Macie's Story

11

(February 1st, 18 days old)

Hailey stared down at the empty box leaning up against the wall with the larger contents up beside it, the smaller pieces scattered across the floor, and then darted her gaze to Jay sat down surrounded by wood, a confused look knitted in his eyebrows as he tried to make sense of the sheet of paper.

In an effort to try and understand what was written, the detective flipped the paper around but quickly realized that wasn't it either, so he threw the instructions into his lap. "Okay, what the hell am I supposed to do?" He questions, meeting Hailey's gaze with a groan. "I can't seriously get defeated by a crib."

Hailey shakes her head, stepping forward and holding her hand out to silently tell him to hand over the paper. He does as asked and she scans her eyes over the small print and without noticing, the same crease that her fiancé owned appeared in her eyebrows.

She's just about to say something but she gets cut off by a knock on the door, which makes both her and Jay look up simultaneously and move their gaze in the direction of the door.

"Expecting someone?" Jay asks.

Hailey slowly shakes her head and returns the instructions to Jay, going to answer the front door.

She pulls the door open and is surprised to find Kim and Kevin on the other side, both donning a wide grin each.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hailey questions.

Kim shrugs her shoulders softly. "We're here to help," she replies and then points behind her for a beat. "Adam's also on his way, but you know what he's like, he left too late," Kim adds and then holds up the large bag she had in her hand, extending it toward the detective. "This is for you and Jay from all of us."

Hailey feels herself stare at the two officers for a beat before darting her gaze to the bag and Kim jerks it forward slightly, encouraging her to take it. "What is this?"

"Oh just a few things for the baby." Kim says.

Hailey feels her eyes widen. "What? No, you guys didn't have to do that."

Kim nods quickly. "Yeah we did."

Kevin then tilts his head to one side. "Are you gonna move over so we can come in?" He asks with a small smile.

Hailey hums for a moment before stepping to the side, allowing the two officers inside the apartment, shutting the door behind them. She then leads them through to the bedroom, where Jay was still sitting on the floor trying to figure out what he was meant to be doing.

He looks up when he hears the footsteps come into the room and he sends his colleagues a smirk, earning one back in response.

Kim places her hands on her hips and turns her head toward Hailey. "Where do you want us?"

Hailey, still in surprise about them being there in the first place, takes a beat to respond, blinking a few times. "You really don't need to be here." She responds.

Kevin jumps in front of her before she can say anything else, reaching his hand out and placing it on top of the detective's good shoulder. "Well we are and there's nothing you can do about it. We're a family and family helps with everything so we're here to watch Jay get mad at a crib."

Jay looks up at his name and stares at the officer. "I'm not gonna get mad at it, I just can't figure it out."

Kevin nods and moves forward. "Alright, I'll give you a hand." He says, squatting down to sit on the floor beside the detective, grabbing the paper instructions to give them a look over.