A couple of days later, Jamie called Crystal and told her to meet them at the diner near the precinct so they could talk. They had a long discussion about the situation and decided to hear what Crystal had to say before they told her on what they decided.
"Hi. I'm sorry I'm late." Crystal said as she sat down in the booth. "I'm Crystal Snyder. I'm sure your husband already told you all about me." She reached over and shook both of their hands.
"Yeah he did" Eddie replied.
"Let me explain myself before you guys say anything. I was way messed up when I got pregnant with Annie. Getting pregnant is what saved me from myself at that time. I stopped the drugs and alcohol when I was pregnant but when she was three months old, I was back out there again. Being 25 with a little baby, I felt like I was missing out on so much. All my friends were out there having the time of their lives and I was stuck at home at my wits end. I was sent to rehab when she was 5 months old and I left her with her father. When I was in rehab, I realized what an idiot I was. This little human was dependent on me and her father and I both let her down. I wanted to have a second chance with her but then I realized I missed out when I saw who adopted her. She struck gold with the two of you."
"Well... thank you for saying that. We're the lucky ones to have her." Jamie and Eddie both smiled at Crystal.
"So, did your husband talk to you about what I had requested?"
"Yes. And I'm sorry we can't let that happen." They looked up at Crystal to see her wipe a tear from her eye.
"The reason is that she's still really young. We don't want her to get confused" Jamie interjected. "We decided that once she's 18 that if she wants to look for you then she can. She'll be an adult so it will be her decision."
"I understand" Crystal said with a sniffle. "I had a feeling that that's what you had decided but I hoped that I was wrong."
"Here" Eddie said. She pulled out a two pictures out of her purse and handed them to Crystal. "These are of her recently. One is at her birthday party and the other was at the park."
"Oh my goodness, she's so big now." She softly cried as she looked at the pictures of Annie. " How is she doing?"
"She's doing wonderfully" Eddie replied. "Ruling the roost and talking up a storm."
"Look, I don't want to take up anymore of your time than I already have. Thank you. Thank you for meeting with me. This definitely gave me the type of closure that I needed. I understand your decision. To be extremely honest, I would have done the same thing if I was you. I'm just glad that she has a good mama and papa now who can do so much more than we have for her." Crystal got up and Jamie and Eddie followed suit. "Thank you guys so much." She stepped forward and gave each of them a hug. Jamie wrapped an arm around Eddie's shoulder as they watched Crystal walk out of the diner.
"Oh my goodness" Eddie turned and buried her face in his chest. "That was hard."
"It definitely was." He leaned down and kissed her head.
"I do think she was genuinely sincere though. She realized she screwed up."
"Yeah I think so too. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. Thank god we have the day off. I just want to get home to our girl."
"Me too. Let's go before she has your mother chasing her down the street."
...
"Hey dad!" Jamie, Eddie, and Annie walked into the Reagan family home.
"Oh hey guys" he said as laid his eyes on the family of three. "To what do I owe this visit?"
"We both have the day off so we decided to come over. You're not going anywhere are you?"
"No not at all. I'm working from here today." He reached down and gave Annie a kiss on the cheek. "Pop Pop got you some new toys for your toy box. Go check it out!" Annie smiled and ran off to the living room.
"How's work been you two? Sit down."
"Good. Everything's been well." Eddie shook her head agreeing with Jamie. Frank just gave them a look.
"Okayyy. If you say so."
"Well... we had an interesting run in with someone today" Jamie said.
"Who?"
"Annie's biological mother."
Frank put down his newspaper and looked up at them in surprise. "Oh really? How did she find you guys?"
"I honestly have no idea. She found where I worked and came to see me a few days ago."
"Woah, that must have been tough. I'm guessing she wanted to get Annie back?"
"No" Jamie replied. "Asked if it would be okay to see her. Left her number and told me to let her know. We met with her to hear her out. I think she genuinely realized that she screwed up."
"I gave her two pictures of Annie" Eddie interjected. "She started to tear up when she was looking at them. We told her no and I thought she was gonna get mad but she understood."
"She's still so young and we don't want her getting confused" Jamie added. "When Annie's 18, she's more than welcome to look for her if she wants too. Right now, we feel like it would be better if she stayed away."
"I agree with you guys. I think it's better that way."
"I really didn't want to meet with her but I'm glad we did." Eddie looked into the living room to see Annie happily scribbling away in a ducky coloring book. "I think she really needed it. She said she was happy that Annie had two parents now who could do better for her. It made me feel good. I felt bad for her because I could tell she was genuinely sorry."
"I'm just glad we can move past it now." Jamie reached under the table and grabbed Eddie's hand. "We're off to the beach next week dad. Spending a few days in Cape May for the beach and things like that. We don't want to venture off too far since Annie is still young."
"That's sounds great. If you guys enjoy it over there, we'll have to see on taking a big family vacation next summer."
"That's sounds great dad."
"Eventually, I want to take Annie to Disney" Eddie interjected. She looked over at Jamie. "You promised me we would do it!"
"Of course we will" he replied. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm thinking maybe when she's three. It'll give us some time to save up so we can really have a good time and enjoy it."
"That's all I ask" she said with a smile.
"Mama! Dada! Look at what I color!" Annie ran into the room carrying her newest creation. It's was a picture of a pond of baby duckys colored a variety of colors. She held it up proudly for everyone to see.
"Oh you did such a good job baby!" Eddie pulled her into her lap. "Who is it for?"
"Pop Pop." She looked over at Frank and gave him a toothy grin.
"Oh thank you sweetheart" he said warmly. "This will definitely be going in a frame." Jamie and Eddie just laughed.
"Are you ready to go to the beach next week sweetheart?" Eddie asked Annie.
"Yeah! I so happy! Me ready to go!"
