Chapter 12

The Reagans were gathered outside of Madison Square Garden among the crowd of hundreds of newly minted officers surrounded by their families and friends. They were no strangers to this event - every year since he'd become Commissioner, they'd all joined Frank in welcoming the young men and women who'd persevered through hard work and intense training to become a member of the New York City Police Department. And even before Frank was Police Commissioner, they'd attended many graduations to cheer on their very own family members in their dress blues.

Erin was the first to spot her father making his way through the dense crowd. "Hey, dad, over here!" she called out as she waved him down.

Linda wrapped her arms around Sean who stood in front of her and smiled at her father-in-law as he approached in his own dress blues. "That was a great speech, Frank," she complimented.

Frank grinned at his daughter-in-law. "Thank you, sweetheart. I'm glad to hear that because it gets harder every year to say something I haven't already said before," he admitted.

Danny smirked as he took his cap off and placed it under his arm. "If you dig deep enough, dad, I'm sure you can find some other obscure philosopher we've never heard of to quote," he quipped.

Henry chuckled next to Danny and looked around at the group. He, for one, was ready to move on to more important business. "We ready to head back home?" he asked. "Because I'm hungry."

Erin scanned the immediate area, her brow furrowing when she came to a realization. "We're missing Jamie," she said.

"He was just here," Nicky replied as she spun around in search of her youngest uncle.

"Uncle Jamie's over there," Jack announced.

Danny had one arm over his oldest's shoulders and followed his son's line of sight. "Where, Jack?" he asked as he scanned the crowd.

Jack threw his arm up and pointed at his uncle in the distance. "There with that blonde officer," he told the group.

Jamie was about twenty yards away, chatting and laughing with a petite, blonde graduate with a megawatt smile that no one recognized.

"Who's she?" Erin puzzled as she eyed the pair curiously. It had been a long time since she had seen Jamie laugh and smile like he was doing now.

"I've never seen her before," Danny commented with the same sharp, inquisitive eyes.

"They look friendly," Henry commented, knowing exactly who she was. He smiled appreciatively at the young couple.

Frank grinned at his father's comment, but said nothing.

"So she's a friend?" Linda pondered out loud. By this time, the whole family was studying Jamie and the mystery woman.

"They look really friendly," Nicky observed.

Sean looked up at his mother questioningly. "What does 'really friendly' mean?" he asked.

Frank glanced at his youngest and his 'friend' before turning narrowed eyes at his family. "You all sound like the peanut gallery," he accused.

Determined to solve this mystery, Danny's face brightened and he clapped his hands together decisively. "Well, I say we let the kid know we're ready to get out of here, huh?" He looked around at the family but didn't wait for their approval before taking off.

"Good idea. I'll come with you," Erin said with a grin as she followed after her older brother.

"Here they go..." Frank sighed, while hoping Jamie was prepared for whatever his oldest children had in store for him.

Henry heard Frank's muttered words and chuckled.

Danny and Erin headed over to Jamie and both smiled sweetly at his friend as they approached. "Hey, kid, you ready to head out?" Danny asked while sneaking a glance at the attractive blonde.

Jamie stiffened and turned, surprised to find both Danny and Erin at his side. "Yeah, ready," he responded. He looked from Eddie to his siblings and immediately picked up on the real reason they'd come looking for him, but he wasn't going to be rude, so he made the necessary introductions. "Eddie Janko, this is my brother, Danny, and my sister, Erin. Eddie just graduated with the class," he said and prayed that his siblings didn't do anything to embarrass him in front of Eddie.

"Nice to meet you, Eddie," Erin said with a nod of her head.

"Congratulations," Danny added as he extended his hand.

Eddie returned the firm grip and smiled at the pair. "The detective and the ADA," she said knowingly, glad to finally put faces to the names. "It's nice to meet you both," she responded cheerfully before looking back at Jamie and pointing behind her. "I gotta go find my family in this crowd somewhere. We still on for beers later?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll see ya there," he confirmed with a nod, happy to know he'd still be seeing her later.

"Okay, then," Eddie said warmly, her smile growing upon his confirmation of their plans. "It was nice meeting you," she said as she turned to Danny and Erin.

"You too, Eddie," Danny replied.

"Congratulations, again," Erin added, trying to read into what, if anything, was going on between the two of them. Eddie certainly knew who they were, but they had no clue who this Eddie Janko was before today.

Eddie gave them one last smile before she turned to leave. "Thanks. Bye," she said with a short wave as she walked off into the mass of people behind her.

"Bye," Jamie said as he steeled himself to face his brother and sister. They were both grinning at him when he finally turned towards them. "What?" Jamie asked, already annoyed at what he knew was coming.

"Who's she?" Danny asked with a sly grin.

Jamie gave them a puzzled look like they were crazy. "That was Eddie," he reminded them. "I just introduced you."

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, I mean who is she?" he tried clarifying.

"A friend," Jamie replied, knowing well what they were fishing for.

Erin crossed her arms in front of her, giving him a look she reserved for questioning witnesses on the stand. "A friend or a friend?" she asked, her brows arching for added effect.

Jamie was the one rolling his eyes now. "Oh, for God's sake," he said under his breath as he headed back toward the rest of the family. "If you two are going to talk like this the rest of the day, it's going to get annoying real quick."

"Spill, kid," Danny ordered as he walked quickly to catch up with his brother and wrapped an arm around Jamie's shoulders.

Jamie sighed as he came to a stop across from his father. "There's nothing to spill," he told Danny and then looked over at his father and grandfather. They had smirks on their faces and Jamie knew they'd seen him talking to Eddie too. "That was Eddie," he informed them.

"So we gathered," Henry responded, the same knowing smile still plastered on his face.

"I guess all that studying paid off," Frank commented.

"What studying?" Erin asked as she resumed her position next to Nicky.

"Your brother helped a friend get through the academy," Frank explained with a half shrug of his shoulders.

"You keep calling her a friend," Danny pointed out with air quotes.

"I guess now I can call her Officer Janko. Is that clearer?" Jamie shot back.

"All right. This could go on all day, but we got food waiting on us, so let's go troops," the commissioner ordered, hoping that got Jamie a temporary reprieve from the interrogation. Although, he did look forward to Danny's continued efforts to dig for more information on this mystery woman Jamie had been spending so much time with. Frank hadn't been blind to the positive changes in his youngest over the last several months. It was something that brought some relief to his own heavy heart.

Jamie's face lit up when he finally saw Eddie cutting through the crowded bar - a lot of other graduates had the same idea and were also out having celebratory drinks tonight. She was dressed comfortably in jeans and a white blouse, her hair loose and wavy around her shoulders and no longer in the tight bun she'd worn it in to the graduation ceremony. He thought she looked amazing and couldn't help returning the smile she was sending his way.

Jamie patted the empty seat next to him as she drew closer. "It's about time you got here. I was thinking I'd have to just keep celebrating without you," he said as he held up a less than half-empty pint glass while signaling the waitress for two more.

"I'm sorry. Dinner ran long," she apologized. "And I needed to go home and change first." Eddie let herself drop into the chair as she threw her bag onto another empty chair.

"Lot's of family?" Jamie guessed.

"Lot's of family drama," Eddie responded with a roll of her eyes and a heavy sigh.

Jamie smiled because he certainly knew how that went. "Yeah? So it wasn't just a celebration in your honor?" he inquired.

Eddie nodded her thanks as the waitress delivered their drinks, pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. "It was, until one of my aunts brought up my dad," she explained.

"Why would she do that?" Jamie asked before draining the last of his first beer.

Eddie took a long pull from her glass and brought it back down to the table. "Because he sent her a letter to pass on to me on graduation day," she muttered as she turned the glass around repeatedly.

"Oh," Jamie said, understanding the drama now. "So? Did you read it?" he asked curiously, wondering what her father could have written in it.

"Of course not," Eddie replied quickly.

"Why not?" Jamie asked, surprised by her answer.

Eddie frowned. "I already told you why not, Reagan," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but he's still your dad, Eddie," he emphasized.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Eddie wondered out loud, throwing her hands up in frustration. It was the same line she'd heard all day.

"Because it's true," he said carefully, not wanting to cause her any grief on her graduation day. They were supposed to be celebrating after all.

Eddie shook her head and brushed the same stubborn lock of hair away from her face. "What does he expect? That there will be some glorious family reunion? I'll just walk into the prison and he'll say 'sorry,' and I'll say, 'hey, no hard feelings, dad'?"

Jamie shrugged. He might not be able to fully understand what this was like for her, but he was not one to hold a grudge and keep so much anger bottled up inside. He found it exhausting and counter-productive and hoped she understood where he was coming from. "It might not be quite that easy, but maybe going to see him would be a start?"

"For what?" she shot back and turned in her seat to lean one elbow onto of the table.

"For a little healing on your part," he encouraged.

"Healing?" Eddie said skeptically as she looked into her glass.

Jamie arched a brow at her. "Come on, Eddie. It's obvious how much this is eating you up, and rightfully so, but being angry and ignoring him isn't going to make it go away," he advised.

"Thanks, Dr. Phil," she deadpanned and downed another gulp of beer.

Jamie let out a short laugh and explained himself. "I'm just saying, it might take some of that pent-up anger and frustration away...so you don't burst one day. You're gonna see a lot of crazy, disturbing things on the job and you're going to have to know how to let things go."

"I don't know," she whispered and looked back down at her glass. To be honest, she had been angry and resentful of her father for so long that she didn't know how to let it go at this point.

Jamie tilted his head to meet her eyes. "Just think about it," he said.

One side of Eddie's mouth curved upward as she met his blue eyes. "Alright, but not tonight. You're supposed to be buying me drinks to celebrate the fact that I am now your equal," she declared and held her glass up for a toast.

Jamie's face scrunched up and he reluctantly tapped his glass against hers. "Equal?" he snorted.

Eddie returned the same look. "I don't think there are any stripes or a gold shield on your uniform," she argued.

Jamie huffed out a laugh because she had no idea about what was coming. "Let me know if you feel like my equal when you're getting all the crap, rookie assignments for the next year...at least," he said smugly.

"Like what?" Eddie asked, concerned about what she might be in for. She hadn't considered the whole low-man-on-the-totem-pole thing until now and was suddenly feeling a little apprehensive.

Jamie tapped a finger against his chin dramatically as he thought of all jobs Renzulli stuck him with during his rookie year. "Waiting for the ME in an unventilated hallway with a rotting corpse on the other side of an apartment door in the middle of summer," he rattled off as he held one finger up.

Eddie grimaced. "That sounds disgusting," she grumbled. "Really?"

"Get ready to burn some uniforms," Jamie warned. He nodded carefully while drinking his beer when she continued to look at him like he was making this stuff up.

"Is that why they give you the uniform allowance?" Eddie asked.

Jamie laughed. "That, and because of the drunks that puke on you. Then there are the perps that run and you have to tackle into piles of garbage in scummy alleys," he listed.

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?" she asked worriedly.

"Because there's nothing else you'd rather be doing. You'll see," he assured her with a smile.

Eddie looked back at Jamie, smiling at the relaxed expression on his face. She turned her eyes away quickly when she realized she'd been staring and picked up her glass. "I don't think I'll be good for more than one beer tonight. Anymore than that and I'll get sleepy," Eddie predicted.

Jamie smiled. "Well, you shouldn't be boozing it up the night before your first day on the job anyway," he admonished lightly.

"I'm not boozing it up, I'm celebrating," she corrected. "You're the one that wanted to come out."

"Yeah, I did," he admitted. He'd wanted to celebrate this with her too.

"But I had my good share of wine to get through the family drama and it's been a long day," she defended herself. "I'm just ready to jump in bed," she said and let out a tired sigh.

Jamie pursed his lips at the image her statement conjured up in his head. "So," he said distractedly, "I forgot to ask what precinct you got assigned to," he asked, going with whatever popped into his head first.

"The five-four," Eddie stated.

Jamie's eyes widened. He had been about to take another sip from his glass when he suddenly dropped it back down, some of the beer inside sloshing over the edge when it roughly hit the table. "Seriously?"

Eddie straightened up at his tone...he sounded worried. "Yeah. What's wrong?" she asked.

Jamie shook his head and considered his luck. "Nothing, just that the five-four is Danny's precinct."

"Really?" Eddie responded with arched brows. "So if I run into him, will he be willing to give me some dirt on you from when you were growing up?" she asked and wondered how approachable the older Reagan brother truly was.

"This is gonna be bad for me, I can already tell," Jamie complained much to Eddie's amusement.

Eddie threw her head back as she let out a belly laugh. "Oh, I am so going to be on the look out for your brother!" she threatened.

Jamie ran his hand down the length of his face. "Isn't it enough that he tortured me growing up?" he whined.

"Oh, come on! I'm sure he wasn't so bad."

"You haven't really met Danny," Jamie said under his breath.

"Man, I can't wait to start work tomorrow!" Eddie proclaimed, the fatigue she complained about a moment ago now forgotten.