Family Isn't Always Fair

Family Isn't Always Fair

Matildas age: 14 years old

Tw: Seizures, Hospitals, Family Arguing, Yelling, Mentions of shots

Summary: After Matilda's sister got diagnosed everything changed and she didn't get much attention as she used to. That was until she was diagnosed with Epilepsy and their entire family crumbles with one Chaotic night.

______________________________________________________________

Of course they didn't show up. They are always paying attention to my older sister Sophia. Ever since Sophia test results came back they've been acting like I don't exist. It's been like this for 3 years now since I was 11. 

My competition was today for ice skating and they promised they would show up but turns out they had something “come up with work” I just know thats a code sentence for something that came up with sophia. 

I haven't even had the time to tell them something that's been going on. My teachers and friends notice i blank out a lot and i've brushed it off for awhile but it's gotten to the point where i even got detention for not paying attention in class

***

Walking through the door I don't hear anyone or the house being filled with chaos. “Mom? Dad? I'm home”I shouted. Just as I thought no one, not even Sophia. All I see is a note on the counter with dads card saying I can door dash if I want too.

I heard someone knock at the door and I waited 30 seconds before getting up hoping the dasher had already left.

***

I was finally dozing off when my family came home

“Mattie we’re home” My dad yelled while putting the groceries on the counter.

I walked into the kitchen to see my dad already preparing dinner. “Wanna help?” 

“Sure, it's not like I have much to do, '' I replied, finally relieved that I got to do something with my dad for once.

“Hey, so i made first in my ice skating competition” I said, trying to make some small talk

“That's good Mattie, so are you moving onto the final round? Jay asked while finishing up the pasta on the stove.

“Yeah and i'm going up against my biggest comp-” 

“Your biggest what?” Jay turned his head towards Matilda when she didn't reply. “Mattie? Can you hear me” Snapping his fingers in her face.

(Authors Note, Even though abscess seizures last less than 15 seconds I'm going to make this last for around a minute reading it may seem longer but it's not that long). 

Jays POV

I called Hailey to come downstairs because either Mattie was pranking me or something was seriously wrong with her.

“Yeah jay what's up?”

“Somethings wrong with Mattie, it's like she's just staring into space and she's not moving.”

“What do you mean she's staring into space?”Hailey tilting her head in confusion 

Jay waved his hand in his daughters face and she didn't respond

“Alright i'm calling will” 

I was keeping an eye on Mattie but before Hailey could call will, Mattie started moving aging. 

“Mattie, are you ok? What happened” 

“Yeah im fine and i don't know what happened” Her voice obviously confused 

“What were we just talking about?” I asked. Will taught me in these situations I should ask questions if something bad were to happen. 

“Uhh, I don't really know. It's like there's fog everywhere in my head”.

“Hails stay here with soph im taking her to med” I said almost dragging matilda off the kitchen bench.

“Ok, keep me posted. I'll tell voight you can't come in tonight.”

***

Connor “Ok so we ran some tests and it's epilepsy. It seems like she suffers from absent seizures from what she told and what you experienced with her. “ 

As Connor checks up on Mattie I feel ashamed to even be a father. How did I not notice this, she had been suffering for a while. I made it seem like Sophia is my only child, I made her feel left out, I made her… I made her feel like a glass child.  

“Jay, JAY!” i was snapped out of my thoughts when will was trying to get my attention

“Sorry just thinking about something” I murmured

“I'm going to tell you this now, whatever happened whatever your think isn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented it no matter what you do. She's gonna have to live with it for the rest of her life and you guys will manage it I promise you.” will said while walking to sit down with me. 

9 months later

Things are different nowadays. Hails and I have been arguing more now over Sophia on how I never pay attention to her and I spend all my time with Matilda now. We started attending couples therapy 5 months ago, and so far it's working . We've been arguing less and spending an equal amount of time with the girls. I still do spend a lot of time with Matilda but Hailey does have to know.

“Sophia, hurry up if we wanna get good seats then we have to leave now” I yelled upstairs while grabbing my keys and matilda's small bag. 

***

“GO MATTIE” i cheered probably louder than everyone else.

Matties POV

Spin, Jump, Spin again anddd pose. I received an applause from the crowd and started to skate off the ice. I headed to the locker room and took my skates off and put my guards on.  I walk around to find my family talking with my coach.

“Ahem?”My mom gives a look that means stop and behave.

Finally they finish and come over to me

“You did an amazing job honey, are they not doing awards today?” mom said as she hugged me

“No, they said something was wrong with there scoring so they'll release them out by email to us” I groaned

'`How about we go out for dinner, whose turn is it to pick?’ My dad asks

Before I can answer my sister shouts out “Olive Garden '' I don't really like olive garden that much but I prefer to have a nice family outing than to argue. 

***

Once again me and my sister are fighting but this time it's bad. She had snuck out last night and got caught. She blames me because I didn't answer my phone to let her in. She ended up having to go through the front door which sends a notification to our parents phone every time the doors open. In my defense I had to sleep for my competition. I wasn't about to have dozens of seizures because I was sleep deprived. 

I was talking on the phone and my sister overheard me saying “She was a spoiled brat and she's annoying” Truthfully i was talking about this girl in school that everyone hates. Next thing I know I was hanging up on the phone then next I was being pushed to the floor. 

Haileys Pov

Me and Jay agreed that we would just let the girls fight now. They always made up and the fights were never physical, only verbal. 

We caught Sophia coming back home at 3 in the morning. We grounded her until winter break which is in 1 month. The whole fight went on for about 20 minutes before jay told them to shout 

Quieter before the cops came. 

I was showing Jay an instagram post when there was a loud thud. Me and Jay both shot our heads up towards the ceiling. “Girls stop throwing stuff” i just looked down at my phone then looked back up when i didn't hear them shouting. “Matilda?...Sophia?” Me and jay both shared the same look and got up to see the damage

“Mattie, soph what's going-”Jay's voice in a mad tone “Mattie, oh my gosh.”

Walking in we see matilda having a seizure and sophia just standing there in shock

“She's having a seizure, Sophia. I need you to run downstairs and get my radio” Sophia just stood there looking at me. “Sophia so help me if you don't go get that radio you will wish voight would have dealt with you instead”. By saying that Sophia snapped out of whatever she was in and ran downstairs.

“What happened? She never has epileptic seizure in awhile” i asked

“She could’ve hit her head or something because i don't know how you get from standing the ground” Jay replied while checking his watch as hit the 30 second mark.

Sophia finally brings up my radio and radio for an ambulance. “This is 50-21 gorge. I need an ambulance to my location, 15 year-old female having a seizure.  

At a minute and 30 seconds the seizure finally stopped. We rolled Matilda on her side in recovery position. Jay checked her pulse to make sure it's steady.

I ran my finger through matties hair, i couldn't hear jay asking where the ambulance is i just kept playing the scene in my head.

(Forgot to change the pov so this is going to to be in 3rd person until  Voight is done yelling at Sophia)

“Hey Mags” will said while putting his tablet down

“Hey will, you need to control your niece”

“What did she do this time?”

“She told me last week that she wanted to live with me because i let her eat ice cream while she was over at my house because "everytime i come to your house you let me ice cream"” She replied and made a squeaky voice

Will let out a small chuckle “She for real said that? I can't blame her i would want to eat ice cream all the time too”

Just then the buzzer went off signaling that someone new came in. Will ran over 

“What have we got”

“14 year old Matilda Halstead, found having a seizure in her bedroom” The paramedics said

Will knew he couldn't treat her because she was family. Connor and Ethan stepped in for the place of will.

“Ok, we're gonna move her to the bed on 3, (1-2-3).” Ethan said while getting ready

“Hey matilda, can you tell me how old you are”  Connor said while rubbing her sternum

Will just stood there looking through the open door. It took will to fight off every thought to go in there and help.

Just then Natalie walked in to begin her shift. “Hey will, how are you?” When she didn’t get a response she turned around to see Will standing there. “Will are you good?”.Natalie caught a glimpse of what was going on and decided that will shouldn't be seeing this. “Will, how about we go sit down.” Natalie brought will into the waiting room where the rest of his family was.

***

“Ok Matilda you're going to feel a small poke.” Connor was telling Matilda what they were doing even though she wasn't responding. 

“I want her taken up for a CT scan and I want the results as soon as possible, say Dr. Goodwin orders it.”

Connor didn't care if he got in trouble for lying about Sharon Goodwin's words. Matilda was family and he would do anything for her no matter the consequences.

***

Connor walked into the waiting room to see Jay, Will and Natalie. “So she had a seizure because of how hard she hit her head. She also has a mild concussion. I want to keep her for 3 nights just for observation. She wasn't reacting to the meds we originally gave her so I want to rey giving her something else.” Connor explained

“Why wasn't she reacting to the meds”. Jay asked obviously concerned

“I don't exactly know why, I wanna take her up for testing if it's ok with you and hailey”

“You can do it, Me and hailey give you permission to do whatever it takes to help Mattie '' Even though hailey was here he knew she would give permission.

“We moved her to a room on the Peds floor, but she is awake so you can go see her,” Connor said.

“I have to go take care of patients but ill make sure to come see her when i can. I’ll find someone to cover you for a couple of hours” Natalie said while getting up

“Thanks Nat” Will replied while walking away from her

***

“ARE YOU INSANE SOPHIA?” Hailey yelled at her eldest child “MATTIE COULD HAVE SOME SERIOUS DAMAGE NOW, DO YOU REALIZE THAT” 

“Hailey take a break or go see your daughter, I’ll deal with her” Voight stepped in.

Sophia let out a gulp knowing shes dead. If you were in trouble and Hank Voight stepped in to deal with you, you might as well just go to jail.

But this time was different, something about the way he was talking was completely different from when he would usually yell at the kids when they were in trouble. This time he was…he was Comforting and nice.

Hanks Pov

“Sophia, you do understand that your parents are extremely mad at you”

Sophia was too scared to even talk. She thought if she said something Hank would blow up at her.

(Idk what else to do for this part let's just say that hank didn't yell at her and he listened to why she did what she did)

***

Matilda’s Pov

All I could hear was ringing and muffled voices all around me. When I tried to open my eyes I immediately shut them because of the blinding light. I can feel someone holding my hand and I finally open my eyes to see my dad sleeping in the chair, he moved close to my bed and my uncle will talking to my mom catching her up on what happened, to wherever she went…

My head is pounding and my mind feels hazy. “Did I have a seizure or something?” I think to myself.

Just then my dad wakes up and sees me looking around the room. 

Jays pov

I can see Mattie’s eyes and she is obviously confused and wondering why she's here. It's not our first time here and everytime she ends up crying because she doesn't remember what happened and she's confused. 

“Hey Mattie, how are you feeling?”

“Like I was thrown in a washing machine on a spin cycle.”

“I can see your humor and attitude hasn't gone away.” I chuckle

Just then will and hailey come into the room asking all type of questions

“Maybe you guys need to calm down on the questions and-” Before I could finish Mattie started crying.

“Why’s she crying?” Hailey asks concerned 

“She usually cries after waking up because she's confused and scared. Plus you two bombarded her with questions as soon as you saw her” I reply with a snarky tone

Just then the pager went off“ Shoot i gotta go take care of a patient i’ll be back later Mattie.”

“So did you talk to Soph” I said breaking the silence

“Yeah i yelled at her for like 2 seconds before voight came in.”She said looking down at the floor

“And what did she say?”

“She explained everything and i understand why she pushed her”

“Really hailey, you're protecting sophia again? She's the reason why we're having this conversation right now.” I yell but in a whisper

“Jay, how about we talk about this at home, we're in a hospital.” She says

“Fine, we'll talk at home. ”

***

I am so fed up with Hailey always protecting Sophia in these types of situations and using her disability as an excuse for her actions. “You're never here to see what's going every time she's in the hospital the first night, You're always at home with sophia.” I snap

“Well, yeah who else is going to watch her?”

“HAILEY, she's 16 years old, Mattie was staying at home watching her at 12 when we were at work and when sophia wasn't home” I yell but none it down because it's night time and i don't want Sophia and Mattie to wake up.

“I WAS WITH SOPH ALL ALONE HAVING TO DEAL WITH HER” she yelled back in a whisper.

“You seem to prioritize Sophia over mattie. Did you forget that you have another daughter? You made me feel like i needed to pay attention to Soph more than Mattie”

“Jay I-” She tried to speak but I cut her off. “No, I need to talk. Matilda has felt miserable for 3 years because of us. I didn't even realize I was making her childhood like mine. She felt like a glass child for years hailey…YEARS, and now when i try to hang out with her and be with her you need to put yourself there and say that “You should take Soph with you” I imitated her “Sophia this, Sophia that” I imitated her again “Do you ever get tired of talking about sophia?, NO YOU CLEARLY DON'T” I yell this time “GOD HAILEY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU HAVE TWO KIDS NOT ONE, BUT TWO.” I shout in her face “I am so done with you right now-”

Just then Matilda walks in the kitchen wondering what's with all the shouting

“Dad, what's going on?” she asks

“Nothing Mattie, go back to bed i’ll be there in a minute” I reply with a smile

She runs back up the stairs and I turn back to my wife. “You don't even go to her competitions anymore…” is all i could say. I couldn't stand to see her right now. 

I walk up to mattie room and knock on the door frame “Hey my favorite ice skater, can i come in?

“Sure”

I walk into Mattie's room and sit on the bed. 

“Hey dad?” 

“Yeah?”

“Are you and mom gonna split up?” she asks me with tears in her eyes

“Oh Mattie, I really don't know honey. Me and mom are just going through stuff and we aren't happy with each other right now” I tell her while bring her in for a hug

“I heard you arguing about me and Soph, but mostly me” 

“We just had a disagreement about something that had you in it. It's fine, nothing bad was said about you. I reassured her

“You don't have to talk to me like i'm five anymore dad” She said making the word five very clear

“You're still gonna be my tiny little baby forever though” I chuckle “Mind if I sleep here tonight?” I didn't want to sleep in the same bed with hailey let alone be in the same room with her.

“Why” Shes asks

I quickly come up with a lie that she will believe due to the recent events “Will and Connor said i need to watch you just incase you know”

“Sure you can go get the spare mattress in my closet because i know you wont sleep in my bed because you complain i move in my sleep, plus i don't wanna sleep by someone who snores like a bear”

“You got one thing right, you move in your sleep like crazy and two I do not snore like a bear, I sleep peacefully like a baby.” I say while bringing the mattress and blanket to the room.

While setting up the mattress I realize I don't have a pillow “Hey Mattie do you have a-” I get cut off with her throwing a pillow in my face.

“Here's your pillow you big baby”

“Alright go to bed before i ground you for doing something stupid, i'm gonna use the bathroom real quick”

“Ok”

I came out of the bathroom to see Matilda passed out in her bed. She definitely missed her bed while being at the hospital. 

I get into bed, well the mattress and think about what I'm going to do tomorrow. I can't continue living with someone who acts like this and doesn't recognize her other daughter. Let alone see her when she's in the hospital.

***

Things are different now. Hailey wouldn't agree with me on how she's wrong about Sophia and how she “can’t” take care of herself. A few months after the whole thing with Sophia and Matilda we got a divorce. We dropped the charges that were held against Sophia because we didn't want it to hurt her future. Me and her still work at intelligence but i don't come in for work unless i need to. I do cases from home in my office so I can be with Mattie and I don't have to see Hailey as much. I do go into work every couple of days to be with the team and talk about cases and whatnot. 

Mattie alsojust celebrated her 15th birthday with family and friends. As an extra gift from me to her I took on her dream vacation to paris. I even tried to ask hailey if she wanted to come but she said no and that she had work that week. I knew it was a lie because I knew her schedule and she probably just said that so she could take care of sophia.  Mattie, even a national titIe when she went to Nationals. She was the highest scoring out of the entire competition. I couldn't be happier. 

Although I do miss our whole family being together it's been better now that we're apart. I've gotten to know Mattie way more and had to listen though all the girl drama. Even had to help her when she first got her period and i didnt know who to call because Hailey and Kim were undercover. 

Life may be different than it was. What maybe a year and a half ago, but were going to be fine and were going to live with it. 

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family” - Anthony Brandt

This is way longer than it is on wattpad because i combined both chapters into one plus i like changing the title in tumblr for the fun and looks if it. Just a little quote to close out this story

Update

Well I have no motivation or ideas to post for part three but i do have ideas for 5 more storys because why not, its also been hard because i started school on the 9th so ive been busy. Hopefully I can get a chapter out in a day or two and hopefully i can start on Part 3 soon. Thanks for all the likes and stuff. Love yall

update it’s been like 4 hours and I’m on page 4, I’ve used all the paper I have in my back pack and I still have so much more to write 😭 my horrible hand writing is gonna make this so hard to copy on computer

I was supposed to get out my next One shot out today but i've been sick and the end of quater one is coming up so ive got to get my grades up for that. Hopefully I'll be posting this week or next week

Happy Meals And Hotels

Matildas age: 4

Pretty small one, this is one of my favorite ones ive written, although it dosent stand where i want it and the writting is off i still like it

Jays pov

Today, Me, Matilda and Will are heading up to our cabin for winter break. Currently I'm going to pick up matilda earlier from school than we had originally planned. The forecast says for heavy snow, even though me and Will can drive through the snow, we decided that we didn't want to go through it with Matilda in the car because of how young she is. 

I walk up to the receptionist so I can check Matilda out.

“Mr. Halstead, Will dropped off Matilda 2 hours ago. Your usual pick up times not for another 3 hours” She said while typing on her computer

“Yeah, I was supposed to pick her up in an hour but with the forecast we wanted to get ahead of the storm so we can head up to the cabin for the holidays.” I replied

“Ah, I see. I’ll call Mrs. Norris to bring her up.” She says with a smile while picking up the phone

“Hi, This is Cora from the front desk. Do you think you can send one of your assistants down to bring up Matilda Halstead? She's getting checked out for the day.”

She puts down the phone and looks back at me “She’ll be down in a minute.”

“Thank you so much” I say with a smile

I go to sit down while I wait for Matilda. I hear a little voice that I love to hear every single day. “JJ, I missed you!” She says while she runs up to hug me

“I missed you too Mattie bug” 

“Why are you picking me up early, JJ?” She looks up to me

“Me and will have a huge surprise for you”

“Really?”

“Really, So let's hurry up and get in the car

I buckle Matilda in her carseat and start driving to wills

***

Wills pov

“Hey will, the snow is coming down really hard and I don't think we should keep going. There's a hotel down the road” He says

“Yeah i was about to call you to say the same thing, Matties asleep and i can she thats shes uncomfortable in the car seat.” I say adjust my mirror so i can see Mattie better

“Ok, I'll call ahead to see if they have any available rooms. Make sure you get all your stuff because im not sharing any of my stuff with you” 

“Whatever will, keep your eyes on the road” He jokes

“Yeah yeah bye, jay”

“Bye will”

I pull up at the hotel Jay sent me and I call them. “Hi, do you have any rooms available for 3 people?”

“Yes but we don't have any regular rooms available, We only have suites available”  The man said

“That's fine, can you hold that room for Will Halstead, I’ll pay when we get to the front desk.” I tell the man

“Sure, The room will be on hold for two hours and then it will be up for whoever wants it”

“Thank you” I click the hang up button

Just then Mattie wakes up

“Willy, are we there yet?” She tiredly 

“No Mattie were gonna stop at a hotel for the night”

“but i wanted to play with my toys at the house” She complains

“You have some toys in your bag, you can play with those in the hotel room. I promise to buy you a new toy when we get back home.”

“Ok”

We sit in silence while pulling up to the hotel then she breaks the silence “Willy i'm hungry”

“Did you finish all your snacks?” I question how a 4 year old can eat that many snacks in a few hours.

“No JJ ate some of them and then dey fell on the ground when he put me in my chair” 

“We're gonna have some words with Jay on how he shouldn't eat your snacks aren't we?” I chuckle

“Of course willy” She laughs

“And its they not dey Mattie” I correct her

“They?” 

“Good job”

***

jays pov

“Jay shes 4 you can’t just not feed her” will sighs

“Well i'm not just gonna run out to mcdonalds to get her some food”

“Please JJ I'm really really hungry and I want a happy meal.” She gives me that puppy dog face

I finally cave in because who can't say no to that face. “Fine, Will you want the usual?”

“Sure, i just want a coke instead of a sprite this time” He responds

“Gottach, I’ll be back in like 35ish minutes”

***

Gosh, it's so cold. If I drop this food now Matildas going to have a tantrum at one in the morning and will give me that look when he wakes up in the morning because he got no sleep because a toddler cried all night. 

I walk into the hotel to see people begging for rooms and others yelling because they prioritize families with young children. If I need to intervene then I will but for now I don't need everyone knowing that there's a detective here with a small child.

As the elevator closes I can hear a lady arguing that I was allowed to go through and she wasn't.

***

Jays pov

“Alright, i got her an extra large fries that she can snack on and eat with her food so she doesn't eat ours.” I Say while taking out the food from the bag “I got the container that the pancakes come in so she can put her food on a plate.”

“Wait- where is mattie?: I look around the room for her nowhere to be seen

“She's in the closet” Will says as he points to the door

“Why”

“She got mad because i left the ipad charger in the car when her ipad died, then when she asked for my work computer i said for her to wait and let me set it up. She had a tantrum about wanting it now then ran into the closet.”

“She’ll get over it, she's probably just cranky.  She's been in the car seat for 10 hours and she hasn't eaten anything. Oh and can you grab a mug a and wash it in the sink so i can heat up some milk”

***

“Thank you for the food JJ.” I smiled

“Your welcome mattie.” He said with smile

“Ok off the bed, it's almost 2 in the morning and we’ll leave at 12 if possible.” Will said, cleaning up all the food that I threw on the floor.

***

“Is she finally asleep?” jay asked me

“Yep, I looked at the weather and it looks like we’ll be here for another day or two. So i’ll drive down to the store that a couple blocks from here and get some stuff”

“Alright, night will” he mumbled

“Night jay” I said switching the lights off

Now that ive read it i kinda hate it compared to my new story :l

Laziest Child :)

Alright so i clearly have been lazy ever since i came back from New Mexico, White sands and the Caverns were really fun. So part two of believe me should hopefully be out in the next two days if im not busy. Thanks for waiting Love all of you guys