Thanks to YaleAceBella12, decadenceofmysoul, seleneplaysgames, and karena546 for your reviews of the last chapter. And to karena546 for your review on the first chapter. I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

Contains scenes from and references to 4x4, 4x6, 4x7, and 4x8.

Wednesday brought with it the kids first day off due to a teacher conference. So with Linda working an overnight shift and Danny taking the day off, they packed up and headed to Battery Park. Jack had finished up his Statue of Liberty project for school and Linda felt the kids deserved something fun. They came to a stop near the water that looked out towards the statue and Jack recited the poem he had memorized. A poem that that been written then inscribed on a plaque at the base of the statue over a hundred years earlier. When he finished, both his parents told him how proud they were of him then Danny sent them to the nearby World War 2 memorial. As they wandered around Sean looked up at Anna.

"Do you think Great-Grandpa's up here?" Sean asked.

"First, its World War 2 and Pops didn't serve in that war, he wasn't quite old enough. Second it's a memorial as in memory, as in they're dead. So if anything it'd be Pops' dad but I think he was Royal Air Corps and didn't serve in the U.S. military."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to leave New York when you go to college next year?" Jack asked.

Anna looked around to see her parents still standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the memorial and lowered her voice. "Reagan sibling swear?" Anna asked, holding her hand out flat.

Sean and Jack shared a glance and then both put their hands on top of hers. "We swear, no telling the 'rents or anyone else," they both answered together.

"Haven't decided yet," she said as they dropped their hands. "I have already started applying though."

"Really? Where?" Jack asked.

"Just a few places. Stanford, Harvard, NYU. Nothing set in stone, not until I graduate."

"But you'll consider sticking around?" Sean asked.

Anna sighed and wrapped her arms around her brothers' shoulders. "No matter where I go, no matter how far away I get, you two will always be my brothers, and I will always be just a phone call away. Nothing's going to change, I promise."

"Everything alright over here?" Danny asked as he and Linda walked up.

"Just fine, they're being dorks," Anna answered.

Danny did his best to hide his smile and Linda gave her an annoyed look. Most likely for calling her brothers dorks. "Race you to the eagle," Sean told them. He and Jack took off but Danny held Anna back.

"Dad, you're making me lose," Anna whined.

"You know I love you and your mom does too."

"And judging by the look on her face she has no idea what's going on so spill it, where are you taking this little love fest?"

"Can't I just tell my daughter how much I love her?"

"Sure, but I also know it's been a tough couple of weeks for the family business especially with Aunt Erin getting shot. And you only get squishy when it was a tough case. Gets even worse when it involves a kid who is the same age as one of your own."

Danny huffed out a sigh as he stared at his daughter. She smirked and he relented. "I don't say it often and with you going off on your own to college, I just wanted to make sure you know that I do love you."

"I know, Dad," Anna answered.

"And despite not saying that often, I do support you and would be proud of almost anything you decide to do."

"I know. And though I trust you, there are always going to be things that I won't tell you but I'll tell Mom. I'm a teenage girl and it's not that I don't want you to know, it's that I don't think you'd want to hear it. You already said you don't like that I'm growing up and hearing about a boy I'm crushing on or kissing or who I think the hottest actor on TV is or how much my heart breaking from a stupid boy or some nasty kids at school would either send you into denial or over-protective mode. I don't want either."

"I understand that."

"Does this have anything to do with your case? You dealing with teenagers again?"

"You're going off to college next year. I'm entitled to worry about that and by extension, you," Danny told her.

"If you say so," Anna told him. The conversation was stopped dead in its tracks when Sean and Jack raced back to them.

"Looks like you lost, Anna," Sean said.

"Dad's fault."

"Whatever you say," Sean answered, rolling his eyes.

Anna knew she should just enjoy her dad's attempts at being close and worrying about her while it still seemed harmless because soon enough the other shoe would drop and it would swing back to her being angry with him. She just didn't expect it to take two weeks.

The two weeks in between passed in a flash and soon she found herself sitting at dessert after dinner listening to talk about something she had missed while working that week, Danny's old girlfriend making a reappearance in their lives. To deflect the embarrassment, Danny launched into the story of how he knew he was in love with Linda.

"You know, 14 years ago tonight, I kissed a girl on the corner of 10th Street and University Place and my life was never the same," he mentioned casually.

"That was today?" Linda asked in disbelief.

"Yep." Danny looked up from his pie at her. "We went to the movies, saw The Cider House Rules, we had slices afterwards, and I even saved the ticket stubs."

Anna's left hand slid over to where her uncle's right hand rested on the table. She gripped it and prayed for the strength not to get angry. Linda chuckled in disbelief. "You kept the stubs?"

"Yes, I did. All these years, I knew I loved you that night," he kissed his wife's cheek, "and I have known that I love you every night since." He planted more kisses on her and Anna felt Jamie shift nervously next to her; though she couldn't tell if it was from her grip or thinking about what he could have had.

"That is so sweet," Nicky cooed.

"Nice save," Erin told him.

"I'm going to need to see those ticket stubs," Linda warned.

"And who do you know that got you in to see it early?" Jamie asked. "It didn't premiere in the U.S. until December 10, 1999. 14 years ago today, was just November '99."

"Butt out, Buttinsky," Danny snapped.

"Hence why I want to see the stubs," Linda said. "If you only knew you loved me four years into our marriage there are problems."

"What?" Danny asked.

"We saw The Cider House Rules for a belated fourth wedding/early Christmas present on the 20th of December. I remember that because we had just found out that morning that Anna was clear of the measles. Unfortunately, like seven percent of the population, she wasn't immune after she got the vaccination and she picked it up from day care. Your oldest is 17 and a senior in high school. 19 years ago today, we saw Love Affair and it was the first time I kissed you. You do remember how old your daughter is, don't you?" Linda asked.

"Of course I do. She's constantly reminding me," Danny answered. Anna rolled her eyes and went back to eating her desert as she let go of Jamie's hand.

Later that night Danny stopped in her doorway as she was brushing her hair after her shower. "What's up, Dad?" she asked. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against her door frame and watched her carefully.

"Are you angry about what I said at dinner?" Danny asked.

"Even honest people get confused sometimes, no hate," she answered.

"You think I'm being dishonest?" Danny asked.

"Not intentionally dishonest."

"But there's something I'm not telling you?"

"Maybe something you're carefully wording."

"I promise you that you are my daughter and I married your mother before you were even born. Sometimes I forget how long ago that was but I know that I married her before we had you."

"I know."

"Do you need to talk?"

"Don't think so. If I did, you—Mom'd be the first to know."

"Of course she would," Danny said. Anna smiled and Danny left her alone.

The next week was just as busy for Anna and though she felt bad about the kid who got shot, she disagreed with Nicky's stance that the cop was in the wrong. She couldn't explain it she just had a hunch there was more to the story. As it turned out, one of the witnesses had picked up the gun and hidden it to protect the kid. The week after that though, she supported Nicky. At least in her effort to lighten the mood. Dinner had become a tense and quiet affair with both Danny and Frank being unable to talk about what was bothering them. Danny's had something to do with the jury duty he had pulled and Frank's had to do with his childhood friend, and known mob lawyer, getting shot after they had dinner together.

Jamie mentioned a friend of his getting into some trouble but not wanting his help and he didn't know how hard to push. It was unclear if the advice Frank gave, if he could get past the fear of losing a friendship, he'd know what to do, was any help to Jamie but Jamie didn't push it any further. Henry asked if anyone else had anything they didn't want to talk about and that's when Nicky stepped up to break the tension. Anna never would have done it that way but she knew everyone would take it better coming from Nicky than herself.

"I got a tattoo," Nicky said. Anna knew her cousin was kidding but with the looks she was getting from Danny, Erin, and Frank, it appeared none of them thought she was.

"Excuse me?" Erin asked in disbelief.

"And you say I'm the worst Reagan," Anna muttered.

"I'm kidding," Nicky laughed.

"I think we should go back to when we weren't talking about anything," Henry mentioned.

"Don't even think about it," Frank commented to Nicky but it had the necessary effect of shutting down conversation at the table.

After dinner, Anna and Jamie were doing the dishes alone in the kitchen. "Uncle Jamie, is your friend going to be okay?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, Anna," Jamie answered.

"Do you know what kind of trouble it is?" Anna asked. Jamie shook his head. "Well, from my limited experience, it's either legal or personal, sometimes both, but ... Anyway, if its legal trouble you should remind her you did go to law school and your sister is a lawyer. Support her and why she did what she did. It's not often you're friends with bad people."

"And if it's personal?" Jamie asked.

"That's harder. I guess, think about why she wouldn't want to tell you. Does she think you're going to get overprotective and push things and make it even worse? Maybe she's embarrassed about it. Maybe she's scared. Or maybe it's the worst thing of all; maybe she doesn't want the way you think of her to change. If it's one of those, remind her what you think about her, that nothing will change that, and be as supportive as you always are. Remind her that as her friend, you've always got her back and you'd never turn on her. We all have lapses in good judgement but that doesn't make us any less strong."

"That's something to consider. How'd you get so smart?"

"It's what I'd want to hear. If something bad happened to me, I'd want to know that I have friends who aren't going to let me down and that I didn't have to be alone. Could you say that to her? That you'd stand with her and try to help?"

"Yes."

"Sometimes, that's all we need to hear," Anna said.

"Thanks, Anna," Jamie said.

A few days later Jamie called her as she put the finishing touches on her English essay. "I wanted to say thank you again for your advice the other night. I can't tell you what she was going through as it is very personal but most of what you said applied. She won't be alone though."

"That's great, Uncle Jamie," Anna told him. "Really. It's nice to have friends you can count on to have your back."

"I know and I'm glad I can be there for her," Jamie said. "So what's up with you?"

"Not much. School and work. You know how it goes."

"Yeah. Am I distracting you?"

"A little distraction is good now and then."

"Anna."

"No. I just finished my homework so we're all good. I promise."

"Okay, well, I've got an early morning so I should go."

"Yeah. I got a long day tomorrow too. Later, Uncle Jamie."

Days passed and then came a day where Anna was working the dinner shift at Lou's when Jim dropped in to a booth to see her. Anna smiled at seeing him then took his order. Once it came out of the kitchen, she delivered it to him with two sets of cutlery then sat across from him.

"So, good news, bad news," he prompted her to pick.

Anna used her fork to pick at Jim's fries. "Is the bad news reliant on me knowing the good news?" she asked.

"A little."

"Alright then, good news first."

"I got in and have been training to be an EMT for the past month."

"That's great news."

"Bad news, it's harder than I thought it would be. I mean sure, I love getting to help people and all but it's a lot of anatomy. I just wasn't expecting it."

"You gotta learn so you can keep people alive until you get to the E.R."

"I know and while it's true that the more we go over it the more it'll stick, I'll just wish I could be out there helping people already."

"An untrained EMT isn't going to be doing anyone any good. It would more likely open the city to more lawsuits."

"Yes, I know that too. So, you ready for Thanksgiving?"

"More than. I need a short break from school and to spend time with my brothers." Anna picked at the fries for a few quiet minutes. "Would you be mad if I went to college out of state?" she asked softly.

"You've decided to go to college then?"

"I don't know. I've applied a few places, looked into scholarships, and financial aid. I know it's half a year away and all. Maybe at least one year will do me some good. Did you know with the exception of Sofie's show in Pittsburg last year, I've never been out of the state?"

"You'll do just fine if you go out of state. What's that saying Jack says your dad always says? 'You're a Reagan. You can do anything you set your mind to.' I've seen you do it. You'll be just fine no matter what and I'm just one phone call away."

"What if I fail? If I can't do it and don't pass anything?"

"There's no chance of that. You're too smart and you'd never take a class you couldn't handle."

"Humor me?"

"If you can't do it, I will find a place for you to stay and I'll do my best to help you until you can land on your feet."

"Did you just compare me to a cat?"

"Not my intention," Jim answered.

"Okay, thanks," Anna said.

Before they could lapse into silence, awkward or otherwise, an older customer called her name. "Anna, darling," she called.

"Duty calls." Anna stole the last fry off Jim's plate then went to bring the woman more coffee. Anna poured coffee into the woman's mug and smiled. "Anything else I can get you?"

"Just a little information. Who is that absolutely handsome boy you were talking too?"

"Mrs. Jackson," Anna said exasperatedly.

"He is very handsome. You two aren't ...?"

"Just friends," Anna said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you want to be more? You could always ask him. I know it's not the way things used to be done but I didn't fight for the right to vote to let men always take charge."

"I know that, Mrs. Jackson, I just don't feel that way about him." The older woman smiled and Anna got back to work.