A/N: I'm so excited to show you the story! It's 19 pages on Word and over 5,000 words. This one is an AU where Bridget and Patrick are the same age a Nikki and Sean. The ending kind of went off the rails a little bit, but I'm still happy with it. Let me know what you think. I hope you all like it! :)
"She's going to be so disappointed," Eddie said, tugging on a pair of jeans.
Jamie sighed, "Bridge is a big girl. She knows you didn't want to miss it."
"But I promised her a girls' day!" Eddie protested, accepting the jacket her husband passed her.
"It's not your fault we caught a case," Jamie frowned; he hated disappointing their kids just as much as Eddie did.
Eddie sighed, "Can you call Linda and ask her if she'll go with Erin and the girls? At least Bridge can spend some time with her aunts."
"Yeah, I'll call her now," Jamie dropped a kiss to the crown of Eddie's head, "Bridget will be fine."
"Yeah, I just hate to see her upset," Eddie pulled her long hair into a ponytail, "Pray for me, Reagan."
Jamie laughed, "You'll be fine, Janko. I've seen you deal with worse."
Eddie nervously chewed on her lip as she knocked on their 17-year-old daughter's bedroom door.
"Bridge? It's Mom, can I come in?"
"Yeah, come in," Bridget called, and Eddie pushed open the door.
"What's up?" Bridget asked, mouth hanging open as she applied mascara.
Eddie sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing out the mint green comforter, "I've got some bad news, baby."
Bridget gasped and the mascara wand fell to her dresser, "Oh my god! Who died?"
Eddie's eyes widened, "Oh god, no! Sorry, no. Everyone is fine! My bad. I should've phrased that better."
Bridget let out a huge breath, "Jesus, ma. I was really worried there."
"Sorry," Eddie offered up a small smile, "But I do have to tell you something."
"Can it wait? Nikki texted and said that she and Aunt Erin are on their way to get us," Bridget waved her phone in the air as proof.
"I'm sorry, baby. But Dad and I caught a case. I can't come to see the show with you tonight," Eddie winced, babbling the words at top speed.
She expected Bridget's face to fall, but instead the teen maintained a stoic expression. It was uncanny how much she resembled Jamie's own stoic facial expression.
"Oh, okay," she said, "I'll just text Nikki and tell her not to bother swinging by to get me then."
"Hey!" Eddie exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? Of course you're still going! Dad just called Linda to see if she wanted to take my ticket. I wouldn't want you to miss seeing Bradley Cooper because some asshole decided he had to commit a crime."
Bridget cracked a small smile, "I'd rather you came with us."
Eddie stepped behind her daughter and pulled her into a hug, "Oh, trust me. I wish I was going with you too."
Jamie poked his head into Bridget's room, "Erin and Nikki are here. Ready, Eddie? We have to drop Patrick off with Dad. He and Pops have Sean and Jack for the night too."
Eddie nodded, "I'm ready. Bridgey? You good?"
Bridget grabbed her jacket and bag off of her bed and nodded, "Yep. Ready."
She ducked underneath Jamie's arm and headed for the front door, "See you guys later."
"Hey," Jamie called after his daughter, "Forgetting something?"
Bridget turned, a bright smile on her face, "You're giving me the credit card?"
Jamie and Eddie shared a look and burst into laughter. Bridget scowled.
"Yeah, no," Jamie said, his laughter tapering off, "I was checking to see if you have the tickets. Also, did you want to say goodbye to us?"
Bridget smiled, "Aunt Erin has all the tickets, and sure."
She stepped into Jamie's outstretched arms, hugging him tight. She turned to Eddie when Jamie had let go.
"I still wish you were coming, Mom," she said, hugging Eddie.
"Me too, sweet pea," Eddie said, "But I promise you that we'll do something else together, okay?"
Bridget nodded and smiled, "Okay."
Eddie noticed the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but a car honked from outside and Bridget skipped out the door, shouting, "See ya latter, Paddy!" to her younger brother.
The ten-year-old ambled down the stairs, "Where's Bree going?"
Jamie ruffled the boy's blonde hair, "To a play with Aunt Erin and Nikki. Grab your stuff, Mom and I are dropping you off at Grandpa's."
Patrick grinned, "Cool! I'll be right back."
He sprinted up the stairs, crashing into a wall as he rounded the corner.
Eddie shook her head, "These two are such little weirdoes."
"But they're our weirdoes," Jamie laughed.
"It sucks that Aunt Eddie can't come with us," Nikki said, sliding over in the back seat to let Bridget into the car.
Bridget shrugged, "I guess. I mean, she and Dad have to work."
Erin looked at Bridget in the rearview mirror; the poor girl looked sadder than her tone let on.
Nikki nodded, "That has to be tough."
Bridget sidestepped the implication behind her cousin's statement, "Besides Aunt Linda is meeting is there instead."
Erin turned her head to look at her niece, "Linda's coming? I thought she was working the late shift tonight?"
Bridget tilted her head, "Uh, I don't know. My mom said that Dad called her to see if she would come."
"Oh, okay," Erin said, "I guess we'll meet her there."
Nikki and Bridget quickly fell into a conspiratorial whisper, giggling about something one of their friends had done at school.
Erin couldn't help but feel bad for Bridget. Being the daughter of one cop was hard, but when both your parents were detectives it had to be impossible. Erin knew that Jamie and Eddie did all they could to be at Bridget and Patrick's events, but sometimes they missed a few.
"Okay, ladies," Erin announced a short time later, "Grab your stuff. We're parking."
Nikki and Bridget clambered out of the car as Erin dropped her DA plaque on the dashboard and parked on the street.
"Oooh, Mom!" Nikki giggled, "Using the plaque for personal use! How scandalous."
Erin swatted Nikki's arm, "Shush, I am not paying crazy prices to park in a lot."
She linked arms with each girl, "Let's go. Carmine's is just up the block and we don't want to be late for our reservation."
They talked a little bit about the girls' college plans, before stopping in front of Carmine's, where a familiar silhouette waited.
"Danny?" Erin raised her eyebrow at her brother.
"Hey, sis," Danny greeted, stepping forward to kiss Erin's cheek.
"What are you doing here?" Nikki asked, accepting a hug.
"Linda's on a late shift," Danny said, slinging his arm around Bridget's shoulders, "I wanted to see the show and spend some time with my favorite nieces."
"Well, welcome to the party," Erin laughed, "Now let's eat. We don't want to be late for the show."
Nicki and Erin headed into Carmine's, but Danny hung back with Bridget.
"You okay, kid?" he asked quietly.
Bridget nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine. I don't know why everyone keeps looking at me like I'm Oliver Twist. My mom missed taking me to a play. I'm a big girl. I'll get over it."
She shook off Danny's arm and stomped into the restaurant.
"Okay," Danny said to himself, "She's totally fine."
Shaking his head, he followed his family into the restaurant.
"Uncle Danny?" Bridget said, leaning closer to her uncle. They'd been seated for a few minutes and her outburst on the sidewalk had been eating away at her.
"Yeah, kid?" he replied, finishing off his coke.
Bridget chewed on her lip, "Thanks for volunteering to come with us. I know this probably isn't the way you wanted to spend a Saturday night."
Danny smiled, "Don't worry about it, Bree. Who wouldn't want to see Bradley Cooper on Broadway?"
Bridget's face fell, "My mom and dad, apparently."
"Hey, come on," Danny reached out to pull her into a side hug, "You know your folks would've come if they could."
"I know," Bridget sighed, "It's just...they've been working a lot lately, and it sucks."
Danny nodded, "I know, kid. But you know they love you."
"Yeah," she nodded, "Thanks for the pep talk."
"You're welcome," Danny dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head, "The moody teenage years aren't so bad when you actually talk about your problems."
Erin looked up from her menu and grinned, "Sage advice from the guy who communicated solely in grunts from the ages of 13 to 20."
"Ha ha," Danny deadpanned, shooting Bridget a quick wink.
Bridget and Nikki laughed, starting a discussion about ordering different entrées and splitting them.
When the girls were completely involved in their conversation, Erin leaned across the table to whisper to Danny.
"Jamie just texted. He says the case they picked up is bigger than they thought. I'm going to have to take Bree home with me."
Danny sighed, "Poor kid. This hit her harder than she's admitting."
Erin nodded, and then her gaze drifted over Danny's shoulder.
"What is it?" Danny asked, turning in his seat and following Erin's line of sight.
"Aw, shit," he mumbled. Lorenzo Delvecchio, mid-level mobster, apparently fresh out of the prison cell that Danny and Erin had put him in had walked into Carmine's and was chatting with the hostess.
"What is it?" Bridget and Nikki asked.
Danny turned back in his seat, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Erin and Danny shared a look. Erin sent a text to Danny under the table.
-thought he was in jail-
-so did i. cross your fingers he doesn't make a scene-
Bridget caught Danny texting and frowned, "Did you catch a case? Are you leaving?"
"What?" Danny snapped his head up, "No! I'm staying. That, uh, that was your dad. Checking in."
Bridget leaned back in her chair, "Oh, okay."
Erin shot Danny a dirty look and he shrugged; what was he supposed to say?
Danny kept a close eye on Delvecchio for the rest of dinner. Nothing seemed to be amiss, so maybe they would manage to get to the show without incident.
Or not.
"Oh my god!" Nikki gasped, seeing the gun Delvecchio pulled on his dining companion.
"Get down!" Danny shouted, jumping out of his seat and pushing Bridget to the floor.
"Put the gun down, Delvecchio!" Danny shouted, aiming his gun. The entire place erupted into screams as people dropped to the floor.
Delvecchio grinned, "If it isn't my old friend Danny Reagan, and look, his sister, Erin. What a nice surprise."
Danny frowned, "Put the gun down. Whatever you were planning isn't going to happen."
"Now Detective, we don't want anyone getting hurt," Delvecchio laughed, "Let me get on with my business and you can finish your dinner."
"You know I can't do that," Danny said, slowly stepping around the table.
Delvecchio grinned, looking slightly unhinged, and wagged the gun in the air, "Then I'm not going to stop."
The gun made an arc in the air and ended up pointed at Bridget and Nikki.
"Girls, move closer to me," Erin reached out her hand, trying to pull the girls under the table.
But the girls were paralyzed in fear. Eyes wide, they could only stare at the gun.
"Girls," Danny barked, "Get under the table."
His tone shook the girls from their stupor, and Nikki crawled closer to Erin. Bridget was close behind.
And then the shot rang out.
"Ohmygod ohmygod," Bridget yelped, eyes wide as she watched the blood spread over her shirt.
Danny didn't hesitate; he plugged Delvecchio with three bullets before dropping to his knees next to his family.
"Erin, call a bus," he barked, pressing down on the wound to stop the blood.
Bridget's eyes were full of tears, "Ow, ow, Uncle Danny!"
Nikki was crying and gripping tightly into one of Bridget's hands.
"I know, kid," Danny said, "Just breathe, in and out."
"It hurts, Uncle Danny," she whimpered, her breathing getting ragged.
"Where's the bus, Erin?" Danny asked.
"En route," Erin said, wiping away tears, "Five minutes."
She scooted forward and grabbed Bridget's other hand, "It's going to be okay, sweetie. It's going to be fine."
They could hear sirens a minute later and before they knew it, the EMTs were pushing everyone away to get to Bridget.
Danny looked at Erin, "You and Nikki go with her, I've gotta call Baez and get a squad down here. I'll meet you at the hospital."
Erin nodded, "Do you want to call Jamie, or should I?"
Danny wiped his face on his shoulder, looking down at the blood on his hands, "You'd better call him."
"Okay," she wrapped an arm around Nikki's shaking shoulders, "Come on, baby. We'd better go."
Nikki nodded robotically and followed Erin to the ambulance.
Danny watched them climb in and wondered just how the day had gone to shit so quickly.
"Where is she?" Jamie shouted, barging through the doors of Lenox Hill Hospital.
He skidded to a stop in front of Erin, Eddie hot on his heels.
"She's in surgery," Erin said, quickly pulling her younger brother into a tight hug.
"Surgery?" Eddie choked, reaching out and grabbing onto Nikki, the closest person to her. Nikki let herself be hugged by her aunt, needing comfort as well.
Erin nodded and let go of Jamie, "They rushed her in as soon as we got here. The EMTs had to sedate her in the bus. She was on the verge of a panic attack."
Jamie looked as if he had aged 15 years in the past few minutes, "Jesus. Did they say anything else?"
Erin shook her head, "They left us out here to wait. The surgeon said it could be hours."
Eddie let out a strangled sob and Jamie immediately pulled her to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her back. He was making soft noises, trying to comfort his wife.
"What happened?" Jamie asked, "I don't... Where's Danny?"
The quartet sat down in the uncomfortable plastic seats, all dazed.
"He's still at Carmine's. He was calling Maria to start the investigation," Nikki supplied.
Eddie looked up from Jamie's chest, eyes wet and rimmed in red, "Who did this?"
"Lorenzo Delvecchio," Erin said without hesitation, "Danny shot him."
"What, did he target my baby?" Eddie said, growing angry now.
"No," Erin sighed, "He had his gun to someone else's head. Danny tried to get him to put it down. Then he started waving it around and he just...shot Bridge."
Jamie and Eddie's faces both paled.
"Who was he trying to kill?" Jamie asked.
Erin shrugged, "I don't know. I guess that's what Danny's investigation is going to find out."
Eddie looked at Jamie, "I should've gone with her."
Jamie ran his hand over her hair, "No, Eddie. It wouldn't have mattered. How would you have stopped him?"
"I...I don't," Eddie shook her head, "I should've been with my baby."
"It was so fast, Aunt Eddie," Nikki whispered, staring at her hands, "Even Uncle Danny couldn't move fast enough."
Eddie smiled at Nikki and reached out to squeeze her hand, "Thanks, sweetie."
"Did you call Dad?" Jamie asked suddenly, thinking of his father and grandfather at home with the three boys.
Erin's eyes widened, "I didn't. I'll go call him now. Should he bring the boys?"
Eddie shrugged, "I don't know. Can Linda get here? Maybe she could find out something for us."
Jamie nodded, "I'll call her."
He and Erin stood up and headed for a hallway to make their calls. Eddie sucked in a deep breath and slumped on her chair.
She snuck a peek at Nikki, "Hey, scoot on over. I could use a hug from my favorite niece."
Nikki smiled in spite of the situation, "I'm your only niece."
But she still slid over two seats and let Eddie hug her. Nikki rested her head against Eddie's shoulder.
"How're you holding up?" Eddie asked, her voice hoarse from crying.
Nikki bit her lip, "Um, I'm... It was..."
She dissolved into tears. Eddie gasped and hugged her, "Oh, sweetie. It's okay. Let it out! I'm sorry you had to go through this too."
Nikki shuddered, "It was so fast and then there was so much blood. And poor Bree! She was...it was."
She cried harder, and Eddie rubbed a hand over her back, "It's okay. Oh, Nikki, I'm so sorry."
Frank tried to be as quiet as possible when he got up to answer the phone.
"Grandpa! Shhhh!" Jack reprimanded.
He just wasn't quiet enough.
"Sorry, sorry," he said.
Frank picked up the phone on the fourth ring, "Reagan."
"Dad?" came Erin's teary voice.
"Erin, what happened?" Frank's heart sunk to his stomach, "Aren't you supposed to be in the play right now?"
"It's Bridget. She was accidentally shot at dinner. We're at Lenox Hill," Erin said the words in a rush.
Frank's face went white, "My God."
"Francis?" Henry came into the kitchen to pop more popcorn for the boys.
Frank turned to face his dad, "Bridget was shot."
"My God," Henry said, dropping the bowl to the counter, "Is she okay?"
Frank relayed his father's question to his daughter and then repeated Erin's answer.
"She's in surgery, but they don't know much more than that," Frank said, "Erin, do Jamie and Eddie know?"
"They're here with me and Nikki. Danny is at the scene and Jamie is calling Linda to see if she can come over here," Erin sighed, "I can't believe this happened."
"Erin, I'm coming down there. Should we tell the boys?"
"No, no," Erin said, "Let them stay with Grandpa. They don't need to be here, waiting."
She turned away from the phone and whispered to someone.
Frank waited for her to come back to the conversation.
"Dad? Jamie wants to know if you can bring him and Eddie some leftovers. They didn't have dinner," Erin whispered to the other person, who Frank now realized was Jamie.
"Of course," Frank said, " Pop and I will pack some food and I'll be right down."
"Thanks, dad," Erin sighed, "We're going to go. We left Eddie and Nikki."
"Love you," Frank said before hanging up the phone.
Henry waited expectantly, "Well?"
Frank ran a hand over his hair, "Bridget is in surgery at Lenox Hill. Jamie and Eddie are there, Linda's on her way, and Danny is working the scene. Stay here with the boys and don't tell them anything."
"How did this happen?" Henry asked, setting out to pop the popcorn.
Frank shrugged, "I don't know, Pop. When I find out more, I'll call and update you."
Henry nodded, and watched Frank gather up the leftovers, "Bring more than that. Who knows how long they'll be there."
"Thank you, Frank," Eddie said looking up at her father-in-law, "But I'm just not hungry."
Jamie smiled around his mouthful of chicken, "Eddie Janko, not hungry? This is a first."
Erin, Nikki, and Linda laughed. Eddie smirked at her husband and smacked his shoulder, "You're the worst, Reagan."
"Got you to smile, didn't I?" Jamie said, resting his hand on her thigh.
"Yeah," Eddie sighed, her face falling again, "Thanks."
Linda brushed off her hands, "It's been what? An hour?"
Erin looked at her watch, "Almost two."
"I'm going to go find a doctor; see if j can get any information," she squeezed Jamie's shoulder as she walked past him.
"Has anyone heard from Danny?" Frank asked, taking Linda's vacated seat.
Jamie nodded, "He's on his way. Baez is taking over the scene. He said he'll talk about it when he gets here."
Eddie scowled, "I'm going to kill whoever hired that shmuck."
"Easy tiger," Danny said, wearily walking up to his family.
"Thanks, Pop," he said, accepting a tinfoil wrapped package of chicken tenders from Frank.
"How's the kid?" He asked, mouth full and chewing.
The group shrugged.
"Linda went to find out," Jamie supplied.
Danny nodded, "While we wait, I can tell you that Delvecchio was planning to kill Antonio Conte."
"The mob lawyer?" Frank asked.
"The very same," Danny said, "Baez is still looking into it, but from what we understand, Delvecchio was acting as a hit man for the Castellucci family."
Danny's face grew grimmer as he spoke.
"This isn't going to backfire on you, is it?" Erin asked, "Killing the hit man?"
Danny shook his head, "I don't know. Right now, we focus on Bree."
"Bridge is out of surgery," Linda said, coming up being the family.
Eddie grinned and released a huge sigh, "Oh thank God."
Jamie squeezed her hand, "Thank you, Linda. Do you know when we can see her?"
Linda shook her head, "I'm sure the doctor will find us soon and let us know."
Jamie nodded, still looking concerned.
"At least she's out of surgery," Erin said, holding Nikki close.
"Everything else can wait," Frank said, his face weary.
The family lapsed into tired silence, huddled together to wait for the doctor.
Suddenly Nikki spoke up, "What about Pops? He doesn't know that Bree is okay."
Frank stood up slowly, "I'll call him. Someone come get me if the doctor comes out while I'm gone."
Jamie nodded, "Find out how Patrick is too, Dad?"
"I'll see how all the boys are," Frank nodded.
"Thank you," Linda said, smothering a yawn.
Eddie gripped tightly onto Bridget's hand.
"She looks so young," she said, stroking her fingers over the back of her daughter's hand.
Jamie nodded from his own chair on the other side of Bridget's bed.
The rest of the family had left an hour ago, after spending hours sitting in Bridget's room.
Finally the nurse in ICU had sent them all home, explaining that she had only let them stay so long because of Frank.
They had left reluctantly, promising to come back tomorrow.
If you asked Jamie, he was glad for some alone time with his baby girl.
"I'm just glad she's okay," he said, his forehead creased with worry.
Bridget's surgery had gone well, but the doctors had to reconstruct parts of her shoulder and there would be a lot of physical therapy in her future.
"I should've been there," Eddie said, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
"Don't beat yourself up," Jamie said, "You couldn't have done anything. We're just gonna have to be here for her recovery."
Eddie sighed, "Maybe we can work something out with Renzulli. There's no way we can be there for her with full work loads."
His wife looked close to tears as she talked and Jamie just wanted to put his family into a bubble and protect them from everything.
Instead he grabbed her hand with his free one, "We're gonna be okay, Eddie. I'm going to talk to Renzulli and we're going to figure it all out."
She smiled, "You're a good one, lambchop."
Jamie cracked a smile, "You haven't called me that in a long time."
"Felt appropriate," Eddie shrugged, her eyes bright.
Jamie ran his thumb over Eddie's knuckles, "I love you."
"I love you too, Jamie Reagan," Eddie said, squeezing Jamie's fingers.
"You guys are gross," Bridget's voice was raspy and cracked as she spoke.
Eddie and Jamie jumped to their feet and practically smothered Bridget with hugs and kisses.
"I'm getting the doctor," Jamie said, brushing his hand over Bridget's head.
"How are you feeling, baby?" Eddie said, pushing Bridget's blonde hair off of her face and resting her hand on her cheek.
Bridget's eyes had closed again, "Sore. Tired."
Eddie couldn't help the tears that sprung to her eyes, "I'm so glad you're up, baby."
"Mmm," Bridget hummed, her face contorting in pain.
Jamie returned with the ICU Doctor in tow.
"Hi Bridget," the woman said, "I'm Doctor Gilbert. Can you open your eyes for me?"
Bridget sighed and squinted, "It's bright."
"I know, but as soon as I check your pupils you can close them again," Dr. Gilbert said, stepping closer to Bridget.
Jamie and Eddie stepped to the side while the doctor examined their daughter.
Dr. Gilbert smiled at Bridget, "Okay, honey, you're looking okay right now. Go ahead and close your eyes again,"
Bridget sighed in relief and shut her eyes. Within minutes her breathing had evened out and she was asleep.
"How's she doing, doc?" Jamie asked as Dr. Gilbert walked over to them.
"She's going to be just fine," the doctor smiled, "She's responsive and her vitals look great. You've got a tough girl."
Eddie beamed, "She's a fighter. She was born a month premature."
Dr. Gilbert patted Eddie's arm, "Then she'll be just fine. If she can thrive after that, this will be nothing."
"When can we take her home, doc?" Jamie asked, looping an arm around Eddie's waist.
"Not until Monday at the earliest. We want to make sure the incision doesn't get infected," the doctor said and then checked her pager, "I'm sorry. I have to run. But Bridget will be just fine. When she's released the nurses can give you a recommendation for a physical therapist."
"Thank you," Jamie said offering up a grateful smile.
Dr. Gilbert nodded back before running off.
Eddie and Jamie turned to look at Bridget.
"We got so, so lucky," Eddie sighed, leaning into Jamie's side.
"Yeah, we did," Jamie agreed.
6 Months Later
"Ugh, I can't believe you actually jumped into the dumpster," Erin shook her head at her younger brother.
Jamie shrugged, "What was I supposed to do?"
"Wait for CSU?" Danny laughed, waving his fork around.
"Jamie acts on impulse," Eddie grinned at her husband.
"I hope you didn't let him ride in your car after his little dive!" Henry exclaimed.
Eddie winked at her grandfather-in-law, "I made him walk. I think he deserved it, Pops."
Henry grinned widely, "Atta girl, Eddie."
"Jeez, Pops," Jamie groaned, "You're supposed to take my side."
"Eddie actually listens to my stories and advice," Henry said, "I'm siding with her!"
Bridget coughed, "Okay, so this line of conversation could go on for hours, but I have something I want to show everyone."
Frank put his fork down, "Alright, let's see it, Bridget."
Bridget grinned and stood up.
"Drumroll, please," she laughed.
Patrick, Jack, and Sean drummed their fists on the table, getting increasingly louder.
They stopped when Linda shot them a look.
"Tah-dah!" Bridget said, rotating her left arm in a complete circle.
A cheer went up around the table and then everyone swarmed Bridget.
Jamie and Eddie stepped back, having already seen Bridget's newfound range of motion in PT yesterday.
"That's great!" Erin said, hugging Bridget tightly.
"Now you can play ball with us again," Jack grinned at his cousin.
"You'd better watch out, 'cause my fastball's gonna be even better now," Bridget laughed, accepting a hug from Linda.
"I want Bree on my team!" Patrick exclaimed.
Jamie and Eddie watched as Bridget showed off for their family, both glad that her time in PT was done.
"I am so glad that she's back and better than ever," Eddie said.
"Maybe things can get back to normal now," Jamie grinned down at Eddie.
They looked at each other for a beat before bursting into laughter.
"Nothing is ever normal with you, Reagan," Eddie said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him gently.
"Normal is overrated," Jamie grinned against Eddie's mouth.
"Aw, get a room, you two," Danny laughed, throwing his napkin at his younger brother.
Jamie flipped Danny off and Frank lightly scolded both men. That set off an entire discussion amongst the Reagan siblings about how much they could be reprimanded as adults.
Eddie took advantage of the distraction and tugged her daughter into a tight hug, "I'm so proud of you, baby."
"Thanks, Mom," Bridget said, hugging back, "I'm just glad PT is over."
Eddie rested her cheek against the top of Bridget's head. Her baby had been through so much in the past six months. Regular therapy to combat PTSD on top of PT, nightmares, weight loss, depression. The list went on. But now Bridget was happily committed to study at NYU next year and the nightmares had stopped.
"I've got a surprise," Eddie said, pulling away from the hug a little bit.
"Yeah?" Bridget asked.
Eddie nodded and pulled tickets from her back pocket, "You. Me. Aladdin on Broadway."
Bridget's eyes widened, "Really?"
But almost as suddenly, her face fell, "That's nice, Mom, but I don't...it's not going to interfere with work?"
Eddie shook her head, "Definitely not. I'm already squared away. No work a week from yesterday for me. Just me and you and some bonding time."
Bridget nodded and hugged Eddie, "Thanks, Mom."
"I love you," Eddie said, kissing Bridget's cheek.
Jamie came up behind them and draped an arm over each one's shoulder, "I'm so happy for you, Lovebug."
Bridget leaned into Jamie's side, "Thanks, Dad."
Jamie hugged his wife and daughter, thinking how nice it was to be surrounded by family.
"Hey!" Danny called, "Let's test out that arm. We've got a wiffle bat and ball in the shed. Kids versus adults."
"You're going down!" Nikki grinned.
Erin laughed, "Just you wait, Nic. We've been playing as a team for longer than you have."
"But we're faster and younger," Sean said.
"Way to make use feel old, buddy," Linda affectionately ruffled her son's hair.
"Are you playing, Grandpa?" Patrick asked, already tugging on his sneakers.
Frank shook his head, "I think I'll stay in and help Pops clean up."
Henry laughed, "You're on your own, Francis. I'm taking my position as umpire."
"That means we're guaranteed a win," Jamie laughed, "Pops loves Eddie more than the rest of us."
Eddie grinned as Henry said, "I will neither confirm nor deny that."
"Aw, let's go," Bridget said, "Besides, Pops loves us way more."
Frank watched as his father, children, and grandchildren headed out into the backyard, arguing about whom Henry loved best.
Between that and Bridget's completion of PT, it was a good Sunday.
Frank happily cleaned the dishes and watched his family play ball from the kitchen window.
Yes, it was a very good Sunday.