[A/N: Here's just a short & sweet epilogue per request. Sorry it's not longer or more planned out, maybe I'll continue another time. Thanks so much again for reading this story and for all the super kind reviews on it. I am humbled and grateful it resonated with you. Will try to get another Upstead story out very soon.]

I woke to the smell of coffee and pancakes. I slowly turned to look at my alarm clock and saw it was a little after noon. I haven't slept this late in Forever. As I turn back around to the empty side of the bed, I smile as I catch a whiff of Jay's cologne from the other pillow. Yeah, a girl can get used to waking up like this. I throw the covers off and make my way into the kitchen. My smile gets even wider as I quietly watch Jay standing by the stove in his CPD hoodie (he left it here after one of our workouts) and boxers. He must have just finished the pancakes because he's transferring them to a plate.

"Smells delicious!" he turns around and grins at me as he leans over the counter and gives me a kiss.

"Good morning… err, afternoon. I was just gonna come bring you these, with a cup of coffee of course."

"You're the best! Feel free to do this every Sunday now."

He laughs, "You got yourself a deal… but only for you. You can't tell anyone else how domesticated I can be."

I smirk at him and whisper, "I hate to break it you, Jay, but I think they already know."

"Why I ought to…" He runs around the counter at me laughing & threatening as he tries to tickle me.

I try to squirm away, but it's no use. "Maybe we can buy you an apron that you can wear over your vest!.." He shakes his head and tickles me harder. "Ok, ok, I'm kidding, c'mon, the pancakes are gonna get cold!" I look up at him and give him my sad-lip face.

"You're right, I worked so hard on them, plus, the Cubs game already started. I can't believe how late we slept." We walk into the living room with our plates and coffee and turn on the TV.

"Yea, I haven't slept until noon in I can't remember. And I can't believe you; you're always up annoyingly early and rearing to go."

"Well, this girl I really like kind of wore me out. I needed my beauty sleep, plus, I was too comfortable lying in bed with her."

"I mean, she sounds like a really great girl. You should give her a chance."

"Ehh, I'm not entirely sold yet, she snores a little bit."

"I do not!" I smack him with me couch pillow and we both crack up. This is definitely the best weekend I've had in a while, possibly ever.

I still can't believe I woke up next to Hailey this morning. Everything about it was better than my dreams. I feel like a little kid finding out your crush likes you back. From the moment I picked her up for the wedding yesterday to now, it's all felt so right and perfect. Even though I've watched the game with her countless times, it's nice that I can now do it with my arm around her. I look down at her in awe.

"Yes Jay?"

I chuckle. "How do you do it? You're lying on my chest and looking at the TV; is there ever gonna be a time you don't catch when I look at you?"

"I sense your every move, Halstead."

"Oh yea? So what's going to be my next one?"

"You're going to tell me how great it is to watch baseball with a girl you're sleeping with, then say something corny to try to get it to happen again."

I raise my eyebrows at her as she looks up at me.

"That's pretty good! I WAS thinking how great this is, but more about what we were going to eat for dinner." I say it full-out knowing it's going to irk her.

She scrunches her nose at me. "Dinner? Jay, we only just ate a couple of hours ago, how can you possibly…"

I silence her with a quick, but heated kiss. "You're kinda cute when you think you've been proved wrong. What if my whole focus was on you? It kind of has been for months and you never noticed then."

"Oh no, no take backs now. You don't get to say something corny to swoon me, that ship has sailed, let's talk dinner."

"Dinner can wait; I already have my favorite meal right here."

She bursts out laughing, and even I have to eye roll at my own lameness.

"You are such a cornball sometimes."

I slowly creep on top of her on the couch. "Uh yes, but years of it now has worn you down, and you can no longer hide your non-resistance to my charm."

She starts to stroke my hair. "Oh, I can resist you plenty, if I wanted to."

"Maybe… but, I think you'd rather be right about what I was thinking about before."

She smirks, but before she can say anything else, I kiss her again, silencing her (& me) for quite a while.

I thought yesterday had been an amazing day, but somehow, today tops it. Even though I've had feelings for Jay for quite a while, there was a part of me that thought it'd be weird if we did get together. We've been partners and friends for so long, sometimes crossing that line sounds better than it really is. But nothing about being with him has felt strange, in fact, it's the exact opposite. It all just feels so right and meant to be. After our… long session… on the couch, we did develop quite the appetite. So we cooked tacos together, then watched a movie, and everything just feels so natural, like we've been a couple forever. I'm a little hesitant to go back to reality tomorrow, but I think we're up to the test. I turn into Jay's arms as we lie in bed.

"I can't believe we have to go back to work tomorrow already. This weekend has been too perfect."

"It has been, and it will continue to be. I am going to have to stop at my place beforehand though. I doubt the guys would appreciate me coming to work in my boxers."

"I would appreciate it, that's the only opinion that matters." I smile flirtatiously at him.

"That is very true… although I'd rather not feel the wrath of Voight."

I groan the second I hear our boss mentioned. "Augh, Voight, how we going to handle this?"

"Totally up to you. I know you have your rule on work relationships."

I roll my eyes, "Yeah, I've really lived up to that."

"Nobody's perfect, Hailey."

"Yea, I know…" I still can't help but feel hypocritical. Granted, my fling with Adam was due to my feelings for Jay as well, but still. Oh well, it's water under the bridge now, and I want to start this thing with Jay right. "I think we should tell him we're in a relationship and fill out the paperwork."

"Really? You sure?"

"I am. I don't want to hide us. Besides, knowing Voight, he'll sniff us out within a day."

"You're right on that. Ok, so I'll go and see him in the morning when we get in. I feel like we're close enough now that he'll be understanding."

"I'll come too. It looks better if we do it together, plus, if we catch him on a bad day, at least we'll have each other." We both chuckle.

"Ok, it's settled then." Jay says, then kisses my forehead and leans over to shut the light.

After we went to Jay's to grab him some clothes, we headed straight for work bright and early in hopes to catch Voight before everyone else arrived. Luckily he was already in his office. Jay and I held hands to fight our nerves as we explained everything to our boss. Voight's only response,

"It's about damn time!"

[Disclaimer: It pains me that I have to do this because I sadly still have hope in humanity and morals, but alas... It's been brought to my attention that some people have been stealing my stories. I ONLY post on FanFiction and ArchiveofourOwn... so if you come across anything of mine on Wattpad or any of the socials, please report it. Thank you! And to the offenders, be better people!]