BLUE BLOODS: RETURN TO DUTY
CHAPTER 13
REAGAN FAMILY HOME
BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN, NY.
Sunday, May 15, 2016: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Joe Reagan stood with his family looking at the tombstone bearing his name.
Today was seven years to the day that he was presumed to have been murdered by Sonny Malevsky, the Blue Templar, and as the family now knew, the Sanfino and Cappaziri crime families.
He held Erin's right hand in his left, and Nicky's left hand in his right.
His brothers each stood behind him, with Frank and Henry to Jamie's left, Linda and the boys to Danny's right.
"Who's in the casket Uncle Joe?" Sean inquired.
"Nobody Sean. Just some weights and a very skillfully crafted mannequin of my face." Joe replied as shivers tingled down his spine.
"Thank God it isn't you." Erin replied, squeezing her brother's hand.
"I do every day Sis." Joe answered.
"Tomorrow, the stone and what's beneath it will be removed and the ground filled back in, hopefully for a long time to come." Frank stated.
"Amen to that." They all replied.
Later that afternoon, there was a special Reagan dinner held, and two very special guests were invited.
The first was Angela, the second was Eddie.
Neither Joe nor Jamie knew they were coming, as this was something Danny had personally arranged in gratitude for his brothers.
They arrived about the same time, entering the family home to the aroma's of Joe's cooking. Of course, he had pressed Danny, Erin, and Jamie into service as Sous Chefs, but they didn't mind and quite enjoyed observing the flair with which their brother cooked.
Joe had spent the better part of the previous two weeks requalifying at the academy, and effective the following day, would be stationed at the 12th Precinct in his role as a Detective First Grade. He would retain his Homeland credentials and would serve as a liaison between that agency and the NYPD when required and Frank was glad he had someone in that position he could trust, not only to look out for New York City's best interests, but someone on whose advice he could count on as not being politically motivated.
At a Sunday dinner a couple of years ago, Danny, Erin, and Jamie had asked their father that if he could make such an appointment which one of them he would pick to succeed him as P.C. He said that Jamie had the perspective, while Erin had the tenacity, and Danny had the fire in the belly, which Erin observed was gas. What Frank never revealed was that Joe would have been his choice and in fact, remained so. Joe had all the qualities his siblings possessed plus the patience, political savvy, and polish but more importantly, he knew how to take, use, and wield power, when to accept responsibility, and when to relinquish control.
Maybe someday they would be sitting here with Joe as the reigning P.C., Erin as the District Attorney, Jamie as a successful civil litigator or Chief of Detectives, and as for his eldest, Danny would be happy doing what he did best. Righting wrongs, protecting those who could not protect themselves, and speaking for those who could no longer do so.
Frank looked over to Angela. "We missed having you here with us."
"I missed being here." She replied, smiling at Joe.
"Any chance we'll be seeing more of you?" Henry inquired.
"No less than every Sunday." Joe replied, holding up Angie's left hand for everyone to see the beautiful 3 carat cushion diamond ring adorning her third finger.
"What, you got engaged and didn't tell us?" Erin exasperatedly responded.
"We were going to, but since you invited my fiancé to dinner without telling me, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to announce our engagement." Joe responded.
"Congratulations to you both, you don't know how happy this makes all of us." Frank smiled.
"Yeah, now if we could only make that two engagements, we'd be really happy." Danny smirked at his youngest brother.
"Speaking of which, how are things working out with you two?" Erin inquired.
"There is nothing going on, besides, it's against department policy for partners to be involved with one another." Jamie retorted.
"Oh come on Jamison, your thing for one another is about the worst kept secret in the entire NYPD" Frank replied.
"I've lost count as to how many times Lt. Gormley or Garrett have asked me when I am going to order one of you transferred out of the 12th, or have you assigned new partners so that things between you two can take their natural course." He concluded.
"Seriously? Eddie inquired of Jamie.
"What?" He replied, uncertain of her question
"You are always complaining that I eat too much, I talk too much, I'm too opinionated, too bossy, and that I make plans for you without asking." Eddie replied.
"Theresa Mancini" Frank, Henry, Erin, Joe, Danny, Linda, and Angie simultaneously called out, all having lived through Jamie's first love interest.
"Who?" Eddie exasperatedly asked.
"Jamie's first crush. He had the same complaints about her." Joe chuckled.
"Yeah, but that's kind of his thing." Erin grinned.
"Growing up, Erin was more of a doting mom than a big sister, and she treated him the same way, so now Jamie's got this thing for women bossing him around." Danny smirked.
"That is so not true." Jamie retorted, knowing it was a false flag defense that nobody at the table believed.
"It isn't?" Erin curiously inquired.
"No. I make my own decisions." Jamie replied.
"Yeah, like what?" Eddie inquired, knowing that she made virtually all the decisions involving them off duty.
"See, told you so." Danny remarked while wolfing down a piece of Joe's excellent chicken.
Eager to change subjects: "For crying out loud Danny, slow down. The food isn't going anywhere unless Eddie gets to it first." Jamie teased, earning an elbow to the ribs.
"Hey, I'm hungry. I didn't eat for what, two weeks?" He inquired.
"Yeah, two weeks without donuts. Now Linda has to take in the extra slack in the seat of your pants." Erin teased.
"Hey, I'll admit that it's embarrassing that my sister has a flatter butt than I do." Danny retorted.
Erin stuck her tongue out at him.
"It's like they're children again." Frank said to Henry.
"Yeah, but it's good to have them all back together, even if it means watching them tear each other apart." Henry laughed.
"Going back to the kid and Eddie, you think you can do something about that policy Commish?" Danny inquired.
"No, as much as I would like to, I cannot make an exception for my son however, what I will do is to terminate their partnership effective immediately." Frank replied in his Commissioner voice.
"I don't want a new partner." Jamie replied.
"It's irrelevant what you want, because effective tomorrow morning, you will no longer be assigned to the 12th Precinct's patrol division." Frank replied.
"You're transferring me out of the 12th?" An exasperated Jamie asked.
"No, I'm transferring you out of patrol. You went to law school, listen to what I said, not what you want to hear." Frank replied as he got up and walked over to his son. He reached into his pocket and removed a small box which he placed in front of Jamie.
"Open it." Frank ordered.
When he did, Jamie was astounded at what he saw.
"Is this real?" He asked.
"You've more than earned it. Congratulations Detective Third Grade Jamison Christopher Reagan." Frank replied as everyone else applauded, and Eddie leaned in to give Jamie a kiss.
Jamie stood up and saluted his father. "Thank you Sir." He smiled.
"You can save that for the official promotion tomorrow afternoon. For now, a hug and a "thanks Dad" will suffice." Frank grinned as he hugged his golden boy.
"You're sticking Jamie into the 12th Detective Squad with Joe?" Danny asked his father.
"No, I am assigning newly minted Detective Third Grade Jamison Reagan to the tutelage of one of my most experienced and knowledgeable investigators. Joe, meet your new partner." He replied, pointing at Jamie.
Joe smiled as he hugged Jamie. "Remember that day at Harvard when you told me you wanted to leave the legal field and join the NYPD, and that your greatest wish was that one day we would be partners?"
Jamie smiled. "I sure do."
"Then make the same wish for you and Eddie because now is that moment." Joe advised.
Jamie turned to Eddie. "Okay, it's true, you are kind of my thing." He smiled.
Eddie folded her arms and gave Jamie her best perp stare. "If you think your brother is going to ride your butt during shift, just wait until you bring it home each night" she warned, earning claps and cheers from everyone else.
Erin picked up her wine glass and held it out. "To my Three Musketeers" She toasted her brothers.
"To our D'Artagnan." They replied as they toasted their beloved sister.
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