It was moving day. Moving house was one of the most unpleasant and stressful experiences people could go through voluntarily, Jay thought. And today was living up to expectations, even though it was going to plan. Co-ordinating everything had been a nightmare, and constantly having to supervise was stressing him out big time. He was at the new house, with Kayla helping him. Erin and Clementine were back at the apartment, helping out that end, although Erin had strict instructions not to do any heavy lifting. Alvin Olinsky was driving his van back and forth, and doing lifting for them at both ends, along with Raquel Gonzalez, who had offered her services for the task. Jay had made a joke that he was doing her a favour by providing a free workout.
"Right, that's us done until the next load arrives," Jay said. He and Kayla had shifted the boxes and furniture that had come on the previous run into the rooms they needed to be in.
"Let's have a minute to rest," Kayla said, sitting down on a box in the hallway.
"Good idea," he replied, sitting next to her on another box.
"Jay, can I talk to you about something?"
Oh God, please don't tell me she's going to give notice that she's going to work elsewhere, he thought, feeling an awful sinking feeling in his stomach. In that moment he realised truly how vital Kayla was to keeping the Halstead family going. "Sure," he said, hiding his reluctance.
"So, you remember Kalinda, right?"
He looked at her and narrowed his eyes a bit. "Remember her? It was like three days ago when I met her."
"Right," Kayla giggled nervously. "Well, the thing is, I don't know how you're going to take this..."
"Just tell me, Kayla," Jay said, wondering where the heck this was heading.
"I kind of... I've got a massive crush on her. I hope you won't judge me for that."
He laughed. "Judge you for it? Of course I won't. Why would I care if you're into women or not? Raquel and Z are engaged. And you know Deonna who came over Monday night? She's dating a paramedic called Sylvie Brett. Women being with women isn't even something that seems worth noting to me. Besides, Kalinda's hot, and that accent..."
"Right?" Kayla gushed. "She's so beautiful I can't even... Let me stop myself. My point is, I have a huge crush on her. I know she's been with women before, although she was married to a guy until the start of last year."
"So ask her on a date," Jay said, his tone encouraging.
"But that's what I'm worried about. We might be friendzoned. Her friendship is super important to me too, so what if we dated, it didn't work out, and that wrecked the friendship?"
He grimaced. "Tough one, right? But if you never ask her on a date, you'll likely never be with her. Who knows, maybe she's crushing on you too and she's afraid to ask you out for the same reason? I think you should do it."
"I kind of had a different idea," Kayla said hesitantly.
Jay gave her a quizzical look. "Oh?"
"Would you be the middleman for me? Yeah, I know it sounds like some high school bullshit, but I just don't have the confidence to ask her myself."
Jay figured Kayla had gone above and beyond during the moving process, and besides she wasn't just a nanny to them now, she felt like part of the family in a way. Why wouldn't he agree to what she wanted?
"Okay, sure. I'll come out for a drink with the two of you one night and find a way to speak to her when you're ordering drinks or in the bathroom or something."
"Thanks, Jay. I really appreciate it. You probably think I'm an idiot, right?"
He laughed. "No. There's no right way to do love. Erin and I went five years without talking to each other for God's sake. If our history isn't a mess, whose is? But we're happy now. Maybe one day you and Kalinda will be too. But one thing? You're not allowed to quit on us."
"Quit?" Kayla exclaimed. "You must be joking. As far as I'm concerned I'll work with you guys and Clem as long as you'll have me."
"That means a lot," Jay said seriously.
At that moment they heard the van pull up outside. Alvin and Raquel had arrived with the next load, possibly the final one, Jay hoped. "Back to it then," he said to Kayla, getting up.
Walking outside, Jay saw that Raquel actually wasn't there. Instead, Clementine was getting out of the van. "Clem! What are you doing here?" he called out happily.
"We got everything from the apartment," she reported, coming up to him for a hug.
"Great job," he said as they embraced. "Is your mom okay?"
"Yes. She's coming over now with the strong lady."
Jay had to laugh as Clementine hugged Kayla. "Her name is Raquel. But yes, she is quite strong."
"I told her she couldn't pick me up with one hand. But she did, and she sat me on her shoulder. I couldn't stop laughing."
Jay smiled, picturing what had been described. His partner and his daughter having fun together was nice to hear.
"This is the last load," Alvin called from the back of the van. "Got your dining table, so come give me a lift with it."
The sound of a powerful engine accelerating caught Jay's attention then. By now he recognised Raquel's car when he heard it. "Give me a minute, Al. Erin's here," he said.
Raquel parked up nearby and she and Erin got out. Erin looked tired, he saw right away as he walked over and hugged her. "Hey. How are you feeling?" he asked as Raquel went over to help Alvin, giving them a moment to themselves.
"Tired," Erin admitted, which was unlike her. "Didn't sleep well last night, and today has been a bit much for me. Don't worry though, Raquel and Alvin did all the lifting. We owe those guys a night out at our expense for what they've done today. So glad we could tell Hank not to come. Really don't want him pushing himself lifting stuff."
Jay nodded. Hank had been more than willing to help them, and had seemed disappointed when Raquel had stepped in. But he had been warned against strenuous activity by his doctor, so having him stay home was the better option in Jay's view. They could always have him come over and help them unpack boxes.
"Yes, we'll take them out one night," he promised. "Right, let's get the rest of the stuff inside."
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Half an hour later, everything was unloaded from the van and placed into the appropriate rooms. Alvin and Raquel left, taking with them Erin and Jay's immense gratitude and an invite to dinner at some point in the coming weeks.
After saying goodbye, Jay walked in and closed the front door. He felt beat, but there was still plenty of work to do before he could properly rest. There were many things that needed to be unboxed for immediate use, and he couldn't expect Erin to help. She was tired already, and he wasn't going to make it worse.
"Jay, come have a rest for a few minutes," Erin called out from the living room.
"Clem, let's go get your room fixed up," Kayla said, also in there. She and Clementine walked out just before Jay walked in. He went over to the couch and flopped down next to Erin.
"Jesus Christ, what a day," he said with a sigh.
Erin cuddled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Right. But the worst of it is over now. We're officially living at 822 Mill Lane. I'm so happy, although I'm too tired to show it. We're all going to be so happy here, Jay."
He affectionately rested his chin on top of her head, cuddling her. "Yeah, we are. A real family home for us. Thank God we got it done. Once we've got the essentials unpacked we can start doing it at our own pace."
"My next job is to start planning decorating the nursery. Once we've agreed what we want, I'll see if Kayla will help me do it. I know you'll have plenty of other stuff to do, so that can be a project for us."
"Sounds good," Jay said. Erin was right, there would be a million and one things to do in order to get the house exactly how they wanted it, so having her and Kayla take the nursery off his list of things to worry about was perfect. "How will you decorate it though? We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl."
"I'll use gender neutral colours."
Of course. Stupid question, he thought. He sat there for a few moments, thinking about what the nursery might end up looking like when it was finished. "I know you're going to come up with something that baby Halstead will love," he said.
There was no response. Then he realised that Erin had fallen asleep. He carefully shifted position so that he could sit more comfortably, and she could rest more easily against him. Settling in to let her sleep for a while, he rested a hand on her stomach and gave her a soft kiss on the head.
"I love you both so much," he whispered.
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A/N: Two chapters in two days. Don't say I don't spoil you. XD
Thank you for the feedback on yesterday's chapter. Overwhelmingly those who contacted me or left comments were happy to see some more depth to Kayla's character which made me happy. I'll continue to feature her alongside all of the other regular characters.
Jay, Erin, Clementine and Kayla are in their new home. I felt like moving day needed to be written as it's such an important step in all of their lives.
Next time, Jay needs to try and play matchmaker between Kayla and Kalinda. Do you think he'll have any success?