"Morning Eddie" Jamie said
"Morning Jamie" Eddie said happily
"Did you have fun yesterday?" Jamie asked.
"It was the best Thanksgiving I've ever had" Eddie said snuggling into Jamie.
"Good I'm glad. I had a great time, even if you did beat us in football" Jamie said laughing.
"I had to put you in your place"
"Of course you did" Jamie said.
"So what do we do today?" Eddie asked.
"We always get up and have breakfast and then we get dressed and put on the Christmas music and decorate inside and out" Jamie said grinning happily.
"I'm excited" Eddie said.
"Are you ok with Christmas or do you have issued with that too?"
"No I like Christmas. I mean I worked last year but I do put up some decorations at my place"
"Good, and prepare for Christmas to explode in here" Jamie said
"Good, I like when holidays explode" Eddie said laughing.
They got out of bed and went downstairs in their pajamas. Everyone else except Nicky were waiting for breakfast. Linda was making her famous pancakes.
"Jack, Sean why don't you go wake Nicky up" Erin said
Jack and Sean's faces lit up.
"Are you sure?" Linda asked Erin
"Of course" Erin said with a devilish grin on her face.
Jack and Sean ran up the stairs while everyone else set the table.
"Nicky, Nicky" They yelled running into the room.
"Go away"
"Get up the pancakes are done!" Sean said
"And then we have to decorate!" Jack exclaimed
"Just another hour" Nicky mumbled
"No now" They both said jumping on the bed
"Ok, ok I'm up" Nicky said sitting up
Jack and Sean were still jumping on the bed so Nicky took their feet out from underneath of them.
"Hey not fair!" They both said
"All's fair in love and war" Nicky said tickling them.
Nicky tickled them until they were hysterically laughing.
"Race you down for pancakes" Nicky said jumping out of bed.
She ran down the stairs closely followed by Sean and Jack. She ran into the dining room and slammed into Jamie who was carrying the butter.
"Oomph" Jamie said falling to the ground
"Sorry Uncle Jamie" Nicky said trying to hid her laughter.
"You would think it's tease Jamie week" Jamie said
Eddie held a hand out for him and helped him up. Jack and Sean stood in the corner laughing.
"Actually kid it is" Danny said
Jamie still had butter all over his shirt so he ran over and hugged Danny.
"Gross really kid?" Danny asked surprised
"Pay back's a bitch isn't it kid?" Jamie said sarcastically.
"Will you two go change so you don't get butter everywhere" Frank said
Danny and Jamie went and put on clean shirts.
"Did that make you feel better?" Danny asked Jamie.
"Maybe" Jamie said laughing.
They went back to the table and sat down.
They said grace and then passed the pancakes and bacon around.
"This is amazing" Eddie said
"They're mom's specialtity" Sean said.
"They really are" Eddie said taking another bite.
"I love your pancakes Aunt Linda" Nicky said
"Thanks Nicky"
"Can someone pass me more please" Jamie asked
"You eating for two now or something kid, you've been wolfing down food like it's your job" Danny said laughing
"No I'm not eating for two. I don't take meals with Eddie during the day anymore so I have to keep my food intake up when I'm with her" Jamie said laughing
"Oh hush" Eddie said
"And plus I never turn down a good meal" Jamie said taking another bite.
They cleaned up from breakfast and got dressed. The women put on yoga pants and long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts. Danny, Jamie, Jack and Sean had on sweatpants and a sweatshirt and Henry and Frank had on old jeans and sweaters.
They all gathered in the living room to decide what to do first.
"So Linda, Pop, Erin, Eddie and Nicky can start decorating inside and boys we can start outside" Frank said
"Jamie try not to fall off of the roof this year" Jamie said
"You better not" Eddie said
"It was Jack's fault" Jamie said putting his hands up in defense laughing.
"Oh no, I'm not taking the blame for this one"
"I think it was dad's fault" Sean said laughing.
"I think it was Seany, you dad thought that throwing a Frisbee up to me on the roof was a good idea. It would have been if he had warned me and not tried to take my head off" Jamie said
"How bad did you get hurt?"
"I was fine, I was on the lowest part of the roof. Just a sore back"
"So that's why you told me if was a football injury" Eddie said laughing.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"Well, Jamie walked into work looking like he was a soiled diaper on and I asked him if he was ok and he said he got hurt playing football with you boys; but apparently he fell off a roof" Eddie said laughing
"Hey! It's not that funny" Jamie said turning red.
"Oh it was pretty funny watching you walk" Eddie said. She turned to Danny "Don't hurt my boyfriend" She said seriously.
They all laughed knowing that if Danny did hurt Jamie that Eddie would go all mother cub on him.
They went to the attic and basement and hauled all of the boxes up and down. They got the outside decorations from the shed and went to work.
Jamie, Jack and Sean got all of the Nativity pieces and started setting it up on the front lawn.
"Jack, Sean is it even?" Jamie asked adjusting the large manger.
Jack and Sean both pointed to the left and Jamie fixed it. He walked over to them and took a look.
"Good job guys" Jamie said fist bumping them.
Danny and Frank were setting up Santa's sleigh and his reindeer. Jamie and the boys helped them out and then moved to the front walk.
"Hey Sean can you go in and get Aunt Erin and Nicky to come to do the door?" Jamie asked.
Erin and Nicky came out and wrapped the columns in lights and fresh greens and added the bows. They also hung the wreath and went back inside.
Jamie lined the walk with lights and Jack and Sean helped him put lights on the bushes.
"It's looking good so far" Danny said
"Ok Jack do you want to help your Uncle Jamie on the roof this year?" Frank asked.
Jack's eyes lit up at the thought of being on the roof.
Jamie went up the ladder held by Frank and Jack followed. As he got to the top he became a little hesitant but Jamie held his hand out and Jack quickly took it. Frank snapped a picture of the two of them up there before they got to work. Danny climbed up half way and gave them the icicle lights to hang. They put an angle on the roof to symbolize those watching over them and climbed back down.
"See no Frisbees this year" Danny said laughing
"Yes, thank you for that" Jamie said laughing.
"It looks really good boys. I'm impressed"
"Wanna go get Pop and the girls to come out and take a look?" Frank and Jack and Sean.
The two of them ran inside to get the rest of the family. Soon they were all out on the front lawn.
Eddie walked over to Jamie and he wrapped his arms in front of her.
They hadn't lit all the lights yet, they had some new additions to the family, not only some new decorations but also the addition of Eddie. They wanted to capture the lighting ceremony on camera so they set of the video camera with the tripod.
Frank and Henry were standing with Erin and Nicky. Danny had his arms around Linda and the boys were standing in front of them and Jamie was next to Erin with his arms around Eddie.
"Sean want to do the honors?" Frank asked.
Sean happily nodded and took the cord from his grandfather
"On Three" Danny said
"ONE, TWO, THREE" they all yelled. On three Sean plugged in the cord.
Everything lit and they all cheered.
Jamie put his head on Eddie's shoulder and pulled her closer if it was possible and whispered I love you into her ear. She turned around and kissed him. Linda kissed Danny and Jack and Sean high-fived each other. Erin hugged her father while Nicky hugged Henry.
They all stood there a little longer capturing the magic of the lights, it was getting dark enough to see the lights but it was still light out enough that it was fully glowing.
"It's absolutely perfect" Eddie said
Jamie was smiling so hard that he thought that his face would freeze like that. He actually wouldn't be upset if it froze like that because it was a true and genuine smile. He hadn't been this happy in years, there was still a part of his heart that twinged at his happiness but he pushed it aside for now.
"Everything looks great, you boys did a fantastic job" Erin said gushing.
"Yea it I think this is the best one in years" Nicky said
"I'm getting better and better at delegating" Henry said laughing.
"It's perfect, thank you for letting me be apart of it" Eddie said
"We wouldn't want it any other way" Frank said
"Thank you" Eddie said blushing a little
"Should we go in and warm the boys up and eat dinner?" Linda asked
Jack and Sean both thought that it was a good idea.
The boys went in and got showers to warm up while Henry and women made dinner, leftovers were always good.
They got showered and changed and came back down stairs. They got everything on the table and sat down.
"I didn't think I was hungry until I saw all of this food" Jamie said, eyes wide.
"Yea Thanksgiving left overs are the best" Jack said
"At least you taught him one thing properly" Jamie said to Danny
"Very funny, just for that I'm gonna steal your dark meat"
"You better not!" Jamie said
"Seeing as I'm the only sister I think I get all of the dark meat" Erin said laughing
"Dad" Jamie and Dad both said laughing
"Fight nicely children" Frank wanred
They all looked at him.
"Or I will take all of the dark meat"
The whole table erupted in laughter.
They said grace and started to pass the food around. Nicky was first to take her meat and she started hysterically laughing,
"Sweetie is everything ok?" Erin asked
"There's only piece of dark meat let, you pigs ate it all yesterday" Nicky said laughing
"Alright Nic, we will let you have it" Danny said reluctantly.
Nicky smiled and cut it up into small bites. Someone she managed to cut it into ten pieces to share with everyone. She passed I around. They all said their thanks and ate it at the same time.
"That was very nice of you" Frank said
"Yea well I didn't need to see grown men cry" Nicky said laughing so hard she barely got the words out.
Danny and Jamie faked hurt and Eddie and Linda high-fived her.
They finished eating and cleaned up. They made some tea and went into the living room. The tree was up and the lights were on it and now it was time to decorate it.
Eddie walked over to Jamie and wrapped a blanket around him.
"Still cold?" Eddie asked
"A little" Jamie said
Eddie was going to go look for more blankets but Jamie pulled her onto his lap.
"Now I'm warm" Jamie said snuggling into Eddie.
"Glad I could be of assistance"
"If you two horny teenagers are done we could use some help" Danny said laughing.
Eddie and Jamie both blushed and Eddie jumped off Jamie.
"Oh now you can make yourself useful" Danny said handing Jamie a box. Jamie just rolled his eyes.
They started to open the boxes and unwrap the ornaments. Henry was playing the piano and Eddie stood off to the side.
Jamie noticed that she had stopped opening the ornaments with them. He quietly walked over to her.
"Babe is everything ok?" Jamie asked slightly concerned.
"Yea, yea I Just need some air" Eddie said walking away from him.
"Eddie" Jamie said softly.
"I just need a minuet Jamie" Eddie said walking outside.
Jamie respected her wishes and walked back over to the tree. Frank pulled him aside.
"Is Eddie ok?" Frank asked.
"Yea, I think so. She said she needed air"
"What's going on with her?" Frank asked with his own concerned expression.
"I don't know, I thought she was having fun and enjoying herself. I know she struggles with holidays and we are going to see her mom tomorrow so maybe its just everything" Jamie said.
"Jamie, you need to give her time. As Teddy Roosevelt once said 'It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things'. She said herself that she hasn't celebrated the holidays, she might just need time to process the holidays without having a close relationship with her parents. We know what it's like to not want to celebrate, maybe she just hasn't moved on to her better things yet" Frank said. He patted Jamie on the shoulder and went back to the tree.
Jamie thought for a second and grabbed the biggest blanket they had and went out to Eddie. He figured she would be by the pond. He walked outback and he saw her sitting on the bench. It looked like her shoulders her heaving and he wasn't sure if she was cold or crying or both. He jogged her to her and sat down next to her. He wrapped the blanket around both of them and waited to see what Eddie would do. Eddie sat there for a second before she moved closer to Jamie. Jamie immediately pulled close to him and she put her head on her shoulder.
"Lamb Chop what's going on?" Jamie asked softly.
"It's hard Jamie" Eddie said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"You have this perfect family and yes I know you have suffered unimaginable tragedy but you have had each other. You can talk to them and lean on them and you can sadly or happily celebrate the holidays. Although the holidays were never 'perfect' in my family it was better than not having my family at all to celebrate them with. Being with you and your family the last few months has made me realize that I wish I had a better relationship with my parents. I didn't realize that I missed all of this about having a family. I thought that I could do it on my own that I didn't need a family but it turns out that I do. I love you and I love your family but I feel like I can't fully participate because they are your traditions and your memories" Eddie said. She wasn't looking at Jamie, she was looking down and her hands playing with the end of the blanket.
Jamie didn't say anything he sat there for a moment to process what Eddie had just told him.
"Teddy Roosevelt once said 'It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things'. You need to make peace with yourself and your parents before you can fully move on." Jamie said
"You are turning into your dad" Eddie said
"Where do you think I got the quote from?" Jamie said smiling.
"I made peace with my dad" Eddie said.
"And tomorrow, hopefully you will make peace with your mom"
"I really don't deserve you" Eddie said
"You deserve the best"
"Are you the best?" Eddie asked, a small smile creeping onto her face.
Jamie gave her a the look of questioning when perps would try and tell them they were innocent when they had clearly just saw them commit a crime.
"Yes" Jamie said laughing
"I think so too" Eddie said
"Anything for my Eddie"
"I like when you say that" Eddie said
"Say what?" Jamie asked
"When you call me your Eddie"
Jamie just smiled and hugged her tighter.
"Eddie I want you to know that you are just as much a part of this family as any of us. Yes these are our traditions and everything but I want to include you in them too. Are you doing ok with everything?" Jamie asked
"Yea, I think so. I was just overwhelmed with everything. I know it's selfish but I'm jealous of you and your relationship with your family. It also makes me upset over the holidays that I haven't celebrated with anyone. I love working at the homeless shelter but this is much better" Eddie said.
Jamie could see that she was fighting her inner demons and he wished he knew what to do. He could see that tears were forming in her eyes, so he took her hand in his. Eddie smiled, with her smile few tears fell. Jamie wiped them with the pad of his thumb.
"Eddie, I can promise you that with me you will always have a family, you will always have people that love you and support you no matter what"
"Thank you" Eddie said.
She finally raised her head to meet Jamie's eyes.
"Ready to go back in? It's cold out" Jamie said.
Eddie snapped out of her own thoughts and started shaking. She hadn't realized how cold she actually was.
"Let's go in and get you warm. And Eddie?" Jamie asked.
"Yea Jamie?" Eddie asked.
"We would be honored to have you help us with the tree. You did a great job helping Pop and Erin, why did you freak out?"
"I don't know, you were sharing stories about the ornaments and I loved the stories but I wished I had ornaments with that kind of history"
"Never to late to start" Jamie said
"You really are the best" Eddie said.
Jamie didn't say anything he just smiled.
Jamie stood up and held his hand out for Eddie.
"It's freezing" Eddie said shivering.
She stood up and Jamie wrapped her in the blanket. He put his arms around her and led her into the house. He said her in front of the fireplace and Erin brought them more blankets. She gave Jamie a look asking if Eddie was ok and Jamie just nodded. Nicky took their mugs of tea into the kitchen to reheat them. Jamie brought over a box of ornaments and sat them on the coffee table. The box was marked Jamie.
"What are these?" Eddie asked.
"These are the ornaments from when I was little. You want to know about me, these tell me like that open book"
Eddie's face instantly lit up.
"Ready?" Jamie asked.
Eddie nodded yes.
Jamie took one out of the box that was blue.
"This was my very first ornament. It was the first one that Grandma Betty gave me. It was to celebrate my first Christmas."
"It's beautiful Jamie" Eddie said thinking of a smilar pink one she had.
Jamie showed her the rest of them and hey put them on the tree. Henry started playing the piano again. Eddie started singing instinctively.
"Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace" Eddie said.
Henry continued to play, shocked at how well Eddie could sing. Jamie went and stood being her with his arms wrapped around her. He knew she could sing. She would sing on patrol but usually she was half kidding and it didn't always sound great. He had also heard her sing the first night they kissed and ever since then he thought she had a magnificent voice. They had sung together a few times at karaoke night in the bar but they were usually tipsy and his poor singing bought her down.
After Silent Night was over Henry switched gears and started playing the song that Jamie and Eddie had been arguing over the night they kissed. Jamie had told Henry the story a while ago.
Jamie turned Eddie around and he took her hand in his right hand and put his other hand on her hip. He had seen his father dance with his mother to thing song enough times that he knew how to properly lead. Eddie wasn't totally surprised and she eased in quite nicely.
The rest of the family sat down and watched them dance. Jamie and Eddie both had flushed, but happy expressions. The song ended and Jamie kissed Eddie. The rest of them clapped and they finished decorating the tree.
Henry started to play O Christmas Tree on the piano and everyone gathered around the tree.
"Alright Jack, light it up" Frank said.
They dimmed the living room lights and Jack turned on the switch to the Christmas tree.
When the lights went on and the tree started spinning, everyone ohhed and ahhed.
"It's so magical" Eddie said to Jamie.
"I'm glad you helped up" Jamie said.
They stood there looking at the tree until Henry finished the song. Then they grabbed the camera and took a picture.
They watched Elf and then Danny, Linda and the boys went home. Jamie and Eddie went to Jamie's and Erin and Nicky went home.
Once they were back at Jamie's, they got ready for bed. They were laying in bed when Jamie spoke up.
"So did you have fun? It wasn't too much?" Jamie asked.
"No I loved it. I know I freaked out but I think that I am ok. You were right with your Teddy quote. I do need to move on and that I can't do that until I make peace with everything" Eddie said.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Jamie asked
"Yea, a little"
"Well I will be there every step of the way with you" Jamie said.
"Thanks, I appreciate it. It means more to me than you could ever know."
Jamie didn't say anything he just kissed the top of Eddie's head.
"Can we talk about you for a second?" Eddie asked Jamie.
"Uh sure, is there an issue?" Jamie asked, wondering where this was going.
"Are you doing ok?" Eddie asked.
"Yea, I'm fine why?" Jamie said a little too quickly.
"Because it's the holidays and you don't have your mom or your brother."
"I haven't had them for awhile"
"But normally you would talk about them, and lately you haven't. I just want to make sure that you are doing ok. Your whole demeanor changes when ever your mom or Joe were brought up the last few days."
"I appreciate your concern but I'm fine" Jamie said.
"Just making sure lamb chop." Eddie said.
They kissed each other again and Eddie was quickly asleep. Jamie on the other hand couldn't fall asleep. He was thinking about his mom and Joe. He had been feeling like he was neglecting them and now Eddie was noticing too, what kind of son and brother did that make him. Jamie was eventually so consumed with his thoughts that he had fallen asleep.
The next morning, the alarm went off.
Jamie and Eddie both woke up.
"Morning sunshine" Eddie said.
"Morning babe" Jamie said.
"What am I suppose to wear to meet your mom?" Jamie asked.
"Nice clothes, nice country club clothes" Eddie said groaning.
"Can I wear khakis and a blazer?" Jamie asked
"Yea that's fine" Eddie said
"Ok good"
"I'm gonna go take a shower" Eddie said.
"Want me to join?" Jamie said cheekily
"Jamie" Eddie warned.
"I'm kidding" Jamie said laughing.
"I know, and I appreciate you being patient with me"
"I know you do. And I love you" Jamie said.
"Soon enough" Eddie said. She threw her shirt at Jamie from the bathroom. He just laughed, he knew how much Eddie liked messing with him. He was ready, he just had to wait for Eddie to be ready.
Jamie went and made coffee while Eddie showered.
I didn't want to end it here, but I wanted to give you all an update. I have been a lot busier than I had expected but I promise more updates are coming!