Chapter 31: Avery.
Jay/Hailey. Set after series 7. At Kim and Adam's wedding, Jay and Hailey finally confessed their feelings and spent the night together and now they are back in Chicago and hiding their relationship from their friends.
I do not own Chicago PD or the characters.
The last chapter was intense and introduced a massive bombshell, for Jay and Hailey. Here is the new character. Please review, I hope you're enjoying reading this story and any suggestions for future chapters are welcome :)
For the next couple of days, Jay went from being angry with Ally, to be filled with regret of missing the first 19 years of his child's, his daughter's life, and back again, and Hailey supported and listened to him. He did not want his child to believe that he had abandoned her when he had not known of her existence. He had called and spoken to the Gail and Danny, since receiving they had told him about his daughter's existence. Avery. They were worried about him. Hailey understood Jay's anger with Ally, which was made all the more complicated now that she was dead. Jay had told Will about Avery and Will had been just as shocked as his brother.
Hailey and Jay were having pizza at Hailey's house after their shift. Gail had given Jay a photograph of Avery and Jay was studying every inch of it, as if to get to know his daughter through the picture. Hailey smiled at the sight. The teenager was definitely his child. The girl had his green eyes, freckles and his dark hair. Hailey bit her lip and assured him, "You know I'm by your side, no matter what."
Jay ran his hands through his hair and nodded, kissing her. "I know, Hailes. But my decision isn't just about me, or her- Avery- it's about you, too." He paused, then added, "I want to be a part of her life, Hailey. She's my child."
"We'll do it together. You're not going through this alone and, besides, you'd do the same for me." Hailey took a bite of pizza, then titled her head and asked, "Do you have a plan, Sergeant Halstead?"
"Yeah. Gail said… Avery is coming to see them this weekend, so I could meet her at the same time. Hailey, what if she hates me? Gail said Ally told her she couldn't get in touch with me because I was in Afghanistan. What if she thinks I abandoned her and Ally?"
Taking hold of his hands, Hailey smiled and replied, "Jay, anyone who's met you would know that isn't true. You're one of the most decent men I know." Squeezing his hand, Hailey asked, carefully, "Do you want to meet her alone?"
Nodding, Jay replied, "Yeah. She's my daughter. She'll be a part of your life, too, but I want to meet her first." He looked up at Hailey and smiled as he added, "I love you, Hailey. So much."
The weekend that Avery was due to visit her grandparents arrived. Gail and Danny had told her that her father wanted to meet her very badly and she wanted to meet him, too, but she was very nervous. Avery had never met her father, but she knew that her mother had loved him, very much, and she didn't blame him for not being around. For most of her childhood, she had taken Ally's word for it, that Ally had not been able to talk to her father because he was in Afghanistan, but, over the past couple of years, she had started to suspect that was not the case. Maybe her mother had been lying to her for her whole life? There was one way to find out and that was to meet her father. Gail and Danny told her that her father was named Jay Halstead and that his girlfriend was named Hailey Upton. They were both detectives with the Chicago P.D.
As soon as Avery arrived at Gail and Danny's, she pushed her long, curly brown hair behind her ears so that she could look at their home. She knew Ally had been to Chicago about six years ago, but she didn't remember her mum talking about it. In a nervous, but assertive tone, Avery inquired, "When's he coming? My dad?"
Gail smiled and took her coat. "He's on his way, dear, and I'm sure he's just as nervous as you. When Jay arrives, you guys can go into the garden and talk. We'll stay out of your way."
Avery nodded in her thanks, before she asked, "This man- my dad, Jay-he's a good man, isn't he? I know Mum loved him."
Danny nodded and just replied, "He's one of the best men I've ever known, Avery."
Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and, from both sides of the door, both Jay and Avery were feeling as if they were about to be sick. Jay was about to meet his child. His daughter. The child Ally had hidden from him for 19 years, for her whole life. Avery was about to meet him, the man from Ally's stories. Her father.
Green eyes met matching green ones and Jay swallowed, before giving her a small smile. "Hi, I'm Jay." It was such a simple sentence, but he had never been here before. He had never met his daughter before.
Avery just nodded and replied, "I'm Avery and I know who you are. Mum told me about you." Avery glanced at Gail and Danny and she walked into the garden, followed by Jay. Her dad. She sat down on the bench and Jay remained standing up, leaning against the wall.
Jay spoke first, pressing his lips together in a slightly nervous way. "How was your flight, Avery?"
Raising her eyebrows, Avery turned to face Jay and asked, dryly, "Is that really the first question you want to ask me?" She hesitated, then added, "I feel like we were both lied to by the same person for years. My mum told me she couldn't get in touch with you because you were in Afghanistan and I didn't think much of it, but, as I got older, it didn't make sense. Did she lie to me and when did you find out about me, the same time I found out about you?" Her brown curls fell against her pale skin, but she didn't care. She knew by looking at Jay that he was her father. There was no doubt in her mind and clearly no doubt in his.
Jay sat down on the bench and placed his hands in his pockets. In a calm and steady voice, he said, "I only found out about you a couple of weeks ago, when Gail and Danny told me Ally had died. They told me they met you, Ally's daughter."
"She kept me from them, too!" Avery snapped. "Do you know why she did it? I thought you guys were serious at high school, so why didn't she just contact you and tell you about me?"
Despite the situation, Jay couldn't help but smiling. She was his daughter. "Avery, these are the same questions I've been having. Ally and I were together at high school and I enlisted in the Army after graduation. You were born the spring and it is true she couldn't get in touch with me at that time. But I was discharged from the Army over 10 years ago."
With a look of concern in her green eyes, Avery looked at him and asked, "Why were you discharged?"
Jay shook his head and replied quickly, "It doesn't matter. What matters is, no matter how we got here, we're here. At least now we know the other exists."
Shaking her head, Avery scoffed and remarked "This is so messed up."
Raising his eyebrows, Jay remarked dryly, "I'm not going to argue with you there." He paused and swallowed his nerves, before he looked at his daughter. "Avery, I want to get to know you. I want to be a part of your life."
Avery smiled and replied, "Me, too… Dad." Both she and Jay chuckled, because this situation was so bizarre for both of them and Avery was the first one to stand. "I'll be back in a few weeks. Maybe we could meet up again?"
Jay nodded and smiled. "I'd like that, Avery. I'll see you soon."
Hailey was leaving the shower as Jay returned to her house, so she found a pair of Jay's PJ trousers and jumpers and found Jay in the kitchen. He was waiting for her and he remarked, with a smile, "You really do look great in my clothes, Hailes." Hailey knew that it had gone well. His daughter didn't blame him, which had been one of his biggest fears.
Hailey laughed softly and rested her chin on Jay's arm, before she stood by him and asked, "How did it go?"
"It went…well, I guess. She's- she's like me, in some ways." Jay paused, then added, with a serious look in his eyes, "Meeting her made me realise something, Hailey. I want to have kids with you, someday, when we're ready. If that's what you want."
Resting her back against the kitchen unit, Hailey smiled and wrapped her arms around Jay's neck as she told him, in a soft and serious voice, "I've never thought about having kids. Until you, Jay, because you're the first person in my life who's really there for me, who loves me, no matter what." They looked into each other's eyes and kissed, holding each other close.
