Chapter Text
five months later
"When's daddy gonna be home mama?"
"He should be here soon baby. He's just running a little late at work. He had to finish up the boring paperwork while I picked you up from school."
"You promise? He said we're getting the tree tonight. We gotta get the tree before Santa comes!"
"I promise he'll be here soon, and we'll go and get the tree, and then we're gonna come home and decorate and eat pizza for dinner just like we planned, okay?"
"Okay," the little girl mumbles, squeezing her favorite teddy bear under one arm.
"You wanna help mama bring out the rest of the decorations while we wait for him?"
"Yeah," Avery says, a sweet little smile on her face.
"Alright. You gotta leave space teddy here though," Hailey tells her.
Avery nods once more and presses a kiss to the top of her teddy bear's head, and then sets him down on a stool. She rounds to the other side of the island and meets her mother at the entrance of the kitchen, and the two make their way down the hallway.
"Some of the boxes are a little too heavy for you, so don't go reaching for anything, okay?" Hailey says as she pulls open the closet door of the office.
"Okay mama!"
Hailey starts pulling out boxes and plastic storage containers, eyeing the labels on the outsides of them and putting back what they won't need until most of the Christmas decorations are scattered about on the floor.
"Here ya go. This is light enough for you to carry out to the kitchen," Hailey says with a smile as she hands a medium sized box filled with tinsel to the little girl. "You got it?"
Avery takes the box, her little hands holding it at the bottom, and she nods to her mother. "I got it mama!"
She steps back and turns, and then comes a loud, familiar voice filtering in from the front of the house.
"Hails? Bug? Where you girls at?"
Avery gasps, her mouth falling open and her eyes going wide as she looks over at Hailey knelt on the floor. "Daddy's home!"
She drops the box of tinsel down to the floor and scurries out of the office, running full steam ahead to the kitchen.
"Daddy!" She squeals, heading straight into Jay's legs and wrapping her arms around him as much as she can.
"Hey bug," he says, grinning at the little girl and squatting down to her level. "Did you have a good day today?"
"Yeah, but it went by very slow! We're still gonna get our tree, right?"
"I promised you we would, didn't I?"
She nods quickly with a toothy grin as she stares at her father.
"Where's mama?" Jay asks her, glancing around the empty kitchen.
"In da office. We were getting the decorations," Avery tells him.
"Well, we were until you abandoned me," Hailey says, laughing breathlessly as she emerges from the hallway. She has a storage container in her hands and the box of forgotten tinsel on top of it.
She sets them on the countertop at the island, blowing out a breath as she turns to face Avery and Jay. She takes the few steps toward them and leans down to press a quick kiss to her fiancé's lips.
"Hey you," she says when she pulls away, smiling at him with a dimpled grin.
"Hi babe," he grins right back, tipping his head to the counter. "I told you I'd help with that when I got home."
"Yeah, well, someone," Hailey laughs, nodding to Avery, "…was a little impatient about you coming home so I figured I'd try and distract her for a bit."
"I see that worked out really well," Jay chuckles as he stands to his feet.
"Can we get the tree now daddy?"
"We will, but let's help mama with the rest of the decorations first, okay?" He says, dropping a hand to the top of Avery's head.
"Okay, come on!" She says, reaching for his hand and tugging him toward the hallway.
He lets her pull him away, shaking his head in amusement at the five-year-old as Hailey follows behind them, laughing again.
The three of them work together to bring out the rest of the decorations and once everything has been brought out to the living room, they get their coats on and make their way out the front door.
"You feel like driving?" Hailey asks Jay, looking over at him as they walk to the driveway.
"Sure. You feel okay?"
"Yeah, just tired," Hailey tells him. "That take down with that dealer yesterday took a lot more out of me than I thought it did."
"But you looked like a total badass doing it," he says, wriggling his brows as he smirks over at her.
She shakes her head at him, but there's a smile on her face as she jumps into the passenger seat while he helps Avery get buckled into the back.
The drive downtown to a local tree vendor is a short one, but it makes for a fun one. It's the week before Christmas and the city of Chicago is decked out in lights galore and decorations hanging from streetlamps.
Snow covers the ground in heaps in any space the plows could find when it started coming down heavy the week before. There's a crisp chill in the air and a smell that is so distinctly winter that means more of it is coming, but the holiday season wouldn't be the same without it, especially in the Windy City.
Jay parks the Jeep along the street, a half block down from where the tree lot is, and he unbuckles himself, then turns around in his seat to look back at Avery.
"Alright bug, you ready? Got your gloves?"
"Yep! I'm ready!" She says excitedly, clapping her gloved hands together and grinning at him from the backseat.
"And you remember what daddy and I tell you when we go out, right?" Hailey asks her, turning around in the passenger seat.
Avery nods quickly. "I always gotta hold someone's hand and no running off."
"That's my girl," Hailey says with a soft smile and then her and Jay get out of the front of the car.
Jay goes to the back door and helps Avery out over a pile of snow, and then the three of them make their way down the salted sidewalk, the little girl in between her parents with each of them holding onto one of her hands.
"So, what kinda tree are we thinking?" Jay asks, glancing down at his daughter. "Big and tall? Short and fat? Or somewhere in between?"
"Whatever one looks the prettiest, daddy!"
Hailey laughs from the other side of Avery, tipping her head back as they walk and Jay nods.
"The prettiest one it is then," he tells her.
They enter the tree lot, smiling politely at an older man at the entrance who looks to be running the place, and head down the aisles of trees leant against a fence siding.
They wander up and down the aisles, looking at tree after tree until Avery tugs on each of her parents' hands and squeals excitedly.
"That one!" She calls out, pulling her hand from Jay's and pointing to a tree in the corner of an aisle.
Jay and Hailey follow Avery's gaze and finger, finding a tree the perfect shade of Christmas green tilted against the fence.
"This one?" Jay asks as he walks toward the tree.
He buries a hand beneath the branches and tugs, pulling it toward him to stand it up on its uneven stump.
"How's it look?" He calls out, glancing over his shoulder to Hailey and Avery behind him.
"Looks pretty good," Hailey says, squeezing Avery's hand beside her. "Nice eye, baby. Not too big or tall, I think it's the perfect size. You think it'll fit on top of mama's Jeep?"
"I think so," Avery shrugs, glancing up at her mother and then looking over to Jay. "Can we get it daddy?"
"You're sure this is the one?"
Avery and Hailey share a look, both grinning at one another, and then they nod to Jay.
"Then this is our tree," he says, setting the tree back down gently and turning around to face Hailey and Avery. "You girls stay here, and I'll go find the owner."
Hailey nods again, smiling at him as he steps away and disappears around the corner, then looks back down at her daughter beside her.
She stares at Avery as the little girl stares at what will be their tree, a wide grin stretched out over her face with pink cheeks from the frigid air.
"What do you say to some hot chocolate later, hmmm?" Hailey asks her, squatting down next to the little girl.
She pulls one of her gloves off and brushes a finger over Avery's cheek, smiling at her sweetly as her daughter tilts her head toward her.
"With marshmallows?"
"Of course with marshmallows," Hailey says. "No other way to drink it, right?"
Avery shakes her head, then steps toward her mother and leans her head down over Hailey's shoulder.
"It's a pretty tree mama," she says quietly, her little voice laced with an awestruck tone as she stares at the tree in the corner.
"It is a very pretty tree and you picked it out. We're gonna have the best Christmas tree now," Hailey tells her, turning her head and pressing a kiss to Avery's hair.
Jay returns a few minutes later with the owner and another employee, and the three of them get the tree lifted and carried out to the front of the lot. The tree is paid for and gets wrapped up in plastic netting, and then it's loaded onto the top of Hailey's Jeep, and the little family of three get on their way home.
"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" Hailey asks. Her face twists with skepticism as she stares at Jay from where her and Avery stand at the front of the driveway.
"I'm sure. You guys go order that pizza," he assures her, pulling open the back door and stepping up to reach onto the roof. He shoots his girls a wink and nods to the house. "I got this."
"Yeah mama! Daddy's got this!" Avery tells her, nodding a little too emphatically for a kid her age, and Hailey laughs beside her.
"Alright," she sighs, glancing down at the little girl. "Come on then. Let's go order pizza and put on some music."
Jay stares after them as they make their way up to the door, a fond smile on his face as he watches them go, and when they disappear inside the house, he turns back to the tree in front of him.
Somehow Jay manages to get the nearly seven-foot-tall tree inside the house by himself, but it's not without discomfort and a few too many groans as he maneuvers it into the living room.
"You got it, huh?" Hailey asks with a quirked brow and a teasing grin as Jay stands in front of the tree, breathing heavily.
"Thing's a lot bigger than I realized," he tells her, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, no kidding," Hailey snickers, walking toward him. She looks the tree up and down from its nestled spot in the corner by the window, a dimpled grin breaking out over her face. "Looks good in our living room though."
"It looks really good," Jay nods, setting his hands on Hailey's waist when she moves to stand in front of him.
"Hi," she says quietly, lifting her arms around his shoulders and staring up into sparkling green eyes.
"Hi, yourself." Jay grins back at her before he pulls her close and drops his head down over her shoulder.
He buries his face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in and wrapping his arms around her small waist, holding her close against him.
"Almost another Christmas in the books," he mumbles against her skin.
"Mhmmm," Hailey nods. "And we have a whole week of approved furlough next week between Christmas Eve and New Year's. I almost feel like we should do something or go somewhere, but all I wanna do is lie around the house and be lazy with you and Ave the entire time."
Jay smiles that usual soft grin at her as he lifts his head from the crook between her shoulder and neck. "Then that is exactly what we'll do.”
Hailey smiles back at him, and he leans down to press his mouth to hers in a slow and sweet kiss over her lips while she slides a hand to the back of his head. She runs her fingers through his hair, holding him to her as they lose themselves in the other.
Kissing him like this while standing in their living room with a Christmas tree behind them and their daughter sat several feet away in the kitchen feels just about dream-like.
It's been almost two years since they became partners, a little more than a year a half that they became them, but it still makes her dizzy, so blissfully happy.
The way he holds her and loves her, always so good and right, and how he is the best father to Avery, more than she ever could have hoped for her little girl to have. He is the best of everything to them and for them, and it still tugs at her heart in the most wonderful of ways how she and Avery got so lucky to end up with him in their lives.
"I love you," Hailey mumbles against his lips, pressing another chaste kiss to his mouth before she pulls away to look him in the eyes again.
"Love you," he tells her.
The doorbell sounds then and Jay places a soft kiss to her forehead before they drop their arms from one another and head into the kitchen.
"You good Ave?" Hailey calls over to the little girl sitting at the island.
"Yeah. Is that the pizza?" Avery asks, looking up at her mother from the coloring book in front of her.
"I think so babe," Hailey tells her, nodding to Jay heading to the front door and then pointing to the counter. "Daddy's gonna get it. Wanna close up your book for now so we can eat?"
"Okay," she nods, doing as her mother says.
Hailey pulls out some plates and gets drinks together, and Jay enters the kitchen another minute later with a pizza box in his hands. They enjoy their pizza, Avery nearly bouncing in her seat the entire time they eat with excitement to decorate their tree.
Once they've finished and cleaned up from dinner, mugs of hot chocolate are made up with heaps of marshmallows, and then the three of them head into the living room. Jay turns on some Christmas music, and they get started on emptying the boxes of decorations they'd brought out earlier.
Ornaments and tinsel are hung all over the tree, and as Hailey weaves another string of lights through the branches, Jay taps Avery on her shoulder and holds up a beautiful tree topper in his hand.
"You gotta do the star, bug. It's tradition," he tells her, and she grins up at him, nodding excitedly.
He leans down and scoops Avery up with one arm, holding her against his side as he carries her over to the tree. He hands the topper to her, and she holds it between both hands as Jay hoists her up into the air and she places the star at the top.
"How's that daddy?" Avery asks, her little fingers making sure the star is in place so it doesn't fall over.
"It looks good to me. What do you think mama?" Jay calls out to Hailey on the other side of the tree.
She takes a step back and eyes the top of the tree, a grin coming over her face as she looks over to Avery and Jay, and she gives the little girl a thumbs up.
"I think it's perfect. Great job, Ave!"
"Thank you, mama," Avery says, beaming at her mother when Jay brings her back down and sets her on her feet on the floor.
"You ready for me to turn on the tree?" Hailey asks as she moves through the living room and turns off the overhead light and the end table lamps.
Avery nods quickly, jumping in place, and then Hailey plugs in the tree lights.
The whole room becomes enveloped in a soft glow of white Christmas lights and the star shines bright from its place at the top of the tree. Avery stares up at it all with a tilt of her head and a wide grin, her blue eyes sparkling with a look of pure wonder on her face.
"What do you think, bug?" Jay asks softly as he kneels beside Avery. He wraps an arm around her, smiling at the look on her face as leans into him.
"I think Santa is gonna love it," Avery says quietly, dropping her head down over his shoulder.
"I think so too," he tells her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
They admire their tree for a little while longer together, the sound of Christmas music still playing around them as they finish their hot chocolate, and the only light in the room coming from their tree and the star on top and the glowing blaze of a fire burning beneath the mantle.
"Santa's coming today! Santa's coming today!"
The sound of Avery's voice wakes Hailey from her sleep and she squints her eyes open against the bright light of morning that streams in through the bedroom windows. She turns her head in bed, catching the sight of Jay's muscular back as he steps out of their bedroom with Avery in his arms.
"Shhhh! We're gonna surprise mama, remember, bug?"
She hears Jay's voice in the hallway and then the echo of Avery's infectious giggle that puts a smile on Hailey's face in an instant. She stretches out her legs beneath the covers, and then her arms, yawning as she sits up in bed.
She reaches for her phone on the nightstand – it's still early, but she sees a text from Vanessa wanting to confirm the time for their Christmas shenanigans the next day.
Hailey sends off a quick response, then pulls herself out of bed.
It's Christmas Eve and she has no intentions of wearing anything other than her pajamas, so she steps into a pair of slippers and makes her way out of the bedroom.
She heads downstairs, another smile coming over her face as she stands at the entry way of the kitchen and spots the two loves of her life together. Avery is sitting on a stool at the counter, space teddy in her arms, and Jay is standing beside her with a mixing bowl in one hand and a whisk in the other.
"Smells like waffles to me," Hailey comments as she steps into the kitchen, making her way toward Avery.
"Good morning mama! Merry Christmas Eve!
"Merry Christmas Eve, baby!" Hailey grins at her, dropping a kiss to the top of her daughter's head. "And good morning to you too. You helping daddy with breakfast?"
"Eh, sorta. Daddy's better at mixing so I'm just supervisin' him."
"That's good," Hailey nods, glancing at Jay. "Daddy needs someone looking after him."
"Hey now!" Jay scoffs playfully.
Hailey lets out a soft giggle as she steps toward him and sets a hand on his back, then leans up to press her lips against his cheek. "I say all things with love."
"Mhmmm. Come here," he says, side-eyeing her with a teasing grin as he sets the bowl and whisk down and reaches for her. He sets a hand on her waist and leans down, kissing her quickly. "Good morning."
"Hmmm, a very good morning," Hailey mumbles, kissing him once more before she pulls herself away from him so he can focus on breakfast.
"We were gonna surprise you with waffles in bed," Jay says to Hailey as she busies herself with starting a pot of coffee.
"Yeah, I heard you two conspiring in the bedroom," she chuckles.
Jay tilts his head at Avery with a raise of his eyebrows and a teasing grin. "What did I tell you, bug?"
"Mama hears everything," she sighs. "Sorry for spoiling the surprise daddy."
"It's okay baby," he tells her, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. "We're still gonna have waffles. We can all eat together down here."
Avery nods, a sweet little smile on her face, and Jay goes back to making up their breakfast.
The morning is slow and lazy, and with both Hailey and Jay on furlough now, there's a sense of relief in the air as if a weight has been lifted. No phones are gonna go off, no case is getting picked up and no one is getting called into the district.
It's just them and their daughter and waffles for breakfast and teasing one another playfully around the kitchen in their pajamas.
It's them and their family together on Christmas Eve and it's more than enough.
The rest of the day is spent together, coloring and watching classic holiday movies – as many as they can that are appropriate for a five-year-old, and that afternoon they end up back in the kitchen for another of their traditions they've started together the year before.
"Cookies!" Avery squeals, clapping her hands together as Jay ties a little apron around her small frame.
"It's cookie time," Jay says, matching his daughter's excitement. "What do you wanna do first, bug? Sugar cookies or the peanut butter blossoms?"
"Blossoms with the kisses, right?"
"Yep, blossoms with the Hershey kisses," Hailey answers with a nod.
"Those ones!" Avery grins.
"Alright, blossoms it is then," Jay says.
He starts pulling out the ingredients and various bowls and gadgets from drawers and cabinets, and Hailey shoots a look over to Avery sitting on the counter.
"And don't you – "
"I know, no swinging the legs!" Avery sighs. "Gosh, I only fell that one time mama."
"One time was too many times for me, my girl," Hailey laughs, dropping a kiss to her daughter's head as she walks to the refrigerator.
"Making cookies is different than making breakfast or dinner, right daddy?" Avery asks Jay as he sets up everything at the island.
"Yeah, it's a little different. Making cookies is called baking, and breakfast and dinner is called cooking."
"Oh. Do I still get to be your soup-chef even though we're not cooking?" She asks him with a wrinkle of her eyebrows.
Jay sets down the bag of flour in his hands and takes a step to his left so that he's standing directly in front of Avery, and leans down, his eyes level with her.
"You will always be daddy's soup-chef and that's a promise," he tells her, placing a kiss against her forehead.
She smiles at him with a nod, and they get back to making their Christmas cookies together. And later that night after dinner and bath time, they set out a plate of peanut butter blossoms and sugar cookies with a tall glass of milk for Santa Claus.
"Hi mama," Avery says when Hailey enters the little girl's bedroom. She glances over her mother's shoulder as she walks toward her, then asks, "Where's daddy?"
"He's coming. He's just cleaning up and locking up downstairs," Hailey tells her as she sits at the edge of the little girl's bed. "You brush your teeth?"
"Yes, I did," Avery nods.
"Got teddy?"
"Yup!" She says, pulling him out from under her blanket and setting him beside her on top of the covers. "Mama? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can."
"Does Santa bring you everything you want for Christmas?"
"Hmmm, not always everything. Why? What is it that you asked him for?"
"There's a girl at school and she always talks about her new baby brother at home and how she gets to be a big sister now."
Hailey's breath catches in her throat, and she swallows hard before she asks, "She does?"
"Yeah! She makes it sound like a lotta fun and she says her mama and daddy let her help all the time and you and daddy always call me your little helper. I wanna be a big sister and help you and daddy!"
"You do, huh?"
"Yeah," Avery nods. "Do you think Santa will give me a baby like I asked for in my letter?"
"I don't think Santa can give you a baby, Ave," Hailey tells her quietly.
"How do we get one then? Can we buy it on the computer like how Auntie shops all the time?"
Hailey shakes her head, smiling softly at her daughter. "No, you can't buy a baby the way Auntie buys her shoes. That's something that only daddy and I can give you."
"Oh, okay," she says, her eyebrows scrunching together a second later. "Where do you and daddy get it from?"
"Uh, well," Hailey stammers. She swallows nervously again, then tilts her head at the little girl. "You know how much daddy and I love each other, right?"
"Yeah," she nods.
"Well, a baby is created from that love, and when the time comes and if it's meant to be, one will come here to be with us, and then you'll get to be a big sister."
"So we can't just get one now?"
"No, not that soon," Hailey says with another shake of her head. "Babies take a while. They have to grow for months until they're ready to be here with you."
"Like in a garden?"
"Yeah, sort of, but they grow in mama's belly, not in a garden."
Her daughter's eyes go wide and she glances down at Hailey's stomach. "You have a baby in your belly mama?"
"No," Hailey laughs. "There's no baby in my belly, not right now, but someday there might be."
"So I'm not getting a baby tomorrow for Christmas?" Avery asks, a pout of disappointment on her face.
"I'm afraid not, Ave. Not right now," Hailey tells her again. "Besides, you're still mine and daddy's baby. And we have a lot of fun with just the three of us, don't we?"
"Yeah, we do," Avery says, a small smile returning. "But I think we could still have fun with a baby. Can you ask daddy?"
"Ask daddy what?" Jay asks as he enters the bedroom and makes his way toward them, then sits down on the other side of Avery's bed.
"I want a baby for Christmas, but mama said not right now," the little girl tells him.
"Uh," he breathes out, glancing between the two of them, and then he chuckles nervously. "You want a what?"
"I wanna be a big sister like a girl at school that has a brother and mama said Santa can't make me a big sister and that only you and her can give me a baby."
She says it all in one breath in a bout of excitement and Hailey lets out another snicker while Jay clears his throat, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
"Oh, um…well, mama's right," Jay says, the apple of his throat bobbing. "Christmas is tomorrow, bug, and babies take a long time to get here. It's not something that happens right away. We gotta wait 'til we're ready for one."
"Mama said that too," Avery sighs, holding her space teddy tight under her arm.
"I'm sure you'll get to be a big sister someday, just not as soon as tomorrow, okay?" He tells her, smiling softly at her.
"Okay," Avery says with another little sigh. "What about a puppy then?"
"We're not ready for a puppy either," Hailey says quickly, eyeing Jay with a playful 'don't you dare' glare in her blue eyes.
He laughs, shaking his head at Avery. "You heard mama. No puppy either."
"Alright," Avery says with another pout.
"Hey, no pouting on Christmas Eve, bug," Jay tells her, reaching a hand toward her and tickling her side.
She squirms against his hand and giggles softly, a toothy grin back in place on her face and she nods at him.
"You go to sleep. The quicker you do that, the quicker Santa will come, and then in the morning you can open presents," Jay says, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the little girl's forehead. "I love you, Ave."
"Love you too, daddy," she tells him before looking back to Hailey on the other side of her. "And I love you mama."
"I love you," Hailey tells her, leaning over her to kiss her on the side of her head. "We'll see you in the morning. Goodnight baby."
Hailey stands from the bed and goes to the other side of the room to switch on a nightlight while Jay pulls a blanket up over Avery, tucking her in snugly in bed. They make their way through the bedroom and flip off the light switch on the wall, then head out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
Jay breathes out a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he meets Hailey's eyes. "Well, damn."
"Yeah, you got off pretty lucky there mister," she says, chuckling quietly beside him as they walk down the hallway toward their bedroom. "You didn't have to tell our five-year-old where babies come from."
"She's too little for us to have that talk with her," he says, shaking his head again with a terrified look in his eyes.
"No kidding," Hailey tells him.
"What'd you end up telling her?"
"Sort of the truth. That a baby comes from you and me, and that they're made from love," she says, looking over at him when they enter the bedroom.
He turns to face her, tilting his head at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Well, just because we can't give her a sibling right now, doesn't mean we can't practice making one. Wanna take a shower with me before we bring out all the presents?"
"Hmmmm, I like where your head's at," Hailey giggles, reaching for him after she closes the bedroom door.
"But we're dead set on no dog?"
"Absolutely no dog right now," Hailey tells him, eyeing him as she lifts her hands to his chest. "If you come home with one – "
"I wouldn't go against you like that," he tells her, setting his hands on her waist and pulling her close.
"I know. Someday though, for all of it," Hailey says softly, smiling at him and the beat of his heart beneath her palms. "I still want everything with you."
"I still want everything with you too," he tells her, his fingers slipping beneath her shirt and roaming over warm skin.
He leans down and kisses her then, slow and good like always, and takes a step forward. He wraps his arms around her and leads her backwards through the bedroom and into the bathroom, emitting a fit of soft giggles from her as he starts to undress her.
The bedroom door opens slowly and Avery peeks around it with a head of messy blonde hair and a sleepy grin on her face, and with her space teddy cuddled under an arm.
She steps into her parent's bedroom, tiptoeing carefully over to their bed and climbs up on the bench seat at the foot of it. She stares for a moment, her sleepy grin turning into one of mischief, and then she jumps onto the end of the bed at their feet.
"Mama, daddy…wake up! Santa came!"
Jay groans from his side of the bed, still half asleep and his face smothered by a pillow as he lies on his stomach, an arm stretched over Hailey's waist beside him.
Hailey shifts beside him, blinking her eyes open a moment later and when she meets the eyes of her daughter, she smiles sleepily at her.
"Merry Christmas baby," she mumbles, lifting an arm and curling a finger at the little girl.
Avery flops down to her knees and crawls up the bed, lying down on top of her mother and snuggling into her chest.
"Merry Christmas mama," Avery mumbles against her.
"You didn't start opening anything, did you?"
"Nuh uh," the little girl shakes her head. "I wait for you and daddy. That's the rule."
Hailey nods, setting a hand over Avery's head and running her fingers through her hair. She tilts her head and presses a kiss to her daughter's forehead, then slides her hand down to her back and squeezes the little girl against her.
"That and morning cuddles," Hailey mumbles, squeezing her again. "I think you're gonna need to try a little harder to get daddy up though."
Avery lifts her head, that look of mischief in her eyes again as she stares at her mother. Hailey tilts her head toward Jay, a dangerous grin of her own on her face as she nods back at the little girl.
"Gentle though," Hailey tells her.
Avery nods and shuffles off her mother's chest, sliding between her and her daddy. She reaches a hand to Jay's face, patting his cheeks softly.
"Daddy," Avery whispers. "Are you still sleeping?"
"Nuh uh," Jay mumbles. He blinks open one eye and squints through the other with a sleepy smile. "A little monster woke me up."
"I'm not a monster! I'm a girl," Avery tells him with a giggle.
She pats his cheek once more before she pulls it away, and then leans down to press a kiss where her hand had just been.
Jay grumbles as he turns on his side and sits up, and then he reaches for Avery, pulling her into his arms and holding her against him.
"Merry Christmas bug," he says into her hair, squeezing his arms around her.
"Merry Christmas daddy," Avery whispers into his chest.
"Wanna open presents now?" He asks her when he loosens his arms from around her a moment later.
She stares up at him, her head tilted with a curious sparkle in her eyes as she glances between him and her mother, and then she shakes her head. "I wanna cuddle some more please."
"Cuddling sounds good to me," Jay smiles at her, pulling her with him as he lies back down on the bed.
Hailey snuggles in behind Avery as the little girl lies between her mama and daddy, one of her hands raking through her daughter's hair again.
Jay stretches an arm out over them both, his hand resting on Hailey's lower back and holding both of his girls close as he presses another kiss to Avery's head. He meets Hailey's eyes above the top of Avery's head and grins at her, mouthing 'I love you' to her and she smiles back at him before she does the same.
The cuddling doesn't last as long as their usual slow mornings do, it is Christmas after all, and a short while later the three of them make their way downstairs.
Jay puts on a pot of coffee quickly while Avery runs ahead of her parents into the living room, gaping again at all of the wrapped gifts lying under the tree that she found after she first woke up.
Hailey and Jay follow her minutes later, holding hands as they shuffle into the living room, and they find Avery sitting on the floor with her space teddy beside her, grinning in anticipation.
"Is it time?" Avery asks hopefully.
"Yep! Go crazy bug," Jay tells her as he takes a seat beside her on the floor.
Hailey sits on the other side of Avery and the little girl squeals excitedly as Jay hands her the first present to open, and it's all downhill from there.
Wrapping paper is torn off haphazardly and the living room soon becomes filled with Avery's laughter and Hailey's sniffling over homemade gifts from her daughter, and festive music filters through from the Bluetooth speaker that Jay put on.
They eat Eggo waffles for breakfast in the living room once all the gifts have been unwrapped, and as they finish eating, the doorbell sounds through the house and the front door opens.
"I wonder who that could be," Hailey says with a feign of ignorance as she and Jay share a knowing look between them.
"Hello, hello! Where is my favorite niece?"
"Auntie!" Avery all but screams, pulling herself up from the floor and catapulting herself into her aunt's arms when Vanessa and Kevin enter the living room.
"Avery!" Vanessa squeals just as excitedly, lifting the little girl into her arms and squeezing her tightly as she smothers the side of her head and face in kisses. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas Auntie!" Avery tells her, grinning from ear to ear and hugging Vanessa back as tight as she can. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"I'm so happy to see you," Vanessa says as the little girl pulls her head back to look at her aunt. "I see Santa stopped by. He must have because I know you were a very good girl this year. You always are."
"Yes, he did stop here!"
"And how'd you make out? I see a lot of fun looking things in here. Did you get what you asked for?"
"Yes, but not everything. Mama and daddy told me Santa can't make me a big sister like I wanna be, but they said someday I would be one," Avery tells her, nodding with a grin as she glances over at her parents still sitting on the floor.
Jay nearly chokes on his coffee, sputtering it back into his mug while Hailey lifts a hand to her face and shakes her head, groaning out quietly.
"You wanna be a big sister, huh?" Vanessa asks Avery, shooting a look to Hailey and Jay.
"Don't," Hailey says, glaring at her friend and wagging a finger at her. "Don't you dare."
Vanessa laughs, and Kevin shakes his head beside her with an amused grin on his face.
"While you tease them, stop hogging my niece," Kevin says, reaching his arms out to Avery. "Can Uncle Kev get a hug, little one?"
"Yes, you can!" Avery says, throwing her arms out to him and wrapping them around his shoulders when he takes her into his arms. "Hi Uncle Kevy!"
"Hi baby! Merry Christmas!" Kevin tells her, grinning at her as he carries her off into the kitchen.
"Any Eggos left for me?" Vanessa says, jutting her chin out to Hailey.
"You don't have food at your place?"
"Dude, it's called second breakfast. It is Christmas ya know," Vanessa teases.
Hailey shakes her head again, but smiles nonetheless as she stands from the floor and Jay follows suit. They make their way to Vanessa, both taking a turn to hug her before heading into the kitchen.
They find Avery and Kevin seated at the island, deep in conversation, but the man looks completely engrossed by the five-year-old, hanging onto every word and chiming in where he can.
"Ya know something, maybe Ave should be a cousin instead," Hailey comments as she pours a cup of coffee for her friends, shooting a teasing glare over at Vanessa beside her.
"No way!" Vanessa immediately says, shaking her head. "Not anytime soon. Don't even put that out into the universe right now."
"Oh, so you can tease me, but I can't tease you. That hardly seems fair," Hailey tells her.
"Yeah, no. You just keep making beautiful babies and Auntie V and Uncle Kev will keep spoiling them," she says, taking a mug of coffee that Hailey hands to her. She takes a sip, then glances between her friends, nodding to the refrigerator. "Can I raid your fridge now?"
Jay chuckles as he nods his head at her, his arms crossed over his chest. "Go for it, V."
It's late morning on Christmas day and Hailey can't stop smiling from the feeling of pure contentment and state of relaxation she's found herself in.
Avery is passed out on the couch, clutching her teddy bear close like always, and everyone else is in the kitchen – Vanessa and Kevin are laughing about something, and then she hears Adam's boisterous guffaw a moment later, then comes Kim's voice scolding him playfully.
She had come into the living room to check on Avery and ended up cozied up in front of the fireplace with a cup of coffee in her hands. She hasn't been gone long, but can't bring herself to move until she looks around the living room and sighs at the mess of torn wrapping paper waiting to be cleaned up.
And then, as if somehow reading her mind like he always manages to do, Jay strolls into the living room with a trash bag in his hands and a grin on his face.
"What is going on in there?" Hailey asks with a nod to the kitchen where he'd just come from.
"Trust me, you don't wanna know," he tells her, snickering to himself.
She snorts back a laugh and sighs. "I'll take your word for it then."
He opens the trash bag as quietly as he can and leans down to start picking up paper, but Hailey shakes her head at him.
"Nuh uh," she tells him, setting her mug down on the coffee table next to her. She looks up at him, reaching out a hand to him. "Leave it for now. Come sit with me for a bit."
He chuckles again, shaking his head in amusement, but he drops the bag onto the coffee table and takes a seat on the floor. He shuffles closer toward her and spreads his legs, then pulls Hailey between them and wraps his arms around her from behind.
He drops his head down over her shoulder and stares out at the crackling fire in front of them as he squeezes his arms around her.
"Good day today," Jay whispers, burying his face into her neck and pressing a kiss below her ear.
She leans back against him, resting her arms over his that lie around her and breathes out a happy sigh.
"The best day," she says softly, a smile on her face as she trails the tips of her fingers over his arm.
"Gotta admit, I'm still a little annoyed you said no gifts between us, and then you and Ave gave me a new watch," he says after a moment.
"I told you I didn't want anything, or need anything for that matter," she tells him. "Besides, I know for a fact your other one was just about on its last leg with the number of times it gets knocked around at work. It was a gift of necessity."
"Mhmmm," he mumbles, but there's a smirk on his face that she can't see, and then he's pulling his arms from around her.
He scoots back from behind her and crawls over to the tree, reaching for something behind it and shielding it from Hailey's view as he makes his way back to her. He pulls her in between his legs again and wraps his arms back around her, only this time he holds a perfectly wrapped square box in front of her with a red bow on top of it.
"This was a gift of necessity, too," Jay says over her shoulder.
"Jay Halstead," Hailey says, trying to chastise him, but her voice falters as she takes the box from him. "What is this?"
"Open it and find out."
She shakes her head, blowing out a sigh, but she's anything but annoyed as she pulls off the bow and tears off the wrapping paper, and then lifts the lid from the box.
She breathes out a quiet gasp as she stares down at a necklace nestled inside the box. It's a silver chain with a rectangle bar pendant, and as she lifts the necklace to get a better look at it, she finds their daughter's name – Avery Charlotte, engraved in a simple cursive script on one side of the bar.
She stares at it between her fingers, sniffling quietly as the tears come quickly, and Jay squeezes his arms around her.
"I know you don't like to wear a lot of jewelry because of the job, but I figured this would be okay. You can hide it under your shirt, but still keep her close," he tells her.
"I love it," she says as she sets the necklace back into the box and turns in his arms to look him in the eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Mhmmm, it's perfect and I love you," she tells him before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his.
He brings a hand to the side of her face and returns her kiss, moving his lips against hers slowly for a moment.
"Ya know what is neat about that necklace?" Jay asks as he pulls his lips from hers just enough to look into her eyes again.
"What's that?"
"There's three more sides to that rectangle, so if we make Ave a big sister, there's plenty of space for her siblings' names."
"Siblings? As in plural?" Hailey asks, lifting her eyebrows at him.
He shrugs his shoulders, breathing out a low chuckle. "Singular, plural. Whatever you want."
Hailey nods slowly, glancing down at the box in her hand and grinning at the piece of jewelry before meeting Jay's eyes again. "It's not if ya know?"
"Hmmm?"
"You said if we make Ave a big sister. It's not if, it's when," she tells him.
"Oh yeah?" Jay asks, tilting his head at her and smiling that soft grin of his at her. The one he keeps for her and their daughter, the one that meets his eyes, bright green and shining like they always do for his girls.
"Mhmmm, definitely," Hailey tells him, leaning in to press her lips against his once more.
It's slow and sweet, good and right, and just them. Always so perfectly them.