One Dinner
Danny felt himself getting nervous as he followed Jack and Sean inside, through the door, into Frank's kitchen. He immediately walked to the fridge and grabbed himself a beer, as he stood at the drawer opening it he heard the door open and looked up. He saw Jamie and they nodded in greeting, Jamie noticed the beer and decided he'd have one too. He went to the fridge and got one out, as he turned around he saw Danny taking a long and apparently much needed sip.
"You okay?" He asked as he walked over and used the bottle opener.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny tried and failed to act normal, Jamie stared at his brother knowing something was up.
"I'm fine." Danny insisted, feeling his brothers eyes boring into him.
"Sure..." He said doubtfully.
"Oh, I heard you're..." Jamie started.
"It should be ready in about five minutes." Erin called back to the living room as she entered the kitchen. The pair fell silent and watched as Erin went to the oven and opened the door, she peered inside and poked what was in there with a fork.
"It's done." She said, to no one in particular. She slipped on an oven mitt and carefully removed a steaming casserole dish from the oven. She turned around and saw her brothers watching.
"Mom's chicken casserole." She answered their unspoken question. They nodded and she began to leave the kitchen. She slowed as she passed the island and picked up a large serving spoon.
"Can you guys grabbed the rest?" She asked as she walked out of the kitchen not waiting for an answer. Danny and Jamie each grabbed one of other two bowls of food and carried them out to the dining room. As they entered the dining room everyone was taking their seats, they placed the bowls in the middle of the table and took their own seats. Henry offered to say grace and everyone bowed their heads, he said a short, eloquent blessing, everyone said amen then started serving themselves and passing around the dishes of food.
"Danny, I heard you're getting a new partner." Jamie started before Danny had even swallowed his first bite of food.
"I heard that too, Baez finally get sick of you?" Erin teased.
"No." He replied, shooting her a look.
"Then why?" His grandfather asked, surprised and curious. Danny put down his cutlery and took a deep breath.
"Baez and I have been seeing each other and we got caught." He confessed and heard the sound of clinking cutlery.
"You're dating your partner?" Jamie asked absolutely stunned.
"Partners should never become romantically involved, it compromises their ability to work together." Henry stated sternly and shook his head in disapproval.
"It's a stupid rule." Danny retorted reflexively.
"Is it?" Frank asked unimpressed.
"Yeah, do you really think that if Baez and I had decided to ignore what we were feeling we would've magically not been compromised anymore? Do you think J..." Danny stopped abruptly, catching himself before he revealed Jamie's secret. The table fell silent as those who hadn't already known processed Danny's news.
"It hasn't even been a year." Erin commented harshly, evidently bothered by a different aspect than her brother and grandfather.
"I know. I didn't go looking for it, it just happened. I never expected to feel this way." He told her.
"Really? You never thought about it?" Erin prodded.
"No." He said, deciding that, in this instance it was better to lie. He looked around and saw that along with Erin, some of the other members of his family weren't completely buying it.
"Okay, I've always found her physically attractive but I never thought about her romantically until a few months ago." He conceded feeling uncomfortable.
"Months? How long have you been seeing her?" Henry asked.
"Almost three and a half months." Danny answered.
"How did you guys get caught?" Jamie asked.
"Someone anonymously left a note on our captains desk saying they saw us outside a cinema." He explained.
"Saw you doing what?" Erin kept prodding. She had a pretty good idea of what they had been caught doing but was enjoying seeing her brother squirm. Danny glared at her, swallowed and took a deep breath.
"Kissing." He answered feeling even more uncomfortable. Everyone sat in an awkward silence, no one knew what to do with Danny had just said so they focused on their meals. They remained this way for several seconds before Frank, who had just finished, turned to Nicky.
"Nicky, what do you think? You haven't said anything." She looked up from her plate and swallowed the bite of food she had just taken.
"Does being with Baez make you happy?" She asked turning to look at her uncle.
"Yeah, it does." He replied, almost smiling.
"Then I'm happy for you." She concluded and went back to eating. Everyone looked at her, stunned by her immediate acceptance.
"Really? You have no problem with this? No problem with the fact that he broke the rules to date her or that he started seeing her only eight months after Linda died." Erin questioned her daughter, surprised at her nonchalant attitude.
"Like Uncle Danny said, they were compromised whether they began dating or not and I totally get not wanting to be judged for getting back out there and dating. Okay, eight months is kind of fast but it's not like he went to a bar looking to pick someone up, he developed feelings for someone he's known and been friends with for a long time. Besides, I like Baez, we all do, don't we?" She laid out her point of view. Everyone nodded in answer to her question and Frank smiled.
"Well said."
Jamie carried the last of the dishes to the kitchen and put them in the sink. He walked over to the oven and grabbed the tea towel from the handle. He then took up a position beside Danny who had volunteered to wash the dishes to get away from the table. They worked in companionable silence until Jamie's curiosity got the better of him.
"What was it like?" He asked.
"Huh?" Danny mumbled as he was brought out of his thoughts.
"What was it like working together and dating?"
"Don't." Danny immediately replied.
"What?" Jamie responded surprised.
"If you want to date Eddie request a new partner." He instructed his brother.
"I wasn't..." Jamie started, Danny just stared him not believing it for a second.
"You said it was a stupid rule." He argued.
"It is but it is the rule. Look, the only reason I'm getting off so easily is because of Linda, if you did it, your captain, Dad, Pop and Erin would not go easy on you. You've already got a suspension, you don't want to add a formal reprimand to your record." He warned. Jamie nodded, knowing Danny was right and they went back to doing the dishes in silence. After a few moments a smile began to spread across Danny's face.
"It was great." He said. They looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.
"Really great."