Chapter 9

It had been nearly 2 months since Jamie and Eddie first started riding together, and since Jamie met his daughter. Jamie had managed to keep Josie a secret from his family. He usually told his family everything, but Josie was one thing he wasn't willing to share yet. They was until one fateful night. Eddie had agreed to let Josie stay the night at Jamie's place. She was reluctant at first, but she knew it was crucial to their bonding.

"So Jos, what do you want for dinner?" Jamie asked Josie. It was around 6:30 and Jamie figure she should eat dinner sooner rather than later because she had school in the morning.

"I want Chinese." Josie said.

Jamie was about to order the Chinese when there was a knock at the door. Josie went back to watching tv while Jamie got the door.

He was more than surprised to see who was at the door. Frank, Erin, and Danny were standing in the doorway, along with Sean who was carrying a bag of food.

"Uh, hey everyone. What're you all doing here?" Jamie asked, thoroughly confused.

"Did you forget?" Erin asked.

"Forget what?"

"We scheduled to have dinner together, remember our talk on Sunday?" Danny said, trying to refresh his memory.

'Oh, fuck. I totally forgot? What do I do about Josie?' He asked himself.

"Uh, yeah, come on in." Jamie said, as he stepped out of the way.

"Uh, Uncle Jamie, who's the girl on your couch?" Sean asked.

The three adults, excluding Jamie, turned around, expecting to see an adult woman, but were shocked when they saw a little girl.

At this point, Josie had now stood up from the couch and was facing the adults and Sean.

"Um, well, you, this is Josie." Jamie stuttered.

"Ok, and why is she here?" Danny asked, trying to get Jamie to tell them who she was.

"Um, she's my daughter." He said, barely above a whisper.

"You're what?" Danny exclaimed/questioned.

"Yeah, she's my daughter."

"And since when do you have a daughter?" Erin asked.

"Well, technically I've had a daughter for 9 years, but I just found out about her two months ago."

"And who's her mother?" Erin asked.

"Eddie Janko."

"As in Officer Janko, you're partner?" Frank finally spoke.

"Yeah. I don't know if you remember her, but we dated for a little while in high school. She actually stayed with us for a couple weeks."

"Oh, yeah. I remember her. Really short, blonde, never stops talking." Danny said.

Jamie smiles slightly.

"Josie was actually, um, conceived in my old bedroom." Jamie whispered, not really wanting Frank, Sean, or Josie to hear.

"What?" Danny exclaimed.

"Yeah." Jamie said, as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"You know this means you and Officer Janko can't be partners anymore, right?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I waited to tell you about Josie. If it weren't for this, I would've waited longer. I like being partnered with Eddie. If it weren't for our partnership, I wouldn't have met my beautiful daughter."

Everyone in the room smiled at that last comment. Even after only two minutes of knowing about Josie, they knew Jamie loved his daughter.

"Well, we should probably eat because this food is gonna get cold." Danny said.

Erin grabbed plates from the cupboard, Sean grabbed forks and napkins, and Danny took the food out of the bag.

"Dad, who are these people?" Josie asked, now hiding behind Jamie. She was such an outgoing, talkative kid with people she knew, but very shy around strangers.

"Well, this is my brother and sister, my nephew, and my dad. Your aunt, uncle, cousin, and Grandpa." Jamie explained. At this point, he had already scooped Josie into his arms and was carrying her on his hip. Since he had missed her younger years, he had to make up for it now.

"Are they nice?"

"Yeah, they are."

Jamie walked over to the kitchen with Josie, and set her on the counter. He made a plate of food for her, already knowing what she liked at this point, and set it on the counter next to her. Josie quietly ate on the counter, while Jamie leaned against the counter next to her, Frank and Erin sat at the breakfast bar, and Danny and Sean sat on the couch, watching a basketball game. Everyone ate at their own pace, and then gathered back in the kitchen when they were done.

"So, you're Josie, huh?" Danny asked Josie.

Josie simply nodded.

"She's a little shy, right? You're shy. You're shy." Jamie said, his smile wide as he poked at her side, revealing her infectious laugh.

Both Erin and Frank laughed at the little girl's laugh.

"My mom said I was named after my dad's brother." Josie announced.

"You were named after Joe?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah, my mom said he helped me be born."

Danny gave a questioning look to Jamie.

"Josie's birth was an unexpected home birth. Eddie called 911 and Renzulli and Joe were first on seen. They helped Eddie deliver Josie. Eddie decided to name Josie after Joe. Josie full name is Josie Marie Reagan Janko." Jamie explained.

"Why did he look like?" Josie asked, referring to her Uncle Joe.

Jamie went into his bedroom and then came back with a picture of Joe.

"This is your Uncle Joe. He was very handsome. You look a little like him."

Josie took the picture from her dad and studied it. After she was done, she gave it back to Jamie.

"Dad, I want to go back to Mom. I want Mom." Josie said. She did this occasionally when she was at Jamie's. She still wasn't used to being away from her mom.

"Ok, I'll take you back over there in a little bit. Just gather your things." Josie hopped off the counter and went to get her things.

"And just like that she's done." Danny said.

"She spent 9 years of her life with it just being her and Eddie. She's not used to me yet." Jamie explained. He understood why she wanted to go home, and he knew it wasn't her fault, but he couldn't help but feel sad. He wanted so badly to be her dad, but he couldn't do that if she didn't want him to. "Maybe we can do this again another time. I gotta take her back and then go to bed. I have 8 o'clock role call tomorrow."

They all said their goodbyes and left.

"Do you have everything?" Jamie asked Jose, who was now sitting on the couch again.

"Yeah."

"Ok, let's go."

Jamie turned off the tv, grabbed her keys, wallet, and phone, and then they were off.

"I'm sorry, dad." Josie said quietly, as she and Jamie drove to Eddie's apartment.

"Sorry for what, Jos?" Jamie asked, wondering what his daughter was apologizing for.

"For asking to go home. I know you're sad about it."

"Josie, it's ok. I mean, honestly, yeah I'm a little sad, but it's ok. I've only been in your life for two months, it's ok to not want to stay over. We don't have to do anything your not comfortable with."

"Why can't you live with me and Mom?"

"Because you're Mom and I are just friends. Usually friends don't live together." He explained in the best way he knew how, without going into too much detail.

"But when Mom was still at school, we lived with Aunt Paisley. Mom and her were just friends and they lived together."

"Well, that was different. Your mom and her friend were roommates. Roommates agree to live with each other, help each other pay for the apartment, pay for food. They're friends. With your mom and I, it's a little bit more complicated."

"But I want my parents to live in the same house as me."

"I know, and maybe one day we will, but not right, not yet."

Josie simply nodded and dropped the conversation. They arrived at Eddie's apartment within a few minutes, and Jamie was glad that Eddie was home.

"Hey Eddie, Josie wanted time come home. I hope it's alright." Jamie said through the buzzer. Eddie buzzed Jamie in and they walked up to the apartment.

"Hey sweetie. Hey Jamie." Eddie said, as she opened the door.

"Hi, mom." Josie said, as she wrapped her arms around Eddie.

"Why are you home so early? I thought you were gonna stay with your dad tonight."

"I didn't want to stay. I wanted to come home."

"Ok." Eddie glanced around her watch and saw that it was 8pm. "Go take a shower."

"Ok. Bye dad."

She gave Jamie a hug, and Jamie returned it with a kiss on the top of her head.

"You're so good with her." Eddie said to Jamie, after Josie walked away.

"I have to be. I have to make up for 9 years." Jamie said.

"Jamie, I don't know how many times you want me to say I'm sorry. Seeing you now with her makes me realize I shouldn't have done what I did. You're so good with her, and your such a good father."

"I wish that I had been there when she was younger. I wish that I had been there at her birth. I wish that I could've heard her first word, seen her first steps; Seen her off on her first day of kindergarten. Unfortunately, I wasn't. I'm not one to hold grudges. I just wished she wanted to spend more time with me. If I had it my way, I would spend every day with her. She doesn't seem to want that. I know it's selfish of me to want that, but I do."

"It's ok to be selfish in this situation. She's told me she doesn't want to spend time with you, she just gets scared when she's away from me or the babysitter. She told me she wants us to live together."

"Yeah, she told me that too."

"Would it be such a crazy thing? I mean this apartment has three bedrooms. We could be roommates. I mean you want to spend more time with her, and she wants to spend more time with you. This would be a solution."

"I don't know, Eddie. I mean I guess this would be a solution, but I don't know if it's the right one. What if people get the wrong idea? I mean I feel like this would put even more controversy in the middle of our partnership. We shouldn't be partnered as is, and living together is only gonna make that more evident."

"So, that's a no?"

"That's a I'm not sure."

"Come on, Jamie. It makes sense. If you really want, we can request other partners. I mean so far, or relationship hasn't put our partnership in jeopardy. Living together wouldn't do anything more."

"Eddie, you know what happened the last time we lived together."

"We were 18! I don't think that will happen again."

"I'll think about it." He said, effectively ending the conversation.

"You should probably go. We have role call at 8am."

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."