"Oh my gosh, I'm starving!" Eddie exclaimed as she and Jamie walked through the front door of his family home.
"Why am I not surprised?" Jamie chuckled, walking into the kitchen.
"You made it!" Linda exclaimed, wrapping Eddie in hugs. She had a secret and only Linda knew.
"Yeah! Of course we did! Especially when food's involved!" Eddie smiled, picking a cherry tomato from the salad and a roll from the overflowing plate on the island.
"Eddie!" Jamie playfully admonished, taking a few tomatoes for himself.
"Dinner's ready!" Erin called from the base of the stairs, holding the dish of green beans, setting it on the table as hordes of food comes from every angle.
It really wasn't dinner, more like 1pm dinner than would leave everyone stuffed but standing in front of the fridge at about ten o'clock.
With everyone seated and grace said, a chorus of 'pass this' and 'pass that' began over the real conversation of Danny and Erin bickering about search warrants and how to interpret the law. Linda and Nicky are trying to show a loving but different viewpoint to keep the other two in check. Jack and Sean are trying to comprehend the world that surrounds them. Pop tries to explain while Frank occasionally shares his opinion. All this occurs as Jamie and Eddie give each other stilted looks that the others, especially the women, are picking up on and the men will soon too.
"Ow! That was my foot you kicked!" Danny snaps, his mouth full and Erin and Linda mutter apologies.
"Ok, out with it." Frank says, finally knowing his family all too well.
"Out with what?" Jamie questions, playing dumb, just for a moment. He was so excited but also a little nervous-scratch that-a lot nervous.
"I may be pushing eighty-five and haven't walked a beat in about thirty, but I can still see when something's going on." Pop joins in with a nod to the 'good bad days' when New York's streets were riddled with idiotic criminals and the admin was a mess, yet they still were able to clean it up, half gift-wrapped for the generation of Danny and Joe. A lopsided bow was added when Jamie joined the family business.
Jamie and Eddie both sigh, obviously caught, and Nicky goes back to picking at her sweet potatoes. Erin heads a smirk Linda's way, trying to get clued in on what she seems to know.
"Do you wanna tell them or should I?" He mumbles, trying to follow her lead.
"I can if you want." She mumbles as he did, not anymore forthcoming.
"Oh, for crying out loud! What's so important?" Danny urges, and Linda has a reserved smile that Erin picks up on once again.
"Uh, guys, I'm pregnant." Eddie says finally, glowing from head to toe and her thousand-watt smile on display.
Erin gasps, "Get out!" while Nicky cheers and Pop looks around the room satisfied.
"More grandkids! That's wonderful." Frank smiles gruffly and it takes the duo a few moments to recognize if he's being sincere, similar to when they announced their engagement.
"When are you due?" Nicky asks, already her mental calendar pulled up,
"October 18th." Eddie replies, her hand instinctively rested on her stomach. She noticed it was automatic after Linda confirmed her suspicion a few days back.
"You guys are going to have a fall baby!" Nicky smiles, giving her uncle and his wife a wink,
"And I will be happy to babysit." Frank finally shows some real emotion and you can tell the whole room breathes,
"Uh, hello?! I get babysitting dibs!" Erin jumps back into the conversation,
"Uh, hello?! You there's seven days and eight of you, I'm sure we can work something out." Jamie laughs at his sister's comment,
"Uh, hello?! Does anybody have strawberry milkshakes on them? 'Cause I'd really love one." Eddie chuckles, joining in on the fun,
Jamie sighs and Danny says, "I remember when Linda was pregnant, I always would go through the same check out line at Publix and I swear the poor guy thought I was nuts. Get used to it little brother." He's semi-serious and knows he'll get the wrath of his sister and wife later but it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"We've got strawberries and heavy cream, I'm sure we could whip something up." Frank offers, and any residual doubt Eddie had goes away. His opinion meant a great deal to her and with her own father still in prison, he and Pop were the closest to what she was missing from her own family.
"Oh, it's fine, we can grab one on the way home, I was joking."
"I could go for one." Nicky says, and Jack and Sean soon agree.
"Milkshakes it is!" Frank says, rising from the table with his plate in hand and starts to rummage through the fridge for the ingredients.
They've been married almost a year and Eddie still was surprised how much they had welcomed her.
Later that night, as Eddie lay in Jamie's arms, drifting in and out of sleep, she spoke softly, "How many milkshakes would your dad make me before I wear out my welcome?"
"Oh, be quiet!" Jamie laughed, originally thinking she was going to say something sweet like 'I love you'. "I don't know! Probably quite a few!" He settles back into the position he lay before and they slept in each other's arms with smiles on their faces and quite literally sweet dreams.