"I'm pregnant."
Hailey handed Jay the test. It showed two little lines. Jay didn't know what to do or say. It was the best moment of his life. He was going to have a child with the love of his life. He just stared at the pregnancy test.
"Say something.", Hailey was unsure about Jay. She didn't know if he was happy about this or if he hated it or what was gonna happen next.
"This is amazing!", Jay smiled at her. "I'm just… overwhelmed… speechless."
Hailey thought this was the first time that she saw him speechless. "I hope in a positive way."
"Of course!", he immediately said and hugged her. "I'm never going to leave you, okay? Remember that! I love you so much!"
Three weeks later Hailey had her first prenatal visit. She chose Natalie Manning and Maggie Lockwood to help her and be her midwives. Hailey had a long debate with Jay over him coming to the appointment or not. Hailey ended up allowing Jay to come with her.
"Hi Hailey. Hi Jay.", Natalie greeted both and hugged them. "Come in. Please, sit down."
"I'm really nervous.", Hailey confessed.
"No worries. I'm going to ask you some questions now and after that we will do an ultrasound and look at your baby.", Natalie explained.
Jay just sat next to Hailey and held her hand.
"Alright, let's start. Were your menstrual cycles regular and how long did they last?"
"They were pretty normal. I had them every second week of the month and always for five to seven days.", Hailey answered.
"Okay. And when was the first day of your last period? We need this day to determine your due date."
"Oh… I actually don't know right now. Ehm…"
"It's alright, you can tell me later if you remember. Did you notice any symptoms or problems since your last period?"
"Only the first time throwing up at work… That was three weeks ago."
"Did you have any surgeries or hospitalizations?", Natalie asked.
"Well yeah.. I had a big surgery where they removed a piece of my liver.. Like about two months ago. Is that bad?", Hailey told.
"No. This should not be a problem." Natalie kept on asking questions about her health and the health of her family or any habits that could affect the pregnancy. She also asked Jay some health questions, if he has any genetic disorders, but luckily every answer was 'No'.
"Alright. Please lay down, Hailey. I'm gonna do some physical tests now. If you want, Jay can wait outside.", Natalie said.
"No, he can stay. It's not like he hasn't seen any of that before.", Hailey said. Jay was still next to her, holding her hand.
Natalie did a pelvic exam and drew blood from Hailey to do tests.
After a while, she finally pulled over the ultrasound machine. "Please remove your shirt.", Natalie said.
Hailey shoved her t-shirt up, so the belly was uncovered. She looked at the big scar for a second but then ignored it.
"That's gonna get a little cold now.", Natalie held the stick with the gel onto her belly. The screen suddenly showed a black gray picture with a little white spot on the middle.
"There you go. That's your baby.", Natalie pointed at the screen.
"Oh my God.", Hailey smiled and one little tear flowed down her cheek. She looked at Jay.
"I can't believe this.", he quietly said. "I love you!", he kissed his girlfriend.
"It seems like you're already nine weeks along!", Natalie said. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you so much."
"Your baby is now almost 3 centimeters and is as big as a green olive. You still can't feel anything but you can for sure already hear a heartbeat.", Natalie explained.
"We can already hear a heartbeat?", Jay asked.
"Yes.", Natalie turned on the sound of the machine and a little steady thump thump was heard.
"Wow.", was the only thing Hailey could say. Jay was speechless. This was real. He just saw his own child for the first time and now heard his baby's heartbeat.
Hailey decided not to tell the team yet. She wanted to stay on the job as long as possible. She just decided to lie to Voight and told him that she had to be on light duty for the next couple of weeks because of her liver. She made up a story of having another doctor's appointment - which was her first prenatal visit - and they found some light infection so she has to take it slow. Voight believed it and put her on desk duty.
- 14 weeks -
By her 14th pregnancy week she began showing. A small bump was now visible. In the morning before work she stood in front of her mirror. Before putting on her hoodie she slowly traced over her tiny bump with her hands. Jay came up behind her and put his hands on the bump too.
"You look beautiful.", Jay kissed the back of her neck.
"Do you think we should tell Voight?", Hailey turned around, put her arms around his hips and laid her head on his chest.
"I don't like you coming into work everyday but I know you're like me, just can't stay at home for a day.", Jay stroked her hair, hugging her tightly. "But if you don't feel like lying anymore, we can tell him and the team whenever you're ready."
"I'm just scared I'll end up like Kim… I will not go to work at the call center!"
"You don't have to. I'm sure Voight will keep you here if you tell him."
"But pregnant police…", Hailey started but Jay pushed her away so she would look into his face: "Look, you can tell Voight you're still on medical leave or call in sick for the week… We're gonna get through this until you're ready to be on maternity leave, okay?"
"Do you think Voight will release me from duty until I have the child?"
"You can ask him."
"Can we talk to him later after work today?", Hailey asked.
"Of course."
Hailey put her hoodie on. With it on no one was able to see the little bump yet.
After a long and exhausting day everyone had left the office. Voight was about to leave but Jay stopped him.
"Can we talk to you real quick?", Jay asked.
"Sure. Come in.", Voight said and Hailey and Jay walked into his office. She closed the door behind her even though no one was there anymore. She just felt a bit safer with the door closed.
"What's wrong with you, Hailey? You've been acting strange and I don't believe that something is wrong with your liver. It's been five weeks.", Voight asked.
She sat down next to Jay on the couch. Pregnancy hormones made her very emotional.
"Hank…", Jay started.
"I'm pregnant.", Hailey said. She wanted to run away crying but she couldn't.
Voight took a deep breath. He didn't know how to react. They'd just been through Kim's pregnancy and loss.
"I'm sorry for lying to you. Hailey didn't want to go to the call center as soon as everyone found out.", Jay apologised.
"It's alright, I understand. Have you two thought about how to keep going now?", Voight asked.
"Can you either leave me on desk duty here or release me from duty? I don't want to go to headquarters. I most certainly will not work on the call center and answer 911 calls.", she asked.
"I can make it work, release you from duty. It's not easy for me, to be honest.", Voight said.
"I understand! I don't want her being at home all day long but at the same time it's far too dangerous here.", Jay stated.
"Alright. Go home, guys! And… congratulations!", he said.
The next morning everyone met up before getting their work done.
"Listen up. Hailey here has to tell us something before we all start work.", Voight said. Everyone stared at Hailey and Jay, who was right next to her.
"I'm… I'm pregnant.", Hailey said. "I'm gonna be released from duty from now on."
"Wow! Congrats!", everyone said.
"Thanks."
"So Jay is going to be a father?", Atwater asked and laughed.
"Yeah!", Jay just smiled.
"Alright, sorry to break up the party but we have a case to work…", Voight said.
"Get home, get rest. I'll be home right after work.", Jay kissed her.
"Be safe.", she said and left.
"How long have you been together?", Atwater asked.
"A couple months.", Jay went back to work, dodging every other question about their relationship.
Later that night, Jay came home from an exhausting work day to find Hailey sitting crying on the couch.
"Hey, Hailey. Are you alright? What happened?", Jay jumped to her before even undressing.
"I don't know what to do.", she hugged Jay and cried into his jacket.
"Tell me what's wrong?"
"I googled so much about pregnancy now and there is so much I have to do and plan and it's making me crazy and I'm gonna start getting fat and…", Hailey said.
"Alright, alright. Let me stop you right there!", Jay interrupted her. He got up and sat next to her. He quickly put his jacket away and looked at Hailey: "Listen, whatever it is we will get through this, okay? If you want me at home with you, I can talk to Voight and get a few days off. You are not alone in this."
"But what about the nursery and names? We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."
"We don't have to take care of all this right now! We still have time, alright!", Jay tried to calm her down. "And for the record: You are NOT fat! Don't ever say that again! This little belly here is amazing!", he carefully touched her stomach.
- 18 weeks -
Jay was coming home from exhausting work days to find Hailey napping on the couch. Sometimes he'd let her sleep and he just watched her for a moment and rested. At work he had a lot of anxiety, leaving Hailey alone at home, knowing that she could get hurt or something could happen to the baby and he wasn't there for her. Work did help distract him from the worst thoughts but then other things were on his mind. One thought in particular: Don't get hurt. Don't die on the job.
He never thought about something like this before. Not even back in Afghanistan. Maybe because back then he knew it wouldn't be so bad but now... Now he had a girlfriend who's pregnant with his child and it's the best thing he could imagine.
One day, Jay left for work early. Hailey was still sleeping. He left her a little note that they had a big case and it would be a long day. He probably wouldn't be back until late at night.
At the briefing at work they talked about the plan to get Alex Munson. He was dealing drugs in a nice neighborhood. Lots of kids had died from the drugs and apparently he's selling them in a church. They needed to get someone in and set up a buy with him. Up to now, no one in the Unit knew that there was more behind this then just dealing drugs.
"Voight, I can do this!", Jay said for the third time.
"I won't let you go under as a buyer! You have a pregnant girlfriend at home and if something happens to you and I gotta explain to Hailey that you're hurt, I couldn't…", Voight said.
"I know! I know about this but please, it's just a drug deal. I can do this! Let me wear a vest so I'm protected.", Jay really wanted to have some action back. He didn't know when the next time would be that he could get some undercover work done and not worry about a baby.
"Okay… Alright! Get dressed, I want wires and cameras and do wear a vest.", Voight said and let the team set up everything.
About two hours later, everyone was in the cars and around the church, having visual on Jay.
Jay walked into the church with a big backpack full of money.
"Hey. What do you want?", a black guy came up to him as Jay stepped through the doors.
"Ah. I heard that you could score some drugs here.", Jay said.
"Where'd you hear that?"
"I heard some random people on the streets talk about a guy, I think his name was Alex. He is selling here and I need something."
"Where do you usually buy?"
"Ah.. I actually always used to go to Diego but he got killed last week and now my stock ran out and I really need some."
"Diego… Yeah… We will miss him. He was one of our best. Stupid police shooting him, killing him. Terrible."
"Yeah…", Jay just said. He knew that it was bad that they killed Diego but there was no other way. Diego and his men were also shooting at the police and Jay took the final shot with the sniper. "Terrible what happened…"
"Alright… do you mind getting checked out first?", the black guy asked.
"Checked out? I don't have anything with me except for a bunch of money in the bag.", Jay answered.
"Give me that." a second man was suddenly behind Jay and ripped the backpack out of Jay's arms.
"Alright. Go ahead.", Jay said. He didn't want things to escalate.
"Bag is clean. About 5K in here."
"Uhh a lot of money. I could give you a little free sample of the drugs but if you want to score big you gotta bring more than that."
"Are you kidding me? I always paid 5k and got a whole pack of coke from Diego!", Jay said.
"Yeah but this is not how it works around here. You're at the source of the drugs and this means we double the prices. And new and unknown customers get special treatment.", the black guy said.
"Okay, what do you want. I can get you more!"
"Na na… I.. What I want doesn't count. You want to meet Alex to buy from him and for that you gotta check out first.", he said and suddenly three big guys grabbed Jay and searched his whole body for weapons. It only took them seconds to find the wires and the vest.
"What is this? Who are you working for?", one yelled at Jay and crashed the camera with his foot.
"Sargent we just lost visual! Jay is alone in there with at least four people and they just crashed the camera and mic!", Kim yelled into her speaker.
"Everyone move in!", Voight yelled and moments later the Unit stormed the church.
"Nothing! Where is he?", Kevin asked after searching the church.
"He was just here less than two minutes ago!", Adam replied.
"Guys! Back here!", Kim yelled from the outside. She stood by an open basement door. Adam and Kevin ran to her.
"I think they are either down there or they just…", Kim started.
Voight walked to them and finished her sentence: "They just drove off. See the tire tracks."
"Jay has been kidnapped.", Adam said under his breath.
"We need to find him! Fast!"
"Alright! Get back to the office! Get everyone involved. Search for traffic cameras, everything! I'll get Trudy to inform Hailey.", Voight ordered.
"Do you think it's a good idea to get Hailey involved now?", Kim asked.
"She needs to know.", Voight said.
Trudy Platt took her jacket and drove straight to Hailey and Jay's house. She parked the car in front of the house and walked up to the door. This was probably the hardest thing she'd had to do lately. She rung the doorbell and moments later Hailey opened the door.
"Trudy! Hey! What are you doing here?", she greeted her.
"Hey Hailey. Mind if I come in?"
"Oh please. Come."
Both sat down on the couch.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
"No thanks, Hailey. Tell me.. How are you?"
"Good! Morning sickness finally stopped. I was so sick of throwing up every morning. I'm a bit exhausted overall but I think that is normal.", Hailey told happily.
"That sounds great.", Trudy said and just smiled. In the back of her head she just had Jay.
"Why are you here?", Hailey asked.
"Because I need to tell you something."
Hailey's expression went from smiley to concerned. "Is there something wrong with Jay?"
"You need to stay calm, okay?"
"What is it? Is he at the hospital? Was he hurt?"
"Hailey… He… Jay's been taken.", Trudy said.
Hailey immediately started crying. Trudy hugged her and tried to calm her down.
"We already have everyone helping us. We will do everything in our power to find him as fast as we can and bring him back to you."
"I need to go. I wanna help!", Hailey said in between snobs.
"You can't. You gotta take care of your baby."
"I can't sit here, Trudy! I need to find Jay! I need to help somehow! Let me look at footage or so…"
Trudy let Hailey come. She knew she wouldn't be able to leave Hailey alone now and maybe it wasn't a bad idea to get her help - at least at the office.
Trudy and Hailey walked upstairs to the Bullpen. The whole team stared at them.
"Hey!", Kim came and hugged Hailey.
"What are you doing here?", Voight asked.
"I wanna help! I need to find Jay! Please! Let me help!", she answered.
"But only desk duty! And don't get too worked up, alright?!", Voight said.
Kim quickly briefed Hailey on what they had so far and then both looked at some more traffic footage to see where the black van drove to.
After three hours they finally found something. Kim took the pictures and gathered everyone around the whiteboard.
"Alright, listen. The black van drove from the church towards South Shore and stopped at another church: Love Tavern Church. It's been parked there for the past two hours. We don't have footage of any people but it's the van. Jay has to be there.", Kim told everyone.
"Alright. Let's gear up and check this one out.", Voight said. "And Hailey. You stay here with Trudy."
"No! I wanna come!", Hailey demanded.
"Are you crazy? You're four months pregnant! Definitely not!", Voight said.
"I wanna be there! Let me stay in the car with Trudy! Please! I need to be there… for Jay.", Hailey said. She stroked over her little baby bump. She suddenly felt nauseous. "Please."
"Are you alright, Hailey? You suddenly look really pale.", Trudy asked.
"Yeah…", Hailey said but seconds after ran to the bathroom and threw up.
Voight and the team got ready for the mission while Trudy followed Hailey.
"Are you done?", Trudy asked.
Hailey flushed the toilet and walked out of the bathroom. "Sorry."
"No need to say sorry. It's alright. We get it. So… Get cleaned up. We have somewhere to be.", Trudy said.
"Thank you."
Both women drove to the church and were shocked when they arrived. It was burning!
Hailey started crying. "No!"
"Shh! We don't know who is in there. Jay could already be out safe.", Trudy tried to comfort her but she herself thought of the worst.
Behind them the Chicago Fire Department came with two trucks and loud sirens.
"What do we have?", Casey asked Voight.
"Jay Halstead is in there! There are drugs in the basement!", Voight said.
"Severide! Get your team inside! We vent from above! You need to get Jay out of there!", Casey instructed his whole team what to do. Their only mission was to get Jay out there alive. By now everyone knew that Hailey was pregnant with his child and they couldn't let anything happen to him.
Ambulance 61 arrived. Everyone was working really hard on saving the church and getting people out of there. So far no luck.
"Casey, if we open the roof, the whole church could collapse!", Mouch said.
"Wait a moment, Mouch! Severide! Do you have Jay?", Casey talked into his radio.
"Negative! Basement is on fire, all the drugs!", Severide answered.
"I have someone!", Gallo said.
"We have Jay!", Severide said.
Trudy was in her car still hugging Hailey and watching the CFD Teams work. Hailey couldn't even watch. She was so scared.
"Hailey! Look!", Trudy saw Severide coming out of the building.
Severide and Gallo had Jay under their arms and helped him walk out. Jay was coughing heavily and collapsed on the ground as soon as they were out.
Hailey jumped out of the car and ran to him. "JAY!"
"Hailey...!", he got out before coughing again.
"Hailey, let us get him checked out!", Brett said and Adam came and carefully pulled Hailey aside.
Brett and Forster helped Jay get onto the stretcher and to the ambulance. They placed a breathing mask over his mouth and nose and checked for burns and other injuries.
Adam and Hailey followed them so she could be with Jay - from a couple feet away.
"Smoke inhalation and minor burn on his left arm. Nothing serious.", Brett said.
"We still have to get you to the hospital.", Forster mentioned.
"Hailey… come with me…", Jay said and coughed hard.
"Of course. Come on, Hailey. Hop on.", Brett said and both women jumped in the back of the ambulance.
At the hospital they checked Jay out. He only had that small burn on his left arm and a big cut on the same arm that quickly got stitched up. The smoke inhalation was not that bad. They kept Jay overnight to give him oxygen but he was released with a prescription of pain meds and an inhaler the next day.
He had one week of medical leave. Most of that time Hailey and Jay just laid on the couch, rested and watched movies.
"I love you, you know that, right?", Jay asked.
"Of course!", Hailey answered.
"I am so sorry that this happened! I didn't think an undercover drug deal could lead to getting kidnapped and then almost burned to death."
"What happened in there?"
"Well… After they got me to that other church they handcuffed me to a pole and then waited.. I guess for Alex Munson. The drug dealer we were supposed to get. And then one of the workers decided to light up a cigarette and it suddenly started to burn. I'm just so happy I got out of there… You were on my mind the whole time. Even when Severide dragged me out of the building… I just hoped to see you there and you actually were."
"Trudy came by and said that someone took you and I helped find the church and then I had to come and see you. I just had to make sure you were alright!", she said and kissed him.
"I am now!", Jay said in between kisses.
"You know… Nat said it's totally fine.", Hailey started to unbutton Jay's shirt.
"Oh yeah?", he removed her shirt.
"Yeah."
Jay carried Hailey to the bedroom and continued kissing her.
- 24 weeks -
At 24 weeks pregnant Hailey sat at home and read a book about pregnancy. It was Sunday, Jay's day off. He sat next to her and watched an ice hockey game.
"What's going on?", Jay asked her. He could feel that she was tense.
"You know that you should start feeling the baby's movement somewhen in between the 13th and 25th week… I still didn't feel anything.", she said.
"Are you sure? One of you is moving all night long next to me.", he joked.
"This is not funny! What if the baby is not alive or I did something wrong or it'll be…", she started but Jay stopped her. "Sshhh! It'll all be alright, okay?" He hugged her and placed his hand on her growing belly. "Maybe the baby just wants more father time. Last week Natalie said everything is alright with the baby and she also said that sex would be okay."
"Are you really just thinking about sex while I worry if that baby inside of me is even alive?"
"Psshh. Everything is alright, okay. Please don't worry too much.", Jay tried to calm her down. She cuddled into him and watched Hockey with him.
Later that night Jay was fast asleep next to Hailey. She was wide awake, both hands on her belly. She finally wanted to feel the baby moving. She had woken up from having to go to the toilet and now couldn't fall back asleep.
A moment later she felt a little twist in her belly. Was that the first movement? Did her baby finally give her a sign of life? Nothing happened after that.
Jay turned around and slowly woke up from Hailey shifting in bed. "You good?", he asked half asleep.
"I think I just felt the baby moving!", she said all excited.
Jay smiled in his sleep and put his hand onto hers and the baby bump. "Told you."
"I love you!"
"I love you, too!", Jay said. "Can we sleep now?", he said and turned around again.
Hailey knew he had a couple of stressful days at work and was happy about every minute of sleep he could get.
"Sorry. Good night.", she said and cuddled onto him and fell back asleep.
- 32 weeks -
Jay came home from an exhausting work day. Lots of running, lots of bullets but luckily no one got hurt and they finally caught the drug dealer they had been chasing for a while now.
"Hailey, I'm home!", he said walking inside. He put his jacket away and walked into the living room. It was empty. "Hailey?!"
"Back here…", he heard from the back entrance.
He quickly walked to the back of the house and found Hailey sitting on the ground.
"What happened? Are you okay?", he asked.
"I tripped… I fell down the stairs.", she couldn't look Jay into the eyes.
"Oh my god. Can you walk? Does anything hurt? I'm calling Natalie right away!", he said, already getting his phone from his pocket.
"I'm alright! I hit my leg a little bit. No need to call Nat!"
"You don't know if you hurt the baby!", he said worried and had already dialed Nat's number.
"I'm alright and the baby is too! I felt it moving already.", Hailey tried to reassure him that she was fine but Jay was overwhelmed and hurt and had to get his girlfriend to the hospital to get her checked out.
"Hi Nat, Hailey fell down the stairs. Can we come by so you can check on her?", Jay talked into his phone.
"Great. We'll be there in ten minutes.", he said after a short pause and hung up.
"Nat will be waiting for us. Can you get up?", Jay put his phone back into his pocket and helped Hailey up.
"I'm fine!"
"That's my saying. You're pregnant with our first baby and I'm not letting anything happen to you two!", Jay said and helped her walk to the car.
The drive was quiet. Hailey realized it was better safe than sorry and she had just sat on the ground and waited for Jay to come home for about an hour. She was a bit scared that something had happened. She was already 32 weeks pregnant and something could have happened.
Natalie was already waiting for them with a wheelchair in front of the entrance.
"Sit!", she said, helping Hailey out of the car.
"I'll quickly park the car and be right there!", Jay said and left both woman alone. Natalie and Hailey vanished behind the ER doors.
Nat got into an exam room and helped Hailey on the bed.
"What happened?", she asked.
"I fell. I wanted to get downstairs to the living room but I kinda missed the last stair and tripped down. I just sat there. Nothing hurt but I waited for Jay to come home. I didn't know what to do. Natalie, help!", Hailey finally released all the feelings that she was scared for her baby and happy that Jay brought her here.
"Did you feel any movement from the baby?"
"Not since the fall… It's been a bit over an hour."
"Did you notice losing any amniotic fluid or blood?"
"No, nothing. I also have no pain in my abdomen or so…"
"Okay, let's just check.", Natalie prepared for an ultrasound and Jay had joined them.
"Looks good so far. No bruises on the abdomen and the baby looks healthy and sleeping.", Nat reassured them that everything was fine and showed them the ultrasound.
"That is good.", Jay was relieved.
"A fall could have been bad, especially if there is direct trauma to your abdomen. You could have experienced contractions, loss of amniotic fluid or way worse. You got lucky and nothing happened! Just rest for the next few days, don't trip on the stairs again and you'll be fine.", Natalie told them. "Come back in again in your 38th week for your last prenatal visit.
The only little problem we have is that the baby is still not head down. You need to do some exercises so the baby will turn! A breech delivery is possible but we still hope that it's turning on its own before entering the world. We can also turn the baby from the outside but for now we still have time."
Jay smiled from ear to ear! After such an exhausting day these were good news, Hailey and the baby were fine and it was actually only eight weeks to go until they finally met their child.
At home they had already prepared a beautiful nursery and Jay had an agreement with Voight that he'd be home with Hailey at 35 weeks. So Jay had only three weeks left of work until he'd go on a very special vacation.
They went back home and rested on the couch. It was already late. Jay talked a bit about his day but both quickly fell asleep.
-38 weeks-
The last few weeks went by so fast. Hailey had a couple braxton hicks in between but she could handle them. Jay was now home from work and did everything for Hailey. The whole household was now his job. He let Hailey rest and chill the whole day. They had packed a hospital bag and had it ready in the car.
The last hospital visit was at the end of her 38th pregnancy week.
Natalie had informed them that Hailey was already one cm dilated. That was normal at this late stage and she told them that their baby would be coming soon. Hailey and Jay were so excited.
They quickly went to the store to get fresh food for dinner.
A man came in. He looked strange and nervous but Jay tried to ignore it. The man was tall, muscular and had both hands in his pockets. He looked like a normal costumer and looked around but Jay didn't like him. His instincts told him something was wrong with that man. Jay walked over to Hailey who was looking at some plushies.
"Aren't they adorable?", she said, taking a fluffy penguin plush. "I want it!"
Jay just smiled at her and held the basket in front of her to put the toy in.
Suddenly the suspicious man walked up to the counter and demanded all the money from the register. The young woman behind it got scared, held up both her arms while the guy put his bag on the counter. "PUT ALL THE MONEY IN THERE!", he yelled at the woman.
"We.. only.. We only have this in the register…", she said. It was about 300 dollars in her hand.
"There must be more!", he was about to jump up on the counter but Jay got behind him.
"Hey man!", he started, holding both hands up, "Look, you got what you wanted. Please leave her alone.", Jay said in a calm voice.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! LEAVE ME ALONE!", the man yelled back at Jay.
"I just want you to keep calm and think about what you're doing. No one here needs to get hurt, alright?", Jay said.
"What?! She is clearly not giving me all the money here!", he said loudly.
"Yes but this is a small store. Just run away before anyone gets hurt.", Jay said.
"SHUT UP!", he yelled at Jay. Good thing the man was now turned towards Jay so the woman behind the counter was able to push the silent alarm.
"Look…", Jay started but he couldn't say more. The man started screaming and attacked Jay. He pushed Jay against the shelves and slammed his fists into Jay's face. The man was so fast, Jay couldn't keep up with what was happening. But Jay was also fast. Between all the sudden pain he had in his face and chest, he was still able to dodge some punches so that the man's fists rammed into the hard floor and not Jay's face. In the right moment Jay pushed the man around, punched him hard in the face and tried to quickly knock him out which was not that easy.
Hailey panicked. She hid behind a shelf and watched Jay get beat up. All this stress and anxiety made her have strong contractions which scared her even more. She just hoped that either the police would come real fast or that Jay knocked that guy out.
Then it happened. She felt like she'd just peed herself. She looked down to find her pants getting soaked in water.
"Shit!", she cursed under her breath. Her water just broke.
The only good thing in the back of her head was: The first labor is mostly pretty long and she might make it out of the store and back to the hospital before anything happened.
Jay finally knocked out the man. His whole chest was hurting and he felt one of his eyes swelling, he could barely see out of it. Jay quickly looked at the woman behind the counter and she nodded at him. Jay knew she had already alerted the police.
Jay quickly - well as fast as he could - walked to Hailey.
"Jay get over here. I need to push!" Hailey cried out, squatting.
Jay stumbled to her, trying to keep it together for her. Yet he thought he was already passed out a couple of hours because the doctor had said that labor would take hours and now Hailey was screaming and trying to push her pants down.
"Get it out!", she screamed.
Jay helped Hailey with the pants and put her on her knees. Jay looked. There was already a bulge.
"I think the baby is coming.", he said weakly.
Hailey only screamed in response and pushed down.
"It's breech! Hailey!", Jay clearly saw the bum of the baby coming out first.
"Just catch it!", she panted heavily.
Jay freaked out! It was not supposed to happen like this. He was in pain himself but tried to keep it together for his girlfriend. He wasn't supposed to even be down there! They had planned that Hailey would be in Jay's arms, he was supposed to be holding her. They most certainly did not plan for this to happen in a store!
Hailey pushed and after what felt like hours of pain and more pain for her she felt a small release. It was actually just a couple of minutes.
"A girl! It's a girl!", Jay was holding the baby girl's body in his hands, "I have her. One more push. You need to push the head out!"
"What color is she?", Hailey asked before the next contraction hit.
"Pinkish - white."
"Good so she's not suffocating." With that the next contraction hit hard and Hailey pushed with all the strength she had left.
"That's it. She is almost here. One more push, Hailey."
She pushed and delivered the baby into Jay's hands.
"Oh my God. You did it!", Jay held the little baby girl in his arms. Hailey collapsed on the floor.
"Take care of her.", said Jay as he put the baby girl on Hailey's chest.
Hailey took the baby and started crying of happiness. It was much more than that. She saw Jay passing out next to her. He was beaten up and had to deliver the baby while Hailey was laying on the ground covered in blood. It looked like a homicide scene. She was scared about what would happen next. There were too many emotions at once.
Pain. Relief. Hurt. Anger. Sadness. Happiness.
But most importantly she had to make sure her little baby girl was well.
She was just laying on Haileys chest, squeaking quietly. "Just stay with me, alright?", Hailey carefully stroked the baby's head and planted a kiss on her.
In between crying, Hailey smiled because her and Jay's baby was finally here. She couldn't believe she'd just had a baby girl. Hailey quickly wrapped the baby into her jacket.
Moments later the police stormed the place and EMTs rushed to Hailey. It was all a blur, they took the baby, cut the cord, helped Hailey onto the stretcher, rushed her to the ambulance where the EMTs helped her deliver the placenta and then rushed her and the baby to the hospital.
Hailey suddenly felt horrible. She didn't know what was going on with the baby, why they took her. She had no idea what was going on with Jay.
Jay. He was rushed to the hospital, too. He was right in the ambulance behind Hailey. Unconscious. At the hospital he was rushed to surgery due to a collapsed lung.
-CPDCPDCPD-
"Where is Hailey?", Voight, Kim and Vanessa came into the ER. "Are she and the baby alright?"
"And Jay? How's he doing?", Kim asked Will who welcomed them.
"Hailey and the baby are doing well.", Will said.
"That is good. I was so scared for her having the baby at the store…", Kim said.
"Oh.. No. She did have the baby at the store. Hailey is doing great and the baby girl is all well. Jay just got out of surgery. He took a beating with that guy and then helped deliver the baby. At least that is what Hailey said. Jay is going to be alright. No permanent damage.", Will explained.
"Can we see them?", Vanessa asked.
"No, sadly not. Hailey needs to rest and Jay is not awake yet. I'll call you when you can see them."
Jay woke up and was confused staring at the white ceiling. What happened? Where was he? Why was there so much pain in his chest?
Will entered the room noticing his brother had opened his eyes.
"Hey Jay! How you feeling?"
"Will?"
"Jay. Do you know where you are?"
Jay moved his head around and didn't answer.
"You're at the hospital. Remember you had a fight with a man..."
"The store...", Jay had a headache when he started to realize what's going on.
"Yes. You had surgery to repair your lungs. It's all good now."
Jay looked at Will. "Where is Hailey?"
"She's doing well. You did a great job helping with the delivery."
"Where is my baby?"
"She is fine! She's with her mother."
"Can I see them?"
"You gotta wait a couple more hours, okay? Go back to sleep.", Will had realized Jay was still under the effect of anesthesia. It's better for him to rest a bit more before doing anything else.
A couple hours later, Jay woke up again, finding Voight sitting next to his bed.
"Hello.", Voight said and quickly informed Will about Jay waking up.
Will entered the room and checked on his brother.
"How are you feeling?", he asked.
"My chest hurts… I can't see out of my right eye.", Jay answered.
"You had surgery. Your lung collapsed on the way to the hospital. That men did some great damage to your ribs and lungs. And that right eye is swollen shut. We had an eye doctor come in and take a look at it. Should be fine in a bit. We gave you something to reduce the swelling."
"Can I see my daughter?", Jay asked.
"You need to rest, I'm sorry.", Will left the room again.
"Did you visit Hailey?", he asked Voight.
"No. We were not allowed to see her. But from what Will told me and the team, Hailey and your daughter are doing great."
"I hope I didn't hurt her…"
"You did nothing wrong! Jay, we saw the security footage… You… We were scared for you. That didn't look good and then you helped Hailey. Natalie wanted to see the footage too for some reasons and she said that Hailey was lucky you were there!", Voight told.
"I had no idea what I was doing… My head was hurting so much and I just tried not to pass out too soon. As I held my baby in my hands I felt everything turning dark and I only saw her with blurred vision… I don't remember what happened next.", Jay explained. He was clearly scared and needed to see his family.
"I'll talk to Will. Maybe you can see them both later today. Rest up, son.", Voight said and left the room.
Natalie was with Hailey. She'd just woken up from a small surgery.
"You had a 'grade-three' tear which we stitched up and gave you some fluids. Sadly the catheter needs to stay inside until you'll be able to walk to the toilet. But don't worry, you and your little girl are doing great! The baby is with Maggie. She is just examining her but for now everything looks great! She came a little early but she's healthy.", she further explained some medical things but Hailey didn't listen. Her mind was with the baby and Jay. What is with Jay? Will he be alright? When can she see him? When can he meet the baby?
"Hailey… I know it must be hard for you right now with all that happened but listen, the baby is in good hands, you'll see her in a bit and…", Natalie started.
"Jay?", that was the first thing she said.
"Jay is out of surgery and as far as I know everything went great and he will be up and running in no time. Don't worry about him."
"Can I see him?"
"Don't you want to rest and wait until your baby girl is done with the examination?"
Hailey felt horrible for even "forgetting" about her child for a second but Jay was really important to her. She just wanted to make sure he is alright and see it with her own eyes. She knew the baby was in good hands with Maggie taking care of her.
"I understand. Let me see what I can do.", Natalie said. "You can talk to Dr. Charles whenever you want, you know that, right?" With that she walked out of the room.
Natalie met up with Will.
"Is he awake?", Natalie asked.
"Yeah. Only thing on his mind is his family. He feels bad for what happened.", Will answered and sat down.
"Hailey asked if she could see him. She just had a baby and it was all a traumatic event. They both need each other now."
"Yeah I get that but I can't take Jay to Hailey or the other way around. He just had surgery and she just gave birth… they need rest."
"Can't we put them in a room together?", Will asked "How is the baby doing?"
"I think I can talk Maggie into getting a room for them. And the baby is doing great! She is healthy."
Natalie went to Maggie and planned to move Jay and Hailey into a little family room. Usually they don't take surgical patients in there but they all knew Jay needed to be with Hailey and the baby now.
Will went over to Jay's room and told him the news.
In the late afternoon Will finally transported Jay on his bed to his new room where Hailey and the baby were already waiting.
"Jay!", Hailey sat up carefully in her bed and watched Will push the bed inside and parked it next to her bed.
"Hailey!", Jay smiled and also sat up carefully. "How are you?"
"I'm good. How are you feeling? You look like hell!"
"Yeah… I can't see out of my right eye… Otherwise I'm good."
"I don't mean to break up your little reunion but Jay, do you want to meet your little baby girl?", Will said and walked over to the crib and carefully took the baby.
"She will be scared of me with that eye…", Jay said.
"Don't worry.", Will walked over and handed his brother the little bundle of joy.
Hailey watched Jay and the baby. "You'll make a great father!"
"I can't believe I'm holding her.", Jay smiled.
"You two still need to decide on a name.", Will mentioned.
"Ellie.", Jay said, not letting his good eye go of his little girl in his arms. "She's so tiny."
"She looks like you, Jay.", Hailey said.
"And has your beautiful blue eyes!"
"You two want me to take a picture of you? First little family picture?", Will asked.
"We look horrible.", Hailey laughed. It was kind of true: She looked exhausted, her hair was up in a messy bun and she had to wear the hospital gown. Jay… Jay had bruises all over his face and Hailey wondered how the baby did not start crying as soon as she saw his face.
"You look perfect.", Will took out his phone and took a photo.
"I wonder what she will say when we show her this picture when she's old enough.", Hailey laughed.
"Probably ask what happened with us.", Jay answered.
"Well, she decided to make a special entrance. It's not your fault.", Will joked.
"She just likes the danger already. First she falls downstairs with mommy and then decides to come when we're in the middle of a store that is just being robbed.", Jay laughed.
"Oh god. Please don't let her become police one day. I won't be able to handle having to worry about another family member! Really, I'm losing enough of my nerves when I hear that Jay got hurt again!", Will said.
"I will wrap her into bubble foil and not let her out of my sight!", Jay said.
-CPDCPDCPD-
Five days later Jay, Hailey and little Ellie were finally allowed to go home. First thing they did: show Ellie her new room.
Hailey carried her to the nursery and Jay followed them.
"Look, this is your room.", Hailey said. "This is our little chair, where we can rest and read books for you. Here we have your little crib!", Hailey moved around and the baby laughed but then she started crying.
"Oh no, what is wrong?", she asked. "Are you hungry?" Hailey sat down on the chair. "Jay, can you hold her for a second. I need to get my T-Shirt off."
"Sure.", Jay took Ellie. Hailey quickly undressed herself and was ready to feed the baby.
Later that night Ellie was finally sleeping in her crib, Jay and Hailey cuddled on the couch.
"It's so nice being home finally.", Hailey mentioned.
"Yeah."
"You feeling alright?", she asked. Jay was different than usual today.
"Yeah I'm good. I… I wanted to ask you something but I kept thinking on how I want to ask you and I don't know… this whole robbery thing and hospital kinda ruined my plans."
"Just ask me now."
"This doesn't feel special enough."
"Okay, let me make it easy for you: Yes."
"Huh?"
"If you want to ask me a special question, I only know one. The answer is yes."
"Okay.", Jay was a bit confused. He got up and quickly got a small box from the kitchen. "Well let me at least do something."
He carefully got down on his knee. "Hailey Anne Upton, do you want to marry me?"
"Jay Halstead. Yes! Yes I want to marry you!", she hugged and kissed him.
Their blissful moment was sadly ruined by a little baby crying through the baby-phone.
"Don't worry, I'll get her.", Hailey said with a big smile on her face. Her life was perfect and nothing could ruin it now.