Danny had no hurry to see his new brother. He had spent the last few days helping his dad making the kitchen baby-safe, and he just had bugged up a math test. Joe had slept badly for a week, due to a mixture of TV and anxiety. So he had walked over to Danny every night - and Danny's bed was just too narrow for two people. Joe, of course, had slept very well there. He hadn't. And now there was another baby to be watched over. Danny loved his little siblings, there was nothing he wouldn't do for them – but right now he didn't know how to handle another one.
Thank God it was a boy. Erin had complained at the beginning, but Danny knew that she was secretly enjoying being the only girl. And a boy would be easier, he had to believe that.

As the hours passed by, however, Danny got seriously worried. He had heard more about his mom's problems during the pregnancy than she had wanted, and he had heard her screaming through the doors. It hadn't only been pain, at one point it had been pure exhaustion. That was the moment when Danny decided never to have children of his own.

Erin and Joe had fallen asleep, both smiling, as the door opened. Danny, pacing up and down the corridor, froze. Frank took the situation in – Erin holding Joe in her arms, both covered with Danny's jacket, and beamed with pride. "Thank you, son."
Danny nodded earnestly. "Of course, dad." Then the child in him won over. "How's mom and the baby?"
"Both just woken up for you", Frank smiled and opened the door for his eldest. "His name's Jamie. And he looks a lot like you!"
"Hopefully not"; Danny grumbled. None of his siblings looked like him. And he didn't know if he really wanted to have anyone looking like him.
Mary smiled at him, her cheeks a healthy red now. Sleep and breakfast had been good. She reached out for her son, and he approached – very closely to not wake up the baby she held in the other arm. "You look wonderful, mom."
"Thank you, Danny", Mary laughed. "And thanks for being so patient with us." She watched her son closely. "You remember what you promised me?" Danny nodded earnestly. "I will protect him, mom. I promise." His mother laughed. "I know you will, Danny, but that wasn't exactly what I meant."
Danny was confused. Had he done anything wrong?
Mary gently caressed his face. "I meant what you've promised me when you left primary school. You said that you knew we're always here for you, and that you'll come to us with every problem."
"Yeah, and I do!", Danny protested, flipping through his memory. What hadn't he told his parents?
"What about your math test last week, by the way?"
Oh. That.
Frank closed the door behind him. "My parents just arrived. They'll look after Erin and Joe." Mary nodded.

Danny felt fear rising in his stomach and icing up his throat. Why did dad think about math now? And why did they need grandpa and grandma to watch over the little ones, that was his job!

"It's bad"; he quickly said, head lowered in shame. "I'm sorry, dad." He wasn't sure if his father would hit him, he never did for bad marks, but this was the second math test he'd screwed up. Frank nodded slowly. "That's not good, son." Danny bit his lip. "I'm sorry." Then a new thought came up and almost brought tears into his eyes. "Does that mean I can't see Jamie?"
He realized that he did want to see his brother. Right now.

Mary sighed. "No, honey. It means that you had to look after Erin and Joe too much in the past weeks. And we're sorry for that. We…"
"We trust you, Danny, and we're blessed to have you", Frank completed the sentence and then halted, allowing Danny to let pride warm him up. "But I expect you to take school seriously, son. Not because you're the eldest. Because you're a Reagan. Understood?"
"Yes, dad. Thank you."
"Now, have we finished school and can move over to family business?" Mary mocked. As her husband nodded, she kissed the little bundle and carefully laid it in Danny's waiting arms. "He looks like you"; she said, but Danny didn't hear it.

A heartbeat. That was all it took for Daniel Henry Reagan to forget math and school and his parents. All it took to raise a sense of protection in him, stronger than with Joe. Stronger than even with Erin. When they were born, Danny hadn't been able to do much to protect them.
Now it was different. He would be an adult when Jamie would go to school. He was old enough now to protect his baby brother – and he would.
A heartbeat to be charmed by Jamie's big brown eyes. Eyes that looked like his own, he realized, just somewhat better.

Danny didn't smile at Jamie as he held him. But he prayed, silently. He prayed for Jamie to be happy and healthy, no matter what he'd have to do for it. It was the same prayer he said every night for his family, and God had not always fulfilled his wishes.
As he carefully heaved Jamie up to his face, the little one smiled. For a moment, Danny smiled, too, but this felt too solemn to smile like that. He knew he should say something important now – he was the eldest, after all, and he had waited so long. He should by now know what to say.
"Hey, Jamie", he whispered, still afraid to frighten him, "I don't know what the others told ya, but we're your family. We're the Reagans, actually, which is even more. You know, just… more. We're gonna take of you, all of us, and… well, I'm not sure you will really take care of us. Maybe you make Erin smile more, she's a pest when she's sulky. And you could make Joey wanting to behave older. I don't know." Gently he kissed Jamie's forehead and laid it back into his smiling mother's arms. "Whatever, Jamie, the most important thing you've got to do for us is to be happy and healthy, okay? The rest will adjust." He followed the line of Jamie's nose down with his fingers, resting it under his chin. The baby squealed with delight, and Frank chuckled. "Poor boy."
Danny smiled. "I won't tell them, I promise." He had one secret already with his little brother. None of the other children were ticklish. He sat down at his mother's bed and kept staring at Jamie who now yawned and closed his eyes.
Mary and Frank smiled at each other, and Mary tousled her elder's hair. For once, Danny didn't complain.

"I guess I call the rest in then?"
"Do that." Mary was still smiling at her boys as Frank let in the family. They all hurried in, laughing, crying, everything at once, all telling each other to be silent. Three grandparents, Mary's sister, two detectives. Mary put Jamie into a cradle next to her bed so the others wouldn't crush him as they gathered around her. Danny kept his place near his baby brother.
Erin and Joe came in with hands entwined, both feeling a little lost.
Without looking back Danny extended his hand, waiting for Joe to catch it, then pulled his siblings close to him. They stood at their brother's cradle, silently watching over him.
"He's cute", Erin murmured. "He's gonna be much more nicer than you two. I'll take care of that."
Danny smiled and put an arm around her, the other around Joe.
Joe, however, frowned. "We'll see, Erin. We'll see."