Author's Note:
Star1X: Yes, this story is set in season 1 and 2.
Amelia's idea to bump into Jamie wasn't planned. She wanted to watch her son from far away like she did the day, when Jamie had the night shift and showed up in front of the police station. She always has the photo of her son in her handbag, carrying it around since the day it was taken.
Amelia could remember the day well, when Jamie was a five year old boy, running around on the playground in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. On this warm day in June, Amelia just set on a bench, an amused smile playing around her lips as she watched her son swinging. His squealing was full of excitement as he tried to swing as high as possible with his little legs. Amelia used the opportunity to take a picture of her little boy who had the brightest smile on his face she has had ever seen. Little did she know on this day, that the years, which will follow after the day in the park, were meant for the mother to keep her distance from her son.
But Amelia was getting tired after more than two decades of watching her son from far away, not able to communicate with her own blood. The desire to finally meet him in person was almost unbearable. She couldn't wait any longer. Amelia just wanted to talk to her son. So her plan was quickly formed in her head.
As she was walking down the street, heading in Jamie's direction, she could see, that the young officer wasn't focused, his mind miles away. Something seemed to bother him and this could be her luck, with Jamie being distracted she could easily follow her plan.
So Amelia pretended to be typing busy on her cell phone. For anyone around her she would seem so engrossed in it. For any bystander it would appear like a typical situation for New York. A person too distracted by the phone not realizing the upcoming collision. Nobody would think that this accident was actually a set up.
Though Amelia was prepared and did know, what was about to happen, she was surprised by the firm impact. She tripped backward and could feel how her legs gave away and let out a small whimper as her body made contact with the hard asphalt.
Everything happened so quickly that Amelia was a bit confused, why she found herself on the ground, looking up at Jamie and the older police officer he was with. She needed some time to process that she indeed fall to the ground because of the collision.
Amelia took several breaths to calm her beating heart and to regain her composure. She didn't expect the collision to be that hard at the end. No, it wasn't her intention to find herself on New York's asphalt, she thought. She shifted her eyes back at Jamie, who was truly stunned and got stabilized by the older police officer.
The same man was the first to offer her his hand and she could hear him asking her something as she was getting off the ground, but Amelia was too fascinated by the fact that Jamie got her eyes. He inherited her eyes. The same sparkling green eyes she has. For sure, he was his father's son but he has her eyes and Amelia couldn't wonder what kind of person Jamie was. Frank already stated that their son was honest and caring but was he also ambitious, incorruptible and strong minded like her.
"Ma'am, did you hear what my colleague asked you? Are you okay?" her thoughts got interrupted by Jamie.
Amelia looked herself up and down to make sure she hasn't got any injuries. She still felt unsteady on her legs and a bit disordered, but all in all she was okay.
"Yes, I'm good, thanks" she said a little bit shaken. Her eyes were scanning the ground for her phone, which she lost during the collision. She could see that Jamie was picking it off the ground and handed it over to her.
"I feel really sorry for the accident. My name is Officer Reagan."
"Amelia Castano. It's nice to meet you" she said and took her phone out of his hand.
Amelia was about to slide her phone back into her handbag as she realized that something sharp picked her palm. She turned the phone to its front just to see the broken display with little glass fragments. Her gaze shifted from her phone to Jamie, who watched each of her movement.
"I will cover the costs, Mrs. Castano" Jamie said quickly. The young officer got his notepad out of his side pocket, took his pencil and wrote his name and phone number down, he then hold the paper to a puzzled Amelia to take it from him.
" I …"
"I insist" Jamie said with emphasis.
Amelia locked eyes with the young man infront of her and weigh her words: "Under two conditions, first: It was my mistake as well, that the collision happened in the first place, I was so engrossed in my phone that I wasn't looking, so we gonna split the bill for the broken display. And second: Please call me Amelia, Mrs. Castano is way too formal"
"Then you can call me Jamie."
Amelia's lips turned into a smile, her plan was better than she expected it to be. Her thoughts got interrupted by Renzulli's voice, informing Jamie that they have to leave.
"Just give me a call ..." Jamie said and added softly "and I'm really sorry."
Amelia just nodded and waved him off. "Have a good day, Jamie."
"You, too"
"Dad! Dad! I can't find it, are you sure it is here?" Jamie was yelling from inside the garage with his back to the driveway. He was supposed to "actually" clean the garage from old stuff like he promised his father but instead he was spending the last 10 minutes rooming through boxes, looking for Danny's old high school yearbook.
Jamie was determined to proof Renzulli that Danny was for sure a member of the poetry club back in the days. He just left out a pretty important detail: Danny didn't join the after school activity voluntarily. Payback is a bitch, Jamie thought devilish. The next box he opened was full of old family photos. A small smile spread across his face as he found a photo of his siblings and him. Jamie could recall the day well when the photo was taken. The whole family was on the beach and enjoyed the last days of summer on Coney Island. Danny was already a teenager and posed like a muscle man for the photo. Erin stood next to the eldest sibling, her eyes rolled in annoyance, showing clearly how she felt about the stupid behaviour of her older brother. Beside Erin was Joe, who had a protective arm around the youngest member of the Reagan clan. Both boys had tanned skin from the sun and wore cheeky smiles for the camera. Jamie felt so happy on that day, he really thought life would be like this all the time: a life full of beach days and happiness. The moment was captured by their mother for the eternity but not the people in it. Jamie sight at the thought of Joe, his heart heavy and full of grieve for the older brother he lost and still missed so much. Would his life be different if Joe was still around? Would Joe be proud of the man he was now, Jamie thought. His thoughts got interrupted by footsteps, which slowly approached from behind his back.
"Dad, do you …?" Jamie asked as he was turning around just to stop mid-sentence, confused as his eyes weren't met with the face of his father but with Amelia Castano instead.
"Jamie, what a surprise" Amelia said, her face crinkled with happiness. She was watching Jamie for the last 30 minutes from her car across the street. Amelia knew the risk of approaching him at Frank's house but she couldn't deny the desire for her son. She literally longed for him. So she didn't care if Frank would show up, she was sure that he wouldn't do anything stupid and definitely would avoid a confrontation in front of their child.
"Amelia, what are you doing here?" Jamie asked perplexed, he expected his dad or even his grandfather for that matter but not the woman he bumped into the day before.
"I visited some friends down the street and was on my way back to the car when I saw you" she lied. Amelia was prepared, she knew Jamie would ask her that. He was a cop and Frank's son after all.
"How are you feeling after, um, the accident?" Jamie still felt miserable about what happened the day before. He could kick his own butt for the stupid rookie mistake he made. Renzulli kept telling him to always pay attention, no matter what was going on in his personal life.
"A little bit sore but all in all pretty good" Amelia answered. She could sense that the collision still upset the young man. "You don't have to worry any longer, you apologized once and don't forget it was my mistake as well" she continued fairly.
Jamie gave her a small smile and looked back at the photo, he still had in his hand. Amelia followed his gaze curiously to the photo but couldn't exactly see what it showed.
"A family photo?"
"Yes, it is" Jamie answered softly without looking up. "The photo shows my siblings and I on Coney Island back in the days. I thought that this day would never end. I was so happy and carefree. It's funny how things went. I miss these days, I miss my brother Joe and …" Jamie suddenly stopped and quickly looked up. He just realized that he was talking about his dead brother to a woman he barely knew.
"Sorry, I …"
"It's ok to miss someone and you don't have to be sorry about it" Amelia said, cutting Jamie off. "My son was taken away from me years ago by his father. I miss him every day so I can relate how you feel."
"I'm sorry for your loss" Jamie said sincere. He will never understand how a parent could take away a child. It was unintelligible.
"You don't have to. One day he will come back to me."
"He will." Jamie didn't know what else to say. As a cop, he unfortunately knew, how those family tragedies usually end: either the parent -who kidnapped the child- gets arrested for the crime or the child and the parent will never be seen again because they already left the country. That's the way it is, sad to say. But it wasn't Jamie's intention to take Amelia's hope away. The woman in front of him was obviously suffering and she could use all the hope. He can't imagine what kind of pain she must feel.
"I should go" Amelia said after some seconds "it was nice to see you again, Jamie." She offers the young man her hand, which he accepts.
"Have a good day, Amelia. See you soon." Jamie didn't know that this careless remark was coming to be true sooner or later, because Amelia was already planning the next encounter with her son. She wants Jamie in her life at all costs and she always gets what she wants.
Jamie's eyes followed Amelia to her car and down the street until she drove around the corner and was gone. Only now, Jamie realized that he hasn't asked her about the broken phone display and the costs.
The young man spent some more minutes rooming through old boxes looking for the said yearbook until his stomach started to grumble. So Jamie closed the garage gate, walked up the few steps to the front door and went through it as his grandfather appeared from another room.
"Did you talk to someone outside, Jamie?" his grandfather asked in wonder.
"Yeah, I did" Jamie answered casually as he went further into the house, Henry following his youngest grandchild hot on his heels.
"And, who is she?" Henry was pretty sure that the other voice was definitely a female one.
"Who is who?" Frank asked looking up from his newspaper. He was sitting at the table, drinking his second cup of morning coffee while both men entered the kitchen. Jamie went straight to the cupboard to help himself with a bag of cookies, ignoring his father's question. He wasn't in the mood to talk about Amelia and the accident. He felt ashamed in front of his father and grandfather for the lack of attention, which led to the collision. What a rookie mistake, Jamie thought. How often did not only Renzulli told him but also his father to spend attention when he was on duty. It was not only his life, which was on the line, no, he was responsible for his partner's life, too.
"Jamie?" Henry asked gently.
"I bumped into a woman yesterday."
"Bumped into?" his grandfather said laughing. "I hope the woman wasn't hurt?"
"No, she wasn't" Jamie stated gladly. "I just broke the display of her phone so I gave Amelia my number to …"
"Amelia?" Frank suddenly asked.
"Yep, Amelia." Jamie said swallowing his cookie. "Amelia Castano" he specified. "Do you know her?"
Frank's stomach immediately clenched. Amelia Castano. That cannot be. What are the odds that this woman was really Amelia Castano, Frank thought. The same woman who visited him in his office few days ago, the woman who threatened him and then left him in a state of guilt and angst.
"How does she look like, Jamie?" Frank asked in a raspy voice. He needed to know. Frank needed to know if this woman was after all the same Amelia Castano. He knew it was funny to think otherwise. The name Castano was rare in New York especially in connection with the first name Amelia.
"She is in her 60's, black shoulder length hair, Italian accent and …"
Frank zoomed out, his face pale. She was here. Amelia really had the boldness to contact his son. He knew her threat wasn't just thoughtlessly stated. She was quite serious about it. Frank could see it in her eyes the day she was in his office. She wants a relationship with his son, come what may. In the end, Frank thought, Jamie was her son, too.
"... Francis? Are you good? You look pale" Henry said in a concerned voice.
Frank shifted his gaze between his son and his father, who both were looking at him with worried faces.
"I'm good" Frank stumbled, feeling Jamie's eyes on him "I just remembered that I have to go. I've forgotten about the meeting with Garrett at 1PP" he continued, his voice somewhat shaky. He could catch a glimpse of Jamie's face as he rose from his chair, his face showed a mix of curiosity and expectation "I … just have to go" Frank left the kitchen at a rapid space. Before he left through the front door, he grabbed his car keys and coat. Everything was spinning in Frank's head as he finally could sit in his car. He somehow managed to start the engine with shaky hands and left the driveway to make his way into town. He has only one thought on his mind: to contact the woman who was responsible for all of this.
Jamie and Henry were clearly taken aback by the sudden leave of Frank. Jamie didn't quite understand what has gotten into his father after he said Amelia's name. Does his father know Amelia? Was it even possible that both knew each other. Maybe from the past, Jamie summarized. What was wrong with his father lately, he wasn't himself since the odd call some days ago. Jamie was determined to find out what was wrong with his father. He would wait for his old man until he will come back from whatever meeting he went to.
