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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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your names say it all

prompt: this was meant to be included in chapter 28 of ‘another life’ but wasn’t. i still don’t know why it wasn’t, so here it is. upstead introducing their son’s name to the unit (+will)

this was meant to be a oneshot in ‘butterfly kisses’ but it became wayyy too long... maybe that’s why it wasn’t originally written?

Hailey chuckled quietly to herself when she caught another glimpse of her daughter’s handy work drawn all over Adam’s face and the officer glared at her in the corner of her eye, but before he could say anything, Jay spoke up from the living room, swatting away Kim’s hand from the car seat he had just placed down on the couch.

“No touch,” he instructed her, pointing his finger in her direction. “You wake him up, I snap your neck.” He adds the further warning, making Kim’s hands raise into a surrender.

“I won’t touch.” She replies, backing away from the couch whilst keeping her arms raised. There’s a small grin on her face despite having just been threatened.

Hailey slowly enters the living room and stands behind the couch, peeking into the car seat at the sleeping newborn. She makes sure he’s still snoozing until small hands pull at her pants. She looks down and sees furrowed eyebrows staring up at her.

“Momma, when are they gonna be getting here?” She asks and in the detective’s slightly sleep deprived state, she gives her daughter a very confused look because she didn’t know what the three-year-old was talking about.

It was only when the memory of the conversation she and Jay had had with the unit a few days prior that she understood what the toddler was referring to. The unit, or rest of the unit, as well as a few others, were coming by later that afternoon as a sort of welcome home to the new addition and it would be then that she and Jay shared the newborn’s name to everyone. They were meant to do it the day after he was born, but when some people couldn’t make it they changed it to today - because everyone had to be here to hear the name at the same time.

Hailey shot Macie a smile. “Soon, baby, in an hour or so.” She replied.

That was all the small blonde needed to hear, and as soon as she got her answer she ran back out of the room and into the kitchen, shouting for Adam to come too so she could finish what she had started. Her pleading voice makes everyone but Adam laugh as he groans quietly and wanders back into the kitchen to be poked in the eye with an eyeliner pen.

She glances over her shoulder and watches Adam disappear into the kitchen before she turns and faces Jay, who was packing up some of the toys Macie had left stray on the floor. She tilts her head to the side. “Hey, I’m gonna go get in the shower real fast, try and look half alive before people get here, are you good with him while I’m out?” She asks.

Jay nods. “Yeah, go,” he encourages and Hailey gives him a side glance. He shakes his head and jerks his head toward the stairs. “Don’t take that the wrong way, you still look as great as ever but you also haven’t had a shower in a few days.”

She sends him a smile and then turns her back, heading up the stairs. She grabs a towel from the closet and enters the bathroom, turning on the water to allow it to warm up first. Ditching the sweats and hoodie - Jay’s hoodie and sweats - she was wearing to the side, she climbs in under the running water. She dips her head underneath, the warmth doing the opposite she had wanted it too. She had hoped that the shower would wake her up a little more before everyone came around, but the temperature was just pulling her eyes closed even more. It was a drastic change to the shower she had in the hospital, where the water barely touched lukewarm. She hummed because she missed the hot water feeling, and it just felt right being back home again after almost a week spent in the hospital. She could stay in here for hours.

The water dampened her hair and ran down her back, and she was just about to reach for the bottle of shampoo hanging on the wall when a soft but loud knock raps on the door.

“Babe?” Jay’s voice comes through the wood and it brings a wide, subconscious grin to her face, both by the way the pet name falls so effortlessly from his lips and because she knew exactly what he was about to say next. She hums in response and encourages him to continue. “The little guy’s summoning you.”

Hailey peeks her head around the glass so her words wouldn’t be as muffled, a slight chuckle in her voice. “Jay, you will have to change a dirty diaper one day, why not just start now?”

His response comes back immediately. “I’ll remind you that I changed his first diaper and that set me for life. And anyway, I don’t think I can help him with this problem, I’m magic but I’m not that magic.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Okay, I’ll be out in a second.” She replied and reached for the tap again.

She shut the water off and climbed back out of the stall, grabbing the towel from the rack and wrapping it around herself. Now that the noise of the water had been turned off, she could hear the quiet cries coming from downstairs and felt her heart shatter. She quickly grabbed the clothes she had just taken off and threw them in the clothing hamper just outside the bathroom door, going as fast as she could - which five days postpartum was not very fast - up the second flight of stairs to the main bedroom.

Hailey grabbed another pair of sweats and a t-shirt and threw them on herself, not bothering with putting on a bra because it would just prove a dumb idea in a minute, and made her way back down the two flights of stairs.

As she gets closer to the bottom, the crying gets louder and she tries to pick up the pace in her steps, but turning the corner to go down the last flight causes a painful ping that makes her grit through her teeth and force her to take that set slower. The cries only increase in volume as she enters the living room to find Jay bopping the screaming infant while holding him up on his chest.

She goes around and gently takes the newborn from her husband’s arms, shushing him as she fixes his position in the crook of her elbow. “Hey, baby, you’re okay. Momma’s here, I’m sorry I left you.” She whispers, rocking him side to side, her heart breaking with every cry that echoed through the room.

Jay rests his hand against Hailey’s shoulder, looking down at the infant as he continues to cry out. The brunette then thanked Kim when she returned to the living room with the C-shaped pillow he had asked her to retrieve from the car. Kim hands it to Hailey and then the detective walks over to the couch, making herself comfortable and ensuring the newborn was sat the way the nurses had shown her in the hospital, and Hailey managed to quickly get the boy latched on. The noise stops instantly and she lets out a large sigh as she listens to the fast suckling noises that her son was making.

“Times like that and I really wish he’d just take the pacifier.” Hailey mumbles quietly.

Jay speaks up from the opposite side of the room. “I told you before, he’s not stupid.” He says, referring to the earlier conversation he and Hailey had had on their way home from the hospital less than an hour ago.

The sound of feet hitting the wooden floor could be heard getting closer and it stops them from saying anything else. Moments later, Macie appears in the doorway and she instantly walks across the room to where the young officer was stood.

“Antie Kim?” She asks, getting the aforementioned officer’s attention.

Kim leans down. “What’s up, Mae?” She wonders.

The toddler glances over her shoulder and then back up at her aunt. “Unkle Adam said it’s your turn now.”

Kim’s eyes widen. “Oh did he now?” She asks and Macie nods in return. “Well I don’t know if Uncle Adam has finished his turn yet.” She says, trying to avoid being drawn on as much as she could.

Macie shakes her head. “No, Unkle Adam’s all done. He’s bewtiful. It’s your turn now.” She says, grabbing Kim’s hand and she goes to pull her out of the room before she catches sight of her mother and she stops, seeming to be distracted by what was going on.

She lets go of Kim’s arm and instead approaches the couch, tilting her head as she glances down at the baby and then she meets her mother’s eyes. “Momma, what you doing?”

Hailey tries not to chuckle at the way her daughter looked so intrigued by what was going on. She just about manages to keep her face as straight as possible as she replies. “I’m feeding your baby brother, he was hungry.”

Macie points to the newborn. “Why you doing it like that though?” She questions.

Hailey shrugs. “Because this is the way he likes to be fed.” She answers honestly because she remembers clearly how the infant was not interested in the bottle when the nurses tried to get Jay to feed him.

This just seems to stir up more questions in her head and Jay and Kim watch from the back of the room in amusement as they try not to laugh.

“But why not like me, you and Daddy?” She asks.

“He’s too little to eat like that, he doesn’t have any teeth yet, he has to drink milk to grow and get his teeth so he can eat like you and me and Daddy.” Hailey replies.

All of a sudden, Macie’s gaze drops to her lap and she raises her shirt, showing off her bare chest and she knits her eyebrows together. “Can I feed baby like you?”

On the other side of the room, Hailey can hear Jay snort back a laugh and she struggles to hold her own one down as she uses her spare hand to tap her daughter’s leg. “Oh no, baby, you can’t. Only Momma can feed him like this.”

She drops her shirt back down. “Why can’t I? I wanna.” She asks.

Hailey tilts her head to one side and shoots the toddler a sympathetic look. She stumbles on what to reply with at first - she had been warned that Mae might have had some questions in the first few months as she adjusted to the change of the new addition in the household, but she had never imagined that.

Eventually Hailey just sighs. “You’re too little to do it.”

The toddler gets a little defensive at this, crossing her arms sharply over her chest. “But I’m not little, I’m a big girl.”

Hailey nods. “You are a very big girl, but this is only for grown-ups, okay?”

Mae doesn’t seem overly impressed with that fact but she lets out a small nod and climbs back down off of the couch, lightly tapping her brother’s foot before running back out of the living room, seeming to have forgotten why she went in there in the first place until a few minutes later when she ran back in and collected Kim, all but pulling her out of the room.

xxx

The first to arrive is Kevin. He comes in with a large gift bag in one hand and a small, bottle sized one in the other, as to which he hands it off to Hailey with a slight wink, commenting about how he couldn’t wait for his drinking buddy back. Hailey rolled her eyes and reminded him that he would still have to wait a little longer while she was breastfeeding but that she was looking forward to being back too. The officer then placed the large bag on the floor by the couch and called Macie over, pulling out a wrapped gift from inside.

Macie’s jaw drops and her eyes widen. “Wow!” She shouts, reaching out for the gift.

Kevin hands it to her and watches as she rips the striped paper off, another loud gasp escaping her lips as she darts her gaze around the box of shape sorting cupcakes. A wide grin grows on her face as she looks up at Kevin, throwing her arms around him. With a little bit of reminding from Jay, Macie screams out a thank you and peels away from the hug, immediately running over to Jay and asking him to open the box.

While Jay dealt with cracking the toys out of the cardboard, Kevin reached into the bag again and pulled out a smaller wrapped package. He hands it to Hailey and shrugs his shoulders. “For the little guy,” he says before encouraging the detective to open it. She gets the paper off and tosses it to the side, her lips curling upwards as she runs her fingers over the grey crescent moon lovey and stack of blue and white baby blankets.

“Sorry, it’s no educational toy, I wasn't exactly sure on what to get a five-day-old.” Kevin chuckles slightly.

Hailey shakes her head quickly, looking up from the blankets with a grateful smirk. “No, Kev, it’s perfect.. we’ve already been through three blankets today alone, we really underestimated how many we’d need, thank you,” she gets up and hugs her friend for the gift. Once the two part she glances over her shoulder to the baby currently nuzzled in Kim’s arms. “The little guy will love it too.”

The next to arrive were Trudy and Hank. Like Kevin, the pair brought a small bag of gifts each and Platt apologizes that her husband couldn’t make it because he was on shift. The two sergeants make their way into the living room and join the rest of the unit, making themselves comfortable as they watch Macie open her gifts from both of them. She was confused when another two presents were slid her way because her birthday had been just under two months prior, but the three-year-old didn’t argue, ripped open the paper and thanked both of them.

As everyone waited for the last knock on the door, the group of cops all ensured that the baby was passed around to everyone with equal time each. While Trudy held the newborn she looked up at Jay, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room.

“I didn’t think you had any defining DNA in you, Halstead,” the sergeant jokes, referring to the fact that Macie looked nothing like her father, instead she was a small carbon copy of her mother, with only the freckles littered over her small frame that she got from him. “But this kid’s definitely got your nose.”

Jay subtly shakes his head. “Poor thing.” He quickly responds, earning a laugh throughout the room.

The last to knock on the door is Will. He too brought a present for both Macie and the newborn, and he greets everyone already there with a wave after he had hugged Hailey.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, these back-to-back shifts have been a killer, I switched the alarm off and basically rolled over and fell asleep again,” he apologizes, handing the bag of gifts over to Jay in exchange for the infant. He shakes his head as he runs his fingertips over the short waves of blonde hair. “God, I only saw this guy yesterday but it feels like he’s changed so much already.”

Jay pats his brother’s shoulder. “That’s the sleep deprivation talking. Either that or the lack of sleep is hitting me and I’m not seeing things.”

Will doesn’t bother looking up from his nephew as he replies. “Probably a mix of both honestly.”

Adam scoots over on the couch and allows the doctor to sit down beside him, the officer taking full advantage of that by cooing over the baby again. The entire room leaned forward and watched the newborn in the corner of their eyes, turning their gaze in his direction every time there was the slightest movement.

Ten minutes after Will came in, Jay stood back up from the chair and approached his brother. “Can I have my baby back now?” He asks and with a groan, the older one transfers the infant back into the arms of his father.

Once Jay was holding the baby again, he took him back over to Hailey and sat down, starting the conversation that was the reason everyone was here in the first place. This gets everyone's attention very quickly.

“Okay, so we’re not gonna make this a whole big speech or anything, and we’re sorry for making you guys wait so long to find out his name, but we just wanted to make sure of a few things before we told you, firstly that what we picked would in fact be his name because this little guy decided to make an earlier debut than planned answer hadn’t completely decided, and that everyone was here to hear the name at the same time, so no one would be at any kind of advantage.” He says and glances at Hailey to continue.

Hailey brings her hands into her lap. “After the craziness of the last eight months, with the first scare to the last, very recent scare, we knew we wanted a name that symbolized how strong this kid had been already,” she, and everyone else in the room, send a quick gaze to the newborn when he grunts, but looks back up when he doesn’t make another noise. “And it didn’t take long after he was born to decide that the name we picked was his name, seeing him in person and being able to call him by the name after he was born, it only solidified it, and I guess we just hope you love it as much as we do.”

Jay carries on. “So.. his middle name is after the most amazing role model I’ve ever had and I’m so glad that this little guy is also going to have this person in his life too, that he’s gonna have someone strong and smart to look up to, someone who I’m confident will be this guy’s role model just as much as he was mine, which is why his middle name is William.” He says, looking over at Will.

The redhead just stares over at his brother in shock before his face softens. “You guys would really do that?” He questions.

In a heartbeat, both detectives nod simultaneously.

“Of course.” Hailey replies.

“Will, if it wasn’t for you we probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. If you weren’t there the other day we would have panicked and taken the truck, probably would have gotten stuck in traffic and there was the chance we could have lost him, and Hailey. You’re the reason they’re sitting here, healthy.. it’s a no brainer.” Jay replies.

All Will wanted to do was get up and pull his brother and sister-in-law in for a hug so tight they both couldn’t breathe, but he decided against it for now, instead allowing them to finish with announcing the rest of his name before he did that.

Hailey takes over from her husband. “And we knew we wanted his first name to be just as special, mean something so much more to us than it does other people, and that instantly led us to one name in particular. I remember when I found it scouring on the hundredth website for some kind of inspiration and I shook Jay awake and showed him and it just…” She trailed off.

“It just fit.” Jay said, finding the word Hailey couldn’t.

She bobbed her head, now able to carry on. “It was exactly what we were looking for. It honored the person we wanted it to but it didn’t directly take their name, it worked great with Mae’s name and with the rest of the name we’d put together. This person in particular was loyal, and funny and brave and we knew those were traits we’d want to carry over to our son, and when we met him for the first time, after the things he had been through before he was even born, it all just kinda came together. That’s why his first name is Alfie.”

The rest of the room goes silent for a moment. The first one to move is Trudy, who stands up and pulls them both up too, taking them in for a hug.

“Al would have been so honored.” She whispered to both of them, briefly parting from them to say it before she brought them back in for the hug again.

One by one the rest of the group pile in on the hug, it becoming a big group thing with everyone being careful not to hold on too tightly because of the infant still secure in Jay’s arms. At some point, Hailey feels a pair of tiny arms wrap around her legs and when she looks down, Macie was getting herself involved in the scene unfolding in the middle of their living room.

The group only parts when the infant starts stirring in the middle of the hug. Everyone moves out of the way as Jay fixes him in his arms, resting the newborn’s head up against his chest, which calms him down immediately. Once the grunts subside, Adam speaks up from the left side of the huddle.

“Alfie William Halstead.. it’s got a nice ring to it.” He says, gaining a choir of quiet agreement from everyone else in the room.

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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macie’s story - 6 🧸

Summary: Hailey and Jay start and struggle to come to terms with the recent shooting as they meet their daughter for the very first time.

*TW: for descriptions of a premature baby in the NICU, in place for the next few chapters*

- - -

Read now on Wattpad and AO3 :)

#jay halstead #hailey upton #macie vanessa halstead #chicago pd #upstead #one chicago #will halstead #chicago med #upstead fanfiction #fanfic #chicago pd fanfiction #halstead x upton #upton x halstead #upstead fic #jay x hailey #hailey x jay

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upsteadhq · 2 years ago

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macie’s story - 8 🧸

Summary: Hailey and Jay struggle to come to grips with the drastic turn for the worst their daughter made. A tough realization is made.

- - -

Read now on Wattpad and AO3 :)

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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‘another life’ turned one year old today and its a little surreal, and i’m missing the family just a little bit more. to commemorate the anniversary i drew a upstead family portrait, which i hope you find as adorable as i do.

thank you all so much for the amazing support i’ve received over the past year, it’s been insane but it means the world 🧡

#thank you so much #happy anniversary another life #upstead #jay halstead #hailey upton #macie vanessa halstead #original characters #fanart #chicago pd #one chicago #jay x hailey #hailey x jay #halstead x upton #upton x halstead

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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butterfly kisses - 2

prompt: i always wanted to write this, but the fic was from hailey’s pov so it wouldn’t work... it works now. the unseen jay and macie bits from chapter 41 of “another life” where they are both have a stomach bug

yes this did become a collection. and this is a long one. this will be how it is, some might be little drabbles, some will be meaty, i can’t help it.

also posted on ff.net and AO3, @/halstexds

Once Hailey had bid her farewells and got out of the front door, Jay took a slow turn on his heels and padded back out into the kitchen.

Macie was sitting at the dining table, slowly picking at the toast Hailey had made before rushing out the house for work and Jay felt his heart break a little. He knew how she was feeling, and maybe she was a bit hungrier than he was at this moment - just the thought of having something to eat now made him start to feel nauseous - but if this was the same stomach bug they were sharing, Jay knew Macie must have felt pretty bad.

And of all days for her to get sick, it had to be her birthday.

He didn't like the fact he was sick, but he'd take away the feeling from Macie in a heartbeat if it were possible.

He joined her at the table, sitting down in the seat beside her. Macie looks up tiredly from her plate and at him.

"Do you wanna some of my toast?" She offers, tilting her head to the side slightly.

Jay shakes his head slowly, a quick movement would only pile on to the dizziness. "I'm okay, baby, you eat it."

Macie moves her gaze down to the table and pushes the plate away from her. "I'm not hungry now." She mumbles.

Jay glances at the plate, seeing the fact she had barely eaten a corner of the bread. He can feel his face drop a little because this wasn't like her - Macie didn't leave anything unfinished. Ever. She'd usually be the one to clean up after everyone else.

He nods though, and grabs the plate into his hand. "That's okay, you don't have to eat any more." He reassures her with a weak smile.

Jay takes the plate into the kitchen leisurely, throwing away the uneaten food before moving to put the plate in the dishwasher. Opening the front shows that in the chaos of last night, they had forgotten to put the dishwasher on for a cycle, so the dinner plates from last night were still in there. The memory of Macie only getting two bites into her dinner before promptly throwing up all over herself and subsequently the night that followed fills his head and it takes everything in his being not to gag right there and then.

He slams the dishwasher door shut and treads to the sink instead; the plate had just been used for toast, it wasn't like it needed to go in the cycle.

On the opposite end of the room, Macie slid herself off of the chair and walked over to Jay, dragging her blanket along the floor behind her. She stopped at his feet and looked up at him. "Daddy, is aunties and uncles coming later?" She asks.

Jay looks back down at her sadly and with a sigh he replies. "Not while we're sick."

At that it was as if someone had shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. She lacked the energy to question why her aunts and uncles weren't allowed to come over that night like they were supposed to as she'd been up all night, so she just fell into tears.

Jay feels a stab to his chest watching her cry out so he does all he can think of doing in that moment, lifting her up into his arms and hugging her tightly.

Macie fit right into Jay's torso. Height had never really been a strong suit for her, a trait among many the girl got from her mother. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging on to him like a sloth.

"I don't like being sick." She snivels into the neck of his shirt.

Jay rests his cheek against her forehead, the heat radiating off of it burning against his skin. "Me neither, but you're okay now, it's all over. And aunties and uncles will come over as soon as they can, and we'll do your birthday properly, I promise."

They stay there for a minute, Macie doesn't move and Jay doesn't peel her away, he instead just soaks in the moment. With each passing day Macie became more and more independent, she had always been independent, and moments like this were becoming fewer and farther between.

It felt like yesterday that Macie fit between the tip of his finger and his elbow, scarcely stretching out the length of his forearm, and at the same time it felt like a lifetime ago. The last four years had been four of the longest, most challenging years of his life, there had been ups and downs everywhere and moments that tested the limits, but at the same time it felt like the last four years had flown by in the blink of an eye.

It took him a long time to be okay with the fact that his daughter was no longer the tiny, defenseless preemie she had once been, but rather a strong, slightly headstrong child. And maybe even now he still isn't totally okay with the fact she is growing up so fast, but he was coming to terms with it.

And as he thinks about it, this time four years ago he and Hailey had no idea what was in store for them on that day. It had started as such an ordinary day, but it ended with the start of a three-night stay at Med and weeks of uncertainty.

Jay's brought out of his thoughts when Macie speaks against his neck again.

"Daddy, my tummy hurts." She murmurs.

Jay nods, quickly glancing down to make sure she still had a grip on the blanket before he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He placed her down on the couch and fixed the blanket on top of her, telling her he'll be right back, then lightly kissed her forehead.

He goes all the way upstairs and grabs the bowl left on the bed from the night before. After Macie's first instance at the dining table, Jay had gone to bed feeling rough and Hailey had brought it up for him in case he couldn't make it downstairs to the bathroom. The second time Jay threw up was when the bowl was used and cleaned up and Macie was given the bowl shortly after her third time in case she got sick again while Hailey followed Jay down to the bathroom on his third round. It hadn't been used again, and Macie fell asleep hugging it, and it had been left behind when the morning started.

Jay brings it back down to Macie, who takes it with a nod.

"I aim like a game." She says as she rests the bowl on top of her stomach.

Jay furrows his eyebrows together, asking her what she meant while sitting down beside her.

Macie just stares at the plastic utensil as she replies. "That's what Mommy said. That if I get sick again I aim like a game."

The words became clearer and Jay rested his hand on Macie's arm, rubbing it softly. "Yeah, you do that."

Macie repositions herself on the couch, lying down with her head on Jay's side, her knees brought up close by her chest with the bowl in the gap.

She snuggles herself in closer. "Can we watch Toy Story?"

Jay feels a smile pull up on his lips because it was only a matter of time before she asked. "Yes we can, Mae." He replies, already moving to retrieve the remote.

The movie is switched on and within the first ten minutes Macie's breaths against his side even out and with one quick glance, Jay finds her fast asleep.

He moves his hand and pulls the blanket further up, covering her shoulder and let's himself sink into the couch a little more. The nauseous feeling had shrunk down but his head still hurt, and the extra warmth coming from Macie made him feel as though he was burning up. He allowed the movie to become background noise as he closed his eyes, the heaviness sinking in and after a minute he felt as though he couldn't open his eyes again.

It only took another few minutes for sleep to take him again, and everything shut out.

xxx

Jay felt himself waking up at every movement or noise Macie made, eyes widening open to make sure she was okay, that she wasn't getting sick again.

He wasn't sure how long he was doing that for. At some point the movie finished and the colorful posters of what to watch next faded along the screen, but he didn't have the energy to reach for the remote to turn the TV off.

As the screen was going through at least it's third cycle of the same pictures, Macie started squirming beside him. Like he had done every other time, Jay bolts his eyes open to check if she was alright. She shifted a few more times before blinking open. She wasn't fully awake, and she seemed to move without thinking. It was as if she was moving in her sleep.

Macie grabbed her blanket and balled it up into her hand and kneeled forward. One leg swung over Jay's waist and she positioned herself, curling up and resting her head on his chest. She fixed the blanket to lay over both of them, and then she was out again, Jay following quickly behind her footsteps.

xxx

When Jay woke up again, he noted the lack of light coming from the entire house. It was pitch dark outside and he widened his eyes to find Macie was still asleep on his chest in exactly the same position she had been earlier - much earlier in fact.

He tried not to move because he knew how much this sleep would do Macie good, but he also knew she needed to get something into her system, as she hadn't since this morning. He decided to let her sleep a little longer and he leaned his head against the backboard of the couch, staring up at the dark ceiling.

While he was awake, Jay had some time to think. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to make a happy memory for Mae to remember about this day. The last thing he wanted was for her entire day to be getting sick over and over again, the countless showers she had overnight or watching Hailey take away most of the blankets and stuffed animals in a laundry basket to clean them up.

And then he remembers a video he watched a while back. The video was of this father getting all dressed up, presumably to go on a date. When he went to collect his date however, it was his daughter, all dressed up to match, and the two of them went out. He also remembers thinking about how much he'd love to do that with Macie.

Jay spent a beat thinking about it, whether or not it was a good idea. The thought of eating still made his stomach churn in all the wrong ways, but he knew Macie would love it, and that's all that mattered.

So rather than waiting for her to wake up, Jay softly moved her from him, placing her stomach down where he had been so it would still be warm in the hopes that the change wouldn't wake her up, and tiptoed out of the room.

His first stop was the kitchen, pulling the door closed behind him before switching on the light. He searched through the cabinets as quietly as possible, finding a couple tins of soup. The thought of eating still made him feel nauseous but Hailey swore on it - that and ginger cookies - when she was pregnant. He grabbed everything and left it on the side so he wouldn't forget it later.

The next stop was Macie's bedroom. Hailey had left the window and door open to air out the room before she left that morning but there was still a distant smell of vomit and bleach lingering in the air. Her bed was stripped back and the room was a slight mess, and all Jay could think about was the crime scene he and Hailey rushed into at 1AM that morning. There was also an intense draft coming in through the window that made him fiercely shiver, so on his way to the closet he shut the window, cutting off that sharp January chill.

In Macie's closet he found the dress she had picked out to wear today and he grabbed it, taking it back out of the room with him.

The penultimate stop was the main bedroom. He put Mae's dress on the bed and turned on the light, rounding the bed to his side when he spotted his phone on the bedside table. In a momentary detour to the original plan, he lit up the screen, displaying the time and a message.

He wasn't really surprised to see that it was 5PM, given the drastic change in lighting, however it couldn't have been any later than nine-thirty when they fell asleep. What he was surprised by was the message alert from Kim.

(13:27 - Kim) Hey Jay, Hailey's pretty swamped with paperwork doing this acting sergeant thing so I'm checking in instead. Hope you two are feeling better now, and make sure to give Mae lots of happy birthdays from all of us, we'll see you soon. If I don't get a reply, I'm assuming you're asleep so I'm sorry if this wakes you. Get better soon!

He types back a response while he remembers to do so, apologizing for taking so long to reply back.

(17:06 - Jay) Hi Kim, sorry I've only just got the message, I left my phone upstairs and we've both been asleep for a while. We're on the mend, there hasn't been any more episodes and Mae is still crashed on the couch. I've only just woken up too, so hopefully we've slept the rest of it off. I'll make sure to give Mae the messages when she wakes up, thanks for checking in

Jay puts the phone back down and continues with why he was in here, approaching his own closet and digging inside it. He eventually found what he was looking for and he pulled it out, deciding now was as good a time as any to change.

The suit was cold at first, the warmth of the shirt and sweats gone, and it brought another shiver down his spine, but once he got moving again it heated up. He fixed his hair, having not touched it since the day before and in a split second decision he put on cologne. Jay then grabbed his phone and slid it into his pocket whilst slinging the dress over his arm, turning the light off again on his exit. On the way back down the stairs he made one final stop in the bathroom and grabbed the hairbrush from the sink.

The living room was still silent when he made it back down there, so he turned the light on, the sharp change in setting brings a noise out of Macie.

She stretched out across the couch, grunting slightly as her eyes opened. Macie looks around very confused, the change in time much more dramatic to her. Jay smiles when he sees the pinkness in her cheeks and the parts of her hair sticking up in various different places.

"Good morning." Jay jokes, because this is usually exactly how Macie would waddle into their room first thing in the morning to greet them after learning to crack the stairgate, while she wipes the sleep from her eyes.

Macie's attention on Jay doesn't last long when she glances at the TV and sees how it was now black. "What's happened to Toy Story?" She asks, a whine clear in her voice.

Jay somehow has to stifle back a yawn and chuckles slightly. "You fell asleep, Mace, it's finished."

She sits up straight, pointing to the TV. "I wanna it again."

He nods. "Okay, I'll put it on again but I wanna do something with you, okay?"

The burst of energy that came with the long sleep meant that Macie bobbed herself on the couch with excitement about the movie being put back on.

"Yes! Watch Toy Story!" She cheered.

Jay turned it back on and hit replay, Macie letting out another loud cheer when it started playing. It was only when Jay sat next to her that she noticed the hairbrush and Macie's eyes all but bulged out of the sockets.

She whimpered, putting her hands on top of her head. "I don't want hair brush." She scoots a little further away.

He was glad to see she had perked up a little, but he definitely didn't have the energy to chase around after her. "I promise to do it gently."

She still looked hesitant, and she didn't move. "Why you dressed like that?" She questions, changing the subject.

"Because I've got a surprise for you," Jay teases, getting Macie's attention instantly. "But I have to brush your hair for the surprise."

Macie jumped back over to him, sitting on his lap and watched the movie while Jay tidied her hair up a little.

Halfway through the process of pinning the front of her hair up and out of her face, Macie turned her head sharply to the side. "What's the surprise?" She asks, trying to look at Jay, messing up the placement of her hair.

Jay used one hand to keep hold of the two parts and the other to turn her head back straight. "I'll tell you in a minute."

She stays quiet for another beat before turning back to face him. "Daddy, can I have drink?"

"Yes of course, just a second, okay?" He wonders, turning her head back. She nods in response and that's when he tells her to keep her head still.

He finishes up with that half of her hair and then pushes her back on to the couch, covering her legs with the blanket. He goes out to the kitchen and opens the medicine cabinet, finding the box of PediaLyte Hailey had bought before the holidays to prepare for the bugs the kids would surely come down with, mixing a strawberry packet with some water because the strawberry one was Macie's favorite. After a minute he brings it back through to Macie, who takes the cup graciously.

Jay can then continue with the bottom half of her hair without any more head spins. There wasn't much left to do, and to this point he had never really had a lot of practice with her hair, so he took strands and wrapped it around the handle of the hairbrush, hoping to curl it. Unwrapping the first bundle revealed a loose curl, only a little more obvious than the girl's natural curls, however it didn't stay very long.

Despite that, Jay kept going all the way around until there was a set of very loose curls.

The moment Jay finished, Macie spun her head back around to face him. "What's the surprise?" She asks again, curiosity beaming on her features.

Jay smirks. "You'll see," he responds and that seems to only fuel Mae's interest. "I'm gonna go into the kitchen again and finish getting the surprise ready, you stay in here and watch Toy Story." He tells her.

Macie nods and takes a gulp from her bottle, inhaling the contents like it was air and Jay feels his heart clamp slightly because she had been so desperate for a drink, but the lack of sleep had her crash so hard without having the chance.

Jay takes back off into the kitchen, getting a pot set on the stove to warm up the soup. While that was heating up he set the table, getting out two of the plates reserved for the holidays, placing them in their usual spots at the table. He lit the candles and made sure they were far enough away from Mae's seat she wouldn't be able to pull them over or burn herself, stirring the soup every once in a while. Once that was done, he served it in the bowls and set them on the table, popping a few slices of bread in the toaster to give Macie's soup time to cool down enough. A few minutes later, the toast was set on the table too and it was complete.

Jay called for Macie and he heard Toy Story come to pause before the sound of Macie's quick footsteps ran down the hall closer to the kitchen.

Mae opened the door and paused, looking at the table. "Wow!" She exclaimed, running up for a closer look.

Jay put his hand out to stop her before she sat on her chair. "Be careful, there's candles, those will hurt if they fall."

Macie bobs her head and then knits her eyebrows together. "Is this the surprise?" She wonders.

"Uh-huh," he replies, Macie breaking out in a grin. "It's a Macie-Daddy date. Just the two of us. You like it?"

"Yeah!" She shouts, jumping up and down.

Jay chuckles at the excitement prior to helping her into her chair. He tucked it under the table for her. "Would you like another drink?" He questions, noting the almost empty bottle in her hand.

"Yes please."

Jay takes the bottle back from her and fills it up, this time with just water, taking it back to Macie. He then sits down and helps her with her first spoon of the soup to make sure she didn't spill it down herself so early on.

After a quiet minute, Macie looks back up at Jay. "Thank you, Daddy, I love this," she says, bringing a smile onto Jay's lips. "This the best birthday ever."

"I'm glad, kiddo. Happy birthday." Jay replies softly, his heart warm at the fact that this had turned Mae's birthday around.

Four… Where did the time go? He asks himself in his head as he watches her successfully get the spoon into her mouth without spilling a drop, and he chuckles again when she cheers at the accomplishment.

#upstead #jay halstead #macie vanessa halstead #original character #hailey upton #oneshot #fanfiction #chicago pd #one chicago #upton x halstead #halstead x upton #upstead fic #upstead fanfiction #chicago pd fanfiction #jay x hailey #hailey x jay #jay x macie

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upsteadhq · 2 years ago

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macie’s story - 9 🧸

Summary: Jay and Hailey’s daughter hits a pretty big milestone in the NICU and the pair make a decision on their daughter’s name.

- - -

Read now on Wattpad and AO3 :)

#upstead #jay halstead #hailey upton #macie vanessa halstead #chicago pd #one chicago #upstead fic #chicago pd fanfiction #jay x hailey #hailey x jay #halstead x upton #upton x halstead #upstead fanfiction #fanfiction #original character #fanfic

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upsteadhq · 2 years ago

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macie’s story - 7 🧸

Summary: Hailey gets discharged from the hospital and she and Jay have a surprise waiting for them back at home.

- - -

Read now on Wattpad and AO3 :)

#jay halstead #hailey upton #macie vanessa halstead #chicago pd #one chicago #chicago med #will halstead #kim burgess #adam ruzek #kevin atwater #chicago pd fanfiction #upstead fic #upstead fanfic #upstead

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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macie’s story - 3 🧸

Summary: The unit make bets on baby upstead and Hailey and Jay come up with a nickname for their impending arrival during the second trimester.

- - -

Read now on Wattpad and AO3 :)

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

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butterfly kisses - 4

happy easter everyone! sorry it’s been a while, i’ve been meaning to update but every oneshot i start kinda gets abandoned. anyway, i hope you enjoy this little upstead family easter drabble!

also posted on ao3 and ff @/halstexds

"Mace, can you come in here please?” Jay shouted from the living room, and not a beat later Macie’s small but heavy footsteps could be heard running toward the room from the kitchen. He braced himself for impact and sure enough, when Macie ran inside, she threw herself into her father’s side, earning a groan from him in return and it made him take a step back to keep his balance.

The toddler shot him a toothy smile “Sorry.”

Jay shook his head and bent down, placing his hands under his daughter’s arms and lifting her up, spinning her round so she was lying upside down. Macie let out a long string of giggles as she swayed from side to side as Jay carried her around the room.

“Tickle me!” Macie’s shouts and Jay was just transferring her weight to one arm so he could when Hailey came into the room, their one-year-old son sat quietly on her hip, and called her husband’s name, stopping him in his tracks.

She’s trying to hide the smile on her face. “She’s just eaten.”

Macie moans loudly as Jay puts her back down and she lifts her arms, asking for Jay to pick her back up again.

Jay places his hand on top of her head, ruffling her already messy hair as he sighs. “Sorry, kid, but you don’t wanna get sick again, we’ve got a busy day today,” he says, earning another groan in return as he looks back up to meet his wife’s gaze. “Is it all ready?”

Hailey nods. “All done.”

Jay gets Macie’s attention again and points her in the direction toward the couch. Once she’s sat, he perches himself on the coffee table and sits opposite her, tapping her knee as he says, “Okay, I’ve got a game for you.”

The pouting lip is gone instantly and her face lights up at that. “A game?”

“Yeah, it’s a little egg hunt around the house, and you’ve gotta work with your brother and find all the little eggs in the rooms and then you get candy as a prize.”

Macie gets to her feet on top of the couch and jumps a few times. “I want candy!”

Jay points to Hailey in the doorway, who smiles and holds out a small woven basket. “Then you better get going then.”

The four-year-old darts her gaze between her mother and father for a beat before she jumps off the furniture, running over to Hailey and thanking her as she takes the basket away, hopping in one spot.

“Where do I go?” She quickly asks.

Hailey jerks her chin down the hallway. “In the garden.”

Macie doesn’t need to be told another time and she takes off running back into the kitchen and the door into the backyard could be heard swinging open moments later.

“Be careful on the stairs!” Hailey shouts after her.

Not seconds later could they hear the faint noise of a bang on wood, which made both Jay and Hailey widen their eyes but they didn't have the chance to move before Macie shouted. “I’m okay!”

Jay and Hailey both breathlessly chuckled and took a small breath each as they prepared to head outside and chase their daughter around their backyard first thing on the Sunday morning. After which they headed out there just as Macie yelled at finding one of the brightly colored hard boiled eggs that Hailey had hidden around the garden.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Hailey placed Alfie to the floor, who took a few wobbly unaccompanied steps before dropping to the floor and deciding crawling was the faster way to go. The one-year-old quickly caught up with his sister, by this point she was on the opposite side of the garden digging through the bush and he circled her feet, curious as to what she was looking for and almost causing her to trip up.

After that, Jay kept Alfie occupied and out of Macie’s way as Hailey helped their daughter search the garden. They lapped the garden multiple times hunting, Macie shouting out with excitement every time she found one. Her behavior transferred over to her brother when he stumbled across one of the colorful eggs, him raising the egg above his head as he let out a shriek before trying to eat it.

Ten minutes later, Macie was sitting back at the dining table with a large smile on her face, digging through her candy basket as Jay picked the leaves out of her hair. She tilted her head to the side slightly.

“Can we do another egg hunt?” She asks.

Jay smirks slightly, squeezing her shoulder softly. “You’ll do another one after church.”

She turns her head upwards and looks up to her father with a bright glimmer in her eyes. “Will I get more candy?”

This makes him chuckle. “I think so.”

Macie turns her attention back to her basket, whispering under her breath, “Yes!”

#jay halstead #hailey upton #macie vanessa halstead #original characters #chicago pd #upstead #upstead fic #easter #drabble #oneshot #one chicago #chicago pd fanfiction #fanfic #upton x halstead #halstead x upton #jay x hailey #hailey x jay

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upsteadhq · 3 years ago

Text

butterfly kisses - 3

prompt: upstead and intelligence (+ macie and makayla) visit a pumpkin patch farm.

happy late halloween everyone! enjoy the oneshot :)

also posted on ff.net and AO3, @/halstexds

Macie's loud protests echoed through the apartment as Hailey got her strapped up into the car seat. The nine-month-old had hated the seat since the day she was taken home, and would voice her opinions on it every time she was confined to it.

The day she was taken home, hearing her fuss all the way down from the ward to the car wasn't sad - it didn't break Hailey's heart like she'd expected it to - as it was a really loud reminder of how lucky her and Jay were and just how resilient and strong their daughter was. However after a few weeks of bringing the infant to and from the district to show her off, that's when it started getting upsetting to hear her cry, and it only got worse when Mae started shedding real tears.

Hailey rocked the car seat on top of the kitchen counter and shushed, not that it made much of a difference to calm the infant. She peers over her shoulder to see if Jay was there but she couldn't see him, so instead she grabs the keys from her coat pocket, rattling them in front of Macie's face.

Mae's cries cool and her eyes focus on the keys, but there's still quiet whimpers coming from her every once in a while. After a minute though the keys apparently get boring, as she rips her gaze away from it and starts crying again.

"Oh the drama." Hailey comments as Macie throws her head to one side while she starts rocking the seat back and forth again.

She's got her back turned when she just about hears Jay's voice coming out of Macie's nursery.

"Tell me why Adam chose the pumpkin patch that's almost an hour away, rather than the one ten minutes from the district." He sighs, approaching the kitchen.

He's quick to hand her a bottle, which instantly gets eyed by Macie. Her small arms reach out to grab the milk, making both of her parents chuckle slightly. Only then does the apartment fall into a sure silence, apart from the soft sounds of Mae suckling at the bottle.

Hailey lets out a quick breath before shooting Jay a smile. "It's Adam," she replies, earning a knowing nod from him in return. Her eyes then fall back down to Macie. "I just hope she sleeps on the drive there, then maybe she won't be in such a cranky mood."

Jay rests his hand on the kitchen island. "It's those damn teeth poking through, they're frickin sharp."

"I told you not to put your finger near her mouth."

"It wasn't my finger, the kid nearly took off my toe."

She tries to fight off the eye-roll, but she can't. "God, now I know where she gets it from, you're both so dramatic."

"Am not." He argues, his face dropping down with hurt.

"You so are," Hailey says, grabbing the top of the car seat and lifting it up. The movement jerks Macie and she lets out a noise. "See, Mae agrees too."

Jay bends down and fixes the bottle back into the infant's mouth to avoid her screaming out again. "Mace doesn't have a dramatic bone in her body."

Hailey tilts her head to one side. "Ah, but you didn't deny you have."

This time it was Jay's turn to roll his eyes and he did it to hide away the smile creeping up on his lips. He lets it go, deciding it was best not to carry this on because she would only end up beating him anyway. He picks the bag up by the door and throws it over his shoulder as she exits the apartment.

"I'm loving the pink on you, by the way." Hailey adds, then quickly disappears off toward the car before Jay has the chance to reply.

She loads the car seat into the base in the back of the truck before taking the bag when handed it. The blonde grabs a blanket and toy from inside and places them at her daughter's feet for when the infant finishes her bottle, ensuring the seat is secure before shutting the back door with a quiet thud.

She walks around the back of the truck, round to the passenger side, joining Jay in the front. Once she's seated, she peers over her shoulder to check on Macie, who was still sucking away at the bottle.

Jay pulls the truck out of the spot and onto the main road. He drives in silence for a few minutes, seeming to know what he was doing but when he pulls on to the same road he had been on moments earlier, Hailey looks at him.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asks.

He quickly nods, keeping his eyes on the road. "Yes I know where I'm going." He sounds sure but the confused dip in his eyebrows tells Hailey differently, so she reaches into her pocket and pulls her phone out, knowing Kim had texted her the address earlier that day.

She leans forward in her seat, beginning to put it into the GPS, but Jay's voice stops her as she puts in the first letter.

"What are you doing?"

"Jay, you don't know where you're going, so please just save us the problem of getting lost halfway there and let me put it in."

He doesn't argue further, allowing Hailey to put the address into the system, it quickly calculating the route and calling out directions every so often.

The gentle hum and vibration of the truck is enough to pull Macie into a slumber less than ten minutes into the drive, the girl leaving a quarter of the bottle left, but thankfully she sleeps the entire drive, only waking when Jay pulls the car seat out of the car and clips it into the stroller base.

She fusses slightly having been woken up, but Hailey returns the bottle into her mouth and she takes it graciously, finishing it off as they enter the farm.

The three of them barely get through the entrance before a familiar voice can be heard shouting at them from ahead.

"Hailey! Jay! Quickly, we're over here!"

A quick glance around had them looking at a round picnic table, which their friends were sitting around. They start to head over, shooting their friends a smile as they did and when they get within two feet of the table, Kim's daughter Makayla looks up with puppy dog eyes.

"Now they're here, can I please go on the carousel?" She begs.

Kim moves her hand to rest it on Makayla's back. "Just give them a minute to sit down, then you can."

Hailey cuts in, flicking her wrist slightly. "Oh no, please, we've been sitting down for an hour, take us to the carousel."

The girl jumps up with a grin and starts running off toward the attraction, and it brings a laugh out of everyone when Adam starts running off behind Makayla. However when Kim calls out for them, they stop very abruptly in their path, both staying in exactly the same place as they wait for the adults to catch up.

People are just getting off when they arrive there, so Kim takes the very eager Makayla on straight away, a very eager Adam following closely behind them. As more families climb on, Kim persuades Hailey to come on with Macie so as the blonde pulls the nine-month-old out from the car seat, she glances over at her fiancé.

"You coming on too?" She asks.

Jay doesn't waste a beat before shaking his head. "Not a chance, but I'll wave at you both every time you go past."

Hailey's head falls to the side. "You're boring." She says, taking a few steps backwards toward the carousel before turning her back to climb on properly, sitting next to Kim and Makayla.

As the carousel starts up again, Jay gives Hailey a small smile and wave and she sticks her tongue out at him, bringing a chuckle up in his chest.

On the first circle around, Hailey points Macie to Jay and the girl bursts out into a bright smile upon spotting him. On the second circle around, Kevin comes up behind Jay, tapping his shoulder.

"Why didn't you go on?" Kev asks but doesn't give him a chance to respond before he adds, "And don't say it's a kid thing because Adam is also on there right now."

Jay shrugs. "Someone had to stay with the stroller."

Kevin shakes his head. "Hailey's right, you are boring."

Jay stares up at the officer and raises his eyebrows. "Oh yeah, how come you didn't go on then?"

The taller one doesn't look at him as he replies. "I don't have a kid."

"Neither does Adam," The detective says, making Kevin turn his head to face him. They both look at each other in silence for less than a second, the officer giving Jay a look, and Jay's lips form a line. "Who am I kidding, yes he does. It may not be on paper, but he does."

The two cops return to watching the carousel as it goes around, both of them waving to the rest of the group as they go past. Another circle around, Jay pats Kevin on the shoulder.

"Just you left then."

The officer quickly chuckles. "Oh no, I prefer the nieces and nephews, thanks."

"Kids completely off the table?" Jay asks.

"I raised my brother and sister, I've had enough of.. all that for one lifetime," Kevin explains, Jay nodding along with him. The taller one then cracks a wide smile. "But hey, I'm open for babysitting any time."

"We might just take you up on that one."

The carousel comes to a slow stop, and Makayla jumps off with a beam. Without giving Kim a second to climb off herself, the girl looks up at her. "Can we do it again?" She asks.

Kim laughs. "Woah, we just got off of it."

"Please?" Makayla extends the syllable, pulling her hands together. Her bottom lip moves into a pout, making Kim cave.

"Okay, but after lunch."

"Yes!" She cheers, bouncing with excitement.

Hailey approaches Jay, handing Macie over into his arms. The nine-month-old grins up at Jay, then looks around the buzzing farm around them. Hailey ran her hand over the girl's short fuzz, and then down her back, a wide smile on her own face. "She loved it, she was squealing basically the entire way round."

"I could see that." Jay replies,

"You gotta come on next time," Hailey says, earning a shake of his head in return. "Oh come on, Mae would love you on there with her."

Jay's face straightens out. "How dare you use our daughter to manipulate me."

Hailey shrugs her shoulders, shooting him an innocent smile, however Jay doesn't get a chance to reply as Adam behind them cuts him off.

"What are we doing next?" He asks, clasping his hands together.

Kim stares over at her partner. "Will you cool off too? We've only just got here."

Adam nods. "But there's so much to do." He says, earning a few eye rolls from Kim and Kevin.

Over the next few hours, they venture around the farm, making sure to hit as many attractions as possible. They took a very slow walk around the petting zoo and Makayla was an inch away from convincing Adam to buy her a rabbit before Kim returned from the bathroom and shut him down.

Kevin then manages to convince the nervous Makayla that nothing in the Haunted House could get to her, as they would have to go through the cops surrounding and protecting her, and she goes in clutching onto his hand and comes back out again grinning.

Hailey takes (rather drags) Jay onto the Pumpkin Express with the girls while the officers collected lunch and found an empty table to sit at, and as promised Kim takes Makayla on to the carousel once they've eaten.

On their exit, they make sure to go through the straw maze, and the seven of them end up getting lost for fifteen minutes before finding the way out.

They all bid farewell in the car park, Adam helping assist Kevin with the transfer of the half-asleep Makayla into Kim's car, and then they drive off one by one.

Once they arrive back home, Hailey all but flops on to the couch as Jay takes Macie from her car seat.

"That was fun today." Hailey says quietly.

Jay treks into the living room, nodding his head as he sits beside her, putting Macie in his lap. "It really was."

Hailey sits up slightly, feeling the smile already pulling on her lips before she can even speak the words. "Did you see the way the girls' eyes lit up on that train?" She asks, grinning at the memory of it.

"Yeah, that was so cute." Jay says, fixing the back of Macie's shirt.

"We should do it every year." She suggests.

Jay hooks his eyebrow up. "Really?"

Hailey bobs her head. "Yeah. I just - Mae was so happy today, can you just imagine what it'll be like when she can fully understand it and enjoy it all properly?" She wonders, and it brings a smile to her fiancé's lips too. "We should make it like our little family tradition."

And they do, making sure to book at least Saturday off in October to go to the farm, and it quickly becomes something the kids look forward to each year.

(And it only takes a few years of going for Macie to bring out her own puppy eyes, begging Jay to come on to the carousel with them, as to which he quickly caves because Hailey was right, she loved the ride and it was so much better watching her from the seat over rather than from ten feet away. From that day onwards, he always made sure to go on the ride.)

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