A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed having Detective Jay back. He'll make an appearance here too, so I hope you enjoy!
Hailey knew that one day she'd have kids with Jay. They would get to experience what Kim and Adam had: a family of their own. When they were ready, they could stop being as careful and start counting days on her calendar so that they could have their own baby. Maybe a little girl that looked like her or a boy just like Jay. A boy with her own spirit and determination or a girl with her father's confidence and smarts.
Until then, Hailey settled for watching Jay with Makayla and the kids they encountered at work. With Makayla, he'd smile wide and listen to any story she had to share. He would push her on the swings when she asked and taught her strategy for playing Uno. She had him wrapped around her finger even if they didn't see each other often. At work, Jay always softened up when kids were involved. He lowered his voice, sat next to them, and told them they were safe until they believed him enough to let him know what had happened to them or their family.
Jay was good with kids in ways Hailey never would have expected upon first meeting him. He went from being a detective who could truly do anything to anyone at the drop of a hat to a soft spoken man who knew how to make a kid stop crying when all seemed lost.
Seeing him like that always made Hailey's heart flutter. There was something about watching her strong, tough, army vet of a husband debate the best toppings for ice-cream with Makayla that was more adorable than she could really put into words. She'd give a lot of money to hear him laugh like that on the daily. It always made her imagine what he'd be like as a dad, when the stakes would arguably be higher and those kids would bear a resemblance to him.
She didn't get to see him with a baby often, so that feeling never really sank into her gut, but now Hailey found herself standing in a hospital room, staring at him slowly rocking a baby girl against his chest as he spoke to her parents, and she wasn't sure how to describe what she was feeling.
His hands always felt big against her skin, but they looked huge as he cradled the six month-old girl to him. He was keeping her safe in ways that he vowed to do for Hailey. There was a soft rocking through his feet to soothe Ellie as she softly cooed into his shirt, a movement that looked incredibly natural on her husband who had probably only held a baby about half a dozen times in his entire life. He was relaxed and at ease despite all this case had done to him.
"We can't thank you enough," Kane Jefferson said for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day.
"You saved her life," his wife, Megan, added, "I don't know what…what we…"
Her voice broke off in a stifled sob, but Jay stepped closer to her, shaking his head. "You don't have to think like that," he said quietly, "She's okay. The doctor said she gets to go home tomorrow. That's great."
"We're lucky," Kane replied, "We are so, so lucky."
"And now it's Tessa's turn to go home," Megan said, turning toward Hailey, "You said you spoke with her doctor as well?"
"I did," Hailey answered as she broke into the little bubble Kane and Megan had created around Jay and Ellie, "Dr. Halstead said she'll probably have some memory problems for a while and will need some physical therapy to get back in shape, but she will recover."
"That's good," Kane said, "We want to talk to that doctor and do anything we can to help Tessa."
Megan nodded quickly and added, "Who knows what would have happened to our daughter if Tessa would have said she was in the van or if she didn't fight as hard?"
"Like Jay was saying, you'll never have to find out," Hailey assured, "Right now, the only thing that should be on your mind is making sure your little girl is comfortable when you take her home."
Megan smiled at her before turning back toward Jay and Ellie. "Of course," she said softly, "Soon."
Jay met Hailey's gaze and shot her a small smile. Brushing his fingers over the blanket covering Ellie, he shifted his weight to one leg, and Hailey thought he looked incredibly at peace in that moment. She'd been worried about how he'd feel regarding the hospital and seeing someone hurt, but considering he'd already survived when she'd been in the emergency room herself, he was doing rather well. Maybe it'd been the thought of her being in pain the first time that gave him something specific to focus on. Maybe it was the fact that this baby was alive because of him that gave him some sort of hope within the hospital. Whatever the reason, Hailey thought that she'd like to see him in a hospital room again in the future holding another baby – a baby that she had a hand in bringing there.
"If you don't think you can get the food done in time, I'm sure they'll understand if we have to reschedule."
Hailey glanced up at him from tossing the garlic into the blender. "I can get it done," she said, "We can't reschedule again."
"We rescheduled once with Will and not at all with Theo. They'll understand," Jay said, settling into the bar stool across from her after pulling a box of pita chips from the cupboard.
Their brothers were scheduled to arrive at their apartment within the next twenty minutes. Hailey had chicken shwarma and spanakopita cooking in the oven, a pot of rice on the stove, and a salad waiting in the fridge. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun on the top of her head, and there was some sort of spice embedded within her t-shirt. Usually, she was not a messy cook, but she had just over an hour to prepare the meal, and the pressure was getting the best of her.
Jay offered to help, so she sent him to the store to pick up some sort of dessert and then asked him to go back downstairs to their storage unit to get their extra bar stool. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the tasks she was giving him, but she needed him out of the kitchen. He distracted her for better or for worse.
He liked to slip his hands beneath her shirt as she worked at the counter or kiss the back of her neck when she was bent over a recipe. Those distractions could be nice. Then there were the questions about how much longer until it was ready or how he'd sneak his arm around her just to grab a piece of chicken. When he'd do that, she wanted to yell at him to leave her alone, even if she thought he was pretty cute in doing so.
Even now, as she used a spoon to taste test the hummus she'd just thrown together, he was working at opening the box of pita chips out of the corner of her eye.
"Jay Halstead," she said without directly looking up at him, "Do not-"
"You're eating it," he argued while reaching over with a chip in hand.
"Because I made it," she replied while slapping his hand away, "You need to wait. It needs more salt, anyways."
"Maybe you need a second opinion on that," he countered, standing up to get a better reach.
"Jay!" she laughed. She unplugged the blender and moved it to the counter behind her. "I told you to wait!"
"I'm hungry!" he said with a laugh of his own, "All of this smells delicious, and I haven't eaten since lunch. Am I just supposed to sit here and watch you cook while doing nothing?"
"Yes. That's exactly what you're supposed to be doing."
Before he could argue any more with her, Hailey started the blender, effectively drowning out any noise Jay could have made.
She was so distracted by watching the hummus spin around, though, that she completely missed him walking around the island and making his way behind her.
"You're mean," he whispered in her ear before dragging his lips down the side of her neck.
"Oh."
At her quiet moan, he hummed against her skin and pressed himself up against her. Slipping his hands around her waist so he could hook his thumbs into her front belt loops, he said, "Don't you think I deserve a present or some sort of treat for returning to the workforce?"
Hailey shakily reached out to turn off the blender. "You've been working for weeks now. Months even."
"In a classroom," Jay bit back as he teased his lips behind her ear, "I haven't been in the bullpen in almost a year. And then I even closed the case within forty-eight hours. I think that's impressive."
Hailey groaned as his fingers tightened around her. "I'm trying to finish dinner."
"Hailey, come on."
She closed her eyes as she leaned back into him. "Our brothers-"
"Would understand." Jay lightly nipped her warming skin. "We closed the case."
Breathing out slowly, Hailey shakily grabbed at his wrists. "We have twenty minutes."
"More than enough time," Jay chuckled before stepping back and picking her up.
She laughed loudly as he tossed her over his shoulder and brought her into their bedroom. "What are you doing?"
"You said twenty minutes," Jay replied as he tossed her onto bed. Smirking down at her, he added, "I need to get every second-"
There was a knock on the front door, and they both froze.
"You said twenty minutes," Jay repeated.
"I did," Hailey said as she sat up, "I-I told them 6:30. What if the chicken's not done yet?" She scrambled off the bed toward the front door. Looking through the peephole, she called out, "It's your brother!"
"Of course. Of course Will knows exactly when to come over," Jay grumbled while dragging his feet out into the living room.
Hailey shot him a look of disappointment before swinging their door open and pasting a smile on her face. "You're early!"
"Yeah, hope you don't mind," Will said while walking into the apartment. He nodded at Jay and held up a case of beer. "I thought since you guys were providing the food, the least I could do was bring drinks."
"Thank you," Hailey answered. She accepted the beer and glanced at Jay to see him shifting from foot to foot all while staring at the ground. Smiling slightly, she brought the beer to the kitchen and placed it in the fridge.
"I bet you're glad you caught those guys," Will said, sitting at the island.
"Even happier that the baby and the nanny are going to be okay," Hailey countered. Glancing at Jay, she could see he was still looking anywhere but at them, so she cleared her throat and said, "Jay, you want to grab a drink?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah," he said. He took a deep breath then made his way over to the fridge. "Thanks for coming," he said to Will as he pulled out two of the bottles Hailey had just stored away.
Will, though, seemed to catch on to Jay's slightly sour mood, and he laughed while accepting the drink. "Haven't seen that face in a while."
Hailey spun around from spooning the hummus into a bowl and asked, "What face?"
Jay glared at him and said, "You're twenty minutes early."
"Just like I was when picking you up on prom night," Will chuckled, bringing the beer to his lips. After taking a long sip, he nodded at Hailey and said, "Sorry. Didn't think my brother would risk sex right before a family dinner."
Hailey's eyes widened, and her gaze snapped to Jay. "I…what?"
"Oh, come on," Will laughed, "He's mad at me, and you've got something started on your neck. I'm sorry. I should have done a lap before coming up."
Hailey's hand shot to what she knew Will had to have been talking about. "That…Jay!"
"I'm sorry!" he argued, "Your hair's up, and you were cooking, and we'd just spent all day working together back in the bullpen. I couldn't help it."
"Yes, you could."
Sighing, Hailey passed over the bowl of hummus then hurried into her bedroom. She could still hear Will laughing at Jay as she glanced at herself in the mirror. There was certainly a mark, but it was nowhere near as dark or noticeable as she imagined when Will had mentioned it.
And yet, she couldn't necessarily blame Jay. She'd been having the same feelings about him while at work and definitely at the hospital, but they'd all faded away upon coming home and realizing she needed to rush through dinner before their brothers arrived. Where she had been able to control her emotions, though, Jay had ignored all responsibility in the moment and voted for fun.
The thought made her smile and shake her head in disbelief. Not at Jay, but at herself. It was just dinner with their brothers like he'd been saying all along. After everything they'd been through, they deserved to have some happiness and let go at the end of a long day. She didn't need to stick to tight schedules all the time, and maybe tonight needed to serve as a reminder of that.
Someone who didn't seem to feel like they needed to stick to a schedule, however, was Theo, and as the time approached closer and closer to 7pm, Hailey felt stupid for worrying about the time in the first place. By now, the food was completely cooked, the island was set with four plates, Jay and Will had finished their first beer, and she was starting to gear her nerves about the dinner toward something else entirely.
"He's not a late person," she said as she leaned against the island next to Jay. Picking up his beer, she took a long sip then added, "What if he died?"
"Yeah, enough of that," Will chuckled, "Hailey, your brother's not dead, he's just late."
Jay nodded and dipped another pita chip in the hummus. "There's probably traffic."
"Oh, definitely traffic," Will agreed.
Hailey sighed and sipped Jay's beer again before passing it back. She'd been so excited to spend more time with Theo and to introduce him to Will. There was a part of her that was even embarrassed that Theo wasn't there yet. Jay didn't know him incredibly well, and Will had only heard stories of him. She wanted to show him off.
Jay and Will were enjoying their time together. After joking around and reminiscing about all the times they'd interrupted each other or prevented the other from having sex, they caught up on how their lives had been over the past few weeks and made plans to go golfing on Sunday.
Like Hailey and Jay's own relationship, it took time for Will to ease his way back into Jay's life. While Will wanted to spend time with Jay and work on repairing what had been bruised because of Bolivia, Jay had kept up walls that he claimed were for self-preservation. He didn't want Will to treat him with kid gloves while also wanting to avoid hurting him any further. But, like with Hailey, he realized months before that all of that was just preventing their relationship to return to what it was. At the end of the day, he needed his brother if he was going to truly recover.
From the time she'd met them, they were joined at the hip. Even if they'd gone through difficult times as siblings and things had fallen a bit apart because of the military and med school, they had found their way back to each other and came out stronger in the end. That strength was what fixed their relationship after Bolivia, and what Hailey was jealous of in this exact moment.
Maybe everything with Theo had been a lie. Maybe he didn't want to have dinner with her and Jay. Maybe he didn't want to meet Will. Maybe he disapproved of Jay so much that it wasn't even worth trying to reunite with his family.
Like she'd thought back in February, Hailey didn't want to put her fractured relationship with Theo above her relationship with Jay. Jay was always going to come first for her no matter what Theo or the rest of her family thought. Especially now that she'd started the process of changing her last name.
Hailey Upton-Halstead was going to happen whether her family approved or not. Part of her was actually hoping that this dinner would be a chance for Theo to see the family that she'd joined into and realize that this was the right choice for her. And while she didn't really care what her brother thought regarding the change of her name, she still at least wanted him to know how important is was to her and for him to respect her choice.
"Give me that," she murmured before reaching over to pull the hummus closer to her. She'd yet to have a lot of it since she wanted to make sure there was enough for Theo, but now that practically seemed useless. She'd put the effort into making the food, she deserved to eat it.
Finally, there was another knock at the door, and Hailey knew this had to have been him. She didn't even bother swallowing the pita chip and hummus before pushing away from the island and opening the door.
"Hey, hay bale," Theo greeted, a sheepish smile on his face, "Sorry I'm late, but I brought dessert."
Hailey's eyes shifted down to the pan covered in aluminum foil in his hands, and she immediately knew why he was late.
She actually took a step back from him at the realization of where he'd been: "You went to see Mom and Dad?"
Theo's smile faded. "How-"
"That's Uncle DJ's pan," she breathed, "That-That's yiayiá's, and he got it when she died. Mom was pissed, so she made sure to grab it herself when he died. Why were you at Mom and Dad's house?"
Her chest tightened, and she didn't even have any sort of idea as to what Theo's reasoning should be. Traffic was one thing. Dead in a ditch was another. Buddying up with their parents when he knew exactly how she felt about them right before coming over to her home was…
Hailey didn't know, but she didn't like it. It felt like some sort of power move. She was able to see past the thought that Theo maintained a relationship with their parents even after the abuse they put him through. That was his issue to deal with. But he knew that she was not interested to keep her relationship going with them, especially after they'd encouraged her to leave Jay. Lines were drawn in the sand, and what she'd expected to happen upon bringing Theo back into her life was starting to occur: the waves were starting to blur those lines.
"Hailey, you…Hailey, it's Mom and Dad, I'm allowed to see my parents," Theo said, and the confusion on his face over her reaction was clear.
"You can," she breathed, "But you can't…are they here? Did they follow you here?"
"What? No! Hailey, be serious right now," Theo argued.
"What's going on?"
Jay's voice brought a second of peace to Hailey, and she stepped further back until she could feel his chest against her. Less than an hour ago, he was pressed up against her back and teasing her, whispering that he wanted her after everything they'd gone through over the past forty-eight hours, nipping marks into her skin before soothing them over with his tongue. He was her safe place both in the past, in the future, and right in this exact moment.
"Hey, man, thanks for having me over," Theo said, adjusting his hold on the pan so that he could hold his right hand out.
Jay set his own hand on Hailey's back as he replied, "Of course. What took you so long?"
Hailey swallowed the feeling of bile that was building in her throat. "He was at my parents' house."
"Hailey, it's not what you think," Theo sighed, "I was trying-"
"Are they here with you?" Jay interrupted.
"Oh my god," Theo groaned, frustrated, "Would you two just listen to me? Obviously I didn't bring them here with me; I know how you feel about them, hay bale – but I also know how much you love Mom's baklava, and I thought it'd be fun to bring since you were making her spanakopita."
Hailey softened slightly, and her heart rate slowed a fraction of a beat. "Did you bring it?"
"Yeah," Theo said quietly, "You know she loves baking, so I just called her up and told a white lie. She has no idea that it's for you or that I'm even here right now. It would have gone off without a hitch had she not asked me a million questions about my job and if I'm being safe and what Lisa's like – who's Greek if she ever asks."
Hailey let out a soft laugh and took a step forward. "You know she doesn't care if you're dating someone who isn't Greek."
"Oh, she's not being picky, but she was saying something about wanting to be sure that I was going to be eating well, so I told another lie," Theo explained, and he finally had a smile on his face. "All of that aside, I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't leave their house until a little bit ago, and then I hit some traffic a few blocks away. Plus, you know I hate having to find parking in a new place."
Hailey nodded, and relief finally flooded her veins. She could tell by the sincerity in Theo's voice and the gentleness in his eyes that he really hadn't meant to hurt her. He was aware that she was bothered by him being late, and showing up with their mom's dish without an explanation within ten seconds of stepping within her apartment did not help the situation.
"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," she said.
"I know," Theo replied, causing her to laugh as she closed the distance between them and hugged him.
"It's good to see you," she whispered, "Thank you for coming over."
"Thank you for inviting me," he countered. When he stepped back, he nodded at Jay and said, "You too. Thanks for having me."
"Barely had you yet," Jay said, reaching out to grab the pan from him, "You said this is baklava?"
"Baklava strudel," Theo corrected.
"With the homemade orange syrup?" Hailey guessed.
Theo chuckled and nodded. "So she claimed."
Hailey groaned quietly and said, "I can't wait. Thank you."
"Not a problem," Theo said. His eyes shifted from the two of them to Will still sitting at the island, watching them all, surely waiting to see if he needed to intervene as well.
Hailey followed his gaze and said, "Theo, this is Jay's older brother: Will."
Theo nodded and crossed the apartment to hold his hand out. "Nice to meet you."
Will smiled slightly and shook his hand. "Hey, welcome. Jay and Hailey were saying you're an electrician. You think you're up for a side job or two in my apartment?"
Theo laughed. "Sure am. I'll have to give you my number."
Will nodded and said, "Sounds good. Beer?"
"Uh, yeah, that'd be great, thanks." Theo stepped around him to pull out the extra bar stool Jay had brought up from the basement and made himself comfortable at the island. "Everything smells great, Hail, I'm excited."
"I hope it's all good," she said as she began to pull the food from the oven. Placing it on the hot pads she'd set out earlier, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Jay was peeking beneath the aluminum foil on the pan. She clicked her tongue with a laugh and said, "Dessert comes after dinner."
He stepped back with his hands up. "I know, I know," he said before smirking at Will and chuckling quietly.
Will snorted himself while sliding off his bar stool to grab Theo a beer from the fridge.
Theo raised an eyebrow and looked between them all. "What?" he asked, "I feel like I'm missing something."
"You're not," Hailey said just as Will slid a bottle of beer across the island.
"I interrupted Jay and Hailey having sex when I showed up."
Theo laughed and nodded. "Nice."
"Oh, shut up," Jay said, "Both of you. We were not having sex. We were just messing around."
"I mean, that is my sister you're talking about," Theo chuckled, "So I will say that I'm equally grossed out as I am kind of satisfied that you stopped that. She was a bit mean to me back there, maybe she deserves to be cock blocked."
Hailey scoffed and threw a pita chip at him. "You're an ass."
"I like you," Will said at the same time, "I think we're going to get along just fine."
Theo laughed harder as he opened up his beer with the bottle opener on the countertop. "I think so too."
Hailey couldn't help but smile at the two of them as she side-stepped Will to push the hummus closer to where everyone was going to be seated. Before she could walk around the island to sit down, though, Jay nodded at her and grabbed her waist.
"If you need a second, I've got this," he whispered in her ear.
Heat slid down her spine, but she still shivered enough to take a step closer to him. "I know," she whispered, "But I…I'll be okay."
Looking at Theo still laughing at Will as he reenacted Jay's reaction to him showing up to pick him up from a prom after party, she mostly believed what she was saying, but she knew that, deep down, her reaction to Theo's lateness and her mother's pan wasn't okay. It almost reminded her of how she'd acted months before when she'd woken up to an empty bed after weeks of having Jay back as hers. Something about Theo's arrival and the reminder of her mom had triggered a fear within her that she thought she'd tampered down years before.
Whatever that fear was, though, she didn't want to focus on it right now. She'd worked hard on the meal, her brother and her brother-in-law were getting along, Jay had just finished a case with Intelligence, and Theo had even brought one of her favorite desserts.
She deserved to have tonight for what it was: a chance to combine her and Jay's worlds together in ways that hadn't yet done. Maybe it was scary, and maybe things were already feeling rather unexpected, but she needed to push forward and accept what was to come.
She'd regret ruining it with whatever fears still existed within her heart surrounding her family.
Jay's fingers absentmindedly toyed at Hailey's tank top strap while she ate her baklava strudel. The sweetness of the dessert warmed her gut. It brought a smile to her face as she remembered eating it when she was growing up. It'd been a staple in their home every few months at holidays and birthdays as a special treat. Uncle DJ and her mom would trade on and off with baking it, but there never seemed to be a huge difference between their strudels.
Right now, she found it easier to remember her uncle as she ate the food and stared at the heirloom pan on her coffee table. He always cut her a bigger piece and would wink as he poured the orange syrup on the top, whispering, "For my firefly," as he passed it over to her. Her dad never baked anything, so the thought of her uncle making her a special dessert always stood out to her.
Upon his passing, she'd tried making the recipe, but something hadn't been quite right, and she could never figure it out. It would still taste fine when her mom made the dish, but there was something about her doing it herself that felt off. Today, the baklava tasted perfect.
"So are you going to get another?" Will asked her.
Hailey raised an eyebrow and swallowed the piece of baklava in her mouth before saying, "Get another what?"
"Tattoo," he clarified, "You've got that heart, so are you going to go for a whole sleeve next?"
She laughed slightly and glanced to her left where Jay's fingers had stilled over the black ink. "No, I don't think so. This'll be the only one."
Will nodded, and Theo chuckled to himself. "I want to know what Mom and Dad will say if they ever see it. They're so old fashioned."
"Maybe they never will," Hailey said with a shrug, "It's pretty easy to hide."
"And yet, here we are all staring at it," Theo countered.
"It's warm out, okay?" she replied, "And this is my house. I'm allowed to wear what I want to."
"I'm not complaining," Jay whispered against her ear.
She smirked and set her free hand on his thigh. She hadn't forgotten how he'd made her feel earlier in the kitchen.
"Why a heart?" Theo asked. He pointed at her with his fork and added, "If you were to get a tattoo, I always thought it would have been something like a firefly or maybe even a hay bale for me and Nik."
Hailey laughed and shook her head. When Uncle DJ died, she had considered getting a firefly tattoo for him, but she'd been starting to consider undercover work, and the thought of having an identifiable tattoo like a firefly somewhere on her wasn't exactly appealing. A tiny firefly charm on a necklace was the safer option.
"It's actually Jay's heart," she explained, "He drew it on one of the letters he'd sent me while he was in Bolivia, so I got it as a tattoo." Shrugging, she said, "Now he's always with me."
Jay kissed the side of her head, the smile on his lips evident in the feeling, and he whispered, "I love you."
"Cute," Will commented before taking another bite of baklava.
"Yeah, disgustingly cute," Theo chuckled, "Bold too. When'd you get it?"
Hailey tilted her head to the side and sat up more. "A couple months ago," she said, "After Jay had come home."
Theo hummed and poked at the last of his baklava. Once he'd swallowed the piece, he asked, "Mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"
"You're my brother," she replied as an answer.
He smiled slightly and said, "Are you still Hailey Upton or are you Hailey Halstead now? I'm just curious."
"Uh, well."
Hailey leaned forward to place her empty plate on the coffee table and took a deep breath. Jay's hand found her back as she moved, and she knew he was here for her as she finally shared with her brother what she was planning on doing.
"I'm in the process of changing it," she finally said, "I've been Hailey Upton all along, but recently I decided that I want to be Upton-Halstead. He's my husband, and if we're going to have kids someday, I think I want us all to have the same last name – or at least I want to have a piece of my last name be the same as theirs." Jay's fingers moved against her in a form of comfort to remind her that he was there, and she needed that as she added, "Not that you can have a say in what I do, but are you okay with that?"
To her surprise, Theo laughed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Hailey!" he said, setting down his baklava on the step next to him, "I don't care what your name is. I…you're my sister, and I want you happy. I was actually…after that thing in the door earlier, I was kind of hoping you'd fully become a Halstead. You don't…I don't like the thought of our parents still haunting you. You deserve to be happy and at peace with everything."
She breathed in slowly and said, "Really?"
Theo nodded quickly. "I swear. I know you're at a different spot than I am with Mom and Dad, and there's nothing wrong with any of that. I'm trying to figure it all out just like you are – like you have. I've told you before that I'm really glad Jay makes you happy and that I think Uncle DJ would be happy about that too. If you want to tattoo a piece of him on you and change your last name to match his, do it. Do anything you need to move forward in your life. Please."
Hailey's smile flickered, and a blush spread across her cheeks as she glanced down at her hands in her lap. Changing her name was moving forward, and it was what she wanted.
Jay's hand moved to the back of her head, and he cleared his throat before saying, "I don't want to speak for Hailey, but thank you. Personally, I appreciate you saying that. Like I've told you from the day I met you, I care about your sister a lot, and I want what's best for her – even if that wasn't incredibly obvious a few months ago."
Hailey glanced up in time to see Theo smile back at him. "I know you do; you've made that clear. I don't know if I would have let you live after that last time we were at the bar if I thought you were going to leave her again."
Jay chuckled and brushed his knuckles down the back of her neck. "That's fair enough, but it's also never going to happen."
"Good, because I'd kill you myself if you did it again," Will piped in.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about," Hailey said softly as she looked up at Jay, "I trust him."
Jay smiled back at her, and it was perhaps the most genuine smile she'd seen on his face in days.
"And, Theo," Will said, abruptly breaking Hailey out of the bubble she found herself in because of her husband, "I just want to say that there's nothing wrong with being a Halstead. I think we're fun people who know how to have a good time, and most of us have a good head on our shoulders. Hailey fits right in."
Theo laughed and shook his head. "Good to hear. Uptons are some determined fighters, though, you sure you're good with her hard head being in your bunch?"
"Oh, come on," Hailey laughed, "I do not have a hard head."
"You can be pretty stubborn," Jay chuckled, knocking his knuckles lightly to her head, "But I like it."
"That's good to hear," Hailey said while smiling up at him, "Because you're kind of stuck with me."
"You're the one tattooing my drawings on your body and changing your name to match mine," Jay countered.
Hailey couldn't even reply over the laughter coming from Will and Theo because he was right. She was whole-heartedly and unabashedly, officially, tying herself to Jay Halstead, and it was perhaps the most freeing feeling in the entire world.
Jay moaned low in Hailey's ear as his grip tightened on her waist. She whimpered at the feeling and dug her nails into his shoulders.
Will and Theo were gone for about five minutes before Jay had her back over his shoulder and was carrying her to their bedroom where they proceeded to do everything they'd planned to earlier and more. It was much too late outside, and the room was pitch dark, but Hailey didn't need any light to see. She had Jay and her muscle memory to rely on, and that was all she'd ever need.
When her own muscles relaxed and she found herself leaning further against him as he too caught his breath, she closed her eyes against the blackness of the night and focused on the sound of Jay's heart thumping against her own chest. His fingers loosened around her and began a weak search behind them for their pillows.
"I think we're sideways," she murmured into his skin, "Be slow."
He made a quiet sound of acknowledgement before pushing himself against the mattress and pulling them toward the headboard. Together, they moaned at the buzz still coursing through them until Jay finally fell backwards.
Hailey cursed softly as she rolled off of him and onto his own pillow.
"Are you okay?" he breathed.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," she said, "Just still feeling it."
Jay hummed and rubbed his hands over his face.
Hailey used the quiet moment as an opportunity to open her eyes and squint at him through the dark. His chest was still heaving as he caught his breath, and there was a dampness to his skin that she knew was sweat after having felt it up against her with every shift of her hips. He was blinking against whatever high he was still experiencing, and his hair was sticking up against her pillow in ways that she knew reflected how her fingers had been dragging through it. Seeing him like this, in a way that only she could, confirmed what had started in her mind when she'd first brought up changing her name to Kim and had continued all the way through what her brother had told her earlier that night.
Like she was the only one who would ever see Jay in moments like these, he was the only one who would ever see her. How her legs trembled for the minutes following. How her breath hitched and paired with a broken moan when he'd speed up whatever he was doing. How her eyes would roll back at just the right movement of his thumb. How she'd desperately grab at his jaw to kiss him when what they were doing just wasn't enough.
As much as she was independent, she was still his to love and to have. He knew how much pepper she liked in her chicken noodle soup when she was sick, just like she knew the right order to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for him – three pinches of pepper for her, and the crunchy peanut butter on the bottom slice of bread with strawberry jelly on the top slice for him. He could look at her and know when she was lying, and she could tell if he needed a break by just one glance out of the corner of her eye. He could somehow get the shower at just the right temperature for her after a morning run, and she managed to never give him water that was too cold for his teeth – unless it was the middle of the night and he needed a reminder that he was at home with her.
Together, they'd made their partnership and friendship into a marriage and perhaps the healthiest thing she'd ever experienced. Jay knew how to make her moans go silent, but he also knew how to make her laugh and feel important. His kindness and pure ability to be the good man she had grown to love was the exact reason that she knew she had to take the final leap toward freedom of her past and accept that a future with Jay Halstead was the exact future that she needed.
"Jay," she whispered.
He turned to look at her, and one of the soft pants that came from his lips brushed against her nose. "Yeah?"
She smiled slightly and blindly reached out to grab his left hand. Squeezing his fingers that felt as large as ever against hers, she said, "I need to go back to the courthouse on Monday. I want to see if I can make a final change to my name. I hope I'm not too late."
"What else is there to change? Hail, I love you, but I don't think I can let you take my middle name too," Jay replied with a gentle laugh.
She laughed and could see his own face light up at the sound. Moving closer to him, she shook her head and placed her free hand on his chest.
"Hailey Halstead. That's the final decision. Hailey Anne Halstead. That's who I want to be. Forever."
"Forever?"
"Always."
The word was barely out of her mouth before Jay's lips were pressing her back into the mattress. Always being the final word she heard before she fell asleep hours later.
A/N: Let me know what you think? :) See you next week!
