Hailey was woken by the soft nudge to her shoulder. She hummed to tell him she was awake before rolling her head over her pillow. She blinked her eyes open and met her husband's smirk as she turned herself over completely. Before she could fully sit up, Jay had reached behind him and was holding out a small wrapped box. Hailey narrows her eyes at the present and before she could question the choice of the 'happy birthday' wrapping paper, Jay speaks up.
"It was the only one I could find, and I didn't want to take any from your Christmas stash because you would probably kill me," he says, earning a slow nod from her in return. He then extends his arm forward even further, adding extra emphasis on the gift in hand. "Happy anniversary." He adds with a smirk.
Hailey sits herself up against the headboard before taking the present. As she rips open the paper, Jay talks again, folding his arms over his chest.
"I know we said we were going with the modern gift ideas but apart from getting you a lace tablecloth I had no idea what to get you, so I went traditional for this year."
Hailey scrunched up the paper and placed it on her lap, turning over the picture frame to see the image inside. The frame border was painted with a bronze texture and she felt a grin grow on her face at the choice of picture he had put inside. It was one he had taken in the truck about six months prior.
Hailey remembered the events leading up to that picture perfectly. He had sent the picture over to his brother in a response to Will's slightly impatient text asking where they were and he pulled a face for the photo, sticking his tongue out slightly. At the second Jay snapped the picture, Hailey had spotted his face in the reflection on the screen and it made her laugh, in turn making the grin on her face even wider.
She looked up from the frame and she bobbed her head. "Thank you, I love it," she says before leaning forward slightly, pressing her lips against his. She pulls away as quick as she moved forward and darted her gaze down briefly before meeting his gaze again. "And, uh, you'll have to wait until later for your gift."
A smirk pulls up on the corner of his lips. "You forget to buy it?" He jokes.
Hailey shakes her head slowly, her fingers run over the corner of the frame. "No.. I just did the modern gift ideas."
"Oh," he mumbles and it takes a second before the realization comes over him, making his eyes grow wide a little. "Oh." He repeats.
Hailey lets out a laugh but she gets cut off from saying anything when Jay hooks his eyebrow up.
"Are you sure we have to wait until later?" He asks.
She bobs her head. "Unfortunately, we're gonna be jumped on soon and you know it," she says before dropping her voice down subtly. "But how about I make you a deal?-"
"Done." He quickly cut in, answering her question before she had a real chance to ask it.
She tries to hide the smile growing on her face. "You didn't even hear it."
He shakes his head quickly. "Don't need to, already made my mind up."
xxx
The rest of the day is spent finishing up a case they had been working on the last few days and completing the paperwork for it, and for Hailey it's also pestering her husband to find out what he had planned for that evening to no avail.
He had been talking about his plan for almost a week and at this point it was starting to annoy her that she couldn't figure out what he had in mind. She had tried many different tactics in an attempt of getting him to say what he was planning - some of which she was convinced would work - but he had kept his lips sealed the entire time.
And now that the day was actually here, the teasing and mentioning of it was dialed up to one-hundred and Hailey was convinced that she was going to hit him the next time he did it because it was starting to drive her insane that she still didn't know.
Which is how she ends up cornering Jay in the locker room just before they were to set off to the mystery location.
"Will you just tell me already?" She pleads, at this point desperate to know.
Instead of telling her however, Jay grins the same smug smile he owned every time and he shook his head softly. "You'll just have to wait and see."
She then crossed her arms over her chest. "Jay, at this rate we're not making it to nine years married," she says and all he does is hook his eyebrows and stare at her, causing her to throw her head back lightly. "Please will you just tell me? You know I hate surprises."
He seems to genuinely consider it for a moment but then he pulls an exaggerated thinking face and Hailey rolls her eyes, knowing what he was about to say next before he did. Sure enough he looks down from the ceiling (that's just how over-the-top the thinking face was) and meets her gaze blankly again. "No." He replies, earning a groan from his wife in return as she spins on her heels to walk to her locker, deciding to call it quits knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him.
xxx
What drove her even more insane was when Jay got her to shut her eyes a few minutes into their drive to wherever. When he said it, she turned her head and stared at his profile.
"You are kidding." She had said, earning another shake of his head as he kept his focus on the road.
"Nope," he said, drawing his lips together to make an emphasized pop sound. "It's either that or I blindfold you."
She isn't convinced by that. "Okay, now you really are kidding."
And that's when she watches as he hooks one of his eyebrows up. "Check the glovebox if you think I'm joking." He dared.
She didn't need to check the compartment to know he was being serious about her options, which is how she ended up with her eyes closed for the remainder of the journey. Occasionally she would take a peek at where they were, but the fact that it was December and after 4pm didn't help her in her search to find out where he was taking her.
A few minutes before he pulled the truck to a stop, she furrowed her brows together. "You know if you've had me on for over a decade to build my trust just to take me somewhere and kill me now, first off hats to you for being one hell of a patient murderer and secondly I will haunt you from my grave for the rest of eternity."
He briefly looked at her and smirked. "Who says you're getting a grave?"
She opened her eyes and stared at him with an open jaw, pretending to be hurt. "Wow. I'm offended, Halstead. I thought you cared more than that."
Even though he had moved his gaze back on to the road, in the corner of his eye he had seen her open hers so he quickly scolded her. "Close your eyes!"
She rolled them as she did, as to which he pointed out that he had seen that too before the truck fell into another comfortable silence until Hailey heard her husband kill the engine from beside her and immediately she spoke up.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Not yet."
"Jay, I swear to god just tell me what you're doing."
"Okay open your eyes." He tells her, knowing that she wouldn't stop asking otherwise.
Despite wanting to do it the entire drive over, she blinks her eyes open slowly because she had no idea what she would see outside the front window. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust, the streetlights were the only thing lighting up outside the truck and she narrowed her eyes as she looked in front of her, confused as to where they were. It wasn't until she looked toward Jay's side that she knew where he had parked up, the large black sign over the door giving it away.
She instantly felt herself smile. "Cork and Kerry's.."
Jay shrugs lightly. "It felt fitting."
She met his gaze and tilted her head to one side subtly. "I love it." She says before she turns and reaches for the door handle.
Jay calls out her name and makes her stop in her tracks. He mumbles something under his breath that she doesn't quite catch but when he holds up his index finger toward her she gathers he was telling her to stay put. He jumps out of the cab himself and Hailey rolls her eyes as she watches him round the front of the cab and scramble to zip up his jacket after stepping out of the warm of the truck, so as he makes his way to the door, Hailey braces herself for the temperature change outside and secures her coat on her own shoulders.
Jay opens up the truck door and holds out his hand out for her, palm facing the sky. "M'lady." He mumbles somewhat into the inside of his jacket and Hailey is unable to stop the laugh that escapes up from her chest as she joins her hand on top of his, stepping out of her seat with a small tug to her arm as he helped her out of the car. He shuts the door behind her and locks up the truck as as they start to cross the street, Hailey softly shakes her head.
"You're cheesy." She says.
His face draws a forced hurt look before he frowns. "Fine, I won't do it again."
Hailey has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing again as they reach the end of the street, stepping up on to the curb and heading toward the main door.
Before Jay can reach for the door, the white paper stuck up on the other side of the glass catches their attention and they both read the message at the same time.
'Closed for private event, sorry for any inconvenience'
Jay purses his lips as he turns his head to look at her and all they can do it stare at each other for a beat. "Guess I should have checked online first."
She smirked before spinning on her heels and facing back toward the truck. 'C'mon, it's cold." She says, pulling on his arm this time to start leading him back toward the car.
They don't say another word until both of the front doors are closed and Jay had switched the engine back on, and immediately they could feel the warm air start coming back through the air-con. As Hailey rubbed her palms together in an attempt to warm them up, Jay slumped into the drivers seat slightly.
"I'm sorry." He sighs.
She shook her head fast, cutting him off before he could say anything else. "I don't care," she says. "It doesn't matter where we go, all that does matter is that I get to be with you."
Jay hooks his eyebrow up. "Now who's the cheesy one?" He teases and she just rolls her eyes again before mumbling at him to start driving.
xxx
When they arrived back home (deciding just to head back then and save themselves time rather than drive around in the cold for twenty minutes only to go back home anyway) they dismissed the babysitter and ordered in a pizza. Once their food got there, Hailey flicked through the TV finding nothing that wouldn't hold their attention very long as Jay served the food up on plates and grabbed a couple beers from the fridge. As he returned, Hailey chose just to keep the channel on a Hallmark Christmas movie that would turn into background noise when the two started to eat.
Hailey took the food quickly, grinning at it slightly with the realization she hadn't eaten anything all day. With the last of the case and paperwork, the task had slipped her mind, and the smell of the pizza in front of her was enough to make her stomach growl loudly.
"Thank you." She whispers as he joins her on the couch and she folds her legs up on the furniture, placing the plate in her lap.
They sit in silence for a moment, beginning their dinner before Jay looks up with a hook in his eyebrows. His gaze is still locked on the TV and Hailey turns her head, smirking at the look of confusion plastered on her husband's face.
"How do these movies do so well? And more importantly why do they keep making them? They just get more and more absurd every year." He asks.
Hailey lightly shrugs her shoulder, finishing her mouthful before responding. "They're a Christmas tradition, a staple of the holidays."
"They're a bunch of crap, that's what they are." Jay cuts in and Hailey just narrows her eyes in his direction when he turns his head to the side to meet her gaze.
"You love them and you know it," she replies and as he tries to interject again, she takes her turn and cuts him off instead. "Don't even deny it, Halstead, you're into all the Hallmark movies."
Jay just rolls his eyes, deciding not to comment any further. A smug grin grows on his wife's lips as she wins the conversation. A beat passes before he changes the subject, sliding from one topic to another.
"What do you even want to do for Christmas?"
Hailey softly shakes her head. "Man, I don't know.. we can't go to your brother's again, not after the fact we went to his for Thanksgiving," she says. "We could just do one here, or maybe see what the unit's plans are?"
Jay hums and bobs his head in agreement, knowing their friends were overdue for hosting a Friendsgiving or Christmas.
Hailey then carries on, pursing her lips a little. "But that's enough of that talk, we have time to do that tomorrow. Tonight is all about us."
He smirks and leans forward, picking up his bottle from the coffee table. He waits for Hailey to do the same and a second later he sends her a smirk. "Here to that." He says, tilting the neck of the bottle down toward her and she clips the rim of hers against his, letting out a quiet ding into the noise of the room.
They finish up their food quite quickly, both of them realizing then just how hungry they actually were, as they drink one and another beer each. Once the plates had been stacked on the coffee table to be cleaned up sometime later and the empty bottles disregarded beside them, Hailey felt herself fall down into her husband's side, an action he graciously accepted. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into his side tighter and the room fell quiet, both being sucked into the magical world being portrayed in front of them.
Despite arguing at the beginning about the tackiness and cheese playing out on the TV, Hailey could feel the way his chest vibrated every time he let out a silent laugh at one of the crappy jokes, and it makes her heart squeeze each time. She could basically hear the way he was telling himself he couldn't laugh audibly and to try and hide the fact he was actually enjoying the movie, because that would only lead to further teasing.
She could feel the rise and fall of his chest every time he took a breath and she felt the way her body just relaxed beside him. The quiet noise of him breathing and the warmth coming from his side was enough to just melt everything else away, making it all so easy to forget about everything.
It had been eight years since they got married and she still felt like a teenager caught in a heavy crush with the guy who sat across from her in a class. It had been eight years since they got married and somehow it felt as though no time had passed, it was as if it was still the night they sat on their couch in their old apartment and Jay whispered out the three words that brought it all together.
She's not so sure why she chose right there and then to do it, but she edges her chin upwards and stares at his jaw for a beat before he looks down to meet her gaze.
"I love you."
He's surprised he actually managed to catch what she mumbled into his shirt because of the volume of her voice compared to the TV playing in the background and he sends her back a smile.
"I love you too," he replies before knitting his eyebrows together. "What was that for?" He asks.
She ignores the ping in her neck at the awkward angle. "Do I need a reason?" She wonders, earning a quick shake of her husband's head in return.
"No." He whispers under his breath.
They stare at each other another minute, Jay's eyes darting over her face looking for something written on there until she sits up slightly, quickly locking her lips over his. He doesn't argue with that, instead just moves his hand so it's rested under her ear as she deepened the kiss. Her arms snake up over his torso before wrapping around his neck, using that leverage to pull herself up from the half-lying down position she was in and over so she was straddling his lap.
Her fingers started running over the short hairs at the bottom as his second hand falls around the nape of her neck, pulling her closer toward him.
After a beat she pulls away with a smirk and as his eyes flutter back open again, she feels her stomach flip at the way he looked at her. She was going to make a comment about how he tasted like the pizza and cheap beer they had just had, but the way she catches him biting in the inside of his lip as his eyes darts between hers and her lips make that thought fly out the window as she just leans back down in less than a second.
It catches her by surprise when his hands travel down south, beginning to fiddle with the hem of her shirt, silently asking permission to take it up over her head. She brought his bottom lip between her teeth and fixed her position slightly, teasing him slightly as she did it as a way of telling him she was more than okay with him disregarding of the shirt. With one swift tug, he pulls it off over her head and she wastes no time landing her lips on top of his again while he chucks the clothing off to the side.
As she starts to play with the buckle of his belt, his hand makes its way around her neck again, catching the loose ends of her hair between his fingers and moving it off to the side and out of his path. His takes his lips away from hers, leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw until he reaches under her ear, taking a little longer on this spot and it rises a hum up from her chest in return. She can feel him smirk a smug smile against her skin and it makes her stomach flip again.
She unhooks the clasp of the belt and slowly pulls it from the loops on his jeans, dragging it out as long as she could knowing it would rile him up that little bit more. When the belt is thrown off the edge of the couch as well, he pulls his lips away from his neck and tilts his head back toward her, briefly opening his eyes to see the way she smiled down at him before he pushed his chin forward to capture her in another kiss.
He doesn't stay there long enough, and Hailey sighs when he pulls away a few moments later. She watches as he nurses the spot on his lip she had bit down on before with the tip of his tongue and she has to stop herself from jumping straight back on to him.
His voice then whispers out. "We should go upstairs."
She hums and bobs her head, unable to get the words out straight away in response. Instead she leans forward, catching him in another kiss that isn't nearly as fervid as the ones that fell before it. She starts to scoot herself off of his lap and she subtly points over her shoulder. "Throw the dishes in the sink and meet me upstairs, give me one minute."
He doesn't get a chance to argue because she gets to her feet, kissing him once more as she rounded the side of the couch and disappeared out the door, leaving him alone.
Before he stood up he threw his head against the back of the couch, letting out a slow breath in an effort to try and slow his heart rate because by now he could feel it pounding in the center of his chest. He stares at the ceiling for a beat, swallowing harshly and he gave himself a moment for his brain to cool down. After that he jumped up and switched off the TV, picking up the disregarded plates and carrying them off into the kitchen sink - cleaning them was tomorrow's problem - and he made his way upstairs.
xxx
The following morning, Jay steps into the kitchen, stifling back a yawn. He made his way over to the island, where Hailey was preparing breakfast for the kids. He walked over and sent her a smile when she looked up before stopping beside her, leaning the back of his legs up against the side of the counter, and sending her a quirk in his eyebrow.
"How did you sleep?" He asks.
She pauses what's she's doing very briefly as she replies, the memory from the night before filling her mind for the fourth time that morning already. "Very good, you?"
Jay bobs his head. "Very good," he says before moving off from the island, about to walk over to the counter in front of him. "Do you want a coffee?"
Before she can answer, Macie runs into the room frantic. "There's a snake under the couch!"
The pair look over at their young daughter, puzzled at what she was talking about. They asked for confirmation about what she was referring to and she just repeated herself, this time a little more serious and Jay can't help but roll his eyes softly, knowing it was probably her brother under the couch making the noises again but regardless he follows Macie into the living room to see what she was talking about.
He reaches the back of the couch and quickly realizes Macie wasn't behind him so he spun on his heels and looked down at her. "Mae you have to point out where it is."
She shook her head. "I can't touch the floor, what if it bites me?"
He lets out a small chuckle, deciding not to argue with her. "Okay, where was it?"
She points over the couch. "The other side."
Jay makes his way around the side of the couch, immediately seeing what she believed to be a snake and his eyes grow wide at the brown leather sticking out from underneath the furniture. He tries to play it off, letting out a forced sigh of relief and he makes his way toward it, dragging it out from the floor.
"Mace, it's just a belt."
Her face falls slightly, suddenly confused. "What's the belt doing under the couch?" She asks.
The memory of Hailey unclipping it and slowly releasing it from the loops on his jeans the night prior plays back through his head before he purses his lips slightly. "I don't know," he says, wrapping it up on itself as he walked back around the couch, gently tapping the top of Macie's head with it when he reached her. "C'mon, let's get you your breakfast." He starts leading her back toward the kitchen.
-
so this one was a lot of fun to write and for those of you interested, the anniversary celebrations do continue beyond that scene if you'd like that to be published as a separate oneshot on ao3 or ff? it didn't fit the fic here but kinda just kept flowing and i'm proud of it so didn't want to get rid of it entirely so let me know if you'd like to see some smutty upstead. until the next chapter, have a great week! <3