March

"They were all out of the small containers of sour cream, so I got a big one," Jay said as he walked up to Hailey in the grocery store.

She glanced up at him from the green Oreos and nodded, "Okay."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "You good?"

"Yeah," Hailey shrugged and looked in the cart, "Let's just grab some lunchmeat then we can go."

Jay picked up the Oreos, "Did you want these?"

"Only if you do," Hailey started pushing the cart, but Jay grabbed her waist.

"Hey," he turned her, "What's going through your head? I've never seen someone stare at Oreos like that."

Hailey laughed softly and shrugged again, "Was just thinking of St. Patrick's Day. It's important to you, right? So maybe we should have a party."

Jay let her go, "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hailey asked, "I think we could do it. We have Greek food all the time. I think we could make an Irish dinner."

A smile spread across Jay's face, "Okay, yeah, I'm up for trying."

Hailey hesitated, "Trying?"

"Well, it's never going to taste like my mom's," Jay pulled his phone out, "I'll text Will and see if he has her recipes, though."

"No, come on, we can do this," Hailey lightly touched his arm, "We can make it taste like your mom's."

Jay chuckled, "I've told you. When my mom died, we tried; even my dad couldn't make it taste like hers and he'd watched her make it for years. It's okay. Whatever we make will be good."

"It just won't be good," Hailey sighed.

Jay glanced up from his phone, "What'd you say?"

"Nothing," Hailey shook her head and lightly pushed him toward the cash registers, "Let's head out."

Hailey stared at the recipe for Irish soda bread Will had dropped off earlier. It was handwritten and well worn with splashes of milk on the sides. The memories behind it had to have been really sweet, but she could not read the damn thing.

Hailey groaned and tied her hair up. "Okay," she whispered to herself, "You've got this, Halstead."

It couldn't be that hard, really, and yet she struggled. A lot.

Some of the words were smeared and blurring together, so maybe it said 'tsp' or it could have been 'tbsp' because the T looked sort of thick like a B was next to it. And what did 1 – ½ mean? Was it one and a half cups or half a cup to one cup? That couldn't be right.

The front door opened and Jay called out, "Hails, I got the last one. It's sort of big, but we can have leftovers. Corned beef sandwiches are so good."

Hailey stared at the flat loaf of dark bread on the counter. There was no way in hell that's how Jay's mom used to make it.

"I bought a giant pot too, look," Jay walked in the kitchen and held up his bags. His face lit up at the mess around the kitchen, "Practicing?"

Hailey shoved the pan into the sink with a loud clatter and hissed as it seared her hands. "It's nothing," she said.

"What're you doing?" Jay chuckled and put everything down on the table, "Let me see it."

"No," Hailey stood in front of the sink, "It's bad."

"Just let me see, it was just practice, right?" Jay gently pushed her to the side, "Why would you put it in the sink?"

"Please, it's embarrassing," Hailey bit her lip and tried pulling at his arm, but the slight burn on her hands hurt too badly and she had to let go.

Jay glanced at her hands, "What's going on here?"

"Just a burn, look," Hailey held her hands up, "Look here and not in the sink."

Jay raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly, "Looks small, I'll take care of that in a second, but first…"

Hailey bit her lip and turned around to hide the embarrassment on her face.

Jay looked in the sink at the dark bread. He didn't want to laugh, it was very clear she felt bad about what she made, but wow.

"It's a little dark, so tomorrow we'll put it in for less time," Jay said as he picked up the loaf.

"Don't you think it's weird looking?" Hailey asked quietly.

Yes, yes he did.

"Nah," Jay tried breaking off a piece of the bread, but it didn't budge. He cleared his throat and searched for a knife.

Hailey looked over her shoulder, "Really?"

"I mean, it's not exact," Jay grabbed the bread knife and sawed a piece off, "But it looks different every time, right?"

Hailey shrugged and started to smile.

The inside of the bread was unusually sticky and there were more raisins than Jay ever remembered his mom adding. He swallowed against the lump in his throat and caught Hailey's gaze.

She was staring at him with wide eyes as she chewed her lip. She'd said how nervous she was that this bread wasn't going to be perfect and he'd stupidly said that no matter what she made would be great.

He had to eat it.

"Well," Jay breathed in and held up the piece of bread, "Gotta try it. It looks delicious."

Hailey nodded and watched him place the bread in his mouth.

Jay tried not to gag as he chewed the wad of bread that tasted and felt like raisin gum. It made no sense. Hailey made some of the best Greek food he'd ever had, right behind the couple times her mom had cooked for them whether it be leftovers or the one meal at her house. This, though, this was some of the worst food he'd ever had. Ever.

He eventually smiled and rubbed his stomach, "So good."

"Oh, wow," Hailey reached for the bread, "I'll have to try some."

"No," Jay pushed her back, "You have those burns, right? We have to take care of that."

"They're nothing serious," Hailey tried stepping around him, but Jay then hit the pan himself sending the bread to the floor.

"Damn, I…I am so sorry," Jay shook his head and bent down to pick it up, "You can't eat this."

"I washed the floor this morning, remember?" Hailey shrugged.

"But I'm wearing my shoes and germs, so," Jay shrugged and turned to quickly throw the bread into the garbage under the sink.

"Oh," Hailey stepped back in shock, "Um, okay. Wow. I guess I'll just have some tomorrow then, right? I'll make another loaf and try not to burn that one while you're cooking the meat."

"Or we make it together," Jay suggested and pushed her toward the table, "Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Yeah, but-"

Jay waved her off and knelt in front of her once she was sitting, "Let's see those burns."

Hailey watched him look over her hands and narrowed her eyes once he'd gotten burn cream to put on her before wrapping them up. He was being over the top about this entire thing. All the little smiles and the way he was kissing her fingertips…no. She didn't like it and knew he was hiding something.

Five minutes into trying to decipher his grandmother's handwriting, Jay understood why Hailey struggled so much with the bread the day before. His mom had traced over some of the smudges even though it really didn't do much help; it anything, it made the recipe harder to read. The blue ink mixed with the black messed with his eyes and the way his mom double traced some of the letters squished it all together.

He'd seen the small index card thousands of times before, but had never taken the time to memorize it. This was a moment he really wished he had.

"So I think that says four teaspoons," Hailey pointed out.

That was her first problem Jay realized…it definitely said four tablespoons. Saying that, though, meant hinting to her that her creation yesterday was wrong and he really didn't want to make her feel bad.

"How about you start the potatoes?" Jay nodded toward the pile of them on the counter, "Peel them all and drop them in the pot on the stove."

"I want to help," Hailey said.

"I…I got this," Jay shrugged, "It's fine. It's my mom and my grandma's handwriting, I've read this cursive forever."

"But I read it yesterday and did just fine," Hailey crossed her arms.

Jay briefly closed his eyes. Sure. Yeah. Just fine.

Hailey sensed his annoyance and smirked slightly as she leaned into the counter, "Right, babe? I did a fine job?"

Last night, she'd searched up recipes for Irish soda bread online while they watched the news and was quickly able to figure out what her mistakes had been. She did way worse than just cooking it wrong; she had the entire recipe wrong. She just couldn't believe that Jay actually ate the chunk of bread without saying anything bad about the taste. It was very much a gentleman move, but she still thought it was funny and wanted to play along.

"A fine job that could use some tweaks from a real Irishman," Jay winked and shot her a smile, "Go peel the potatoes."

Hailey slowly nodded, "Okay," she kissed his cheek, "I can do that."

"Great," Jay went back to poring over the recipe and attempting to rewrite it on a post-it note.

Hailey watched him out of the corner of her eye as she worked on the potatoes. He grabbed buttermilk from the fridge and her smirk grew.

"Hey, Jay, you grabbed the wrong one," she said.

"What?" Jay glanced at her before measuring out the buttermilk.

"I used the almond milk yesterday," Hailey lied and pointed toward the kitchen, "Not the buttermilk."

In truth, the buttermilk was probably the only thing she got right about the recipe. Not only was it the easiest word on the whole card, but she'd actually had to go out and buy the buttermilk since it wasn't a staple in the their fridge. Of course she knew that she had to use it.

"Oh," Jay's eyes widened. He stared at the container in his hand then gave in and poured the buttermilk into the bowl, "I think I remember my mom using this, so I'm going to try it for my version."

"Okay," Hailey shrugged, "Fine with me. It's probably going to taste different though."

"Probably," Jay breathed once he turned back around. Probably be much better than whatever she did yesterday.

He picked up the recipe to read the next step and had to do a double-take.

Oh…Hailey sucked.

Clear as day, in print, was the word 'buttermilk' in his mom's handwriting on top of a faded version of the same word in cursive. There was no doubt what it said. In no way could anyone mistake it for saying 'almond milk.'

Jay turned to stare at Hailey as she continued peeling through the pile of potatoes. She sucked, but she was good. There was no doubt that she'd caught on to the fact that he lied the day before. He did it for a good reason, so he had no regrets, but she certainly liked to make him squirm.

Hailey looked up and smiled at him, "How's it going?"

"Fine," Jay smiled back, "Perfectly fine."

"Cool," Hailey set a potato down and picked up another, "So once it's cooked, you're supposed to melt butter on top and sprinkle it with salt, right?"

Jay grabbed the recipe card again. It said nothing about salt. He knew in his gut that his mom would sprinkle sugar on it, but that was definitely not written down. It was just something she did. He knew because when his grandma would make it, she wouldn't put sugar on the top and he and Will were always annoyed since it was their favorite part.

She slipped up and Jay loved it.

"Sugar, actually," he corrected.

"Damn," Hailey sighed, "Guess that's why mine sucked yesterday."

"Yours didn't even have anything on the top," Jay pointed out, "Remember, I came home after you took it out of the oven."

"Right," Hailey hit her forehead with her palm, "Silly me."

Jay squinted at her and chuckled, "Yeah, silly you."

Hailey winked at him before returning to the potatoes.

Jay grabbed the egg off the counter and tossed it up and down. Hailey had said she wanted to shower after they cooked the food so she could be clean for dinner. He shouldn't – he wanted to, but no. He cracked the egg into the bowl and began stirring it.

"Need another egg?" Hailey asked, "I thought I saw you only grab one and I used four yesterday."

Jay looked back at her and caught the glint in her eyes. She so badly wanted him to say she'd been wrong and that her bread tasted horrible. It was a game he didn't want to lose…

But she did say she was going to shower after this.

He walked over and stepped past her to grab two more eggs out of the fridge, "You're right," he said and held them up, "My fault."

"It's okay," Hailey waved her hand then continued peeling the potatoes with her back to him.

She was lost in the simple motion of her hand gliding the peeler over the potato when she heard a crack above her. Before she had a chance to look up, she felt two cold blobs fall onto her hair.

Hailey's eyes widened and she dropped the potato and the peeler to the ground.

"Jay," she whispered.

"Needed four eggs, right?" Jay asked. He tapped another one on the counter, "One for the bread and three," he pulled it apart over her head, "For your hair. I've heard yolks are really good for your scalp."

Some of the egg white dripped down Hailey's forehead, but she was in such shock that she couldn't wipe it away until it paved its way down the bridge of her nose.

Hailey blinked slowly then turned to face him. He looked much too satisfied with himself in that moment – his eyes shining in amusement and the side of his mouth tipped up in a half smirk.

Jay put his hand on her head and gently smeared the egg through her hair, "There we go. No more dandruff."

Hailey's jaw dropped. The eggs was one thing, but to rub it in, quite literally, that she'd felt gross this winter when her head got dry for a total of two days before she got new shampoo was something much worse.

She spotted the open bag of flour on the counter to her left, so she took a couple steps to the side and dipped her hand in it.

"Dandruff, huh?" Hailey held up a handful of flour, "Me?" She reached up and dropped it on his hair, "You're looking real flaky right now."

Jay laughed and brushed his face off, "Do I need to use your shampoo?"

"Jay Halstead!" Hailey shoved his chest with a laugh, "That's not funny!"

He laughed harder, "You look pretty funny right now."

Hailey groaned, "Shut up!" She marched backwards to the sink to wash her hands off. She then picked up the spray and aimed it over her shoulder before pushing the button on it.

"Hailey!" Jay shouted as the water sprayed everywhere, "What're you doing?"

"Oops," Hailey turned, "Did I get you?"

"No, but you're getting the floor all wet," Jay said.

"Oh, then let me fix that," Hailey made sure the faucet was pointed toward him when she pressed the button again.

His shirt was soaked instantly, so she aimed the spray up to his face and hair making the flour goo up on him.

Jay sputtered against the water, "Hailey!"

She laughed and turned off the sink, "Yes?"

Jay wiped his face, "Really?"

"You put eggs – multiple! – in my hair!" Hailey yelled.

"Admit you were playing me," Jay crossed his arms over his chest.

Hailey shook her head, "Admit that my bread sucked yesterday."

Jay hesitated, "It was fine."

"Was not," Hailey rolled her eyes.

"Did you really use almond milk?" Jay asked.

Hailey bit her lip over a smile, "Maybe."

"Liar," Jay chuckled and picked up the flour to dump some on her head.

Hailey closed her eyes against the onslaught of flour, "You are horrible."

"I think I'm a gentleman," Jay said and put the flour down.

"Mhmm," Hailey snatched up the bag and threw another handful at him, "But you're a gentleman who made a big mess."

Jay coughed against the flour that made its way into his mouth, "You're the one who got water everywhere."

"Because you put egg in my hair," Hailey dropped the flour back onto the counter and put her hands on her hips, "That's disgusting."

Jay wiped his face to properly look at her. Her face showed that she was annoyed, but he could see a light in her eyes that he'd grown to love. She was happy and deep down, under all that egg in her hair, she thought what he did was funny.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "So, what do you say? Admit my bread was horrible?"

"I can't," Jay chuckled, "It was fine. A raisin gum and it was delicious."

Hailey winced with a laugh, "Oh, no." She walked past him to the fridge and grabbed out an egg.

"Hey, what're you doing with that?" Jay stepped backwards, "I thought we were done."

"But we're not even," Hailey smiled as she held the egg up, "If neither of us is going to give in, I think we should both have egg in our hair."

"Hailey-" Jay started, but was cut off by the egg being smashed on the top of his hair.

He sucked in a breath then nodded, "Okay. I guess I deserved that."

"I guess," Hailey rolled her eyes again and laughed. She placed her hands on his chest, "Thank you for trying to make me feel better by lying about my bread."

Jay brushed his hand over his hair so the egg wouldn't drip down his face, "Thank you for trying to make my mom's soda bread."

Hailey hugged him despite the water, flour, and egg mess they were. She laughed under her breath and kissed him softly, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Well," Jay chuckled and rested his chin on her head as he took in the disaster that was their kitchen, "I just need to put the bread in the oven and then we should probably clean all this up."

Hailey laughed and rested her forehead on his chest, "Yeah, probably."

Jay chuckled as he rubbed his hands up her back, "Then we shower?"

"Not a bad plan," Hailey looked up at him, "Sorry for…" she traced a line down the flour mess on his cheek, "This."

"And I'm sorry for this," Jay held up a strand of her gooey hair.

"Yeah, you're going to be paying for that one for a while," Hailey raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

Jay smirked and kissed her forehead, "Anything you want."

"Clean this up on your own?" Hailey smiled.

Jay barked a laugh, "Except that."

Hailey laughed with him and squeezed his hand before returning to peel the last of her potatoes.

Jay shook his head and began kneading the bread dough.

Maybe the bread wouldn't taste exactly like his mom's, but he didn't mind. New memories, new bread – it was only fair.

A/N: Thank you Heather for this idea! I hope you all liked it :) If there's anything certain you want to see for April and May, let me know! Thank you everyone for sticking around and still reading with me :)