Hailey sat on the couch scrolling through the dresses on her laptop screen. She'd told Jay she'd wear a dress to their vow renewal, but now nothing seemed right. Wearing white felt old fashioned and a sundress just didn't feel like her. She wanted something new that Jay had never seen before, but he also loved that black dress that he continuously mentioned because of what they'd done in his car after their date, so that would have been a good option as well. Not to mention the internet was endless and there were so many options that it made it seem like there were no options.
She closed her laptop and sighed while dropping her head back against the cushions. This was one of the reasons why she hadn't even gotten a dress for their first wedding – not to mention the mental turmoil she'd been in at the time. Nothing felt right to wear to show and tell Jay how much she loved him.
The door to the apartment opened, and Jay walked in, tossing his keys on the side table as he said, "Hey!"
"Hi," she replied, looking over her shoulder at him kicking off his shoes, "Have fun with Kev?"
"Yeah," Jay breathed. He came over to sit next to her on the couch and pulled her close to him. Kissing the side of her head, he said, "Turns out I'm pretty good at golf. Want to come with me sometime?"
Hailey laughed softly and set her hand on his thigh. "You'll probably have to teach me how to play."
"I can do that," Jay said, "Maybe once I'm not so stiff?"
"That's fair," Hailey replied. She lightly rubbed her hand over his left shoulder and asked, "Need ice?"
"No, but maybe a kiss will make it better," Jay answered.
Hailey laughed harder and shook her head. "You are ridiculous, but fine." She leaned up to peck his lips. "Good?"
"Maybe another just for good measure," Jay replied, kissing her again.
Smiling against his lips, Hailey murmured, "Again, you're ridiculous."
"But you love me," Jay whispered, pressing her down onto her back.
She laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist. "I do," she said, "A lot."
Jay hummed and kissed down her jaw. "What'd you do while I was gone?"
"Nothing really just – Jay."
He smirked against the base of her throat as she fluttered her eyes close. "What was that?"
"Jay," Hailey repeated, tilting her head back, "Don't…"
"Oh, don't?" he said as he sat up slightly, "I can stop."
Hailey rolled her eyes then reached up to tug him back down to her, pressing her lips to his and rolling her hips against him.
"I really did want to talk to you," Jay murmured.
"And I really want you to take your pants off, but here we are," Hailey breathed.
Laughing, Jay shook his head and sat up enough again to pull his shirt off.
"I love you," Hailey said with a smirk of her own.
"Damn, you're hot," Jay replied.
Hailey burst into laughter as he returned to kissing her, the sound of his own happiness mixing with hers.
Jay pressed kisses up Hailey's bare chest until he reached her lips. "So I was talking to Kevin about our vow renewal," he murmured.
"Can we not talk about Kevin after sex?" she whispered.
Jay chuckled and moved off of her to sit up against the side of the couch. "Sorry," he replied.
She smirked and shook her head before sitting up as well and reaching over to grab the t-shirt he'd been wearing. Once she pulled it on, she asked, "What exactly were you and Kevin talking about?"
"He thinks he can get ordained," Jay said, "Isn't that cool?"
Hailey raised an eyebrow. "Can't anyone get ordained?"
"Well, yeah, but there are rules with some religion stuff and Kev doesn't go to church and wasn't confirmed or anything, so he said it'll be a quick process for him," Jay explained.
Hailey laughed slightly and nodded. "So where are you going with this?"
"Kevin should remarry us," Jay said quickly, "Wouldn't that be great?"
Hailey's eyes widened. "Are you…really?"
Jay nodded. "He knows us. It'll involve our friends since we couldn't do that the first time around. He'll probably do it for free."
Hailey punched his arm and said, "Are you serious? You don't ask your friends to renew your vows because it's free."
Laughing, Jay shook his head and said, "Okay, fine, that was a dumb reason, but come on, isn't it a good idea?"
Hailey hummed and slipped down slightly against the couch to rest her head on his shoulder. "It does sound nice to know the person this time around, but I don't think he needs to get ordained to do it. I mean, we're already married. A vow renewal is basically just being like 'we still love each other and still want to be together forever, so we're just confirming it.'"
Jay laughed again and kissed the top of your head. "Aren't we going fancier this time?"
Hailey glanced up at her laptop on the coffee table and sighed. "About that," she said quietly. Sitting up, she nodded toward it and continued, "I was looking at wedding dresses for this, and I can't find anything that feels right."
Jay followed her gaze then reached up to grab her laptop. "Really?"
Hailey nodded and grabbed her laptop from him. "Look," she said as she opened the screen, "Actual wedding dresses are really expensive and seem way too fancy for a renewal, you know?"
"Wow," Jay breathed.
Hailey glanced up at him and softened at the expression on his face. "See something you like?" she asked quietly.
"Well, just…you know," Jay said, shaking his head while still keeping his eyes on her laptop, "You'd look amazing in any of these, but I get what you're saying. You don't want to go over the top or spend too much money or- click that one."
Hailey raised an eyebrow and looked back at the screen. "Which one?"
He pointed to one with a slit up the side, and she clicked on it. Together, they both stared at the floor length, flowy white dress.
When it'd come to wedding preparations a year and a half before, Jay had been the one who wanted more of a traditional wedding than Hailey had – at least, he'd been the one more focused on the traditional aspects of one. She couldn't focus on dresses or flowers for long because she was so terrified of going to jail, and that seemed to carry over to now.
Until this moment when she was staring at a dress Jay had picked out and could actually visualize herself in it. The model was blonde like her and had her hair loose around her face. It was obvious that a fan was blowing in her face, but she also didn't look too outrageously beautiful or out of reach. Hailey could see herself wearing that dress.
She could also wear her hair down and buy gold sandals that peaked out whenever she took a step. Her leg could also look so perfect and poised in the dress that had a slit just like Jay's favorite black dress from years before.
More importantly, she wasn't afraid of going to jail anymore. She actually had a future that didn't last more than twenty-four hours. She could live a full, happy life with her husband.
"Not really expensive either," Jay said quietly, "And it comes in more than just white."
"I think I want to wear white," Hailey breathed.
She zoomed in on the picture and imagined what her tattoo would look like poking out from behind the strap. Smiling to herself, she tilted her head to the side and wondered how long it would take for the dress to arrive.
But Jay was right next to her, and while this might have been a vow renewal, she also had a gut feeling that the groom wasn't supposed to see the bride's dress before the wedding.
Snapping the laptop close, Hailey said quickly, "I'll think about it."
Jay raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What?"
"I'll think about it," Hailey repeated. She quickly stood and brought her laptop over to the island to plug it in.
"Yeah, what does that mean?" Jay asked as he stood up, "What are you thinking about?"
"The dress," she said with her hand on the laptop, "And the wedding – the vow renewal. I'm…I'm going to think about it and pick out a dress. Kevin can do the ceremony, but I really don't think he needs to get ordained to do it. No need for him to waste his money."
Jay smiled slightly then bent down to pick up his boxers. Stepping into them, he said, "Then I can't wait to see what you put together."
"I still want your help," Hailey said, "Just not for my dress. Or the flowers. Everything else, I'm in – you're in. We're in it together. We're planning a wedding."
Jay laughed and made his way over to her. Placing his hands on her waist, he said, "I love you, you know that?"
"Might have said it once or twice," she replied softly before pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss him, "Did you know I love you too?"
Smirking, Jay shrugged and said, "I could use the reminder."
Hailey hummed and hooked her fingers in the waistband of his boxers. "Kinda seems like a waste for you to have put these back on, don't you think?"
"Kinda like it was a waste for you to the shirt on?" Jay said softly.
Hailey smiled and nodded.
Jay laughed and bent down to wrap his arm around her waist.
"Whoa, what're you doing?" Hailey said quickly, backing up from his reach, "Jay, you can't just pick me up."
He straightened and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sick or something?"
"No, no," Hailey said weakly with a slight laugh, "Definitely not that, but…Jay, it's only been a couple weeks since you got the sling off. Are you sure you can lift me yet? What's your weight limit?"
"Okay, this seems like it's going into that category of things you never ask girls," Jay replied. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Hailey, I'm-"
"I'm just not comfortable with it yet," she said gently, "I don't want to be the reason you end up back in the hospital. Please?"
Jay studied her for a moment then nodded and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay," he said quietly, "But you realize that just sets a goal for me, right? I'm going to pick you up again."
Hailey smiled and nodded. Setting her hand on the side of his face, she said, "Maybe by the vow renewal? Wedding Night 2.0?"
Jay laughed and kissed her. "Yeah," he murmured, "But until then?"
Hailey hummed and stepped back from him. Grabbing his hand, she said, "Until then…I will lead you to the bedroom…and I will show you exactly what we should recreate on our second wedding night."
She sent him a smile then turned to tug him to their bedroom where all she could think about no matter what Jay did was the fact that she was going to be getting a wedding.
A real one that she was actually excited about.
Roses felt like the only right option regarding flowers.
Before they even began dating, they'd been the first flowers Jay gave Hailey, and she held onto them as long as they lasted.
She hadn't even moved to take them the day he bought them while working to cover himself, but he'd followed her that night to her car and offered them up.
"I don't need them," he'd said first, "My place isn't exactly meant for flowers."
She'd laughed at that, but still hadn't reached out for them. "Thank you," she'd said, "I appreciate it, but you bought them."
"I bought them for a girlfriend that doesn't exist," Jay'd replied quietly, "What does exist is you. Technically, you are a girl and you are a friend. The flowers are for you, Hailey."
It'd brought a smile to her face, and she could no longer deny that she was blushing at his words.
"Thank you," she'd said while taking the prettiest bouquet she'd ever received, "I can pay you-"
"No," Jay'd interrupted, "They're a gift. Please take them. I want you to have them. Really."
At that, she couldn't fight him any longer and had brought them home where she placed them in a vase on her island and stared at them every morning while eating her breakfast. They lived for just over ten days before really wilting. It'd nearly killed her to throw them out, but Vanessa swore Jay would eventually get her more flowers.
She hadn't been wrong.
There'd been several bouquets of flowers since their first night together – daisies dyed different colors in the middle of spring, sunflowers for Sweetest Day when they were engaged, carnations on their first real date – but none as special as that first bouquet of roses. Even when Jay bought her another rose bouquet for Christmas after they got married, something about them wasn't the same as when he'd given them to her the year prior.
So she wanted roses.
She needed roses.
Hailey sent a quick text to Jay that she was going to be making a quick stop on the way home then put her car in drive, heading in the direction of a flower shop just a few blocks over.
A wedding dress had been ordered. It certainly wasn't as fancy as others and nowhere near as expensive, but it was still, without a doubt, a wedding dress. She refused to show Jay any pictures of it, and he didn't fight her. He just told her he was happy that she'd found something she liked and told her that he knew she was going to be beautiful.
The logical next step was finding a venue – or perhaps that should have been done before even buying the dress – but Hailey was ignoring that. A venue really could be anywhere. There were only so many places that could prepare a rose wedding bouquet in time for the vow renewal.
Whenever that might be.
The flower shop was going to be open for another fifteen minutes when Hailey stepped through the doors. The owner, and elderly woman, looked up from putting together a boutonniere and smiled at her. "Just in time, dear, what can I do for you?" she asked.
"Um, wedding bouquets?" Hailey replied softly as she looked around the shop.
The woman nodded and grabbed a packet from beneath the counter. "I have several styles you can choose from," she explained while walking over, "But do you have any ideas yourself?"
"Roses," Hailey answered quickly, "I want a bouquet of roses. And can you put some baby's breath in them too?"
The woman hesitated then smiled and nodded. "Any reason?" she asked softly.
"They're the first flowers my husband ever gave me," Hailey explained.
The woman nodded again then led her over to a small section of roses. "I'm Darlene. You are?"
"Hailey. The bouquet is actually for a vow renewal. That's not an issue, right?"
Darlene scoffed slightly and shook her head. "Hailey, there are no rules to flowers. I don't care why you want flowers; I just want to make sure you get the flowers you need."
Hailey smiled slightly. "Thank you. I didn't have a bouquet at our first wedding since we went to the courthouse. It was casual and just us. We were hoping for a little more…I don't know. It's going to be a little nicer this time around."
"Completely understand," Darlene replied, "I got married in Vegas at 21. When my mom found out, she was furious. She demanded we have a 'real' wedding to make up for it, so I promised that we'd have one before she died. Turned out, that ended up being forty years later for our own vow renewal; my mom died the week after."
"Oh, I am so sorry," Hailey breathed.
Darlene shook her head and said, "Thank you, dear. Now, I certainly hope you're not doing this vow renewal for someone else. It needs to be for you."
"It is," Hailey answered easily, "Well, for both of us. We've gone through a lot during our marriage – it hasn't even been two years yet – but we figured that was enough reason to stand up in front of our friends and repeat that we truly will stick together for the rest of our lives."
Darlene's face lit up, and she said, "That is beautiful. I love that so much. That is exactly what weddings need to be about. So, should we look for those roses? Do you have a date in mind yet?"
"No, sorry," Hailey replied, turning to look at all the flowers, "I think by the end of this month, though. Still okay?"
"How many bouquets do you need?" Darlene asked as she began pulling down bundles of roses.
"Just for me," Hailey answered.
"Then we have no worries at all," Darlene said with a smile, "Follow me, let's see if we can figure out a good bunch and price out what you need."
Hailey nodded and followed her to a table in the back where there were piles of ribbon and wrapping.
As Darlene worked to make a practice bouquet, adding and taking away flowers whenever Hailey indicated she didn't like something or she felt herself that it was looking a certain way, the two of them made quiet conversation about how they'd met their husbands. When she was done, she had Hailey take a few pictures of it, asked that she sit on it for a day or two, then call her to confirm that's what she wanted, but Hailey already knew it was perfect: it was bigger and more rounded than the bouquet Jay had given her, and yet it felt exactly right. The flowers had grown like their relationship. It needed to have more depth than the few roses Jay had given her years before.
When she walked in the apartment, already wanting to confirm with Darlene, she smiled at the sight of Jay standing over the stove. "What're you making?" she asked softly.
He looked up and smiled back at her. "Hey! Nothing much, just some French dip sandwiches. I picked up some fresh bread at the store today. Sound okay?"
"Very okay," Hailey answered. She toed her shoes off then walked over to wrap her arms around him. "I picked out my bouquet today," she said softly.
"Oh, yeah?" Jay asked, tossing an arm over her shoulder and holding her closer to him, "What'd you get?"
"It'll be a surprise and maybe a little pricier than I should have picked out," she said, "But you'll love them. I love them, anyways."
"Then that's all that matters," Jay replied. He kissed the top of her head and asked, "Just wondering, though, now that you have secretly picked out a dress and flowers, any idea on what I can do to help? I mean, I have nothing but time, and I really haven't planned anything for this party. I don't want you to have to do everything."
"I know," Hailey said. She stepped out of his hold to grab a plate and place one of the sandwiches on it. She waited for Jay to fill a small bowl with the au jus for her before making her way over to a bar stool. Sitting down, she said, "Everything else, you can totally help with. I just wanted those two things to be mine and to be a surprise for you. The groom can't see the bride's dress anyways."
Jay chuckled and filled his own seat. As he sat next to her, he asked, "Are we still considered bride and groom if we're already married?"
Hailey shrugged. "We didn't really get to enjoy the titles the first time around. Might as well use them now, right?"
Jay's smile widened, and he nodded. After taking a bite of his sandwich, he wiped his mouth and said, "Mind if I ask you something?"
Hailey waved her free hand in acknowledgment while eating her own sandwich.
"Maybe it's not a question per say," Jay said quietly, "But more of an observation. You've been happier lately, and I like it."
Hailey slowed down then placed her sandwich back on her plate. She took a sip of water and said, "I could say the same about you. You're happier, in a way, without working in Intelligence. I don't know if I expected that."
"Well, trust me, I still feel like I'm going crazy at times," Jay explained, "But I think the thing is, it's not not working that's getting to me. It's the no Voight part." He let out a breath, shaking his head, as he traced his finger along the edge of his glass. "I think there was only so much I could take – fighting against him, going along with it, covering up lies – that without that…that weight on my shoulders, I feel like I'm doing better. And knowing I'm going to go somewhere better in a little over a month is really helpful. Gives me a light to focus on."
Hailey nodded and brushed her hand over his back. "That makes complete sense," she said softly, "As for me, I think having you home and seeing you so happy has helped my own attitude. Even just having this vow renewal – something so positive in our lives after everything was so painful – is giving me a reason to smile in the morning. It's a really, really good change of pace."
Jay made a soft noise then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I agree," he replied with a smile, "We're in a good place right now. Perfect time and reason for a vow renewal."
Hailey smiled back and squeezed his thigh before picking her sandwich back up. "So what exactly would you like to plan for it? You've already picked the minister."
Jay laughed and shook his head. "Didn't you say Kev doesn't have to get ordained?"
"Well, what do we call him then?" Hailey asked with a laugh, "He's performing the ceremony."
"Pretty sure it's called an officiant," Jay said.
Hailey smiled and nodded. "Then that's Kevin. So, we have a dress, my flowers, an officiant; what else do we need?"
"Well, it looks like we need a place," Jay said. He raised an eyebrow and lifted up his sandwich. "Isn't that kind of important?" he asked.
Hailey hummed around her sandwich then winked and nodded. "Probably important," she said, "Still want to do something outside?"
"I think it'd be nice," Jay answered, "We could definitely do a park like you said; I'm not one for barn weddings."
"Oh," Hailey laughed, "Babe, we're not getting married in a barn. I don't even know if there are barn weddings around here, do you?"
"No," Jay chuckled, "I don't know anywhere besides churches. I think you can get married anywhere, right?"
"Pretty sure," Hailey said, "I guess we're kind of crappy at this, huh? Maybe we should have done more research for Round 1."
Jay laughed harder and shook his head. "It's okay," he said, "It all worked out. Courthouse was better anyways. They were fast, the lady was nice – what was her name anyways?"
Hailey jokingly gasped. "You don't even remember the name of the woman who married us? Jay Halstead, shame on you."
"Oh, shut up, like you know her name," Jay laughed.
Hailey smirked and said, "I do," with a confident nod.
"Oh," Jay said. Putting down his sandwich, he intertwined his fingers and said, "Please, dear Hailey, do tell me the name of the woman who made us man and wife."
Laughing, Hailey shook her head and shoved his arm. "You are ridiculous!"
"What's her name?" Jay asked, "Tell me her name!"
"Anne!" Hailey said through her laughter, "It was Anne. I swear to god."
"Okay, sure," Jay chuckled before biting into his sandwich again, "I'm pretty sure I could have remembered the name Anne."
"Please. You were so gone by the end of the night, you barely knew your own name," Hailey quipped.
Jay winked at her then shook his head. "Sorry, I think you're hot. Kinda take my breath away – especially that time since it'd been a while since we'd even done anything."
"We could make it that long again," Hailey said, "Maybe it'll up the ante of the vow renewal night."
"Sexy," Jay replied with a smirk.
Hailey rolled her eyes, but still laughed with him. "What? It's not a wedding night."
"No, you're right," Jay chuckled, "Just, vow renewal is so wordy."
Hailey hummed and shrugged. "No matter. We still need a location. You want to be ahead of that?"
"Aren't I already ahead of the honeymoon?" Jay asked before taking a big bite of his sandwich. He swallowed and added, "I was hoping we'd plan something together."
"Do you have ideas for that yet?" Hailey countered while he bit into his sandwich again.
Jay held up a finger as he finished chewing and reached into his pocket. Pulling out his phone, he unlocked it then slid it over to her, showing her a list of destinations they could travel to: Indiana Dunes, Lake Geneva, Holland, Mount Morris, Starved Rock State Part, Zion, South Bend, Elkhart Lake, Glencoe.
Hailey's eyes widened, and she glanced up at him. "I don't even know half of these places. What are they?"
"Places with beaches and lakes in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, or Michigan," Jay replied, "We could camp at some of them or we could get an Airbnb or Bed and Breakfast. It's really whatever you want, so I guess I did the first step, and you can pick from there."
Hailey shook her head slightly and passed his phone back. "We choose together. We can look into them on our own, but I want this to be a together decision, okay?"
Jay smiled and nodded while pocketing his phone. "Okay."
"So if that's a together decision, you want to choose the ceremony location?" Hailey asked, "You're the one who suggested outside in the first place. I want you to have this one."
Jay studied her for a moment then nodded. "I can do that. Any requirements?"
"Nope," Hailey said as she picked up her sandwich, "Just somewhere nice and maybe fun and definitely where we could fit all our friends."
"Which is who?" Jay asked, "Will, Intelligence, Trudy…?"
"Anyone from 51?" Hailey replied, "You got breakfast with Severide. Would he want to come? Stella is fun."
Jay smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we can invite some of them. Would you…uh…would you want to invite your family at all?"
Hailey sucked in a breath and avoided answering by becoming incredibly focused on her sandwich.
While she'd sent occasional texts to her mom, they certainly didn't feel close; she actually felt like she was closer with Trudy in comparison. Their relationship had been frayed when she moved out, and she'd never had the strength to try and repair it. Even when Uncle DJ died, leaning on her mom never felt like an option – not when she'd grown used to hearing from her uncle about how he didn't approve of her father. There felt no turning back after that.
And her brothers…she would have liked seeing them again, but she spoke even less with them than she did her mom, and that was almost a once or twice a month kind of text. They had all spread apart upon moving out; each of them taking the pain from their childhoods and using it to build better lives. Her older brother had also gotten married and had two sons while her younger brother was recently single – at least, he was two months before when she'd last spoken with him. Still, though, they'd drawn lines in the sand regarding their father, but didn't always agree on where those lines needed to be. Building a relationship with her brothers felt too complicated and frustrating – it'd been the last thing she'd wanted to do while Jay was gone.
She also knew, however, that neither of them had exactly been happy when they'd found out Jay had up and left for Bolivia. Something within them had been triggered relating to their own father that they made several comments both to her and her mother about Jay not being good enough for her if he could have just left her like that. On one hand, they were glad he hadn't physically hurt her like they'd seen multiple times between their parents, but they were also furious that he'd "played with her mind" and walked out on her.
She'd tried explaining that he hadn't done that, but there were only so many times she could try and convince herself of that. It made the entire situation even more exhausting that she'd completely stopped talking to them after her birthday. She didn't want to hear any more snide comments about her husband that they had only met once.
While that one meeting – drinks at a bar in Greektown just three weeks after they'd gotten married – had gone relatively well with small talk and a few (safe) conversations about growing up, Hailey never had any interest in doing it again. Jay was her family now, and he was all that mattered. She didn't want to subject him, certainly not now, to the watchful eyes of her brothers. She was her own person and could make her own decisions – that completely, and utterly, applied to her relationship with Jay.
"No," she said softly, "They don't…no. They're not invited."
Jay raised an eyebrow and gently put a hand on her back. "Is there a reason? I thought we'd all gotten along pretty well."
"Yeah, um, no," Hailey replied, "No, they're just…they're them, you know? We don't agree on a lot of things regarding my mom and dad, and some of that kind of came up while you were gone, stuff about…stuff about you too, so I don't want that around on our day. We can maybe try with them some other time, but definitely not at our vow renewal."
Jay's mouth gaped for a moment then he quietly asked, "About me? What…what did they say?"
Hailey sighed and finally met his eyes. "We were just saying we were happy."
"We can still be happy after talking about your family," Jay replied, "I want to know what they'd said. I want to clear the air."
Hailey pursed her lips and shook her head. Looking down at her hands, she lightly picked at her nails and mumbled, "They weren't happy with you leaving. Nik couldn't understand why you'd leave your wife, and Theo thought I should have fought harder for you. They didn't understand and refused to listen to anything I had to say."
"Oh."
Hailey glanced up at Jay's broken, quiet voice and felt her heart shatter. She had a feeling that no matter how long Jay would be back in Chicago, hearing what others thought about his absence was going to be hard.
She gently placed her hand on the side of his face and whispered, "They're protective brothers, you know that, and they're stubborn as hell. What they think doesn't matter. I mean, you know Theo still refuses to believe Dad hits Mom half the time, and Nik is so stuck in his ass, believing he's the perfect husband that no one else can compare. Their opinions don't matter; they never did. My feelings about you and for you while you were gone were strictly mine, I promise. Believe me."
Jay tried to smile and nodded. "I do," he said softly, "I also love you. I always have and always will."
"And I love you," Hailey replied before kissing him quickly, "Forever."
Jay didn't let her go far before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly. "I'm still sorry," he whispered.
"I know," she replied while rubbing his back, "I know you are. That's why we're doing all of this, right? Mistakes were made, but we're accepting them and moving on. It's time for a new start."
Jay hummed and gave her one last squeeze before kissing the side of her head and sitting up. "Yeah," he said quietly, "A fresh start. A happier one too. Just like we were saying earlier."
"Exactly," Hailey said with a smile. She brushed her hand over his cheek then asked, "Want to tell me about that happier day?"
Jay finally let out a soft laugh and nodded. "Sure," he began, "I can do that. I was able to add five pounds to my weights today."
Hailey raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just add ten the other day? Why the rush?"
"And didn't I just tell you the other day that I was going to be able to lift you up by the night of the vow renewal?" Jay countered, "I didn't just do it myself. I was at the gym at Med with my physical therapist. I told him my goal, and we're working on it. It's safe, I promise."
Hailey hummed softly, but knew not to argue with him. This was something he wanted, and she didn't want to get in the way of his small goals right now. She just needed to trust that he was doing the right thing for him.
Just like how he was going to trust her that everything with her family wasn't still eating at her. And it wasn't. When she was reminded, like tonight, of all that had happened between her brothers, it gnawed at her, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. Not when life with Jay felt so much better and happier. Not when she was in such a good place right now.
And not when she was getting ready for an even brighter period of life.
Hailey finished texting Darlene about the bouquet of roses two days later then stood up from her work desk to pull her jacket on and prepare to leave.
"Hailey, Jay busy tonight?"
She glanced up at Adam's voice and said, "I don't think so. We didn't have any plans, and he'd really only be hanging out with you guys."
Adam laughed softly and nodded. "Okay, cool, I'm gonna call him then in a second. Kev and I ran into Cruz earlier, and he invited all of us to Molly's. Want to come too?"
"Uh, sure," Hailey replied, "Is Torres coming?"
"Yeah, I want him to meet some of the guys," Adam said, falling into step with her as they headed downstairs together.
Hailey laughed slightly and asked, "Setting him up with friends?"
"He deserves friends that aren't us," Adam chuckled, "And, come on, we've all made friends at Molly's. It's a full circle moment."
"Like an initiation," Hailey laughed.
"Exactly," Adam replied with a smile, "Kim's the only one who won't be there. She's been doing monthly date nights with Makayla. Girls only – no boys allowed, even dads."
Hailey beamed up at him and said, "You really are proud, aren't you?"
Adam made a soft noise as he blushed, then shook his head and said, "I don't even care. I'm someone's dad, that's cool."
Hailey squeezed his arm and said, "It is. I'm really happy for you. Plus, there's such thing as Daddy-Daughter Dates; I'm sure Makayla would like a second date night throughout the month."
Adam paused before taking the last step. "You are genius, Hailey Upton."
She laughed and shrugged. "What can I say?"
Laughing with her, Adam followed her outside and said, "Okay, I'll call Jay, and I'll see you there."
"Yup."
Hailey headed over to her car and slipped inside. She glanced to her right and could see Adam calling Jay on his phone, so she stopped to watch him. The conversation didn't appear long, but Adam was clearly laughing at something Jay had said, and it warmed her heart. She was glad to see that whatever they were talking about had to be positive. It was so much nicer than what life had been like when she first returned from Walter Reed with Jay, and she hoped it would always stay like that even if that wasn't realistic.
Once Adam ended his call, she put her car in drive and led the way out of the parking lot just for her screen to light up with Jay's name.
Smiling, she pressed the green button and said, "Hi, you."
"Hey, you're heading to Molly's, right?"
"Mhmm," Hailey hummed, "And you?"
"Yeah, I'll be there. May have just been laying around, though, so definitely was wearing sweatpants. I'm trying to change right now."
Hailey laughed. "I am very happy to hear that. Old Jay Halstead would have been in jeans all day. Even just a few weeks ago, you were itching to wear 'real' pants."
"Yeah, yeah," Jay chuckled, "I – uh – don't freak out."
Hailey's eyes widened, and she felt tempted to pull the car over. "What happened?" she asked.
"Nothing bad," Jay said quickly, "I swear. I just…remember how I said I was safely increasing my weights?"
"Jay."
"So you remember."
"Do not joke with me right now."
"I just pulled a muscle. It's fine. My back's kind of tight. My PT knows – he helped me stretch it out – but when I came home, I wanted to keep icing it, so that's why I kept sweats on because it was just easier."
Hailey sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. "Can you walk?"
"It might be more of a limp."
Shaking her head, Hailey pursed her lips and said, "You are…Jay."
"Hailey."
"I'm just…" Hailey sighed, "It's fine. We can deal with a pulled muscle. We've dealt with worse."
"That's my girl."
"I just said not to joke about it."
"Sorry."
Hailey smiled slightly as she ran her hands over her steering wheel. "Dressed yet?"
"Uh, in one…yes."
Hailey laughed softly and breathed, "Good. If you can't get there or it hurts to drive, don't worry about it. I can come home – maybe help you rub out that muscle."
Jay let out a chuckle and said, "That is incredibly tempting; I might take you up on that when we come home. Until then, I'm grabbing my keys, and I'll see you at the bar."
"If you insist," Hailey teasingly sighed, "Just saying, we have many months to catch up on."
"Trust me, I am well-aware."
Hailey relaxed in her seat and smiled. "I love you. See you in a few?"
"Of course. Love you too. Drive safe."
"Yup."
Hailey ended the call then took a deep breath.
For the rest of the drive to Molly's all she kept telling herself was that Jay was fine and there were worst things that could have happened.
There were many, many more worst things that could have happened.
She was feeling better about the situation by the time she was across from Stella at the bar with a beer in front of her, but then she spotted Jay wincing as he walked in the bar and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"You're an idiot," she said as he limped his way onto the bar stool to her left.
"And you're beautiful," he shot back then nodded at Stella and said, "Hey, nice to see you. I'll have what she's having."
Stella smirked toward Hailey and said, "Nice to see you too. Glad you're home," before walking away.
"If working toward lifting me up is going to be too hard, I don't need it," Hailey said.
Jay shook his head. "No, not too hard. Just went too hard today."
"With a doctor present?" Hailey countered.
Jay waved her off and said, "It happens."
Hailey sighed and set a hand on his thigh. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Jay said with a nod, "It's really not that bad. I've done worse just at work. I'll take it easy tomorrow, then Chris said he'll show me some more stretches when I get back in. Everything's going to be fine."
"It better," Hailey said softly. She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Other than that, was today okay?"
"Yeah, for sure," Jay replied, "I went through my list of honeymoon locations and narrowed it down to two."
Hailey's smile widened. "Oh, yeah? Okay. I'll have to finish going through it then even though I'm pretty convinced on what I want."
"I want to hear," Stella said as she returned. She passed Jay his beer and asked, "Where are you two off to? Somewhere hot with a lot of sunshine?"
"Uh, maybe not too hot," Hailey said, glancing over at Jay taking a sip of beer. He shot her a small smile and nodded. "But somewhere along the water so we can at least get sunshine and enjoy the view. Jay found a place in Michigan that looks amazing. At least, the beach looks amazing and all the sunset pictures I saw were gorgeous."
"Holland?" Jay asked, his smile widening.
"Yeah," Hailey answered, "It seems perfect for us."
"That was my favorite one too," Jay replied, "I was looking into hotels around there or houses to stay at."
"Well, now I need to look it up," Stella said, "Kelly and I went up to his cabin for our honeymoon, but you know how that went. We could definitely use a new place to vacation for a bit."
"Is he here?" Jay asked, already looking around the bar.
Stella shook her head, but said, "He'll be here soon – maybe ten minutes?"
"Cool," Jay replied. He slid off the bar stool and nodded over toward Kevin, Adam, and Joe at a table. "I'm gonna go catch up with the guys."
Hailey nodded and said, "Have fun."
Jay chuckled and kissed the top of her head before slowly walking away.
Once he was seated, Stella said, "He looks really good. I don't know if I've ever seen either of you that touchy."
Hailey laughed, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "He is good. We were talking about that the other day. He's finally reached this point in his recovery of acceptance. I think being out of Intelligence and having a new path in the police department is good for him too. He needed a fresh start; I just hate how he got it."
"Of course," Stella replied, "You can't see anything with that jacket on, but I'm guessing he's a bit of a mess under there?"
Hailey let out a breath and nodded before taking a long sip of beer. "It's rough," she finally answered, "Kind of took some getting used to; he's still really…pink looking. I don't know if that's even the right word."
"Burns are no joke," Stella said. Her eyes seemed to wander for a moment, and Hailey followed her gaze toward where Dante was sitting with some of the younger firefighters and paramedics.
"They're good people, right?" she asked softly.
Stella looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "Who? That lot? Yeah, they're good. I trust them with my life."
"Right, of course," Hailey breathed. She took a sip of beer then said, "Torres too. Jay actually pulled him in before he left for Bolivia. He's felt really guilty about it even if Torres has told him it's fine."
Stella shot her a small smile and nodded. "I get that. I mean, you don't want to teach anyone or guide them and then just abandon them, even if you're doing it for the right reason, and Jay was leaving for the right reason, right? He wanted to find himself and feel better about policing?"
"Um, yeah, I guess that sums it up," Hailey sighed. She ran a hand through her hair then added, "I think it put things in perspective for him. I hope it did, at least. He did say things were getting better before the worst happened. Let's just wait and see if that carries over into his new job."
"Working at the academy?" Stella asked, "Kelly said the two of them met up a couple weeks back to talk about it."
"Yeah," Hailey answered with a nod, "He's going to be an instructor starting in the summer semester."
"That is really great, Hailey," Stella replied, "He's going to do good things there. He's a good guy."
Hailey smiled and said, "Thank you; I think so too."
Stella laughed, "I'd hope so."
"I mean, I did marry him and plan on doing it again," Hailey said.
Stella raised an eyebrow as a smile spread across her face. "Again? Are you two renewing your vows?"
Hailey nodded quickly. "He asked me a few weeks ago. You're invited, of course, we're just trying to pick a location and will need a date – preferably kind of soon."
"I will be there for sure. Are we talking church wedding or something more casual?" Stella asked.
"Casual," Hailey answered easily, "I did buy a dress and will have flowers, but it's really just a small thing. Kevin's going to officiate."
"Then do it here!" Stella exclaimed, "Look around! The lights fit the vibe, you two love beer and bars, and you could even do the ceremony on the outdoor patio. I'm sure Hermann would give you a decent price for it – scratch that, he won't even charge you; I'll make sure of it."
Hailey lightly laughed and said, "Are you serious? We can't just shut down your bar for a night."
"Uh, you can and you will," Stella replied, "Seriously. You can talk to Jay about it, but know that I'm already planning the entire thing."
Hailey laughed harder then slipped off the bar stool. "Okay, okay, I'll see what he says."
"It better be yes!" Stella called out as she walked away.
Hailey laughed again and glanced at her over her shoulder. When she reached Jay's table, she placed a hand on his back and said, "Mind if I borrow my husband for a minute?"
"Actually, yeah, he was just telling me something important," Joe said.
Hailey raised an eyebrow, but still smirked as she shifted her weight onto one foot. "Oh, really?"
"He's sharing his crab cake recipe," Kevin explained.
Hailey let out a laugh and lightly dragged her nails down Jay's back. "So something very important?"
Joe laughed with her and nodded. "Exactly."
Jay chuckled and stood up. "I'll give you the details on the salsa in a minute."
"You better," Joe said, "I'm trying to expand Javi's palette."
"What's up with kids only wanting dino nuggets?" Adam asked as they walked away.
Hailey smiled and wrapped her arm around Jay's waist. "Have you ever had a dino chicken nugget?"
"No," Jay chuckled, "And I don't think I ever will."
"Even if our kids are begging you to do it?" Hailey asked.
Jay hummed then stopped once in the hallway and leaned against the wall. "Maybe I'll consider it," he said, "Especially because I know they're going to be pretty damn cute."
Hailey's smile widened, and she lightly grabbed his hands. "Before we even get to those kids, though, we have that vow renewal first, and I was just talking to Stella about it, and she thinks we should have it here."
"Here?" Jay said, looking back at the bar area, "In Molly's?"
"Mhmm," Hailey hummed. She squeezed his hands and said, "I know you mentioned a park, but she brought up their outdoor patio. The lights are really pretty too."
Jay turned back to her and let a smile spread across his face. "You do look really pretty under the lights. And if it's at night too? Outside under the moon and the stars and lights? I think that sounds even better and pretty romantic if I do say so myself."
Hailey nodded quickly and added, "Plus, we got together in a bar."
"Very true," Jay said softly. He squeezed her hands back and asked, "So did we do it? Have we fully planned this wedding?"
"Well, we need a day," Hailey answered, "But I'd prefer my dress comes in first."
"Of course, not a doubt about that," Jay replied, "Think it'll be here within a week?"
"Maybe, I can check my email when we get home," Hailey answered.
Jay smiled and said, "Then it's settled. This is real, huh? We are really, truly doing this."
"Yes, we are," Hailey breathed. She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I love you."
Jay tugged her closer and whispered back, "I love you too, wife."
Hailey's face lit up, and she felt all her excitement for the vow renewal spread throughout her.
She felt like she'd really done what Teenage Hailey had been unsure about all those years ago: found a real, true love that wasn't going anywhere, especially now that there was going to be an official ceremony to prove it.
Even if that ceremony involved her friends in a bar.
A/N: I hope you all have a great week! See you at the wedding :)