My first ever fanfic! With all the crazy in the world and the current TV seasons coming to a tragically early end, I figured I'd give this a shot. This is my take on what if the meth lab/ rehoming scam case from 5x05 happened in a future where Jay and Hailey are happily married and are parents to a daughter. What would Jay and Hailey's work relationship be as a married couple and how would they deal with cases involving kids. The first chapter will set up their future and the rest will deal with the case and the events that might have happened. I unfortunately do not own any of the characters or the show. If I did, Upstead would have happened two seasons ago ;)

CHAPTER 1

Jay Halstead woke up at 6:00am sharp, just like he did every morning since his ranger days. Whether he needed to wake up so early or he had the day off, his body forced him awake out of habit. His first years back from Afghanistan, it used to be a sore reminder of his experience overseas, and deprive him of the little amount of sleep he'd get in between nightmares, if he could get any. He'd distract himself with an early workout or get to the district before anyone else to tackle some paperwork to avoid the loneliness and the memories. Now he had a whole new routine. A routine he loved, and cherished, and wanted to stay in a little more every morning.

When his body pulled him from his peaceful slumber, Jay opened his eyes to blond hair sprawled on his chest and his wife's beautiful sleeping face. He loved waking up to her curled up next to him and spending the time between his early wake up and her alarm just watching her sleep and counting his blessings. So much had happened in the past couple years. They had been married for a little over two years, together for four and partners for seven. While they had had their concerns about working together once their partnership became something more, they had proved to themselves, their colleagues, their superiors, and anyone who might have questioned their professionalism that they not only didn't let their personal relationship affect their job but they even became more professional and driven to be the best detectives they can be.

They'd survived shootings, kidnappings, workplace drama, and their personal demons but they had done it together. They continuously pushed one another to do better and be better, and he owed everything to the woman laying in his arms. His smile grew wider when their twenty two month old daughter's babbling coming from the baby monitor distracted him from his morning thoughts. Like father, like daughter. Hailey would always mumble when their daughter had settled into an early morning routine like her father and demanded to be nursed before Hailey's alarm could wake her. However, now that Aislyn didn't need to be nursed, Jay could take over and spend some quality time with his daughter, another part of his new morning routine that he absolutely adored and looked forward to.

Careful to not wake Hailey up, Jay softly slipped out of bed to tend to their daughter. He stood in front of his daughter's room for a moment and traced the wooden letters AISLYN DOROTHEA on the door before walking in. Aislyn Dorothea Halstead. The perfect name for the most perfect baby girl.

Coming up with it had been no easy task. Jay and Hailey realized that one downside to their profession was that they came across hundreds of people, hundreds of names: names of victims and bad people, which made picking a name a nightmare. Every now and then, Hailey would pick a name that haunted Jay and vice versa. At one point, they'd made a list of names they didn't want to name their daughter. With many lists at hand, they had spent months trying to come up with a name until they had finally agreed on each picking their favorite, and they could decide on which one would be her first and which one would be her middle. Deciding between two was definitely easier than going through pages of baby names' books full of names that reminded them of unpleasant memories.

Hailey had come up with her favorite name a couple weeks before her due date, and was surprised that she hadn't thought of the one name she knew would be the perfect name for their daughter and would make her husband proud. Jay remembered how excited Hailey had been to share her pick. The moment he had walked into their house after a long shift, he had been greeted by his wife's arms around him, well as much as her belly had let her, and the first thing out of her mouth was, "I have a name for our daughter." Giving him a moment to take his shoes and jacket off, she had dragged him to the kitchen and pointed to a photo resting on the island countertop. It was a photo of his mother: she was holding a newborn Jay with a four-five year old Will snuggling to her side. He was surprised to see the photo, didn't know what it meant at first, until his eyes met his wife's and it all made sense. His heart filled with warmth as Hailey offered him a wide smile, held his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "I was going through the stuff Will brought over the other day and realized it's only fair we name our daughter after one of the strongest, most amazing women who touched our lives." Even though he already knew, in that moment, he had realized once again that he married his soulmate. "Besides, I looked it up: Aislyn means dream in gaelic and she is our dream." At that, all Jay could have done was pull her to his arms and kiss her senseless.

Then they had settled on her middle name that night right before they fell asleep. The photograph had brought back childhood memories for the both of them, and they had spent the rest of their night talking about their childhoods. Hailey was in the middle of telling him about the time her family had visited Greece and how her mother dragged Hailey and her siblings through The Acropolis Museum, lecturing them on their heritage and what their names would have been had they been born in Greece. "It's a pretty name, but can you imagine me as a Dorothea?" Hailey had laughed. "Every time my mother reminded me that, all I could see was ruby slippers and the yellow brick road." They had laughed at it together but something about the name and the story had stuck with Jay. The name Aislyn Dorothea, honoring both their mothers and heritages, felt right. When he had whispered it to Hailey's ear the next morning, he had offered her a smile, put a protective hand on her belly and said, "Besides I looked it up, Dorothea means God's gift in Greek, and she is definitely our dream gifted to us."

Softly pushing open the nursery door, Jay found his daughter sitting in her crib, babbling things to her favorite teddy bear. Ever since she had uttered her first word, Aislyn Dorothea Halstead had been a chatterbox, using every opportunity to have her baby voice heard, even if it meant having a conversation with her teddy bear. Upon hearing the door open, she stopped her babbling, turned around in her place and stood up against her crib's railing to greet her dad. "Da-da! Mowning!" She gave Jay a heartwarming smile, reaching out her small arms, requesting to be picked up.

"Is that my Ace I hear?" He said with a big smile while walking into the room. Aislyn got even more excited to see her dad upon hearing her nickname and giggled her high pitched baby laugh. Quickly making his way to the crib, Jay turned off the baby monitor before scooping his daughter up to make sure their voices didn't wake Hailey up. "Good morning, princess." He greeted her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled against his chest. "Were you enjoying your morning talk with Mr. Bear here?"

"Mistew Beaw waw juce!" She added after nodding yes to Jay's question.

"Oh really? Mr. Bear wants juice?"

"Mhm… Mistew Beaw vewy juce." Jay smiled at his daughter's words. Very juice meant very thirsty in Aislyn and he loved her determination to communicate.

"Is it just Mr. Bear or do you also want juice?" He asked with a knowing smile.

"Da-da, juce!" She answered and Jay nodded.

"Alright then, juice it is. What kind of juice would my princess want?"

"Popple!"

"Ah, apple! A great choice, your majesty." He put a kiss on her cheek. "How about we change your diaper and go get juice then?"

"Yay! Juce!" Aislyn cheered as Jay grabbed Mr. Bear with his free arm and carried them to the changing table and quickly got to work before heading to the kitchen to get Aislyn and Mr. Bear their juice.

If someone had told Jay Halstead a couple years ago that he'd marry his partner and be changing diapers and having early morning juice parties with their daughter and her favorite teddy bear, he would have laughed at them. Sure he had always known he'd have kids one day, but nothing could have prepared him for the real thing. He once used to look forward to his 6:00 am runs. Then, once Hailey had started sleeping over and they eventually moved in together, he looked forward to the time he got to just appreciate her in the free time he had in the mornings. Now, he not only got to do that but there was the added bonus of waking up to Aislyn's adorable voice and their pre-breakfast juice parties.

Jay was sipping on his coffee and listening to Aislyn, who was sitting on the kitchen island with Mr. Bear tugged to her side. She was enthusiastically updating him on her afternoon with her Uncle Will and what happened on the latest episode of Paw Patrol that Jay had missed because he had to stay late to finish his latest CI report when he caught glimpse of the clock on the wall behind her. Realizing that it was five minutes to Hailey's alarm going off, he put his cup down and smiled at Aislyn. "Hey, Ace, you know what time it is?" He asked.

"Mom-ma?" Aislyn knew what he was referring to.

"Wanna go wake her up?"

"Lew's go, da-da!" She declared and Jay picked her, along with Mr. Bear, up and headed towards their bedroom.

"Alright, remember: we have to be quiet until we get inside." He whispered with his pointer finger against his lips to shush her.

"Da-da, shush!" Aislyn imitated him and put her finger against her lips as she silently giggled.

"Alright smartypants. Let's go." He quietly opened the door and carried Aislyn to his side of the. He put her down as gently and softly as possible and got in the bed himself. He and Aislyn shared a quick glance and smile before Aislyn jumped on Hailey's sleeping form.

"MOWNING MOM-MA!" Aislyn wrapped her arms around Hailey's neck and started showering her with baby kisses. Her eyes still closed, a big smile broke out on Hailey's lips and she wrapped her arms around Aislyn as her alarm went off at the same time. Opening her eyes and turning the alarm off, she sat up against their bed frame with Aislyn in her lap and snuggling against her as Jay just watched them with the biggest smile on his lips and in his eyes. He had the two most beautiful girls in the world. Hailey was as gorgeous as ever. The past seven years had only made her more beautiful. Her deep blue eyes shined brighter with the happiness of the past seven years. There were hints of smile wrinkles forming on the side of her lips to remind them of all the good times: the long nights spent in bed laughing and joking, the milestones and accomplishments they have celebrated, the loving smiles they exchanged… Seven years that just made her more beautiful. And then there was Aislyn. She was the spitting image of her mother but instead of her blue eyes, she had Jay's bright green eyes and soft freckles on her cheeks.

"MOM-MA SUPWISE!" Aislyn pulled back from Hailey's embrace enough to look up at her and put a wet kiss on her cheek. "You happy?"

"The happiest." Hailey smiled. "That was the best morning surprise, Ace." It was Hailey's turn to put a kiss on Aislyn's cheek.

"Da-da kiss!" Aislyn turned to Jay and pointed at her opposite cheek that Hailey had just kissed.

"Anything for you, baby girl." Jay scooted closer and kissed the cheek his daughter was pointing at before turning to his wife and giving her a soft good morning kiss. "Good morning, babe."

"G'morning." Hailey smiled against his lips. "So tell, me: what have you two been up to this morning?"

"Mistew Beaw juce pawty!"

"A juice party? Where was my invite?" Hailey fake pouted.

"We were going to get you, but you looked so beautiful sleeping that we couldn't bring ourselves to interrupt your sleep." Jay explained which definitely earned him brownie points that Hailey would award him when they were alone.

"Smooth, Halstead." She praised her husband before turning her attention back to Aislyn. "And what kind of juice party did you guys have?"

"Popple!"

"Wow, that sounds awesome, baby! Now, what do we say to a proper breakfast? Are you hungry?" Hailey asked and Aislyn nodded.

"Mistew Beaw waw O-Os!" Her response got a warm chuckle from her parents. No matter how many times they heard Aislyn's version of words, hearing their daughter try her best to communicate always brought a smile to their faces.

"What about you, Ace? Do you also want some cheerios and milk or do you want daddy to make some of her banana toast?" Hailey continued as she got out of bed with Aislyn still snuggled against her and Jay followed behind. Jay knew that as soon as the banana toast was mentioned, he would be taking over breakfast preparations for his girls.

"Oooo, wif pewnot buttew?" She turned to Jay as she asked.

"Sounds like it's a win for the banana toast." He smiled as they headed to the kitchen and settled into yet another morning routine of Jay making breakfast as Hailey sipped on a cup of coffee Jay had brewed for her and Aislyn continuing her Paw Patrol and her other favorite shows update from earlier. They both knew they had to get ready soon and head to the district for whatever horrible case they had to solve, but every morning, in these moments they spent in the morning as a small family, they were safe from the ugliness of the world.

Here it is! Happy Upstead family! I wanted to give y'all a glimpse of a perfect morning before things get ugly. Let me know what you think about it and what you might want to see in the coming chapters. Hope y'all enjoyed it and stay safe out there!