Chapter 11 - Thinking Ahead
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By the end of October, Hailey had returned to work full duty following her injury at the beginning of last month. She had ensured with Jay she wouldn't push it too far as her ribs were still healing but it didn't stop him from keeping her close to sidelines if Intelligence broke a big case. She let it slide, knowing he was only doing it to prevent her for making the injury worse as it was starting to get better, and he had been easing off slowly the more time she spent back at work. Six weeks following the robbery case, it was now just the normal daily reminder to stay safe when out in the field.
The last month had been uneventful on every front. The only moments that reached out some kind of interest were when Alfie caused his parents to reevaluate their decision to listen to their son when he requested privacy while using the toilet because they weren't out the room a second before he had gotten himself stuck in the toilet seat, when Macie brought home a cold from school that then quickly passed through the rest of the house and spread throughout their close friends, and when Hailey got the notification through on her phone during her lunch break that her period was supposed to be starting in the next few days.
Which is how, five minutes before her break was due to end, she felt her shoulders slump with disappointment as she looked down at the negative test sat on the counter top. She found herself staring at it, part of her hoping that if she kept looking at it she would catch a faint line she missed prior, but her gaze had been locked on the small screen for a few minutes now anyway so the logical part of her brain was telling her if a second line was going to appear, it would have minutes ago.
So she just picks the stick up and wraps it up in toilet paper to avoid it being spotted by the next person that would step inside the bathroom before throwing it in the trash under the sink. She washed her hands before leaving the restroom, peering around the corner briefly and moving away from the door, making her way back out to the bullpen. Everyone was gathered around the board when she returned so she joined in behind them, making sure not to cause an interruption on Kevin as he gave a run through of the latest lead on their current case.
When everyone disperses with their individual tasks, Jay steps over to Hailey on his way back to his office, silently asking her if everything was okay. She forces a smile and nods her head so as not to arise suspicion with their colleagues dotted around the bullpen.
"It was negative." Hailey whispers and she can't help but notice the way her husband's face drops slightly despite him trying to hide it.
They both stand there for a beat before Jay pulls his lips into a line and steps away, returning into his office and Hailey turns around, making her way to her desk and sitting herself down, pulling the chair from under the desk as she reboots the computer after it's break, beginning the task the officer had given her.
As her eyes skim over the hundreds of words on the screen, she props her elbow up on the desk, rubbing her eye before letting out a sigh, dropping her forearm against the wood as she reads what was in front of her.
This wasn't the month either.
xxx
It was nearing midnight by the time they wrapped up for the day. The officers make their way out first as Hailey stayed behind a little longer, finishing up the document she was working on before logging off the computer, getting up from the desk and making her way to her husband's office, who was just powering down his monitor.
He looks up and meets her gaze from his desk, a hook appearing in his eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay?" He questions as he gets to his feet.
Hailey knows what he's referring to immediately and she sends him a slow nod. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Jay seems to let it go for a beat, stuffing something into the desk drawer before grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair, putting it on as he rounded the desk, closing the distance between them. When he reaches her, he wraps his arm around her, bringing her in for a hug. She doesn't hesitate, instantly bringing her hand up on to his shoulder as she sinks into his frame, feeling that same right feeling come over her as a somewhat shaky breath falls from her chest.
He lightly kisses the top of her head. "It'll happen." He reassures.
Without realizing she bobs her head again and her eyes close briefly, allowing her just to be present in the moment and enjoy her husband's embrace before they had to pull away. She was desperate for him to be right, that it was only taking this long because they were actually preparing for it and it was the universe's way of laughing at them. But she couldn't help the nagging part in her gut telling her that maybe it just wouldn't happen. With Mae and Alfie it had happened so quickly, so suddenly, and now it was two months that nothing had happened.
Suddenly Jay's arms tighten around her before he hums her name, pulling her out of her head. He pulls away from the hug and looks down at her with an arch in his eyebrows.
"You're doing it again," he says and Hailey can feel the blush start to ride up on her cheeks because even though he wasn't looking at her, he could tell what she was doing. He edges his chin down and a hint of a smile pulls up on the corners of his lips. "It'll happen." He repeats.
Maybe he was right, maybe it will.
xxx
"You know if it does happen, we're gonna need a bigger car to fit the brood." Hailey says later that night once the two of them had gone to bed. It makes Jay look up from his phone and groan slightly, earning a small chuckle from Hailey in return.
"There's always your car, that's got enough seats." He says.
She quickly shakes her head, placing her phone down on her bedside table, connecting it to the plug to charge as she replies. "You can't fit three car seats next to each other, it's not practical at all. Besides the middle seat in my car is tiny, no person, no matter how small, can fit in that seat," she responds, only gaining another groan from her husband, making her smirk. "Just admit it, we're gonna need a mom-car."
He leans back. "Okay you can get a mom car but I still get to keep the truck for work." He reasons.
Hailey nods, knowing that was as much of a compromise she was going to get out of him right now regarding the topic. She knew this wasn't the end of the conversation, and she knew she could drag it out a little longer and watch Jay get protective about the truck and then admit he wasn't overly attached to it, and bringing up the problem they would face with placing three kids while traveling only made a number of other things run through her head but Hailey pushed them aside, figuring it was best to talk about it when it wasn't 12:30 on a Thursday night. She never used her car anyway and she wasn't even sure she knew where she had put the keys for it so there was no harm in looking into swapping it for a bigger one, one that would be more practical in terms of the car seats.
xxx
It wasn't even six hours later when Hailey briefly looked up from the mirror as she threw her hair up when Jay walked back into the room. His hair was still damp from his shower and he had a grasp on the towel wrapped around his waist. Hailey watched as he walked behind her, making his way to the closet and sliding open the door.
Hailey spun in her heels, placing her hands back so they land on the dresser as he grabs out a shirt. She knits her eyebrows together. "You know there's a lot more than just the car we need to figure out."
He pulls the shirt over his head before he turns to look at her, looking slightly confused. He doesn't actually say anything and allows Hailey to clarify what she meant.
"We've gotta figure out the logistics of the house, do we try and fit a crib in the office? But would that work because the office is downstairs? Do we move Mae or Alfie in there?" By now, Jay is completely caught up and clear on what she was talking about but he doesn't cut in and just allows her to carry on. "Or do we bunk Mae and Alfie together? Or Alfie and the baby? Which room do they go in? And we can't just have one bathroom either, so do we build one in the closet space up here? Or do we say to hell with all that and find a new house?"
Jay chooses there to jump in before she finds herself spiralling any further. "Hey, aren't we thinking a little far forward here?" He questions.
She steps away from the dresser, allowing her arms to fold over her chest with a subtle shrug. "Maybe.. probably... But this kind of stuff takes time and when we do actually get pregnant we are gonna be really limited on time, this is stuff we need to be thinking of now because we have this time before to figure it out, there isn't a baby on its way to hurry us on, not yet anyway."
His head bobs up and down. "I agree, but you're talking about moving. That isn't something we need to think about now."
"I'm just laying it all out there." Hailey responds.
He takes a small step forward and tilts his head to one side slightly. "I know and we will figure everything out, all of the logistics, but we don't need to jump in with two feet, we have time to figure it out. Like you said, there isn't a baby on the way that would mean we would need to rush us into anything, not yet. Maybe for now we could do the little things, measure up the office to see if a crib would fit in there or if Alfie's bed would, see if we could fit bunk beds in Mae's room, start saving some money aside to do the renovation?"
Just then there was a buzz from Jay's phone on his bedside cabinet and it makes the sergeant spin on his heels to check what it was. His eyes scan over the message before he looks back up at Hailey.
"Will's here," he informs her and she nods in response as he steps back toward her, standing a little closer this time. "Hailey, I promise you we're gonna figure all of this out, but we do have time to do it."
She shakes her head softly. "I hate that," she whispers and Jay's eyebrows draw together so she continues. "I hate that we have that extra time."
This seems to clear it up for him and he steps closer again, coming to a stop in front of her and he moves his hands, placing them on her shoulders with a sympathetic smile. "I know, I hate it too but it won't be that much longer."
All she wanted to say was he didn't know that, that he couldn't say that, but she gets cut off before she can by the sound of his phone buzzing on the bedside table again and she can't help but smirk at the impatience of her brother-in-law and with that she swiftly changes the subject.
"I'll go let him in, you just finish getting dressed, I'll meet you downstairs." She tells him, beginning to move away from him.
She gets a few steps away from the door before he calls her name to stop her, making her turn her head over her shoulder to meet his gaze again.
"I know what you're thinking and it will happen, but this extra time is a bit of a blessing - like you said there's no particular rush in getting all of this figured out," Jay says. "Just yet anyway." He adds with a small smirk.
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a bit of a shorter chapter this time, more of a filler one as there wasn't really a lot planned for october, especially the beginning of the month, so we have jumped a few weeks in and basically skipped the whole month, just including the final week, but i hope you enjoyed it regardless. thank you for reading this one, see you in the next! :)