Hi guys!

Many of you write to me that you want the two to finally confess their feelings, but unfortunately I still cannot give you this satisfaction! In any case, do not despair, please!

I hope you like this new chapter, let me know!

Ps: I wanted to say that I still have NOT decided whether Bean will be boy or girl and I apologize if in the chapters it seems to be boy, but in Italian we tend to speak male when we do not yet know sex.

Pps: however, there is no lack of ideas and I had an illumination on a new chapter for 'Everything's gonna be fine'.What? haven't you read it yet? What are you waiting for? I'll wait for you there too!

I embrace you all, H

A ray of light hit her straight on the face and Hailey opened her eyes. She slowly stretched before realizing where she was.

She blinked few times to focus on the living room. She was rolled up in the blanket and stretched out on the sofa. From a distance, she heard some voices coming from what she thought was the kitchen.

She closed her eyes and remained curled up on the sofa for a few minutes before realizing what had happened the night before.

So she staggered towards the kitchen tying her hair in a messy ponytail. The image that appeared in front of her left her slightly dazed because sitting at the table was Vanessa in an unthinkable pink pyjamas and Jay was in front of the stove. She sank into the chair next to Vanessa and stretched out her arms in front of her.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty! We made an incredible mess but you continued to snore!", Vanessa's cheerful voice pierced her eardrums and she wondered if it was really legal to be so at that time of the morning.

About that, she looked up, discovering with disappointment it was still very early.

"It's not even 7 in the morning!"

"Rise and shine, Detective!"

Vanessa continued to chirp sharing with them the news that flowed on the laptop.

"Is she always like that in the morning?"

A grunt escaped her lips as her head sagged in her arms.

Then, a cup slipped in front of her and, as if the salvation of the universe depended on it, she sniffed the air in search of the scent of coffee.

She moaned in relief because yes, the cup was full of coffee! Maybe getting up so early had its positive side if she could have had her daily dose of coffee right away.

"I was thinking…"

"Do not think. It's too early to think, Vanessa."

This earned her a disdainful glance from her friend, who then continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"I was thinking we should go do some more shopping! It was funny, wasn't it?"

"So, so funny…", she muttered sinking her nose into the cup. She caught a glimpse of Jay across the table smiling and filling their plates with pancakes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Fine because you're really fine or fine because you always say you're fine?", she looked at him closely.

"I've been worse", he laughed, holding out a plate.

She was about to respond when Vanessa cut her off again.

"He has no fever! Now can you take me seriously?", she snapped with a scornful and offended expression.

"Yeah, fine. All the shopping you want, when you want, I give up…"

"I thought it would have been more difficult to convince you…", she hummed cheerfully.

"Yeah, but I seriously have to start buying something for Bean…", then, in a flash of genius, she turned to Jay, "You can come too!"

"No, please! Shopping men destroy my enthusiasm!", Vanessa groaned beside her, glancing hopefully at Jay, perhaps in an attempt to dissuade him from accepting.

"Then it must really come!", she laughed.

"You're a delight in the morning! But your mood won't dismantle me, rise and shine!"

Vanessa laughed and started humming up the stairs. And the sudden silence fallen in the kitchen was welcomed as a blessing by both of them.

"If you want…", Jay cleared his throat looking sideways, "if you want I can go with you, to buy things for Bean…"

Hailey stared at him across the table, the sun was hitting him directly on the face and his green eyes seemed even lighter than their were normally. The first sun highlighted his freckles on the nose and the cheeks.

And like the day before, she imagined a little boy with green eyes and freckles.

...

"Hey, sorry. Adam stopped me and talked about an old case and I ran away as soon as I could", Jay walked past her when opened the door and went straight to the kitchen.

"I brought Chinese food, okay?"

But he didn't have time to turn to her that Hailey had already slipped her arms around his neck and closed the distance between their bodies.

"Uh, whoa, if that's what I get for bringing Chinese…", he muttered hugging her, "Is Vanessa upstairs?"

"Vanessa is out until tomorrow evening, free weekend…", she breathed with her lips attached to his.

"Ah, little devil! Didn't tell me, you lied to make me come here…"

Hailey chuckled with her lips now on his neck.

"Well, you can lie to me whenever you want if this is the result…", he moaned, then his hands slipped under her ass and the next moment she had her legs wrapped around his hips.

"Shower. Now."

"Good idea."

She heard him walk while untying her hair from her tail.

"I'm full of good ideas, you know…", another moan when he bit the skin behind her hear.

"I can't wait to you show them all…but now, shut up."

He kicked the bathroom door shut and, really, Hailey didn't want to talk anymore.

It was already late at night when his sleepy voice made her lift the head from his chest. A ray of light came in through the window, hitting the center of the bed.

"Hails? What are you doing?"

"Counting your freckles", as if it were obvious.

"And why you don't sleep?"

He ran a hand through her loose hair and she saw his half-closed eyes, a slight smile hovering over his lips.

"You really have a lot of freckles…", she muttered, touching the skin of his arm with a finger.

"Uhm, yeah, so many freckles usually mean that in the sun you burn immediately…"

"I like your freckles."

Her fingers went down his chest.

"They look like constellations."

Her fingers went up to touch his neck, in a light caress.

She raised her face, touching his jaw with her lips.

"I'm not sleepy, you wake up?", she hummed against his neck, her fingers slowly brushing the skin of his shoulders.

She saw his smile spread across his face as his hand slid down her bare back.

"It's two in the morning…"

"Don't be annoyed, I know you're awake… Are you awake?", she continued to hum, crossing their feet.

The laughter echoed in his chest almost made her heart melt.

Slowly and clinging to his shoulders, she slipped on his naked body and left a trail of kisses along his neck, on his cheeks, on his nose, until stopping a few centimeters from his lips.

She fixed her eyes on the large green ones in front of her as his hands continued to caress her bare skin, the sheet had slipped at her hips.

"I'm awake, I deserve a kiss…", he breathed on her lips.

And she, who had nothing to say, granted him. Slowly melted against him, one hand in his hair and the other one behind his neck. And his arms around her.

And she didn't want to be anywhere else.

...

"Uh? Sorry, I zoned out for a second…"

Jay stared at her with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, of course, we'll go to shopping then. Now I…sorry, but yeah, need to go getting ready, you know…"

Jay quickly stacked the dishes in the sink before turning and walking over to her.

"Thanks for tonight, Hails."

His hand slid across her cheek and she closed her eyes leaning against his touch.

But too soon, Jay took his hand away, his eyes still fixed on hers, "See you later at the district then."

And without waiting for her answer, he disappeared around the corned and the next minute she heard the front door close behind him.

Hailey managed to get into her room before leaning back around the closed door and sliding to the floor.

Her breathing was accelerated, her cheek seemed to burn in the point where he had put his hand. The images of what she remembered continued to swirl in her mind. She pressed her palms against her closed eyes trying to calm her breath and erase the images that kept swirling in front of her. His skin, his breath, his eyes…

Then slowly she placed her hand on her belly and from nowhere she remembered wanting to call his mom today.

She would no longer put it off.

...

After that time, things between them changed imperceptibly.

Hailey found herself waking up almost every night sweaty and breathless, dreams about Jay - her and Jay together, to be precise - haunted most of her nights.

Each time, panting in the dark, she blamed pregnancy hormones, but then, the next morning when she saw Jay arriving at the district, she suddenly was blushing. Each time.

It was starting to become an almost maddening situation, except that she liked it. The memory of what she dreamed of haunted her pleasantly for hours, leaving her unsatisfied and in love at the same time.

Meanwhile, days turned into weeks, her belly kept growing and suddenly, without realizing it, she was sitting behind the desk all day. She had had to abandon the field when running was becoming too demanding and her presence was more of a commitment than a help.

Every morning, she had to see the unit go down the stairs leaving her behind and every time she kept her radio on, with her heart in her troath, until saw them coming back.

Staying in the district was unnerving but the only positive thing in all that situation was that little Bean had started to move few weeks earlier. Sometimes it was really difficult to concentrate when a little human being kicked her kidneys and ribs, but most of the time it kept her company.

She had so much free time she was able to deal with some files for Sergeant Platt who, Hailey noted with a touch of emotion, had become much kinder to her.

Fortunately for her, Bean was able to relax and feel a little quiet when Jay was around. It was amazing how he could sense his presence and his voice, but Hailey didn't ask too many questions. Sometimes she would listen to his interviews from behind the glass just to find some relief from his continuous movements.

Some of the moments she loved most were the evenings she spent with Jay. Bean was moving a little but mostly he was quiet.

It was as if Jay's mere presence, though silent, calmed Bean. As if he sensed he was there and that was enough for him. They could spend hours watching TV and the baby would remain calm.

Maybe he would have been like his father, silent and reserved, and Hailey would have been fine because the mere thought that his child might actually look like Jay made her heart flutter. She really wanted him to look like him, he was one of the best men she had ever known, she she would have accepted even if Bean hadn't had his green eyes as long as he had his heart.

It was a beautiful situation, certainly exasperating, but every time Hailey came out a little more in love.

Natalie had warned her she could probably feel more and more tired and prescribed her iron and calcium supplements, but Hailey always felt energetic. Sure, she felt the need to sit and rest more than usual, but as long as she was at the district she felt like a ball of energy ready to fill out every possibile duty. Platt was certainly enthusiastic about that.

And just because she was always so full of energy, on a Saturday morning that Voight had given them free, she had dragged Jay to shopping. She thought it would be difficult, perhaps embarrassing, choosing clothes and everything a child might need. Instead, against all her expectations, she had spent incredible hours with him.

They had made a list of all the important things for a child. As fas as the forniture was concerned, she had decided to wait any longer because, in fact, they had not yet talked about how they would organize their houses. Would they need two strollers, two cots and twice what else was needed? Would they need twice as much to organize their houses? She didn't know, she still didn't want to think about it. She wanted to enjoy this moment and it seemed Jay wanted the same.

At the end of the morning, she had returned home full of shopping bags with onesies, little adorable socks, bibs and anything else that could be useful.

Choosing among the thousand onesies had been impossible, Jay would have taken them all and also Hailey. But in the end, they had reduced their choice and the one she loved most was white with many small squirrels drawn. Jay was totally obsessed with squirrels, she never knew, but she was continuing to find out new things about him, so she wouldn't complain.

They may no longer be working together in the filed, but they were still partners and thing were working so well between them that Hailey was looking forward to the moment that would ruin everything. She knew it would come, it was only a matter of time.

Contacting her mother and persuading her to come to town for a lunch together wasn't difficult, but the thing that most cheered her up was that her father hadn't seemed the slightest intention to come with her.

And about that, Hailey got a little straighter in her chair looking out of the restaurant window.

She had decided to arrive slightly early to anticipate her mother but now, while she was waiting for her, anxiety was squeezing her bowels. What if she took it badly? What if she didn't want to know about it?

Of course, she had lived alone until now, without her help, but she felt that right now having her mother's approval, her love, would mean so much to her.

She was casually looking at the street when fast steps made her head spin. And in front of her stood the small frame of her mum. She hadn't seen her for nearly a year but hadn't really changed at all. Diane had the usual short blonde hair neat and blue eyes, the same as hers, smile across the table.

"Hailey, honey! Unfortunately I wasn't able to come right away because you know, with school… I had to find someone who could replace me all day, but I'm so glad I made it!"

Diane spoke quickly taking a seat in the chair in front of her. For a moment, Hailey basked in the beauty of hearing her voice, seeing her smile with shining eyes and her heart swelled knowing she was the reason for that smile.

"How are you, honey? Your brothers always ask about you, but I know you always have so much work…"

"Mom…", she took her hand trying to silence her. It wouldn't have been easy to tell her what she was going to say otherwise, "I'm fine. Much more than fine, actually…"

The explosive personality of her mother, which had remained for so many years hidden under the fear of saying something wrong, now was amusing her.

"I asked you to come here because I wanted to show you something, talk to you about something…"

"Oh please! Can you take me to finally see the district where you work? So I can get to know your colleagues!"

"No mom, that's not it…", she moaned smiling.

Then she realized she would never be able to keep her quiet, so, instead of talking, she simply showed her the reason for her call.

She moved the chair back and got up slowly. It was impossibile to hide her baby bump by now. She saw awareness fix in her gaze as she looked at her belly. Then, slowly, Diane looked up at her and Hailey sat down again.

With the hands on her belly, she patiently waited for her to say something.

"Honey…you're pregnant…I wasn't expecting it…"

"Yeah, neither do I, Mom… But it's a good thing, you know?"

She tried to convince her because she hadn't understood her gaze. But then, Diane looked down at her hands again.

"You're beautiful, Hailey. I'm so happy", and before she could understand what was going on, her mother pulled her to her feet and squeezed her in her arms crying.

Hailey found herself happy she had managed to find a table in a hidden corner, she thought as she heard her mom sobbing against her shoulder.

Lunch passed in a flash, she couldn't remember the last time she had spent so well with her mom.

She told her some events of her life in recent years, how she entered in Intelligence, what she was concerned with.

She told her about Jay. She told her how she got there, what happened in the last year.

"I mean, Hailey, Jay is your partner, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's also the father…"

"Okay, but aren't you two a couple? Honey, what does that mean? What are you two?", the dismayed look on her face made her stop eating her salad.

"I don't know, mom…", she gasped hearing her own words ringing around her. For the first time, she was giving voice to her thoughts.

"Honey…", Diane reached out to her, "Doesn't he want it…?

"Oh no! He's…fantastic! You should know him, you'd like Jay. It's that…it's complicated… He's my partner, we work well together."

"But you're creating a family together… What is more important?"

Hailey was silent for a few moments, looking her salad without really seeing it.

"I wish I could have both, mom… But I don't think it's possible…"

She smiled bitterly from under her lashes, then continued, "It's okay, mom, we're working on it."

Did she trying to convince herself?

She slowly rubbed the side of her belly where Bean had kicked her for the hundredth time.

"How about you really show me where you work? I won't make you ashamed… I might know Jay, if he's there. You say he's so great, I'm curious!"

The expression on her face made her give away, but above all the thought of seeing Jay meant Bean would relax and stop painfully kicking on her ribs. This was a welcome thought.

"Come on, district's around the corner."

Her mother continued to speak and tell her undaunted about her brothers but Hailey could not really listen to her. It was nice to have here there, but she was no longer used to it.

She called Jay just to be sure he was at the district and at his 'One minute and go out', she sat on the bench across the street with Diane.

She seemed so excited to see the place where she worked that Hailey was pleasantly surprised.

She jumped to her feet, as far as her belly allowed, as soon as she saw Jay go down the first steps. She managed to understand that something was wrong with him just by looking at him from afar, like every time.

So, to avoid any possible problem, she crossed the street asking her mother to wait for her there for a moment.

"Hey. How did your lunch go?", he asked as soon as she came up to him. And, like every time since they'd taken this strange little habit, he left a kiss in her hair.

"What happened? Something about the case? I didn't look at the phone! You all okay?"

"Hailey", he chuckled with difficultly, "It's not that if you're not there, we're unable to take care of us, you know?"

But then, in the silence that followed his words, his shoulders dropped defeated, "We found the drugs. And three bodies. Overdose. They were 14…"

"Hey, no. I know what your mind is doing, don't go there. We couldn't have done anything else…", she squeezed his arm and stared directly into his eyes.

"I know, it's just difficult. Kim has taken it worse than me, one died in her arms. Damn, they always seem to be one step ahead of us!"

Jay continued to grumble without losing his classic composure. Then his eyes, furious and exhausted at the same time, concentrated behind her head.

"A woman stares at you like a hawk. Or she's your mother or a maniac. I opt for the first one, am I right?"

Hailey moaned in defeat, "I'm sorry, she wanted to see where I worked, all of you. You know, all those stupid things…"

"Okay then, let's do it, partner."

"Jay", she pulled him by the arm as he was already passing her.

"I'm fine."

And they both knew it was the furthest thing from the truth he'd ever said.

"Mom…"

But even before she could say anything, Diane jumped like a spring against them.

"Jay! I finally know you! So you're the one who I has to thank if my babe always comes home safe!"

He always remained affable, kind, just like Hailey would have imagined. But the look he gave her, halfway between the desperate and the confused, made her laugh.

"Uhm, it's more correct to say that I'm still alive thanks to her, but yeah. I'm his partner. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

He kicked the 'finally' word, looking at her sideways. This provoked her exasperated snort.

"So Hailey told me a little bit about these months. I have to congratulate you two!"

"Oh, thanks."

He was always Jay, the usual chivalrous and always kind Jay, but Hailey knew him better. She recognized the shadows in his eyes and something tightened in her stomach. She didn't want this case to hit him really hard, she couldn't see him disappear behind files and feeling a guilt that should never have existed.

His eyes briefly glanced over the phone before looking at them with a sorry look.

"I've to go back, sorry. Hailey, come in, they're all in the bullpen…"

But before she could find any excuse to come in without her mother and start working again, she passed her by climbing the steps lightly.

Hailey trailed behind her, but was unable to take her eyes off Jay's neck, who was already disappearing behind the Intelligence grate.

For some reason, Hailey felt really lucky because, while Diane was grappling with Sergeant Platt, the rest of the unit ran down the stairs. Their presentation were incredibly fast, full of greetings and smiles.

"Jay…"

"I'm fine, I'm fine", and then he was already gone in the garage, followed by a pale Kim.

Only a few minutes had passed when her mother greeted her cheerfully, squeezing her into an embrace, to let her working.

And Hailey could do nothing but go up the stairs and find herself alone in an empty Intelligence.

The silence was heavy and disturbing, she would never get used to having to stay there while her unit was out.