reason as to why she was getting that award. When it came time for Hailey to step up to the stage and receive the ribbon, that's when Jay felt a tug on his sleeve from the seat beside him. He looked down and saw the huge grin on Macie's face.
"Momma's gonna get her award!" She whispers excitedly and Jay nods his head in response and he's about to look back up when she shoots her father a curious glance. "What is it gonna look like?"
"You'll see it in a minute," he responds before subtly raising his finger up to his lips. "Shh." He says and Macie pretends to zip up her lips, looking back up at her mother as she reaches the stage, crossing over it to stand in front of the chief, saluting him.
The ribbon is pinned to her chest plate and she steps to the side, receiving the certificate, bobbing her head to thank the officer as she moves away, stepping down from the stage and returning to her spot she was standing at. On her way back, Alfie sent his mother a wave and Macie shot her a thumbs up, both of them shining a grin in her direction.
For the remainder of the ceremony, Alfie moved on top of Jay's lap, sitting on his knee as the chief wrapped up what he was saying, congratulating Hailey on her actions, finishing it off by saying she had made an exemplary example on the police department. Jay knows Hailey would have rolled her eyes so fast at that comment had she been allowed to and he can feel the smirk riding up on the corner of his lips when he thinks about how that will definitely be the first thing she mocks when they leave the room, but he just shakes his head to rid the thought right now and pulls his arm around Alfie a little tighter, bringing him in closer. He bounces him on his leg subtly until the end of the ceremony and everyone stands up, as to which he places the toddler down on the floor and Alfie and Macie both run up to their mother again, giving her both a hug before they all filter out of the hall and back out to the corridor.
Hailey thanks the chief again as he walks past them and when it's just the unit, Hailey looks up at Jay with a slight eye roll.
"Exemplary example of the police department, that is a load of crap."
Jay can't help but smile at that and he doesn't say anything, unable to cut something in before Macie tells her mother off for cursing. Hailey apologizes to the girl, running her hand through her daughter's hair before she knits her eyebrows together.
"How about we go to Molly's?" She asks.
Platt nods. "Glad to see you're eager, but you're not allowed there till after five."
Hailey groans. "Oh come on, Sarge, why can't I just get this over with?"
"That's not the attitude to have, Detective." Platt says.
Jay raises his arm up, placing his hand on Hailey's shoulder. "Let's just head home for an hour."
Just as the pair were leaving with the guarantee of arriving at Molly's at five - Platt made Hailey verbally promise she would be there - the sergeant quickly calls out after them explicitly saying neither of them were allowed to get changed out of their uniforms while they were home and with another promise they wouldn't change, the four could finally make their way around the corner and toward the main lobby again.
It was just after five when Hailey appeared in the doorway of the living room and it made Jay, who was lounging on the couch, look up from his phone and send her a slightly concerned look. "Everything okay? You've been gone a while." He asks.
They had gotten through the door at four after having to need to stop off for gas and Hailey had to run into the store for a minute. They had helped the kids with their shoes, and Hailey had to give them both a rundown of the new ribbon on her chest and Macie had to inspect the certificate and sometime after four-thirty Hailey disappeared upstairs.
She nods her head slowly, making her way around to the couch, sitting down beside her husband as he pockets his phone. Hailey stares down at Macie and Alfie both on the living room floor, Macie lying on her stomach with a piece of paper in front of her and Alfie had a pile of Duplo in a circle around him, he wasn't building anything rather just making a mess with the bricks but he was content.
"You okay?" He asks, forcing her gaze up from the kids and her eyes land on his.
Her lips form a line and she turns in her seat so she was facing him completely, bringing her feet up on to the furniture and her knees into her chest. "I got a notification on my way to the ceremony. My period is supposed to start in the next few days so I bought a test while you got gas."
He hooks his eyebrows up and Hailey notes the hopeful glint appear in his eyes, making her swallow thickly and her heart tightens. "And?" He asks.
"It was negative." She sighs.
That short-lived look of hope drops and his hand instantly moves, falling on top of her knee. "Maybe it was just too early to test."
"Maybe," Hailey shrugs. "Or maybe it just didn't happen this month.. which feels kinda impossible because we were like horny teenagers."
Jay's eyes quickly dart to the kids, who weren't listening to the conversation their parents were having so he puts his gaze back on his wife. "It just happens sometimes."
"It didn't happen last time, or the time before that." Hailey reasons.
Jay shakes his head subtly. "That's because we weren't trying for them, they just kinda happened. Who knows, if we weren't trying maybe it would have taken a little longer. This was only the first month."
"But that's the thing, this wasn't our first month, we threw out preventing it in February, this was more like our sixth or seventh month."
"Hails, you were on the pill for two years, it's gonna take time to adjust to not being on it. It'll happen."
They arrived at Molly's fifteen minutes later and Hailey immediately got suspicious when Jay insisted she was the one to open the door. She sent him a dagger as she pushed open the heavy wooden door, immediately being struck by a bang of a party popper, confetti flying everywhere and when it finally drifts down to the floor, she spots Will standing ahead of the crowd, gritting his teeth with the exploded party popper in his hand.
All she can hear is her brother-in-law mumble a quiet "oops" as she steps inside the bar, turning around to her husband, who had a smug smile on his face.
She shook her head once. "You are very lucky I love you."
Jay lets go of Alfie's hand, allowing the toddler to run ahead to his uncle he had spotted, and he steps up behind Hailey. "I am very lucky." He agrees with her.
"I thought you said you were just getting food."
He bobs his head. "Yeah, food, balloons, streamers, party poppers that weren't supposed to go off yet." He says, directing it at his older brother.
"Sorry." Will says a few feet away.
Jay turns his attention back on to Hailey and jerks his chin in the direction of the bar. "And I had to pick up Mack's special made banner."
Hailey looks above the bar to see the large banner with the words 'Congrats Auntie Hailey!' written on in bold colorful letters.
Jay then squeezes her shoulders from behind. "Come on, let's get your party started."
Jay caught up with Hailey a little while later, after she had been passed around the large group of friends that had dropped every plan they had that evening to come by and support Hailey receiving that award. He leans up against the bar and he doesn't say anything at first, he gets beaten to it by Hailey, who sends him a smile.
"Thank you."
He quirks his eyebrow up. "So you don't want to kill me anymore?"
She shakes her head. "Oh I'm still not thrilled about the party but I know it was Platt's idea anyway, and I wasn't talking about that," she replies, making Jay stand up straight again and he turned on his heels slightly so he was facing her. He doesn't say anything, just allows her to continue by herself. "What I was talking about was earlier. You were right, this was only our first month. It will happen."
He feels a smile rise up on his face and he changes the subject. "Can I get you something to eat?"
"No I'm okay, thank you, but you can get me a beer." She responds.
"I thought you said you weren't drinking." He points out, earning a shrug from her in return.
"One won't hurt."
He bobs his head, turning back into the bar. "One beer it is."
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apologies for the delays in chapters, this one was harder to write for some reason and i wanted to finish 'macie's story' because i was so close to the end and just needed to focus on it for a few weeks. but now i can try and put all my spare time into this fic as i swear i'm not focusing on another anytime soon (i'll let you know how long that lasts however) but i'm also participating in nanowrimo this month for this fic specifically so hopefully that will really encourage me to keep this up to date.
there will be a time skip in the next chapter by a few weeks, bringing the story into late october to keep consistency with it :)
hope you all have a good week!