Macie's Story

4

(TW: mentions of blood)

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(January 14th, 28 weeks)

The cold mid-January morning cold is the first thing Jay notices when his eyes slowly open. Blue tinted light was just starting to come in through the gap between the curtains and he pulled the comforter further up his shoulder, the warmth from underneath it just touching the chill running down his spine.

He grunts when he finds sleep doesn't take him and rolls over onto his back, reaching his arm up and grabbing his phone from the bedside table. He lights up the screen and sighs again at the time displayed. 7:31 am. He yawns and puts his phone back down, rolling back over before proceeding to run his hand over Hailey's shoulder, pulling her from her sleep as well.

She seems less than enthusiastic about being woken up, burying her head deeper into her pillow and mumbling something under her breath that Jay doesn't catch.

Jay can't help the chuckle as he leans down, puts a kiss above her ear and he whispers, "C'mon, we have work."

Hailey shakes her head. "No."

His hand runs down her arm and he kisses her again as his hand detaches from her hand and rests on her growing stomach over the sheet. "Unfortunately, yes."

She doesn't open her eyes, doesn't really move in fact. "I'm too tired for work."

Jay taps her shoulder one last time as he rolls out from under the warm sheet. He moved quickly, grabbing a zip-up hoodie from just outside the closet and sliding his arms through it before walking over to her side of the bed, crouching down in front of it and that's when Hailey finally opens her eyes.

"You want tea?" He asks.

Hailey stretches underneath the sheet. "I want coffee and ice-cream but I'm not allowed to have coffee. I will have the ice-cream though."

"It's seven-thirty." Jay says through a laugh.

She shrugs her shoulders. "So? I've wanted it since four."

Jay smirks. "I'll see what I can do." He nods, leaning forward and putting a quick chaste kiss against her lips before standing back up again, giving her a couple minutes to get out of bed on her own - or fall back asleep, either one was very possible at the moment.

He pads out into the kitchen and fills up the kettle, setting it on the stove to heat up the water. While that was boiling, he took a quick look in the freezer, finding a carton of ice-cream with just enough inside for a quick morning snack. Just as Jay got the teabag in the cup, the kettle went and he quickly turned on his heels and collected it, pouring the boiling water inside the mug. Once the tea was done he grabbed a spoon for the ice-cream from the drawer and was walking around the small kitchen island when the bedroom door opens and Hailey steps out of the room.

She walks over with her eyes half-open and leans against the island without looking at him. Jay slides the carton and mug across the countertop and she glances at it before moving her eyes up, shooting him a wide smile.

"Don't get into the habit of ice-cream for breakfast because the next thing we know our kid will be asking for it too and it's hypocritical if we tell them no while you're sitting there with the tub in your hands." Jay tells her and she nods quickly.

Hailey then grabs both of them and treks over to the couch, sitting down as Jay makes his own coffee. After a spoonful of ice-cream, Hailey glances over her shoulder and watches Jay for a beat before raising her eyebrows.

"So you're over whatever pre-parental freak-out you had last night?" She asks, recalling the night prior when Jay spiraled after feeling the baby kick for the first time.