Welcome back everyone, I hope you're all doing well during this crazy time.

Make sure you check out the last chapter if you missed it, you get to know one of Hailey's brother's a bit better. Also make sure you check out my Upstead one-shot, 'A feeling in my body that I only get around you', it's a one-shot idea I had on how Upstead could get together in season 8.

Thank you for all the support recently on my story and the one-shot. I'm trying my best to provide you guys with some Upstead content during this tough time and seeing all of your amazing support brings a massive smile to my face.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Stay safe out there everyone. :)

A couple of weeks had passed since the visit of Hailey's youngest brother Chris. Hailey was coming to the end of week thirteen of her pregnancy which marked a huge milestone, she was moving into the second trimester of her pregnancy and she couldn't be happier. The woes of early pregnancy would start to subside, the biggest one being morning sickness, and she would start to feel more like herself again.

Another thing that Hailey was thrilled about, was the growth of her baby bump. The growth of her bump had picked up slightly over the last 10 days, it was now noticeable to all of her friends that she was pregnant. Her bump still was small though, if she wore a jacket or hoodie her bump was still invisible to the naked eye.

Jay and Hailey had decided on taking a few days off of work and decided to make the trip to Virginia Beach to spend some time with Tim, Alice, Zara and Hailey's parents. They hadn't told them that they were coming down to Virginia Beach, so it was going to be a big surprise for everyone.

Jay and Hailey were getting comfortable in their seats, both of them a little sleep deprived after booking an early flight, wanting to make the most of the day ahead of them.

"Are you sure you don't want my pillow for your back Hails?" Jay questioned, he had been constantly checking up on her for the 30 minutes they had been in the air for.

"No Jay, I'm fine. I'm only thirteen weeks pregnant not thirty, my body is feeling good, probably the best it's felt during my whole pregnancy so far. You don't have to worry." Hailey shot back, a slight hint of annoyance on her voice. She loved how Jay was always making sure she was alright but sometimes it did get on her nerves slightly.

"You know what I'm like Hails, I will always worry about you, even if there is no need to. It's just the type of person that I am." Jay replied with a dorky smile on his face. Hailey couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle at his dorky smile.

"I know that being protective is one of your amazing qualities, it's one of the many reasons why I fell in love with you. But I promise you I'm good, I feel really good and I'm so excited for the next few days ahead." Hailey replied, flashing Jay her own big smile.

"I'm really excited to Hails. This is our first time away from Chicago with the three of us, as a family." Jay continued smiling back at Hailey as he took Hailey's hand in his, interlocking their fingers and placing their hands gently onto of her bump.

"My mom is going to be so excited when she sees my baby bump, I haven't told any of them except for Chris that I'm starting to show. She's probably going to go crazy when she sees it for the first time." They both shared a laugh at her comment.

"We need to tell her about our plans for the wedding as well. I'm sure she will be very excited to know that we're waiting until our baby is born for the wedding." Jay stated.

"Oh my god yeah, I completely forgot that I hadn't told her that yet. My mom will be so happy that we want our baby at our wedding." Hailey smiled back at Jay as she pictured her mom's reaction.

They arrived at Tim's house just after 10 in the morning. Tim's house was massive, a 6 bedroom house right on the beach overlooking Chesapeake Bay. The house was fairly modern with a lot of natural light flooding throughout the house, the house was open planned, similar to the Upton family lake house.

When they pulled up to the house Jay was left speechless at the house, much like his reaction to the lake house when they pulled up, Hailey couldn't help but laugh at Jay's shock as he was practically drooling over the beautiful house in front of him.

They walked up to the front door, both of them really excited to see the reactions of her family, and rang the doorbell. They both shared a smile as they heard Zara, Hailey's niece, shouting inside of the house. "Mommy someone is at the door." Zara shouted, her high pitched voice breaking the peace inside the house.

"Oh my god, what are you guys doing here?" Alice greeted them as she pulled the door open, a big smile and a look of shock on her face. Alice engulfed Hailey in a hug as they held there for a short moment, Alice pulling back shortly after and giving Jay a quick hug.

"Everyone get down here, Hailey and Jay are here." Alice called out moments later.

Within seconds they could hear the quiet sounds of little feet padding on the hardwood floor and soon a little body crashed into Jay's leg and clutched onto him tightly. "Uncle Jay, Uncle Jay." Zara exclaimed as she hugged Jay's leg, Jay, Hailey and Alice shared a massive smile at Zara and how she completely ignored Hailey and went straight to Jay.

"I think she missed you Jay." Hailey chuckled as Zara still cling onto Jay's leg.

"I missed you to Auntie Hailey." Zara claimed as she pulled away from Jay's leg, holding her arms out for Hailey to give her a hug.

Hailey pulled Zara into a big hug, holding onto her niece tightly as she hadn't seen her since Christmas. "I missed you to sweetheart."

The rest of the family joined them in the hallway of Tim's house, many hugs being exchanged. After the initial greetings Hailey and Jay split up, Jay going with Tim, Alice and Zara to play in the yard while Hailey sat at the kitchen island with her parents.

"I've got something I want to show you mom and dad." Hailey broke the silence as they sat sipping on their coffees. Hailey felt really excited about showing her baby bump to her parents. Her mom just smiled back at her waiting for Hailey's next move.

Hailey got up from her stool and made her way closer to her mom, taking off her jumper in the process. "My baby bump has started to show mom." Hailey continued, unable to contain her excitement. Hailey moved her hand down to her stomach, running her hand over the slight bump.

"Oh my god, wow that's amazing Hailey." Jennifer replied, slightly in shock. Hailey could see her mom's eyes water slightly as Jennifer shared this moment with her daughter. "Can I?" Jennifer questioned as she started to move her hand towards Hailey's stomach, Hailey nodding her head quickly in response as she moved her hand away from her stomach.

Jennifer carefully placed her hand on Hailey's bump and stared slowly running her hand up and down. "That's my grandchild." Jennifer simply stated, she didn't really know what to say in this moment. She was overwhelmed with emotion as she felt her only daughter's baby for the first time, no words would be able to do justice to this moment. Jennifer's other hand wiped away a few tears of joy that had started to form.

Jennifer moved her hand away a few moments later, still trying her best to contain the tears of joy after sharing that magical moment with her daughter. "When did your bump start showing darling?" Jennifer questioned.

"I felt a difference around the end of my tenth week, but we could hardly see it. But over the last 10 days my bump as started to grow a little faster, we can properly see the roundness of my stomach." Hailey explained, the smile on her face growing wider with every second that passed.

"That's wonderful Hailey, I'm so happy for you. I remember being when I was pregnant, when my bump started to form it always made me feel more connected to my baby. It always felt magical when I could feel my baby growing every day that passed by. I just hope that you get the same feeling darling."

"I'm already getting that feeling mom. Every time I put my hand on my bump I feel my heart swell, it just seems so magical to feel my baby. I can't even imagine how magical it will feel to hold my baby for the first time, and to see Jay holding our baby for the first time." Hailey replied, she joined her mom in getting a little teary eyed, even thinking about holding their baby for the first time felt like a dream to Hailey.

"Trust me darling, the first time you hold your baby for the first time is a memory you'll never forget. I can still picture the first time I held you and your brothers, it still brings tears to my eyes every time I think back to those memories."

"I'm so excited for that day, even though I've loved every single second of my pregnancy so far, I just wish that I could skip to the day that I hold my baby for the first time."

"I was the same as you Hailey, every day I dreamed about holding my baby. But enjoy every moment you can of your pregnancy darling, every day is magical in its own way." Jennifer responded, beaming smiles on both Hailey's and Jennifer's face.

It was later in the day, Jay and Hailey had settled in and were soaking in the sun of the beautiful afternoon down on the coast. Jay, Tim and Zara were playing in the pool with Alice and Hailey watching on in admiration on the sun loungers next to the pool.

"He's going to be a great dad Hailey." Alice broke the silence between the two of them, smiling while watching Tim and Jay jump around like kids with Zara.

"Yeah he really will be. He's so good with kids at work, there's this kid he met at a crime scene called Alex and I've watched him interact with him a couple of times. It's just so heart-warming to watch him with kids." Hailey replied, unable to contain the giddy smile and feeling inside of her body.

"He's been great with Zara, over Christmas and the short time you've been here. I honestly think that Zara loves Jay more than any of us, whenever he's here it's impossible to get here away from him." Alice chuckled.

"I just hope I can be as good with our baby as he's going to be." Hailey sighed.

"Hey don't think like that Hailey. You're going to be a great mom trust me, you've been an amazing Auntie to Zara as well as Michael's kids, all of them love spending time with you."

"Even though I'm so excited for everything, I'm really nervous as well. I'm nervous that I'm not going to be a good mother to my baby." Hailey replied, a little disheartened.

"It's only natural that you're nervous Hailey, any first time mother that said they weren't nervous is lying. You're not going to be a perfect mother straight away, you learn new things every day that you spend with your baby. But the main thing you need to do is to love your baby, and I know that you're going to do that with every fibre in your body. You have one thing that Jay will never be able to have with your baby, you have that special mother and baby bond that no one will be able to share with your baby." Alice explained, sending a warming smile in Hailey's direction.

"How did you manage with being a first time mother, especially with Tim being away on an unpredictable schedule?" Hailey questioned.

"It was tough I can't lie, some days I felt very overwhelmed with everything but Jennifer and Alexei helped me out a lot. They taught me everything that they had learned worked best, so I just followed everything they told me. When Tim was here he was great, the nature of his job probably made him a better father, he went the extra mile to do his part whenever he was here as he knew he could be called away at any minute. You just need to go with what you think is best for your baby Hailey." Alice explained.

Just as Alice finished speaking there was a loud scream from the pool from Zara as Jay and Tim cannon balled into the pool, splashing Zara in a load of water. Hailey and Alice burst out laughing, Hailey almost spitting out her orange juice as she was laughing so hard.

"Have you made any decision on your wedding yet Hailey?" Alice questioned after taking a few moments to calm down after laughing at Jay and Tim.

"Yes we have actually, we decided we're going to wait until our baby is born to have our wedding. I what all of our family at the wedding so that includes the little special person inside of me." Hailey replied, grinning ear to ear as she placed her hand on the exposed skin of her baby bump.

"Aww, that's so cute Hailey. I can't even imagine how special it will feel for you and Jay to have your baby with you when you get married."

"It will most likely be the best day of my life. Getting married to the love of my life with my tiny baby there with us almost feels like a dream, it's all I've ever wanted in life now it's becoming a reality." Hailey replied, still grinning from ear to ear.

"The whole family are absolutely over the moon for you Hailey, it's so great to see you achieving the life you've always dreamed of. Have you decided on anything else for your wedding?" Alice questioned.

"Not really, well nothing definitive anyway. I've always preferred the idea of a winter wedding rather than a summer one, so everything has sort of fallen into place with my due date being in November. Me and Jay are both pretty flexible on locations as well, it doesn't really bother us greatly whether we get married in a church or somewhere else. Just as long as our friends and family are there to celebrate that special day with us, I will be the happiest person in the world. I was going to ask for your help with some stuff, I know that you organised your wedding by yourself and you love that sort of stuff." Hailey explained, Alice's face lighting up when Hailey said she was going to ask for Alice's help.

"I'd be honoured to help you organise your wedding. I'd probably put more effort into organising your wedding than my own, I want you and Jay to have the most perfect day possible."

Hailey and Alice were interrupted again when Zara raced over to them, getting water everywhere after just getting out of the pool. "Come on mommy, come and get in the pool with daddy and Uncle Jay." Zara shouted while grabbing on her mom's arm.

"Yeah come on sis, stop being so boring." Tim laughed from his position in the pool, Hailey sending him the death stare, which only made his laughing intensify.

Jay lifted himself out of the pool and ran over towards Hailey, he placed his arms underneath her knees and her back, picking her up and making his way towards the pool, threatening to jump in the pool with her in his arms. "Halstead don't you dare. You will regret it if you do trust me." Hailey warned Jay as he stopped at the edge of the pool.

"Fine I won't, but you are getting in this pool with me one way or another." Jay laughed as he gently put Hailey down.

Hailey sat down on the side of the pool and slowly slipped into the water, shivering slightly as the cool water hit her exposed skin. She thought Jay was going to going to get in next to her but instead she was covered in a tidal wave of water after Jay cannon balled in next to her. As Jay resurfaced she was met by a massive dorky smile on his face as he pulled her close to him, her arms finding the back of his neck as he kissed her.

Hailey's parents joined them a little later on and the family enjoyed the rest of the afternoon having fun with each other, taking in the boiling hot afternoon sun as they relaxed into the calm waters of the pool.

The family had just sat down for tea after just getting back from a walk along the beach at the rear of the house, they had sat together on the beach sharing an ice cream as they watched the sunset over the calm soothing waters of Chesapeake Bay. All of the family were exhausted after the afternoon of fun in the pool, Hailey mostly as her pregnancy meant that she became fatigued later in the day.

The family engaged in small talk as they enjoyed the beautiful salmon meal that Alexei had prepared for them. Zara had found her place next to Jay after insisting that she wanted to sit by Uncle Jay and not next to her own father, which caused laughter between the family.

After finishing their salmon dish and their dessert of brownies and ice cream, the rest of the family had a little surprise for Hailey and Jay. "Hailey, Jay, before you leave the table we've got a little something to give you, from all of us." Jennifer announced while Alexei disappeared out of the open plan living area, coming back with a big gift bag a few moments later.

"What's this mom?" Hailey questioned, a little bit shocked as her dad placed the gift bag in front of her, the sides of the bag budging out as the bag was rammed full of items.

"It's a little present for you two and your baby." Jennifer replied instantly, she was clearly very excited about what was in there.

Hailey and Jay shared a smile before Hailey opened the bag. The first item that Hailey pulled out was a couple of little fluffy blankets, one in light blue and the other in pink. Hailey instantly felt her heart swell as she held the tiny blankets in her hands, she could already imagine her tiny baby snuggled into these in her arms.

"You go next babe." Hailey turned to Jay, her voice barely above a whisper as she continued holding the little fluffy blankets in her hands.

Jay dipped his hands into the bag and pulled out two sets of tiny mittens along with a tiny set of warm fluffy hats, one in pink and in light blue once again. The rest of the family were watching the couple closely, big smiles on all of their faces as they watched Hailey and Jay share this little moment together.

The couple continued making their way through the gift bag. There was a couple of pairs of tiny warm shoes and a bigger fluffy blanket for the crib in the nursery. There was one final thing left in the bag, the biggest item saved for last. Both Hailey and Jay were left speechless for a moment as they pulled out the top of the range baby monitor from the bag, neither one of them expecting to receive this as a present.

"You didn't have to do us for us. This is... this is too much you guys." Hailey struggled slightly to speak as she felt her emotions take hold of her body slightly. She was just so happy in life, not only did she have an amazing fiancée that would do anything for her, but she also had an amazing family that were so supportive of her and would do anything to help her.

"Of course we did darling. You're my only daughter, and you're having a baby. This is the least that you deserve from your family. Now come here darling." Jennifer spoke gently as she made her way towards Hailey, wrapping her arms around her daughter as Hailey started crying quietly against her mother's shoulder.

"Thank you so much mom, and the rest of you. This means so much to me." Hailey claimed, her voice breaking slightly as tears of voice continued streaming down her face.

"You don't have to thank us darling. We're your family, and we're going to continue giving you gifts for the two of you and your baby. We all want to support both of you through this in any way possible." Jennifer followed up as she spoke for the whole family, Hailey just continued crying against her mother's shoulder.

After a few moments Hailey pulled away from her mother, wiping the left over tears off of her cheeks. Hailey returned to her position next to Jay as she prepared for the little surprise she had for the others. "Me and Jay have got our own little surprise to tell you. We've decided on when we're going to have our wedding. We are going to wait until after our baby is born so we can share that incredibly special day with our special little baby." Hailey announced.

As soon as Hailey announced the news, Jennifer's face lit up and she instantly ran back to Hailey, engulfing her in a massive hug. The others shared a laugh between them at Jennifer's reaction, she was well known to have very over the top reactions, but they all loved her passion. "That's amazing to hear Hailey. I'm so happy that you made this decision." Jennifer smiled back at her daughter as she pulled back from the hug.

The family continued sitting around the table for a little while, celebrating the news about Jay and Hailey's wedding. Both Jay and Hailey thanked the family for their gifts on numerous occasions while at the table, it truly meant the world to both of them that Hailey's family were being so supportive and helpful during this time that was completely new to the couple.

A couple of hours had passed, it was now just gone ten in the evening, most of the family had headed to bed after what had been a fun but exhausting day for everyone involved. It was just Tim and Jay left, they were sipping on a whiskey on the back porch of Tim's house, enjoying the cool breeze of the pleasant May evening.

"So how you feeling about becoming a father Jay?" Tim questioned after a short period of small talk between the two.

"Obviously I'm a little nervous but I'm beyond excited to start this next chapter of my life with Hailey. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that my child doesn't have the childhood that I had, even though I love my dad he was a shit father to me." Jay replied, enjoying the slight burn of the amber liquid that he was slowly sipping on.

"I know I don't know you that well yet, but from what I've seen of you with Zara and everything that Hailey had said about you, I'm certain you'll be a great father. My sister always tells us about the way you treat her, how you always treat her like she is the only person in the world, so I know that you going to be a great father because you have amazing qualities." Tim explained, earning a small smile on Jay.

"Thank you Tim, that's nice to hear that coming from you. I've got something to ask you. How did you manage to do it? Leaving Alice and Zara back here while you went into a war zone? I know my situation is different to yours but the thought of leaving Hailey and my baby at home while I go out on duty does scare me." Jay admitted.

"It was very tough I can't lie. I was given a few weeks off when Zara was first born but the first mission back was hell, every second of that first mission I was thinking about Zara and Alice. But I always reminded myself to why I do the job I do, I put my life on the line so people like my wife and my daughter don't ever have to experience things like you and me have in those war zones. I always felt somewhat at peace leaving them behind because of that." Tim explained, Jay nodding in agreement as he related to Tim's words.

"I'm sorry if this is a personal question. But, did you tell Alice what you experienced overseas and the trauma that brought along with it?" Jay questioned, it was a little out of character for Jay to be doing this but he trusted Tim, and felt ready to open up to someone that wasn't Hailey or Mouse.

"No it's fine. When me and Alice first met and started dating I didn't tell her much about my job, she knew I was a seal but I didn't tell her much as I wanted to protect her from all of that. Whenever I got back from a mission I would let her know I was fine but that was it, but would take 24 hours to myself to sort through anything that might have affected me on the mission. But the longer we stayed together, the more I let her in." Tim explained, taking a moment to sip on his whiskey before he started speaking again.

"There was always one story that I didn't tell her, I only told her the night we got engaged. This story was one that would haunt me forever..." Tim paused again as he took a big mouthful of whiskey before letting Jay in on this story.

"I was on deployment in Afghanistan in 09, our team was sent out on a night raid on a suspected bomb maker in a village close to our FOB. We patrolled in on foot and staged at the front door when a young lad with an AK shot a round at us. I went to fire back but my gun jammed, luckily the guy behind me took him down. We went ahead with the raid on the house but I swapped places with my best friend, as I was the pointman at the time. We cleared the first room and were ready to move forward when a grenade was thrown into our room. My best friend called 'Avalanche' but we were never going to be able to react in time. So he jumped on top of the grenade. He made the ultimate sacrifice to save his brothers..." Tim paused once again, taking a moment to fight back the tears. If he was telling this story in the past he probably would have broken down, but because he eventually told Alice he felt confident enough to tell other people.

"I struggled to look at his wife the same ever again. I always felt guilty that he died because I swapped places with him. Every time I would tell this story in the past I would break down, but as soon as I told Alice I felt that massive weight lifted off of my shoulders. Ever since then I've told Alice most stories about my missions. It's done me a lot of good since I started doing that." Tim continued after taking a moment to compose himself.

"I've got one story that always haunts me, my good friend Nate in my rangers unit was killed in an ambush on us when we were extracting locals. It's always haunts me beaches I missed the shot on the fighter with the RPG, the wind speed changed just as I took my shot and I hit the guy next to him. I always blamed myself for his death even though I know that I couldn't have done anything about it." Jay spoke up.

"I feel your pain Jay. No one, not even our closest loved ones will ever fully understand what soldiers like us have gone through. But I wouldn't change that, I would happily deal with all of that pain if it means that my wife, daughter and family never have to experience what I have. I'm sure you're exactly the same as well." Tim replied.

"Yeah 100%. Hailey is the reason why I can talk about my army experiences to some extent. She really has made me the person that I am today, without her I have no idea where I'd be." Jay spoke with a massive smile on his face.

"My sister is a very special person. But she wouldn't be where she is today without you Jay. I remember the first time she told the family about you, she had a massive smile on her face as she described this amazing person that she was partnered with. She told us that she trusted you more than any partner she'd ever had and how you would protect if that meant you put yourself in danger. Everyone in the family could tell she was slowly falling in love with you trust from the way she spoke about you." Tim explained, earning a small giddy smile from Jay.

Tim and Jay continued talking until just after 11 in the evening, both of them felt good from sharing their traumatic stories with someone that wasn't their wife/fiancée. Jay was slowly becoming more comfortable about sharing his experiences in the Rangers, he probably would ever reach the stage for them to become widely known but he was slowly letting more people into the darker side of his past.

Jay headed up to the guest room that he and Hailey were staying in. As he entered the bedroom his hearted swelled at the sight of Hailey, she was seemingly fast asleep, her hair in a frazzled state across her face. He didn't know what it was but seeing her like his just made him feel like the luckiest man in the world, even though he always felt like that around her, something about the sight of her know just made him love her even more.

Jay slipped into bed, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled back against his chest gently. "I'm proud of you baby." Hailey whispered, startling Jay slightly as he settled into the warts of the bed.

"What for Hails?" Jay questioned.

"For opening up to Tim about Nate's death. I know that it's hard for you to talk to me about that let alone someone else, it just shows how far you've come with dealing with your PTSD." Hailey replied, almost speaking like a proud mother.

"It felt good to talk to Tim about some of my bad memories. But I wouldn't be able to do without you Hails, you're my rock, you're the person who has made me who I am today."

"You've done the exact same for me as well Jay, you've made me into a better person. You truly mean the absolute world to me Jay. I love you so much." Hailey spoke quietly as she snuggled her body tighter against Jay's chest.

"You mean the absolute world to me as well Hails. I love you so much babe." Jay quickly replied. He kissed the top of her head before burying his head into her hair. Both of them falling asleep within a matter of moments, both of them feeling on top of the world after a perfect first day down in Virginia Beach with Hailey's family.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I have struggled to concentrate over the last couple of days so I was a little unsure to how this would turn out.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about Tim and Chris over the last two chapters, you're going to be seeing more of Hailey's family in future chapters.

Also, if you have any ideas of your own, whether it's something to incorporate into this story or a one-shot idea, feel free to let me know them and I'll have a go at writing them. I want to provide content that you guys want to see, especially during this tough time.

Anyway, that's enough of me. I'll be back next week with at least one chapter. :)