The Reagan family was sitting around a Sunday dinner of meatloaf, all dreading the prospect of Monday and none of them prepared for what Jamie was about to blurt out.

"Mark and I are expecting." There was an inquisitive silence. Linda was the first to break it.

"That's great. Are you using a surrogate or are you adopting?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"Um—no—a—actually, I'm—uh—the—well—bearer." A chorus of utensils clattering on plates and choked off noises followed. Danny just nervously shoved green beans into his mouth and tried not to make eye contact.

"Jack, what does Uncle Jamie mean? I don't get it." Sean asked his older brother, tugging at his sleeve.

"Uh—I really don't…"

"Jamie if this is your way of giving me a heart attack, it's one hell of a way of doing so." Henry said angrily, jabbing his knife in Jamie's direction.

"Son, what do you mean? Are you serious?" Frank asked warily.

"Wha—Jamie—what are you talking about? We're not that dumb!" Erin screeched, as any older sister would.

"I'm telling the—"

"Wait a minute…Danny, did you know about this?" Erin accused the detective.

"I thought he might wanna tell you guys himself!" Danny said defensively, throwing down his napkin.

"Ugh! Nobody ever tells me anything anymore!" Erin complained.

"You guys, I'm not kidding. It's one hundred percent true, I swear." Jamie told the table, twisting the edge of the tablecloth in his hands.

"Congratulations, Uncle Jamie." A voice from the end of the table piped up. It was Nikki. Jamie nodded. Erin sighed and took her daughter's lead.

"I'm sorry Jamie. That's wonderful." Erin apologized, taking his hand and squeezing it.

Frank and Henry sat in confused silence, still not wanting to accept the news. When Jamie turned to his father, Frank offered a tight lipped smile to the boy, but said nothing more. He needed to get this sorted out in his head first.

BB ~~ BB ~~ BB ~~ BB ~~ BB ~~ BB ~~ BB

Linda approached Jamie after the meal, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"As you know, I'm a nurse, so if there's anything you need—anything I can help with—don't hesitate to call." She offered before pulling him into a warm hug.

"Thanks—for not, you know, freaking out." Jamie muttered, blushing.

"Oh honey. It's gonna be okay, they're just too damn stubborn to see past all this and realize that there's gonna be another beautiful Reagan in the family. Give it time." Linda reassured him.

"I know, they've always been like that." Jamie acknowledged.

"How far along are you?" Linda asked, eyes dropping quickly to his middle.

"Oh—um—about a month or so." Jamie told her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Keep me posted." Linda said.

Jamie nodded and the pair embraced, and Jamie finally allowed himself to cry. Linda rubbed calming circles on his lower back as she held the shaking rookie. Not another word was spoken between them as everyone went their separate ways.

A/N: *looks around nervously*