Making amends (An Upstead story)

Chapter 9

After Sky had fallen asleep in the car, they decided to just drive home. Jay had carried Sky into the house and laid her down on the couch. Jay sat down on the other couch. Hailey sat down next to him and cuddled up to his side. Both of them wandered off in their thoughts shortly after.

*** Hailey's thoughts:
From the moment that JJ was born, she and Hailey were inseparable. Once or twice a day, Hailey would take a nap with JJ. She would lay down on the couch with JJ's tiny body placed on top of her belly and JJ's head resting on her chest. JJ always had a firm grip on Hailey's shirt with one hand and held on to one of Hailey's fingers with the other one.

Hailey has always loved those little moments, and she still does. To this day, she still lays down with JJ from time to time. At night, Hailey sits with her until she falls asleep. And she always finds a few moments throughout the day to cuddle up with JJ for a bit.

*** Jay's thoughts:
He would often find Hailey and JJ cuddled up on the couch. He never told her, but he has watched them sleep like that many times. His heart melted every time he looked at the adorable duo. He always took the time to count his blessings. Having the most beautiful, loving, bad-ass, funniest, cutest, and the best mom ever as his wife! And she gave him the sweetest, happiest, and cutest daughter ever.

When JJ started walking, she always found her way towards Jay. Whenever he was watching a Bears game or playing a game. She would always pup her head up next to the couch. She usually caught his attention when she started hanging or climbing on his legs, which would rest on the coffee table in front of the couch. After attaining his attention, she would give him her sweetest and brightest grin.

Most of the time, she had some sort of toy in her hand. She would fling it at his leg or on the couch as she bounced up and down with excitement. He would pick up the joyful baby girl and put her on his lap, facing him. It never bothered him if he missed the Bears game. He would just play with her for hours and listen to her babble. It always made him the happiest dad ever.
******

He smiles at his thoughts and kisses Hailey, "You know how much I love you guys, right?" She looks up at him and nods, "You know that goes both ways, right?" she replies before kissing him. She really wants to drag him upstairs, as it has been over a week since they've last slept together. But she doesn't want Sky to wake up alone, in a strange house. So instead, she whispers into his ear, "how about we practice some more baby-making tonight...?" She raises an eyebrow and smirks at him suggestively.

He nods his head quickly, "Oh definitely!" he replies, with the biggest smirk on his face. He pulls her onto his lap before standing up, moving both of them to the kitchen. Hailey lets out a quiet giggle and looks at him with a surprised expression on her face. "We can still make out in the kitchen, right?" He whispers into her ear as he makes his way towards the kitchen. Hailey bursts out laughing and immediately covers her mouth as she doesn't want to wake up Sky. She did not expect him to say something like that.

Jay puts her down on the kitchen island, and immediately his hands start to move up and down her body as he kisses her. She places one of her hands on the back of his neck and starts tugging on his shirt with her other hand. He moves closer in between her legs and squeezes her tighs teasingly. One of his hands slides underneath her shirt and starts to move up and down her spine. Hailey lets out a soft moan when Jay's lips make their way down her neck. He grins at her after he raises an eyebrow, "Enjoying yourself?" he asks teasingly. Hailey grins at him and nods, biting on her bottom lip to tease him. She gives him one more kiss before she pulls back, "Tonight," she promises.

---

After Sky had woken up from her nap, she ate lunch with Hailey and Jay. They talked a lot during the cooking and eating, and they all got to know each other a little better. After that, they gave Sky a house tour and showed her her room. When she saw her room, her jaw dropped. It has two white walls and two baby-blue ones. There's a new king-sized bed, a closet, a desk with a chair, and one big and comfy chair/ lounger. Her old nightstand is placed next to the bed, and her old night light is placed on the nightstand.

She mostly feels grateful for the three shelves on the wall behind the big chair. The top shelf only has an urn on it. The second shelf has about a dozen picture frames on it, including a few empty ones for new memories. And the lowest one is empty, so she can decide for herself what she wants to put on there. "I've put most of your artwork in the drawers. I've brought everything else to the attic." Hailey reassures Sky when she sees her looking at the desk. Sky turns to Hailey with tears in her eyes, "thank you." She says with a croaky voice while giving her a hug. When she pulls back, she takes a step to the side to hug Jay as well.

After that, Hailey got her some clothes and a towel. Hailey walked Sky over to the bathroom and helped her get into the bath. Sky took her first bath in weeks, and she stayed in there for a long time. After about 30 minutes, Hailey came in to check on her and helped Sky wash her hair before she left again. Sky stayed in there for a little longer, just enjoying the bath. When she was done, she managed to dry herself off for the most part (she wasn't allowed to touch her back). After she had put on her underwear, Hailey helped her with everything else.

---

When it was about 3 pm, Jay and Hailey picked up JJ from daycare. Sky had insisted that JJ should be picked up by both her parents today. Although Hailey was a little hesitant, she agreed. She understood why Sky wanted it. Sky had already let her know days ago that she felt guilty about JJ having to miss one of her parents for almost the entire week. And Hailey had missed JJ a lot, so she was excited to pick up the tiny ball of cuteness from daycare today.

On their way back, they made a stop to buy some ice cream at the store. JJ had somehow managed to open one of the containers with ice cream. Instead off taken it away from her, Hailey gave her a spoon, just for this one time. When they got home, Hailey saw the damage that JJ had done to Jay's car. Jay looked a little bothered by the mess at first. But when JJ gave him back the spoon to let him know that she was done. He could not help himself and started to laugh. She had ice cream all over her face, clothes, seat, and the back of his seat. But the spoon she had given to Jay was still clean...

JJ started babbling at Jay when he took her out of the car. He barely understood any of it, but every now and then, he would nod or pretend to look surprised. Once Hailey had cleaned up the truck a little, they walked inside. Hailey had already reminded JJ that 'sissy' would be home today. JJ ran around the hallway, living room, and kitchen to find 'sissy'. But she couldn't find her and came back with a baby frown on her face. She puts hands above her head with an i-don't-understand expression on her face. "No, Sissy?" she tells Jay, a little confused. Jay picks her up, "maybe sissy is taking a nap in her room?" Jay replies as he starts walking up the stairs.

When they reach her bedroom door, Jay puts a finger in front of his mouth, "ssshh," he tells JJ. JJ mimics him, knowing what he means. They open the bedroom door slowly, they see Sky laying down on the bed with her back facing them. JJ looks at her curiously. After she starts wiggling around in Jay's arms, he puts her down. She runs to the bed and makes her way around it to see Sky's face.

They have video chatted a few times before, but she was still curious to see her. She looks at Sky for a moment, but when Sky doesn't wake up, JJ gets bored and walks back to Jay, shaking her head. Jay picks her up and brings her to the bathroom. He gives her a quick bath to get all the ice cream off of her. Before he can dress her again, she runs back to Sky's room in only her diaper. Sky had dropped something in her room, so now JJ knew she was awake.

She climbs onto the bed and crawls closer to Sky. She inspects her leg for a moment, it has a strange plastic thing on it. Sky can feel movement on her bed and gets a little nervous at first. But when she feels a tiny hand on her leg, her heart already melts at the baby's cuteness. She turns her head a little to see the baby clearer. "Hi there, Little one," she says with a sweet smile on her face. JJ grins in response and waves her hand at Sky, "Hi!" she squeals back playfully. JJ moves a little closer to Sky's face and inspects it. She moves her baby fingers across it and babbles while doing so. Jay and Hailey watched the interaction from the doorway, both smiling at the sweet moment.