Thanks for all of the reviews so far. Having trouble finishing this story up despite having many more chapters written up already and I'm getting side-tracked by other story ideas both related to this series and independent of it. Which makes me think it's time to find a beta or something. :)

Chapter 4

Jamie walked through the front door of his childhood home looking around for his father and grandfather. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"In here," a muffled voice called out.

He walked through the living room towards the back of the house and saw the two older men seated at the small kitchen table having dinner.

"Hey, son. Wasn't expecting to see you tonight." Frank was pleasantly surprised to see his youngest.

Henry quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Hey, Jamie. You hungry? We just sat down to some chili."

Jamie's eyebrows arched up at the mention of food. "Yeah, I could eat."

"Get yourself a bowl and come on back."

Jamie walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a bowl. After he'd ladled some of the rich chili for himself, he walked over to the fridge for a beer and then sat down at one end of the table, between the two men.

Henry and Frank looked at him, both smiling fondly as Jamie began to dig into his dinner. Frank reached into the basket at the center of the table to pull out a thick slice of sourdough bread for his son.

"Thanks, dad." Jamie took the bread, tore off a piece and dunked it into his bowl.

Frank and Henry exchanged another look before Frank replied. "You're welcome. You know, it's been some time since you've been over for dinner on a day other than Sunday."

Jamie swallowed and placed his spoon down. He noticed that they were both staring at him. "Yeah, sorry. Been real busy lately."

"Does this busy have a name?" Henry asked coyly.

Frank smirked as he buttered the slice of bread he'd taken for himself.

Jamie let out a small chuckle. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yup. So what's her name?" Frank asked, happy that Jamie was finally seeing someone. He'd been worried about him for a long time after Sydney left him.

Well, this was the reason why Jamie had come over in the first place. The chili was just an added perk. He wanted his family to know about Eddie before word got back to them through the grapevine. "Eddie."

The older men narrowed their eyes at him, but Henry beat Frank to the punch. "Eddie, you're partner, Eddie?"

"Yes," Jamie said as he ate a large spoonful of chili.

"Well, that's a surprise." Frank commented.

Jamie looked from one man to the other and pushed his bowl away so that he could lean his arms on the table. "Is it really? There was that Sunday dinner a while back where Danny and Erin all but announced I had a thing for her."

Frank hesitated. "Maybe not, but she's your partner, Jamie. There are rules about that in place for specific reasons."

"Yeah, to make sure you're focused on the job you got to do out on the streets instead of making googly eyes at each other in the squad car," Henry added.

"She's not my partner. Not anymore."

Frank shook his head in confusion. When did that happen? "Wait, hold on. Let's go back. When did you two start seeing each other?"

"About three months ago."

They each took a moment to think back to where they were three months ago when it suddenly clicked in place.

"Ahh", Henry sighed.

"Well." Frank wasn't sure of what else to say. Life and death situations often brought people together. He did pick up on the fact that Jamie might have had some sort of feelings for his partner before then, but his son was nothing if not by-the-book and he'd always stressed that they were only work partners.

Jamie could read his father's mind so he decided to explain. "After Wade," Jamie had to take a moment because just the mention of his name brought up memories that were still the subject of occasional nightmares. "I thought I saw my partner die in front of me, again, and I know this sounds wrong and I feel guilty saying it, but if she would have died, I don't know if I could have moved past it like I was able to get past Vinny's death." He paused again and began to absently stir the cooling chili in his bowl while the other men waited patiently, knowing there was more. "She came to visit me in the hospital, before she was discharged and we were playing it off like it was just another day on the job. And it hit her first, how stupid it was to pretend. So we decided to give it a try while we were apart on the job."

Jamie abandoned the spoon and slumped back. "I gave Renzulli my reassignment request a few days ago. I'll be partnered with someone new on Monday."

"So things are going well, I take it?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, they are." Jamie took a drink from his bottle to hide the smile that formed on his lips when he answered the question.

"Well then, good for you, son." Henry smiled, lifting his glass and clinking it against Jamie's beer bottle.

Frank smiled at the gesture and raised his own glass towards his son. "If you're happy, we're happy." He took a sip of his own drink and said, "I just have one question."

"What's that?"

"When's she coming to Sunday dinner?"

"Well, uh," Jamie looked nervously at the two men, "I don't know." That question was a little unexpected. He hadn't thought of inviting her to Sunday dinner yet. He wasn't sure he was ready to throw Eddie into the lion's den, so to speak. Although if anyone could hold their own against Danny and Erin, it was certainly Eddie.

"Bring her over this Sunday," Henry suggested.

"I don't know if that's such a -"

"Sure it is," Frank interrupted. "If she means that much to you, we'd like to get to know her too. I'll even make sure Danny and Erin are on their best behavior."

Jamie snorted. "Sorry, dad. You may be able to command the New York City Police Department, but that's one thing I don't think you've ever been able to do."

Frank and Henry smirked at each other before returning to their meals.

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That Sunday, Frank and Henry had taken care of setting the table while Danny, Linda and Erin were working on getting dinner out of the oven and several sides into serving dishes.

"Hey, would you stop, that!" Linda scolded as Danny stole a piece of roasted broccoli out of the dish she was filling.

"I'm hungry! Jamie better get his butt over here or we're gonna start without him."

"Where is he anyway?" Erin asked as she sliced the pork roast.

Frank was just walking back into the kitchen when he heard her question. "He should be here soon. He was picking up a guest."

Nicky came up behind him and asked, "Is that why there's an extra setting at the table? Who's he bringing?"

Henry couldn't keep from smiling and let the cat slip out of the bag as he worked on uncorking the wine. "Kid's got a new girlfriend."

Everyone in the room looked to Henry, but Danny was the only one that spoke. "Get out."

Frank smirked at their reactions and addressed Erin and Danny. "It's true. It's the first time she'll be in the same room with all of us together, so I'm warning you two to be on your best behavior."

Danny was munching on some potatoes when he innocently asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Linda chuckled at her husband's response and finished pouring gravy into a bowl. "Well, I'm looking forward to meeting her. Good for Jamie."

Erin put the carving knife down and turned to face her father. "Wait a minute, dad, you said it will be the first time she'll be in the same room with all of us, not the first time she'll be meeting us. Who is it? Do we know her?"

Frank and Henry looked at each other and smirked. "Thought I got that past you. You'll see when she gets here." This dinner should be fun, he thought.

Meanwhile, outside, Jamie and Eddie were just pulling up alongside the house. Jamie turned the car off and looked at his girlfriend. "Here we are."

"Wow. You grew up here?" Eddie stared out the window at the two story brick house. It was beautiful and so traditional. Looked like a place a PC would live.

"Yeah."

"It's a nice house."

"Yeah it is, but nothing like the palaces I'm sure you grew up in."

Eddie continued to stare out the window, not really listening to Jamie's words. The butterflies in her stomach had her thinking this wasn't such a good idea.

Jamie could see that she was nervous and reached to take hold of her hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Just like any other day, right? Dinner with Police Commissioner."

"You've met him before."

"Yeah, a few times where he towered over me in my uniform and the only thing I said to him was 'yes, sir' and that time in the ER which still seems a bit surreal to me." Eddie turned quickly to face him. "Oh and let's not forget your brother and sister. I've heard stories about these dinners, Reagan."

Jamie smiled. "Come on, relax. They're gonna love you." He leaned in to give her a soft, sweet kiss, which helped alleviate some of her nerves, but not all of them.

"Okay." She smiled back.

Jamie turned to get out of the car when Eddie suddenly grabbed his arm. "Jamie, wait."

Jamie looked at her hoping she wasn't going to change her mind about this. "What is it?"

"Well at these things, you know, people always ask about family and stuff." She waited, almost as if she expected him to understand what she was going to ask.

"Yeah, usually," he prompted because he had no idea where she was going.

"Have you ever told your family about my dad?"

"Oh, uh, no. It never occurred to me to mention it. Did you want me to?"

"Well, no, it's just, what do I say if they ask, 'so, Eddie, what do your parents do? Funny you ask, cause my father's currently doing seven to ten at Lincoln Correctional for stealing money from innocent, hard-working people.'"

Jamie turned to face her completely and held both of her hands in his. "I'll follow your lead, but my suggestion, Eddie, is just to be honest. They won't think any less of you. I certainly never did."

Looking into his eyes, Eddie now believed she could get through this dinner - at least without puking. "Okay, well then, let's get this show on the road. I'm starved."

She turned to get out the the car leaving Jamie to ask, "When are you not, Janko?"