One Chicago Life

Licensed and Celebration

Christmas actually happened while Jay and I were at the safe house but we had nothing there besides some clothes. We decided to celebrate together, one week later after Damion died.
I had gotten Jay a new fancy smart watch before the accident as well as a new scope for his rifle. That morning I woke up to the delicious smell of cinnamon rolls and bacon cooking in my condo. I hobbled out to the kitchen, I still had a brace on my leg and was using crutches 2 weeks after the accident. Jay turned around when he heard me walk into the kitchen. "Good morning," he said with a smile. "Good morning!" I returned with an awkward hug. "Stupid crutches," I groaned and tossed them to the floor. Jay laughed and scooped me up quickly and sat me in a chair at the table. "Perfect timing," he said as the oven timer beeped for the finished cinnamon rolls. We enjoyed our breakfast and I sat impatiently while he slowly savored his coffee. "You are torturing me!" He laughed and nodded. "To be honest, I am a little worried about this gift exchange than I should be," he said with a nervous smile. "Me too, but I am excited!" I made my way to the couch and plopped down. Jay grabbed the presents and sat down beside me. I insisted on him opening his first, he tried to protest but I won the stare down. He opened the watch first, "I don't think I ever mentioned that my watch shattered in the accident?"  He said, "I was going to get a new one but they are expensive!" I laughed, "that wasn't the expensive one." I quickly covered my mouth with my hand and rolled my eyes. These pain pills were effecting my filter. "I mean, I..." I stammered. "What did you do?" Jay accused me as he grabbed the other present. "You can't take either of them back, I bought them before the accident and they are non refundable." He scowled but continued to tear off the paper revealing the scope. He looked it over with a huge grin. "This is incredible! Thank you! But how much did this cost?" I laughed, "don't worry about it." He cocked an eyebrow and I shook my head.
Jay sighed and grabbed the gifts he had for me. He nervously said, "open this one first." I raised my eyebrow in suspicion and lifted the lid off of the large flat box. Inside was a beautifully framed Doctorate of Physical Therapy diploma with my current name. I was stunned. "How did you do this? I didn't think I would ever have that part of my life back," as tears streamed down my cheeks. Jay wiped my tears. "It took some time and a lot of phone calls from Hank, me and Sargent Platt. Will helped too. There is one more thing underneath. Please don't hate me" he cringed slightly as I moved the frame to reveal a paper. "You are scheduled to take the DPT board licensure exam January 16th." I read aloud. "That's two weeks away?!" I said anxiously. Jay nodded, "Do you hate me?" He cringed slightly.  "No! I could never hate you, in fact, I, um, I am madly in love with you Jay Halstead." That was the first time I said it out loud. Jay grinned, "I love you more than you may ever know Kaycie!" We wrapped our arms around each other. I thanked him profusely for his kind gift. "I still can't believe you were able to do that." I said as I shook my head. "I have one more present for you. It's not a finished thing though." He handed me a small box that would probably hold a ring box. I tilted my head in curiosity at Jay. I lifted the lid slowly to reveal a key. "What's this?" Jay cleared his throat nervously, "it's a key to an amazing condo that I want to buy with you. I wanted to take you there and see what you think. I know this place has a few bad memories and I was wondering if you would officially move in to a place that could be our place." He looked at me with a nervous uncertainty. "I love it. I think it's a wonderful idea!" I wrapped my arms around him and crashed my lips into his. We kissed with a fiery intensity until we were gasping for breath. I finally scooted into his lap facing him while playing with his hair. "I have been so afraid of telling you that I love you because I am scared. I have crazy baggage and seem to always have trouble finding me.  Are you sure you can handle this mess?" Jay gently pulled my chin up to look into my eyes, "Don't you ever say that your baggage is bigger than you. You are worth so much more than that. I love you for who you are, you amaze me with everything that you have been through. You make me happy. I plan on spending the rest of our lives together making each other happy. You got that?" I nodded my head and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. "You know you are going to have to help me study right?" I said. Jay laughed, "of course. Hank already said he doesn't want to see you at the station until your leg is better and your test is done."
Later that afternoon we went to look at the condo. It was only a few minutes farther away in a gated community with a park. It had so many cabinets in the kitchen and two counters in the master bathroom with a big jetted tub. "I am sold!" I said excitedly. There was a few minor repairs that needed to be fixed. We would sign papered in a few weeks.

I spent the rest of my time in books studying and practicing different exams for my upcoming boards. The two weeks went by way too fast and the next thing I knew I was sitting down taking it. I remembered most things and there were only a few I wasn't sure on. I was so happy to be finished with it. The 24 hours of waiting to find out the score was excruciating. It didn't help that Jay was on a stakeout with Adam. I finally went to sleep around 2 in the morning after some major cleaning in the house. I had to do something to keep me busy. That morning I woke up super nervous and spent several more hours scrubbing everything I could in the house which was complicated by my sore leg. I could only walk a little bit each day without my crutches. Jay finally came home a little before ten to a spotless house and me anxiously pacing around my computer at my desk. "Hello beautiful. Did you even sleep last night? The house looks amazing." As he kissed my forehead and wrapped me in a tight hug. "How much longer until results are posted?" He asked. I looked at my watch again, "two minutes!" He kissed my lips eagerly trying to distract me. "I missed you last night, Adam can't hold still. He was driving me crazy." My watch beeped. I frantically refreshed the page and waiting for it to load. The results finally popped up. "I knew you would pass. I have reservations at a nice restaurant tonight to celebrate." Jay said. I pulled him into me kissing him with fiery emotion. "I bet we could celebrate a little right now." Jay raised an eyebrow at me as I started lifting up his shirt. "Are you sure?" He asked. I nodded my head and threw his shirt on the floor. He picked me up quickly and walked me to the bedroom while kissing down my neck making me giggle. I was amazed at how careful he was with my still healing body from the accident. We lay content, entwined with each other catching our breath and relishing each detail of one another.