Hi everyone! You're all probably wondering what this story is. Or if you're following me on Tumblr you might already know what is happening with this story. But the gist of it is I was rereading the original story about a month ago and decided that while I liked the writing there, I knew I could do better.
So that's what I did. I redid the entire outline and completely rebuilt the story. Now some of the story is the same. But I think with the extra scenes I've added and the scenes I've reordered/and or taken away, it's a lot better.
But I guess you will all be the judge of that. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy it and I appreciate any feedback you have!
Summary: With Adam and Hailey still together, what if after the crossover episodes, Kim went home with Jay instead?
Word Count: 4.7k
Warnings: Vague allusions to a kidnapping and sexual abuse case. But don't go into great detail.
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It Was a One Night Stand Until I Woke Up Next to You
Kim was busy packing up her stuff after a long, long, long three days of work. One long for each day she couldn’t go home because of this stupid case. She had just opened her locker when Hailey called her name.
“We’re going to Molly’s for a beer, you want to join us?” The blonde offered. Glancing at Upton’s and Ruzek’s joined hands, Kim gave the new couple a tight smile.
“Thanks, but I think I just want my couch, a beer, and a quiet night in.” It wasn’t a complete lie, Kim just didn’t tell them that she also didn’t want to be a third wheel to her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. (Even though she was completely okay with them being a them by now. But it was still weird to be going on what seemed like a date for them)
“Okay if you’re sure,” Upton gave her another smile before Adam pulled her away and out the back door, “See you on Monday, Burgess.”
“Bye Kim,” Adam called on their way out. Shaking her head, Kim started to gather her things when Jay walked in with a bandaged hand.
“They released you, already?” Kim questioned when she saw Jay walk into the locker room. She thought for sure they would keep him overnight for observation.
“Perks of having a doctor for a brother. I talked him into talking my actual doctor into discharging me early. It was just a few stitches anyway. You all got to me before I could actually spray anything into it. Plus they needed the bed.” Jay explained, showing her his hand before he started to pack up his things for the night.
“Well, you just missed Hailey and Adam. They were going to Molly’s if you want to catch up with them.” Kim slung her bag over her shoulder with a sigh. It had been a long night and a lot of overtime. (Two nights worth to be exact)
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“Didn’t want to be a third wheel.”
“And you think I do?” Jay asked incredulously.
“I’m fine with them being a them, but I’m still Adam’s ex-girlfriend. It wouldn’t be that awkward for you. You’re Upton’s old partner. Not her ex-boyfriend.”
Kim heard the detective yawn, “It’s been a long night. I think I just want my couch and a beer.”
“That’s my plan too.” She told him, swinging her locker door shut, “I have to stop and buy some though. Kev drank the last of mine.”
“You could come over to my place if you want to.” Jay offered as Kim started to turn the corner of a row of lockers.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. That way you wouldn’t have to stop and I don’t think any of us should be by ourselves anyway. At least not tonight.”
So that’s how she ended up following Jay back to his apartment and sitting on his couch as he got them both a beer.
A few hours later and another beer later, Kim was laughing at him as he told her a story about Mouse dragging his ass around one day in basic training because he was a stupid twenty-one-year-old who didn’t know his limit yet. They were swapping stories-him about his ranger days and her about being a flight attendant. Another few hours. Another beer.
Kim had been laughing at another one of his stories, sitting with her legs crossed on top of the couch, facing him so it wasn’t a wonder that amid her laughter, she had started to topple over. His hands were there steadying her as he also chuckled. Then it tapered off and faded completely. She glanced up at him just in time to see him lick his lips, and okay maybe liquid courage helped her lean up and press her lips against his.
Jay responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist. His hand slipped under her shirt, so it was touching the bare skin of her back as he brought her to sit on his lap.
“Wait...What are...we...doing?” Kim panted in between kisses. Jay pulled away to look at her. He exhaled and she felt it on her lips. Goosebumps started pebbling all over her arms. She shivered in his arms at the warming chill that ran down her spine.
“I don’t know,” he admitted to her, “But after the last few days, this feels right.”
Kim nodded her head. She understood what he was saying. After this last case, they needed something to remind them that no matter what evil they saw on their job, they had something to remind them everything wasn’t evil. Was this a healthy coping mechanism? Probably not. But right now, it wasn’t about that. It was about feeling something. She leaned in to kiss him again and he returned it eagerly before he pulled away to study her, when she started to pull his shirt up.
“How drunk are you? Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want you regretting this tomorrow.” He told her. Kim shook her head. She wasn’t drunk. Every beer she had that night, had been spaced out enough that she hadn’t gotten drunk. Just buzzed.
“Buzzed. Just enough to be brave enough to do this.” She answered, before turning the question back on him.
“Same, I just wanted to check before we got any farther.” He answered, then he leaned in to kiss her neck. Jay gripped the back of her thighs before he was standing and making his way to his bedroom. Should they have been concerned that they forgot about protection? Probably, but it was fine. Kim was on birth control… If only Kim hadn’t forgotten to take it in the midst of everything that had happened today.
After that night, Kim and Jay went back to normal more or less. They had no reason to drag it out or act out of the ordinary. They both agreed that night was about comfort for them and nothing else. Until four weeks later, when Kim was chasing a suspect for a case and had gone through a fence, cutting her arm open. It wasn’t a cut that deep, but Voight still insisted she go get it stitched up.
At Med, a standard blood workout revealed a lot more than Kim was ready for that morning.
“Congratulations are in order.” Her ER doctor told her with a warm smile. Then at Kim’s look of confusion, the doctor explained. “Your HBC levels are elevated.”
“I’m sorry?” Kim asked confusedly, Her doctor’s smile broadened, “Whenever someone comes into the ED we do a general work-up. It’s standard procedure, but your HBC levels are slightly elevated. It means your pregnant Ms. Burgess.”
“I-what? Pregnant? Are you sure? Because I’m on birth control and besides I haven’t had sex in…” Kim trailed off. She was about to say she hadn’t had sex in months. Not since Matt...but that wasn’t true.
She had slept with Jay four weeks ago. She met the doctor’s now slightly concerned stare again. “Are you sure?”
The other woman nodded, “Yes. These tests are fairly accurate. By your levels, I’d say, you’re-” she glanced back down at Kim’s chart, “-Four weeks along?”
Kim’s hand fell to her stomach subconsciously. She knew that if she was pregnant, who the father would be. She had only slept with one guy recently. She was carrying a Baby Halstead.
Their case had somehow turned into a SA case before she could even leave the hospital. A girl had been held in a storm cellar for four years. She had been seventeen when she was taken. She got a call that Hailey would meet her at the hospital because they needed to interview the victim that had been taken to Med.
“You okay?” Hailey asked when Kim found her. Kim nodded, but the other woman stared at her, looking unsure. “You sure? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She hadn’t. Instead, she had seen the opposite of a ghost, but she guessed the expressions looked the same.
“Yeah,” she nodded. Then again more firmly, “Yeah, I’m good. What do we got? Kev just said it was a SA case now.”
“And a kidnapping. Vic was seventeen when she was taken.” Hailey explained as they walked to the victim’s hospital room. And it gets worse, we also have a missing four-year-old too. And the kid needs insulin every few hours or he goes into shock. Our offender, also the dad, didn’t take it when he left with the boy.”
Kim shook her head, trying to get a grip on this case as well as dealing with being pregnant. She always wanted kids, to be a mother someday. When she had been engaged to Adam, they had always…And now was not the time to have that thought with Ruzek’s current girlfriend standing right next to her. The point was, yeah. She wanted kids, but she never pictured it like this.
Kim bit her lip as her eyes followed Jay as he made his way out of the bullpen that night. It had been weighing on her mind since she found out this morning. She was about four weeks pregnant...with baby Halstead. And she needed to tell the father.
“Hey!” Kim called after she stood and hurried after him because if she didn’t do it now, she’d chicken out later, “Jay! Wait up!”
It was better just to rip the bandaid off.
“Hey, can I talk to you? In private? It’s important.” She told him when she reached the bottom step of the stairs. He nodded in the direction of the parking lot. “Walk with me to my car?”
Rip the bandaid off. Rip the bandaid off. Rip the bandaid off. She repeated the mantra in her head as she followed him to his truck.
“You okay? You’re being a little quiet.” Kim looked up to see the detective eyeing her. She swallowed the nerves that appeared in her throat...Or was that nausea? Did morning sickness start this early in the pregnancy? She needed to buy one of those books now.
“Kim?”
“I’m pregnant.” She blurted out before she winced at her ungraceful delivery of the news. At least she had ripped the bandaid off. Kim shook her head at herself and then continued, not daring to look up at Jay and see his reaction. Instead, she chose to look at her shoes.
“They told me today at the hospital. When I was getting my stitches done after my run-in with the fence, they did a standard blood workup and my HBC levels whatever those mean, came back elevated, and with how elevated they estimated around four weeks-”
“Which would make them mine.” Jay finished her ramble softly because it had been four weeks since they slept together. Now she looked up at him, at his face. To his credit, she couldn’t see a negative reaction in his face. Not even a whisper of one. Instead, his blue eyes (would their child have his blue eyes or her brown ones) were thoughtful as he processed the information.
“Yeah,” Kim nodded, answering in a quiet voice, even though he hadn’t asked a question.
“Are you keeping them?”
Kim nodded. Though she might have had some lingering doubts before, the case today with Claire and Henry. Seeing how that mother and son had interacted solidified her decision. “Yeah. Yes, I am.”
“Then do you want to go somewhere and talk? About how we’re going to do this?”
Kim felt the tension release from her shoulders. She knew Jay was a good guy. The type of guy who would take responsibility and step up. The kind of guy that wouldn’t let her do this by herself, especially with this baby being his. But there was a difference between knowing that and hearing that she wasn’t going to be on her own were two different things.
“You could drive me home? I carpooled with Upton and Rojas today. And we could order dinner?” She offered and he nodded.
“Okay just let me go clock out and let them know while I’m in there.”
“Do you want a beer? Water? Or something else? I think I have some kind of soda?” She offered when they reached her apartment. Jay walked in behind her, setting their greasy takeout food from the burger place they had stopped at, on her kitchen table.
“Sure,” Jay said, accepting the plates she was giving him. He separated their food while she went to her fridge.
“So,” she said as she came back with two bottles in her hands, one a plastic water bottle and one a glass beer bottle. She handed him the beer before she took a seat across from him. “I’m not actually sure where to go from here. I know you said you wanted to be involved, but I’m not expecting-”
“Kim, I’m going to stop you right there. I don’t want an out with this. It took both of us to make that baby. We both chose to sleep together that night, so we’re in this together. Everything that comes with it. Doctor appointments, getting the nursery ready, 3 am calls where you call me because you have cravings, those stupid classes that teach you how to breathe if you want to take them…all of it.”
“…We won’t be able to hear the heartbeat until the next appointment at the earliest,” Jay said, reading information about her first official appointment on his phone. Kim blinked, she didn’t know where or why that day had resurfaced.
“Yeah, that's not till the next appointment at twelve weeks. This appointment is to just basically make sure that the baby is healthy and safe, growing at the rate they should be, and to talk about our family’s health histories and they address any concerns we have.” Kim explained, remembering what she had read last night in her new book about pregnancy and babies.
She had put off reading for the last two weeks, yet when the appointment reminder popped up on her phone yesterday, she realized she didn’t know what she was walking into. She absolutely hated not feeling prepared. It was like walking into a suspect’s house without knowing what to expect.
“You didn’t have to come you know. It’s not like it’s a huge appointment.” Kim told them nonchalantly as she began to flick through a magazine before she abandoned it in favor of playing a game on her phone.
“Every appointment Kim. No matter how big or small.” He told her, staring at the pictures of babies, “Because we’re-”
“-In this together. You know, you’re going to sound like a broken record by the time this whole pregnancy is over with.”
Soon Kim’s name was called and they were ushered back into a room. They didn’t even see her OB for this appointment. A technician conducted the ultrasound. The baby as expected was growing and progressing right on schedule.
“We’ll see you for the next appointment.” The tech said as she smiled, handing Kim a set of pictures, “Six weeks from today you can schedule it with the woman at the front desk.”
“So Burgess, what is up with you and Halstead? I noticed you and him have been a little…closer lately. Anything you want to tell me?” Kevin pointed at her with his fork. Kim rolled her eyes at her best friend’s roundabout way of asking if she and Jay were dating, without actually asking.
It was her and Kevin’s dinner that they did every month since their patrol partnership ended six years ago. Spearing her hamburger patty (Because she had entered the eighth week of her pregnancy and with that came morning sickness with a vengeance. Her baby seemed to have an aversion to bread she learned thanks to dinner with Jay at the beginning of the week) with her own fork, she popped the piece of meat into her mouth. Then she shrugged.
“Nothing to tell,” she told him and when he gave her his own eye roll, Kim laughed, “I’m serious. We’re friends. Look, with Adam and Hailey together now and you and Rojas having a vibe. We didn’t want to be third wheels. So we just started hanging out with each other.”
“Mhmm and are you and your friend participating in some friendlier extracurriculars?” Kevin smirked. Kim felt her cheeks burn at the question. “No,”
And that was the truth. Besides that one night of comfort, that had resulted in a baby there was nothing between them like what Kevin was implying.
The next day at work, when she and Jay were on their way to interview a witness, she made an appointment with her doctor to see if they had anything that could help with her nausea. The nausea had been the most violent today. Though it helped to be in the vehicle with her baby daddy, who knew about her morning sickness and kept her window cracked and passed her a water bottle after water bottle, and kept the air conditioning pressed against her to help.
Thankfully, she made it through the day without throwing up, despite the smell that wafted around the office and never left. Did someone order a fish sandwich with pickles...and was that mustard? Or tabasco sauce?
At the end of the day, Kim waved to Platt as she started to walk out with Jay and Hailey when the desk sergeant called her back.
“What’s up?”
“Internet said it was an appropriate gift,” Platt said as she pulled a mug with the words: MOM COP with the CPD symbol painted on it in a pretty soft blue color.
Kim’s eyes widened when she saw it. They weren’t telling anyone yet. How did the desk sergeant of their district know? Kim reached for it quickly, hiding it under her jacket.
“How’d you know?” She asked.
“I’ve been a cop for a long time,” the older woman’s answer was soft, “Plus, I overheard you and Halstead talking the other day.”
“Am I crazy?” Kim asked.
“Maybe. But some of the best things in life start as crazy... So go with your gut Burgess.” Platt’s lips twitched upward, “And I’ll deny I ever said this if you tell him, but Halstead is one of the good ones.”
Then she patted Kim’s shoulder and walked away. Kim stared after Platt, the woman who had been and continued to be her mentor since she stepped foot in the 21st. Then she turned and made her way back up to the Intelligence bullpen. She had some news she needed to share with Voight.
“Sarge?” Kim knocked on the door frame of Voight’s office. Voight looked up surprised to see his officer there.
“Burgess? I thought you had gone home for the night.”
“I did, but I…” Kim broke off and sighed heavily. She knew that there was a chance that this would change things for her here in Intelligence. That she could even lose her spot up here, but that didn’t matter anymore because it wasn’t just here she had to think about anymore. “Can I talk to you about something? It’s important.” Hank waved a hand in her direction and Kim knew that was her queue to go ahead.
“I’m pregnant. About eight weeks along and I understand. I understand that my place here will possibly change in Intelligence. But I just...I had to tell you.” She hurried out in a rush. She didn’t know what she expected from her Sargent. A few questions maybe. Some paperwork needed to be filled out. But she wasn’t expecting Hank to get up, make the way around his desk, or for his arms to encircle her into an embrace.
“Kim, I’m so happy for you.” His voice was warm and it brought a smile to Kim’s lips. Only for it to drop a minute later when he brought up how excited Adam must be. Then it hit her. Sergeant Voight thought Adam was the father and if Voight thought so, everyone else would too.
“Sarge, no. It’s not Adam’s. He and Hailey are still together. It’s uh...Jay’s actually.”
Voight pulled back some to look at her. His gaze was sharp as he licked his lips. He finally asked in a fairly soft voice, “Does he know?”
Kim nodded. “He does. He wanted to be here with me when I told you but he didn’t know I was going to tell you tonight….I didn’t know I was going to tell you until Platt gave me this gift.” She held up the coffee cup for her Sargent to see. It was a simple gift but it had reshifted and refocused Kim’s world.
She was going to be someone’s mother.
Hank nodded, that quiet look on his face he got when he was trying to retrace a criminal’s steps.
“Okay, we’ll talk about this more tomorrow. It’s late. Go home, Kim. Get some sleep,” he said finally. His tone of voice was clear. It was an order from a sergeant to his officer. She nodded, “Yes Sarge.”
“Burgess, Halstead. My office,” Everyone looked up at the sound of Voight’s voice, the next day looking confused. Everyone except the two people he was calling for. The unlikely duo made their way into the office as Hank shut the door behind him.
“I’m going to be brief, but the first thing I want to know is why you didn’t disclose your relationship when it got serious because I would think out of the two of you and your history with me, you would know that I like to have all the facts.”
“Sarge-” they both started to speak at the same time before they glanced at each other and Kim ended up finishing her thought first. She shook her head, “Sarge, it’s not like that for us.”
Nodding Jay agreed with her before he gestured to Kim’s stomach. “Yeah, it’s like Kim said. It’s not like that. They were just a surprise that came after a day of too many close calls and needing some comfort that we found in each other.”
Voight asked another question, but the officer couldn’t hear anything her sergeant or her partner said because that horrid smell from yesterday was back and it made her stomach roll violently.
“Burgess?” Hank asked concerned as he watched the woman wrap her arms around her stomach and put her head in between her knees. Jay turned, looking too, and had started to rub a hand up and down her back because he knew what was probably happening.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m good sarge. Just a little morning sickness nausea.” Kim finally managed to reassure him with a shaky thumbs up. But that wasn’t the wisest choice because as soon as the words came out of her mouth, her stomach gave another turbulent roll and she jumped up, giving in to the urge to run to the bathroom.
“Excuse me,” she thought she said the words, but she couldn’t be sure as she turned. The door was yanked open before Kim tore through the bullpen, ignoring the alarmed calls of her team.
Reaching the bathroom, she skidded to a stop on her knees in front of the porcelain bowl just before she coughed up the contents of her breakfast that morning. A second behind her, Jay dropped to his knees just at her back. He grabbed her hair pulling it back, so it wasn’t dangling in her face as he rubbed her back again.
“Okay?” Jay asked when he didn’t hear heaving anymore. Kim coughed and nodded, “I think so. For right now at least.”
So Jay stood and grabbed some paper towels as he ran them under the faucet and handed them to her. Then he waited while she wiped her face and pulled her to her feet.
“Still okay?” He asked. When she nodded, he continued, “I don’t think you heard him but Voight said he’s switching up partners again. He also asked if you wanted to be detailed to light duty early. I answered that for you. Hope you don’t mind.”
“As long as you said no,” Kim mumbled, her baby daddy nodded to her relief. “I said you didn’t want to be out until you absolutely had to be. He also said it’s up to us as to when we wanted to tell the team.”
“I’ll leave that up to you since I told Voight without you. If you don’t want to tell them today though, I hope you have a reason you followed me, besides you know, the truth.”
“We can tell them. Besides, they’ll want to know why you’re moving to light duty in two weeks.”
Kim blinked at him. There was no way…she was that close to moving to light duty. Though, looking down at her stomach, Kim knew it had to be true. Morning sickness didn’t start until she was at least eight weeks along, according to her book.
“Is it going to be that bad every time?” Kim asked quietly as Jay continued to rub her back. He was still rubbing her back as they walked back to the bullpen. Kim shook her head as she told him quietly, “That was just as rough as when we figured out your child doesn’t like bread and I have to deal with that till the end of the second trimester? Can I go on a liquid diet then?”
“I don’t think that’ll help. You’ll still throw up. You just won’t taste everything you eat.” He laughed, just as quietly. Then his hand stopped its gentle movements on her back completely and she looked up to see the unit plus Voight staring at them.
“Everything alright, Kim?” Kevin asked. Before she answered, the brunette glanced up at Jay, who nodded.
“Yeah, Kev. Just some slight morning sickness,” she told him sheepishly. Everyone glanced at each other. Then it was Hailey who asked, “Wait. Morning sickness? So that means you’re pregnant?”
“About eight weeks along,” Kim nodded with an unconscious hand lifting to her flat stomach.
“Hold up. Hold up. Is this why you ordered a burger without the bun on Saturday?” Kevin asked. Kim shrugged at her former partner, “They don’t like bread right now. I’m hoping they’ll get over it soon.”
“And how does Jay fit into this?” Adam asked from where he sat at his desk. Jay gave a slight smirk as he explained in a sarcastic tone, “Well Ruz, it kind of makes two people to make a baby.”
“Wait so you two…” Rojas trailed off as she dragged a finger between the two of them. Kim shrugged, “We’re not together but it was one night. The night after we closed the infection case.”
Rojas whistled, “Damn. Y'all weren’t kidding when you said this unit is close.”
Then there was a beat of silence while Hank stepped away to take a call. Another look was shared between the team. Then their unit was rushing forward. Hailey and Vanessa wrapped Kim in one hug while Kevin patted Jay on the back. Then her former partner wrapped her in a tight bear hug. It was only when Kevin had pulled away and the other two girls had Jay’s attention that Adam pulled her into a hug of his own.
“Congratulations,” he told her quietly, sincerely. Then he squeezed her again, “Are you happy?”
“It’s not quite how I planned on becoming a mother. But yeah, yeah I am.” She told the man, who in another life could’ve been the father of her children. Had she actually kept the ring, but Adam wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment and that was okay.
She wasn’t meant for Adam but maybe Hailey Upton would be the one for him instead.
“Good. That’s all I want for you Kim.” He let go of her, squeezing her hand. Then he moved to Jay, boasting loudly.
“Okay, we can continue the celebration later. Right now we have a case and given the circumstances, I’m reassigning partners. But temporarily? Atwater and Burgess, Rojas and Ruzek, and Upton and Halstead. I'll reassess later but right now we need to move.”
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