Chapter 12 - Pumpkin Patch
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On the Friday before Halloween, Jay told the unit not to bother coming back in over the weekend and to take the next two days off to rest after they wrapped up their latest case that had taken up the last few days. The following morning, Hailey and Jay got as much of a sleep-in as they could with two young kids in the house - 6:17 was when Alfie poked his head through the door, creeping inside and rather than arguing with him, Hailey just picked him up on to the bed, pulling him under the sheet and she somehow managed to coax the toddler to fall asleep a little longer, but they were all woken up again at 6:52 when Macie pushed open the door.
She wasn't as willing to go back to sleep as her brother was but did allow her parents to stay in bed for a while longer once they put 'Toy Story' on and she stayed quiet throughout the film, allowing Jay and Hailey to drift off again. They were woken up for the last time when the movie finished and Macie shook her mother's shoulders, whispering that she was hungry. The mere mention of food was enough to get Alfie to pipe up, asking for his breakfast, so with another glance at her phone, 8:11, Hailey begrudgingly pulled out from under the sheet and got out of bed.
Jay groaned and rolled his head over the pillow, turning over to his other side so he was facing away from her. He ignored her both times she called his name so Hailey just rolled her eyes, deciding to leave him because he'd only stay in bed another five minutes before padding down into the kitchen complaining the bed got cold and making his coffee.
Hailey directs the kids toward the door and the two start running toward the stairs, taking the steps easy as per their mother's request. They did the same when they reach the second flight of stairs before running into the kitchen and Hailey can hear the scrape of the chair against the floor in the kitchen by the time she reaches the top of the second flight of stairs.
Once she got into the kitchen she made her way around the island. She turned around and asked what the kids wanted for their breakfast, not that she really needed to anyway, and Alfie is the one to respond, a huge grin growing on his face.
"Pamcakes!" He shouts and it earns a nod of agreement from his older sister.
So Hailey spun on her heels and searched the cabinets for the ingredients she needed. Just as she was collecting the milk from the fridge, that's when Jay appears in the doorway to the room, a sleepy smile on his face.
"The bed got cold." He mumbles, making his way over to her, slightly dragging his feet across the floor. It pulls a smirk up on Hailey's lips at having gotten it right. He comes to a stop behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his chest. He pressed a kiss to the edge of her jaw and she tilted her head to one side, humming softly.
He pulls away, resting his chin on her shoulder, tightening his arms around her. "Pancakes again?" He questions.
She bobs her head up and down. "Yep, the same as every Saturday." She replies.
"I'll give 'em the praise for having a routine," he says with a smirk before tilting his head at an angle so he can look up at Hailey the best he could from where his head was sat. "What time do you want to leave today?"
Her response is immediate. "I told everyone we'd be there at twelve, so just after eleven, gives us time in case there's traffic." She says, earning a nod from her husband in return before he kisses her jaw again and steps away, making his way around the island.
He stops at the table, bending over the chair and putting a kiss on top of both of the kids heads. Macie spins her head up, a quirk in her eyebrow. "Is this the place with the carousel?" She asks.
Jay nods. "Always that one," he says, running his hand through his daughter's hair before forcing out a groan. "You're not gonna try and get me on it are you?" He wonders.
Macie grins, fiercely nodding her head. "Yeah! Daddy has to go on it."
He gives in, not that it would take him a lot to cave anyway, Macie had got him on the ride for the first time last year after years of him staying down on the ground and just waving as she went past. "Urg, fine, I'll go on it."
Macie seems really proud of herself as she turns back around and Jay stands up straight again, looking across the room and meeting his wife's gaze as she softly smiled at him.
When Jay jumped in behind the wheel, he sends Hailey a confused look as she reached for the GPS. "What are you doing? I know where I'm going," he says, and Hailey only hooks her eyebrow up in response. "We've been to the same place five years in a row, it's pretty easy."
Hailey continues to put the address in the navigation, focusing her attention on that and not bothering to look up as she replies. "You said that same thing last year and we ended up thirty miles in the other direction."
Jay points his finger outward as his other hand reaches for the belt. "I was following behind Adam who swore he found a shortcut, that one was not my fault."
She looks up, meeting his gaze for a beat before she presses the button on the screen to cancel the directions, throwing her hands up in a surrender. "Okay, I trust you, just don't get lost." She says, returning the GPS to the glove compartment and reaching for her own belt, strapping herself in just as Jay pulls the truck away from the curb, setting off on the hour journey to the pumpkin patch.
Five years ago, Jay had asked why Adam had picked the farm an hour away rather than picking the one that happened to be ten minutes from the district, and even to this day Jay still wonders why Adam picked that one in particular, but it had become a yearly tradition to make the journey out solely because of how much the kids enjoyed going. Macie and Makayla loved the carousel, however over the years Hailey and Jay had watched as Mack slowly became more and more intrigued by the haunted house each time they went, starting off unsure the first year they went - getting protection from the cops around her to reassure her - to basically leading the adults through it. Last year the biggest attraction for Alfie was the Pumpkin Express and it made Jay and Hailey curious about what the hit would be for their son this year, as he was too young to actually remember going the previous year.
As Jay pulled out from their street, heading in the direction of the interstate, the truck fell into almost silence, which made the tune Macie was whispering to herself just that little bit clearer and he can't help the smile pull up on his lips at the girl's excitement about going to the farm.
An hour and a struggle to find a parking space later, Jay, Hailey and the kids made their way over to the collection of park benches they met up with their friends at every year. Macie spotted the tall carousel immediately, pointing it out to her younger brother with a cheer, and it took a second of telling the girl they weren't heading over there just yet to get her to follow them toward the benches.
Kevin was already there, sat at one of the tables tapping away at something on his phone and Alfie shouted out for him, making the officer look up. A smile grows on Kevin's face as Alfie runs toward him and the officer instantly picks the toddler up, placing him on his lap and takes in the bear hug he receives from the two-year-old.
As they approach the table, Jay nudges Hailey with his elbow. "We don't even get that when we get home." He says, intending to whisper it but the loudness around them means he has to raise his voice a little - this means that the officer overhears what was said and it brings a smug look on his face.
"That's because I've always been this little guy's favorite." Kevin says.
That was something the couple couldn't argue with, even from when Alfie was born. The pair had always been close and Kevin would jump at any opportunity to babysit his niece and nephew if Hailey and Jay were taken away in a non-work event, and Alfie would always get extra excited upon learning his uncle Kev was coming to babysit. And despite the fact they did genuinely have to consider who Alfie would rather go home with tonight if he were given the choice, Jay and Hailey wouldn't change it for the world. This extended family was the one they wanted for their kids, all the aunts and uncles they could go to, and their minimal biological family shared between them was something that would have gotten in the way of that. Their work friends had become that family and it was nice to see those relationships between the unit and the kids in motion.
Hailey, Macie and Jay took a seat at the table, all waiting for the remaining three to arrive. Shortly after they sat down, Hailey could see Makayla walking ahead of her parents, all of them making their way over to the same table they met at every time. In preparation, they all stood up, Macie running ahead to meet Mack halfway and Mae gave her older friend a hug.
The officers greeted their colleagues as the joined them at the table before Macie moved her gaze up at her mother, a pleading look on her face.
"Can we go on the carousel now?" She asks.
Hailey can't help but laugh at her excitement and she also can't help but remember the first time they came because Macie's immediate need for the ride the moment everyone was there mirrored Makayla's the first year they were here.
While Macie was still waiting for an answer she brought her hands together up by her face and Hailey quickly looked around the group, seeing if everyone else was okay with taking the walk down to the carousel. Everyone either nodded subtly or smiled so Hailey looked back down at her daughter and gave her a nod.
"Yeah, come on then." She says, earning a loud cheer from Macie in return.
The five-year-old all but dragged them toward the carousel, grabbing ahold of her father's hand to ensure that he came on the ride as he promised. On her way up, Hailey paid the guy at the stand and then turned around to Makayla, sending her a curious look.
"Do you wanna come on?" She asks.
Makayla seems to think about it for a minute before she softly shakes her head, taking a step backwards. "No thanks."
Hailey quirks her eyebrow up, tilting her head to one side. "Are you sure? I'll pay for you to come on." She wonders.
Again Makayla shakes her head slowly. "I'm okay, but thank you Hailey."
The detective waits a beat before nodding, accepting the teenager's response and she just carried on, taking Alfie up on to the ride as a few other kids piled on to it as well.
Macie cheered the entire way around, waving excitedly to her aunts and uncles as the ride went around. When it came time to come off, Macie asked if they could go again and Hailey said when they had finished with everything else, knowing it was a slippery slope going from one ride to five in a row and Jay looking a little pale and dizzy. So with a small pout, Macie climbed off of the plastic horse she was on and stepped off of the ride.
The group stood around for a minute before deciding they were going to the petting zoo. Alfie got down from his mother's hip and ran forward, catching up with Kevin to walk with him, Macie and Mack moving off at the front of the group again and Jay got caught up in a conversation with Adam, leaving Hailey and Kim trailing behind everyone else. On their way over to the zoo, Hailey turns her head to look at Kim.
"How come Mack didn't want to come on?" She wonders.
Kim lets out a sigh and Hailey notes the way her face drops slightly. There's a small shrug to the officer's shoulders. "She's just growing out of all of it, too fast. She even asked if she could go to a friend's party on Wednesday rather than go trick-or-treating. I know she's in high school and she was gonna want to do this, but she's also only fifteen, you know? She's not that little kid anymore, but it's still kinda hard to accept the fact she's growing up."
Hailey's lips pull up into a line because the thought alone of one day Macie or Alfie choosing to go to a friend's party rather than go out trick-or-treating was enough to make her heart sink let alone actually being told that's what they wanted to do so she extends her arm out, pulling Kim in for a half-hug, giving her friend a gentle squeeze as they walked toward the petting zoo.
After the petting zoo the kids washed their hands and they made their way to get something to eat to avoid getting to the next place only for the kids to start complaining they were hungry. Once they've eaten, Makayla asks if they could go in the haunted house. Now Macie and Alfie were a little younger, the two refused to go inside so Jay offered to stay out and keep them occupied while everyone else went inside.
To keep them from running off, Jay took them to a stand and got them to pick out a treat each to eat on their way to the next attraction and Jay picked one up for Mack too before heading back over to the house and sitting on one of the park benches outside as the kids ate their treats.
Ten minutes after they went inside, Jay spotted them coming back out and he stood up, meeting up with them halfway and he extended the treat toward Makayla, who took it with a smile.
They decided to go to the Pumpkin Express next and nobody is able to get out of it, Macie picking apart any excuses they could come up with and then she tried to cram all of them in one cart. That doesn't end up working but Kevin ends up with Alfie on his lap, Macie sat in Jay's with Makayla and Adam in one car, Hailey and Kim sitting in the one behind with another smaller group of people. Hailey keeps turning her head over her shoulder each time, unable to stop the smile from creeping up her face at the way Alfie is babbling away, pointing out everything he could see to Kevin and at one point Alfie looks at her, sends her a wave and a loud "Hi, Momma!" before he returns to doing exactly what he was doing before giving his mother the chance to wave back.
Kim's words were still ringing loud in her head and as she watches her son taking in everything around him and her daughter whispering something in her father's ear to make him laugh, she can't help but think about how one day they wouldn't be able to do this anymore. Apparently her thoughts were clear on her face because Kim nudges her with her elbow, making her shake her head to snap out of it.
"You've still got years yet." Kim says.
Hailey hums slightly, not having caught most of what the officer said but by what she did catch she got the general idea of what she said.
"Don't think about that kind of future because it goes too fast." Kim advises.
Hailey bobbed her head. "Tell me about it, Mae is gonna be six in a little over two months.. this time six years ago I was probably throwing up because that's all I seemed to do for the first trimester. I just can't believe how fast it's gone so far already, it's hard not to think about the day they're too old for stuff like this."
Kim sends her friend a smile. "Well just think, Mack might be too old for trick-or-treating, but she's still young enough for the train and the haunted house and being seen in public with her parents." She adds with a chuckle and it made Hailey laugh too.
After the Pumpkin Express they made their way through the corn maze - only managing to get lost twice this time - and up to the pumpkin patch, each of the kids picking out a pumpkin to take home and carve ready for Wednesday, after which they made their way back out to the cars, bidding each other farewell in the parking lot before going in their separate directions.
The kids both fall asleep on the hour-drive home, Alfie crashing in the first ten minutes and Macie following in her brother's footsteps shortly afterwards. Their nap gives both the kids a spark of energy when they get home that lasts until dinner, when their energy bars start to drop again and they're both asleep in their own beds by eight.
Hailey joins Jay in the living room, sitting down beside him on the couch and falling into his side, resting her head on his chest. Knowing they would have to be up early in the morning for work, they took in the silence of the house.
After a beat she lets out a sigh. "Today is always a good day." She says.
His chest vibrates as he hums and she can feel him nod above her head. "And just think, next year we're gonna be able to go with the new baby."
She places her hand on his chest, pushing herself up to look him in the eye. "Jay-"
He then shakes his head, cutting her off from saying anything else. "No, trust me, it will happen, by next year."
She wants to believe him and she knows there is a good chance it would have happened by next Halloween, but some part of her was doubting that. So rather than dwell on that possibility she just slowly shook her head also, sending her husband a smile, changing what she was going to say first.
"I don't want to think about next year, I want to think about right here, right now. It's all going too fast, I don't want to miss any of it because we're thinking of the future. I want to take everything as it comes," she says. "Just for now anyway because if you're right, everything is about to change, so let's just enjoy it as it is now."
He returns the smirk. "I like that idea."
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this one was one of those ones that picked and chose when it wanted to be easy to write, so i hope it turned out alright. one more chapter of october and then we move on to turkey season! (something i have yet to experience so it will be interesting to write) thank you for reading!
