I apologize for the long wait but I'm dealing with a lot of things these last few months. This school year has been an extremely hard one with a whole class full of kiddos still being in the middle of a pandemic. I've been dealing with very high anxiety and combined with my ADHD has been causing me to struggle with my mental health. I've since stopped my ADHD meds and have been feeling better and my creativity and want to write has come back. Hopefully it will only be about a month until the next chapter. This is a shorter chapter than usual but I wanted to get it out to you. Thank you all for your patience. Please don't forget to leave a review.

Chapter 8

Jamie was frozen reading what Eddie showed him, he looked up and watched her run out but stood unmoving in the kitchen still holding her phone.

"What the heck just happened ?" Danny asked. "What did she show you ? Jamie ?"

Once he got his barings, he put her phone in his pocket and headed towards the door.

"I'll be back, keep your eye on Sarah for me." Jamie called out before rushing out the door about a few minutes after Kara.

Not knowing the neighborhood all that well Eddie headed to her new truck and sat in the back seat. She shut the door, lay down on the seat and just started bawling again. Kara saw Eddie bolt out of the house and followed her. Kara grabbed the handle to open the door only to find it was locked.

"Eddie, let me in." she called out.

"No, I don't want to talk." Eddie yelled back.

"Fine, but you're going to listen ! !" Kara emphasized. Eddie begrudgingly opened the door. As soon as Kara climbed in Eddie grabbed on to her and continued to cry uncontrollably. After listening to Eddie cry for several minutes, Kara couldn't take seeing her friend hurt anymore.

"I know this is a shock but try to think of this as a good thing." Kara tried soothing her."

"H-H-How i-is this a g-g-oo-oo-d th-thing?" Eddie whimpered. "I- I ruin- ruined my-my l-life for n-noth-i-ing.

"I know this is huge news but I need you to try to calm down so we can talk." Kara comforted her and walked her through some deep breaths to help calm her down a little.

Eddie finally sat up and calmed herself enough to not stutter through her conversation. "I went through hell and back for the last five years. I left New York under duress and screwed up my life by leaving. I came back for a new start but with the accident and seeing Jamie again I'm really just beginning to deal with all of this and trying to come to terms with my choices and now THIS." Eddie started ranting now, more angry now. "I don't know if I can look at him anymore, he's going to think I kept this from him !"

"Eddie, STOP !" Kara demanded. "There is NO way Jamie would think you would keep that from him. He knows you, and both he and I remember how devastated you were."

"I don't want him to be mad at me." Eddie sobbed. Kara leaned over and gave her a hug.

"I'm not mad." They heard from outside the truck. They both looked up and saw Jamie standing outside the truck. Eddie froze not knowing what to do, she was embarrassed.

Kara opened the door, "You two need to talk, I'll go check on your son." Kara squeezed Eddie's hand and winked at Jamie before sliding out of the truck. Jamie smiled.

"The office is yours now." Kara joked.

"Hey, let's take a walk." Jamie suggested.

"Can we just sit here and talk?"

"We can but the former Commissioner is very nosey and will probably watch us through the window." Jamie said, discreetly pointing over his shoulder.

Eddie glanced up quickly to see where Jamie was pointing.

"You're right, he's already there." she smiled. As awkward as the situation was, she was happy for a reason to smile.

"Here, I thought you might need these." Jamie offered her some tissues after she got out of the truck.

"Thanks."

Eddie was nervously playing with her hands as they walked down the street in silence. Jamie was trying to let Eddie take the lead.

"I'm really sorry, Jamie. I didn't know." Eddie sobbed.

"Eddie, I know that. I was with you five years ago, I remember how upset you were."

"So, you're not mad at me ?" Eddie questioned, sadly.

"Why would I be mad at you? You didn't know, it's not your fault." Jamie assured her. "I'm just disappointed that someone's mistake kept me from knowing Mikey." Eddie stopped and looked over at Jamie with a look he had never seen.

"Eddie ?"

"That mistake caused me to make a decision that made my life a living hell, it destroyed my mental health and severely affected my physical health and Mikey's. Jamie, I almost lost him because of it !" Eddie yelled. l I have been on an emotional roller coaster since that first ultrasound. I beat myself up every day for leaving you and the job I loved. I have never gotten over the guilt for what I did to you, I still blame myself for everything." She stopped pacing and sat down on a stone wall. "Jamie, I am nowhere near the person I was when I left five years ago. Barry broke me over and over, I hit rock bottom when he told me he didn't want us. I should have been happy to finally get away from him but instead I spiraled. If it wasn't for Kara, who came down and helped me clear my head, I don't know where I would be right now. I thought I was doing better but I feel like I'm on the verge of spiraling again, Jamie." Tears were forming in her eyes again.

"Eddie, I wish I could take all your pain away, you didn't deserve to be treated that way. I can't even imagine what is going through your mind now. I know mine is spinning trying to process everything." Jamie comforted, sitting down and putting an arm around her.

"Spinning is an understatement." Eddie confided.

"Promise me something." Jamie said, looking at Eddie. She nodded. "Ask for help if you need it. If you need professional support or just need to talk, Kara and I are here for you, my family too. My entire family has always liked you, and now that you and Mikey are part of the family, they will have your back for anything you need."

"I'm not sure how much they're going to like me when they find out they missed the first four and a half years of Mikey's life."

"Don't worry about that, they don't hold grudges when it comes to family. We missed out on the first 24 years of Joe's life and he was welcomed with open arms." Jamie tried to reassure her. "As for you, I'm pretty sure my Grandfather is trying to get us back together, so I wouldn't worry about how they feel about you."

"So Henry has moved from charming the ladies to playing matchmaker for his grandson?" Eddie teased, elbowing Jamie in the arm.

"I guess so." Jamie laughed. Eddie leaned over and put her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you for the talk . . ., and the walk, it helped."

"Good, I'm glad." he smiled. "Now, let's get back, I can hear your stomach growling from here."

"Is that the way you talk to the mother of your kid ?" She teased, while Jamie rolled his eyes.

"In all seriousness, we do really need to talk about Mikey and how we're going to handle this. When are we going to tell him? I want to be more involved in his life, I want him to get to know Sarah and the rest of the family."

"Good question, I think telling him sooner would be better, it may help him move past what Barry put him through. I can't even imagine what he thinks about knowing he wasn't wanted by his father." Eddie told him.

"He doesn't talk about it ?" Jamie questioned.

'Not anymore, he stews and over thinks things. Now that I think about it, it reminds me of someone else I know." Eddie laughed, quickly glancing over at Jamie.

"UGH, that's not something I would have wanted to pass on."

"Maybe then you can help him work through it?"

"I can try, but I make no guarantees." Jamie laughed.

Eddie took a deep breath, "So, how about we tell him tonight? I think he's going to be very excited, Jamie, he really does like you a lot. He talks about you and Sarah all the time." Eddie smiled. "He kept telling me to make sure he got a baby sister, he's going to be so happy he has one now."

"I'm glad to hear that." Jamie relaxed. "Now who do you want to bet is more excited about this - Henry or Mikey?"

"Henry !" they said in unison, laughing.

Despite Jamie's understanding, Eddie had a wave of sadness come over her. Sadness about all the things she lost, sadness over the life she missed out on, but most of all she felt sad for Mikey, who lost out on being raised with a father's love that a young boy deserved.

Everyone was waiting in the kitchen for them when they finally came back.

"Ok, you two, what's going on ? Kara won't say a word." Danny said exasperated.

"Danny!" Frank scolded.

Jamie looked at Eddie who nodded. "Well," he paused, "it seems that we have a new member of the family."

"Wow, that was fast, Eddie's been back in NY for less than two months" Danny teased.

"Danny ! ! ! !" They all scolded, eliciting laughs from everyone.

"Who are we talking about then?" Henry asked even though he had an idea who he was talking about.

"Mikey"

"I KNEW IT ! !" Pop yelled out.

"Pop !" Erin and Frank called out.

"I'm so sorry, I really didn't know." Eddie sobbed. Jamie put his arm around her shoulders for comfort.

"How did you find out?" Erin questioned.

"The report from the accident came in and CSU tested all the blood in the car and identified Eddie's and mine, because we're in the NYPD system and a third sample that indicates a biological child." Jamie told them.

"How did your blood get in the car?" Sean asked.

"Do you remember the stitches I had last month? I cut my arm getting Mikey out of the car."

"How crazy a simple cut led to this." Sean said, amazed. "DNA has now found two relatives we didn't know about."

"OK, so when are we telling him ?" Henry hinted, "I need to get to know my newest GG."

"We were actually just talking about telling him tonight." Eddie admitted.

"Well let's go ! !" Henry exclaimed.

"Hold it right there, Pop," Frank interrupted. "I think this is a job for the parents, not the entire family. We don't want to overwhelm the boy."

Eddie and Jamie were walking towards the sun room when Eddie suddenly stopped.

Jamie looked over to see tears coming down her face. "Hey, talk to me, what are you thinking about ?"

"My emotions are all over the place right now. I don't know if I should be happy or sad for him." Eddie whispered. "He's only four and a half, this is going to be confusing for him."

"It will be, but we tell him what he needs to know now and we address others as he gets older." he smiled at her. "Are you sure you want to do this now ?

"Yes, I want him to get to know you and Sarah, and understand what the love of a father is. He was disappointed by Barry so many times, it's time to give him happy memories, and I know that you'll do that." Eddie explained, "Besides, I don't want you to lose any more time with him, you both have lost enough."

"Well then let's do this before Danny starts complaining about being hungry."