" Nikki, what are you doing here? Did something happen, is your mom okay?" Danny asked, grabbing his nieces arm as she walked past him in the precinct. Her face wasn't as peppy as normal and the fact that she was there worried him.
"Relax Uncle Danny, I just need to talk to Uncle Jamie, do you know where he is at?" Her eyebrow shot up as she looked at his stubble filled face.
" He should be in the bull pen down the hall and to the left, he just got in from a call with Eddie."
"Thanks Uncle Danny."
"No problem kiddo." He smiled rubbing her shoulder. She smiled back at him and made her way to the bull pen.
"Hey kid!" She turned back around. "When you get done one of us will drive you home. I don't want to see you walking alone in this city,"
"Uncle Danny, I'm eighteen." She laughed
"Yeah, you're only eighteen, that's why I'm going to drive you home tonight."
"Whatever you say Uncle Danny." She turned back around and walked into the bull pen where she spotted Jamie wearing his dress blues.
"Nikki!" He called waving his hand at her. He was surprised to see his short hair niece at his place of work. She had visited before but not very often without Erin.
"Hey Uncle Jamie,"
"What's up kiddo, you're not in any trouble are you?" He joked, taking a sip of the coffee Janko brought him back from the break room.
"No, no trouble," She smiled meekly back at him. "I just really need to talk to someone about something, and you're the only one who would understand. Mom just doesn't….." She began.
"Woah Nikki, slow down. Why don't we go into the break room and talk about this?"
He removed his feet from the desk they were propped up on and led her to the break room his coffee came from.
" Coffee." She shook her head yes and sat down on the leather couch in the middle of the room. He poured her a cup and sat down on the cushion next to her.
"Whats going on?"
"How did you know you wanted to be a cop?" That was the last question he had expected from her, but luckily for him it was an easy one to answer. He turned to face her.
" Well it's crazy to think, but I just felt it. After going to Harvard, there was just something in my heart that told me that I needed to be a cop. I wanted to help people, and there wasn't a profession I admired more than a New York CIty police officer. Sometimes you don't pick your profession Nikki, sometimes it picks you,"
He watched her big eyes, trying to read where this was coming from. He could remember the day she was born when he was just a kid like she was now. He swore that day to his father and to god, that he would do absolutely everything he could to protect and guide his niece in every way he could
"And the fact that Grandpa, and Uncle Danny were cops didn't have anything to do with it, right?"
" I became a cop, for myself Nikki, sure I had a greater respect for them because of Grandpa, and Uncle Danny, but altogether it was all about me, and what I wanted to do." She shook her head taking in all that he was saying. "Kiddo, where is all this coming from?" He asked.
"My profession has chose me Uncle Jamie." He looked at her confused,
"I want to be a cop." Her statement left both if them silent. "When I think about what I want to do with my life thats all I can think of, its what I see myself doing,"
"Wow Nikki." That's all he could muster up to say. He was proud, he was so proud. His only niece wanted to take a career path that changed lives. He always knew she was going places, but never did he think his niece would want to follow in the family's legacy of law enforcement.
" What does your mom think?"
"That's what I'm scared about. I'm going to Harvard, just like you," She smiled, enlightening a smile on his face. "And I'm afraid that she's going to say I'm wasting a Harvard education on being a cop. She always talks to her friends about how she's so happy that I'm not going to follow in our family's footsteps, but this is what I want to do Uncle Jamie. I can feel it, this is my calling."
Jamie just couldn't shake the grin off his face. He couldn't contain his pride for his niece.
"Can I ask you a question, Nikki?"
"What is it Uncle Jamie?"
"Are you doing this because of the family legacy?"
"That's a difficult question to answer. I don't want to be a cop because I feel like I have to. I don't think I'm going to be this huge disappointment if I don't become a cop, but the family legacy makes me want to be a cop. The three people I look up to the most in this world, are cops. My three father figures, are domestic heroes, and I want to follow in those footsteps. I want to be what you are to me, to somebody else."
"Babe, that means so much."
"Uncle Jamie, what do I do?" She asked. She looked sincerely distressed. Her eyes pleaded for an answer. "There's nothing else in this world I can see myself as that isn't a cop. "
He sat there playing with his hands in his lap.
"You go to Harvard. You study your little butt off, and then when it comes time to graduate, you decide for sure that this is what you want to do. No matter what you decide, I promise you that I'll always be there for you."
She blushed. "But what do I tell mom? I have to have my confirmation letter in by next weekend, and I have to mark what my majors going to be."
"You tell her exactly what you just told me. You tell her that there's nothing else in this world you can see yourself doing except for being a cop, Just like you said to me."
"Uncle Jamie, I'm scared."
"I'll be right there beside of you, helping you through it, No matter what it takes, eventually we'll get through to her." He smirked.
"Thanks Uncle Jamie." She exclaimed, throwing her arms around her uncle. He embraced her back, kissing her forehead.
"I'm so proud of you kiddo." He whispered. "All of us are." They pulled out of it and looked at each other. The baby he had once held was growing up into a beautiful young woman. He hoped one day he could have a daughter as great as his niece.
"Why don't we go get some food? I'm starving and you haven't eaten since lunch at school today, what was that, noon?" She shook her head and they both stood up. He wrapped his arm around his niece and led her out the door.
"I know we don't really say it much in our family," Nikki began, "but I love you, Uncle Jamie."
Jamie looked at her with soft, loving eyes, pulling her closer into his side. "I love you too, kiddo, I love you too." He cooed.
I thought of this while watching some interviews of the cast. I love hearing them talk about how they look at the kids from the cast as their own. I just thought it's really sweet that sometimes life works out that way. I'd love to hear what you thought:) Thanks for reading!