"I was a good kid," Jamie says making the table laugh.
"No, you were the baby and got away with everything" Danny smirked from across the table.
"Oh please I did not! " Jamie scoffed as he continued to eat dinner. He looked over at Eddie who was giving him a look "What are looking at me like that for"
"I'm thinking it may be time for your sister to pull out those photo albums of yours" She replied laughing. "My mother took you through mine and I want to see all your embarrassing ones"
"There are some good ones, I think my favorite is the one when you were three and dressed yourself for the day, you were in your cowboy phase and had a costume from Halloween. You put on your chaps, plaid shirt and boots"
"That doesn't sound so bad' Sean said as Henry and Frank were smiling at each other trying not to laugh.
"It wouldn't be except he forgot to put on the jeans. He had no pants on under the chaps," Henry said as the entire table erupted in laughter once again.
Jamie was staring down at his plate, his face turning red "I was three give me a break"
"I am so looking at the album before we leave today" Eddie laughed, leaning over kissing his cheek.
Jamie just rolled his eyes and continued eating. Conversation turned to Sean and Nicki's school years and a visit Henry had with a former police officer, allowing the family to get caught up on things that had gone on during the week.
"Do you think there will be more raids this week Grandpa" Sean asked when the table was quiet again. Eddie startled at the question knowing how she and her fellow cops handled the situation was the reason Frank had did the raids. Everyone at the table had looked down to see what Frank's response would be.
"I don't believe so Sean, but if it's necessary we will" He replied quickly looking at Eddie and Jamie.
"Was it really necessary this time though? I thought Eddie and the other cops did the right thing by walking away." Nikki said meeting Eddie's gaze.
"Nikki, we really don't need to have this conversation right now" Erin tried to stop the possible tense conversation.
"Mom, I'm just asking a question. I mean Eddie; at the time didn't you think you and the officers did the right thing? Nikki questioned. All eyes at the table moved to Eddie as she took a drink from her wine glass.
"Uh, like I told my Sargent at the time we thought it was best to not escalate the situation. They wanted us to engage, they wanted us to push back. The whole thing started when my partner opened the door it hit one of them in the foot." Eddie said as she looked around the table.
"You really thought the best thing to do was to leave" Danny questioned.
"Danny, don't start okay it's not" Jamie started until Eddie placed her hand on his harm.
"Jamie, stop. I don't need you to explain my choices or fight my battles" Eddie said. "Yes, during the encounter they were wanting us to get mad, they wanted a reaction. It was best to leave them alone. It's not like we don't hear this kind of stuff all the time on the job" Eddie explained speaking to Frank.
"Then do you think the raids should have happened? Sean questioned Eddie.
"Not my call Sean, and above my pay grade" Eddie said trying to sidestep the question.
"It's not that easy, answer the question? Dannie said.
"He's right, at this table it's okay to disagree and give your opinion. Did you think the raid was the right choice?" Erin asked again.
She looked down at her plate. "She not wrong Eddie. Say your peace" Jamie said as he leaned over closer to her. "You know you want to"
"I didn't agree with them. In this precinct the trust in the cops is low, and based off some of the officers I can understand why. Busting in on the complex because we got called names and a can thrown at us? It's overkill in my opinion. You are giving them the idea that we can't let things go. We can't take name-calling. It's not going to instill trust in the community if they think we are going to roll in with tanks and swat if they look at us sideways." Eddie said passionately if as she looked around the table. "Could we have issued them all a summons, sure we could have. We made, no I made as the senior officer on the call, the choice to make sure we hung back to not escalate the situation." She ended.
"Do you think the video makes it look like the NYPD ran away scared?" Henry asked. Eddie looked over to him "Did I look scared in the video" She retorted.
"Do you think in the future you will handle the situation differently?" Frank asked.
"All due respect the situation has happened every tour since the raid. We are getting heckled and called names on every call. Had it not been for the raids the video would have died down by now and the public would have moved on to another story" Eddie replied. "The precinct is at capacity because of the collars from the complex" she looked over at Jamie "Remind me later to talk to you about the guy I caught jumping out the window, he looks familiar." She then turned back to Frank "We aren't going to get the communities respect back for a long time, which just makes our jobs harder on a daily basis. I understand people think we didn't handle the call right, it has been made perfectly clear to me but I stand by it." She finished taking another drink of wine.
"I told Jamie this the other night, it's the public's trust in the police that I am now worried about. Could we have done this differently? Sure, we could have done it in a smaller way but I didn't. I wanted the public to know they will not get away with harassing my cops." He looked over the table. "I will not apologize for that."
"Dad, is everything okay" Jamie asked as Frank walked into their apartment.
"Everything is fine. Like I said on the phone, thanks for letting me stop by," Frank said as he kissed Eddie on the cheek before sitting down in a chair across from the couch.
"You are always welcome Dad, you know that. What's going on?" Jamie asked. "Did you want a drink?" he asked. Frank nodded and Jamie grabbed a tumbler and the bottle of scotch.
"I wanted to talk to you both." He accepted the drink from Jamie. "Don't worry it's nothing bad." He saw the look of panic cross Eddie's face.
"Your captain was at 1PP again today updating us on the Bucshwick Butcher. Hell of thing catching him during the raid" Frank said looking at Eddie.
"It was, had we not been there knocking on the doors, he might have never been caught" Eddie said.
"Your captain gave all the credit to the two of you" Frank smiled. "It was all Eddie. She saw the similarity and ran with it." Jamie replied smiling at Eddie.
"It was a team effort sir" Eddie said as Frank tilted his head. "Sorry, it's hard to keep it from slipping in when we are talking about work" she responded referring to calling him sir and not Frank.
'I know it was a stressful few days but I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job Eddie. It was a great catch and you pulled the case together. Nice work" Frank smiled and tipped his glass to both of them.
"That means a lot coming from you" Eddie said. They talked for a few more minutes until Frank said he had to get home to finish some reports. "You both have a good rest of the week. I'll see you on Sunday" Jamie let him out and closed the door behind him.
"Never thought that was how the day was going to end." Eddie said as she sat on the sofa with a glass of wine. Jamie sat down next to her and pulled her close his arm around her shoulder.
"You did good Janko. You deserve the credit" Jamie kissed her head. "Your dad coming over to tell us good job means a lot" she snuggled in closer to him wrapping an arm around his middle.
"He was proud and he considers you one of his own now. You may be marrying into the family but he thinks of you as a daughter already." Eddie looked up at him and leaned in for a kiss.
"I'm happy to be part of your family," she said. "I love you"
"Love you too Ed" Jamie replied kissing her again.