"Come on buddy," Jamie said, sitting on the floor across from his son in the living room. The little boy was standing next to the coffee table, holding onto it as he was taking wobbly steps, trying to get closer to his father. "Come on. You're getting it. You can do it, Conor."

The fourteen month old made it to the end of the coffee table and stood for a long moment before letting it go and standing on his own.

"There you go!" Jamie cheered. "Good boy. Now come to Dada. Come on buddy."

Conor smiled at his father before deciding to go for the step. As he did, he suddenly tripped on the rug and hit his head against the arm of the couch.

"You're okay, Conor," Jamie comforted gently, reaching over and picking him up as he let out a loud wail. He brought him onto his lap and kissed the top of his head. "It's okay."

"Uh oh," Eddie said as she walked through the front door with a few bags of groceries. "What happened?"

Jamie stood up and followed Eddie into the kitchen with Conor in his arms, rubbing circles on his back to soothe him.

"He fell and hit his head against the arm of the couch," Jamie explained. "We were working on walking."

"Poor buddy," she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his head. "How'd he do?"

"I think he's getting close. He can stand by himself with no issues but just getting that first step is the problem."

"It probably won't be too much longer until he's walking," Eddie replied.

"Yeah but I thought he would've done it by now," Jamie said with slight worry in his voice. "He's fourteen months now. Grace walked a few days after her first birthday. By the way, where is she?"

"Well… we saw your Dad and Pop eating lunch at Manchetti's next to the grocery store. We were just going to say hi and leave but Grace somehow convinced them into buying her dessert."

Jamie shook his head and laughed, "Of course she did."

"Your dad is going to drop her off before he heads back to the office. Be on the lookout so you can go down and get her."

"I will," he nodded.

"Back to Conor," she continued. "I really don't think it's anything to worry about. I know Grace walked earlier but they're different kids. Why are you so insistent on wanting to get him to walk already? He'll walk when he's ready, Bub.

"I know that," he responded. "I've never told you this but I've always felt a little bummed that you were there for Grace's first steps and I wasn't. That's why whenever I'm home, I try to work on it with him in hopes that he'll do it when I'm here."

"Aww Jamie," Eddie replied, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's stupid," he said.

"It's not stupid," she chastised gently. "I probably would've felt the same way." Then, she sighed as she looked at Conor, who was starting to nod off on his father's shoulder. "They're growing up too fast."

"I know. Like Pop told us when Grace was born… the best thing about having kids is seeing them grow up. And that the worst thing about having kids is seeing them grow up."

"It rings true a lot more now than ever," she responded. "But… we could always have another one."

Jamie's eyes widened, "Really? You want another baby? I thought you always said that you were good with two."

"I know what I said," she replied then gave a small shrug. "But I've thought about it a little more. Not yet of course… but eventually. We need to get this one walking first though."

"We do," he nodded but made a mental note to come back to the conversation later.

"So what do you want for lunch?" she asked. "I think a pizza from Grimaldi's sounds good."

"Sounds good to me," Jamie responded.

A few days later, Eddie set Conor down on the sidewalk and held his hand as they walked around the park. A small cold had been going around Conor's daycare for the past few weeks and unfortunately, it finally caught him. He wasn't allowed to go back until he went forty eight hours without any symptoms. This had Jamie and Eddie scrambling to switch their schedules so one of them could be home with him while the other worked. Jamie was working the morning shift today then she would go in the afternoon. The plan was to meet at the precinct close to when Jamie got off so she could give him Conor before she went in.

Despite being sick, Conor was still his usual bubbly self. He was babbling a mile a minute as he took in the sights around him and pointed out things to his mother.

"Oh buddy," she said, running a hand over his head as they strolled. "I wish I could be just like you sometimes. Even though you feel crappy, you're still so happy. I swear you get that from your Daddy."

Conor smiled up at her. Then, as they walked a little bit further, they spotted a small beagle up ahead walking with their owner. The little boy giggled in delight when he saw it and began pulling his mother toward it. He was obsessed with dogs and never missed an opportunity to pet one.

"Wait!" Eddie exclaimed as she slowed them down, tightening her grip on his hand as he tried to let go. "Wait Conor. We have to ask first before we can pet the puppy."

She picked up Conor and caught up with the beagle and its owner. "Excuse me, ma'am?" Eddie said as they got close.

The woman turned, "Yes?"

"Do you mind if my son pets your puppy?" Eddie asked. "It's okay if it's a no. He just loves dogs and saw yours from back there and tried to come running."

There was a long pause before the woman finally responded, "Eddie Janko? Do you remember me?"

Eddie's eyes widened slightly. She tightened her hold around Conor. "Yeah, that's me."

"It's Dana," the woman responded. "Jamie's friend."

"Oh!" Eddie replied. She let out a sigh of relief and moved Conor onto her other hip. "I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you for a minute. It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too," Dana said. There was an awkward moment between the two women before Dana went in and gave Eddie a quick hug. "I've always wondered about how you've been doing. I'm glad to see I was right."

Eddie gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

Dana gave a small chuckle as she looked at Conor, "There's no doubt of who this baby's father is."

Eddie laughed and kissed Conor's rosy cheek, "Very true. They're so similar it's crazy."

"I knew that there was something going on between you too," she smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. It took us awhile but we eventually got there," Eddie said. "We have this little guy, Conor. And we have a daughter, Grace. She's four."

"That's so great. Are you still a police officer?"

"I am. I'm on patrol and Jamie is a Sergeant. We had to switch up our schedules these last few days because this guy..." She jostled Conor in her arms. "... got a cold from daycare. So it's been a little hectic. How have you been? Are you still a lawyer?"

Dana nodded, "I am. It's a lot sometimes but I can't imagine doing anything else."

Suddenly, Conor let out a small frustrated cry as he tried to reach for the puppy.

"You can pet him, sweetheart," Dana encouraged. She leaned down and picked up the puppy so he could be at Conor's level. The little boy reached out and began to pet him happily.

"Gentle buddy. Gentle," Eddie cautioned. "Good boy."

There was small talk between the two women for a few minutes before Eddie looked at the time and realized that it was almost time for her and Conor to meet up with Jamie.

"We better get going," Eddie finally said. "I have to get to work. It was really good to see you."

Dana reached out and hugged Eddie again, "It was amazing to you and again, I'm so happy for you and Jamie. We should all meet up to catch up soon. Tell Jamie I said hi."

"I will," she promised. "Be well, Dana. Wave bye-bye, Conor."

The little boy gave a shy smile and a small wave to Dana. She waved back then left.

"I thought that was going to be really awkward but it actually wasn't," Eddie said as they walked away. She gave a small shrug then smiled at Conor, "Are you ready to go see Daddy?"

"Da-Da!" Conor cheered.

Eddie kissed the side of his head, "Let's go see Daddy, honey."

They made it to the precinct in record time, about fifteen minutes before Jamie was due to clock out. The desk sergeant said that Jamie was in a meeting but that it was okay to wait for him in his office.

They walked in and sat down, with Eddie in Jamie's chair and Conor in her lap.

"I think this is your first time visiting Daddy's office, buddy," she said to Conor. She handed him a small magnet that was on the desk so he could entertain himself for the time being. She glanced around the desk and smiled at the small family photo in a frame. It was a picture that a lovely stranger had taken for them one day while they were at the park. They were all rosy cheeked and sweaty but it was one of her favorite pictures of them.

After a few minutes, they finally spotted Jamie coming out of the meeting. She gave a small frown when she saw his frustrated look as he went through the various papers in his hands.

She kissed the top of Conor's head, "Daddy looks a little upset. Let's go make his day a little better."

Eddie stood up with Conor in her arms then started walking toward Jamie. He had his head down looking through the papers so he didn't see them coming. Once they were close enough, Eddie placed Conor on the ground and grabbed his small hand.

"Okay buddy, let's go get Daddy," Eddie said.

What Conor did next surprised her. He pulled his hand away from hers then commenced to take short concentrated steps toward his father.

She let out a small gasp but quickly put her hands over her mouth to not startle the little boy.

"Jamie," she then called out calmly. "Jamie. Look who's coming toward you."

Jamie put down the papers and looked over to find Conor steadily walking toward him bearing a wide toothless smile.

"Buddy!" he exclaimed. He kneeled down, set the papers to the side, and opened his arms wide. "Good job! Come on. Make it over here to Dada. You got it!"

At seeing his father's excitement, it made Conor pick up the pace. Before they knew it, the one year old made it into Jamie's arms.

Jamie picked him up and kissed him over and over. "I'm so proud of you," he said gently. "I love you, Conor. You're such a good boy." He looked over at his wife. "Was this his first time doing it?"

Eddie nodded as she walked over and joined them, "Yes. I put him down and then he let go of my hand and starting walking to you. It surprised the hell out of me. I wasn't expecting it. We saw you come out of your meeting looking a little frustrated. I guess he knew what to do to make your day better."

"He definitely did," Jamie smiled. "He made my day a lot better."

"I don't even want to go in now," Eddie said as they walked back to his office. "I just want to stay with you guys."

He gave her a sad smile and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, "You'll be out before you know it, hon. What did you guys do today? I tried calling you earlier but you didn't answer."

"Just take a good guess of who Conor and I ran into while we were at the park," she responded.

Jamie's eyes widened, "I kind of don't even want to guess. Who did you run into?"

"Your friend Dana," she replied.

"Dana? Woah."

"Yeah. That's what I thought when I saw her but there was a few explicit words thrown in there too."

"How did that go?" he asked curiously.

"Better than I thought actually. She was interested to know how we've been. And actually said that she would love to meet up some time to catch up."

Jamie made a face at that and shook his head, "I don't think I would want to."

"Really?" she responded.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Why does that sound surprising?"

"I just thought you would be open to that for some reason."

"Maybe before. But now, no. She's in the past. I much prefer to focus on the present with you and our kids."

Eddie smiled, "You're sweet. You better go ahead and clock out. I still need to go get ready and you don't want to be late picking up Grace."

She gave a quick kiss to both of her boys and went off to the locker room to get ready for her shift. Jamie quickly clocked out and gathered his things and Conor. Now that the little boy discovered his new found skill, he refused Jamie's efforts of trying to pick him up or to hold his hand.

"Oh boy," Jamie said to himself as he watched Conor confidently walk ahead of him as they made their way to the car. "I thought your sister was going to be trouble but it turns out that it's you, bud."

Right on cue, Conor turned and flashed a mischievous smile up at his father. Jamie couldn't help but chuckle and shook his head as they walked to the car.