Another huge thanks to BlueBlood82 and That-Hamster-Wheel for writing another chapter for me while recover from hand surgery. I had to have a second one last week so I have no been able to write. I am stoked that they were able to fill in and I can't wait to start writing again. Don't forget I love reviews!
It was a beautiful sunny day and Jamie and Eddie were getting ready to leave out the door. "Car's all gassed up," Jamie announced as he came into the apartment. "Are you ready honey?"
Eddie had her bags packed for their weekend trip to the mountains. Jamie had rented an old car with a huge backseat. Eddie wanted to spent time at the lake and have a late night picnic while watching the stars. Jamie decided a classic trip called for a classic car.
"I'm ready. I even packed a couple extra blankets in case it gets cold out," Eddie said with a smile.
Jamie loved her enthusiasm. She had been planning this trip since their Chinatown date a few weeks ago. It was early fall, it was pretty up in the mountains and still warm enough that they wouldn't need heavy coats.
Jamie took the bags and put them in the trunk while Eddie found a good radio station for the ride up. The roads were clear and they made excellent time heading up, except Eddie kept making Jamie pull over in scenic lookouts along the Thruway.
"Honey, if we keep stopping, we'll never get up there," Jamie said on their third time around looking at fall foliage and inhaling a not polluted breeze.
"I have never gotten to do anything like this," Eddie told him. "Not even as a kid." She turned and put herself in his embrace. She had been a little extra snuggly lately, Jamie didn't mind it, but it did get his wheels turning. He held her snuggly against him and let her watch the slightly chilly wind blow the trees for a bit. "Come on, it's getting cold and I don't want you to catch a chill." He kissed the top of her head, marveling once again at how she fit inside his arms so perfectly, like the final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Jamie had found a nice little bed and breakfast that overlooked the side of a mountain. It was a quaint little Victorian style house with huge wrap around porch sporting rocking chairs and a decorative hay bale here and there. They checked in, "Reagan," Jamie told the clerk. He didn't' bother to differentiate, they would be married soon and he loved the idea of them being looked at that way already.
He carried their bags even though Eddie insisted she could handle her own. The view from their room was spectacular. They could see the changing leaves and had a good view of the sunrise and sunset on each side of the tree line.
Eddie dropped onto the soft, four poster, canopied bed, "You hit the jackpot her, Reagan," she laughed
"I hoped you'd like it," Jamie replied as he started to help her unpack their things. "This restaurant has a take-out baskets that we can take on the picnic. Fried chicken, potato salad, all the staples for a good night."
Eddie smiled at him, "As soon as it is dark we can drive up to the lake with our food and lay out and just be together."
Jamie lay on the bed next to her, "We can just stay here too," he laughed. "It will be warmer, I can build us a fire."
"No, I can go out and picnic, we can hibernate tomorrow night."
They surfed the channels and Jamie found two nice restaurants to eat in the other nights they were there.
When the sun started to set behind the horizon, they headed to get their basket and drive up to the lake. There was no one else there on the fall night. While Eddie pulled out the blankets and laid the out on the hood of the car Jamie produced a set of battery operated speakers and set them up on the roof. Next he pulled out an IPOD from his pocket and plugged it into the speakers. He hit the play button and the air filled with beautiful 80s and 90s music, it had a section specifically tagged for romantic ballads, that was the playlist Jamie chose. He slid onto the hood after he helped Eddie get settled. They put the picnic basket between them and started to eat. Usually Eddie dove into anything fried and bad for her but today she was much more reserved in the amount that she ate.
Jamie felt the hairs on the back of his neck creep up, Eddie had admitted to having an eating disorder, he tried not to analyze her, he knew she hated it and it would only feed anxiety. He had studied eating disorders, they were fueled by anxiety and Eddie had her fair share of that with the wedding in the future.
"You don't like it?" he asked gently "You usually love fried chicken and all the comfort food things."
"I'm just not really that hungry, I munched a lot in the car on the way here. We're going to get married, I can't be pigging out on greasy food. I need to be beautiful for you on our wedding day."
"You are beautiful now," Jamie smiled at her and cupped her cheek with is hand. "Don't worry about that okay, honey."
Eddie smiled and took a big bite of her chicken leg, she was rewarded with Jamie's warm smile. Jamie pulled out some corn on the cob from the basket and started eating it. "This is really good. You gotta try one." Jamie insisted.
Eddie refused and Jamie said "But you love corn... Please try it."
Eddie tried a cob and exclaimed "Wow, this is really delicious Reagan!"
"See I told you. It is all warm and buttery and they steamed it perfect." Jamie said eating another cob.
When they finished eating, Jamie walked their trash to the can a few feet away, carefully wrapping it so they didn't attract any critters. He returned to the hood of the old Chevrolet and slid his arm around Eddie. There were so many stars here, in the city they could only see the rare few but out here at the crystal clear lake, the sky lit up with natural lights.
Jamie smiled as Eddie kept tracing their names in the night sky, "We are written in the stars, Jamie…see." She traced and E then a J and finally an R. "Eddie and Jamie Reagan…" She turned to kiss his cheek as a favorite song of hers came on. "I didn't know you were into this music. I've never heard you playing any of this stuff before. I've played your IPOD in the shower like a dozen times."
Jamie blushed a little, it was hard to admit but he didn't keep anything from Eddie. Suddenly he was nervous and scared of her reaction to his next words. "Actually it's not my iPod..." Jamie trailed off nervously.
"Who's is it?" Eddie asked curiously.
"It's... It belongs to... Joe." The last part he whispered.
Joe's name was a whisper on his lips but Eddie heard it.
"Oh Jamie..." Eddie trailed off and reached out to caress his cheek tenderly.
"It's okay I am a lot better now but I always listen to his iPod because as it turns out we have a lot of the same music tastes in common. When he died this was all I had left of him and his old car. But that car had a bad accident and needs serious repair and restoration. I will do it someday." Jamie said confidently.
Eddie smiled at him knowing talking about Joe couldn't be easy for him. She was proud of him that he could talk about it easily. "Maybe we could restore that car together. You can tell me stories about Joe and you and we can restore his car." Eddie suggested.
"Really?! I would love that lambchop." Jamie said in an excited voice.
'He sure brought his appetite. Not like me... Sigh...' Eddie thought to herself.
"What are you thinking about?" Jamie asked curiously.
"Wedding stuff and how much I love you." Eddie replied casually.
Jamie wrapped his arms around Eddie and panicked. 'She feels so thin. I can almost feel her ribs. There's no way...' Jamie trailed off in his mind. He looked up at the stars and asked "Are you eating okay?"
"Yes why do you ask?" Eddie replied.
"You feel so thin in my arms and I can almost feel your ribs sweetheart." Jamie voiced in a concerned tone.
"I guess with all the wedding stuff I hadn't noticed. I must have been dropping the pounds from all the stress." Eddie admitted.
"I am so concerned for you." Jamie said his voice laced with slight panic.
Eddie pulled back and wrapped her arms around her middle. "Well don't be," she nearly snapped. "I lost some weight, maybe I am watching a little so I look good in the those tight wedding gowns that are so popular now, because let's face it, I am fat..."
"Eddie, you are not," Jamie protested trying to get her to come close again. He was almost sorry he said anything. Almost.
"Yes, I am, but I accepted that and you accepted that when you fell in love with me. I have a big behind and hips and my thighs…" She ran down a list of other nonexistent flaws that Jamie blocked out of his head.
"Eddie stop it," Jamie said in a firm tone. "I won't stand for anyone insulting my fiancée, even if it my fiancée. Stop this crazy talk now," he ordered. Jamie grabbed her by the shoulders, "Look at me. Look me in the eye and tell me you are eating and if you are eating that you are not purging or using water pills or anything else to stop the calories from getting in. Tell me now."
He was shocked when Eddie started to cry, "I thought at least I could trust you," she hiccuped. "I thought, Jamie won't use it against me, he won't judge me. Jamie loves me. But here you are doing what everyone else does. I want to lose a little weight so I look beautiful for YOU and I get accusations and demands."
She pulled back from him again and went into her purse. She had a candy stash in there, she began eating the little candy bars. "Are you happy now? I am eating see."
Jamie sighed, he did push too hard. Maybe he did stereotype her. He went and pulled her back again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I need so much for you to be healthy and safe. I don't want to listen to your IPOD to remember you, that's hard enough to do with one person I love. Please…stop and let's just enjoy each other."
Eddie gave him and got back on the hood of the car, she allowed Jamie to press her into his side. She was cold, she had lost some insulation. "I'm cold," she whispered her tears still drying on her cheeks.
Jamie went to the trunk and pulled out a certain hoodie and switched his. He was now wearing Joe's NYPD hoodie with his badge number down the left arm. He passed Eddie his hoodie and said "Put my hoodie on. I got Joe's so I won't be cold."
"Hey is that his badge number?" Eddie asked curiously. "How old is that hoodie?"
"He got it the same year he passed away. Actually him and a few buddies got the idea to have them made using regulation NYPD hoodies." Jamie replied.
"Maybe we should do that. We could get them done like Joe did. He was a very smart man Jamie." Eddie suggested praising his brother.
They watched the stars a bit more before deciding to go back to the be and breakfast they were staying at. The drive back was quick but they enjoyed it all the same.
When they got to the room they relaxed on this couch in front of the fireplace. Jamie laid on the couch itself, Eddie laid on Jamie. He rubbed her back through the blankets and sweatshirt thinking how precious she was to him. "You are my life now, soon to be Mrs. Reagan," he whispered. "I'm sorry in advance if I go overboard trying to protect you. It's like I am protecting myself.' He dropped a kiss on her head. The fire gave her hair such a lovely glow. "You warmer now?"
Eddie wasn't really speaking that much since leaving the picnic, she nodded, "Warm and safe," she whispered vowing to try to et better seeing how much pain he was in. "Let's go to bed," she whispered with a familiar twinkle in her eye sitting up and taking Jamie's hand into her own. "I want to show you how much I love you tonight."
Jamie had no plans to argue with that…