can't change what you don't know

you good bro?

The next morning, jay woke up to the loud ringing of his phone next to his ear. He groggily woke up and sat up as his hand scanned the nightstand in attempts to desperately find his phone, he finally grabbed it and squinted at the screen, but when he saw the caller ID he jumped out of bed almost waking up instantly before accepting the incoming call.
Jay: "hey man, you got the results back already?"
Will: "well aren't you eager? But yeah I do, I'll meet you at the front desk with them before your shift starts if you want?"
Jay: "yeah thanks man, I'll be there in an hour"
Will: "no problem, see you then"
Jay: "you too"

He got out of bed with his nerves flying around again, if he was a dad then he was fine with it, sure he was terrified but he would do what he needed to do in order to protect Tatum and if that meant fighting for custody over her then he'd do it. He pushed the thoughts aside and hopped in the shower before getting out, throwing some clothes on and rushing to med, yes all of this took around 45 minutes because his mind got the better of him.  He knocked the radio off on his drive to med, just so his thoughts could be processed, he had no clue how he ended up in this situation but if the results came back positive and he was her dad, then she's his blood and he's never gonna let her in harms way again.

When he arrived at med it was roughly about 30 minutes before he had to be at work so he had plenty of time, "hey man, they're on the side" Will pointed his head in the envelopes direction since his hands were full. Jay smiled and nodded, he needed to know now so he just opened it on the spot, taking Will by surprise with his actions. Jay ignored everyone around him and pulled out the piece of paper before skimming down to the bottom where the relationship status read...

Mother: Cassie Walker
Father: Jay Halstead

His eyes widened as he slid the paper back down into the envelope and ran his hand over his mouth, "you good bro? you're looking a little queasy..." Will eyed his brother up. Jay looked around before checking there was no one in the break room and signalled for the red head to follow suit. Once the pair were in the break room jay sat down on a chair and slid the envelope over to Will for him to read it himself, he couldn't muster up enough Will power to speak verbally. Will furrowed his brows and picked it up, "huh? I thought it was for a case?" He shook his head and skimmed the paper. His eyes widened like jays did when he saw the relationship statuses at the bottom, "you're a dad? W-since when? Jay..." he put the paper down in shock, he may not be the absolute closest thing in his brothers life but he sure was he was positive his brother didn't have a kid.

Jay ran his hands over his face, it was all so real now, he has a kid, his own amazing daughter to cherish and look after. He took a deep breath, "the case we're working, the suspect has three kids. Two of his own and one step kid, the mother of the step kid just so happens to be Cassie Walker, the medic from my time in the rangers. I've had more run ins with this kid, my kid, without even knowing she was mine, in the past week than I can count on my fingers. Will I didn't I even know she existed..." he sighed out, feeling rather stressed was an understatement. Will sat down too, "so she's your kid, and she's where?" He looked at him in worry. Jay nodded slowly, "she's with a social worker, she's staying with her until we found her real dad, me..." he trailed off at the end. Will nodded, "how'd you even find out man..." he sighed.

Jay shrugged, "when we arrested the suspect Cassie had to be brought in for questioning, she told me on the way out of her house that tatums my kid..." he kept his gaze on the floor. Will smiled slightly, "Tatum. That's her name?" He let his smile grow, she has a sweet name. Jay smiled back, "yeah...she's 13. I haven't been in her life for 13 years will, she's gonna hate me..." he nearly let his emotion win. Will shook his head, "no she won't jay, you can't change what you don't know. But now you do, and since she's yours, that means she's mine so I'm with you 100%" he smiled sadly. Jay smiled, he'd never felt so vulnerable than he did in that moment but the support of his brother and girlfriend made him feel reassured, "thanks man" he smiled again. Will nodded, "are you gonna..." he started but jay finished for him.

Jay nodded, "take her in? Yeah, I'm gonna try but from what I've heard about her case, getting fully custody's gonna be difficult" he sighed. Will smiled reassuringly, "I'm with you, every step of the way. So if either you or Tatum, need anything, just let me know. I wanna meet her too by the way..." he smiled to himself. Jay smiled, he hadn't saw his brother this happy in a while, not since he broke up with Natalie, "sure, once I've sorted everything out you can meet her" he nodded. Will smiled back, "I would say congrats but it's not exactly like she's a newborn baby..." he smacked jays back as they left the break room. Jay laughed, "yeah, something like that" he shook his head and left his brother to work. So it's true, he has a kid and that kid is Tatum, he just hopes she takes it well...

He could relax a little now, sure he still has a lot to worry about, but finally knowing the unknown made him fell at ease slightly, he could protect Tatum and give her the life she deserves no matter the cost. He arrived at work and took a moment to compose himself before getting out of the car, who knew a careless night full of regret and mistakes could lead to something so sudden and precious? He smiled at nearby officers as usual and made his way into the bullpen where the team were already sat chatting away. He caught a glimpse of haileys stares and signalled for her to go into Hanks office as he walked towards the door.

Hank looked up at the sudden company, "close the door" he nodded to hailey, already suspecting jay had news. He and hailey waited for the scared detective to say something, "she's my kid" jay nodded. Hailey smiled at hank slightly, "you're gonna be a great dad jay, I have no doubts about that, but right now we need to focus on you gaining full custody over Tate. Cassies been proved innocent and she's currently waiting for Tatum to be released" hank stood up and squeezed jays shoulder. Jay smiled at hailey sadly before nodding, "does she know yet?" Hailey tilted her head. Jay shook his head, "no, I uh, just found out about it. I really don't know how to tell her..." he sighed sadly. Hank nodded positively, "be straight up, the kids eager to find out who her dad is, and knowing it's you'll make her feel safe. You're never gonna be ready jay, you just gotta get on with it and bite the bullet" he smiled weakly.

And so it was, hailey found herself driving jay to the social workers house to go and talk to Tatum, so jay could tell her the news she's been waiting for.