Prompt: Unknown on Twitter- I saw a tweet talking about how much Mama Halstead would love Hailey for how she treats and cares for Jay.
Hailey wakes up still wrapped in her boyfriend's arms, looking up she expects to see his green eyes watching her as he always does on their days off. She is surprised to see him still asleep; discomfort clear on his face. He looks over to the clock on her nightstand to see that it's nine in the morning– late for Jay to still be sleeping when he's normally up at the crack of dawn.
Knowing that they have to be at his mom's in an hour, Hailey decides she needs to wake Jay up if they don't want to rush. "Jay," she whispers, running her hand up and down his arm. "You need to get up." Jay grunts causing the blonde to laugh. "Come on, we need to be at your mom's in an hour."
"Sleep, now," Jay mumbles digging his head into the pillow.
"No, we promised we'd be there early to help put the Christmas stuff away." Jay digs his head deeper into the pillow. "You need to wake up and we need to start moving."
"I'm tired," Jay tells her as he sits up.
"Are you sick?" Hailey questions, cupping his face.
"No. Just tired."
"Okay. Come on, when we get back tonight, we can hang out on the couch and watch a movie," Hailey promises, pecking her lips to his.
"That sounds good," Jay replies as he gets up.
"We need to hurry up, Jay," Hailey tells them as they rush out of the door.
"Hailey, we're fine."
"We're going to be late."
"We're on time. Besides, my mom won't care if we're a little late. She loves me and she loves you. Stop worrying," Jay tells her as they make it to his truck.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hailey asks when she catches him yawning again.
"Fine, just tired. You mind driving?"
"Yeah," Hailey answers grabbing the keys from him. "Did you have nightmares last night?" She asks starting his truck.
"No, just didn't sleep good. I hate cases involving kids."
"I know. I think we all do."
Jay is quiet for a moment, "Why isn't Will coming early to help?"
"Because they have Owen. That wouldn't be much help, besides they're stopping on the way to your mom's to get the food."
"Jay, Hailey," Fiona Halstead greets the pair.
"Hi, Ma. Happy birthday."
"Thank you, sweetie," Fiona thanks causing Jay's cheeks to darken.
"Hi, Mrs. Halstead, happy birthday."
"Hailey, I've told you, it's Fiona," she reminds the blonde detective. "And thank you"
"Sorry."
"Well, come in, it's freezing out."
The two detectives follow Fiona into Jay's childhood home. Once inside, the three start their work on getting the Christmas decorations packed away and stored for the next year. With a lifetime of Christmas decorations, it takes them until lunchtime to get everything organized.
"Are you guys hungry?" Fiona asks.
"No," Jay answers going over to the couch and resting his head on the back of it.
"He's tired and grouchy," Hailey tells Fiona.
"Hey," Jay protests from his spot on the couch.
"It's true," Hailey walks over to him. "Why don't you lay down? We have a couple of hours until Will and them get here," Hailey kisses his cheek.
"I'm fine here."
"Well, at least lay down so your neck doesn't get stiff."
"Stay?"
"Okay," Hailey answers sitting next to him while he adjusts himself so his head is in her lap.
Fiona walks into her living room in search of Hailey after she hasn't returned in a few minutes to find the two on the couch. Jay laying down, appearing to be sleeping, with his head in Hailey's lap as she plays with his hair.
Hailey looks up, feeling someone watching her, "He didn't sleep well last night."
"But he's doing okay?"
"Yeah, I mean, he has his days, but he's doing a lot better than when I first met him."
"It's because of you," Fiona tells her.
"It's all Jay. Sometimes he just needs a little push, but he does all the hard work."
"You make my baby feel loved, something that I never thought would happen after Erin left. He's always talking about you– when he has a bad day, you always make him feel better."
"I feel the same way. He's my best friend," Hailey tells Fiona.
"I never thought I would see him be so close to the person he was before he left to go to war."
"That's all Jay. He does the hard work, I'm just on the sideline supporting him."
"I don't know what Jay would do without you in his life."
"I don't know what I would do without him in mine. We balance each other," Hailey answers still playing with his hair.
The two women are silent after their confession, not wanting to wake the sleeping detective.
Hearing a car door, they look out the window to see Will, Natalie, and Owen heading in the direction of the house.
"Mom," Will calls entering the house.
Fiona gets up quickly going to the entrance, "Will, be quiet. Your brother is sleeping."
"It's three in the afternoon."
"Hey, Will," Hailey greets after sneaking out from under Jay's head.
"Hey, Hailey."
"Aunt Hailey, Grandma Ona," Owen greets letting go of Natalie's hand.
"Are you guys ready to eat?" Natalie asks holding up the bag of subs from the sandwich shop they stopped at on the way over. "Happy birthday, Fiona."
"I'll grab Jay," Hailey offers, knowing he's not the best person to wake up.
"Sounds good, Hailey," Fiona tells the blonde. "We'll be in the kitchen."
Will is about to say something when Fiona stops him with a look.
Hailey goes over to the still sleeping detective, surprised that he hasn't stirred with the noise that his family has made since entering the home.
Hailey crouches down next to Jay's head, "Jay, time to get up. Will's here with the food," Hailey tells him while rubbing his arm.
Jay groans as he sits up.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Jay, don't make me get Will in here to check you out," Hailey threatens.
"Headache."
"Did you hit your head at work?"
"No. I just have a headache."
"Okay," Hailey kisses his forehead trying to get a read on his temperature. "You want me to see if I can get you some Tylenol?"
"Yes."
"Okay, stay here," Hailey tells him, worried that he's actually willing to ask for medicine.
Hailey walks into the kitchen, "Fiona, do you have any Tylenol?"
"Bathroom medicine cabinet. Why?"
"Jay has a headache and he feels a little warm."
"Okay, I'll get it for you." Fiona leaves the kitchen and returns a moment later with the desired pills and pours a glass of water from the sink, giving both to Hailey.
"Thanks."
Walking back to Jay, Hailey sees that he is resting his head on the back of the couch. "Hey, here's the meds."
"Thanks," Jay replies after taking them.
"Do you feel like eating?"
"Yeah, I could eat," Jay decides getting up and following Hailey to the kitchen.
"Finally decided to join us," Will jokes.
"Will," Fiona warns her oldest son.
Will is quiet after that, not wanting to get yelled at again.
The family eats their sandwiches without any bickering between the brothers which is abnormal but welcomed. When they are finished, Hailey gets the cake off of the counter and Fiona opens her presents.
When done, they make their way back to the family room where Owen is playing on the floor and the adults are talking, or the adults minus Jay as he's napping against Hailey again.
"Hailey, why don't you take Jay home?" Fiona suggests.
"Are you sure?"
"I think he'd rather be home than sitting around here."
"I'm sorry, I know he was excited for today."
"It's okay. I can tell he's not feeling great." Just as she says this, Jay starts coughing in his sleep. Hailey starts rubbing his back in an effort to help.
Jay opens his eyes, bright green from the fever, "Hey, I was just going to wake you," Hailey tells him.
"Sorry, I fell asleep, Ma," Jay looks at his mom.
"It's okay. I think now's a good time for you to go home, sleep in a real bed?"
"Yeah, sorry about your birthday."
"Sorry for what? I got to celebrate with both my sons, and their girlfriends, and my unofficial grandson. I say it was a success."
Hailey and Jay get up and Fiona walks them to the door. "I'll call you tomorrow Ma."
"Mama's boy," Will calls from the family room.
"I look forward to it," she smiles before turning to Hailey. "If you can't get him to eat tomorrow, call me and I'll make soup for him."
"Thanks, Fiona," Hailey thanks the older woman knowing how hard it is to get Jay to eat when he's not feeling well.
Fiona watches as Hailey pulls away in Jay's truck before going back into the family room. "It wouldn't hurt you to call your mother more than once a week," she tells her oldest son.
"My work schedule is unpredictable," Will claims.
"And so is Jay's and he still manages to call me every day."
"He is a mama's boy, mom. I didn't think that an Army vet turned detective would be, but there's Jay."
"Leave your brother alone. He's not here to defend himself."
Before Will can piss off the matriarch, Natalie interferes, "Fiona, we should get going soon too. Helen wanted me to drop Owen off tonight so she can have him tomorrow."
"Okay, drive safe."
"Thanks for having us," Natalie thanks as she packs Owen up before leading Will out before he can say anything else.
A/N: I always picture Jay as being a mama's boy and Will teasing him for it.
Unrelated: Final assignments are this week for Grad School, so I might not around until that's over.
Other stories:
+ Man's Best Friend: Hiatus- editing to add to AO3. Chapters 1-20 edited. Hoping to be back on track and updating it again before Christmas.
+ Rock Bottom: Hiatus- needs more research and thinking about changing the approach. Also needs a hard edit, don't like how it's turning out.
+Silence is a Strange Sound; In-progress- working on chapter 5. Can't wait to share more. Updated on the first of the month. Just need to add my author's note to chapter 4.
+ A to Z: Completed- being edited for minor things; no major/noticeable changes.
+Whump prompt by floopdeedoodee (Spelling?): In-progress. On chapter 2 of 5; case-oriented.
+One-Shot Sunday: If you want to see something, request it.
+ Awareness One-Shots: Not really planning on anything right now, unless you all want one for Epilepsy (Seizures) Awareness
Notes:
1) On my Twitter I have screenshots of detailed information on the characters of PD. I need to add more still, but there is a good bit of information. I'm in the process of organizing my Med and Fire charts to add. Feel free to use that if you are looking for something to make your story canon. Twitter: otter_love_asl Also if you have any good Twitter suggestions in the fandom to follow, let me know. Or if you know other fanfic writer's Twitter.
2) I'm going to try to be better about using Twitter, so updates on stories, polls for different stories, that kind of thing.
2) If you want to request something you can contact me on here and Tumblr: Otter-Love-ASL & on AO3 and Twitter: Otter_Love_ASL