Jamie glanced at the clock as he bounced a very hungry baby Joe. "03:00hrs. Little man, we are going to have to work on this sleeping through the night. What age do you start to sleep through the night?" Jamie sighed as the bottle warmer beeped, signaling the bottle was ready. He grabbed it out and walked back into the bedroom. He sat down on the bed and leaned against the headboard and gave Joe the bottle.
Eddie stirred next to him, sleep clouding her voice, "Thank you for getting him again. I'm just so tired."
"It's ok, I don't mind. Go back to sleep." Jamie rubbed her back, hoping he didn't sound as tired as he felt.
"That's a lie, but thanks for trying to make me feel better."
Jamie let out a yawn, "No, I don't mind taking care of him, and you need more rest than I do right now since you are still recovering. I am tired, I won't deny that."
Eddie gave a small smile "I love you."
"I love you too."
Eddie closed her eyes and immediately drifted back to sleep. Jamie adjusted his position slightly, and watched as Joe finished the bottle. He burped Joe and gave a small chuckle at the loudness of his belch. Jamie got up and swaddled Joe, then paced the room while bouncing Joe so he could get him to fall asleep.
A few minutes later, Joe was asleep and Jamie laid his tiny sleeping form into the bassinet and climbed back into bed. He drifted off with images of his perfect son, all his features etched into memory.
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"Babe, do you want to take the pump with us?"
"Please. Can you also make sure we have my cover in the diaper bag?"
Jamie gathered the items requested while Eddie finished getting ready for church. Once everything was packed, Jamie picked up Joe from the swing, and placed him in his car seat. As soon as he finished buckling him in, Eddie walked out of their room ready to head out.
"Ready for our first trip out of the house as a family of three?" Jamie gave Eddie a chaste kiss as he handed her the diaper bag and he picked up the car seat and the car keys.
"I guess so, do you think we have everything? Like do we need anything else besides the diaper bag, my pump, and the baby?" Eddie's brows furrowed together trying to think of anything else they could possibly need.
"I don't think so. But we are only going to church and then to my dad's house, if we need anything we can just head out early, and then we will know for next time." Jamie opened Eddie's door and held out his hand so she could climb into the Jeep. Once she was settled, Jamie opened the back door and placed the car seat in it's base, making sure it locked securely in place.
They drove in comfortable silence, both enjoying the moment. When they were a few blocks away from church, a tiny cry broke the silence.
"I bet he is hungry. Do we have time for me to feed him before church starts?"
Jamie looked at the clock, "Yea, we have plenty of time. That is the hazard of being a Reagan and being a cop, we are always early everywhere we go."
Eddie gave a small chuckle as she rooted around in the diaper bag before pulling out her cover. Jamie parked the car and then got out to get Joe so Eddie could feed him. As he handed Joe to Eddie he heard Danny yelling at Sean for skipping school again, but as soon as Jamie turned around, the yelling stopped.
"Hey kid. Want another kid? He skips school, so he could be a baby sitter." Danny gave Sean a pointed look. In return Sean rolled his eyes.
"Sean, you can't be cutting class. I know school is boring, but you gotta keep your grades up and graduate."
"Oh trust me. He knows I'll give him a beat down if he doesn't graduate."
Jamie laughed, "Is this what I have to look forward to when the teenage years hit?"
Danny gave Sean a noogie "Hopefully baby Joe isn't a total knucklehead like his older cousins. But he's half you so that should be enough for him to be the golden boy with the brains."
"I heard that Danny!" Eddie pointed at Danny from her spot in the car. "Not nice."
All four erupted into laughter at Eddie's comment. They barely noticed Frank walking up to them with Henry, Erin, and Nicky in tow.
"Uh-oh, what's so funny?" Frank's mustached twitched upwards like it does when he smiles.
Danny claimed Eddie was getting all sassy with him, trying to make himself look like an innocent. Eddie was getting out of the car while Danny made up his story. She burped Joe as she walked over to the group. "I know you don't believe a word he says, right?"
Danny feigned hurt "I am shocked that you think I would make up such accusations against you."
Eddie raised a fist, but her eyes twinkled with humor.
"Woah. No fighting while holding my nephew!" Erin reached out her arms for Joe, and Eddie handed him over. "You guys look exhausted. How much sleep have you gotten?"
Jamie and Eddie looked at each other before answering in unison. "None."
"He is up every two to three hours. Fortunately Eddie has been able to pump some so I can take a turn to feed Joe in the middle of the night, but we both wake up when he cries, and then it takes forever to get back to sleep." Jamie sighed as he pulled Eddie in close and kissed the top of her head.
"I remember those days. Linda was always yelling at me, mad because I didn't have boobs, and so I couldn't take a turn to feed the boys."
Eddie's cheeks flushed slightly, remembering a very similar conversation between her and Jamie a few days ago. To hide it, she turned around to grab the diaper bag and the car seat and closed the door to the Jeep. Jamie took the car seat and diaper bag from Eddie, locked the car, and dropped the keys into the outer pocket of the diaper bag.
"If you guys want to take a nap when we get to the house, we can take care of baby Joe for a little while. I think between all of us we can figure it out." Henry patted Jamie's shoulder as they made their way into church for mass.
"Thanks Pop, we might take you up on that offer." Jamie smiled at Eddie and gave her hand a squeeze.
As they walked up the stairs, they both watched as the normally tough-as-nails Erin walked with baby Joe cradled in her arms, while cooing and talking to him. Jamie and Eddie looked at each other, smiling at the sight before them, knowing they were incredibly blessed to have such a supportive family.
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"Who wants to wake them? Dinner will be ready in five minutes." Henry looked around at everyone in the kitchen, trying to get one of them to be the bad guy to wake Jamie and Eddie from their nap.
Danny effectively dodged that bullet since he was feeding Joe a bottle. "I've got the baby. Erin, you go get them."
"I'm setting the table, Nicky can go wake them." Erin gave Nicky a pleading look to go wake them, not wanting to be the bad guy.
"Why can't we just let them sleep? They can just eat when they wake up." Nicky laid the idea out as if she were the only one thinking it
Henry scoffed at the idea, "Nicky, it's Sunday dinner. Only bullet wounds and giving birth gets you excused."
Frank rolled his eyes. "If none of you are going to be brave, I will go. And Pop, I know it's been awhile since we have had a baby in the family, but I am going to give them the option to continue sleeping. They're exhausted." Frank's glare at Henry communicated that the decision was final, and he turned to go wake up the sleeping couple.
"Jamie, Eddie, dinner is ready. Do you want to get up or keep sleeping?"
Eddie stirred and slowly sat up, "Yea, give me a few minutes though, I need to feed baby Joe." Eddie nudged Jamie awake as she gathered her bearings. "Jamie, can you go grab baby Joe for me please?"
"Danny is feeding him a bottle right now, but do you want some time to pump?" Frank gave a soft smile, reassuring Eddie that they would wait for her before starting dinner.
"That would be great. Jamie, can you get—"
Jamie was already up across the room retrieving the pump for Eddie. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "I will be at the table, come out when you're finished and then we will start dinner."
Frank gave Eddie's shoulder a small squeeze and followed Jamie out into the dining room.
About ten minutes later, Eddie walked in and sat down at the dining room table. "Thanks for waiting for me, you guys could have started though."
"Nonsense. We always wait for everyone to be here before we start. Francis, would you like to say grace?" Henry gave Frank a pointed look, telling him that he was not requesting, but telling him to say the blessing.
After the blessing was said, plates were filled with food and normal conversation returned to the table. Soon, Danny made a comment about what Joe would think of the baby. Which then caused Jamie, in his sleep deprived state, to respond with a look of confusion, "What do you mean? Joe is the baby."
Erin gave a small chuckle. "I knew this was going to happen. Joe will always be Joe, and not that baby Joe can't be called Joe later, it's just really confusing right now. Plus, we can't always call him baby Joe. I vote we call him Joey."
Eddie leaned her head on Jamie's shoulder. "I like that. Are you okay with calling him Joey?"
Jamie leaned his head against hers, and smiled. "Yea, I like that. Little Joey."
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"Well, well, well. If it isn't Sgt. Daddy! How's parent life?" Tuna enthusiastically greeted Jamie with a hug, and bent down to look in the car seat at Joey.
"Hey Tuna, just here to fill out some paperwork. I come back next week. Parent life is great, aside from the lack of sleep and constant worry that I am going to screw up my kid, parent life is a total breeze."
"I feel ya. But don't worry sarge, you are going to be a great dad." Tuna smiled at Jamie and then shifted his gaze as Eddie walked through the door behind Jamie. "I'm sure you are a fantastic mother as well Janko."
Eddie came up and hooked her arm around Jamie's. The two responded in unison, "Thanks Tuna."
Jamie and Eddie walked back to Captain Espinoza's office to say hi, and to get the paperwork he needed to fill out. Capt. Espinoza was on the phone, so he acknowledged the couple with a wave and slid the paperwork towards Jamie. Once he retrieved the paperwork, they went and sat in Jamie's office while he filled it out.
Word spread quickly that the newest Reagan was in the house and almost every cop in the precinct came in to say hi to Jamie and Eddie, and fawn over Joey. Even Sgt. McNichols smiled at Joey as he slept away in his car seat.
Rachel came in and held Joey for a bit, claiming she could never get enough of his sweet little face, and to tell Eddie all the crazy things that have happened since she has been out. Rachel promised on her next day off to come over and bring dinner for Eddie and Jamie. McNichols called out for Rachel so she handed Joey back to Eddie and said a quick goodbye.
Eddie sighed, finally enjoying the quiet, too tired to enjoy the visit to the precinct. Capt. Espinoza came in with a light knock on the door. "Hello you two. How is everything?"
Jamie yawned, "Great. We are both exhausted, but it has been really great."
Espinoza smiled at Joey, and his typical tough demeanor and blank expression melted away at the sight of the sleeping baby.
"Do you want to hold him Capt.?" Eddie looked at Espinoza as he admired the baby in her arms.
"If you don't mind. He is quite the cutie."
Eddie handed Joey to Espinoza, and watched as the hard-ass captain persona melted away into that of a caring and loving father, quietly talking to the baby, and bouncing up and down as he walked back and forth across the room.
A few minutes later, Sgt. McNichols came back in and looked at Espinoza holding Joey.
"Don't be a baby hog Capt. I want a turn as long as Janko and Reagan are ok with that?" She looked at Jamie and Eddie, who both nodded their permission to McNichols.
McNichols softly sang to Joey as she rocked him, not caring that her hard-ass attitude was completely gone in that moment.
Jamie and Eddie shared a knowing smile, realizing there was way more to Espinoza and McNichols than they ever thought.
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"Hello, I am Dr. Frank Richardson, but all the kids call me Dr. Frankie. Who do we have here today?" The doctor shook the hands of Jamie and Eddie before sitting down on his stool and logging in to the charting system on the computer.
"I'm Jamie Reagan, and this is my wife, Eddie. We have our son, Joseph Conor Reagan." Jamie rested his hand on the handle of the car seat that was sitting on the examination table.
"Excellent. Any relation to Danny Reagan or the PC?" The doctor looked Jamie up and down trying to see if there was any relation. "My daughter did the police explorer program a few years ago, I met him at the end of the program after my daughter couldn't stop talking about how inspirational he was. Really great guy."
Jamie just smiled, "Yes, Danny is my older brother and my father is the PC."
"Well, it looks like he raised some great kids. I used to treat Danny's kids when they were younger." The doctor smiled and turned back to his computer. "So, Joseph, looks like we were perfectly healthy when we were born, six pounds and three ounces, eighteen inches long. Vaginal birth, and looks like we are being breast fed. Mom and Dad, are we first time parents? What line of work are each of you in? Also, are we going by Joseph or do we have a nickname for the little guy?"
"We are calling him Joey. Jamie and I are both cops, and yes, this is our first baby, although he is a lot sooner than we planned." Eddie looked over at Joey's sleeping form, and then back to the doctor with a soft smile on her lips.
"I hear that a lot, but I also hear that they wouldn't trade it for the world. Lets get Joey's check-up under way, and see how that little man is doing."
The doctor went about his check-up getting Joey's measurements and weight, making sure everything still looked good. Joey had gained three pounds since he was born, and was now twenty inches long. Joey started to fuss at all the movement, and because he was cold.
"Mrs. Reagan, the last thing I need to do today is give him the next round of the hepatitis B vaccine. What I have found that works in the past is to start feeding the little guy, and then I will give him the shot. That way, he is distracted and wont react too much to the shot. Are you ok with doing that?"
Eddie looked over at Jamie, who had a reassuring look in his eye. Although she was never shy about her body prior to having Joey, she was suddenly shy now. She read that she would regain her confidence soon, but in moments like these, she felt she would never feel as confident as she was again.
"Ok, I can do that." Eddie nodded at the doctor as she took Joey from his arms.
"Excellent. I am going to go and get the vaccine drawn up, so you can take a few minutes to get situated with however you are comfortable." With that, the doctor strode out of the room, and closed the door behind him.
Eddie sat down on the exam table and began to feed Joey, as Jamie looked at all the posters on the wall. Moments later the doctor was back in, and within seconds, had administered the vaccine and was disposing of the needle. Joey was totally unfazed and continued to happily nurse.
"All done. Joey is perfectly healthy. I will see him back in a month. I will let you finish feeding him, and then when you are done, head to check out and schedule your next appointment. Congrats you two, and please say hello to Danny and your father for me." The doctor shook Jamie's hand and then walked out of the room to see his next patient.
Jamie and Eddie sat in contented silence as Joey finished nursing. Eddie burped him and put him back in his car seat. Eddie gathered her things as Jamie picked up Joey in his car seat. They held hands as they made their way to checkout, and then out to the car. They were both pleased to know that despite the challenges they have faced, Joey was healthy and strong, and was growing appropriately.
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A/N: I feel like the baptism should be its own chapter, so I will write that separately. Hope you enjoyed the first month of Joey's life! Please RR, it is very much appreciated!
-FireMedic313