Hailey knocked on Jay's apartment door before putting her key in and opening it, "Jay?"

"Bedroom," he called out.

Hailey smiled and closed the door behind her as she slipped off her shoes and jacket. She carried her duffel bag to his room to see him slipping into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. "Did you just shower?" she asked.

"Yeah, went for a run," Jay walked over and kissed her forehead, "Hi."

"Hi," Hailey set a hand on his side, "I brought clothes for the weekend, that okay?"

"Vanessa won't mind?" Jay ran the towel over his head.

Hailey shook her head and hummed, tossing her bag next to the closet, "She said she was looking forward to having the place to herself. I don't know if I want to know what that even means."

"You're like a protective older sister," Jay chuckled and sat on the bed.

Hailey shrugged and stood between his legs, "I care about her and she's looked out for me before."

"I know," Jay grabbed her waist, "Love the choice of leggings. You don't wear these enough."

Hailey laughed and sat on his leg, "Plans for the rare weekend off?"

"They're certainly starting with getting rid of these," Jay said and lightly pinched the fabric over Hailey's knee.

"What a gentleman," Hailey smirked and kissed him, "Anything else?"

"Tomorrow's my mom's birthday, so if we could drop by the cemetery, that'd be good," Jay ran a hand over Hailey's hair, "I also need some new jeans, are you okay with shopping with me? Oh, I also have no food in the fridge, sorry, we might have to run errands this weekend."

"Wait, wait," Hailey set a hand on his chest, "Back it up."

"Hmm?" Jay twisted his hand in the back of her hair.

"Tomorrow's your mom's birthday?" Hailey asked.

Jay nodded, "Yeah, unless I got the date wrong. I know I was kind of out of it today," he leaned back to grab his phone and looked at the screen, "Yeah, tomorrow."

"You're just going to mention that like it's nothing," Hailey raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not nothing, it's her birthday," Jay said.

"I know," Hailey squeezed his hand, "Why are you just now telling me, though? And so casually."

Jay shrugged, "I've told you multiple times that I've accepted that my parents are gone. It's just my life now."

"Okay," Hailey looked him in the eyes then hugged him tightly.

"Hails," Jay chuckled weakly and rubbed her back, "I'm okay."

"Okay, I believe you," Hailey sat back, "I won't push."

"Thank you," Jay said.

Hailey brushed her hand over his hair, "Pizza and a movie?"

"Now we're talking," Jay stood and had Hailey wrap her legs around his middle, "It's how I like to end my workouts."

Hailey laughed as he carried her to the kitchen, "How far did you go?"

"I was at mile two when I got bored," Jay chuckled and set her on the counter, "So I came back home for a total of three miles."

"Solid," Hailey laughed harder, "Farther than I've ever gone."

Jay hummed and looked through his phone, "There was that one time when you chased that – what? – twelve year-old pretty far."

Hailey shook her head, "Don't remind me."

Jay smirked, "I thought you and Kim were going to keel over and die right there."

Hailey lightly shoved his shoulder, "There were a lot of turns."

"I know, I was following in the car," Jay laughed, "It was a pain in the ass and I scraped my door, remember?"

"Oh," Hailey rolled her eyes, "Of course. You focus on the door."

"I went without my car for two days," Jay said, "That was rough."

"Uh-huh," Hailey gently pulled his shirt so he was closer to her, "Poor you."

Jay chuckled and kissed her, "You're cute when you're jealous."

Hailey laughed against his lips, "What am I jealous of?"

"My car," Jay said and stepped back to find the phone number to the restaurant on his phone, "Pepperoni, sausage, and onion?"

Hailey stared at him in disbelief.

Jay glanced up, "What? Should I throw green pepper on there too?"

Hailey scoffed, "I am not jealous of your truck."

Jay smirked, "Okay. So, pizza?"

"Jay Halstead," Hailey laughed and lightly kicked his side, "Take it back."

"I'm not a liar," Jay leaned against the counter and nudged his nose against hers, "Pepperoni, sausage, onion, green pepper?"

Hailey rolled her eyes, "I'm not jealous of your car."

"Keep saying it," Jay scooted his hand over and lightly pinched her side, "Not gonna make it true."

"Well, maybe if you loved me as much as you love you're car, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Hailey said.

"There it is," Jay whispered and slipped his hand under her shirt, "I promise you, Hailey Anne, that I love you more than any car in the world."

"Even your truck?" Hailey asked.

Jay chuckled, "Even my truck. Forever."

"Good," Hailey set her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him the last couple inches toward her lips, "I love you more than pizza…most of the time."

"Oh," Jay pulled back, "Now that's rude."

Hailey laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist, "Come here. It was a joke."

"Mhmm, better be," Jay said and grabbed his phone again, "Okay, I'm ordering for real this time, don't distract me." He held the phone to his ear with one hand and used the other to play with Hailey's hair.

"Now that's a challenge," Hailey smiled and reached forward to play with the waistband of his sweatpants.

Jay's eyes flickered to her hands, "Hailey."

Hailey bit her lip and pushed his pants down an inch, "Yes?"

"Hailey," Jay repeated.

He opened his mouth to continue, but the girl on the other end of the phone said, "Hello?"

Jay groaned as Hailey slipped off the counter and held his eye contact while continuing to pull his pants down.

"Hello?" the girl said.

Jay sucked in a breath, "Yeah, sorry, uh – I need a pizza."

Hailey laughed and kissed his jaw, whispering in his ear, "And breadsticks."

Jay coughed, "And breadsticks. Oh, and bring them to my apartment…please."

Hailey ducked her face into his shoulder to hide a laugh as he struggled to order.

The ringing echoing throughout the room woke Hailey from her dead sleep and she struggled for a second to remember where she was.

"Got it," Jay mumbled and grabbed his phone, "Halstead."

Hailey yawned and sat up to rub her face. She held the blanket to her chest and sleepily watched Jay listen to the phone-call.

"I had the day off," Jay yawned, but still pushed the blankets away to get out of bed.

Hailey frowned and moved up onto her knees.

"I'll be there with Detective Upton in…" Jay pulled the phone away from his ear to glance at the time before saying, "Fifteen maybe twenty minutes."

Hailey took a deep breath and got out of bed. She walked over to the wall and flicked the lights on.

Jay winced and rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, bye." He hung up his phone and tossed it on his bed before walking to his dresser to look for clean clothes, "I'm sorry. Apparently Voight's at a different scene and they want a detective at this other one."

"It happens," Hailey sighed and went through her duffle bag, "Should have known a weekend off was too good to be true."

"Exactly," Jay sighed and pulled a shirt on.

The sun was just breaking when Hank showed up to the house. He quickly found Jay and Hailey leading the scene and nodded at them, "Go home."

"You sure?" Jay asked.

Hank nodded, "Go. It's your day off. I've got this."

Jay hesitated, but Hailey set a hand on his back and gently pushed him, "Come on, let's go nap. Okay?"

"Yeah," Jay glanced back at Hank and walked with Hailey to the car.

"You good?" Hailey asked once they were at his truck.

"Tired," Jay pulled his keys out, "You mind driving?"

"Not at all," Hailey grabbed the keys, "Should we head home or go grab some breakfast?"

"Home," Jay squeezed her arm then got in the passenger's seat.

"Okay," Hailey watched him settle into the seat and close his eyes before walking around to get in the car herself. As she started adjusted the seat and started the car, she said, "I thought you slept last night."

Jay blinked his eyes open, "I got some sleep."

Hailey fully looked at him, "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No," Jay shook his head, "No, I'm good, I just really need a nap."

Hailey leaned across the console to rest her hand against his forehead, "Are you sick?"

"Hailey," Jay gently pushed her hand away, "I'm fine."

She bit her lip and breathed in, "Okay, if you say so."

"I do," Jay nodded, "Let's go home."

"Fine," Hailey sat back in her seat and started driving.

"Hailey," Jay groaned, "Come on."

"What?" Hailey glanced at him.

"You said 'fine' like I pissed you off," Jay said.

"I did not," Hailey shook her head.

Jay rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure. Don't lie."

"Do not start with me," Hailey gripped the steering wheel.

"No, I'm going to start because you shouldn't be judging me," Jay turned in his seat to look at her, "I'm tired, Hailey, that's it. Don't look further into it."

"I need to look further into it because you always do this," Hailey watched him out of the corner of her eye.

Jay's jaw set, "Do what?"

Hailey harshly breathed out, "You shut me out! You have these nightmares or these thoughts and I just want to help-"

"No," Jay laughed bitterly, "Nope. We're done. You are not-"

"I have the right to ask!" Hailey yelled, "I'm worried about you."

"I'm a grown man, Hailey," Jay looked out the window, "So stop worrying about me."

Hailey rolled her eyes and turned the radio up. She waited for the song to finish before saying, "You're being an ass."

"Excuse me?" Jay turned the radio back down, "Say that again."

"Being a man is not about hiding your feelings, Jay, so you need to get that out of your head right now," Hailey said.

Jay stared at her then shook his head and breathed, "Just drive."

Hailey swallowed and stared forward as she drove back to Jay's apartment. She parked the car and got out. She walked around the car as he stepped out and held out the keys.

Jay grabbed them and started walking toward the apartment building. He was about ten feet away when he realized Hailey wasn't behind him. He turned, "Hailey."

"I…I'm gonna go," Hailey said softly. She zipped up her jacket, "You're right, you need a nap. I probably need a nap. We'll come back to this though." She hesitated then walked to where her car was parked a few spots away.

"Hailey," Jay bit his lip.

She blinked her eyes quickly and got in her car to speed out of the parking lot, leaving Jay staring after her.

Vanessa walked into the house with her arms full of groceries surprised to see Hailey sprawled out on the couch.

"Uh, hey?" Vanessa kicked the door closed and walked to the kitchen, "What're you doing here?" She set the groceries down on the counter, "Weren't you going to be with Jay all weekend?"

"We got in a fight," Hailey said without looking up from the TV.

"So you left?" Vanessa asked.

"He's not…" Hailey sighed and turned to look at her, "I hate when he shuts me out. It's not healthy."

Vanessa slowly nodded as she started putting the food away, "What's he shutting you out from?"

"I don't know," Hailey ran her hand through her hair, "He seemed off. He says he was just tired, but it didn't sit right. We were woken up and working at like four," she shook her head, "It sucked."

"Yikes," Vanessa leaned back against the island, "Sounds like you were both probably crabby."

Hailey opened her mouth to reply, but then stopped and rested her chin on a pillow.

Vanessa smirked slightly, "Yeah, I said it. You get crabby when you're tired. I'm not saying whatever your fight was about was your fault, but maybe cut him some slack. Was last night okay at least?"

Hailey blushed and smiled, "Yeah, it was more than okay." She sat back and breathed out, "Gosh, I love him so much."

"I'm glad you're acknowledging it so openly now," Vanessa laughed.

"Shut up," Hailey rolled her eyes, but still laughed softly, "He just makes me happy and I feel like I'm always learning something about him. He keeps me on my toes."

Vanessa walked over to sit next to her on the couch, "What'd you learn last night?"

"That today's his mom's birthday," Hailey quickly answered. Her eyes then widened, "Oh my god."

Vanessa looked slightly shocked as well, "It's his mom's birthday today? And you're here."

"Crap," Hailey ran to the front door and threw her shoes on, "I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

"You are not," Vanessa turned to watch Hailey hastily put her coat on.

"He probably hates me," Hailey grabbed her keys, "Okay, bye."

"Drive safe!" Vanessa yelled as Hailey hurried out the front door.

Hailey fought back tears of frustration as she drove to Jay's apartment. She barely paid attention to where she was parking once she arrived and ran up the stairs to his apartment.

She pounded on his front door, "Jay. Jay. It's Hailey." She breathed shakily through her panting and hit her palm to the door again, "Jay, please."

The door flung open and Hailey was pulled inside. Jay looked her over and held her face lightly, "Why are you crying? What happened?" He leaned over her and scanned the hallway, "Did someone follow you?"

Hailey shook her head and hugged him tightly, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jay asked, but still held her close once he'd closed the front door.

"I can't believe I forgot it was your mom's birthday," Hailey said, "Jay, I am so sorry. I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey," Jay pulled her to the couch, "Hailey, stop. It's okay."

"It's not," Hailey sat down, "God, I'm such an idiot."

Jay shook his head, "Hailey, you're not an idiot. I mentioned it so quickly last night and we were tired earlier, it's fine, really."

Hailey nodded slightly and rubbed her hand under her nose, "I was a bitch."

Jay laughed and gently tugged her head to his chest, "You called me an 'ass' and I was. We were both tired. Don't worry about it."

Hailey chewed her lip and squeezed her eyes shut.

Jay ran a hand over her hair and whispered, "Thanks for coming back."

"Staying mad at you is never an option," Hailey breathed.

Jay chuckled, "I hope you always have that point of view."

"Well, I sort of love you, so," Hailey shrugged and tilted her head up to look at him.

Jay kissed her lightly, "Good, I sort of love you too." He breathed out slowly and said, "I took a nap, well, I tried," he rested his chin on her head again, "I had a dream about her. Same one I usually do. It's jarring."

"What is it?" Hailey asked.

Jay shook his head, "I can't, Hailey. And that's not me refusing to talk, that's me saying it hurts too bad to relive it when I'm awake. This is one I'm not going to budge on for a while."

Hailey slowly sat up and rubbed her hands over his back before sliding her hand to rest on the side of his neck, "Okay."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "Okay?"

"Okay," Hailey nodded, "I want us to make a promise," she held out her pinky, "What do you say?"

Jay bit his lip over a smile and nodded, "I'm down for a pinky promise."

Hailey laughed softly and said, "So, here's the deal. I promise not to push you to talk about your dreams or your anx-" She stopped when Jay's eyes fell. She took a deep breath, "Talk about your dreams or your triggers," she caught his eyes again and waited for him to nod to continue, "Unless it gets to be too much. The second it gets to be too much for you to handle on your own, you need to promise to let me in."

Jay nodded slightly and hooked his pinky to hers, "I can promise that."

"Thank you," Hailey said softly.

Jay held her eye contact for a moment then got up and walked over to his TV cabinet. He knelt to the ground and pulled out a small photo album that he carried over to Hailey. As he sat next to her, he flipped through the pages, "This is my parents' wedding album, well, just the individuals, I think Will has the big versions in the fancy book, but I wanted this." He found the picture he was looking for and set the open book in Hailey's lap, "There she is."

Hailey smiled and picked it up to look closer, "She's pretty. Charlotte, right?"

Jay nodded, "Yeah. Charlotte Hannigan. She was really into her monogram, so my dad claims she only married him because her initials would stay the same."

Hailey laughed softly, "It would be a pain to change all of that." She flipped through the pictures, "Gosh, this was a wedding, huh? A huge affair. Wow."

Jay watched her with a small smile on his face. He lightly played with her hair and leaned back against the cushions.

Hailey finished looking at the pictures and closed the book, leaning forward to place it on the coffee table, "Thank you for showing me that."

"Of course," Jay said softly, "I have some more pictures of her that I could show you."

Hailey smiled wide, "Really?"

"Yeah," Jay walked back to his cabinet and pulled out a few photo albums, "I have half of them, Will has the others, but this is a good start." He carried them to Hailey and passed her the top one, "I'm pretty sure this is when I was really little, like a toddler."

"Oh, then I for sure need to look at that one," Hailey said while opening it.

"I have nothing to hide, I was an angel," Jay looked over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages.

"I bet," Hailey laughed.

"I was," Jay chuckled. He noticed one picture and pointed to it, "There's her making Irish Soda Bread."

"So that's a real thing?" Hailey asked and held the book closer to her face to look at the picture.

"What?" Jay stared at her.

Hailey glanced at him, "Irish Soda Bread. That's real? I've never had any. I just thought it was like an Irish word for bread."

Jay blinked, "You're joking."

"No," Hailey laughed, "What's it taste like?"

"All right," Jay stood and went in his room, "I'm changing into some more presentable clothes and then we're going out to lunch."

Hailey turned and knelt on the couch, "Where to?"

"A restaurant," Jay said while starting to undress.

Hailey looked around the small Irish pub Jay had dragged her into before promptly ordering a beer for each of them, "I've never been here in my life."

Jay slowly drank from his glass, "And that's a shame."

Hailey rolled her eyes and sipped her beer, "My dad was very Greek as in only associate yourself with other Greek people."

"Doesn't surprise me," Jay said.

Hailey shrugged, "You're saying your parents showed you what other cultures did."

"Eh," Jay swirled his finger around the table, "My mom took us out more than my dad did. We ate pizza."

Hailey laughed, "Because pizza is a huge shift in culture."

"Exactly," Jay chuckled.

"So," Hailey picked up the menu, "What should I get?"

"I'm going to get us the platter," Jay pulled her menu down and pointed to it, "It has everything you could possibly want."

"Sounds good to me," Hailey smiled and set the menu down, "Did you used to come here a lot?"

"We never went out for Irish food, my mom would make it," Jay explained, "But when she died, we couldn't really replicate it. My dad tried and it was a bust, so we started looking for places. I swear we've tried every Irish pub in Chicago and this is the best one."

Hailey reached across the table and set her hand on his, "How long did you do that for?"

"Will and I were going out that first whole month after she died like every other day, it was excessive," Jay said with a soft laugh, "But then he went back to his job and my dad couldn't bring himself to eat Irish food for a while, so it was just me and you know I'm not a great cook, so I'd come here probably once a week."

Hailey nodded along and rubbed her thumb over his wrist, "Lately though, you-"

"I know," Jay shook his head, "It's been a while."

"Must have been a long while because you've never told me that before," Hailey said softly.

Jay took a deep breath, "Yeah, I don't know. Things were weird after my dad…"

"Yeah," Hailey breathed.

Jay smiled slightly at her, "Thanks for coming here though," he looked around, "It's really good and I hope it doesn't disappoint. It's nice to finally have a date here too."

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "You never took a girl here?"

"Nope," Jay took a long drink of his beer, "Never anyone special enough. At least, not till I met you." He winked at Hailey and chuckled at the blush spreading across her face, "Was that cheesy?"

"I…" Hailey laughed, "Yes, but it's fine. You're worth a cheesy line or two."

"Oh, I can get two in today," Jay's smile widened, "I better spend it on a good one."

"Uh-huh," Hailey nodded, "Make it worth it."

Jay flipped his hand over and intertwined his fingers with hers, "I know the original plans for today were errands and just a stop at the cemetery, but maybe we could push grocery shopping off another day and I could show you around where I grew up?"

Hailey's face lit up and she squeezed his hand, "I would really, really like that."

Hailey and Jay had been dating for about five months and Hailey had realized that while she had known Jay pretty well before they started dating, getting to know him as a boyfriend was a completely different experience. She truly meant it when she had told Vanessa she learned something new about him every day. He was still the Jay she had fallen in love with, but there were new layers to him now that made her heart pound even more just by looking at him.

Today was no different.

Jay was relaxed. He was smiling. His hand was constantly holding hers. He was happy…and that was what Hailey loved the most.

After walking Hailey around his old school and bringing her back to the baseball diamond he grew up on, Jay drove to his second to last stop – his house.

As he slowed the car to a stop in the street, he bit his lip and visibly tensed.

Hailey glanced at him and whispered, "Hey, you okay?"

Jay nodded and got out of the car. He walked around to Hailey's side just as she was hopping out and grabbed her hand to lead her to the house. He hesitated at the edge of the front path and stared at the house.

Hailey waited a moment then asked, "When was the last time you were here?"

"Years ago," Jay shook his head, "Will and I came to clean it up a little before selling it. That might have been the last time. We'd moved my dad out by then."

Hailey nodded and squeezed his hand.

The front door opened and a woman stepped out, "Oh, hello?"

"Sorry," Jay held a hand up and stepped backwards, "I'm sorry. Just – um – this was my house."

The woman slowly nodded, "Okay."

"Sorry, this is dumb," Jay started walking away, "I don't want to bother you."

The woman made eye contact with Hailey and cracked a smile, "Did you want to come in?"

"Are you sure?" Jay asked, "You don't have to."

The woman smiled more, "It's okay."

"Were you on your way out?" Jay stepped forward again.

The woman reached behind her and picked up a trash bag, "To the garbage."

Jay laughed softly, "Okay, well, um," he reached into his coat pocket for his wallet and walked over to her with Hailey to show her his badge, "We're police, so I hope you trust us."

The woman nodded and pointed toward Hailey's t-shirt, "I figured one of you were based on her CPD shirt."

Hailey smiled, "Thank you so much."

"Of course," the woman stepped to the side to let them in, "Sorry, we're trying to put some fresh paint up," she set a hand on her stomach, "I'm pregnant with twin boys, so we want to get everything ready in time for them."

"Congratulations," Hailey said. She looked toward Jay to see if he'd reply, but he seemed lost in his thoughts as he looked around the house. She set a hand on his back, "Is it okay if we walk around?"

"Sure," the woman smiled, "I'll just go set this outside and then be down here watching TV."

"Thank you," Hailey gently pushed Jay down the hall toward the kitchen.

Jay stepped away from her and looked around the room. He rubbed his jaw and took a deep breath.

"What're you thinking?" Hailey asked softly.

"Can't believe it," Jay shook his head, "It's different, but not so different that it's not recognizable." He set his hands on the counters, "Like I can so clearly picture my mom standing here putting candles on my birthday cake and," he nodded toward the archway to the dining room, "I can see my dad helping Will with his math homework at that table."

Hailey looked around the room, "It's a nice space."

"It's small," Jay chuckled, "But it worked. It was cozy. In the front room," he grabbed Hailey's hand and tugged her through the hallway, "That's where we'd put the Christmas tree every year. My dad hated it because Mom would want to move all the furniture around, but he did it." He looked toward the stairs and breathed, "I wonder…"

He dropped Hailey's hand and walked to the small door under the stairs. He glanced toward the open front door where he could see the homeowner talking to an elderly man on the sidewalk. He twisted the doorknob and gave it a swift yank, opening the door to reveal a dark room. His hand searched the wall to his right for a few seconds until he found the light switch.

Hailey stood behind him and looked over his shoulder, "Oh my gosh."

The beige walls were covered in sharpie drawings of stick figures and dogs. The names 'Jay' and 'Will' were scrawled everywhere.

Jay laughed, "How is this still here?"

"Did you do this?" Hailey smiled and slipped under his arm to crawl into the room.

"Yeah, my mom let us make this our fort," Jay said, "We were in here pretty much every day after elementary school."

"It looks like a lot of fun," Hailey looked up at him.

Jay smiled and helped her up, "It was." He lightly dusted off her pants, "Want to see my room?"

"Of course," Hailey slipped her hand in his and walked up the stairs with him.

Jay paused at the first door and breathed out shakily.

"Is that it?" Hailey asked quietly.

"Uh, no," Jay shook his head, "It's my mom and dad's room. I…not today. I don't think I can ever go in there again."

"Okay," Hailey rubbed his back.

Jay gave one last look to the room then led Hailey to the one other bedroom. He looked in with a small smile on his face, "Obviously not how we left it, but that's okay."

Hailey laughed softly at the two cribs, "I'd say so."

"My bed was over here," Jay walked into the room, "Will was there," he pointed, "And as annoying as he could be at night, and just in general, I actually liked sharing a room with him."

"It seems like a good place to grow up," Hailey said.

"It really was," Jay looked out the window, "You know, we didn't have the most money, but we were happy. It felt like a well-rounded childhood."

Hailey walked over to him and gently wrapped her arms around his waist, "I think it was. You're a well-rounded person, Jay, and that's because of this – your parents and your brother and this house. They quite literally built you and I'm incredibly thankful for them."

Jay smiled down at her, "Thank you."

"Thank you for letting me in," Hailey went up on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly, "I love you."

"I love you too," Jay said against her lips.

Hailey hummed softly and stepped back, "Anywhere else you want to look in the house?"

"Unless you want to see the rock that was the cause of my first concussion and stitches in the backyard, no," Jay chuckled.

"The fact that that even exists here doesn't surprise me," Hailey laughed and held his hand, "You are so clumsy."

"I'm not clumsy," Jay led the way down the stairs, "I had an older brother that liked to push me."

Hailey smiled, "Sure, that's the reason."

"Shut up," Jay laughed and lightly pushed her.

"Mhmm," Hailey kissed his shoulder.

The woman looked up from the TV, "All done?"

"Yeah, thank you so much," Jay said, "It really means a lot that you let us do this."

The woman waved her hand, "Don't worry about it. If I were to go to my childhood home, I'd hope those people would let me in."

"Have a nice day," Hailey smiled and waved slightly, "And again, congratulations on your babies."

They walked out of the house and got in Jay's truck. He was about to drive away when he paused and looked through the console of his car. He found his checkbook and quickly wrote out a check.

"What're you doing?" Hailey asked, "And why do you even still have checks?"

Jay rolled his eyes, "Stay here." He jumped out of the car and jogged back to the house.

Hailey smiled and shook her head as she watched him knock on the front door and pass over the check to the new mom.

He came back to the car a minute later, "Okay, now we're good to go."

"Why'd you do that?" Hailey asked while putting her seatbelt on.

"She didn't have to let us in," Jay shrugged and started driving, "It was nice."

"You blow me away," Hailey said.

Jay chuckled, "It was nothing."

Hailey shook her head, "It wasn't nothing. I'm sure that meant a lot to her."

Jay smiled as he drove, "Well, what she did meant a lot to me." He reached over and grabbed Hailey's hand, "Can we stop by to see my mom?"

Hailey smiled softly and nodded, "Definitely."

"Great," Jay breathed and squeezed her fingers.

The air was cold against Hailey's neck as they walked through the cemetery. Jay's hand was held tightly in hers and Hailey could feel it getting clammy.

Jay eventually stopped walking and dropped Hailey's hand to squat down in front of a headstone. He lightly brushed some dirt off it then did the same to the one next to it.

"Hey," he whispered, "Happy birthday."

Hailey set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

Jay looked up at her with a small smile, "Come here."

Hailey smiled back and sat on the cold grass next to him just as Jay was rocking backwards to sit as well.

Jay cleared his throat, "Mom, this is Hailey. I know, she's blonde and you're going to say that's my type, but whatever."

Hailey laughed softly and turned her head to lightly kiss his shoulder.

"I know you'd like her," Jay continued, "She's really smart and funny," he looked to Hailey, "And kind and she keeps me in line. I might not be here, Mom, if it weren't for her."

"Hey," Hailey breathed and lightly set her hand on the side of his face, she shook her head just barely.

"It's true," Jay said, "Hailey, you…you helped fix me."

"You were never broken to start," Hailey rubbed her thumb over his cheek, "I promise."

Jay breathed in and looked back to the headstone, "Um, so yeah," he weakly laughed, "I love her, so there's that," his finger drew circles in the grass.

Hailey smiled and said softly, "Do you mind if I say something?"

Jay looked up slightly surprised, "Yeah, yeah, go for it."

Hailey rubbed small circles on her back, "Hi Mrs. Halstead, it's nice to meet you. Jay's told me a lot about you, especially today. It's been really great getting to know you. I wanted to say though," she moved forward closer to the headstone, "That you raised a really good man and every day I'm incredibly grateful to have him in my life. Oh, and your other son isn't too bad either."

Jay laughed and wrapped his arms around his knees, "See, she'd think that's funny. I was always her favorite."

"Oh really?" Hailey teased.

"Yeah," Jay wiped the back of his hand under his nose, "I was the baby."

"Will's only a year older," Hailey laughed.

Jay shrugged and smirked, "I know." He glanced toward his dad's grave, "She knew he was tough on me – on both of us, really – so I think that's why she let me get away with more stuff. She would certainly draw lines and there were consequences to crossing them, but she didn't really yell. She preferred talking over arguing. She really held us together." He rested his chin on his knees and took a deep breath, "I do feel bad for how…shattered we were when she died. I still think she would have been disappointed, but I also think she would have understood. She knew my dad could push and push and I think she anticipated that one day Will and I would snap under the pressure."

Hailey nodded along, lightly running her fingers through his hair as he faded off and got lost in thought.

Jay wiped his eyes and blinked quickly. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face, "Damn wind."

Hailey held back a small smile and brushed her thumb along the back of his neck, "It's okay, really."

Jay nodded and swallowed hard against the lump in his throat.

Hailey watched him take several deep breaths through his mouth before she sat up on her knees and hugged him. She held his head to her shoulder and whispered, "I think she's proud of you."

Jay gripped the back of her coat and breathed out shakily, "I think so too."

Hailey kissed the side of his head and rubbed her hands up and down his back.

After a few minutes, Jay pulled away and this time didn't try hiding or denying the tears that were starting to freeze from the cold. He sniffled and stood up, offering a hand to Hailey.

"Anything else you want to do?" Hailey asked as she stood, "Or say?"

Jay shook his head and squeezed her hand, "Let's just go home and watch a movie."

"That sounds like a great idea," Hailey smiled.

They started walking away, but then Jay stopped and turned to give one last look toward the headstone. He smiled a little then continued walking down the path with Hailey.

The next morning, Hailey woke earlier than Jay and slipped out of bed once she'd watched him sleep for a few minutes. She pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling her jeans on and one of Jay's sweatshirts.

After leaving a quick note on a sticky note next to the coffee pot, Hailey grabbed her keys off the counter and headed out of the house.

She knew of a small bakery that was next to a flower shop and stopped in for a dozen donuts and two cupcakes for dessert later. She then walked over to the flower shop and bought a bouquet of white daisies that she brought to her car.

She drove to the cemetery Jay had taken to the day before and braced the harsh wind while carrying the bouquet of flowers to the plot near the large tree off to the side.

Hailey knelt next to the headstone of Charlotte Halstead and placed the flowers to the right of it. She smiled and pressed her hand to the center of the cold granite.

"I just wanted to say thank you," she whispered, "I truly meant it when I said you raised a good man."

She stood with a deep breath and waved just slightly at the headstone before turning around and driving back to Jay's apartment, thankful to have found a new family in Jay.

A/N: Gosh I've been working on this one forever, but I'm pretty proud of it, so I hope you like it! Admittedly I should have been working this morning, but um…here I am writing instead. Sorry not sorry. But anyways! I hope you all liked this story. A couple people have asked if I'm going to do a story about Hailey's brothers and I truly don't know, I'll need to come up with a plot for that one and I have some other stories I want to wrap up first, so we'll see. Thank you to everyone who read this story, I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think :)