A/N: Hi All, I know my author's notes have been MIA in this story for quite some time but life hasn't gotten any easier and I figured you are all here for the chapter not my notes anyway - however this marks the 100th chapter of this story so just wanted to say thank you to those that read and review - they really do keep me motivated to write and with this site acting up in more ways then one I haven't been able to tell if people are still even reading this because the views tracker hasn't worked since September. Anyway hope everyone is still enjoying the story and I kinda thought this would make a fitting chapter 100 so let's get to it shall we?
Chapter 100: The Traditions Continue
It's early Sunday morning when the alarm in Jamie and Eddie's bedroom goes off and the moment Jamie reaches to turn it off, he and Eddie are greeted by Mia's no nonsense voice
"Morning."
Slightly startled, Jamie and Eddie pop their eyes open and look towards the sound to see Mia standing next to their bed "Mom wouldn't let me wake you up to ask so I had to wait for your alarm…" She explains before suddenly lifting up both her hands – each one containing a different patterned dinner plate "Should we go with the floral pattern or this bluey green with white design?" she seriously inquires "Mom says it's your call and I need to set the table."
"Mia." Eddie groans as she glances at the clock "Why are you up? It's 7am and dinner is not until 5."
"I can't sleep!" Mia exclaims in exasperation as she drops her arms "We're hosting Sunday Dinner!"
Jamie laughs "God help us on Christmas morning." He muses as Eddie looks at Mia then turns her head to look at her husband "Remind me, was I ever this uptight and anxious about Sunday Dinner when I first started going?"
Jamie nods his head up and down "You were." He confirms causing Eddie to sigh in defeat.
"Alright fine." She relents as she gestures for Mia to come closer "Show them to me again." she prompts her god daughter so Mia immediately steps over and offers the plates out for inspection.
"Hmmmm." Eddie ponders as she looks them over before pointing at the bluey green with white design "Go with that one."
"Okay thank you!" Mia breathes out in relief before she quickly heads out the door.
Eddie watches her go "It's cute she's so worried." Eddie admits with a bit of a laugh.
"Because after a while the need to impress wears off?" Jamie tries to clarify.
"Yup." Eddie confirms.
"Even though it's the first time we are hosting?" Jamie presses.
Eddie slowly sucks in a deep breath of air "It doesn't matter where its held. It's still just Sunday dinner."
"And who exactly are you trying to convince of that?" Jamie challenges.
"Ugh!" Eddie groans out "Who's bright ass idea was this anyway?"
"Um, yours." Jamie reminds his wife.
"God! I have so much to do!" Eddie whines out as she throws the covers off and gets out of bed "Get up." Eddie then demands of her husband.
"Well that is why I had the alarm set." Jamie counters as he also throws the covers off.
"How your Grandfather does this every week I'll never know." Eddie grumbles as she thrusts her feet into her slippers.
"Division of labor." Jamie reminds his wife "But just think, because we are hosting that means no dishes for us!"
"No we just have to prep and cook the food…" Eddie begins to list as she swipes up her hair tie and messily ties her hair back as she starts for the door "And clean the house AND set the table."
"Well, Mia's got that part covered." Jamie points out before calling after his wife "Where are you going?"
"To turn the roast over in the marinade." Eddie replies as she heads down the hall towards the stairs causing Jamie's face to scrunch up in confusion as he moves into the doorway to look after her "Why?"
"Because I am!" Eddie barks back in frustration.
"Okay." Jamie immediately relents
"And I have to play hostess!" Eddie exclaims in exasperation as she throws her hands up in the air as she begins to descend the stair.
For a moment Jamie hangs his head in defeat then simply lifts it and quickly moves to catch up to his wife "Eddie, nobody needs to play hostess." Jamie promises as he follows her down the stairs causing Eddie to stop at the bottom and look back up at him "You see anyone playing hostess at Dad's? Like you said, it's just another Sunday Dinner – only difference is it's at our place instead."
Eddie places her hand on her hips "Will everyone just be opening the door and walking in when they arrive like they do at your Dad's?"
"Well no." Jamie admits.
"Then it's NOT THE SAME!" Eddie snaps out "Someone needs to take their coats and offer them drinks and keep them entertained!"
"They can entertain themselves." Jamie rejects.
Eddie scoffs "Says you." She grumbles as she starts for the kitchen again.
"Yes." Jamie confirms as he follows "I do say that Eddie so just breath."
But just then Eddie looks up and sees Rosa already in the kitchen, her apron on and dumping batter into a cake pan – she'd clearly already been at this a while… "Rosa?" She questions in surprise "What are you doing?"
Rosa briefly glances up "Oh um good morning." She greets with hints of nervous energy around her before focusing on her task again "Just doing a little baking so it cools in time to ice before dinner."
"Oh right." Eddie breathes out in sudden remembrance "We need a dessert."
"Now um…" Rosa hesitantly begins as she scrapes the last of the batter out of the bowl "I know you've got the roast in the fridge marinating but um I was thinking I could make this Irish stew with it instead - I found this recipe online – the reviews of it are incredible – it's made with Guinness and I've already got the vegetables cut up…" She adds as she gestures off to the side counter where a stunned Jamie and Eddie slowly look to indeed see a bowl of cut up vegetable all ready to go "… but if it's too cliché I mean I don't have to - I just thought…"
But then a timer rings.
"Oh excuse me." Rosa apologizes as she quickly puts the cake batter bowl in her hands down and hurries to the stove to remove a tea towel over another bowl on the back of the stove "The dough is ready." She notes in relief before again second guessing herself "Are Irish biscuits okay? I thought it would be cute but now I'm not so sure…."
"Rosa!" Eddie calls out stopping the young Mother in her tracks "What are you doing? I'm the one that's supposed to be in the kitchen having a panic attack not you!"
"Are you kidding me?" Rosa tosses back "You can't do all this yourself!"
"Well neither can you!" Eddie counters.
"Then get in here and help me!" Rosa cries in exasperation.
"Fine I will!" Eddie confirms as she steps forward and rolls up her sleeves to help but Rosa points to a pan on the stove "But first breakfast." she instructs.
Eddie groans in appreciation as she steps forward and grabs a plate on her way "You know me so well…"
Standing there still completely speechless at everything he is witnessing, Jamie simply holds up his hands in surrender, turns and heads back up the stairs "I can't even..." He mutters to himself under his breath.
…
Eddie and Rosa are still in the kitchen working away when the doorbell rings "Ugh already?" Eddie whines out before calling "JAMIE!" but when she gets no reply a look of frustration appears on Eddie's face "Are you kidding me? Now I have to answer the door too?"
"I can get it!" Mia pipes up.
"Yes!" Eddie accepts in realization "You can answer the door and you can entertain them!"
"Sure!" Mia enthusiastically accepts as she runs for the door. She swings it open to see Erin on the other side "Hi Ms. Erin!"
"Hi Mia." Erin warmly greets.
"Come in, come in." Mia graciously offers "May I take your coat?"
"Well aren't you quite the little hostess!" Erin laughs.
Mia beams with pride.
"But I don't have one." Erin points out "It's warm out."
"I know." Mia admits with a grin "I've just always wanted to say that!"
"Ah!" Erin laughs as she looks around to see no one around but Eddie and Rosa working away in the kitchen "I take it I'm the first one here?"
Mia nods.
Erin watches Eddie and Rosa a moment then leans down towards Mia "Have they had any nervous breakdowns yet?" she whispers.
"Close." Mia admits.
Erin laughs "Okay let me see if I can help out." She states before rolling up her sleeves and heading for the kitchen "Ladies!" she greets "Need some help?"
….
"Hi Mr. Pop! Mr. Frank!" Mia greets as she swings the door open "Please come in!" She adds with a sweeping gesture of her hand.
"Why thank you Mia." Frank accepts.
"It is weird?" Mia curiously inquires.
"Is what weird?" Henry questions as his eyes drift to the kitchen where he sees Eddie, Rosa and Erin working away.
"Normally everyone comes to you." Mia points out "Today you had to come to us."
Frank sighs "I will admit, I never really realized how nice it is that I don't have to leave the house on Sundays."
Mia nods in understanding "Totally get it but don't worry, we'll keep you entertained."
Frank chuckles a little "I have no doubt."
Henry breaks his focus on the kitchen and looks at Mia "How are they doing?"
Mia shrugs "Okay, I guess. Kinda trying to stay out of their way, got a bit scary there a few times."
Henry nods in understanding "Let me see if I can be of assistance." He states before heading for the kitchen.
Frank and Mia watch him go then Frank looks down at Mia "So where is your Uncle Jamie?"
"Hiding in the basement with Uncle Danny and Sean."
"Ah." Frank notes.
"Would you like to join them?" Mia inquires.
"Might as well." Frank replies.
"K." Mia accepts as she begins to lead the way. She bounds down the stairs of the basement "Mr. Frank has arrived!" She announces as she gets to the bottom and looks back up.
From behind the bar, Jamie smiles as he sees his Dad come down the stair "Hi Dad, can I get you a drink?"
"He's got some good stuff!" Danny calls from the couch as he holds up and displays the drink already in his hand.
"Yeah the soda is excellent." Sean deadpans from next to his father.
"MIA!" Henry calls from the kitchen.
"COMING!" Mia replies as she races back up the stairs.
Frank looks around "Love what you've done with the place."
Jamie grins.
"DINNER'S READY!" Mia's voice screams at the top of her lunges.
All the guys turn to look at one another and Jamie laughs "Pop called her upstairs just so she could do that."
"Yup." They all agree as they start to head up the stairs.
"Is it safe to come up?" Jamie humorously queries to his wife the second he steps onto the main floor.
But Eddie's only response is to step towards him and shove a plate in his direction "Here take this to the table." She demands "I still have to pee and do my hair." She adds as she gestures to her hair still in a pony tail before hurrying away.
Having witnessed the exchange, Danny leans towards his younger brother as he passes him "Yes dear..." He helpfully offers in amusement "…is the proper response."
Jamie turns his head to glare at his brother but then does as instructed by his wife and takes the plate to the table.
….
With her hair now down and combed out framing her face, Eddie walks into the formal dining room with the last of the dishes to see everyone just standing around "Why is no one sitting?" She asks in confusion before moving to set the plate down.
Erin sighs "Because no one can decide on the seating arrangements."
"What's to decide?" Eddie queries in even more confusion "Status quo and add two seats next to Danny for Rosa and Mia – done!"
"Except." Frank interjects "We are in your home so it should be you and Jamie at each end of the table not me and Pop."
Eddie makes a shocked expression "What?" She rejects "No."
"That's what I say too." Jamie agrees "We are only having the diner here because your kitchen and dining room are currently a mess." He points out to his Father.
"You know if it's such a big deal." Sean pipes up "Mia and I could sit at each end – the two youngest instead of the two oldest."
All eyes turn to Sean.
"What?" Sean defends "It's just a suggestion."
"No." Danny flat out rejects.
Sean turns to Mia "Sorry I tried."
Mia shrugs in indifference.
"Look everyone just sit where they normally sit okay." Jamie insists "It's our house…" he adds as he steps to Eddie's side "And that's what we want okay?" he finishes as Eddie nods her head up and down in complete agreement.
"Okay." Franks sighs in acceptance as everyone moves to take their usual seats "But don't say we didn't offer."
"We know and thank you." Eddie accepts.
"But we will insist on you saying Grace!" Henry pipes up.
"Okay!" Eddie accepts as she reaches to remove her hair tie from around her wrist "Just give me one second…." She stalls as she starts to gather her hair up into a ponytail leaving everyone looking at her a bit confused at her unusual dinner table move but the second she removes her hair from around her ears everyone immediately sees she is now wearing Mary Reagan's pearl earrings.
Across the table from her Danny smirks in understanding "Nice earrings."
Eddie gets an overly dramatic touched look on her face "What? These old things?" She sweetly returns before grinning brightly "Family heirlooms." She arrogantly adds making it impossible for both Frank and Jamie to stop the smiles from forming on their faces before Eddie then clasps her hands together, bows her head in prayer and gets down to business causing the rest of the table to do the same "Bless us oh lord…"
….
"This…" Danny gushes as he chews the stew "Is delicious!"
"Really?" Rosa hopefully prompts "You're not just saying that to be nice are you?"
"No!" Danny insists before shoveling another spoonful in his mouth.
"Oh my god where has this been all my life?" Erin tosses out in agreement before looking around the table "Why have we never had this before?"
"I LOVE these biscuits!" Sean tacks on before leaning toward the table so he can look down at the other end at Rosa "Are you sure you aren't Irish?"
"Okay well hang on…" Rosa laughs "I'd love to take all the credit here but I can't. I only came up with the idea and prepped most of the vegetables, it was Eddie that did most of the cooking."
All eyes turn to look at Eddie in shock to see her barely paying attention – she is too busy savoring the food. Suddenly feeling eyes on her she looks up "What?" she inquires.
"You cooked this?" Danny questions in surprise.
"I did." Eddie proudly confirms.
"If you ever want to dump him…" Danny offers as he gestures at Jamie "I'm available." He jokes.
Jamie lifts his head to look at his brother annoyed "I'd throw food at you but the carpet is white."
"Yeah, who puts a white carpet in a dining room?" Sean inquires.
Eddie sighs in defeat "My Mother."
"Right." Sean awkwardly notes.
Silence.
"Well if you ever want a quote on some nice flooring instead let me know." Sean offers.
Eddie looks at her nephew "Probably should have done that BEFORE we moved all the furniture in here." She points out.
Sean jostles that around "Probably." He agrees.
More silence.
"Seriously Eddie, this is good." Frank compliments referencing the food.
"Thank you." Eddie happily accepts as she looks around the table and her smile grows Now this is what this room should have always been used for… she can't help but note in her head.
Catching sight of his wife looking around the table watching everyone eat and continue the conversation, it suddenly dawns on Jamie that of course she offered up their home to host a Sunday Dinner – this is the kind of memory they talked about creating in this house when they thought living here was just a fantasy so reaching under the table, Jamie picks up his wife's hand and gives it a little squeeze.
Eddie looks over at her husband in slight surprise at his move but when she sees the look he is giving her then looks around at everyone at the table himself, Eddie knows he gets what she is feeling so she smiles and squeezes his hand back.
"Can't you two give it a rest for like a minute?" Danny pleads before turning to look at Rosa next to him "God how do you live with these two?"
"Oh it's super hard." Rosa jokes "Super, super hard."
Mia's face scrunches up "No it's not."
"Your Mom was joking Mia." Erin explains with a chuckle.
"Oh." Mia accepts.
"I'm surprised you had the energy to pull this off." Erin then tells Eddie "When I was as pregnant as you I was exhausted."
"Oh don't kid yourself…" Eddie warns "The second I'm done eating I'm heading upstairs for a loooong nap."
"And speaking of dishes." Jamie pipes up.
"No one was speaking of dishes." Sean quickly rejects.
Jamie shifts his gaze to look at his nephew "I nominate Sean."
"Ah come on." Sean whines "Why me?"
"Well you didn't have to set the table today." Danny notes before looking at Mia "Mia did it – great job by the way." He compliments.
"Thank you!" Mia happily accepts.
"No one ever says thank you to me." Sean grumbles.
Henry looks at his great grandson "You aren't 10."
"Well nobody said it when I WAS 10 either." Sean points out before looking around the table "I nominate Grandpa."
Frank gets a shocked look on his face "Me?"
"Yeah." Sean reiterates as the idea starts to grow on him "You never do the dishes."
"Because I host the dinner!" Frank points out in disbelief.
Sean gets an arrogant little grin on his face "Not today you don't." he reminds him.
Frank looks at his grandson a bit at a loss on how to reply to that because Sean was right – he couldn't use that as an excuse today.
Danny looks at his son impressed "Dad doing the dishes." He thoughtfully repeats before a playful little grin creeps up on his face and he turns to look at his father "I second that motion."
Erin looks at Sean and Danny then at her father "Third!" She announces jumping on the bandwagon.
Frank shifts his unimpressed gaze to his daughter.
Erin smiles arrogantly at him so Frank turns his attention to Jamie and Eddie looking for their opinions "Hey we hosted…" Jamie deflects "…so we'll just let you all work it out amongst yourselves."
"Yeah I don't care who does the dishes." Eddie adds "As long as they are done by the time I wake up from my nap and please don't break any, I really love this set." She adds for the hell of it.
Frank gives his daughter in law a look that silently challenging her on her words.
"What?" Eddie defends "We got it as a wedding gift."
"From?" Frank challenges at the same time Jamie scrunches his face up in confusion and says "Didn't we buy this?"
"Fine!" Eddie reluctantly admits "I don't actually remember okay, but I still love them!" She insists.
"I can do the dishes." Rosa offers.
Every adult at the table turns their head to look at Rosa and they all say "NO!" in unison.
"I don't mind." Rosa insists "The mere fact that Mia and I are included in…"
"You helped in the kitchen to prepare the meal." Henry explains cutting her off "Therefore you are not allowed to help clean up. It's a family rule and you two are considered family."
"It's really not a big deal…" Rosa again tries but this time she is cut off by Frank
"Fine. I'll do the dishes." He announces "There." He adds as he looks around the table at his family "Are you all happy now?"
"Yes!" Danny, Erin and Sean all reply as Henry laughs and lifts his glass in Rosa's direction "Nicely done." He compliments her causing Rosa to look around in confusion
"What?" She prompts.
Danny leans slightly in Rosa's direction "You just got Dad to agree to do the dishes. That's like master level manipulation."
Rosa's eyes go a bit wide "Oh I didn't mean…" She begins to apologize.
"But you did." Erin interrupts as she quickly looks around the table "So now you're one of us."
Catching Erin's look, Eddie looks around the table herself "And I fully expect her to be put through the same kind of initiation I was." She prompts.
Danny, Sean, Henry and Frank consider Eddie's request then nod their heads in agreement.
"What?" Rosa apprehensively breathes out at seeing everyone's actions.
"Oh it's harmless." Jamie promises "Well mostly." He corrects "I mean you look after babies for a living so I'm sure you can handle it."
"Handle what?" Rosa slowly questions.
"The police academy obstacle course." Danny explains "We make every new member of the family fully complete it at least once whether they want to be a cop or not."
"Yeah it's our way of ranking everyone." Sean chimes in.
"What?" Rosa just repeats in complete confusion.
"A pecking order if you will." Henry tacks on.
"I still remember having to crawl through that mud pit." Eddie adds "I swear it took over a week to get it all out of my hair."
"You?" Erin challenges her sister in law "I had to complete the course when I was 10." She adds before pausing and looking at Mia "Wait, you're 10 now aren't you?"
Both Mia's and Rosa's eyes go wide and Rosa finally snaps "Okay that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard! And you are NOT a dumb family! I am not crawling through any mud pits and neither is Mia so just get that out of your heads right now! Geez."
All the Reagan's look around the table at one another and just like they did for Eddie's Code Blue they all start to smile, giggle and eventually clap in approval.
Rosa and Mia look around confused.
"Oh my god that was so fun." Eddie admits laughing "And I can totally see the need for it now." She admits before looking directly at Rosa "Feel better now? You should. I did."
"What?" Rosa once again just repeats still not following what is going on.
"Rosa." Henry jumps in "You need to stop trying to… to please us." He explains "We love having you and Mia around – you may not actually be related to us by blood or marriage but you are a part of this family now and being a part of this family means you are allowed – even encouraged to have your own opinions and yes even disagree with us. We don't stand on ceremony here. We tell each other the hard truths when necessary so please – please just be yourself."
Rosa stares at Henry a moment letting the words sink in then slowly she turns her head to look at Frank "You're doing the dishes." She decides.
Sean pumps his fist into the air in triumph "YES!"
Danny and Erin high five each other across the table.
Jamie heartily laughs while Eddie lifts her glass of water to Rosa in a toast and Henry clasps his hands together in glee, giddily smiling from ear to ear absolutely loving it all.
...