Chapter 27
Second Base (Part II)
The second part of what is now a triple-shot continues just before Danny and the girl who's a friend who wants to be more than a friend kind of friend arrive for Sunday dinner as we get a little more insight into the Reagan family's mindset that day.
"But Grandma, why do I have to move to the other side of the table?" Jamie griped as he followed Betty into the dining room of her house while carrying the serving spoons and napkins as directed to help with the place settings. "I like to sit next to Grandpa… he tells me stories. Joey won't give up the spot at his end by Daddy so then I have to be by Erin," he huffed with a frowny face. "She always pokes me with her elbows 'cause there's no room over there."
"Jamison, child... we mustn't complain now. There's a guest coming today and your grandfather wants to make certain she feels welcomed. I'm sure she'll want to sit next to Daniel too, so that means you need to show kindness and give her your spot. Your father put another leaf in the table, there's plenty of space on the other side now."
"Aw, phooey," came the muttered reply under a little boy's breath. "S'not fair."
"Yes, well, be that as it may someday when you bring a young lady to dinner for the first time you may feel differently. Now, please stay out of the kitchen, dear. The adults are all in there talking and your mother and I are distracted and busy cooking so the oven is hot and we have boiling pans on the stove… I don't want you to get burned while we're not watching, and we don't need another trip to the emergency room with you today. Go out and sit with Joseph in the living room."
"But I'll be careful and Momma always lets me help to smash the potatoes!" he protested again before dropping his shoulders when it became apparent from his Grandmother's look that he would not win that argument. "Yes, ma'am," he conceded and then turned to run out of the room with eyes brimming as he obediently crawled up next to his older brother on the couch.
"What's the matter, kid?" Joe asked as he looked up with surprise from the book he had been reading in preparation for a big literature test at school the next day before wrapping an arm around Jamie to pull him over for a hug. "You okay?"
"Nobody else wants me to be with them, Joey," Jamie offered in a small voice as he curled up next to him and a few tears spilled over.
"What? That's not true," Joe consoled softly as he could see his little brother was honestly upset.
"Yes, 'tis," Jamie insisted as he sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "Danny left, and he didn't even say hi to me today and Momma and Daddy only wanted to say stuff about Linda this morning 'fore church and now Grandpa likes her best and moved me away at the table so I have to sit by Erin and Grandma said I can't even help with dinner," he cried at the perceived injustice of it all. This was all that Linda's fault.
"Oh... well, Danny's just nervous because Mom found out he was seeing someone new and made him do this, and the rest of the grownups are all excited because he's the oldest of us and it's the first time he's bringing a girl over, that's all… it's kind of a big deal for them and Mom's worked up about it for some reason. You know how she gets sometimes so Dad is trying to settle her. Nobody's forgetting about you or doesn't want you with them… they're just occupied with other stuff today."
"I don't like Linda," Jamie admitted with a hiccup as he had worked himself into a state. "I wish she would go 'way so we could be the same."
"Aw, now don't say that," Joe chided. "That's not fair… you have to give her a chance first. You're just afraid things might change around here a little, but she could be really nice to you. How about if I move down a seat and you can sit next to Dad on the other side… will that help?"
"You would?"
"Yeah, I'll do that for you… only this week though. I hate when Erin pokes me with her elbows too. If Linda ever comes back you'll have to try to get used to it unless they move her somewhere else, okay?"
"M'kay… thanks, Joey."
###
"You wanted me to go away because of potatoes? That's why you judged me? Gee thanks, Jamie," Linda griped with a small smirk. "I wondered why you were giving me eyes across the table that day. Just for that you can smash all the ones you want every week from now on."
"Nah, Erin's got that down pat with those skinny bat wings of hers, plus she complains when we add too much salt," Danny interjected. "You don't want to get near her in the kitchen either."
"Hey! What's with that? I don't poke anyone!" Erin frowned. "You all just get in my space!"
"Yeah, no… it's kind of your thing, Mom," Nicki corrected. "I've just gotten used to it."
"That's what you were worried about? Losing your chair next to Grandpa and Erin's elbows at the table?" Eddie laughed out loud at her husband. "What does that say about where you are now, huh?" she added considering both she and Kaylin had been granted the privilege of being seated between Henry and Jamie after they joined the family dinners at the more regular setting of the family home which had been mirrored on the patio this week.
"That I was willing to give up the best seat in the house for my girls?"
"Humph, I figured you were just tired of hearing my stories," Henry admitted.
"No, I would never move over for just anyone, Gramps," Jamie smiled. "They'd have to be pretty special."
"That's true, Eddie," Danny admitted although he couldn't help but toss a little burr into the mix considering his brother's enthusiasm for bringing up this sorted mess again. "After all, I can't recall a time the kid slid over and let Syd sit there… he was more willing to throw her to the wolves down here at this end… even the first time she came."
"So why was that?" Eddie demanded as the subject of Sydney very rarely came up and it heightened her curiosity to see how she compared. "Did you think she was more confident? Were you trying to protect me?"
"No, you always had my back in the field, so maybe it felt right to do the same here for you… plus Kaylin needed to be between us... and you seemed really to relate to Gramps. I don't honestly know," Jamie admitted as he sat back and considered that for the first time.
"Syd held her own here and had strong views," Frank answered for his son as he smiled at his newest daughter-in-law. "In that way she was not unlike you, sweetheart… but I'm not sure she and Pop shared too many of the same ideals though… probably would have made for a few more interesting dinners that way," he admitted.
"I guess I never even thought about it…" Jamie continued where he left off. "Just seemed to be where you both fit. I mean it's kind of weird but where we tend to sit at the table has kind of evolved over time as people have come and gone."
"It's true… Mom always used to sit in this chair," Erin admitted. "When she left… I just couldn't let it be empty," she added. "So I moved here that next week and Nicki came with me."
"It was your place," Frank agreed with a nod to his daughter.
"Before that when Betty passed, we moved the dinners to his house and Francis took my spot… Joe switched places with Mary so she could have that seat," Henry admitted. "But Linda and Danny have always stayed where they were, and I ended up next to Jamie again."
"And after Uncle Joe… the boys took his place," Nicki agreed with a sad realization. "We've never left a chair empty… and all the people that came after and belonged here just fit in."
"Just like Linda did that first Sunday, and you're still in the same spot," Frank smiled as he remembered back. "Don't ask me how, call it mother's intuition, but Mary knew you would before she laid eyes on you, and when you walked in the door that day… it terrified her."
###
"Come in, come in… right this way, young lady, now don't be bashful," Henry led the pretty young blond wearing a zip up white jacket over a soft blue cashmere sweater with silver fleur-de-lis buttons and a knee-length skirt into the living room from the front door. "Daniel, where's your manners? Get her coat and hang it in the closet… and next time go easy on the aftershave there, son," he advised under his breath as one whiff was enough to let everyone in the immediate area know that Danny had been at it with Frank's razor again.
"Thank you, Commissioner and Mrs. Reagan," Linda Bellis offered with a soft smile as her obviously flustered new boyfriend complied with the order. "You have a lovely house," she added politely.
"These are my grandparents…" Danny stated the obvious as he returned to hover behind her, his heart thudding a million times a minute, just as it had been from the very second two nights ago when he had asked her to come today and she had said yes… he'd hardly thought of another thing since.
"Henry and Betty, no misters or missus for the grayhairs in this house, anyway," Henry broke in as Betty stepped up and offered a welcoming "Hello, dear," while her Irish Catholic eyes immediately noted the conservative dress and small gold crucifix on a chain with maternal relief, having recently had an up front and close personal view of Marianne Romano's personal "assets" under a wet tee at the carwash.
"My mother and father," Danny continued with a quick, hesitant glance at Mary to get a read on what his mother was thinking and her rather blank look was enough to send ice water through his veins. "Um... Mary and Frank?" he questioned not knowing the protocol for this encounter.
"Or Mr. and Mrs. Reagan, whatever you're comfortable with," Frank smiled as he put his arm around his wife's shoulders when she offered no verbal reply and felt a stiffening resistance there. "We're both happy to meet you," he added anyway.
"Likewise," Linda offered with another shy look that further sank Mary's heart. This girl was pretty and sincere… everything that a mother could hope for and she knew by his actions and demeanor that Danny had already fallen head over heels for her… he was taken with another woman, the oldest but still a baby in her heart.
"You probably know my sister Erin from school, and that's my younger brother Joe."
"Don't forget me!" came the insistent cry from the other side of the couch.
"Right, the little kid's my other brother Jamie."
"Well, the food is done already, why don't we take this in the dining room and eat before everything gets cold," Betty suggested. "Joseph and Erin… help you father and grandfather carry the dishes in."
"'Bout me?" Jamie piped up.
"Next time, child. The rolls are already on the table and everything else is too heavy for you," she advised as she shooshed him towards the hallway.
"Aw, phooey," came the grumpy reply as Jamie made his way to the table and took Joey's seat as he glared across while Danny pulled his usual chair out next to Henry for this Linda to claim as her own.
"Sorry we were late," Danny offered with a sheepish look at his grandmother. "I had to wait until Linda came home from church on Staten Island to pick her up and she said there was traffic on the Verrazano on the way back."
"Your church is all the way over there?" Henry puzzled. "Our St. Anthony's right here in Bay Ridge is just up the street and don't you go to the Catholic high school with Danny and Erin?"
"Yes, sir. We just moved here at the end of the summer though," Linda informed. "My parents found a house on the other side of Dyker Heights since my father works in Mapletown now, but they still like to go back to St. Anne's on Sundays. I'm sure once we're here for a while they'll switch."
"It's good for a family to keep their roots in the community," Betty nodded her approval as everyone else took their seats. "Joseph, say grace please," she directed and then waited until he was finished before continuing. "Still, that must have been hard for you to change schools in your last year, dear."
"Oh, well it kind of was, but I'm hoping to get into the nursing program at St. Victor's after graduation and they offer some early admission classes so it was good for all of us to be closer. Being in Bay Ridge has been nice so far though," she added with a deliberate flirting glance at Danny that was not missed by his mother.
"I'm sure it has been," Mary finally found her voice replied with a rather tight, forced smile. "Pass the potatoes."
###
"Geez, this family has an obsession with spuds. That was code for 'I don't want to talk about this' even way back then," Nicki noted with a grin at her grandfather who was known for using that line at the table on many occasions. "Did Grandma ever warm up to you that day?" she asked her aunt.
"She eventually did," Frank answered for her. "By the end of the dinner I thought things were going as well as could be expected, at least with Mary. That's when Danny decided he couldn't take any more of his sibling's teasing and needed some air so he got out of the house by walking Linda up to Montclair's for ice cream before coming back for the car to take her home. Isn't that right, Daniel?" he frowned as he considered the point Henry had made earlier about his mother needing to hit the scotch that night as well as the comment that followed about Linda being no angel… she had certainly seemed to have the Reagan family matriarch's stamp of approval when they had left that day so something must have happened after that.
"That was the plan," Danny admitted tightly, unable to lie with any conviction in front of the entire family even after all of these years. "Until some little dweeb messed things up," he muttered.
"Me?" Jamie laughed as he looked around and shook his head in confusion. "Wait, what did I do? Joe's the one that had all those good one liners about your aftershave… I mean, seriously, man… you set yourself up for that. I was just honestly gagging across the table. Thank God you threw it out and switched to something more low key right after that… it made my eyes water."
"I think what Danny was referring to was you finding the coat I forgot in the foyer closet," Linda admitted and pressed her lips together tightly as another glow of embarrassment washed over her cheeks again.
"So? What does that have to do with anything? I saw it when Grandma told me to put my jacket on and Mom and Dad took the rest of us home right after that because Joey needed to study for his test. Grandpa said that they were going to quick run up to Montclair's in the car to give it back to you since we walked over," Jamie replied while sitting back and pushing his plate forward with a puzzled shrug towards his grandfather. "I still don't get it."
"Heh, but your brother tried to though... right, Daniel?" Henry glowered.
"That true, son?" Frank raised an eyebrow at his oldest as he was finally starting to put two and two together now after twenty years.
"Pass the sweet potatoes," Danny sighed as he confirmed his father's conclusion.
I know, I know… I promised this one in two chapters originally, but it ran long as they always seem to do when I get started so it turned into a triple-shot. Hope that's okay. While we're on the subject, the next snapshot subject matter is a little up in the air… I'm planning on doing a somewhat longer sad love story featuring our two favorite grayhairs, but I've promised a particular fellow author who is always such a huge help and inspiration to me (and you know who you are) that I would address the subject of Jamie's apparent buzz cut on the S7:E2 epi tonight, at least in the realm of werks-world if the BB writers let us down again with no good explanation, so drop a note and leave some feedback on that one yay or nay and I'll consider tackling it first like a certain three-year-old with a pair of safety scissors might. I'm just sayin' :)
And it appears the reviews aren't displaying again for the second time this week. **SIGH** Please continue to leave them and cast your vote for the next snapshot since I can read most of them via email and they will show up here once again eventually. The decision will be posted with Part III and the conclusion of this installment tomorrow.
