Jay Halstead x Reader

Just Like Old Times Part 3

It had been three days and your life was still chaotic. "Calanthe, time for breakfast! You can't stay in bed all day, sleepypants."

"But mooooooooom..."

"I made scrambled eggs with chive, but if you don't want them..."

"No! I want them!" She bolted out of Jay's guest bed and sprinted towards the kitchen. You chuckled before following your daughter. You leaned on the wall near the kitchen and watched as Jay served Calanthe some eggs and toast. You smiled fondly at the scene before you. "Your mom's the best cook, isn't she?"

"Yeah she is!"

"Thanks, guys. So, what's the plan for today?"

"Let's go to the aquarium! I wanna see the belugas!"

"Sorry, kiddo, but we need to stay here, it'll be easier to keep you two safe that way. How about we watch a movie?"

"We did that yesterday. And the day before that."

"I know, but we have to stay here."

"But I don't want to stay here, Jay. It's boring!"

"Calanthe, how about we build a pillow fort and tell stories?" You intervened, trying to keep everyone from getting upset. Calanthe and Jay seemed to have bonded quite quickly, and you wanted to preserve that. Calanthe held her breath for a moment, visibly thinking about it. "Okay." You smiled, you knew she'd agree, she couldn't say 'no' to a pillowfort. The three of you collected all the pillows, blankets, and sheets you could find in Jay's apartment. Once all of you had gotten comfortable inside the pillowfort, Calanthe turned to you. "Mom, you go first!" You chuckled and began weaving a tale about a girl befriending a gargoyle and going on an adventure in the catacombs. Calanthe was beaming, focusing on each word that left your lips. You spared a glance at Jay and almost faltered. The way he was looking at you, heavy and wanting reminded you of what almost was. Your throat went dry and your chest constricted, but you managed to finish your story with a flourish. "And when the sun was about to rise she hugged Hugo one last time before he returned to his position at the base of the tower, facing the much more famous, but much younger, Notre Dame. Or the ruins of it at least. The end."

"Yes! I loved that one, mom!" Then she turned to Jay, "now it's your turn!" He looked shell-shocked for a moment. "I don't know, Calanthe, I'm not very good at making up stories..."

"Then tell a story from your childhood or something." He sighed heavily before staring to the side, trying to remember something. "Alright, this one time when Will and I were kids we decided to prank our mean next door neighbour..." Jay sat up straight as a wide smile spread across his face, his hands were gesturing wildly, and a true form of excitement you hadn't seen in years radiated from his eyes. "... We were still laughing our asses off on Will's bed, peeking out the window when we could, and then our dad burst in his face was so red! I'd never seen him that angry before, but for some reason we only found it hilarious! He was stuttering sentences together and his hands were waving around, and then he stepped on a piece of lego! He started jumping around on his one good leg before he was able to walk out of our room. He didn't speak to Will or I for two weeks! It was fantastic!" You and Calanthe were rolling on your backs laughing. You were starting to feel a stitch in your side and your eyes were watering. Calanthe was tearing up too and started to choke out "Haha-I-can't-breathe! Hahahahahaha!" Even Jay had succumbed to the relentless onslaught of laughter his story had caused. The laughter began to cease when Jay's cell phone rang. Doing his best not to laugh like a hyena, he answered the phone. "Halstead." When his face immediately sobered, you and Calanthe stopped laughing too. You put your arm around her and brought her close. "Are you sure?... Absolutely sure? One hundred and ten percent sure? Okay, okay. I'll tell them. Thanks, Voight." He hung up and looked at you. "The team caught them. You guys are safe." His eyes darted between you and Calanthe. "YES! WE CAN GO HOME NOW! Not that I won't miss you or that staying with you hasn't been awesome, but I miss being able to go to the park. WOOHOO! THIS IS AMAZING!" You and Jay looked at each other laughing as you watched your little ball of energy run around Jay's living room cheering with her arms up. There was a hint of... what you thought was sadness on his face. But that couldn't be it. Why would he be sad? Suddenly Calanthe stopped running and cheering. "We'll see Jay again, right?"