Hello and happy MIWF day one last time!
I cannot believe we have reached the end of this fic. When I first started writing this story I never thought or could have imagined it would turn into what it has become. The way all of you have opened your arms and hearts to this story, to this little family, and to my little baby Avery has been overwhelming in the best possible way.
Thank you hardly seems like enough of a thing to say, but thank you an infinite number of times! Thank you for all the love and kindness you've shown me and this story, for the sweet messages and even the yelling messages I've received from so many of you over the last six and a half months. Every comment and kudo and tweet and DM have always put the biggest smile on my face, and it's made writing this story so much more fun knowing it's been so truly enjoyed by all of you.
I also have to give a special thank you to anniesardors (all platforms), onechicago-upsteadrhekker (tumblr), corpgirlog (twitter), and ilithiyarys (all platforms) for always being so supportive and encouraging and wonderful, and for never letting me quit this story even on the days where I wanted to most and was losing my mind.
Writing fic is a fun thing for me, but it is also so hard sometimes and having such incredible friends backing you and being there to vent to or ask their opinions or talk about something else entirely makes it even more special. I can tell you MIWF wouldn't be what it is without any of them, so thank you ladies and I love you a whole lot.
And last, but certainly not least, a very special thank you to hailshalstead (twitter). Abby was so kind to create the artwork for the banner for this last update and it came out looking so beautiful, she is just so insanely talented. I hope you all love it as much as I do and please be sure to show her all the love! You can find it on my twitter and tumblr.
Okay, I'll wrap this up now, but just know that I am so ridiculously grateful to every single one of you who have read this story. I hope this last update leaves you with a smile on your face.
Enjoy friends and I'll see ya again soon!
ten months later
A week on the lake during summer should be just the thing anyone needs for some good rest and relaxation.
Except it's anything but for Hailey.
They've been at the cabin for four days already – her, Avery, and Jay, but there is something that has felt off the entire time they've been there that she hasn't been able to put her finger on.
They spend their days out on the water in kayaks or splashing in the cool lake under a blistering July sun or walking along the pebbled shore of Lake Michigan.
When the sun finally sinks down below the horizon, the three of them lay out on Adirondack chairs in front of a warm fire, the sticky residue of melted chocolate and marshmallows on their faces and fingers.
It's just them in their own little bubble of solitude and it feels normal, it's happy, it's them, but then she catches Jay's eyes lingering on her a little longer than usual. A look on his face that makes her think he might burst at any moment, but from what, she can't be sure.
"Are you okay?" She finally asks him on the fifth day as she lies in a chair beside him near the water's edge.
It's just the two of them out there in the afternoon sun together, Avery conked out in her bed after another long morning out on the lake in a kayak with her daddy.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jay counters, turning his head toward her with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.
Hailey shrugs. "You've been acting weird."
"How so?"
"I don't know," she shrugs again. "You seem out of it, like something is on your mind. Vanessa was acting weird too at dinner the night before we left to come here. I really can't handle both of you like this. Please tell me what's going on."
"Nothing is going on," he assures her, lifting his sunglasses to the top of his head so he can look her in the eyes. "Everything is fine. Perfect even."
Hailey nods slowly, staring back at him and not so sure if she believes him, but she figures she'll let it go for now, hoping he'll open up when he's ready.
"Hey," Jay calls out to her, stretching out a hand toward her. "Come here."
She stands from her chair and grabs his hand, letting him pull her toward him until she's sitting down with him and straddling his lap. He wraps his arms around her waist, setting his hands on her lower back just above the waistband of her swimsuit bottoms.
"I promise you everything is okay," Jay tells her, brushing his fingers over her soft, sun-kissed skin. "I'm okay."
"Alright," Hailey says quietly as she lifts her hands to either side of his neck, fingertips tracing over freckled skin.
He tilts his head at her and slides a hand to her side, poking her playfully and making her squirm against him, a delicious giggle escaping her.
"You wanna go for a swim with me while Ave is still sleeping?" He asks her and she nods, smiling at him.
He pulls his sunglasses from his head and drops them to the ground beside them, and then she lets out a squeal when he stands from the chair with her in his arms and his hands under her bottom.
She wraps her arms around his shoulders, laughing against his neck as he carries her down the dock, squealing again when he launches them off the edge and into the water.
The next day, Hailey's curiosity only piques further when Jay comes in from the back porch with an up-to-no-good grin plastered on his face.
He sidles up beside Avery at the island as the little girl finishes up the last of her lunch and leans next to her on the counter on his elbows.
"Hey bug," he says, nodding at her. "You all done lunch?"
"Yeah, all done," she tells him.
"You wanna come for a walk with me?" He asks her and the moment the words leave his lips, he feels Hailey's eyes on him.
"Okay," Avery grins at him, nodding excitedly.
"Okay! Let's go," he says, helping her down from the stool.
"Why do I get the feeling the two of you are about to do something you shouldn't?" Hailey asks him, an eyebrow raised as she stares at him.
"We're just going on a daddy-daughter walk," he says with a shrug. "We'll be right back."
Hailey hums out a response, glaring playfully and shaking her head. "Go then. I'm sure I'll find out eventually whatever it is you're up to."
"Yeah, you will," he assures her, shooting her a wink as he and Avery make their way to the back door.
"See ya later mama!" Avery calls out behind her.
"Bye baby," Hailey laughs, shaking her head again as the two of them head out through the door.
"Where are we going daddy?" Avery asks, her hand in Jay's as they walk along the beach side by side.
"Just walking for a bit. I wanted to ask you something," Jay tells her, squeezing her hand tightly.
"What's up?"
He shakes his head at her, a grin on his face, and then asks, "What do you think about me asking mama to marry me?"
"Really? Like in the movies?" Avery asks, looking up at him.
"Yeah," he nods, smiling down at her. "Would that be okay with you?"
She tilts her head up at him, eyeing him curiously. "Do I get to wear another twirly dress?"
He laughs, nodding again. "You can absolutely wear another twirly dress."
"Then I say yes, daddy!" She squeals, jumping up and down beside him.
"Yeah? You think mama will say yes, too?"
"I think so," the little girl tells him with a shrug of her shoulders. "Mama is happy again. Like the last time we came here. And you guys kiss even more now."
"Mama is happy again, isn't she?" He smiles at her.
Avery nods and he tugs on her hand, making her stop in her tracks, and then he squats down to be eye level with her.
"Would you wanna help daddy? I wanna surprise mama while we're here at the lake."
"Yeah! I like surprises! What do I do?"
"Well…" he starts, grinning at her.
"Alright bug. You remember what to do, right?" Jay asks.
"I go inside and get mama and bring her out here to you on the dock, and it's a surprise so I can't tell her what it is even if she asks me."
"That's right," he tells her, grinning at her. "Okay, baby. Go get her!"
Avery nods, smiling back at him before she turns around and starts running up the dock.
"Don't run on the dock bug!"
The little girl slows to a walk at his words, but when she reaches the stone pathway of the backyard she bolts for the porch.
Jay laughs as he watches her, smiling at her as she goes up the porch steps and disappears inside the house.
He takes a deep breath, shaking his hands out at his sides as his heart races. He breathes heavily once more, trying to relax as he stands in place at the end of the dock and waits for his girls.
"Mama!" Avery calls out.
"Yeah baby?" Hailey asks, coming out of the bedroom. She glances around the living room, then toward the kitchen, before setting her eyes back on her daughter. "Where'd daddy go?"
"He's out on the dock. He told me to come get you," Avery says, smiling up at her.
"Is he okay? Is he hurt?"
Avery shakes her head, stepping closer to her mother and grabbing onto one of her hands.
"He's okay. He has a surprise for you."
"A surprise? On the dock? Did he catch a fish or something?" Hailey asks with a chuckle.
"No," Avery shakes her head, tugging on Hailey's hand. "But I told him I would come get you so come on! We gotta go!"
"You are bossy little lady. I need shoes first," Hailey laughs again, slipping into her Birkenstock's near the back door.
"Come on mama!" Avery says excitedly, tugging on Hailey's hand again as they step out onto the porch and go down the steps.
Hailey shakes her head, smiling at the little girl as they make their way through the yard and to the beginning of the dock. She looks out ahead of them, sees Jay at the opposite end and raises her eyebrows at him curiously.
He just smiles back at her as she and Avery walk toward him, the little girl at her mother's side, bouncing with excitement and clutching tightly to Hailey's hand.
"So, what's this surprise, Halstead?" Hailey asks when she and Avery are standing in front of him.
Jay's smile stretches out into a face splitting grin as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black box, and she stares up at him with wide eyes as he holds it out to her.
"What is that?" She asks him.
"You'll just have to open it and find out for yourself," he tells her.
Hailey raises an eyebrow at his teasing grin, but takes the box from him, her throat going dry as she looks up at him again.
He's still smiling at her, but doesn't say a word, just nods to the box in her hand. She swallows hard and pulls her hand from Avery's to flip the lid open, staring down in confusion for several moments before it all begins to click and she remembers the night they spent together on her couch.
That night before Avery's birthday, battling her insomnia and ending up downstairs with him, watching some documentary about flightless birds and falling asleep with him beside her. Back when they were just partners, just friends, and not the them that they are now.
"Do they really mate for life?"
"Yeah, some species," Jay nods, turning his head to look at her. "Male penguins will search all over for the perfect, smoothest pebble to give to a female for nesting and if she accepts it, then they build a nest together and usually end up staying together."
"Okay, that is kind of adorable," she says with a sheepish smile.
"Is this – is this what I think it is?" Hailey asks him as she carefully plucks the small gift from the cushion inside the box.
Jay shrugs, a smirk on his face as he asks, "What do you think it is?"
"Well," she says, a grin spreading out over her face as she holds a small and bright blue pebble between two fingers. "It looks a lot like the most perfect, smoothest pebble I have ever seen."
"It is, and I'll have you know, I searched all over for that pebble."
"All over, huh?"
"Okay, maybe I didn't search for it. It kinda just jumped out at me," he chuckles. "I found it that week we went to the cabin after Ave and I went kayaking and that storm was rolling in. I was pulling the gear up onto the beach and I saw it. The prettiest blue that made me think of you. So I scooped it up."
"You're telling me you held onto this thing for almost a year because it made you think of me?"
"I did," he tells her, pulling another box from his back pocket. "And for this moment right here."
He flips the lid open and holds it out to her, revealing a simple diamond ring nestled inside, and he watches as her eyes go wide again and she gasps between parted lips.
"Jay – "
"Marry me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really," he laughs quietly, closing the space between them as he takes a step toward her and reaches for her left hand. "Come here."
She closes the box with her little blue pebble inside and stuffs the box into a pocket of her jean shorts before she reaches out her hand to him.
And then he's dropping down to one knee in front of her and their daughter, holding Hailey's left hand in his as he sets the ring box down at his feet, and then reaches for one of Avery's hands too. He looks between them both with bright green eyes and a soft smile on his face.
"I love you both more than I ever thought I could love anyone. And I was already planning on spending the rest of my life with the two of you, but I wanted to make it official."
He stares at her for another beat, and then, "Hailey, will you marry me?"
Avery squeals excitedly, leaning into Hailey's side and resting her head against her hip. "Say yes, mama! Daddy wants to marry us!"
Hailey laughs through her tears, looking down at the little girl smiling up at her, and then she sets her eyes back on Jay in front of her, nodding her head slowly at him.
"Yes," she breathes out.
"Yes?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her with that charming grin still stuck on his face.
"Yes, I will," Hailey nods once more, staring down at him with watery eyes.
He lets go of his girls' hands and reaches for the box at his feet, plucking the ring from it, and then reaches for Hailey's left hand again.
He slides the diamond over her ring finger and presses a kiss to the top of her hand before he stands back to his feet and stuffs the box into his pocket. He reaches down at her side and picks up Avery, holding the little girl against his side in one arm as he pulls Hailey into him with the other.
"You said yes," Jay nearly whispers, his eyes glistening as he stares down at her with a face splitting grin.
"I said yes," she nods, smiling at him with her tears rolling down her cheeks.
Jay squeezes her against him, then leans down to press his lips over hers, kissing her slow and good.
"We're getting married!" Avery squeals.
Jay and Hailey pull away, grinning at their daughter between them.
"We are baby," Hailey tells her, lifting a hand to the little girls face and brushing a finger over her cheek. "Did you know this was the surprise?"
"Yes, I did," Avery says simply with a tilt of her head. "Daddy asked me first."
"He did, huh?" Hailey laughs, raising her eyebrows at the man in front of her again.
"I did," Jay confirms with a nod, bouncing Avery against him. "I had to have bug's permission. Only seemed right."
"I love you," Hailey tells him, a near permanent grin on her face.
"I love you," he says, pressing his lips to her forehead and then placing a kiss against Avery's. "And I love you. Thank you for helping daddy. I couldn't have done it without you."
"You're welcome! I love you too," Avery smiles at him, dropping her head against his shoulder.
"What do you say we celebrate with some ice cream?" Jay asks, bouncing Avery at his side again.
"Yes!" The little girl shouts, lifting her head from him and nodding quickly.
"So that's why your health nut self bought ice cream for this week," Hailey says, glaring playfully at him. "And then you being weird all week. The dots are starting to connect now, Halstead."
He laughs, nodding at her. "Is now a bad time to tell you that Vanessa knew?"
Hailey's eyes go wide, her smile disappearing as her mouth falls open. "What?"
"Mhmmm," he hums, setting Avery down on her feet.
The little girl reaches for Jay's hand, and he grabs Hailey's on the other side of him as the three of them walk up the dock together.
"She knew about this? The whole time...she knew?"
"She did," Jay confirms, smirking at her.
"So you've been planning this for weeks then?"
He nods and she shakes her head at him in disbelief.
"Unbelievable. And us getting furlough together, was that just a happy accident?"
"I may have asked Platt for a favor," he tells her as they make their way through the backyard and up to the porch.
"You are sneaky," Hailey tells him, laughing.
"It was a good surprise though. You had no idea," he says, grinning at her as they go up the steps.
Avery runs ahead of them inside the house and Hailey reaches for him, pulling him close and setting her hands arms around his waist.
"It was the best surprise," she whispers as she leans up on her toes and kisses him.
She knows they only have a few moments before Avery is pestering them for promised ice cream, so she kisses him hard and fast, moaning quietly against his mouth when he slides his tongue past her lips. She squeezes her arms around him as he brings one of his around her shoulders and lifts his other hand to the back of her head, holding her tight and close.
"Mama! Daddy!"
Hailey chuckles against him as they pull away from one another, staring up at him with her happy grin and bright eyes, and then he's laughing quietly.
"What's so funny?" She asks, tilting her head at him.
"That damn pebble. Pretty blue just like those eyes of yours."
She quirks an eyebrow at him and pulls an arm from his waist to reach into the pocket of her jean shorts. She pulls the box from her pocket and flips it open, staring down at the little pebble nestled safely inside.
She's hit with another memory of the day he met her and Avery at the park for the first time, how he had taken them to lunch and quickly won over her daughter's heart, and her's too.
"Your eyes are a pretty blue mama!"
Hailey lets out a laugh and lifts a hand, placing it over one of Avery's. "Well, thank you baby!"
Avery drops her hands and turns back to Jay excitedly, tilting her head at him with a curious look on her face. "Your eyes are green!"
"Yep, I didn't get the pretty blue eyes," Jay tells her with a feigning sigh of disappointment for the toddler.
"Nope, you got pretty green ones," Avery says simply.
"Pretty green ones," Hailey whispers, staring down at the pebble.
"What?" Jay asks.
"Pretty green ones," she says again, louder as she looks up at him and smiles again. "Your eyes are pretty green."
She can tell he's thinking of that day too as a grin stretches out over his face and he nods slowly, then says again, "And yours are pretty blue."
He kisses her again then just because he can. Because he loves her and she loves him and she said yes.
"Let's go give the kid her ice cream before she turns into a gremlin," Hailey says when he pulls away a moment later, a tiny smirk peeking out over her face. "You and I can do our own celebrating later."
"I like the way you think."
She hums out a response, grinning dangerously at him as she steps away and heads inside the house, Jay trailing after her.
Hours pass and ice cream is eaten before dinner – they're celebrating after all, and once Avery is down for the count that night, Jay makes his way out into the living room only to find it empty. He peeks inside their bedroom, but that's a bust too.
He glances to the open windows that look out over the backyard, the pitter-patter of rain filtering into the room bringing a smile to his face, and then he heads for the back door to the porch.
He finds her right where he knew he would, curled up on the porch swing and staring out at the rain and the purple streaks of lightning that shoot down from the sky.
"Should we take it as a good omen or a bad one that it's raining the night I proposed?"
"Hmmm, good one, I think. You know how much I love thunderstorms," Hailey tells him as he makes his way toward her.
He chuckles as he takes a seat next to her, lifting an arm to her and she curls in against his side.
"Easy tuck-in tonight?"
"Yeah, she passed right out. We really tired her out today," he says, tracing circles on the top of her arm with his fingers.
"No, you tired her out. And not just today, but all week," Hailey laughs quietly against him, swatting her hand on his knee. "All the kayak trips and swimming, and then being sneaky today took its toll on her."
"She wanted to do all those things. And she was very excited about helping me with my little plan today I'll have you know."
"I still can't believe you asked me to marry you," she says, almost mesmerized as she lifts her left hand from his knee and stares down at the ring on her finger.
"I still can't believe you said yes," he chuckles again.
"You really thought I wouldn't?" She asks, tilting her head up to meet his eyes.
"I was a little nervous, a lot actually. It's no small thing, ya know?"
"No, it's not, but it's just like you said. I was already planning on spending the rest of my life with you. I think you might really be stuck with me now, Halstead."
"That sounds pretty damn good to me," he tells her, tightening his arm around her and squeezing her against him.
She tilts her head up just enough to press her lips to his, kissing him slow and sweet as she lifts her hand to his face. She mumbles incoherently against his lips between kisses and pulls away a moment later.
"Jay?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go to bed," she whispers before pressing her lips against his jawline, and then she stands from the swing.
She reaches for his hand and he follows behind her as she leads him back into the house. They lock up for the night and turn the lights out, and then she's curling a finger at him from the doorway of the bedroom with a seductive little grin on her face.
"You're trouble, Upton," he mutters, walking toward her.
"You better get all your Upton's out while ya can. I'm not gonna be one for much longer," she smirks at him.
She reaches for his hands when he's within reach of her and pulls him into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind them.
"I have another question for you," Jay says hours later in the middle of the night. An arm draped over her waist and his hand against her naked back as they lie in bed and he holds her close.
"Proposing wasn't enough?" She teases, muffling a laugh against a pillow when he rolls his eyes at her. "What's your question?"
"Maybe not a question exactly, but I was serious when I said I wanted to marry you both, ya know?"
"I know you were."
He shakes his head, breathing out a deep sigh and swallowing hard. "I – I want..."
There's something in his eyes that tells her she already knows what it is that he wants, what he's going to say, but she can see he's nervous, that much is obvious. She reaches out a hand to his chest, trailing her fingers up to the side of his neck, and smiles at him as she offers a slow and encouraging nod of her head.
"Say it," Hailey whispers as her eyes begin to glisten with tears.
"I wanna adopt her," he breathes out, his eyes bright and hopeful with a shyness on his face that sends a familiar, but wonderful ache rushing through her. "I want her to be mine, ours, on paper, officially."
"Yeah?" She whimpers, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks.
"Yeah," he says, nodding and smiling and squeezing her against him. "I want forever with you, with her, us. More kids if you want 'em, the house with a picket fence and a dog and all of it. I want everything with you."
"Okay," she says through a heady laugh, sniffling through more tears. "But maybe don't mention the dog to Ave just yet, okay?"
He chuckles, tightening his arm around her. "A dog scares you, but not the idea of more kids?"
"No," she says, shaking her head at him and leaning her face closer to his. "I want everything with you too."
He grins at her, his arms pulling her in to close the last little sliver of space that remains between them, and then he presses his lips over hers. He kisses her hard and deliriously, sliding a hand up her body and losing it in her hair at the back of her head. She hums against his lips, guttural moans of elation that he swallows down as he invades her mouth with his tongue.
Seconds, minutes, could be hours pass before they pull away from one another, breathing a little too hard with flushed skin and happy smiles on their faces.
"What?" Hailey asks, quirking an eyebrow at the too loving, too soft, too wondrous gaze he penetrates her with.
"Just thinking about how lucky I am," he tells her.
"Lucky, huh? You gonna throw out some line about fate or something again like that day I asked you to move in?"
"Fate, luck, pure coincidence," he says, shaking his head. "Whatever it was I'm damn grateful for it. It gave me you, it gave me Avery, it gave me our family."
She can feel the heat in her cheeks, the way her jaw aches from the smile she can't seem to get rid of because of him, and then she's nodding slowly, whispering, "I love our little family."
He nods back at her, a grin that matches hers as he leans down over her and kisses her again.
"I love you," Jay mumbles against her lips when he pulls away.
"I love you, too," she tells him as she turns over to lie on her back and pulls him with her.
She slides her hands around his waist, pulling him flush against her and staring up at him above her. Pretty blue eyes meeting pretty green ones as her lips curl into another dangerous smirk for him.
"Wanna celebrate some more with me?"
He nods with a grin of his own as he lowers his head down to kiss her some more, his hands sliding down over a thigh as she hooks a leg over his waist. Hands raking through hair and nails trailing over skin until they're moving against one another, breathing wildly, holding tightly, and coming undone within moments of the other.
Their last morning on the lake comes with that bittersweet feeling, a lingering bout of excitement from days spent too long under the sun, but the knowingness of needing to return home and to real life creeps up quickly.
"I don't wanna leave, daddy," Avery says with a pout on her face as Jay leads her outside to the Jeep.
"I know you don't bug, but we gotta go home. The lake will be here when we come back in a few months," Jay tells her, squatting down in front of her to look her in the eyes and reaching for one of her hands. "It's just like what mama and I said when Auntie went to live with Uncle Kev. Do you remember?"
"Yeah," Avery nods, clutching her space teddy in her other arm. "It's not goodbye, just see you later."
"That's right," he says, nodding at her with a smile and squeezing her hand in his. "We'll be back. I promise."
Avery nods at him again, her pout turning into a grin because she knows her daddy doesn't make a promise to her that won't be kept.
Jay stands back to his feet, keeping one of the little girl's hands in his as he leads her the rest of the way to the SUV and helps her climb up into the backseat. He buckles her in and closes the door, then makes his way to the front door of the cabin as Hailey steps through it, a hint of sadness on her face.
"You look like Avery did about two minutes ago," he says, reaching for her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Hailey shrugs. "Just bummed to be leaving already. The week went by too fast, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know. We'll be back though," he tells her just the same as he did their daughter.
"Lot of memories at this place," Hailey says quietly a moment later, staring up at him with a soft smile now instead of the sad one she'd met him outside with.
"Lot of good memories. We're gonna make a whole lot more too," he tells her, grinning down at her.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah," he nods, dropping his head down to hover his lips above hers as he whispers, "A lifetime of 'em."
And then he kisses her, soft and slow as he lifts a hand to the side of her face and holds her close.
"I like the sound of that. A lifetime. Forever with you," she whispers against his lips between kisses.
He nods against her and kisses her again, his thumb brushing over her cheek, and she can't help the slight bit of nostalgia that comes over her.
The last time they were there at the cabin her life was in shambles and now it's been put back together, piece by piece because of him and them, their daughter, their family.
His words flash in her mind about fate and luck and coincidence as he continues kissing her, slow and right and good. And she smiles against his lips as she kisses him back.
Maybe it was fate after all.