Author's Note: Alright! Thanks for sticking with me. Here it is: the final chapter! I just couldn't wait to post any longer. Haha. Writing this story was so cathartic for me! I hope you've all enjoyed it. Please let me know your thoughts in a review or PM. :)
When Eddie wakes up the next morning, Jamie's arm is still draped across her bare back. The sun is shining through his bedroom window and lights up his peaceful face, which makes her smile when she rolls around to face him. Without opening his eyes, his arm around her tightens, pulling her to his chest.
He mutters sleepily, "Mmm. Come here." Tucking her head under his chin, she curls into his chest and wraps her arm around his waist. "I could absolutely get used to waking up beside a naked Eddie every day."
She smiles and sighs into his neck. "And I could get used to a naked Jamie. You're so warm," she says as she snuggles in closer.
"Warm enough for you to stay like this all day," he asks mischievously.
"Ooh. Tempting, but no." The smirk on her face betrays some mischief as well.
"No?" He pouts his lip a little to show his disappointment.
"No. I wanna make you breakfast," she says, pushing herself up off his chest, taking the sheet with her to cover some of her nakedness.
"Oh, you don't need that sheet," he jokes, trying to pull it away from her chest.
"Oh, but I can't make bacon in the nude," she replies with a laugh. "Do you have an old shirt I could wear? Maybe some shorts or sweatpants?"
"Sure, gimme a sec," he answers with a light laugh. He gets up and crosses to his dresser, still naked, to pull out a couple pairs of shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Returning to the bed, he hands her a pair of shorts and the shirt before slipping into the other pair of shorts himself. "You wanna freshen up before you make breakfast?"
"Nah, I'll just have to brush my teeth again after we eat. Unless you're telling me I have terrible morning breath and need to go brush my teeth now before I kiss you again," she looks at him suspiciously, earning a laugh that rumbles in his chest and stirs something inside her.
"No, babe. That is not at all what I'm saying." He pulls her to him and kisses her deeply to prove his point. "I was just asking if you wanted the bathroom before I run through the shower."
"You go ahead. Just follow your nose when you get out." She winks at him and sashays from the room. Watching her hips sway, he groans and scrubs his face with his hands, knowing that this woman might well be the death of him one day.
... ... ... ...
Jamie lets himself take a long, hot shower to loosen some of his stiff muscles, while Eddie works on breakfast. Their activities the night before had required the use of some muscles he hadn't used in a very long time. As the hot water runs down his back, he allows his train of thought to recall the way Eddie looked, laying on his bed, her hair spread out around her, with the moonlight shining through his window. He feels his chest tighten at the memory and his jaw clenches.
He momentarily switches off the hot water to cool himself down, before things get out of hand. After his quick cool off, he forces himself to think about something—anything—else and finish his shower.
Exiting his bedroom, he immediately smells coffee, eggs and bacon, toast, and—is that—? Yes, pancakes! His stomach growls as he approaches her at the stove, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder so he can watch her flip the last pancake on the griddle.
"Perfect timing, Reagan. This is the last one!" She turns her head to give him a quick kiss, then reaches for the plate that's already stacked high with pancakes.
"Good thing! I worked up an appetite last night," he says into her neck, then sneaks a kiss behind her ear where he now knows she is incredibly ticklish.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Eddie squeals and tries to twist out of his embrace, but his hands lock tightly together and she just ends up facing him, caught in the circle of his arms. "I thought you were hungry!"
"Believe me. I'm starving!" He manages to land one more kiss on her lips before she turns away to remove the last pancake from the griddle and turn off the burner.
When they are sitting down at the table with their full breakfast plates, she smiles at him.
"I was thinking. We should do something fun today," Eddie suggests.
"Last night was fun," he replies with a wink. She swats his shoulder and laughs at him.
"Something fun outside. Like a bike ride, or maybe a museum."
"Oh, what about mini golf? Hudson River Park has a fun course on Pier 25, and it probably won't be overcrowded on a Sunday," Jamie suggests with a bright smile.
Her faces lights up at the idea. "That sounds perfect," she says, then turns to her breakfast right as her stomach starts to growl as well.
Jamie says a silent prayer of thanks, for the food and for Eddie, before following her lead.
... ... ... ...
On the course, they feel like themselves—best friends spending time together not on the job, joking and laughing at each other's antics the way they always have. Jamie pokes fun at Eddie's putting skills and Eddie gets a kick out of the way he sets up his shots. All joking aside, they're both pretty good, and it's easy to see how much they enjoy the time together.
Jamie can't help but pull her in for a kiss every now and then. She usually has to remind him, though, that they are in public and have to behave themselves.
At the 12th hole, Eddie sinks her third hole in one. The look on her face when she turns to Jamie is pure excitement and pleasure, and it twists something inside him.
This is it, he tells himself. She retrieves her ball and walks back to him for a celebratory kiss. With her hands locked behind his neck and one arm around her waist, he looks at her with so much hope and conviction that she's surprised when he speaks in a huskier voice than usual.
"Marry me," he says. It's not a question, but he hopes she won't mind.
Flabbergasted, she looks at him like she can't believe her ears. Moving her hands to his chest so she can push away a little, she looks confused.
"What did you just say?"
"I said, marry me. Look, Eddie, I know it sounds crazy. It's not like we've been dating that long. Come to think of it, we actually haven't even talked about if we're dating or not," he realizes with a laugh. "But I love you. You love me. And we've been dancing around this—whatever this is—for entirely too long now. You got shot a few weeks ago and the thought that I almost lost you snapped something inside me. I almost got shot just two days ago, and we've barely left each other's side since. If those two unrelated events don't tell you that we don't have any more time to waste, I don't know what will." He drops his arm back to his side and shakes his head slowly. "I'm sorry for dropping a bomb on you like that. You can take whatever time you need to think about it before you give me an answer, but—"
"No," she cuts him off.
"No?" His face crumbles when he repeats the word.
Eddie shakes her head. "No—I mean, no, I don't need any time to think about it."
"Oh," Jamie breathes. He's afraid to hope this might go his way, but he waits for her to speak again before running away with his feelings.
"My answer is yes. Yes, I'll marry you." The smile on her face could outshine the sun, Jamie is certain of that.
"Really?" His smile spreads slowly, and when she just nods her head, he kisses her, hard. Several seconds later, she pulls back from him.
"Oh my God. We're getting married?!" The shock in her voice makes him laugh, because she's adorable when she's like this, but also because he can't really believe it either. "We're getting married," she practically shouts and a group nearby cheers for them.
Jamie is still laughing when she throws her arms around his neck again. He brings both his arms around her waist and drops his head to her neck to calm his heart rate for a moment. Then his arms around her waist tighten ever so slightly and he lifts her off her feet, spinning them around a couple times before setting her back on her feet. She giggles girlishly while they spin, and closes her eyes blissfully when he rests his forehead on hers, a silent (ecstatic) tear trailing from her eye. He opens his eyes to watch her face, a blissful smile plastered on his own face, and in that exact moment, he knows he's never felt so happy in his life.
... ... ... ...
After they leave the course, they decide to pick up something for lunch and bring it to Jamie's apartment. Basking in the happiness of their engagement, they just want to be alone. When they've finished eating, they settle on the couch, with his head in her lap. She's running her fingers through his hair when he speaks quietly, looking up at her.
"I'm sorry I don't have a ring. I can get my mom's ring from my dad after dinner tonight, if you want. Sydney wore it while we were engaged, but we could get the stone reset, or recast the whole thing, if the family is okay with that." Eddie continues playing in his hair, knowing by the look on his face that he isn't finished with his thought yet. "Or we can go shopping together and get a ring that's just for you, if you don't want any part of the ring from my failed engagement." He laughs sadly at that slightly sobering thought.
"Jamie," Eddie finally says. "If you want me to wear your mother's ring, I will happily wear it. As long as you are the one placing it on my finger. I'm not afraid of any bad juju you think it might hold. But tonight? You want to tell your dad tonight?" Her voice is laced with uncertainty.
"Well…yeah. Why wait?" He sits up for the next part. "I thought…maybe…we could tell them. Together. At dinner tonight." He eases into the idea, but her eyes grow wide as he speaks.
"Wait. Them? Like, the whole family?" He just nods in response. "That might be too much, too soon. I don't know if I'm ready for a Reagan family dinner just yet, Jamie."
"Eddie. Babe. There's nothing for you to worry about. They already love you as much as I do. Well, maybe not as much as I do." He pauses for a chuckle. "And if they don't, it won't take them long. Trust me." He smiles and places a hand on her cheek so she'll look at him. "But I understand if you think it's too overwhelming right now. You don't have to come with me if you don't want. And I can get the ring some other time, if you're not comfortable telling my dad yet."
"No," she shakes her head. "You're right. Why wait? Besides, we're getting married. I have to get used to these family dinners some time, right?"
"Right," he agrees and leans in for a kiss. Resting his forehead on hers, he takes in a deep breath. "I hope you know, Eddie, I meant what I said the other night. And yesterday morning," he adds with a smirk.
"Which part?" Her voice is tinted with laughter.
"All of it. Every word," Jamie replies with a sigh. "Every word I've said to you since I brought you home Friday night."
"Just since Friday?" Eddie smiles at him.
"No. You know what I mean, Janko." Jamie replies and rubs his hand across his forehead like he's getting frustrated, but the smile on his face gives him away. "I love you. I respect you. I want you to always trust me, just like I trust you. I will always watch out for you and I'll always have your back. And I'll spend every day, for the rest of my life, trying to show you just what all of that means to me. What you mean to me."
Eddie looks at him tenderly and takes a deep breath.
"So. Confession time."
Jamie leans into the back of the couch with his arm draped around her shoulders and sets her with a look of utter confusion.
"Those promises I said I made to myself a long time ago?" Her question hangs in the air while he nods at the memory of her words. "Well, I did make a few promises to myself, but they were all about you. And," she takes another breath before finishing her thought, "for a while now, I've sorta thought of them as my vows to you."
Jamie's face breaks into a smile and then he starts to laugh. Her expression switches from mildly embarrassed to slightly upset in a second.
"I mean, vows for, like, our partnership and our friendship. Not—"
"No," Jamie interrupts, still smiling. "I know what you mean. Because that's basically how I've thought about everything I just said for months now. My vows to you."
"Really?" The surprise in her voice is evident, but she's smiling now. He nods again, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Really."
"Well, ok. Maybe we should start there. That can be the first thing we do for the wedding! Write our vows." She notices a notepad and pen on the table in front of them and slides off the couch to the floor as she reaches for it. Sitting on the floor between Jamie's legs, she starts to write down some ideas, looking back at him every now and then for his input.
He leans forward so he can read over her shoulder and places a kiss on the top of her head. There are several pages ripped off the pad and crumbled on the table, and the page she's writing on has lots of words crossed out. An hour later, she rips the top page off of the notepad and uses the clean page underneath to begin copying a neat version of their final vows.
They're both smiling, facing each other on the couch, as they take turns reciting their vows to make sure they're really happy with the end result.
Eddie reaches out and takes one of his hands in hers.
"I will always have your back."
Jamie uses his free hand to grab her other hand, so their position mirrors the way they will stand on their wedding day.
"If you fall behind, I'll wait up."
"I'll earn your respect, and pay you respect, every day we have."
"I'll be your scout, your night watchman, your cavalry."
"Your medic, your chaplain, in our army of two."
"No retreat," he begins.
"No surrender," they say together, with smiles on both their faces.
"You can count on me," Jamie manages shakily.
"And you can count on me," Eddie finishes. She can't resist leaning in to kiss him again. "I love you, Jameson."
"I love you too, Edit," he replies.
They laugh together and, satisfied, lay down to cuddle on the couch, soaking in the realness of the situation.
... ... ... ...
A couple hours later, Jamies jerks awake and immediately looks at his watch.
"Oh, crap. Eddie, wake up, baby. We fell asleep."
"Mmm," Eddie groans, while rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"We're gonna be late for family dinner. I should have been on the road 15 minutes ago," Jamie explains in a rush, trying to get up off the couch.
Still groggy, Eddie tries to understand what he's saying to her. It doesn't take long for a look of realization to cross her face and she jumps up too.
"Oh, great. My first family dinner and we're gonna be late. What kind of impression is this gonna give everyone about me?" Eddie is rushing around behind Jamie gathering her shoes and jacket, trying to comb through her hair a little, and pinching some color back into her cheeks.
Jamie laughs softly at her unnecessary worry and reminds her, "I told you, they'll love you. Danny will be upset I made him wait to eat, but it'll be fine."
"What do you mean? Wait to eat?" She looks confused again.
"No one eats until everyone is at the table, so they'll all be waiting for us. Well, waiting for me," he corrects with a wink. "So we gotta go. You ready?"
"Um. I guess so," she shrugs and follows him out the door.
In the car, she's fidgeting with her fingers like she does sometimes when she's nervous. Jamie recognizes this habit from all their time in the RMP and reaches for her hands to settle her nerves. When she realizes what he's doing, she sighs and looks over at him with a smile, loving the fact that he knows her so well.
"I promise, it won't be as bad as you're thinking. I can go in first, if you want, kinda set the scene before you come in. They'll be surprised, I'm sure, but they will all be happy for me. For us," he adds quickly, with a squeeze of her hand. "And that will give you a moment to check your nerves at the door," he says with a huffy laugh.
"Ok, fine. I'm nervous. Laugh at me all you want. But you know your family can be a little intimidating," she tries to reason with him.
"Eddie, I'm pretty sure you've met everyone at that table at least once."
"But not as your fiancée! Jamie, as far as any of them know, yesterday I was still just your partner at work. And now I'm going to just walk into the Commissioner's house and tell the whole family we're getting married? And we want to stay partners on the job." She knows she's probably overreacting a little, but the sudden shift in their relationship is finally starting to sink in.
"That's exactly what we are about to do. I will be right there with you the whole time. Remember our vows? You can count on me. That's always been true, babe. Since the night we met." He smiles at her across the car and tugs her hand to his lips for a quick kiss. "And we don't have to tell them we want to stay partners unless someone brings it up. If it does come up, we can let them hear our vows to prove that we aren't taking this lightly, if you're okay with that. We can do this together, I promise."
"Ok," Eddie concedes. "I trust you."
"Honestly though, I don't think anyone will be that surprised." She gives him a quizzical look and he continues. "I think they all have some idea of what you mean to me. At least the adults do. Erin definitely knows!" His chest puffs out with a short laugh.
"What do you mean, Erin definitely knows? We hadn't even told each other until two days ago."
"Yeah, but remember I told you I talked to her years ago, after Renzulli confronted me about my feelings for you?" He pauses a second and Eddie nods. "She thought, even then, that I was stupid to only be your partner on the job. And a few weeks ago, when you got shot, she and I went out for drinks and she made it pretty obvious that she still thinks I'm stupid for not giving in to my feelings."
"She told you that?" Eddie is shocked at Erin's opinion of their relationship.
"Not in so many words, but that was the general idea," Jamie smiles again. "She'll be pretty pleased that this is finally happening. She'll finally be able to say I told you so." They both laugh at this.
Eddie knows they are almost there and she wants to go over the plan again.
"Ok, so you'll go in and tell them before I have to face the jury?"
"Oh, no," he laughs quietly. "We're going to tell them together. But I can go in and set a place for you while you wait in the entryway. There won't be a chair or place setting since no one was expecting you to be there."
"And how will I know when you're ready for me to come in," she asks.
"I don't know, I'll call you in or something," he replies with a shrug.
"So I'll just walk in the room and tell them we're getting married?" He's starting to feel like a perp with all the questions she's asking, but he tries to laugh again.
"No, babe. We'll just play it by ear. See how the room reacts one step at a time. We don't have to have a play by play game plan, Janko." There's still a smile on his face, but she's obviously really nervous.
"Ok. Fine. I'll try to calm down."
When Jamie parks the car outside his dad's house, he runs around to her door and opens it for her.
"Not as late as I thought we'd be. Come on. Everyone will be waiting," he tells her as he takes her hand.
Walking up to the door, he pulls her to a halt and asks, "You ready for this?"
She gives him one of her brilliant smiles that he first fell in love with and replies, "As I'll ever be."
"Let's do this," he says, then starts walking to the door again.
She knows that this is just the beginning of a beautiful life with the man she's been in love with for years. After the terror of thinking she was going to lose him, just two days before, standing here now, holding his hand, she's the happiest she's ever been. A massive weight has been lifted from her shoulders, and she thinks from his as well, and they can finally start living the life they've been denying themselves for so long.
With his hand on the doorknob, Jamie pulls her in for a quick kiss and whispers, "I love you."
She barely has time to say it back before he pushes open the door with a, "Hey! Sorry!" to the unsuspecting crowd inside.
While he goes in to 'set the scene,' as he put it, she stands in the entryway and takes a deep breath, thinking to herself, This is it.
Author's Note: And that's a wrap! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and this story. I'm beyond proud of this one, and hopefully that shows in my writing! Side note: I've never been to NYC so I don't know for sure that Pier 25 is where Jamie proposed, but using the scene in 09x03 as reference and comparing to Google Images, it seems highly likely. Apologies if anything seems inaccurate.
I'll admit, I'm a little sad that this one is over. I don't often post multi-chap stories, and it's been so much fun receiving all the email alerts for favorites, follows, and reviews. At the time of publishing this final chapter, the story as a whole has been viewed over 1,000 times, the second highest views of all my stories. And that is a wild notion! So, if you enjoyed this story and/or this chapter, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from y'all! :)
To my many new followers since posting this story, I do have several other ideas for these two, for shorter stories, but hopefully I can take some time out of my crazy schedule to get some of those down, to repay you all for being so kind!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this far! Much appreciated!
-Bethany :)