Hey guys, sorry for the delay, again. Life is exhausting these days teaching in a pandemic. Please know I will continue to update the best I can. I'm not giving up on the story. I appreciate all your support. For all those JAMKO fans on FB come join our new page 12-David and don't forget to join our BB Fan Fiction page as well.

Chapter 5

Jamie had Mikey again Saturday night, Kara was working a midnight shift and Dylan had taken the boys upstate to help out his mom, who had been sick recently. Mikey had finally gotten his cast off on Friday, and was just in an air cast. Kara has been taking Mikey to see his Mom every Sunday but since she got stuck working a double shift she had to ask Jamie to take him to see Eddie. Jamie grumbled seeing Kara's text.

J- Kara, you owe me big time ! I'll have to bring him to family dinner now, and I know my Dad isn't going to be happy about that.

K - I promise I will babysit Sarah whenever you need it ! ! Thank you, Jamie ! !

J - Yeah, yeah, be safe out there.

After finishing up with Kara, Jamie texted his father to let him know what was going on and that he was bringing Mikey to dinner.

"How are you feeling?" Jamie asked.

"I'm feeling better, I'm still a little sore but good. They are talking about releasing me this week." She said excitedly. "I need to take a walk in fresh air and not just around the nurse's station."

"Well, you and Mikey will be able to walk to the new one at the end of your block. It will be good exercise for you both. I know Mikey's physical therapist said she's going to start taking him to the playground for therapy."

"Oh, playground therapy, I like the sound of that." Eddie smiled.

"Well, we need to leave now to get to dinner on time." Jamie told her.

"You're taking Mikey to family dinner ? I bet your Dad is thrilled about that." Eddie replied looking down at her hands.

"I'm sure I'll get a talking to tonight but he does understand the situation and knows I'm just helping out." Jamie relayed. "Pops, however, is another story."

Jamie used the kitchen door when arriving to dinner since he had both Sarah's car seat, diaper bag, and Mikey with the air cast on his leg.

"Hey !" Jamie called out opening the door.

"Hey, oh Jamie, let me help you. Give me Sarah." Erin replied.

"Thanks, I've got my hands full today." Jamie smiled. "Mikey, this is my sister, Erin." Mikey looked around and waved hesitantly. Erin left and took Sarah into the living room where Pop was waiting.

"It's about time you got here, Kid. We're just about ready to eat." Danny teased. "Who's this little guy ? Last time I checked you only had one kid."

"This is Eddie's son, Mikey." Jamie told him. "Mikey, this is my brother Danny." Danny smiled back and held his hand up for a high-five. Mikey smiled and high-fived him back.

"Eddie as in your old partner and girlfriend ?" Danny questioned. Jamie nodded.

"Mommy was your girlfriend ?" Mikey asked, confused. "I thought her was your police partner?

"We were partners, Bud." Jamie told him.

"Your Mommy was also his girlfriend for a little while too." Danny smiled at Mikey.

"Before my Daddy?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, before your Daddy." Jamie answered.

"Can Mommy be your girlfriend again, you're nicer than my Daddy." Mikey disclosed. Jamie and Danny looked at each shocked.

"Wasn't your Daddy nice to you ?" Danny questioned, getting down to Mikey's level.

"He was mad a lot and say lots of mean things to Mommy that made her cry a lot."

"What kind of things did he say to her to make her cry ?" Danny pushed.

"He yells and say mean things and bad words. He say he didn't want to be a Daddy anymore and we couldn't live there anymore, then Aunt Kara help us come here." Mikey told them. "Mommy didn't know I hear Daddy, she cried for a really long time."

Jamie and Danny couldn't believe what they heard. Frank had overheard the end of Mikey's conversation.

"I guess it's a good thing you came to New York." Danny smiled at him. "There's lots of nice people here."

"I like that." Mikey said. "I'm hungry, is it time to eat yet ?"

Danny laughed, "He really is Eddie's kid."

"Dinner is on the table and ready to eat." Frank announced. Mikey's eyes got really big and he looked up to Jamie and whispered. "Who's that guy?"

"That's my Dad." Jamie told him. "You can call him Mr. Frank."

"Hi, Mr. Frank, you're really tall." Mikey said looking up at him.

"I am, I'm the one that is in charge of reaching all the tall things in the house." Frank chuckled. "Let's move into the other room and get this young man some food."

"Jamie, Sarah's sleeping in the living room." Erin told him.

"Thanks so much Erin, I really appreciate it."

After introductions, Jamie made up a plate of food for Mikey. Everyone was surprisingly quiet tonight, they were observing the new guest at the table. Mikey was also observing everyone too.

Out of nowhere Mikey states, "Jamie, you don't look like your Dad." Everyone had a confused look on their face.

"That happens sometimes, I actually look more like my Mom, just like you look like your Mom."

"Oh, so he still be your Dad when you don't look like him.

"Yes."

"Oh, OK."

"Why are you asking about Jamie looking like me, Mikey ? Frank questioned. He was very curious and concerned why he asked a question like that.

"Cause Daddy told Mommy I don't look like him. Mommy cried then too."

After dinner, Sean and Henry took Mikey into the den while Jamie headed to the kitchen to prepare a bottle for Sarah. Jamie never noticed Danny and Frank walk in.

"You better not be making my granddaughter's bottle too hot." Frank said trying to get Jamie's attention.

"What?"

"The water."

"Oh." Jamie acknowledged, obviously distracted.

"So you didn't know anything about what Mikey said tonight." Frank questioned.

"I had no idea." Jamie admitted. "Kara told me some things the other night and it made me see her leaving in a different light. But what Mikey said tonight is making my head spin." He started to pace the kitchen, then stopped with his arms crossed. leaning on the island. "What gets me is that Eddie never let guys treat her like that. When we were partners she dated this guy for a couple weeks and he started to try to control who she saw and when. He didn't want her talking about me or even hanging out with me after work. He told her, 'You spend enough time with that guy during the day. I don't want you seeing him after work.' Eddie told him to get lost after that. She told me that she would never make compromises with her friends because they had been around longer."

"Sounds like you need to talk to her, Kid." Danny told him.

"I don't know about that." Jamie waivered. "She's been through more in the last 2 weeks than most people deal with in a year, I don't want to make her more upset." Danny looked at him confused.

"The accident was really bad, her car flipped, in addition to both of them having broken legs, she had a broken wrist, internal bleeding, was in a coma for a week, and lost a baby."

"Oh my God." Danny expressed. "How far along was she?"

"I think Kara said she was about five months."

"That's awful." Danny started, "But maybe it's a blessing that she has one less connection to the father."

"Danny, that's terrible to say." Frank admonished. "Children are a gift, no matter what the situation."

"I know that, but with what she went through, a baby shouldn't be torn between parents."

"That's not an issue, I got the impression that he's definitely out of the picture."

"Good."

"Jamie," Frank began, "you really should talk to her about what he said today. She needs to know."

''I know she does, I'll find the time to talk to her this week."

Jamie said.

"I hate to bring this up," Danny whispered, "but he overheard his father saying he didn't look like him."

"What about it?"

"You don't think he's yours do you ?"

"What ? No. "

"Are you sure?" Danny asked. "Look, we all know how devastated you were when she left"

"I'm sure." Jamie sighed. "She had two ultrasounds after she found out, she was too far along for it to be mine. We were both upset about it but I didn't care that the baby wasn't mine, I loved her and just wanted to be with her. What I didn't understand at the time was why she left. She didn't want to be with Barry."

"You're doing a wonderful thing by helping her out, son, despite how hard I know it is for you." Frank comforted. "I think you need to do this sooner than later. It's still early, why don't you head over and talk to her. We'll take care of Sarah and Mikey until you come back."

"Dad, this really isn't the best time to do this, I need to get Sarah, and me, to bed a little earlier tonight. I had a rough night last night with Mikey.

"Look, I know first hand how much she hurt you when she left but you volunteered to help out Kara with Eddie's kid so you really need to talk to her." Danny told him. "Mikey will be fine, he's in there having fun with Sean and Gramps and you know that Sarah will be just fine."

"Kara is supposed to come here in about an hour and pick up Mikey." Jamie told them.

"How 'bout this," Danny started. "I'll stay here until Mikey gets picked up and then me and Sean will go back to your house and put the baby to bed and stay until you get home."

"Danny . . ."

"I have a better idea." Frank started, "I'll keep Sarah here tonight, Pop is watching her tomorrow anyway. That way you can get a good night's sleep without worrying about her."

"I hope you still fight over watching her when she's older." Jamie laughed.

"First baby in 20 years, and another little girl to boot, she's going to have ALL the Reagan men wrapped around her finger by the time she's . . . oh wait, she already does." Danny teased.

The men headed to the den to see what Henry, Sean, and Mikey were up to. When they walked in they were working on a 200 piece puzzle.

"This kid is a whiz with puzzles. I haven't seen anyone put puzzles together like that since you were his age." Henry looked judgingly at Jamie.

"Well you never saw Eddie put puzzles together, she certainly gave me a run." Jamie laughed. "The more I get to know him, the more I realize that he's Eddie's twin."

"Hey Mikey, I have to run out and get a few things." Jamie started. "You're going to hang out here until Aunt Kara comes."

"Is Sarah staying too ?" He asked.

"Yes, Sarah is staying too.

Jamie questioned himself the entire way back to the hospital. Mikey was a really cool kid and he loved spending time with him but he felt he was starting to get too attached to him and wanted to start separating himself from Eddie and Mikey but didn't quite know how to do it, especially now.

When he got to the hospital, Kara was still there.

"Hey, I didn't know you were coming back?" Kara asked, confused.

"Is Mikey OK?" Eddie questioned.

"Yes, he's fine. He's having a blast doing puzzles with my grandfather and nephew." Jamie said.

"So what's going on, Jamie?" Eddie started. "You have that look that says you want to talk about something but aren't sure how I'm going to handle it."

"And I thought I worked on that look." Jamie teased.

"Nope!" Eddie joked.

"Well, I'm going to let you two talk, I need to go pick up your little man from the PC's house and I don't want to be late." Kara acknowledged. Jamie laughed.

"You'll be fine, he doesn't give RIPs when you're late." Jamie joked.

"Aren't we just full of the jokes today." Kara snapped at him laughing.

"You make it easy."

Kara just shook her head. "I'm working swing this week so if you want to talk tonight or in the morning, give me a call." Kara said, giving her friend a hug goodbye."

"Thank you again for today, Jamie. I really do owe you." Kara admitted.

"Yes you do, and I plan on collecting." Jamie assured.

Jamie walked over and sat in the chair at the end of Eddie's bed.

"So what's going on Jamie ? I'm guessing this has to do with Mikey, since I know you wouldn't come here on your own without him." Jamie had a look of resignation on his face.

"Look, Kara told me she had to twist your arm to help out." Eddie continued. Jamie nodded. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you, especially after what I did to you. I know I'm the last person you wanted to help out." she admitted, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

"I'll be honest, I personally wanted to run the other way when Kara asked. This has been such a hard time for me. I'm a single parent to a 4 ½ month old little girl. I had my world turn upside down for the second time in 5 years." Jamie huffed.

"I'm so very sorry, Jamie." He just nodded.

"I need to ask you something." Jamie said seriously.

"You're kind of scaring me, what's wrong?"

"Did . . . did Barry abuse you ?" Jamie asked, afraid of what he would hear.

"No, why would you even ask me something like that?" Eddie snapped. "I thought this had to do with Mikey.

"It does have to do with Mikey, he said some things tonight that I'm concerned about. It seems as if he overheard you and Barry talking on several occasions."

"What. . . how ? We always tried to have our discussions after he went to bed." Eddie stated. "What is he saying?"

"He said that Barry yelled a lot, said mean things and bad words to you that made you cry." Jamie relayed.

"Oh my God." Eddie started to get upset. "How did this come up, did he just start saying things?"

"Well, Danny happened to mention you were my girlfriend, and that seemed to get his attention and he asked if you could be my girlfriend again since his Daddy was mean to you guys."

"He said that?" Eddie teared up. "Did he say anything else ?

"He actually asked me why I didn't look like my Dad. I explained that I looked like my Mom, like he did." Jamie told her. Dad asked him why he was asking and he told him that Barry told you that he didn't look like him. Eddie had tears coming down her face now. Jamie grabbed the tissue box from the table and gave it to her.

"I had no idea he had overheard any of this, I always made sure he was sleeping before we had any discussions." Eddie sobbed. "The last thing I wanted him to hear was that his father didn't want anything to do with him because he didn't think he was his father."

"Seriously?" Jamie questioned.

"Sadly, yes, and he made my life miserable because of it."

"Oh, Eddie, I'm so sorry." Jamie said softly. "I don't want to push but, what changed his mind ? I mean, when you told him you were pregnant, he seemed happy about it and wanted to be involved. "

"Honestly, I'm not really sure, I have my theory but he would never be upfront with me."

"What was your theory?

"Are we really going to do this now?" Eddie questioned wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep."

"No, it's OK." Eddie acknowledged. "You deserve to know what happened. It's obvious our paths are going to keep crossing with us both being friends with Kara, Maybe it will help us move on."

Jamie smiled.

"What time do you have to pick-up Sarah?"

"I don't, my Dad and Grandfather are keeping her overnight."

"I know Kara told you why I left. She said you needed to know."

"You're not mad at her for it, are you ?"

"No, I understand why she did." Eddie took a deep breath before starting the rest of her story.

"As soon as I got to Philly, I knew instantly I made a mistake, I cried for days. I missed you so much. I finally got the guts to tell him I changed my mind, Kara was the closest thing I had to family, other than you, and I told him I made a mistake and wanted to go back to my job and my best friend." Eddie had tears threatening to fall while she told Jamie everything she went through.

"I think he was really jealous of you and figured if I left him I would go back to you and he didn't want that. He ended up taking my keys and my phone, when he gave me the phone back a week later, your's and Kara's numbers were deleted. I never could figure out what his issue with Kara was. Luckily I knew Kara's address and I wrote her a letter and put one for you in it. I never got a response, so I wrote a second one the following month and caught him with the letter and we had it out, I reluctantly agreed to stay if he let me keep in touch with Kara. I needed a friend to share my pregnancy with, especially one who had been through it. By this time I was 5 months pregnant, miserable, and was having a lot of issues. The doctor told me they were stress related and if I didn't get it under control I was at risk of losing the baby. I couldn't believe how my life had changed in just 2 months." Eddie recalled. "I tried to get it under control but was severely depressed and cried every day. I actually thought that maybe it would be better if I lost the baby" Eddie wiped the tears from her eyes. "I ended up getting myself so worked up I landed in the hospital with really high blood pressure. Barry rarely came to see me so of course I was even more depressed. Thank goodness for Kara who came down every weekend. Barry showed up one night and told me to stop acting sick and trying to get out of our deal. I told him I wasn't but the damage was done at that point, I was so emotional and upset my blood pressure spiked and I ended up with pre-eclampsia, so they delivered Mikey the next morning. I was just about 36 weeks and he was 4 lb 6 oz when he was born, much smaller than he should have been due to all my stress." Eddie was in full blown tears now reliving everything she went through. Jamie was speechless listening to her. "I almost lost my son because of my decision to go to Philly." He got up and sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm around her. He couldn't believe what she went through, Kara underestimated when she said Eddie had a miserable life in Philly. Eddie put her head in her hands and buried her head in Jamie's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Eddie." Jamie whispered to her while he held her crying.

"I made the choice. I deserved what I got. I wasn't willing to wait for you." Eddie sobbed into his chest.

Jamie pushed her away from him to look at her. "This is not your fault, it may have been your choice to leave, but he had no right to treat you like that. Jamie held Eddie for the next 20 minutes until she literally cried herself to sleep. He felt guilty for leaving but he had an early tour in the morning. He found a notepad in a drawer and wrote her a note.

Eddie, I have an early tour so I had to leave. Thank you for trusting me with what happened. I will be in touch later. Jamie.

Kara walked up to the Commissioner's house and took a deep breath before knocking. She knew he was expecting her but that didn't keep her from being nervous.

"Good evening, Officer Walsh." Frank greeted opening the door.

"Good evening, Commissioner." Kara greeted back.

"Frank, please." he said, welcoming her into the house.

"Kara" she responded back. Frank led her into the den where Mikey was still working on a puzzle with Sean and Pops.

"Aunt Kara ! ! ! " Mikey exclaimed seeing her come in.

"Hey, Little Man, how's it going ?" Kara asked, giving him a hug.

"Good, me Sean, and Pop are working on puzzles.

"Wow, look at that puzzle." Kara complimented. "You guys have done a great job on it"

" I love puzzles, I'm good at them." Mikey said proudly.

"I know. Are you ready to go home?"

"No Aunt Kara, me and Sean need to finish." Mikey stated firmly.

"You do, huh?"

"Yep, you can talk to Danny or Mr. Frank while we finish." Henry chuckled listening to Mikey.

"He certainly knows what he wants." Henry commented smiling.

"Yeah, he's just like his mother ! !" Kara laughed.

"Come, let's let the boys finish. Can I get you some coffee?" Henry asked, leading her to the kitchen.

"That kid is a piece of work." Danny told Kara after over hearing his conversation.

"I know, he's way too serious for his age sometimes. Add that to his mother's stubbornness and he can be a handful, but in a good way. Eddie's done such a great job with him."

"Ok, I'm just going to come out and say this." Henry started. "Are you sure he's not Jamie's son?"

"Pop !" Frank scolded.

"You're going to tell me you don't notice the similarities with Jamie at that age ?"

"You're overthinking, Pop." Danny told him. "I worked with Eddie a few years before she and Jamie dated, and that kid has all of her spunk."

"My youngest is just like Mikey, you'd think they were brothers." Kara said, shaking her head.

"I know my family, I really think he's Jamie's." Henry insisted.

"With all due respect, Commissioner. . ." Kara started.

"Henry, please." Henry interrupted.

"With all due respect, Henry, I wish I could agree with you but

I spent a week with her crying on my shoulder because it wasn't. I just wish she had stayed with Jamie, he loved her for years and they had finally gotten together. He was willing to raise the baby with her even though it wasn't his." Kara revealed, "But you didn't hear that last bit from me."

"Copy that." Frank agreed.

"Well, this old detective's gut is telling me something different." Henry protested.

"Can I ask a favor, Henry ?" Kara questioned.

"Of course."

"Please don't go down that road." Kara warned. "Eddie is my best friend and if she were to find out you're questioning Mikey's paternity, it will devastate her. She's still so guilt ridden about leaving and with everything that happened while she lived in Philly, she's in an extremely fragile state and I'm afraid that investigating this will overwhelm her with guilt and send her into a deep depression that will be nearly impossible to dig her out of. I don't know if she would make it if it happened again." Henry nodded in agreement.

"Well, it's getting late, I need to get Mikey and my boys to bed. Thank you for taking care of him."

"Anytime, he's a great kid." Frank told her.

Kara headed home worrying about her friend if she found out the former commissioner was questioning who Mikey's father was. She had to protect her, she knew Eddie's mental state could not handle the scrutiny of her choices. Eddie was so fragile right now, and she could handle losing her friend.