Last chapter. Thanks again to all that reviewed!

Chapter 11

Jamie covered his face with both hands as a medley of laughter erupted around the dinner table. "This is not right," he mumbled.

Danny tried to slow his breathing. He'd been laughing so hard it was starting to hurt. "Come on, kid. Your girl deserves to know about your nudist tendencies."

Jamie gaped at his brother. "Nudist tendencies? I was four, Danny!"

Danny held up his hands apologetically. "Okay sorry, he was not a complete nudist...he would actually wear these little cowboy boots when he'd run around in the buff." The laughter erupted again at Danny's revelation.

Frank put his coffee mug down, looking across the table at his oldest. "I remember those! You wore them for Halloween one year and we passed them down to Joe and then Jamie, Jamie being the one to get the most mileage out of them." Frank chuckled at the thought of Mary chasing after their youngest to get him into some clothes. Frank looked to Jamie, a blush still evident on his face. "Drove your mother crazy that summer. She even got you a little cowboy outfit hoping you'd wear it with the boots. Heck, she wouldn't have cared if you wore it every single day that summer so long as you were dressed."

"I refused to have my friends over here that whole summer," Erin chortled.

Henry swallowed a bite of chocolate cake before saying, "Betty finally convinced him to stop that near the end of the summer."

"How'd she do that, Pops?" Linda asked.

"She told Jamie that the cold weather was coming. Things could start falling off if they got too cold." His eyebrows arched up for added effect.

"Oh, jeez." Jamie was partly mortified but couldn't help but smile.

"God, I wish I would have known about these things the other night!" Eddie shook her head at him. "And I still can't get over the junk you used to swallow. You better never make fun of the way I eat again!"

"I'm not bringing you over here anymore," Jamie said facetiously.

"Come on, Jamie. At least no one's pulled out any pictures yet." Danny leaned back to put an arm around Linda's shoulders.

"There are pictures!?" Eddie asked gleefully.

"Yes."

"No!"

They laughed some more, most of the Reagans thinking it had been a while since they'd had such a lively Sunday dinner.

Once Eddie could stop the giggles, she said, "There are benefits to being an only child. Not having siblings to embarrass you is number one." She reached under the table and took hold of Jamie's hand.

"No kidding," Nicky agreed as a big grin adorned her face.

Erin smiled at Nicky and then turned to Eddie. "An only child, huh? Did you grow up in New York?"

"Yeah, born and raised on Long Island."

"Your parents still there?" Frank's asked around a bite of cake.

Jamie could feel Eddie tense up.

"My mom is." Eddie nodded. She paused as she thought of her father. She could feel Jamie gently squeezing her hand. "My dad's doing some time at Lincoln Correctional, unfortunately."

All the levity from a moment ago had left the room.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Frank was surprised, then saddened when he saw the pain and shame in Eddie's eyes.

Erin and Danny glanced at each other, wondering what the father was in for. Both had the ability to look up the charges, but they wouldn't, out of respect for Eddie. They had no doubt that she was a good person and they liked her a lot. More importantly, she made Jamie happy.

"No biggie. Well, I guess it is otherwise he wouldn't be there," she laughed nervously. "But, yeah..." Eddie picked up her coffee and took a long drink.

"So what does your mom do, Eddie?" Noticing her discomfort, Henry tried to somewhat redirect the conversation.

"She's in real estate. She's been doing that for the last twenty years, at least."

Jamie reached over and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Next time we see her, I'm getting the lowdown on you."

"Oh, she wouldn't dare," Eddie countered with a smirk.

"I bet she will. Moms have always liked me," he said smugly.

Erin licked a smudge of icing off her finger as she leaned forward to face her younger brother. "Not Marissa Castillo's mom after she found you two playing seven minutes in heaven in the fifth grade."

"Uncle Jamie!" Nicky cringed at the thought.

Eddie threw her head back in laughter. "Fifth grade? Really, Reagan?!"

"There really is no privacy in this family." Jamie returned to hiding his face in his hands as the laughter started back up again.

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

About an hour later, Jamie and Eddie were in the car heading back to her apartment. Except for the issue of her father, she'd had a great time at Sunday dinner. Eddie smiled to herself. Despite the torture they'd put Jamie through with all of the embarrassing stories, she kind of wished she had brothers and sisters like his.

Jamie looked in Eddie's direction, noticing the small grin on her face. "What are you smiling about?"

"What?" Eddie rolled her head against the headrest.

"You. You got a grin on your face." Jamie turned his attention back to the road.

"Just thinking," she said as she admired his profile in the dim lighting.

"About?"

"You're lucky."

Jamie shot her a questioning look.

"Despite all the loss you guys have experienced, you're all still really close. You got a good family, Jamie."

Jamie reached for her left hand and brought it to his lips. "I know," he said will all sincerity.

They both shared another smile before Eddie reached for her bag. She had just put her hand inside to search for a mint, when she felt a thick, rectangular piece of paper laying on top of the contents of her purse. She reached up for the light on inside of the visor and found the image of a little boy in cowboy boots and nothing else, sitting on the floor amongst a pile of action figures, a familiar smile on his face. Her eyes widened and she looked quickly at her boyfriend and then back down at the photo. The photo was obstructed from his view by her purse and he hadn't noticed the look of surprise on her face. She quickly slipped it back inside and reached to turn off the light. The photo brought another smile to her face, for the obvious reasons, but she also got a little misty eyed as well. She blinked rapidly and looked at the man beside her.

Jamie could feel that she was staring at him and glanced back at her. "What?"

"Yes."

Jamie's eyes narrowed. "Yes, what?"

"Let's move in together."

"Seriously?" He looked quickly between the road and Eddie.

"Yeah, let's do it. Like you said, we're practically living together as it is."

Jamie brought the car to a stop at a red light and turned to her. "Eddie, my lease isn't up for a few months. You have time to think about it. I know I only just sprung it on you, but if you're not sure…"

"I am sure, Jamie. One hundred percent sure. Let's do it."

He beamed at her. Things were moving fast, some would say, but it had taken them a long time just to get to this point. "Okay."

They met across the console for a slow kiss and only pulled away because of the incessant honking behind them.

Eddie looked straight ahead as Jamie drove forward, thinking that she never felt so sure about anything in her life.