So thanks to everyone who continues to read and to those who reviewed, including a few new ones. Thanks to Daisyangel, decadenceofmysoul, monkebaby, tennisplayer1, and Minniemorafor your reviews. Sorry that I can't give you what you want, but that won't fit into the story line. Guess you'll just have to keep reading for it to happen eventually.
Contains references to and scenes from 3x17 and 3x18.
She couldn't believe it as she read the name on the building. They were currently sitting in front of the DMV. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Anna rattled off quickly. She reached for the door handle to go get her license when Danny grabbed her arm.
"The same rules apply, Anna," he said and she turned back to him. "Home by curfew, no tickets, grades stay up, and then there's the new one: No driving into the city or Brooklyn without permission."
"Will you get me an EZ pass?"
"You don't need one if you're never coming back from Brooklyn."
"Unless you or Mom borrows my car."
"We'll talk about it."
They went inside to find the place packed. "What's going on?" Anna asked. Danny shrugged as they got in line. Once they got to the front of the line nearly half an hour later, Anna asked the question again.
"State lawmakers are considering raising the ages on the driver's license. Pretty much everyone who can, is here getting theirs. Name?" The receptionist said.
"Maryanna Reagan," Anna said, producing her paperwork. Soon Danny was taking her home and Anna was looking into it. "This may not be good."
"What?" Danny asked glancing at her.
"State lawmakers and the governor are considering pushing a bill that would raise the driving age to 18 citing studies that teenage drivers need more time behind the wheel. This would raise the permit age to 16, junior license to 16 and a half, and full to 18, 17 with completion of driver's ed. This new bill also includes tougher restrictions on junior drivers in New York City," Anna read. "It goes on to say that anyone under 17 with a full license would be grandfathered in and would get to keep it however anyone with just a J.D.L. or permit would have to wait until the new age before moving on and they'll have to follow the new rules."
"What's the big deal? You just got your license?" Danny asked.
"They're set to vote on it on the 26th, two weeks before Nicky is supposed to get hers."
"I guess she'll just have to wait."
"Guess so, but if it passes, she won't be able to drive unsupervised anymore."
Danny pulled up in front of their house and put the sedan in park. "I have to get back to work. Tell your mom I should be home for dinner."
"Got a new partner yet?" Anna asked.
"Go," Danny ordered. Anna rolled her eyes and got out of the car.
Over the following week, Anna ate dinner alone four of the six nights. Saturday and Sunday were the only two nights she sat down with family. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday she worked, and Tuesday her mom and Dad were working and her brothers were at practice. They'd be fed by Mrs. Stover before she brought them home. So when Friday afternoon rolled around and Anna saw she'd be eating alone again, she called her mom. "Hey, Mama," Anna said as Linda picked up.
"Hey, baby," Linda answered.
"I was wondering if maybe, maybe I could go into the city to see Dad."
"You've only had your full license for a week and you've never driven across the bridge."
"Please, Mom? For the last two weeks of my permit Manhattan's the only place Uncle Jamie would let me drive and he took me there while I had my J.D.L. If I get overwhelmed, I promise I'll park it at Grampa's and take the subway."
"Why do you want to go see Dad? Can't it wait until he gets home?"
"Not really. You're working till late, so is Dad, and the boys have practice and are going to hang with Tyler for a while, so I was thinking ..."
"Why not go see Dad?"
"Yeah, maybe he wants to get dinner or something. I'm kinda tired of eating by myself. Maybe he won't be busy."
"I don't want you bothering him if he is," Linda warned.
"So I can go?" Anna asked.
"Promise you won't be a bother," Linda insisted.
"I promise."
"Alright, go ahead."
"Thank you, love you, Mommy."
"Love you, too," Linda answered. They hung up and in no time at all, Anna was making her way into the 5-4 squad. Not seeing Danny at his desk she looked into the interrogation room window but it was empty too. Then she heard her name from behind her. She turned and saw Gormley motioning her into the office.
"Looking for your dad?" he asked. She nodded. "He's out chasing a lead. Should be back soon."
"You mind if I wait?"
"That's fine. He shouldn't mind you at his desk, just don't touch his case files."
"Yes, sir,"
"Should I call him and let him know?"
"And ruin the surprise? No thanks. I'll wait maybe 20, 25 minutes and if he doesn't show, I have an uncle or grandfather I could go bother." Gormley nodded and Anna sat down at her dad's desk. 25 minutes of computer solitaire later, there was still no sight of her dad. Anna sighed and stood, leaving the 5-4 and heading for the 12th. She texted her uncle and he replied that he was on patrol but would be back at the house in about 20 minutes baring any calls. Anna reached the precinct station house in less than twenty minutes and sat on her trunk looking up at the sky waiting for Jamie to pull up.
He pulled up in front of the station house after his tour and found out exactly why his niece had texted. He and Vinny climbed out of the patrol car and made their way towards the stairs. Of course the minute Vinny's eyes fell on the blonde sitting on her Camaro; he came to a complete stop and looked at her. Jamie rolled his eyes but stopped away. "You know it's illegal to loiter in front of a police station," Vinny told her.
"Loitering implies aimlessness or purposelessness. I definitely have a purpose," the blonde answered as she looked at them but continued to lean back on her hands.
"Oh and what's that?" Vinny asked.
"I'm waiting for a very cute officer to take me to dinner. You see, I don't like to eat alone."
"And what would you suggest for dinner?'
"Well, I know I'm going to have some kind of meat and potatoes in two days so I don't want to overdo it now. However, I am a big fan of burgers." The blonde pushed herself completely upright then slightly forward to read Vinny's name plate as she pushed her sunglasses down her nose revealing brown eyes. Those brown eyes connected with Vinny's. "How about it Officer Cruz? Know any good places that serve a great burger?"
Vinny smiled. "I do, one not too far from here; a cop bar called McAndies."
"Don't think I've been there," the blonde answered.
"So dinner? Drinks?" Vinny suggested.
The blonde turned her gaze to his partner. "What do you think, Officer Reagan?"
"Well," he smiled as she pushed her sunglasses back up her nose, "I think that the legal drinking age is 21 and the age of consent in New York is 17. Of which you are neither. So dinner, yes, drinks, no. As well as a big no to anything that normally follows one of Vinny's normal dinner dates," Jamie told her.
"You're no fun; I'm going to call you officer no-fun from now on." She pouted.
Seeing Vinny's confused look, Jamie smirked. "Vinny, this is my 16-year-old niece, Anna. Anna, my way-too-old-for-you partner, Vinny Cruz."
"It's nice to meet you, Officer Cruz, and I'm 16 and a half," Anna said.
"Niece Anna?" Vinny asked his brow furrowed.
"How long do you think it'll take him to put two and two together?" Anna asked as the wheels spun without traction in Vinny's mind.
"I don't know, a while maybe," Jamie told her.
After a minute or two of letting Vinny think it over, Anna took pity on him. "You know your partner has an older brother named Danny, right?" Vinny nodded. "I'm his oldest; I just look more like my mom."
"Of course, you look different with straight hair."
"I know, it's how I keep my two lives separate," Anna grinned. "So, dinner?"
"I'll get changed. Vinny, you're welcome to join us," Jamie said.
"Maybe next time."
"I'm holding you to that," Anna said.
Anna's phone lit up with a bright text message from Beth just after three p.m. on Saturday afternoon. 'Have you seen this?' it asked with a link. She opened the link to find a page called Citizens for Police Accountability. It had a bunch of pictures or her extended family minus the kids with one exception. The last photo in the lot was captioned 'flirting or working'. She couldn't believe how wrong the caption was. What she couldn't believe even more was when Jamie brought it up Sunday at dinner. He explained how it was the same scam as what the newspapers were doing to Danny's case, taking things out of context to get more eyes on their information. Danny asked about it since he hadn't heard and Erin explained about the guy who had accosted her by taking pictures because of what they thought Frank was trying to do to the city, namely trying to turn it into a police state. "I especially like the photo entitled 'flirting or working' of Uncle Jamie and the blonde on the Camaro," Anna added.
"They got a picture of that?" Jamie asked.
"Yep."
"Doing something inappropriate there, kiddo?" Henry asked.
At the same time Sean said, "a blonde on a Camaro? Way to go Uncle Jamie."
"Actually it was his partner who was flirting right up until he found out the blonde was underage," Anna said. Everyone went still. "Come on, blonde, Camaro, Friday night, not that hard to get four."
Then Erin changed the subject slightly to one of the other photos; a photo of her friend Whitney having dinner with Frank. "Drinks," he corrected and defended himself saying that he was pretty sure he wasn't dead and it was just drinks.
"For now," Erin said.
"Mom!" Nicky protested.
"Come on, Aunt Erin. As long as she's a nice woman, and she's your friend so I'm sure she is, and she's not after Grampa's money or a hook at 1PP, who cares how old she is? They're both legal adults and Grampa's got a right to be happy, doesn't he? It's not like he went looking for this woman on purpose because she's your friend and it'd make you uncomfortable. No matter what happens between them, she'll never replace Grandma. Besides what if it were the other way around? What if it was about you dating a much older man? You wouldn't want everyone getting their input on that, would you?"
"No, I guess not, but it's not like that," Erin said.
"No, and everyone's personal life should stay personal and it shouldn't be anyone's business. As long as the family is happy, that's what should matter."
It went quiet again. "Someone pass me something that's bad for me," Frank said, changing the subject. After a moment the subject was changed.
After a very tough week of almost destroying a family, Jamie needed a pick-me-up. One that came in the form of a sunshiny niece. It would also, hopefully, result in a lesson for said niece that would help her in the long run. "Hey, Anna, come to dinner with me," Jamie said when he called.
"When?" Anna asked.
"Tonight. Right now. I already cleared it with your parents."
"Didn't I just see you for dinner last night?"
"That's family dinner. Just you and me at my place, tonight."
"Am I in trouble?"
"You know, for being your favorite uncle, I'm having to work really hard to get you to have dinner with me."
"Well, I ... it's odd. Usually it's the other way around. I'm just curious."
"I just want to talk, Anna."
"Okay, I'll be there soon," Anna said. She hung up and bolted down the stairs as Jack set the table. "I'm going, Mama."
"Be safe, sweetie," Linda said.
Anna nodded and left. She parked outside her uncle's building and made her way up to his apartment. He opened the door shortly after she knocked and let her in to an aroma-filled room. Anna sniffed but couldn't tell what he was making. It smelled a little garlicy but she wasn't sure what. "So what am I missing my mom's baked ziti for? And it better be something better than meat and 'tatoes or cold pizza and pop."
"Classic linguini, good fresh bread, and yes, soda."
"I'm missing my mom's delicious, to-die-for, baked ziti for boiled noodles?"
"And time with your favorite uncle. What's got you grumpy?"
Anna realized she was being hard on him. They had come so far, gotten so much closer in the past year and here she was being super hard on him for no reason at all. "I'm sorry; I just don't want to be in trouble, especially with you."
"You're not in trouble. I just learned something this week and I want to share that with you."
"Oh, okay." Anna helped him set the table and soon he had convinced her to talk about her life as they ate so she told him about her concerns over baseball tryouts coming up and briefly touched on her grades and prom before she got down to business. "So, what did you learn?"
"Did your mom tell you about the kid I helped this week? Kyle?"
"I think she mentioned it to Dad."
"He was a kid, probably no older than Sean. He ran out to me and Vinny in the street because his parents were fighting. His dad had broken a glass and cut his hand so when he picked Kyle up so he didn't get cut; he got blood on Kyle's shirt. Then yesterday after your mom told me about the incompatible blood types, I went back and talked to Kyle's mom."
"Please tell me your buttinsky nature didn't break up a family," Anna begged dreadfully. Jamie hung his head. "Oh, Uncle Jamie. What happened?"
"I got her to confess that Raul wasn't Kyle's biological father just as they walked in. You should have seen the heartbroken look on that little boy's face. I regretted it. I went back today after tour and found Raul moving out. We talked about it, about Kyle getting to know his biological father, and about whether or not Raul would stick around for Kyle's sake." Anna instantly had a sinking feeling where this story was going. "You're constantly believing that your dad married your mom 14 years ago."
"Something along those lines."
"So that would have meant that you would have been two almost three when they were married?"
"I guess."
"Say you were. Danny falls in love with this beautiful blonde Italian girl he's known since high school and finds out she has this adorable little girl whose daddy's walked out on them and Danny takes them both in anyway"
"So he puts up with me for my mama?"
"If that was true, Linda would have never let him into your lives. It takes a real man to step up and be a dad to a child he didn't father. He stuck with you, that's what's important."
"I guess. I mean, yeah sure, it takes a real man to step up but I just want him to admit it one way or another." Jamie sighed and stood. He walked over to the bookcase and pulled out a thick book. He flipped a few pages then walked back to her. There he handed her the book. Anna looked at the photo he was pointing to. It was a picture of him looking no older than she was now, holding a baby. If she looked close enough she could tell the baby was blonde but not what color the eyes were or if it was her or Nicky. So she pointed that out. "For all I know, that could be Nicky," Anna said.
Jamie turned the page and pointed to a similar photo. He was wearing a different shirt, this one long sleeve, the baby in the photo had a small amount of brown hair and Jack Boyle was standing next to him. "Contrary to the myth, not all babies are born blonde or bald," Jamie told her. He turned the page back and pointed to another picture, this one of him and Danny where Jamie was holding the blonde baby who was reaching for Danny's outstretched right forefinger.
"Okay, so he really can't do math and he was there the day I was born but that doesn't mean that he didn't knock my mama up and marry her a couple years later, even though my mama has never been the kind to not use protection." Jamie sighed and pointed to Danny's left hand in the photo which was draped over Jamie's left shoulder. There was a slight glare on the photo and Anna could tell it was from the flash reflecting off Danny's wedding ring. Anna sighed and turned to look up at her uncle. "I get it, okay?" Anna asked. "I know that I haven't always been good or grateful to my dad. Even if he isn't my biological father, which I have mostly come to accept that he is, he's the only father I've ever known and he's never really treated me any different than he's treated Jack and Sean. Maybe I should apologize. I should apologize, right?"
"Yeah, you should," Jamie said. "Now, help me wash up and we can watch a movie before you go home." Anna nodded and stood taking the plates to the sink.
When she got home she found her brothers playing a racing game in the living room, her mom at the kitchen table writing something and her dad in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher. She took the mug from his hand then closed the dishwasher, hopping up to sit on the counter over top of it. He looked at her like she was out of her mind. "I know I'm not grateful some of the time."
"And you know you need to get your butt off my counter," Danny said.
"Just hear me out for a second," Anna implored. Danny sighed and nodded. "Sometimes, I'm not grateful, and I should be. You may not be the most ... understanding or permissive or ... even-tempered father in the world but ... you're still my dad. I'm sorry if sometimes I make you feel like I think you're not." She toyed with her fingers trying to find the right words to say as Danny continued to watch her. "If you aren't my biological father," his lips drew into a tight line, "and only about 5% of me doubts that, you stepped up. You don't really treat me that much different than Jack and Sean, you still refer to me as your kid, and you never abandoned me. That takes a real man. I'm going to try to do better about doubting you as my dad. As the saying goes, any man with working parts can be a father, but it takes a real man to step up and be a dad. You've done that. I'm sorry that I haven't always appeared to appreciate it. I do appreciate it. I love you and you're amazing."
Danny stepped up to her and cupped her chin so she'd look up at him. "Anna, I know. You're growing up and it's hard to balance being my daughter and becoming an adult. I'll try to do better from now on with math and making sure I remember how old you are. What brought all this on? Did Jamie say something?"
"You call him buttinsky for a reason." Anna shrugged. "He's been dealing with a case where a kid ran out to him because his parents were arguing and Uncle Jamie found out the father wasn't the kid's biological father. He butted in, created an argument, and pretty much broke up the family then he fixed it. He wanted to have a talk with me about what I've been saying about you not being my father. He was technically right. Even showed me pictures of you there the day I was born."
"Sometimes him butting in is a good thing." Danny dropped his hand from her chin and wrapped her in a hug. "I do love you. Just as much as I love my boys and I am sorry that I don't always show you that."
"Glad you two made up, now, get your butt off my counter," Linda said, stepping into the room.
"Yes, ma'am." Anna slipped off the counter to help Danny finish unloading the dishwasher.
"Wait a minute, why is it that easy for her to get you off the counter?" Danny asked.
"'Cause she's my mama," Anna smirked.
"And me being your dad has no effect?"
"Sure it does, but you just looked at me like I was out of my mind when I jumped up there, you didn't look at me like I was in trouble."
"I'll bring the heat next time," Danny said, swatting Anna's rear. She gave him a massive smile and danced out of his reach. Both Danny and Linda laughed.