15
Sydney waited in the lobby where parents milled about greeting each other before the start of the fourth grade assembly. After exchanging brief hellos with a few faculty members and parents, and purposely steering clear of a few others, she purposely found a spot right near the entrance. She waited nervously, ready to flag Jamie down as soon as he arrived. Today brought more anxiety than past experiences integrating Jamie into her and James' lives. Up until now, those experiences took place in private or away from their usual social circles. And although James already excitedly mentioned his father to friends - something Sydney neither encouraged nor discouraged - today would be the first time his dad would be making an appearance at the school where James had been a student since kindergarten. But for her brief marriage, Sydney had always been the single mom taking on parenting duties alone. She sensed there was already talk as word spread from James' friends to their parents that his father was in the picture. It would be nothing compared to the reactions they were about to get once Jamie made his appearance.
"Jamie!" she called out as soon as he walked through the door.
"Hey," Jamie greeted her and made his way over to her. He was glad to find Syd just about as soon as he stepped over the threshold, but was not the least bit suspicious about her close proximity to the entrance. He nodded and gave polite smiles to a few people he passed and smoothed down the front of his navy blue sports jacket, relieved to blend in with most everyone else in business attire. Those that weren't, were mostly moms dressed to the nines in designer spring fashions. Jamie assumed they had no plans to head into work after the assembly. He wasn't overly concerned about making any impressions, but James' school was near the top of the most expensive and exclusive private schools in New York City. He wasn't sure what to expect when he walked in, but doubted there were any other civil servants among the parents here.
"Thanks for this, Jamie. James was excited you were coming," Sydney said. Their son had made it a point to invite his father to his end-of-the-year assembly. He was on the honor roll and expected a few other accolades, something he was especially excited for this year since he would finally have both of his parents present.
Jamie tucked his hands into his pockets and scanned the lobby. He could swear several pairs of eyes glanced curiously in his direction, but assumed it was just him feeling overly self-conscious in this new environment. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it," he said, shaking the thought from his head to focus back on Sydney.
He wasn't wrong. Sydney sighed when she noticed a particularly radiant dye job coming their way. "Good Lord, you just stepped foot inside and it's already starting," she muttered, yet kept a pleasant smile plastered on her face.
"What? The assembly? I thought I was early," Jamie responded as he checked his watch.
"Not the assembly," she said quickly with a glance in his direction as time ran out. "Just…I'm sorry. I should have warned you." She owed him that much but procrastinated, got busy and then forgot, until this morning, that is. She also didn't want him to think badly of James' school and this environment she chose for him.
"About what?" he wondered, confused by her tense posture - a complete contradiction to the expression plastered on her face.
"Sydney! It's so good to see you! Missed you at the last PTA," the approaching redhead sing-songed. While the greeting was directed at Sydney, her emerald green eyes were glued to the mystery man with the chiseled features and kind hazel eyes.
"Heather, good to see you too," Sydney greeted her back.
Jamie knew his ex well enough to read her easily - Sydney barely tolerated this woman, especially when she came in for the double air kiss. His eyes widened at the eyeroll she shot him over the other woman's shoulder.
Sydney threaded her arm through the straps of her handbag and crossed her arms in front of her, unconsciously taking a defensive stance. "Yes, I'm so sorry I missed it. I had a client dinner I could not miss." They loved to point out the school events she had to miss whether it was work related or not.
"Such is the life of a working mother, isn't it?" she said, tilting her head to one side to pity Sydney and the burdens she had to endure before smoothly turning her attention to the stranger next to her. "And who's this?" Heather inquired about the only thing that really brought her over here. One hand clutched the large diamond pendant that hung between her cleavage. She pulled it from one side to the other, a shameless tactic simply meant to draw attention to her most generous assets which were barely contained within the ruffle-strap midi dress she wore.
Sydney could see that she already knew exactly who Jamie was and was only here for confirmation of his relationship to James, surely desperate to get it straight from the horse's mouth. She was a pro when it came to dealing with these women, reading them easily. She could also see she was ready to devour him, given the opportunity, but that was not for her to worry about anymore. Although, she did owe Jamie a heads up. She allowed herself the one subtle eye roll, but would take control of this exchange. Unfortunately, Jamie didn't know what he was walking into. "Jamie Reagan, Heather Faris."
Manners were drilled into Jamie since early childhood and he didn't hesitate to extend his hand, as well as keep his eyes well north of the sparkly necklace she wore. "Pleasure to meet you."
Her eyes twinkled as she slid her hand into his. "Oh, it's all mine I assure you," Heather purred with a sly grin as she peeked back at Sydney.
Jamie frowned during the second she looked away but schooled his features and forced a tight smile onto his face when the woman refocused on him. If Eddie were here, she would be silently eyeing him, ready to catch him should he choose to look anywhere but her eyes. Jamie extracted his hand from hers when she prolonged the greeting and tucked it safely back into his pocket.
"I haven't seen you at any functions before, Jamie. Is your child new to the school?" she asked as one finger tapped her chin thoughtfully. She continued to play dumb, but all she wanted was to be the first to confirm the gossip going around the school. She also wanted to learn a lot more about this mysterious and handsome stranger.
"Uh, not exactly," Jamie offered as he looked to Sydney for guidance on what he should disclose to this woman. He wasn't here to hide the fact that James was his son, but people were gossipy by nature - as was this woman, clearly. They would wonder about him once they saw him live and in person, and he realized that he should have checked in with Sydney about how much people knew about their situation so he could respond accordingly, rather than create mystery and gossip.
"Jamie is James' father," Sydney confirmed.
The announcement would have sent the woman's eyebrows into her hairline if not for the generous botox treatments she received on a regular basis. "Well, now! I should have known!" Heather giggled gleefully as if she'd won some sort of prize for being let in on their little secret. She was also hopeful the handsome dad would be around at these things more regularly - it was slim pickings for handsome dads at the school these days. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware that he was married, that his wife carried a glock and didn't take too kindly to other women eyeing him like a piece of meat. "Little James is the spitting image of you, Jamie! Now I know why he's such a cutie. It's certainly nice to meet you."
Jamie smiled uncomfortably and nodded. He didn't know what to say. Clearly, it was the first time Sydney had mentioned him by name.
"It's so nice to have little James' father finally coming to these things. Will we be seeing more of you around school?"
Both Sydney and Jamie were equally irked by Heather's repeated reference to 'little James,' which went unnoticed by the redhead. They could thank years of training in their fields for that skill.
"Yes," Jamie answered firmly. He certainly planned on it, but an otherwise vague response would only prompt this woman to ask more questions.
Heather's smile grew as she searched the crowd. She was tempted to stay and learn more about Jamie but the assembly would start soon and she could already see the girls eagerly awaiting her return. Gossiping won out in the end and she quickly excused herself, "Well, I certainly look forward to seeing you around more often! If you'll excuse me, I think I see Melanie. It was a pleasure," she directed to Jamie before turning to the other woman. "Sydney." Besides telling the girls what she just confirmed, she planned to dig a little into who Jamie Reagan was.
Heather didn't give her a chance to bid her farewell as she sashayed off to the far corner of the lobby as quickly as her Manolo Blahniks would allow. "Heather," Sydney acknowledged. "Off to do what she does best," she glowered when she saw the small group of women now surrounding the redhead in a tight circle. She could imagine the squeals and snickers at their expense.
"Huh?" Jamie sputtered as he followed Sydney's line of sight.
Sydney exhaled and explained. "Right now she's off telling the other moms in her little clique that James' father is here. She's probably making up stories about why you're suddenly making an appearance." James told his friends his dad was around, but said he didn't get into how that happened. Even at nine, he understood thiers was an unusual situation. Mature beyond his years and generally a private child, he decided they didn't need to know. He was more interested in sharing what Jamie did for a living and the fun things they were doing together when they hung out.
"That's none of their business," Jamie frowned. They could say what they wanted about him, but he didn't want James being the subject of gossip.
"No, it isn't. But it doesn't stop people from talking."
Jamie nodded. It was no different within the department. He pursed his lips thoughtfully when he thought of the question he had before. "Can I ask what they knew as far as my not being in the picture?"
Sydney turned to him, checking to see who was around. "I never discussed that with anyone here, even the parents I do consider friends. Like you said, it wasn't any of their business, especially because it concerned James. Although, that might have made things worse because it let people come up with their own stories."
"Like what?" he worried.
"Oh, you don't want to know," she assured him. Sydney had heard everything from being left at the altar with child to being one of those ultra progressive, career-driven women who wanted a kid without a man. That one went out the window when she got married, along with suspicions that she played for the other team.
Jamie was smart enough to not ask for details. "Yeah, I probably don't. Sounds like high school all over again."
"You'd be surprised," she scoffed.
"So why put up with her?"
"It's not only her, unfortunately. It's not worth the trouble either. But with Heather, I have to remind myself that James is best friends with her son, Devon. Actually, he's really Branden's BFF and Devon attached himself to them. He's not a bad kid, but," Sydney trailed off.
Jamie smirked. "But he may not have fallen far from the tree?"
Sydney held her hands up. "I keep my eyes and ears open with some of the crazy stories he tells James. The kid has a wild imagination and likes to talk like his mom. But I don't want to judge him, so I let them be for now. For that reason alone, I'm polite but I steer clear of his mom otherwise."
"Good gameplan," Jamie thought but filed that information away in the back of his mind.
"You also might want to make sure they see that ring on your left hand, not that it would stop some of these ladies. They see what they suspect is an available dad and they start circling," she warned.
Jamie chuckled and shook his head, but still brought his left hand out of his pocket. "Okay. Thanks for the head's up, I guess."
Again, Sydney cringed at what he must think of this world she was raising James in considering his own modest upbringing. "I'm sorry. I don't want to give you the wrong impression. That's why I didn't warn you but I think this was worse. This is a really great school, Jamie - politics and cliques aside."
"I know it is. Syd," he nodded. "I was curious and looked into it. This is one of the top schools in the city, that's why it's so hard to get into." And expensive, he thought, but kept that to himself. At some point, when they discussed custody more formally, support would be an issue they would need to also address. While he was all in for supporting his child, a school whose tuition was comparable to that of some university tuitions would be tough to handle on a cop's salary.
"This fancy private school thing, it was how I grew up," she explained.
His expression softened, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "I know. I have nothing against it. Eddie grew up the same way. And hey, it doesn't get fancier than Harvard for both of us, right?" Sure, he was a product of public school education and still managed to get into Ivy League schools, but he worked for it. It was there for anyone from either system that wanted it. Although there was no arguing that James would have a greater advantage from his schooling here, in the end, he needed to want it too.
Sydney's shoulders relaxed. "I know you don't. I think I still question going this route when the time came to think about his schooling. It's this parenting thing - you question your decisions over and over again, even the ones you made years ago," she smirked before continuing. "Let's just say, my parents were insistent about this. They wanted to make sure James got the best education, from preschool on. It's the one thing they begged me to let them do for him - for us. So all of this is because of them. It was hard to say no after all they did for us in the beginning. But James is getting a great education and I can't deny him that."
"I couldn't do that either, Sydney. He's lucky to be here and from what he's told me, he loves his teachers and friends here." Jamie also had to give Sydney props for the way she had raised James so far. He was a good kid with a good head on his shoulders despite what this environment could do to some people.
The doors to the assembly room opened and parents were promptly ushered in to stay on schedule. After Sydney and Jamie took their seats, he felt the eyes on him again. He was glad the program would start soon so they could all focus on the kids.
It seemed like every fourth grader received an honor of some sort. Despite that, the assembly ran smoothly and they managed to get through it relatively quickly. Afterwards, they congregated back into the lobby where coffee and refreshments were served. Parents were able to personally congratulate their kids before they were sent back to their classrooms to continue the school day. Jamie had the chance to meet James' teacher and a few more curious parents from his class.
"Hey, there he is," he pointed out after they both began the hunt for their son. James' expression brightened and he headed their way with two boys in tow.
Sydney opened her arms and waited for James so she could pull him in for a hug. What she got was the side hugs that came with this age so as to not look like a dork in front of his friends. She would take what she could get. "You did so great this year, honey! That was amazing," she beamed while squeezing him tight. She held on for a second longer than James may have liked.
Jamie smiled brightly, proud of his efforts as well. "Congrats, bud. You knocked it out of the park," he said, reaching over to affectionately squeeze his shoulder.
"Thanks," he said, passing a stack of certificates to his mom. Best of all was having both his parents here and having his friends finally meet his dad. They - or mainly Devon - thought he was lying about him. "This is my best friend, Branden and this is Devon. This is my dad, Jamie Reagan."
Jamie turned to the boys and noted only one was allotted the title of best friend, just as Sydney had said. "Hey, Branden, Devon. Good to meet you guys," he said and reached out to shake their hands.
Branden offered a polite 'hi, Mr. Reagan,' while Devon eyed him suspiciously as they shook hands. "James said you're a cop. Is that true?"
"Yes, it is," he smirked.
"See! I wasn't lying," James huffed in annoyance.
Devon ignored James, still doubtful. "So where's your gun and badge?" he asked, as if he required proof.
"He's not in uniform, I told you already! And it's a shield, not a badge," James corrected him. Even with his dad here, Devon still questioned everything.
It wasn't visible to the boys, but his off-duty weapon and shield were clipped to his belt and hidden by his jacket. The last thing he or James wanted was to start flashing either in this crowd. "That's right, I'm off duty right now."
Unimpressed, Devon turned towards an area that was of more interest to him. "Alright. Come on, I want a snack."
If it wasn't that he wanted to get his hands on some cookies too, James would have let them go. "Can I go, mom?"
"Yes, but just for a minute. I want to get a few pictures before you head back to class."
"Alright," he shouted, already running off after his friends.
Sydney's lips pressed tightly as she glanced at Jamie, whose lips curled back into his mouth to keep from commenting.
But he could only keep quiet for so long. "He's something," Jamie laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"Did not fall far from the tree," she repeated his words under her breath.
"Sydney!" a female voice called from behind them and the pair turned to find a smartly dressed couple heading their way.
"Hi," Sydney grinned and met the woman for a single cheek kiss.
Jamie deduced this was an actual friend.
"Jamie, this is Leslie and John Taylor, Branden's parents. Leslie and John, Jamie Reagan - James' dad."
Jamie offered his hand for the upteenth time today. "Hey, nice to meet you both."
"Likewise, Jamie," Leslie replied.
"You too. So you're the cop Branden's been talking about," John said. There was no malice intended, just curiosity.
His grip was extra firm and Jamie reciprocated it. There was no surprise from either of them, leading Jamie to believe Sydney had mentioned him to this pair in advance of their meeting. "Yeah, that's me. I'm a sergeant out of the Two Nine precinct."
John looked on curiously as a thought struck him. "So Reagan…hey, any relation to," he began.
Jamie knew the question. It was asked almost every time he introduced himself so he decided to save him the effort. "Yeah, the Commissioner. He's my father."
"Well, that's certainly very interesting," John commented.
Jamie smiled tightly and nodded his head. He wasn't sure how that was interesting to him and to be quite honest, he didn't care.
Thankfully, John's phone rang. He did not hesitate to answer the call, walking away after quickly excusing himself.
"The work never ends," Leslie sighed and turned to her friend. "Sydney, we just booked the last of the travel for the boys' trip in August. It's going to be an amazing weekend."
"Oh, great. Send me the information. James is really looking forward to it."
Jamie wondered what they were talking about but kept quiet to let the two women talk.
"I'll send it over this afternoon. Branden cannot wait. August might as well be next year, for all of the complaining he does about how that's forever from now," she laughed.
"I'm sure. Did you decide if Sienna would be going with you on the trip?" Sydney asked.
"Oh, no. She's staying with Adriana."
"Adriana?" Sydney inquired.
"Our new nanny. Well, her or whoever we have then. But hopefully, this one will stick," Leslie smiled and looked at Jamie as if he must know what she was talking about.
Jamie smiled and nodded. This whole experience was both new and bizarre to him.
"Oh, well, I guess that will let you and John focus on four boys." The more attention they could give the boys, the better.
"I know! What was I thinking when I let John talk me into this?" she asked with a shake of her head, when suddenly something caught her attention. "Oh, and there's John signaling for me. We have to go. Jamie, pleasure to meet you. Hope to see you again soon."
"Same to you."
"I'll email you the details and call you later this weekend?" she said before turning to meet her husband.
"Alright. Bye, Leslie," Sydney said, waving at the departing woman. She turned back to Jamie with a knowing smile.
"Love it when people are impressed by my father," he said jokingly.
Sydney grimaced, recalling how hard that was for him after Frank became Police Commissioner. "I know. I'm sorry about that."
"Nah, don't worry," he waved off. "I should be used to it. So what's this trip you were talking about?"
"Oh, that's a big birthday trip for Branden's tenth. Leslie and John moved from Philadelphia four years ago. John did some work for the Phillies and started making arrangements for a suite at the Yankees-Phillies game as soon as the schedule was announced. Branden, James and two other friends are heading to the game with John and Leslie. Of course, it's part two of his big tenth birthday celebration. He's having a 'regular party,'" Sydney said with air quotes, "first, but this trip is the big finale for his closest friends. It seems to be the way things are done here. Birthdays turn into month-long events."
Jamie let out a low whistle. "Wow. Can I score an invite?"
Sydney laughed. "Yeah, right? I still can't believe I agreed to it. That was me trying to loosen the apron strings. If James hasn't mentioned it, I have trouble trusting most people to take care of him. He's got one long-time sitter I'll trust him with and that's about it."
"Nothing wrong with being cautious. That's the way we were raised. Times are a lot different now," he shrugged.
"They are. But I figured I need to ease up just a smidge otherwise James may eventually start rebelling - well, other than running away to find you," she added at the end when Jamie wrinkled his brow at her in jest. "Leslie and John are a little," Sydney paused to think of the right word for the couple.
"Interesting?" Jamie offered carefully fto spare her from trying to describe them. He didn't know them, but maybe Sydney's parenting style was closer to theirs than anyone else in this place. It was only a brief interaction, yet they felt more genuine than most of the other parents he'd met so far today.
"I was going to say extravagant, but that works too," Sydney laughed at his expression. "They're good parents and about as normal as you'll find here considering their lifestyle. I trust them to take James away for a night. I mean, it's two of them and four boys. The odds aren't so bad."
Jamie agreed but offered another idea. "Ah, well, one night is doable, right? But if you need me to ask my dad for any connections at Philly PD so we can put some eyes on them, just say the word."
"Don't joke, Jameson Reagan. I may just take you up on that offer," she smirked.
That was a long one, I know, but it was also a fun one to write. :)