Making amends (An Upstead story)

Chapter 24

Sky immediately knew where she wanted to go to. Before running off, she let Hailey know that she was going to the trampolines. Hailey smiled as she watched Sky take off. For a moment, she looked like any other 'normal' thirteen-year-old. After a while, Sky came back and had lunch with the family. "Did you know you can play dodgeball in here?" She asks, looking directly at Jay. Jay shakes his head, "no, why?" he asks. Sky smiles at him, "wanna play some dodgeball after lunch?" She asks with a hopeful look on her face. "Oh definitely, but you know you're gonna lose, right?" Jay says with a big grin on his face. "I don't mind losing, as long as it's a fair game. So, don't let me win, okay? 'Cause, there's no fun in that." Jay nods, "but no cheating!" he jokes, looking at Hailey for a second before he turns his head to Sky again. Sky laughs when she sees Hailey give Jay a look and a punch to his arm.

After lunch, Jay and Sky went to the dodgeball area and played a few rounds. Jay won the first three rounds, but it actually took him some effort to do so. Sky was pretty fast and great at dodging the ball, but her aim was terrible. In the fourth round, Jay started to get a little tired. He almost had her, but she managed to avoid getting hit. "You little ninja!" Jay yelled at her jokingly, sounding a little surprised. He enjoyed the fact that she didn't make it too easy for him to win. When he took a second to catch his breath, Sky came out of nowhere and finally managed to get him. "That's not fair. You came out of nowhere. You, freaking little ninja!" Jay says, laughing. Sky looks at Jay with the biggest smile on her face, "I won!" she squeals proudly. Jay smiles at her, "Yes, you did."

When they walked back to the table, Jay still had a smile on his face. He enjoyed spending some quality time with Sky and is grateful to see that she's finally doing a little better again. When Jay and Sky sat down, Hailey looked at them for a moment. Jay looked tired but happy, and Sky looked very proud. "You look like you lost," Hailey jokes at Jay. "I won the first three rounds. But she sneaked up on me in the last round. Did you know that you gave birth to a little ninja?" He says jokingly. Hailey laughs and looks at Sky again, "So you won the last round?" Sky nods proudly. "That's my girl," Hailey says with a sweet smile on her face, giving Sky a wink. After Jay caught his breath, he played with JJ for a little longer. But after they went down a few slides, they came back again. JJ started to get tired and became a little moody.

When they left a few moments later, Hailey carried JJ in her arms. Sky walked next to her, and Jay followed. JJ had snuggled up into Hailey's neck again. She had her thumb in her mouth, and with her free hand, she held onto Hailey's shirt. JJ woke up a few minutes after they got onto the train again. "Tain?" she asked calmly, not ready to wake up yet. "Yes, Honey, we're on the train again," Hailey replied softly. JJ moved her head back a little to look out the window but stayed put on Hailey's lap. She kept her thumb in her mouth and rested her head on Hailey's chest. Jay and Sky were sitting across from Hailey. Shortly after the train had started to move, Sky got a little tired as well. She rested her head on the side of Jay's arm and ended up falling asleep for a little bit. Hailey and Jay looked at the kids before they looked at each other. "Today was a good day," Jay said with a big smile on his face. Hailey smiled back, "It really was." They shared a few more looks and enjoyed the silent moment.

When Sky woke up about twenty minutes later, she was greeted by Hailey's smile. Sky rubbed her eyes a few times and took a moment to wake up. She smiled back at Hailey and looked at JJ for a little bit. JJ had fallen asleep again. She looks adorable when she's sleeping. Sky moves her head back and looks up at Jay. "Did you need a little Ninja-nap?" He says, chuckling at her. Sky and Hailey both laugh, "Is that my new nickname?" She asks, still smiling. Jay nods, "oh definitely," he laughs. "Okay then, Freckles," Sky replies with a grin on her face. The three of them laughed and joked around like that until they got home.

---

That evening:
Hailey and Jay sat down on the couch to watch a movie. After Sky had taken a shower and got changed into her pj's (an oversized t-shirt and some shorts), she joined them. She sat down next to Hailey on the couch and snuggled up to her side. Hailey folded her arms around her and gave her a few kisses. She loves it when Sky snuggles up to her like this. Sky was folded up into a tiny ball and rested her head on Hailey's shoulder. "Are you tired?" Hailey asks, looking at Sky. Sky shakes her head, but Hailey knows better. She enjoys these little moments, so she lets Sky sit with them for a bit. But when she noticed that Sky had fallen asleep, Hailey sent her to bed.

"Time to go to bed, honey," she whispers at Sky as she gently rubs her back. Sky groaned in response, at this point, she was too tired to get off the couch. "You need to go to bed, honey," Hailey says again, keeping her voice soft. "I don't want to get off the couch," Sky murmurs with a sleepy voice. Jay stands up and steps in front of her, sticking out his arms. "Want me to carry you upstairs?" he asks softly with a sweet voice, feeling bad for her. She thinks about it for a moment before she happily accepts the offer. If it means that she doesn't have to walk, she's okay with it. Jay looked surprised when she let him carry her, he has never done that before. He scoops her off of the couch, surprised at how light she actually is. He carries her the same way he does with JJ.

But before he carries her upstairs with a big and proud 'dad' smile on his face, he let Hailey say goodnight. Hailey stood up to give Sky one more kiss, "goodnight honey, I love you," she said with a sweet voice. When Jay started walking, Sky looked at Hailey, "Love you too, mom." She replied with a sleepy voice, but loud enough for Hailey to hear it. Hailey's eyes lit up at that reply. Jay saw a smile form on her face right before he walked out of the living room. He walks into Sky's room and puts her down again, she immediately crawls into bed. "Thank you," she murmurs softly. Jay gives her a kiss on the top of her head. "Goodnight, little ninja. I Love you," he says, chuckling at his own little joke. "Love you too, Freckles," she replied with a soft and sleepy voice. She still sounded exhausted, but he could tell she was smiling.

When he walked back into the living room, he had the same expression on his face as Hailey. He sat down on the couch again and looked over at her, smiling at her. "You make the best babies ever," he states confidently. Hailey looks at him with the brightest smile on her face, taking a moment to count her blessings. "I love you so damn much," she says, moving closer to kiss him. "I love you too," he says before their lips meet. Hailey sits down on Jay's lap, folding her legs around his waist. Jay places his hands on Hailey's hips, pulling her closer.

Hailey pulls her head back a little, "I would like to expand our family. Are you up for that?" She asks with a big smile on her face and a hopeful look in her eyes. Jay knows that she's not just asking him to sleep with her. She wants another baby, and he is definitely up for that. He smiles as he nods his head, "I'm definitely up for that!" He places one hand on Hailey's lower back, leaning on his other hand as he carefully lays her down. He lays down in between her legs and starts to kiss her again. That night was different than the other ones. Because that night, it was not just about the love for each other and the physical contact. That night they both wandered off in each other's eyes and their own thoughts, the thoughts about their family, and expanding it.