The Sleepover

Scene: Anna's apartment

Anna and Nikki sat on the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn between them. They were three films in to a Nicholas Sparks Marathon. Erin was out of town at a friend's wedding, so Nikki was spending the weekend.

It was almost two when Jamie let himself in. The girls looked up in surprise. He had promised his sister that he wouldn't spend the night while Nikki was there.

"Jamie! What are you doing here? I thought you were gonna stay at your place tonight."

Anna got up and crossed the room. Jamie opened his arms and hugged her tight.

"I was…but I had a really rough night. I just needed to see you."

"But you promised Erin…"

"She'll just have to get over it."

Nikki turned off the television.

"I don't mind that Uncle Jamie's here…I'm not a baby. I know you guys practically live together anyway.

Anna turned her attention back to Jamie.

"Are you okay, Honey?" she asked quietly.

"We'll talk in the bedroom…" his voice was barely above a whisper.

Now she was more than a little concerned. He looked all right…just really tired. But if he was willing to break his promise to his sister, something serious must have happened.

"Why don't you go take a shower…and Nikki and I'll get things squared away in here."

Jamie kissed her.

"Deal." He turned to his niece. "Goodnight Nikki."

"'Night Uncle Jamie."

He went into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Nikki took the popcorn and sodas back over to the kitchen area and Anna started to make up the sofa bed.

Nikki could see that Anna was troubled.

"Don't worry about my mom, Anna."

"I can't help it. Jamie and I promised her that he wouldn't spend the night while you were here. I don't like to go back on my word."

"Well, Uncle Jamie wouldn't have come here if he didn't need to…Do you think he got hurt or something?"

Nikki was as worried about her uncle as Anna was.

"I honestly don't know…Probably not…he's probably just …frustrated about something that happened tonight."

"I hope you're right…"

Nikki climbed under the covers on the sofa bed.

"'Night Nikki."Anna said.

"'Night Anna…take care of Uncle Jamie."

...

Anna turned out the light and slipped quietly into the bedroom. She could hear the shower running, so she busied herself by turning down the bed and putting Jamie's dirty clothes into the laundry hamper until he finally emerged from the bathroom. She quickly crossed the room. He reached out to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He leaned on her as they made their way to the bed. He was totally exhausted…she helped him to the edge of the bed. He sat down and she climbed up on the bed. She started to massage his back and shoulders.

"Okay, Jamie…what's going on? What happened?"

He slowly got into bed, grimacing with every movement. Anna pulled the covers up over him.

"Jamie, you're scarring me."

He motioned for her to lie down next to him.

"There was a bar brawl…took about thirty officers to get it under control. I was one of the first on scene…I just jumped in and grabbed the first guy I could and he turned out to be the Incredible Hulk. It took three of us to put him down."

"So what did you hurt?"

"Right now everything hurts. I got slammed around pretty good."

"Did you get checked out? I assume there must have been medics on the scene."

"There were…a bunch of people had to go to the hospital. And no…I didn't get checked out. I was fine right after…but I guess once the adrenaline rush wore off I just got stiffer and sorer…Now it just feels like one giant bruise.

He reached out and turned out the light on the bedside able.

"I'm probably gonna hurt like hell tomorrow. "

"Sounds like you hurt like hell right now…"

She moved in closer to him and started to gently rub his shoulder.

"What can I do for you, Jamie?"

"You're already doing it…"

...

Scene: The next morning

He was right…he hurt like hell. He hurt in places he didn't even know he had. He barely managed to get out of bed.

Anna and Nikki were already up. Anna was making French toast and bacon, Nikki was making orange juice. They both looked up when Jamie came out of the bedroom and limped over to the breakfast bar.

"Uncle Jamie…are you okay? You look terrible!"

"Thanks, Nikki…" he sounded as bad as he felt.

Anna turned down the burners before she came over to him and kissed him.

"How do you feel, Honey?"

"Like crap…every muscle in my body aches."

"Sit down…I'll get you some coffee…did you take anything for pain yet?

"No, not yet…" He sat down on one of the barstools, grimacing in pain.

Anna poured him a cup of coffee and set it down in front of him…then grabbed the milk from the fridge and a bottle of ibuprophen from the cabinet. He shook a few pills from the bottle and swallowed them down.

"Thanks…"

"So what happened, Uncle Jamie?"

While Anna dished up breakfast Jamie told Nikki the story. After they finished eating Nikki went into the bedroom to shower and get ready. Anna started to clear the dishes. Jamie started to get up.

"Let me do that, Anna…"

"Don't be silly…you look like a truck ran over you. "

He couldn't argue…

"What are we gonna do about your sister? Is she gonna be furious with us?"

"She'll be upset, yeah. She'll probably give me more grief than she will you. "

They spent a low key day. After Nikki finished in the bathroom Anna had helped Jamie back to bed. While he tried to rest she worked on her lesson plans for the week and Nikki finished her homework at the breakfast bar.

Late in the afternoon Anna helped Jamie get ready and they headed over to his father's house for dinner…and to face the music with Erin.

...

Scene: The Reagan house

Everyone was already there by the time Jamie, Anna and Nikki arrived. Nikki grabbed her bags and headed into the house to see her mom. Anna came around to the passenger side door and opened it.

Jamie looked more uncomfortable than he had when they left. He grimaced in pain as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Jamie...are you okay? What is it?"

Anna was more than concerned. She'd spent all day trying to make him comfortable…icing sore joints, massaging his back, rubbing that awful-smelling cream on the worst of the bruises…and telling him that she loved him.

"My shoulder…my knee…my back…what I'm gonna say to Erin."

Anna didn't know what she could say to make it better…so she just helped him slowly out of the car. He had to stop and pull it together, and she slipped her arms around him. He was so happy she was there…loving him, taking care of him…He slowly put his arm around her shoulders and leaned on her for support as they made their way to the back door. He kind of wished they could stay out in the driveway…or just go back to the city…He felt really crappy and he didn't want to have to try and hide it from his dad. Anna seemed to read his mind.

"Do you want to go back home? I'm sure they'll understand, Jamie…"

"No…My dad'll have already read the 'fives' from last night. If I don't show up more or less in one piece he'll be worried."

Inside the house Francis was just that. He had seen the 'fives' from the bar brawl. He knew Jamie had been one of the first officers on the scene and he knew that Jamie and two other officers had managed to subdue a the man who had turned out to be the instigator of the whole incident…a little punk so caught up in the throes of "'Roid Rage" that it's a wonder more people weren't hurt. What the hell was taking Jamie so long to get into the house?

The kitchen was as usual, in a flurry of activity. Erin and Linda were just starting to get everything out of the oven, off the stove, and into serving bowls. Frank was about to carve the roast and Henry was plucking piping hot rolls off the baking tray and dropping them into a basket.

The back door opened and Jamie came in, still supported by Anna. She helped him to a stool over by the butcher block and helped him with his coat. Linda and Erin both looked at one another in surprise. Then they looked at Frank, then Henry, then Jamie and Anna. No one had mentioned that Jamie was injured…

Anna folded Jamie's jacket over her arm, prepared to take it and hang it in the hall closet. She gently put her arm around him.

"You okay?" she said softly.

"Yeah…" he didn't sound to her like he meant it.

Frank crossed the kitchen in two or three long strides. He studied his son and reached out to get a better look at a bruise that had formed along his jaw. Jamie pulled away.

"It's nothing, Dad."

"Will somebody please tell me what the hell happened?" Erin burst out.

"Bar brawl…last night in Lower Manhattan." Jamie told her.

"What was it? You against the entire bar?"

Frank took a deep breath.

"It took a lot of manpower to get the situation under control." He turned back to Jamie. "You look like hell, Son."

"I feel like hell…that guy was an animal. My whole body's like one giant bruise."

He turned to Erin. He decided to just get it over with.

"Erin…I'm sorry, but spent the night at Anna's place. I went over there when I finished my tour. I knew I wouldn't be okay alone at my place."

Erin pursed he lips together. She had asked Jamie not to sleep over when her sixteen year old daughter was in the next room. The whole family knew that he and Anna spent several nights a week together…but knowing was different from her daughter actually seeing.

"I understand…I'm not happy, but I understand."

Henry cut in…

"These were extenuating circumstances, Erin."

"I know that, Grandpa."

"So, what happened, Son?" Frank was more concerned with Jamie than anything else.

Jamie took a deep breath. It hurt…

"Pretty much just what you read…the call came out, "All hands on deck". About a half dozen units arrived right around the same time. We could see it was chaos in there. People were tumbling out all the exits. We went in, I saw this guy pounding the hell out of another guy, so I grabbed his arms, tried to restrain him…but I underestimated how strong he was."

"The reports said he was juiced…" Henry noted.

"Yeah, he was all kinds of crazy. Renzulli was putting cuffs on a girl that hit him with her purse…but these two guys for the 1-5 jumped in to help me out…Richter and Arnetti. Between the three of us we managed to put him into submission. Once we got it all sorted out, it turns out our guy was the one who started the whole thing."

At that moment Danny came in the back door.

"You talkin' about that bar thing last night?" He stopped short when he saw his brother. "Jeez, Kid, you look like you got beat up one side and down the other."

"Pretty much…" Jamie sounded like he was about a hundred years old.

"Well…we're about to put dinner on the table." Linda said. "Danny? Why don't you go get the boys…make sure they wash their hands."

Danny turned and headed for the TV room where the boys were playing video games. Anna stepped closer to Jamie so he could lean on her as he stood. Once he was on his feet she raised her eyebrows, asking the silent question "Are you okay?" He nodded and slowly limped into the dining room.

Anna turned to Erin.

"Erin, I'm sorry."

Erin looked at her with sad eyes.

"I know…but I'm still upset. You two promised you wouldn't stay together with Nikki there."

"But surely you don't think we…did you see him? Did you see how badly he's hurt?"

"Of course I did. And I'm worried about Jamie just as much as anyone else. I understand about extenuating circumstances…and I'm sure I'll get over it. But right now I'm still upset."

She took the bowl of potatoes from the counter and headed to the dining room.

Anna watched her leave. This was not how she wanted to start Sunday dinner. And she hated creating tension with Erin…she didn't want to do anything to come between Jamie and his family.

...

Scene: The Kitchen

Dinner was tense. Erin just sat at her end of the table, uncharacteristically quiet. Not even Danny could goad her into an argument.

"Jeez…Erin…get off your damn high horse, will ya?" Danny said. "You can't control every situation."

"Thank you, Danny…for clearing that up for me." She said as she pushed back her chair and stalked off to the kitchen.

"Aw…Erin!" Danny called after her.

He started to push his chair back to follow her.

"I got it, Uncle Danny." Nikki said.

She left the table to go talk to her mother.

"Mom…you've gotta let this go."

"I'm trying, Nikki…but they broke a promise they made."

"But Uncle Jamie was hurt. Are you saying he should suffer all alone because you're afraid I'll find out they sleep together? I'm not a baby, Mom. I know they practically live together…"

"Nikki…"

"No…let me finish, please?" Nikki said. "I know about sex…but what Uncle Jamie and Anna have is love. If you could have seen how Anna spent the entire day taking care of him…there was nothing dirty or sordid about it."

"She's right."

Erin and Nikki turned around to see Jamie in the doorway.

He limped over to the stool he had been sitting on earlier.

"Erin…you're my sister…and I love you. But give me a little credit too. And give Nikki credit." He said.

"Mom…you're always telling me that a relationship is mutual respect for each other…and two people supporting each other. Well, that's what I saw last night."

Erin looked from her daughter to her brother.

Then she sighed.

"You're right…I guess it's been so long, I forgot what a normal, healthy relationship looked like." She said. "I'm sorry, Jamie…that I blew everything out of proportion. I know you love Nikki and would never do anything to make her uncomfortable."

Jamie nodded.

"Nikki's a smart young lady…" he said.

He reached out to put his arm around his niece and grimaced as he moved his shoulder.

"She's got a good head on her shoulders."

Erin looked at Nikki…

"Nikki…would you please ask Anna to come in here. I owe her an apology too."