Chapter 1 – Driving Lesson

A/N: Most dialogue in this chapter is from the Season 3 episode, Warriors.

February 2013

"Meet us out front in ten," Erin read the text from her brother on her cell phone screen again as she packed up a few files to review at home. What was Jamie up to? And who was 'us'? She shrugged into her coat. She'd know in a few minutes.

As she exited the courthouse, she saw Jamie leaning casually against the passenger side of his car. Even out of uniform, he was attracting admiring glances from many of the female employees leaving the building. She walked down the stairs. "Well, this is a nice surprise," she greeted Jamie, then noticed who was behind the wheel. "Wait, you're taking Nicki driving in the city? What are you thinking?"

Jamie held the door open for his sister. "I'm thinking that every driver should have the pleasure of driving over the most beautiful bridge in the world."

Erin took a seat in the back of the car. "I don't know about this. This is just... You sure you know what you're doing?"

Jamie smiled. If only Erin knew that he and Nicki had been driving in the city for hours already… "Yep. And no backseat driving. Especially from you," he warned.

Erin sat back against the seat. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you forgot about the time when you dented the back of Dad's car by backing into your ex-boyfriend's car?" Jamie asked. "On purpose," he added for Nicki's benefit.

"It was not on purpose."

"And then she made me lie about it. Tell Dad that it was a stray baseball," Jamie told his niece.

"Hey!" Erin protested. Nicki didn't need to hear that story.

"Okay, whenever you're ready, Nicki," Jamie instructed. He turned back to his sister. "And there's the time that you got pulled over for speeding."

"I was only going 50 miles per hour."

Jamie glanced at his sister. "Only 50. In a 20-mile-an-hour zone."

Nicki giggled. "Mom, I never knew."

Erin glared at her brother. "You know what, Jamie? I have a lot of ammunition on you, so you better watch it," she threatened.

"Turn right at the next intersection, Nik," Jamie told his niece. "And not a word from you, Sis. Nicki's been doing a great job driving so far. You sit back there… and relax… and let your daughter concentrate on driving home over the Brooklyn Bridge."

"Fine." Erin picked up on Jamie's warning. There would be time to tell stories on him later, if it became necessary. Maybe – hopefully – by the time they got home, Nicki would forget to ask for more details of the teenage driving indiscretions Jamie had hinted at.

And for a while, it seemed that hope would be granted. By the time they arrived at the family home in Bay Ridge, Nicki had been so eager to tell her grandfather and great-grandfather about her driving adventures, she'd forgotten about those stories. But then, one Wednesday afternoon several years later, only hours before the Reagan family planned to gather for a special dinner, Erin got caught speeding again, this time by a young patrol officer named Edit Janko.

Next: Before we get to those incidents, a story of seat belts and little brothers.