Halstead Sister

Bad Attitude

A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for reading! Please send me any requests you have. I have a few more one shots lined up but, I know I'm going to need some more ideas, so feel free to send them my way. Enjoy the stories!

Jay POV (Tess 5 years old)
"I don't wanna!" Tess whined and kicked her legs back and forth as they dangled off the edge of the bed.
"Tess, you have to get dressed. You can't go to the district in your pjs" I said sternly. I had little patience. Tess had been fighting me on everything this morning from getting up to brushing her teeth and now getting dressed.
"No." She huffed and crossed her arms.
Rather than continuing to fight with a stubborn 5 year old, I tried to bargain. "What if you pick out your own clothes. Whatever you want."
"Pjs" Tess stared at me.
I sighed. I should've seen that one coming. "How about we compromise." I went over to her cabinet and took out a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt which she usually only wears around the house. "Is this better?" Tess nodded. "Good. Now get dressed." I turned to leave Tess's room.
"Jayyyy" Tess whined. She was starting to drive me crazy but a took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
"Yes?" I turned around to face her.
"Help me" she pouted and held her arms out toward me. Figuring it'd be faster for me to just help her change than risk another fight I walked over to the bed and quickly slid off Tess's pajamas and put her in her joggers and sweatshirt.
"There. Let's go eat some breakfast." Tess held my hand as we walked into the kitchen. I got out a bowl and poured Tess some Honey Nut Cheerios and milk. "I'll be right back. Eat up." I went into my room to finish getting ready. When I came back into the kitchen Tess was staring at her untouched, now soggy, bowl of cereal. "Lemme guess, not in the mood for cereal?" I questioned. Given her opposition to everything this morning, I wasn't surprised she didn't eat what I had given her.
"Not hungry" Tess mumbled. That was unlike her. I walked over to her and brushed some of her hair off her face as I felt her forehead.
"You're always hungry. You feel ok?" I asked her. Her head didn't feel warm which was a relief.
"Fine" Tess snapped. "Just not hungry!"
"Hey." I firmly replied. "Don't talk to me like that. I was just asking a question. And if you're not hungry, then go put on your shoes so we can get out of here." I picked up her bowl, emptied the contents into the sink, and followed Tess to the front door where she stood, without wearing her shoes. "Tess, we are not going to fight about this too. Put on your shoes." I told her.
"No" Tess said for the thousandth time that morning.
"I'll count to three. You can either put on your shoes or I can." I told her. She didn't budge. "One..." Tess still looked at me and pouted. "Two..." I continued. Tess wasn't moving. I opened my mouth to say three but Tess got the message and quickly picked up her light up sneakers and put them on. "Good job. Now let's go." I buckled Tess into her car seat and drove to the district. Tess fell asleep during the ride, which wasn't unusual, especially given how cranky she was- I figured she must've been tired. "T," I gently shook her shoulder. "We're here." Tess groaned. "C'mon kiddo." I unbuckled her seatbelt but Tess didn't stand up. I rolled my eyes. I had had enough of her stubbornness this morning. "Get up." Tess held out her arms to be carried. "Really?" I asked her. Tess didn't say anything but looked at me with puppy dog eyes and nodded. I was running late and didn't want to waste any more time so I scooped up Tess and walked inside. I ran up the steps, ignored the greetings from my coworkers, and brought Tess to the break room. "I'll be by my desk if you need me. Will should be here in a few hours when he's done with his shift." I told her. Tess nodded. I placed Tess's backpack on the table before exiting the room.
"Everything okay?" Hailey asked me.
I sat down and turned on my computer. "Rough morning." I said simply. Everyone looked at me to elaborate but I just looked at my computer and we all went to work.

Will POV
I finished my shift late and was moving as fast as I could to leave the hospital. I shut my locker and bumped into Natalie.
"Whoa there" she chuckled. "Where are you running off to?"
"I gotta pick up Tess. Jay texted me saying she was being difficult today and I feel bad since I've worked two 24 hour shifts this week and it's my turn to take care of the kid." I told her.
Natalie smiled sympathetically. "Good luck." She smirked. I quickly thanked her and rushed to my car.

I walked into the district and waved at Trudy who buzzed me in. As I walked up the stairs I could hear the muffled screams of my little sister. Everyone, but Jay, was at their desk and they looked irritated by the noise coming from the break room. "That bad?" I asked to no one in particular.
"Worse" Adam mumbled.
"I've never been happier to see you, man" Kevin answered. I made my way over to the break room and cautiously opened the door. Jay was kneeling on the ground in front of Tess with one hand on each of her upper arms. Tess was sobbing and muttering something I couldn't make out.
"Hey" I said calmly. Jay looked at me and sighed with relief.
Tess saw me and wriggled out of Jay's grip and wrapped her arms around me. "I wanna go home." She cried.
"Ok. Go put your stuff in your bag and we can go." I told her.
Tess stomped her foot but Jay spoke before she could do anything else. "Don't you dare start anything again. Put your stuff away. Now." Tess whined but started to put her dolls away. Jay took the minute to catch me up. "I don't know what's going on with her. Maybe she's tired?" He sighed. "She's fought me on everything. Hailey checked on her before and she threw a crayon at her." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Tess finished packing up and came over to us. "Have fun" Jay said sarcastically as he walked out of the room.
"Ready to go?" I asked Tess. She nodded and clung to my hand as we walked to my car.
The rest of the day went pretty much the way Jay described his morning. Tess threw a fit in the grocery store when I told her she couldn't get 3 types of cookies, argued with me about eating lunch, and screamed when I told her she had had enough screen time. Now, she was refusing to get ready for bed.

Tess POV
I didn't want to take a bath. I was tired and felt funny. I just wanted to cuddle up in bed. Will had been annoying me all day. I stood between the armchair and the wall so Will couldn't get to me easily.
"Tess. Bathtub. Now." Will ordered. I shook my head. "I've had enough of your behavior today. Get over here." I shook my head again. "Let's go." Will stared at me with a stern look. He took a step toward me and I screamed in frustration and ran to get away from Will. Luckily, Jay was coming into the apartment and I hoped he'd help me. I ran over to him and hid behind his legs and Will approached us.
"What's going on?" Jay asked.
"Someone won't take a bath" Will sounded annoyed.
Jay rolled his eyes and sighed. "Not tonight Tess. I've had a long day. Will you please take a bath?"
"No!" I screamed. "I don't wanna!" I whined. I didn't feel good and didn't want to do anything.
"Hey." Will said sharply. "No more screaming. You can either take a bath now or sit in timeout and then take a bath."
I squinted at him. Would he really put me in timeout? "No bath!" I shouted.
"That's it" Will grabbed my arm. "Time out." I cried and tried to get out of his grasp but, it was no use. He led me to my room and sat me on my bed. "Five minutes. Then you're getting in the tub." I just sat there and cried. My body was achey, my head hurt, and my tummy was icky. I cried the whole five minutes until Jay came into my room.
"Bath time" He said. I shook my head. "Yes." He came over to me and picked me up. I cried harder as my tummy felt worse.
"Jay..." I whined as I felt my mouth fill with spit and my tummy hurt. As he walked into the bathroom, I threw up, getting it on myself and Jay.
"Shit!" Jay exclaimed as he quickly put me down. I clutched my tummy and cried. I felt more sick in my throat. "WILL!" Jay called before kneeling down in front of me. "It's okay T, you think you're going throw up again?" I nodded and Jay positioned me over the toilet just in time for me to throw up again. Jay grimaced and rubbed my back.
"Oof" Will said as he came into the bathroom. He came over and got on the floor next to me. My tummy felt icky again and I groaned. "I don't like this" I cried. I threw up again. My tummy still hurt but felt less icky.
"Shh. You're alright." Will said soothingly as he stroked my hair. "You done?" I nodded and wiped my eyes. Will smiled at me sympathetically. "You really don't feel good, huh?" He asked. I shook my head and frowned.
"Is that why you've been so grumpy today?" Jay asked from the doorway, now in clean clothes. I looked down and shrugged. Jay sighed and bent down next to Will. "Next time, T, just tell us when you're sick, ok?" I nodded.
Will looked at the mess on my clothes and me. "The funny part about all this is," he began "you need to take a bath."