Joe's pov
I was with my wife and kids at the courthouse steps, about to go before a judge to legally change our names. I was not backstabbing my mother, I was simply hyphenating, to reflect and pay homage to both sides of my family. After all, my mother as never married to my late father. Speaking of my mother, I guess she had some business at the DA's office nearby, because her keen eyesight caught a glance of the papers we were holding while our kids ran to their Emaw, as she was affectionally called by them. As she hugged them, she turned to me and asked, trying to hide a clipped tone
"Changing your names? Joseph, after all I've done for you!"
I sighed. It's not like I hadn't tried to broach the subject with her beforehand, more than once, only to hear more about the Hills of Warwick Rhode Island. Again.
"Mom, I've been trying to tell you. I'm not dropping anything. I'm hyphenating. Joseph Connor Hill- Reagan, Laurie Lynn Rourke Hill-Reagan, Connor Joseph Rourke Hill- Reagan, Starla Jean Rourke Hill-Reagan and Dustin James Rourke Hill-Reagan."
She huffed rather impishly, hugged the kids, and promptly left. I pinched the bridge of my nose, only to laugh when I saw CJ, Star and Dusty imitate me despite not having understood what had just gone down. About half an hour later, the changes were official, and we started back down the stairs, only to bump into Jackie, aka my Aunt Jessilyn Reilly Reagan, Uncle Danny's twin sister. I smiled as the kids instantly ran into her awaiting arms
"Hey, what brings you around here?"
She smiled
"Same as you guys. Officially becoming Jessilyn Reilly Reagan. Or, re-becoming, I guess is more accurate."
We hugged her and I broke the silence
"Congrats, I'm so happy for you. Does anyone else know?"
She smiled
"Thank you. Dad and Danny, though Erin might've heard it if she is in court today. Who knows. I'm telling them at Sunday dinner, about you?"
I smiled
"Grandpa, Aunt Erin and Uncle Danny, along with Laurie's father. My mother wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her, so she found out when she saw us here a few minutes ago. You missed the drama. Lucky duck."
She smiled
" Our Irish roots must've been looking out for me. But I'm happy you're paying homage to your dad."
I smiled
"Thanks, so am I. What are you doing after this?"
She smiled, and might have a tiny blush on her cheeks, if the wind was not to blame
"Interviewing a vic at St. Victor's Hospital, mugging gone bad. And keep a lid on it right now, especially near Danny, but I'm actually seeing a doctor there. Dr. Will Hochman."
Again, we hugged and congratulated her, and soon parted ways. Laurie wanted to get some family time and some rest before her night shift at the fire house.
Jackie/Jess's pov
My mugging victim had not had such a good night of rest and had to be sedated to get proper rest, so I had started to get up to leave, after leaving my card to be the first call after they took him off sedation, only to be stopped by a familiar voice
"Jess, wait a sec."
I felt a smile form across my face. It was Will. I turned to face him, faux- businesslike tone in my voice
"Yes, Dr. Hochman?"
He gave me a playful look upon hearing my formality, as fake as it was. Placing a gentle kiss upon my lips and gentle, tired hands in my hair, he smiled against my lips
"That's Will to you, Love."
I laughed
"I know. I just like messing with you. But I also brought you coffee. That Brazilian roast you love."
He kissed me again in gratitude, the effect of a 48 hour shift evident on his tired features
"Thank you, J. I'm dead on my feet here, even though seeing you definitely perked me up a lot. The coffee will only top off the job."
I smiled
"Glad to be of service. Get some sleep after your shift ends. Detective and girlfriend's orders."
He smiled, getting each of us a cup of the coffee I'd brought
"Yes, Ma'am."
Butterflies crashed and collided against each other in my stomach at his voice, which had dropped a few octaves on that delivery. Soon I left him so he could go back to work,as there had been a group of young burn victims come in. I kept my phone close by, as he had promised he'd let me know when he had gotten home to rest. He only had two hours to go before the group of injured teens arrived, no doubt he would take longer now.
Laurie's pov
I had returned to the fire house with the rest of my brigade from the fourth call of the day, and I still had 6 hours left of my shift. The last one had almost turned to arson and involuntary manslaughter because some wasted frat boys had a huge bonfire going, and were wasted enough to mistake water for alcohol when they were trying to put it out. They had burns of every degree, one lost his eyebrows, and one had his pants catch on fire. I know public urination is a crime, along with indecent exposure, but doing that would've been less of a headache for these couple of stooges. I'm just glad I know an ER doctor at St. Vic's and that it was the nearest hospital. But my cousin Will sure had his work cut out for him.
I'm brought out of my thoughts when I smelled a familiar smell when we entered the main area of our fire house. HOW is our fire house on FIRE? I scoffed, remembering how earlier in the day I had read about the proverb 'physician, heal thyself' in my daily Scripture reading. That now seemed very ironic as I, a firefighter, was putting out a fire within my own workplace. Turns out it was a volunteer making stove popcorn, and left it unattended, only noticing when the flames spread to the curtains. By then, I was so exhausted that I let out a chuckle after it was all said and done.
Frank's pov
I was in my office talking to Detective Abigail Baker, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Garrett Moore, and Lieutenant Sid Gormley, my bridge between 1PP and the rank and file of New York's Finest. Garrett broke the silence
"Frank, what are you going to do about the Mayoral campaign? There's no good side here. Neither gets along with you and vice-versa. You can't deny it. And yes, your numbers were always higher than the former Mayor Dutton's, and no doubt will that happen with the polling numbers again. I'm sure that will be the case for Paula Hill too, but we, and more importantly, you, are on thin ice with her as well. And though they will need you to endorse them, you will have to serve at the pleasure of the Mayor at the end. So, what do you propose we do to try to mend fences?"
Sid and Baker spoke up
"It takes two to tango, Garrett. They should be trying to make amends too."
Baker went on
"Especially Paula, after all you've done for her and for Joe. Besides, you share family. You technically ARE family."
Garrett, ever the publicity man asked the next question
"Who are you even endorsing? Besides, People know about Paula's Reagan connection. You endorse her, favoritism. You don't, anti- favoritism."
Sid and Baker spoke up
"What are you gonna do, Boss?"
I sighed, inadvertently twitching my mustache
"Before endorsing anyone, I'm going to try to mend a few broken fences. I'm having Fire Commissioner Stan Rourke over on Sunday, as well as Paula Hill. I'm ending the NYPD and FDNY feud for good, and trying to extend an invitation to family to my grandson's mother.
They nodded, all in support of my decision. At the end of work that Friday, I arrived home and told my father all that had transpired. Not to my surprise, he was less than thrilled with my options for a future boss if their administrations had a place for me at all. He thankfully decided to refocus his energy from his distaste to the work ahead
"One thing is for certain. We are going to need a longer dinner table. We have a bunch of wood left over from when Jamie did that deck with me when he was Pop-proofing the house a few years back. We can call him, Danny and maybe even Joe to build the new chairs and table. Get Peter, Jack and Sean to help too."
The idea sounded good, and we got the materials and craftsmen over to the Reagan Homestead in Bay Ridge. They were done by sunset, once they got in the swing of things. To my surprise and happiness, Paula and Stan had agreed to come on Sunday. Now we had five high chairs, one seat for Pop and me on either end, Danny, Jess, Erin, Jamie, Eddie,Joe, Laurie,Nicky, Peter, Jack and Sean. Seating 18 regular attendees, not counting extra chairs for guests. Peter spoke, taking a swig from a water bottle he'd brought over while he worked on the carpentry
"Can we use one more of the guest chairs this Sunday?"
I nodded
"Sure. Is LJ coming this week?"
He shook his head
"Not this time, but she sends her love. It's someone else, and trust me, you're gonna want plausible deniability."
Knowing he was probably right, I left it at that, and placed the extra chair next to his.
TIMESKIP- DINNER- 3rd person pov
Stan Rourke and Paula Hill had arrived after the rest of the Reagan family, but there still was one seat mysteriously empty. No one was quite mentioning it yet, though. Peter was too busy entertaining his baby cousins and some family members had news they had been waiting days to share. The Detective from the 54th squad spoke first
"I just got the official paperwork. I'm officially Jessilyn Reilly Reagan again."
She was met with congratulatory hugs, with all the members of the third generation of the family misty-eyed, especially Danny and Frank. Having let his Aunt have her moment, Joe stole an unnoticed glance at his mother and squeezed his wife's hand
"Laurie and I added Reagan to our names, along with CJ, Star and Dusty's. We didn't drop the Rourke or Hill in any of our names, though."
The family once again congratulated them, and Paula surprisingly did not raise up another stink. Thankfully, but surprisingly.
Nicky looked down at her phone as it made a noise, and it was promptly followed by a chorus of
"No phones at the table."
She smiled sheepishly, pocketing the device
"Sorry, it's someone Peter and I had invited. Peter, our guest brought dessert, needs help carrying it in. Help me."
Sending the babies a longing glance, he followed his sister, a hint of a smile on his lips. From a distance, Pop could be heard saying
"Guest with dessert? I thought he said LJ couldn't make it?"
Things became even more surprising as Erin's face went white, mouth and eyes agape at the sight of her ex- husband
"Jack!"
Smiling, he repled
"Hey, Erin. The kids invited me."
Burning holes in the back of her kids heads, she forced a smile
"How nice of them. Certainly kept it from me."
Peter and Nicky smiled
" Dad. Between us."
He took the seat, finding himself facing Erin and just in Danny's field of vision. The detective was glaring at his former brother -in-law, the man that had broken his sister's heart many times, and the ones of his niece and nephew to boot. The kids forgave him, and he was doing better by them, but that had not won him over. Or any of the three first generations of Reagans, for that matter. But it was now evident what Nicky and Peter had been up to. Jack tried to get in Erin;s good graces
"I brought your favorite dessert, Erin. And I love that dress on you."
Tight-lipped smile, she quipped back
"Thank you. It was from someone I used to know."
Ouch. He had gotten her that for their tenth anniversary.
Peter spoke
"Mom, keep it civil, please?"
She scoffed
"Like the way you ambushed me? We WILL be talking about this, by the way."
Jack tried to be responsible, figuring she deserved it from him
"I'm sorry. I thought you knew. I should've told you just in case."
She spoke civily
"Apology accepted."
Trying to clear the air and switch the subject, Frank spoke up
"So, Commissioner Rourke, I invited you because, though we are family through Joe and Laurie, I know we have some bad blood. For my part and that of my officers, I apologize."
Much to the surprise and relief of all present, he smiled
"Thank you, Commissioner. I feel the same. I also apologize. Now we will act like family and nothing less."
That made Joe and Laurie happy, perhaps even more relieved than Frank, who then turned to his possible future boss, mother of his oldest granchild
"And Paula, I know we've discussed our history and connections and shortcomings ad nauseum, but again, I apologize. I think someone like you would be good for our city, and plan to endorse you, should you want me to. I am sorry if it ever felt like you were losing Joe to the Reagan side of his family, but I hope we can share him as a family ourselves."
That surprised everyone in a good way, especially when Paula teared up
"Thank you, Com- Frank. Thank you for everything you have done for our Joe. Thank you for your endorsement as well, and I would be glad to serve alongside you. I have to ask , though. After everything I did, being awful to you, you endorse me instead of Mayor Dutton?"
He shrugged
"She and I don't see eye to eye, and doesn't respect the NYPD. I know you will do the right thing and that the people will respond to you a lot better, and I've seen some of your proposals for the city. It has to be you.
With his third win of the night, though one was technically by proxy with the FDNY-NYPD feud being over, Joe felt like he could finally breathe. His mother saw reason at last. His family was all connected now.
Erin's pov
Later on in the night, when most of the chatter had died, I went into the room that used to be mine, my ex following unnoticed by the others soon after. It was something he remembered we used t do when we needed to talk whenever we were visiting Dad and Pop when we had been married. Once he closed the door, he spoke
"I'm sorry you didn't know. I gave the kids a talk about ambushing you. I'm really sorry, Erin."
A gentle smile tugged at her lips, to be polite if nothing else
"Thank you. How have you been? You're actively in their lives now?"
He smiled
"I'm great. Work is good, I have a place in Tribeca, our kids actually want me around after everything... And you're talking to me while smiling, and not because Danny threatened me or anything like that. I missed that."
I felt nervous. Was I really about to put my mended heart back in his hands? He did embrace responsibility, it seemed Peter Pan finally grew up. Maybe Peter Pan and Wendy could end up together again. We had been dressed as Wendy and Peter Pan at the party we met at, but the rest of the parallels worked out to fit our lives like a glove. We even had a Peter, and Nicky's middle name is Wendy.
He seemed to have read my mind, grin on his face
"Think light and happy thoughts to fly, Darling. It's fun every once and a while."
Emboldened by nostalgia, his teasing and his newfound maturity, I whispered
"This if funner."
With that, I kissed im, and it felt like the very first time, when we both had been surprised we had not ended up flying from the lighthearted happy thoughts running through our minds. Maybe the third time will be the charm.