His female partner visits with stuff, leading babies to be upset he's moving on, but it was onesided

Joe's pov

Jojo, Dan, Em and Will had started school a few weeks ago here in New York, and were absolutely loving it. They still missed their mother something terrible, as did I. I never actually got over Taylor, but with her history of tragedy striking her family members and my desire to go into law enforcement, I guess I hadn't wanted her to have to go through me dying as well, ironic as that turned out. The home videos she had filmed had become an integral part of our night routines. I handled most of the school pickups and drop-offs, with the rest of the family pitching in when needed. Like today.

I had been up all night puking up a lung and coughing til I was out of breath. Thankfully, my temperature never got to the triple digits, though I was shivering like a hypothermic and sweating bullets. My head was pounding. Aunt Erin had volunteered to take the kids from school to the park for ice cream and homework help. The pills I had been taking for my many symptoms had to be placebos, because they were doing absolutely nothing. Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door, even though Aunt Erin was not due with the kids for a few more hours. Worried something had happened, I yanked the door open, not minding that I looked like death run over. My heart started to regulate from tachycardia when I saw my partner from the Brooklyn North Precinct, Angela Romano. Her cousin had graduated with Uncle Jamie

"Romano, what are you doing here?"

She smiled, teasing tone in her voice

"I brought you some things to bring your dead butt back to the world the living, Hill. All the goods. Tylenol, Advil, cayenne, pepper, honey- lemon tea, humidifier to help your clogged sinuses... And your favorite ramen. Aand, I may have stopped by your favorite bakery and gotten some chocolate croissants... I know they're your kryptonite."

I smiled

"Thank you so much."

By now, I had invited her in and helped her put the stuff away, and we were just chatting and eating th chocloate croissants, which were absolutely amazing. Before long, Angela spoke

"I, actually gotta confess something... I, I... I can't."

She seemed to back down from her revelation, only to kiss me, taking me completely aback. Before I could say anything, though, my kids spoke

"You're dating?! What about Mama?!"

Tears had formed in their eyes, and my Aunt mouthed

"I'm sorry, we knocked."

I shrugged her off, both because it wasn't her fault and because I had bigger fish to fry at the moment. Hugging my kids, I calmed them down, then turned to my partner, who was oblivious to the daggers my kids were sending her way. I nervously cleared my throat before speaking, scratching my neck nervously

"Thank you so much for the care package, Romano. But, It's only fair for everyone if I'm straightforward with you. I don't see you in that way. The only person I see that way at the moment is my ex-girlfriend, the mother of my children. I'm just not ready. I'm sorry if I did something along the way that made you think otherwise."

She was flustered for a few seconds, not that I blame her. Once she found her voice, she spoke

"Oh! I'm so sorry I overstepped. I completely misread the situation. I hope you feel better and I'll see you as soon as you're back to work."

I nodded

"Thank you. See you then."

To her credit, she then turned to my kids

"I'm really sorry you had to see that. I understand the situation now, and I did not know about your mother. I'm just your dad's work partner from now on, deal?"

Thankfully, they made peace with her, and I felt much better in the following days, returning to work three days later.