December

"Jay!" Hailey called out from her spot on the bed, "Let's go! You have thirty seconds and then I'm hitting play."

She toyed with the remote while staring at the bathroom door. Work was hard and long and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed with her husband and watch a Christmas movie – specifically, she wanted to watch The Santa Clause because it was her favorite and Jay knew that so he'd whisper certain lines in her ear as they watched.

"Sorry," Jay said while stepping out of their bathroom carrying his dirty clothes that he tossed toward their laundry basket, "I couldn't find my lotion. My hands feel gross."

Hailey groaned and tipped her head back, "Why?"

"Why?" Jay repeated as he got under the covers next to her, "Feel them. This undercover crap isn't funny anymore when I'm pretending to be homeless in freaking December in Chicago."

"No," Hailey sighed and pushed the blankets off of them to glare at Jay's fleece pajama pants. They were red and plaid and starting to become worn and frayed.

"What?" Jay asked, "They're my pants."

Hailey laughed, "Yeah, I'm aware. Why do you still have them? You had to have bought those when you were in high school."

"Uh…I don't think so," Jay shrugged, "Maybe a few years though."

"It's time to throw them out," Hailey nodded.

"I don't need to throw them out," Jay pulled the blankets back over them, "Won't even donate them."

"Jay," Hailey reached under the blankets and rubbed her hand along his thigh, "They're not even soft."

"I think they're comfortable," Jay lightly pushed her hand away, "So I'm keeping them."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "I'll buy you new pants."

"You have," Jay laid down, "But I like these."

Hailey sighed before fitting herself into his side, "Why?"

Jay trailed his fingers along her arm, "They're winter pajamas and, like I've said literally hundreds of times, they're comfortable."

"Whatever," Hailey breathed, "You won, okay?"

Jay smirked and kissed the top of her head, "Okay." He grabbed the remote off her leg and clicked 'play' on the TV.

"Thank you," Hailey smiled while accepting her coffee from the barista. She stepped back so Vanessa and Kim could grab their own. She waited until they were back in her car to say, "So Jay and I are having problems."

"Whoa," Vanessa coughed on her drink.

Kim's eyes widened, "What kind of problems?"

"He won't throw out these stupid ass pants," Hailey said once she started driving.

Kim glanced back at Vanessa then slowly said, "What kind of pants?"

"Yeah," Vanessa cleared her throat, "Are we talking leather? Chaps? Karate pants? How stupid does he look while wearing them?"

"He looks like a child," Hailey shook her head, "They're those red plaid pants every guy has and, you know, whatever, it's a thing, okay, but for the love of god, they get old! They're not soft, they feel weird against my legs when we cuddle, I'm over it."

Kim laughed, "That's why you're pissed off? His pants?"

Hailey waved her hand, "He's a good man with a good heart. This is his flaw though – he refuses to throw out old pants."

"If that's your only issue with your husband, I think your marriage is okay," Vanessa nodded.

"I didn't even think Jay wore pants at night," Kim said.

"We're not animals," Hailey rolled her eyes.

"No, you two are just attractive people who frequently have sex," Vanessa pointed out, "If I hadn't lived with you and seen him on the weekends in pajamas myself, I wouldn't believe that he wears clothes at night – or you for that matter."

"Yeah, yeah," Hailey sighed, "Whatever. Get your own boyfriends."

"Speaking of," Vanessa turned to Kim, "How's it going with Adam?"

Kim's face lit up, "Really, really well."

Hailey emptied the clothes from the dryer while humming softly. She didn't really mind doing laundry. It was normal and slowed her down from her work life. That fact that it was lightly snowing outside added to the calmness inside the house.

Jay was at work for a few more hours, so she had the house to herself this Sunday. She liked it though. It meant she could lounge around and take some time to relax. She could of course relax with Jay, but there was something different about being alone that still appealed to her.

The kettle started screeching on the stove, so she quickly gathered up the clothes and hurried into the kitchen, dumping the pile on the counter before she grabbed the kettle and poured the boiling water into her mug.

She walked to the cabinet wanting her berry tea. Once she found the teabags, she turned and promptly dropped the white satchel.

The laundry was on fire.

"Dammit," Hailey ran to the laundry room and grabbed the fire extinguisher.

She ran back to the kitchen and stumbled over the nozzle before she sprayed everything.

It took a minute, but finally the fire had died down and she had switched the flame off on the stove.

She stared at the mess and whined under her breath.

As she scooped up the foam, she tried finding the culprit of the fire. It was only once the majority of it was scooped in the trash did her heart drop even further than it already had.

The leg of Jay's red pajama pants now had a large, singed hole in it.

Not like she even knew how to sew, but there was definitely no way she'd be able to fix it if she could.

Hailey swore under her breath. She could see what this might look like in Jay's eyes and it wasn't good.

The smell of the fire extinguisher was a harsh reminder that none of this was good.

"Hailey Anne Halstead, I went six hours too long without you today," Jay called out as he entered the house. He slipped his coat off, hanging it in the closet, before kicking his shoes toward the corner.

There wasn't a reply, so Jay walked to the kitchen, "Hailey?"

Everything was clean. There was no sign Hailey had even cooked anything that day.

Jay fought the panic that was forming in his stomach and grabbed his gun, "Hailey! Call out."

He did a quick scan of the bottom floor finding nothing, so he started slowly walking up the stairs, "Hailey."

"In here."

She didn't sound scared or in pain. Jay's heart rate slowed down and he lowered his gun as he stepped closer to their closed bedroom door.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Hailey laughed, "Yes, come here."

Jay sighed and opened the door.

Hailey waved at him from the spot on the bed dressed in a dark purple lingerie set she'd bought earlier that day.

"Uh," Jay cleared his throat and slowly walked forward setting his gun on the carpet before straightening up and undoing his pants.

"I missed you," Hailey breathed moving onto her knees.

Jay shook his head as he pulled his shirt off, "I'm here now."

Hailey smirked, "You are."

Jay groaned and held her face between his hands as he climbed on top of her.

Hailey sat on Jay's thighs and smiled down at him as she swirled her hands over his chest, "Welcome home."

"I'd say," Jay chuckled and tugged her down to kiss her again, "What was that?"

"I missed you, I told you that," Hailey whispered against his lips.

"Yeah, but it was only six hours," Jay threaded his fingers through her hair, "I wouldn't say that's enough for…" He slid a hand down to trace the lace of the bra that she was still wearing.

"Do you like it?" Hailey asked.

"Oh, I do," Jay started laughing, "Just wondering why you bought it."

"Early Christmas gift," Hailey breathed then kissed his forehead, "I bought a couple others too."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "You bought other…these," he lightly slid his fingers along the strap.

Hailey smiled, "Mhmm." She gave him a soft squeeze then climbed off the bed to walk over to the closet. She found the pink bag and held out a light blue set and then a black one.

"Damn," Jay whispered, "You really went out and bought those today?"

"Yup," Hailey set the bag back in the closet and hummed while making her way back to the bed.

"For Christmas?" Jay asked.

"Yes," Hailey slipped her leg over his again.

"I'm pretty lucky," Jay said.

"You are," Hailey bent down and trailed her lips along his jaw.

Jay breathed out slowly and ran his hands over her back playing with the clasp of her bra.

"Again?" Hailey smirked against his throat.

"Not a question."

Hailey laughed as Jay wrapped his arms around her and flipped them over.

Jay's hand was held loosely in Hailey's as she looked down at him dozing off. She smiled and brushed her hand over his hair before getting out of bed. She threw on the long sleeve Jay had abandoned when he'd first entered the room.

Hailey breathed in his cologne and walked into the bathroom. Having sex to repay Jay for burning his pants wasn't something she was super proud of, but she figured it'd soften the blow. It was kind of like a win-win situation.

There was a soft creek in floor as Jay stepped out of bed.

Hailey smiled at herself in the mirror and ran a hand through her hair. She looked out into the bedroom to see Jay going through the drawer that held the clothes he usually wore to sleep.

Hailey bit her lip and leaned out the door, "Jay."

He ignored her and started dumping his pants to the floor, "Hey, where's my pants?"

"I see a lot of your pants there," Hailey pointed.

"You know what I'm talking about," Jay sighed then straightened up, "The pants you hate – where are they?"

Hailey took a deep breath and rubbed her sweaty hands over Jay's shirt, "Uh, they're not there?"

Jay rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Hailey."

"So," Hailey wrung her fingers together, "There was an accident today."

"What kind of accident?" Jay asked.

Hailey swallowed, "A fire."

"What?" Jay breathed and quickly crossed the room to hug her tightly, "What the hell? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hailey nodded, "Everything's fine. I used the fire extinguisher and put it out. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, fire is a huge deal," Jay said. He tipped her head up to look her in the eyes, "How'd it happen?"

"It doesn't really matter," Hailey tried stepping away, but Jay held onto her waist.

"It does," Jay rubbed his thumb over her hip, "It's okay. If it was really an accident, it's not a big deal. I just want to make sure you are okay."

"I'm fine," Hailey repeated, "But…you pants, those red ones, they didn't make it."

Jay stared at her, "What are you talking about?"

Hailey looked down at their feet and shrugged mumbling under her breath.

"Hailey," Jay said.

She squeezed her eyes shut, "I was doing laundry and then the kettle went off and so I brought the clothes to the kitchen and set them on the counter, but I guess I forgot to turn off the flame right away because suddenly there was a fire."

"You set my clothes on fire?" Jay asked.

"Well, it was an accident," Hailey tried weakly.

"Oh, of course," Jay nodded, "You forgot to turn off the open flame on our stove and then just accidentally put my one pair of pajamas that you just happen not to like on top of said flame and then you – what? – what'd you do next?"

"I put it out on my own," Hailey said looking back down at their feet.

"Awesome," Jay sighed, "So you started a fire, burned my clothes, put it out and then you…you went shopping. You went shopping, didn't you? You bought all these little outfits to buy me over."

Hailey winced, "Or I bought them to give you a gift."

"A sex gift? Your body is a gift?" Jay repeated.

"You liked it a little bit ago," Hailey grabbed his hands, "Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Jay pulled a hand away to rub his face, "I'm really annoyed."

"They're just pants," Hailey mumbled.

"Hailey," Jay groaned and tilted his head back, "It's more than the pants! You lied to me."

"How was this a lie?" Hailey asked, "I told you the truth. There was a fire and then I bought some lingerie. That was my day."

Jay sighed, "But you didn't come out and say it. Come on, Hailey. There was a freaking fire in our house and you didn't even call me to be like 'hey, husband, by the way just had to use the fire extinguisher, I'm okay though.'"

"It was a small one," Hailey held her hands out, "Like this big. It was just the thigh part, right here," she patted Jay's leg. "Oh, and," she hurried to the closet and pulled out another bag, "I got you these!" She tossed a pair of blue pajama pants at him, "Cute, huh?"

Jay shook his head and dropped the pants to the ground, "Not cool."

"I think our sex was pretty cool," Hailey smiled slightly.

Jay rolled his eyes, but still let out a laugh and turned away, "God, Hailey Anne, what am I going to do with you?"

"We could have sex again," Hailey suggested, "Maybe take your mind off of it?"

"No, no," Jay chuckled and turned to point at her, "You're grounded."

"Grounded?" Hailey's eyes widened, "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means no sex for…for a long time," Jay said, "I'll figure it out, but no more. You used it as a weapon and that's not okay."

Hailey couldn't help it, but she lightly stomped her foot and her jaw dropped, "Jay!"

"At least a month," Jay continued, "Well, no, that's really long. Um, until New Year's Eve."

"Not even on Christmas?" Hailey asked.

"Nope," Jay waved his hand, "Off the table, literally."

Hailey sighed, "You suck."

"Won't be sucking anything for the next three weeks," Jay said before kneeling down and cleaning up the clothes he'd dumped out.

Hailey bit her lip then laughed softly covering her face.

Jay glanced up at her, "What's so funny? You setting fire to my clothes? That's so childish."

"Oh, so punishing a child by making comments like 'I'm not sucking anything for weeks' is the right move?" Hailey laughed harder, "Jay."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Don't make this weird. I'm sticking to it. You need to learn your lesson."

"Is there anything I can do?" Hailey asked.

"Um," Jay thought for a moment as he finished folding his pants, "I guess I'm hungry after two rounds of pity sex."

Hailey ran a hand through her hair, "So you want dinner?"

"Yeah," Jay nodded, "Specifically, I want pizza and beer."

"Whatever," Hailey breathed as she walked over to put her clothes back on.

Jay finished his second beer and set the empty bottle on the ground next to the bed, "Delicious."

Hailey laughed softly and reached over to wipe his mouth with her napkin, "You want another slice?"

Jay eyed the last two pieces of deep dish in the box at the end of their bed, "No, I'm okay. Thanks though."

"Mhmm," Hailey squeezed his arm before getting off the bed and beginning to clean up their plates, empty bottles, and the leftovers.

Jay watched her with a slight smile on his face. She had apologized while they were eating and tried convincing him that it was an accident. He believed her the second she brought it up, but he wanted to make her squirm for a bit. It wasn't the pants thing that he was annoyed with, he wasn't really even annoyed too much about the fire itself; it was the attempt at distracting him with sex.

He enjoyed it, obviously, his smile widened just looking at her as he remembered it, but still, it wasn't her best idea.

So grounding her from sex was a good punishment.

It was just one that he didn't completely realize in the moment would be a punishment for him too.

Which meant four days later when he had her literally squirming underneath him saying his name because he couldn't stand watching her dry off after a shower right in front of him and do nothing about it, he vowed to never use sex – or lack of sex – as a consequence again.

A/N: If you remember, I first brought this up in We Can Chapter 77 :) So here's the backstory! Hope you liked it :)