Welcome back to another chapter.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter, this is another fun chapter so I hope that you enjoy this.
Thank you once again for the reviews on the last chapter, it's refreshing to see that you're still enjoying this.
10 days had passed since the case involving Tom Richards, as expected the case had affected Jay, however not to the extent that they both expected. The first night was a tough one for Jay, he was restless all night, every time he fell asleep he would relive the moment that Nate died. His nightmares were short lived though, Hailey supported him through the night. The next few days after gradually improved for Jay, by telling Hailey what had happened on that day he started to feel the weight lifting off his shoulders, he didn't have another nightmare.
"Hi Hailey, everything alright?" Will greeted Hailey at the front door of his apartment. He was a little confused why Hailey was here by herself.
"Yeah everything's fine, I just wanted to speak to you about something." Hailey replied. Will let Hailey into this apartment and they moved to the couch.
"So what's up Hailey?" Will questioned.
"Well I need some advice. We had a case 10 days ago that stirred some bad memories for Jay concerning his army days. He had a small nightmare on the first night after the case but he hasn't had one since. I'm just not sure what to do when he has a big episode." Hailey explained.
"I think I should be asking you for advice." Will replied, Hailey looking back at him with a very confused look. "Oh come on Hailey, you and I both know that you have been there with him when he's had nightmares in the past." Will continued, a shy smile formed on Hailey's face.
"Yeah, I have been there in the past when he's had nightmares. But I'm still unsure on what works best to calm him down." Hailey replied.
"I know my brother well, I know that when you're with him he's calm. The only thing that he needs is you, you're his rock, his safe place. He tells you all of his secrets, you're the only person he feels confident to open up to. So whatever you've been doing since you've known my brother just keep it up." Will smiled back at Hailey as he opened up about his brother.
"He doesn't tell you about his army days?" Hailey questioned a little shocked.
"He's told me some stories but nothing major. The only way I've heard some of his deepest secrets is when he's been having a nightmare. You and maybe Mouse are the only people he trusts with his past, I'm not saying that he doesn't trust me but for whatever reason he doesn't like to open up to me about his past." Will explained.
"I know you want to be able to do more for Jay but what've done so far and what you're going to continue doing is all my brother needs. I've never seen my brother this happy before, whenever I see you two together he always has the biggest smile on his face." Will continued.
"Thanks Will." Hailey smiled back at Will as the two shared a quick hug, Hailey started to make her way to the door of his apartment.
"Oh Hailey wait up, give got something for you." Will called out as he made his way into his bedroom. He re-entered the living room a few moments later with a gift bag in hand. "Here this is for you." Will spoke as he handed her the gift bag.
"Oh thanks, what's this for?" Hailey questioned confused at the gift.
"It's a small birthday gift. I know that it's your birthday in a few days, Jay hasn't shut up about it for ages now, and he's really excited." Will explained.
"You didn't have to get me anything but I appreciate it. Thanks Will." Hailey smiled back at the doctor.
"I should be the one thanking you Hailey, you've made my brother a better and more confident person." Will replied honestly, Hailey just smiling back at him.
"I'll see you later Will." Hailey spoke out as she exited Will's apartment.
It was a few days later, it was Hailey birthday, luckily for her it fell on a Saturday so she would be definitely having a few drinks to celebrate.
Hailey woke up just after 9 in the morning. She immediately noticed that Jay wasn't in bed with her, she missed the warmth of his body, she missed waking up on his chest. His side of the bed was cold, whatever he was doing was not important, Hailey just wanted him back in bed with her. She snuggled up into his side of the bed, hugging his pillow tightly, in hailing his scent that she loved.
Hailey heard the bedroom door open a few minutes later, her head instantly lifted off his pillow and looked up towards him. He entered the bedroom with stack of pancakes covered in fresh berries, he knew her so well, her favourite thing for breakfast was pancakes.
"Good morning babe, happy birthday. I thought I'd treat you to some breakfast in bed." Jay spoke as he approached his side of the bed, handing Hailey the pancakes and squeezing into bed next to her.
"Thank you so much Jay." Hailey smiled back at Jay, Hailey wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers as they shared a passionate kiss, pulling away a few moments later.
"I was thinking that we could go out for a meal tonight if you want. There's a really nice Italian restaurant not too far away that I've been wanting to try, but it's up to you, it's your special day so you decide what you want to do." Jay spoke as he watched Hailey devouring the pancakes.
"That's sounds lovely, I don't really mind what we do, as long as I'm with you I'm the happiest person in this world." Hailey replied, Jay looking back at her with his signature smile that she loved.
Jay hopped off the bed once Hailey finished her breakfast, he came back a few moments later with a couple of small gift bags in hand. He sat down next to her and handed her the first gift bag. Hailey opened up the bag and pulled out a small box, she got slightly giddy inside as she realised that the box was either a jewellery box or a watch box.
She slowly opened the box and was amazed by what was inside it. Her eyes instantly looked onto the silver watch inside, she sat there motionless for a few moments, she couldn't take her eyes off the watch. Jay gave her a nudge to investigate further, she carefully lifted the watch out of the box. It matched closely to her bracelet and necklace that Jay had got her for Christmas. The face of the watch was pretty simple, it was a classy watch, something that shouldn't be worn for everyday use. The small diamonds that circled the edge of the watch face glistened in the morning sun that invaded their bedroom.
"Do you like it?" Jay asked nervously as she hadn't said anything yet.
Hailey was still lost for words, she couldn't find the right words to describe what she was feeling in the moment. Instead she once again pulled jay down to her lips, she passionately kissed him, she made sure that he knew how much she loved the watch. "Of course I like it, I love it, it's absolutely beautiful." Hailey replied as she pulled back from his lips, she heard jay breath out a small sigh of relief.
"I know you're not a massive fan of jewellery but I thought that this would be nice to go with the bracelet and necklace I got you for Christmas." Jay replied. Jay was right, Hailey wasn't a massive fan of jewellery, however she loved what jay had brought her. The pieces weren't too over the top, they were simple and classy and Hailey instantly feel in love with them.
Jay handed Hailey another gift bag, inside it was a nice bottle of red wine and an envelope. Hailey opened the envelope and saw that jay had booked her a spa day in a nice spa on the outskirts of the city. "There's a full day booked at a spa for you and someone else, which I'm sure will probably be Rojas." Jay smiled down at his girlfriend. He knew how close Hailey and Rojas had become so this would be nice thing for the two of them to do.
"Thank you so much Jay, I love you so much." Hailey smiled back at Jay.
"You deserve this Hails. I love you too. Let me clear all of this and I'll bring you a coffee." Jay replied as he cleared the empty plate and the empty gift bags. Hailey just sat there for a moment, appreciating how lucky she was to have Jay. She had never been so happy, Jay treated her like she was only person in the world, she knew that when they got together that it was going to be good but she could never have imagined that she would be this happy in life. Hailey's thoughts were interrupted by her phone buzzing away on her bedside table, she reached over for her phone and instantly smiled at the person that was ringing her.
"Hi Mom, how are you?" Hailey spoke.
"Happy birthday hells bells." Hailey's mom Jennifer yelled down the phone, Hailey smiled at the use of her nickname, she had no idea where her mom had come up with it but every time she heard her say it, it brought a smile to her face.
"Aw thanks Mom, it's great to hear from you." Hailey replied.
"It's great to speak to you as well darling. I'm so sorry that I couldn't make it to Chicago for your birthday, Tim's team was been really busy lately so I and dad have been down here in Virginia Beach quite a bit lately." Jennifer spoke, Hailey could hear the sadness in her mom's voice.
"Don't worry Mom its fine. Alice needs you there more than I do here so don't worry about it. I've had a really good birthday so far anyway." Hailey replied as she caught a glimpse of the watch that jay had brought her.
"That's great to hear, what have you done?" Jennifer questioned.
"I haven't done anything so far, Jay brought me a really nice watch for my birthday so it's been a really great start to my birthday." Hailey replied.
"Wow that sounds wonderful, how are things going between you and Jay?"
"Really good, I've never been this happy before. We recently moved in together." Hailey responded, she could hear her mom's excitement bubbling down the phone.
"That's great news Hailey, I'm so glad that you've found someone that treats you well. You really don't understand how happy I am for you and Jay." Jennifer responded excitedly down the phone.
"Thank you Mom, it means a lot to me that you like Jay."
"How could I not like him Hailey? I mean look at him, he's very handsome plus he's a really nice person. He treats my baby girl like a princess so I will love him forever." Jennifer spoke, Hailey laughing quietly at her mom's comments.
"Once again I'm really sorry that I couldn't make it for your birthday. I know that we make it every year but with Tim's current work schedule it's been hard to get away from Virginia Beach." Jennifer continued.
"Really Mom its fine, I know that you want to be here so that's good enough for me." Hailey replied. Hailey was sad that her mom couldn't be here in Chicago with her, but she know that there was a good reason for why she couldn't make it.
"I've got to go now Hailey, we're going out for some breakfast as Tim's just got back form a mission. Dad will call you later. I love you so much."
"I love you to Mom, I'll see you soon." Hailey replied just before the line went dead. Hailey sat there for a moment, she was a little upset that she wouldn't be seeing her parents on her birthday. Jay re-entered the bedroom a few moments later, a cup of coffee in hand. He instantly noticed that she looked upset.
"What's up Hails?" Jay spoke softly. He instantly made his way over to her, sitting next to her, Hailey rested her head against his shoulder.
"I just spoke to my mom and she said she couldn't make it here for my birthday." Hailey replied, sounding a little upset.
"I'm sorry Hails." Jay replied as he pulled her closer into his body, giving her a hug while kissing the top of her head.
"I know there's a good reason to why she can't make it but it's still a little upsetting that she and my dad can't be here."
"I'm going to make sure that you have the best birthday because that's what you deserve." Jay replied as he hugged Hailey, Hailey relaxing into the warmth of his body.
It was just after 7:30 in the evening, Jay and Hailey had just arrived at the Italian restaurant and put in their food and drink orders. The restaurant was very nice but not quite as nice as Marco's steakhouse which they loved. Italian was both of theirs favourite cuisine so they were very pleased to be in the restaurant.
Jay noticed that Hailey was staring at the jewellery at he had brought her, she was wearing the 3 pieces that Jay had brought for her. He smiled at the sight of her, she was beautiful, her natural beauty amazed him. "You look even hotter with that jewellery on." Jay spoke out with a cheeky smile on his face, Hailey blushing slightly.
"Always the charmer aren't you Jay Halstead." Hailey chuckled.
"Well it was my charming nature that melted your heart and made you finally admit that you loved me." Jay teased.
"I think what made me admit that I loved you was the fact that you got shot and almost died." Hailey replied.
"When you look back at it, it makes you realise that we were both idiots. We've loved each other for so long yet it took us ages to finally admit that. I don't know why I waited so long, I've known for ages now that you were the only person that I wanted to be with." Jay spoke.
"I guess when you look at it like that yeah, we were both stupid. I was just scared to open up to you in case you didn't feel that way. I know some of what you went through with Erin and I couldn't lose what we already had. I didn't want to admit to something that might not have been there." Hailey explained as she realised how stupid both of them had been.
"Well at least we finally made that step and now look at us, we're a strong couple and even stronger partners now. I just wish I told you that I loved you when I first realised that I did." Jay spoke.
"Yeah me too in a way, it would've have made life easier. But I kind of like the way that everything has turned out, obviously not the part that involved you getting shot but everything else has been amazing. Having that time away over Christmas was the perfect start to our relationship and seeing you effortlessly interact with my family was really nice to see." Hailey replied as their food arrived, interrupting their chat.
They thoroughly enjoyed their meal, it was just after 9 when they finished at the restaurant. Unknown to Hailey there was one more big surprise on her birthday that Jay had managed to hide from her. "Do you want to stop by Molly's for a couple of drinks Hails?" Jay questioned as they waited for Jay's truck to heat up.
"Yeah, I could knock back a few whiskeys right now." Hailey chuckled from the passenger seat. Jay discreetly sent a text to Rojas confirming that they were heading for Molly's.
"Everyone listen up." Rojas shouted but the music was too loud, when Atwater called out for everyone's attention everyone in the bar turned towards them. "Jay and Hailey are 2 minutes out so get ready." Rojas continued. Everyone at the bar crowded the front door, waiting for the arrival of Jay and Hailey, Rojas and Mouse were at the front.
2 minutes later the bar door slowly inched open. "Surprise." Everyone yelled as Hailey entered in front of Jay. Hailey's hands quickly covered her mouth as she was shocked, she turned around to Jay who had a big beaming smile on his face before turning back to face everyone else.
"Happy birthday Hailey." Rojas spoke as she approached Hailey and engulfed her in a big hug. They pulled apart a few moments later, Hailey couldn't find any words to voice her excitement, she would have been happy with a quiet night in with Jay but this was a very welcome surprise.
"There's one more surprise for you Hails." Jay spoke as he wrapped his arm around Hailey's shoulder.
"What is it?" Hailey questioned, just when she thought this day couldn't get any better it was about to.
"Reveal yourself." Jay shouted out, as he did Hailey's parents and her middle brother Tim and his wife Alice shot up from behind the bar.
Hailey was once again left speechless, she couldn't describe the feeling in her body at the moment, she was so happy beyond belief, she knew that this was Jay's idea. Hailey couldn't hold back the tears as her emotions took over her body, she started to cry tears of joy as she hugged Jay tightly. Each person's heart melted in the bar at the sight of Jay and Hailey, everyone that knew her knew she had been through a journey with Jay and seeing them this happy together was a great sight to witness.
"There was not a chance I was missing your birthday darling." Hailey's mom spoke as she approached Hailey. Hailey tears had now subsided and the excitement was bubbling in her body.
"I'm so happy your here mom." Hailey replied as she engulfed her mom in a big hug.
"You have Jay to thank for this, this whole thing was his idea. We started planning this at Christmas, unfortunately Michael and Chris couldn't make it here but they really wanted to come along." Jennifer explained as they pulled away from their hug.
"Let's get this party started am I right!" Hailey's dad Alexei shouted from behind the bar as he chugged a whole bottle of beer in about 15 seconds. Everyone in the bar cheered at Hailey's dad as he started a competition with Hermann behind the bar.
"I can already tell that tonight's going to be messy and he's going to need carrying back to the hotel later." Jennifer chuckled to Hailey at the sight of Alexei, Hailey laughing as well.
After a few minutes of chatting with various people who wished her happy birthday Hailey went in search of Jay. She found him at a table with Tim, Mouse, Casey, Ruzek, Severide and about 30 empty shot glasses. "Can I borrow you for a moment?" Hailey pushed as she started tugging on his wrist.
Jay agreed and she dragged him for a quiet corner at the back of the bar. She quickly wrapped both of her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her lips. She kissed him more passionately than ever before, both of them ignoring there need for air as they continued kissing each other, they pulled away after that felt like an eternity, their lips swollen and their breathing heavy. "What was that for?" Jay questioned in shock, he wasn't complaining at her action.
"For you being the most perfect man on this earth and organising this surprise for me." Hailey replied before she started kissing him again. The two of them re-joined the fun after a few minutes, Jay returning back to his table.
Hailey was walking through the crowd when she felt a hand on her arm tugging her off her course. "Come on birthday girl, it's shot time and I'm not taking no for an answer." Alice demanded as Hailey joined her along with Rojas.
"I see you've met Rojas then." Hailey chuckled as Rojas popped out from beside Alice.
"Hell Yes I have, this girl is a party animal Hailey. If this is what all of your friends are like I need to come here more often." Alice chuckled, Hailey and Rojas laughing as well. "Hermann, 5 shots of the strongest drink you've got. That's 5 each by the way." Alice continued, Hailey getting a little worried that this night was going to be very messy.
"Damn Alice, you're really on one tonight aren't you." Hailey chuckled, she was never seen this side of Alice before, she had only seen her sister in law as a quiet kind person.
"I haven't had a night out in far too long, plus I've gotta celebrate your birthday in style." Alice replied. The shots arrived and were gone quicker than they arrived. Tonight was going to be very very messy.
A little while later, a very drunk Alexei got hold of the mic for the karaoke. "Everyone listen up." Alexei called out as everyone instantly turned around to look at him. "I don't know if everyone knows this but I'm Hailey's very cool, awesome, chilled out and very, I mean very drunk father. I don't know many of you yet... actually I know someone... that Christopher Hermann bloke... wherever he is he's an absolute legend." Hailey's dad started his speech. Hailey loved her dad but she couldn't help but being a little embarrassed at seeing her dad slurring his words in a very drunken manner in front of her.
"I just want to thank each and every one of you for treating my princess with love and affection. As a father it's great to see my daughter being loved by all of these people. However there is one person I want to thank personally, where's that Jay Halstead fella, come up here Jay." Alexei continued as everyone made a route for Jay to join Hailey's dad. Jay wasn't sure what to expect from this.
"Thank you Jay for taking care of my daughter, thank you for being there for her and thank you for loving her in the way that you do." Alexei spoke as he shared a manly hug with Jay. "Enough with this soppy bullshit, lets continue this party, the night's still young." Alexei shouted out as he necked another shot and started dancing with everyone.
"Hailey your dad is a proper party animal." Natalie chuckled as the woman from the 21st, 51 and Med sat at a table together.
"He's great fun. I don't think I've ever seen him this drunk before." Hailey spoke just as she heard a cheer from the opposite end of the bar. As she turned around she saw her dad on the bar swinging his shirt around his head. "You see what I mean." Hailey laughed.
"I'd love to have a dad that could party like that. His speech was cute as well." Stella added.
"Yeah it was a nice speech, I just wish he was a little more sober when he delivered it. It did kind of feel like it was a speech at my wedding." Hailey responded.
"You never know that could be soon. With the way things are going between you and Halstead I wouldn't be surprised if he was down on one knee soon." Rojas chirped up in a drunken state. Hailey felt something in her stomach, she didn't know what the feeling was but the suggestion of Jay getting down on one knee caused something to happen in her body
"I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon guys, I mean we've only been together for a short amount of time, there's no need to rush anything." Hailey tried to deflect.
"If you're sure about someone why wait." Rojas added once again. The conversation was left there, those words playing on Hailey's mind for the rest of the party.
The rest of the night was a blur for everyone at the party. Molly's probably sold its record amount of drinks this evening with the amount of drinks that were consumed. Hermann and Alexei ended up putting on one hell of a display on the karaoke machine for everyone to enjoy. Alexei's night ended shortly after this after he passed out from all the shots, he had to be propped up against a wall as Jennifer continued enjoying herself. The party started to die down after midnight, Jay and Hailey left the bar at around 2am, both of them definitely not fit to drive a car home. This was definitely a night that Hailey will remember for the rest of her life.