Jamie smiled as he glanced over at the nervous man in the passenger seat, "Calm down Travis, we are going to a 4th of July barbeque at my dad's house, not an IA interrogation. It's just going to be burgers, watermelon and watching fireworks when it gets dark."
Travis turned an incredulous look to the younger man, "Are you kidding me? I would take IA any day over this. They don't know about me yet and you didn't even tell them you were bringing someone."
Jamie shrugged, "You will be fine, as long as you stay on Danny's good side."
Travis looked away grumbling, "Great, that makes me feel so much better."
Jamie laughed as the car stopped, "Travis, nothing will happen. Now get out of the car, everyone is already here."
Travis got out of the car and walked around to stand by Jamie and put an arm around the slightly shorter man, "You better be right." Jamie smiled as Travis leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips.
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Erin smiled as she watched her family bustle around the kitchen, preparing everything for the meal. She looked around, frowning when she noticed Jamie hadn't arrived yet. She made her way over to the window and watched as her younger brother got out of his car, followed by a slightly larger man with dark hair. She gasped as she saw the other man kiss her younger brother.
Her loud gasp drew Danny's attention and he joined her at the window just as the kiss seemed to deepen and Jamie was pushed back against the car. Erin turned to grab Danny's arm, knowing the conclusion he would draw from the short scene he had just witnessed but her older brother was already halfway to the door and looking very murderous.
Erin took off after Danny, calling his name in an attempt to stop him but it seemed to just draw the rest of the family's attention to the situation. They quickly followed the oldest Reagan boy out the door, eager to see what was going on.
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Danny raced across the yard and roughly pulled the strange man off his baby brother and punched him in the face, "What the hell do you think you are doing." Danny yelled, not paying attention to the gathering crowd of family behind him.
Jamie had noticed however, and moved to calm his brother, "Danny its fine. This is…"
Danny cut him off, "What do you mean its fine? This guy was shoving his tongue down your throat."
Jamie cringed slightly as he heard the gasps and saw the widened eyes of his family. The younger cop sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "Well yeah Danny, that's kind of what boyfriends tend to do."
Danny froze and turned around shocked, from where he had been trying to intimidate the stranger, "Wha…"
Jamie shook his head, "If you had waited for me to explain before you tried to defend my honor you would know that Travis is my boyfriend, my cop boyfriend." Danny seemed to be unable to process the information, leaving him stuttering out half questions.
Travis gingerly prodded his sore jaw as he turned to Jamie, "Is he alright?"
Jamie smiled and patted his brother's head before grabbing Travis' arm and walking around the still frozen older brother, "He's fine. Give him a few minutes and he'll be back and questioning you about your intentions with me." Travis chuckled but joined Jamie's abrupt stop when he noticed the rest of the family staring open mouthed at the two men, with the exception of Nikki, who had a huge smile on her face.
Before anything could be said, Nikki ran up and hugged her uncle tightly, "I'm so proud of you Uncle Jamie, I knew you could do it." Nikki released her Uncle and turned to Travis and gave him a big hug as well, "Nice to see you again Travis."
Erin looked at her daughter in surprise, "You knew about this?"
Nikki turned around to look at her mom, "You mean that Uncle Jamie is gay? Yeah of course I did, I'm a teenage girl, I have the best gaydar in the world, plus I kind of found the making out a few weeks ago when I went over to Uncle Jamie's to return the key he gave me when he had me watch his apartment that weekend when he went camping." Jamie blushed at the memory of his nieces fan girl squeal breaking apart that particular make out session.
Henry looked at his grandson and great granddaughter, "A few weeks ago, how long has this been going on?"
Jamie looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment as Travis answered confidently, "About 8 months Sir."
Henry smiled, "I like him, he calls me Sir."
Linda laughed, "That's because he doesn't know you yet."
Henry mock scowled before turning back to the house, "Let's go eat, I'm hungry."
It was Erin's turn to laugh at that, "You are always hungry grandpa." Erin followed Henry, Nikki and the boys close behind her. Linda gave Jamie a quick hug and kiss on the cheek and dragged Travis inside, leaving him with his dad and speechless older brother. Jamie smiled as he watched Linda and Travis but the smile dropped slightly as he met his father's eyes.
Frank had been uncharacteristically quiet through the whole ordeal and Jamie was beginning to get worried. Frank watched as the worry shifted onto his son's face and he looked back and forth between his father and his brother. Frank stepped forward and placed his hand on Jamie's arm, "Son, he seems like a nice young man."
Jamie smiled, "He really is dad."
Frank smiled at the love in his son's eyes and motioned to Danny, "You should probably talk to him before his brain explodes."
Jamie laughed but nodded as Frank walked away to join the rest of the family. Jamie took a deep breath and turned to his older brother who had managed to compose himself. Danny looked at his kid brother, "Why didn't you tell me? Did Joe know?"
Jamie shook his head, "I never told him but I think he knew. You umm… you remember when I got that black eye in 10th grade."
Danny nodded his head, "Yeah, you said you got it in gym when one of the other guys accused you of cheat in a basketball game."
Jamie looked at his feet, "That's half true, I got it after gym in the locker room because one of the guys thought I was looking at him when we were changing. The guys brother knew Joe and must have told him because Joe told me the next day that he would take care of it and the kid was afraid to go near me the rest of the year. Joe always made comments that made me think he knew and wanted to let me know he was ok with it. I regret not telling him every day, I wish I could have showed him that trust before he died."
Danny wrapped an arm around Jamie's shoulder, "He knew you would tell us when you were ready, and we would support you. I don't think he ever thought it would happen like this though."
Jamie smiled, "Yeah, probably not. I mean you didn't have to punch him."
Danny playfully punched Jamie in the arm, "Well then you shouldn't have been making out on the front lawn like two teenagers at the movies, not the kind of fireworks I was planning on seeing today."
Jamie laughed and pushed Danny back, "Well you punched him and he didn't run away with his tail between his legs so I think we are good. He works out of the 5th so he knows your reputation."
Danny laughed, "No but you left him alone with Erin and Linda, they just might finish the job." Danny laughed at the horrified look on his brother's face as the younger man rushed inside to save his boyfriend and followed behind him, and smiled up at the sky knowing that Joe was smiling back.
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A/N- So I've been wanting to write this for a while and thought it would make a great 4th of July present. Enjoy.