A/N ok so it turns out that I do actually have time to write stories which is great! For me it means I have settled into University life! I had no idea the effort it takes to plan shopping, what I'm going to eat and what time I'm going to eat. I appreciate my mum a whole lot more now! I'm going home today for the first time since leaving home which I'm excited about so this is where this plot came from so I hope you enjoy it. The title isn't great but as it's a sequel to Flying the Nest I figured I would just use it. And I have no idea what Universities in the U.S are like so sorry but I'm using my own knowledge of UK Universities so I hope this doesn't bother anyone! Anyway on with the show!
Jamie had been at Harvard for a month now and couldn't have settled in more brilliantly. His parents had said before he left he had to stay in Boston for a minimum of four weeks to make sure he made friends and get used to living in a new place.
It had been horrible for him to say goodbye to his mom and dad when they left, he wanted nothing more than to be a little kid again where he could just snuggle up against his parents. But they were leaving, taking the four hour drive back home. His parents had insisted on helping him unpack stating he will only feel worse if he just had a pile of boxes he had to unpack. So as his mom made his bed for him and he and his dad took his food and appliances into the kitchen, he started trying to find little things that would keep his parents there longer. His mom saw right through the act.
In the privacy of his room his mom had opened her arms wide and hugged him tightly, she lowered them onto the bed keeping her arms around him the whole time. Jamie ended up hunched over with his head in his mom's lap squeezing his eyes shut trying not to cry as he wrapped tight arms around his mom. The bed had dipped beside him and he felt the familiar and comforting hand of his dad being rested on his shoulder.
"It's okay son" murmured Frank, and that was when Jamie began to silently cry knowing that once his parents left. He was on his own.
"Shhh honey it's okay, you'll have a wonderful time here. It's okay" soothed Mary as she began to rock her youngest. Frank rubbed a hand up and down Jamie's back to help calm him.
"Please don't tell Danny about this. He'll never let me here the end of it" murmured Jamie,
Frank chuckled, "Don't worry son our lips are sealed"
Jamie then turned his head slightly and then said, "I'm sorry, I'm probably not making this easy on you"
"Don't worry about us sweetheart" comforted Mary as she ran her fingers through Jamie's hair.
Then after a few more minutes his parents were gone. Jamie knew he should probably go into the kitchen/dining area but just found he couldn't do it. He instead sunk down onto the bed and curled up into a ball. His head landed on something that wasn't his pillow, he pulled back the covers to find the teddy bear he had carried around with him until the age of 10. Smiling he took the bear knowing his mom had packed it for him and hugged it as he tried to banish the homesickness.
Mary and Frank had before getting into the car looked up at the window they knew was Jamie's.
"He'll be fine" assured Frank looking across at his wife,
"I know" smiled Mary. They then got in the car and began the long journey home, twenty minutes into the journey Mary relaxed and smiled and said to Frank, "He's fine now, probably making friends"
Frank didn't need to ask how Mary knew this, Mary was close with all four of their children and always knew if they were nervous or upset. Hearing Mary's conformation that Jamie was fine Frank felt himself relax and found it easier travelling home not having the feeling of wanted to turn around and scoop Jamie up and bring him home.
So now Jamie was sat on a plane that would take him back to his beloved city and family. He always made sure to call on Sunday when he knew the family would have finished their dinner. Mary always asked him if he was eating enough and well. He assured his mom that he was cooking just fine, he just didn't tell her it mostly consisted of pasta with cheese, tinned soup and beans on toast.
So happily he got off the plane and grabbed his bag and made his way through to arrivals of JFK. There he saw his mom and dad grinning broadly and waving. On the phone he could tell his mom was excited about him coming home, he finished his lectures Thursday afternoon so he immediately left and caught his flight home and as he was flying back he could leave Sunday night. So Mary was beyond pleased having her youngest home for a long weekend.
Jamie approached his parents and his mom flew at him knocking the breath out of him causing him to drop his bag. Smiling he looked over his mom's head to share a smile with his dad, once Mary had let go Frank stepped forward and tightly embraced Jamie.
"I'm glad you're home son" smiled Frank,
"Me too dad" grinned Jamie.
As they drove back to Bay Ridge Jamie almost had his face pressed against the window as he drank in the familiar sights. Once they reached the house Jamie wasted no time in undoing his seatbelt and stepping out of the car and grinned up at the familiar house. As soon as he stepped onto the lawn looking at the house the front door opened and a chorus of three small voices called out "Uncle Jamie!"
Jamie laughed as his niece and nephews barrelled into him knocking him to the floor. They were a laughing heap on the floor until Linda and Erin followed the children out of the house and the two of them pulled Jamie to his feet and hugged him tightly. Then followed a beaming Grandpa Henry.
"Jamie my lad!" he greeted,
"Grandpa! I asked you to stop calling me that years ago!" smirked Jamie,
"Well I forgot" shrugged Henry, "Come here!" so laughing Jamie walked into his grandpa's welcoming arms.
"Well look who it is" called a voice. Jamie looked over Henry's shoulder to see his two brothers stood in the doorway looking down at him with smiles on their faces. Joe was chuckling at Danny's comment as Danny took a good look at Jamie to see that he was alright.
"Hey Danny, hi Joe" greeted a smiling Jamie as Henry let him out of the embrace.
"'Hey' and 'hi'? That's all we get? You've been away for a month and you say 'hey' and 'hi'?!" exclaimed Joe,
"That is still how people greet each other isn't it?" asked a smirking Jamie.
"Oh! Look at you!" commented Danny, "You go off to Harvard and that is how you treat your older brothers is it?"
"Want to do a do-over?" asked Jamie holding out his arms.
"Yes I think we do" Joe replied in mock seriousness nodding at Danny.
Then before Jamie could register what happened he found himself on the floor again as Joe and Danny tickled him.
"Dan-ny! J-J-Joe get off!" laughed Jamie.
Later once the kids had crashed from the excitement to seeing Jamie again, everyone was sat chatting in the living room. Jamie left to get a drink from the kitchen but when he came back it was to find his spot had been taken by a slightly awake Nikki. No one seemed to register that he was stood at the edge of the room, it was like he had turned invisible. Sighing he turned around made his way onto the back porch the feelings of detachment resurfacing. While he had been at Harvard he felt like he was out of the family loop, like he didn't matter anymore. He sighed again and took a sip from his drink.
It was about fifteen minutes later when he heard two sets of feet approach him, then Danny and Joe dropped down either side of him.
"Hey kid what you doing out here? And looking so miserable for?" questioned Danny,
"Yeah you miss Harvard so much you wish you were there right now?" added Joe.
"I might as well be there" sighed Jamie.
"Jamie what's wrong?" questioned Joe the teasing tone dropped from his voice.
Jamie shook his head looking straight ahead, "It doesn't matter"
"No it does!" argued Danny, wondering how Jamie's mood had change so quickly.
Jamie stubbornly kept his eyes looking straight ahead. Joe slung an arm around Jamie's shoulders and turned Jamie so they were looking each other in the eye. "Jamie what's wrong?" demanded Joe.
"Nothing" responded Jamie as he shrugged Joe's arm off and stood up and walked onto the backyard.
Frowning Joe and Danny looked at each other and then followed their younger brother.
"Jamie you can tell, what's going on in that head of yours?" asked Danny.
Jamie stopped and turned to face both of his brothers, "You want to know what's wrong?" both Joe and Danny nodded. "Ever since I've left and even when I've come back today I've felt left out!"
"Why?" asked Joe softly,
"I always call on Sunday right? Well whenever I do mom or dad or whoever is on the phone gets distracted talking to everyone else and whenever mom gets the phone back it's always 'oh sorry Jamie I have to go' because someone is talking to her! Do you have any idea how it feels to have left home for the first time and not getting to speak to your family for as long as you'd like because they're all talking together! And tonight when I went to get a drink none of you noticed I was stood at the edge of the room! It took you two fifteen minutes to find me out here!" exclaimed Jamie angrily his pent up emotions exploding in front of his brothers.
Danny and Joe then felt guilty, they hadn't realized what they had been doing had affected Jamie so much.
"Jamie we're so sorry" apologized Joe,
"It doesn't matter" shrugged Jamie.
"No it does!" Danny stated as he gripped both of Jamie's shoulders, "We should have realizes what we were doing! But you should have told us!"
"What? And sound like a whiny kid? No thanks" scoffed Jamie.
Danny frowned, "Seriously kid, if this, or something like it, happens again. Tell us! Please!" Jamie's eyes flickered from Danny to Joe.
Joe nodded, "Jamie promise you'll tell us if you feel left out"
Seeing his brother's earnest faces Jamie nodded, "I promise"
"Good" smiled Joe.
"Now come on" grinned Danny slinging an arm over Jamie's shoulders as Joe did the same on Jamie's other side, "We can't have the guest of honour missing his own welcome home party. Can we Joe?"
"No we certainly can't" agreed Joe.
The three brothers then went back into the living room where Danny pushed Erin from the couch so he, Joe and Jamie could sit on the couch with the youngest sitting snuggly in the middle. All the feelings of being left out swiftly faded from Jamie's thoughts as he laughed and chatted with his brothers.
Sunday night came around and this time it was Joe and Danny who were taking Jamie to JFK. Once Jamie had checked in he, Joe and Danny stood silently in a small circle. Part of Jamie didn't want to leave now he had come back home. Joe and Danny also didn't want Jamie to leave, their little brother was changing and they didn't like it. It wasn't that Jamie was changing in a bad way, in fact he was changing into someone with the potential to be the best at whatever he set his mind to and was a great person. It was just that in the month Jamie had been gone he had grown up, and that was something neither Joe nor Danny liked. For them their little brother had always been crashing into walls and doors in his haste to get anywhere, their brother was the toddler who would fall asleep in odd places, (the most memorable had been in the laundry basket beside the washing machine, Jamie had hunkered down between the clothes so no one could see him.) their brother was the one who believed a hug could fix anything.
Their little brother didn't live 215 miles away, but unfortunately he did. They may not have liked but they accepted it to not upset their brother. They both knew Jamie wanted to be a cop (they would have preferred it because it would have meant Jamie would still have been in New York), but they knew if Jamie changed his mind there was still plenty of time for him to do so.
"So I guess I'll see you in a few weeks then" commented Jamie softly looking at his brothers wishing they would take him back to the car.
"Yeah I guess" agreed Joe quietly as he secretly wanted to drag Jamie back to the car.
"We'll have to come and visit you so you can show us around" smiled Danny pushing away his desire to keep Jamie in the city, knowing Jamie had to go back.
"I like that! The Reagan brothers hit Boston!" grinned Joe.
Jamie groaned jokingly, "I'm not sure Boston would survive. I'm not sure I would!"
"You'd survive Jamie" chuckled Joe, "You're our brother so we'd look after you"
"That's what I'm worried about" smirked Jamie.
"Watch it kid!" Danny grinned pointing at Jamie. Joe and Danny laughed seeing Jamie's familiar wide grin, something they had dearly missed. Danny grew serious as he said "remember what we said Thursday kid"
"I will Danny, I promise" nodded Jamie.
"Good" Danny replied with his hands in his pocket. Then he lunged forward and hugged Jamie tightly, "Take care of yourself kid"
Joe then stepped forward as Danny let Jamie go, "I'll see you soon Jamie"
Jamie smiled at his brothers and then made his way over security, he turned and waved once more with a wide grin. Then he was gone from his brother's sights.
"Will this ever get any easier?" asked Joe as he lowered his own waving hand turning towards the exit.
"Someday, but by then Jamie would probably have graduated" commented Danny as he also turned to leave.
"You know I can't wait to see that kid walk across the stage holding his diploma" smiled Joe.
"Me too Joe, me too" agreed Danny.
A few years later when Jamie walked across the stage holding his diploma and looked out at the sea of faces to see his gathered family, he smiled. Even though his Grandma Betty, his mom and Joe weren't sat there he knew they were there. They always were and always would be. Even when he walked through the doors of the Police Academy. Somewhere above Joe turned to his smiling mom and smirked "I told you he'd be a cop".
The End.
A/N I hope the ending wasn't too bad! Anyway thanks for reading! : )