**I don't own these characters, just a fan who wants to tell a story**
Jamie breathed a sigh of relief when his Dad arrived.
"Hey." Jamie greeted opening the door and welcoming his dad in with a small wave of his arm.
"I brought lunch," Frank said from under his bushy mustache.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Jamie responded with a tired smile. Now that his dad was here, Jamie didn't know why he had called his Dad. What would Dad do to help this situation?
"Should you be up and moving around so much?" Frank questioned wasn't even using a crutch but walking around normally, his arm was still in a cast, but that looked to be the only problem.
"I'm fine," Jamie replied rather shortly, he was tired of Eddie always underestimating what he could do, he didn't want his Dad to think that he was some invalid. He was getting better every day. "My physical therapist said that I'm progressing quickly and my doctor thinks I'm going to heal up pretty well."
"That's great!" Frank returned.
The two stood in awkward silence.
"It's not every day I get a call asking to talk," Frank remarked. "What's up, anything going on."
"I'm gonna make coffee," Jamie stated, "do you going to want any.".
"Yeah, I could use some coffee," Frank answered, taking a seat at the table.
"How much time can you stay?" Jamie inquired, sitting gingerly down at the table, getting up and down sometimes was a struggle if he moved too quickly.
"About an hour and a half, now what's on your mind," Frank questioned, his eagle eyes trained on his son attempting to read anything that might be wrong with his son. "are you an Eddie fighting?" He baited after Jamie didn't answer and just stared at his hand on the table.
"No, no Eddie and I are fine, at least as far as I know." Jamie started, but he couldn't voice what was on his mind. "Dad, I just."
"What's going on Jamie?" Frank questioned, concerned now in full force about what was going on in his son's life.
"I'm thinking about quitting the NYPD." Jamie blurted out faster than he intended.
"Oh." Frank said, after a long pause as he leaned into the back of his chair.
"Yeah." Jamie sighed. "I'm just not sure I can keep doing it, with two kids on the way and Eddie."
"What would you do instead?" Frank inquired.
"Go back to law maybe," Jamie replied. "To be honest I have no idea I just don't know what I should do Dad."
"Have you talked to Eddie?" Frank asked.
"Yes, and while she said it's my choice, though she said she would prefer me in a safer job. She's terrified of having to raise the twins alone. She knows how dangerous this job is first hand. She almost lost me a few months ago and right now she's petrified she's going to lose me forever." Jamie's words gushed out like a river breaking free from a dam. "And to be honest I don't want to leave my kids without a father...How did you and mom do it?" Jamie felt like a child again, he turned to his father with a slight hope that his Dad could just make the problems just vanish.
"I feel like you've already made your decision on this." Frank remarked, leaning forward in his chair. Jamie came to him often for advice but he hadn't seen Jamie this torn since he came to tell him that he was joining the NYPD after he graduated law school.
Jamie sighed. "The logical and reasonable decision is to leave the NYPD and become a lawyer, but…"
"But what?"
"But I want to make a difference on the ground before the bad thing happens. If I become a lawyer then I will only see it after there's nothing left to do to stop the bad thing that happened, now it's just the aftermath, and I'm not sure I can give that up."
"I can't make this decision for you Jamie, and this is a hard one, but I have faith you will make the right one, for you and your family."
Sydney knew this case, while difficult due to the publicity, would also be easy if she could play her cards right. Evidence was on her side, she had done the research, she had the witnesses, all she had to do was convince the jury of that. Opening statements had gone well, she was faced with a difficult opponent Assistant DA Clark Sandbury, but he didn't have a great way with people and it would impact how he connected with the jury. Eddie was going to be the first witness called by Sandbury. Eddie was getting called to the stand as soon as the court was back in session. While her testimony could be damning to the case, it could also prove that Jessica was in fact acting under duress, which was her whole defense. Sydney sighed as she clicked her pen in and out, in and out, in and out, the dull sound soothing her racing mind.
The gavel jolted her to the stand position as the Judge came back into the courtroom. The classic openings were shared and the "Prosecution, call your first witness" set Sydney's adrenaline pumping through her veins.
"The Prosecution calls Officer Edit Janko to the stand." Sandbury's nasally voice rang out.
Eddie moved slowly still with a slight limp to the stand, which Sydney had to admit wasn't going to help Jessica, nor was actually any of Eddie's appearance, she now was starting to look very pregnant and that would certainly make an impact on the jury.
"Do you swear to tell the truth-" the familiar oath made Sydney impatient, she wanted this testimony over, then she would know how much damage had been caused and she could do cross-examination and hopefully make a difference for Jessica. She turned back and scanned the courtroom for Jamie, she had hoped to see him, but she could find the familiar face.
Eddie took sat in the seat before the whole courtroom, it had begun. She was about to relive everything all over again. God, she wished Jamie could have been here, why wasn't he here? Oh, right they had decided it was best for him to stay away for some dumb reason she couldn't remember right this second. All she knew was this was about to be the hardest moment of her life.
"Officer Janko, do you mind telling us what happened on the morning of October 12th, 2019?"
And at that moment Eddie and Sydney both felt as if the world stopped spinning.
Day 1
Happy Holidays!
I have decided as a gift to you all for leaving you all so abruptly in May with no warning and no chapters. I have decided to name this gift "The twelve chapters of Christmas". I will be posting a chapter every day for the next 11 days and then on Christmas Day, I will post two chapters. I am very sorry I just vanished off the face of the earth, some things happened in my personal life that made it very difficult to write or even think about fiction. The new season of Blue Bloods revied my love of this story and I honestly hope to finish it soon. Also, this chapter wasn't betaed at all so if there are errors I am sorry, I do try to fix all the mistakes but I am human and I do make mistakes so please be kind.
Love you guys so much!
Eliza.
