Jack Reagan's pov

Life at Hadleigh College was going pretty well, maintaining a 3.5 GPA in my studies to go in the nursing field. Stupid mandatory History class tanking my perfect 4.0 GPA...On the bright side of things my friendship with Mia, the girl who worked at this amazing TexMex place on campus, had morphed into something more. We had started dating a few weeks ago, and were happily going strong and steady. She was a fellow nursing student, and we had met at a mixer during our first year. I'm brought out of my thoughts by Mia herself, as she kissed me and sat down next to me, cuddling up to my side

"What are you thinking about, Jack?"

I shrugged, smiling easily at her, hand in her beautiful hair

"You. Us. And no, I'm not trying to score brownie points. Or quesadilla points, in this case."

She grinned, blushing a bit as I tucked some of her red hair behind her ear, her green eyes sparkling like jade and crinkling as she chuckled

"Well, that's very sweet. But what if I already brought some for you?"

I smiled, bringing her closer to me

"Then I will gladly eat them. After all, it would be extremely rude not to, and I was raised better than that"

So we proceeded to eat our lunch together, enjoying some quality time. I could hardly wait until I could bring her to meet my family. As it turned out, her family was also based in New York.

Timeskip- a few weeks- Peter's pov

My knee had healed for the second time, and I decided to call my Grandpa to ask him something

"Hey, Grandpa. Could I ask you and Pop for a favor?"

I could tell he was intrigued as he replied

"Anything. What's on your mind, Kiddo?"

It was now or never. I spoke

"Can you gather everyone at your place, and I'll come with LJ and we can facetime Jack and Nicky? There's something I wanna discuss with all of you."

If he had any indication of what exactly I was planning to talk to them about, he did not let it show. He agreed

"Sure thing, Sport. I'll give Pop a headcount and he can make some good food for us or pick something up."

Relief evident in my voice, I replied

"Thanks, Grandpa."

He replied

"No problem. I'll see you soon."

A few hours later, all of those that could be there in person were gathered at the Bay Ridge home. Nicky and my cousin Jack had to be patched in through facetime, but everyone else was there. My parents spoke, Sami and Noah in their arms

"What's this about, Pete?"

Drawing a shaky breath, I spoke up, nervous of their reactions

"I'm not looking for anyone to talk me out of this decision. I'm mainly making an announcement, and asking some of you for experience tips, namely Pop, Grandpa and Uncle Danny. After high school, Covey's going to UVA, but I'm going to Marines boot camp and deployment. Pop, Grandpa and Uncle Danny, I'm asking for you to share your experiences and tips so I can serve my country at my best capacity. Then, after I serve 2 years, I'm joining the Academy to hopefully serve in the NYPD."

Silence fell over the room for what felt like an eternity, LJ's loving squeezes to my hand being the only thing keeping me at bay until someone said something. My parents and sister were the first to react

"Are you sure? It's very dangerous."

I expected that reaction from them, or something more intense, to be honest. I sighed

"There are very few things in my life that I'm more sure of than this career path for me. And like I said, I'm looking for advice from the Vets in this room, not people trying to get me to change my mind. Everyone here knows I have wanted this for pretty much my whole life. Besides, it's not like I've lived my life inside a bubble-wrapped dome up to now. I've gotten seriously injured in sports, and I've even already diffused a drug ring in my own school. So, please don't try to talk me out of doing my part to make the world a better and safer place."

Tears in their eyes, my parents were the first to speak

"We are so proud of you, and the man you've become. We love you so much"

I hugged them

"Thank you. For everything. I love you both too."

Wiping away a few stray tears, my older sister smiled through the screen

"I'm scared for you, but I'm also so proud of you. Everything you will do and have done up to now. Go show the world why we aren't the kind of people they want to mess with."

I nodded, saluting her perfectly

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am."

Then Lara Jean spoke, head on my shoulder

"I already was so scared just of you joining the NYPD... But the Marines... Like Nicky said. I'm so scared, but so so proud of you, PK. You learn, you go, you fight, show them what someone like you is capable of, then come back to us, to ME, in one piece. You got that?"

As I kissed her, I heard Pop say

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

After a few minutes, I went into the kitchen with Pop, Grandpa and Uncle Danny. They were more than willing to answer all my questions about their time in the Marines, along with giving me some very helpful tips and tricks of the trade they had learned along the way and passed down the generations. I also had some practice with firearms from going to the shooting range at least once a month from the moment I was legally able to. Granted, I would also go through boot camp, but Reagan boot camp was a good place to start as any, perhaps better than most. Coming into the service as a low-ranking newbie but with generations of experience ingrained in my mind and instincts would only serve me well. Thankfully, my family was more than happy to equip me as best they could for the hours that followed.

After we had been done talking and they had been finished teaching me the basics of boot camp expectations, my Covey kissed me and asked

"2 years give or take, right? Boot camp and then 2 years of active service?"

I nodded

"I'll be back before you're graduated from college, Covey. Now, where I'm going, or how far, that's something I won't know until I'm told."

She nodded, having known that would be the reality of the relationship for a while now. She spoke

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

I could not help but kiss her after that comment. She then got a little smirk on her face

"You know what else distance is good for?"

I was almost certain of what she was thinking about, but still played along

"What, Covey?"

Kissing me, she replied

"Writing love letters."

My family let out a mix of chuckles and awws, because that had been how our relationship started in the first place, and we still made it a point to write meaningful notes to each other from time to time. After kissing her, I spoke

"I figured that was what you were gonna say."

All in all, my family could have taken my news a whole lot worse. I figure most of the leniency came from the legacy of service our family had, both in the Armed Forces and in the NYPD, or law enforcement and first responders in general. Graduation was inching closer and closer, and, by consequence, my time to go to boot camp and then overseas, and Lara Jean to go to UVA. But I was going to be fortunate enough to spend some more time with loved ones before I had to go. Not even two full days after that conversation with my family, Uncle Will sent a message through the Reagan Family group chat. Aunt Jess was going to have her babies. numbers 11 and 12 of the fourth generation of Reagans. Emily Reilly and Nathan Brooks Reagan- Hochman. Like a windswept swarm, we gathered in the hospital waiting room, keeping ourselves busy and entertained while we waited on the news. Half out of curiosity and half to pass the time, my Mom asked

"What are your uniforms and name plates going to say? Kavinsky, Reagan or hyphenated?"

The answer was easier to decide for my time in the Marines, where it had to be your legal name anyway, which mine was hyphenated. Meaning that when I did the drug bust at school, school officials knew of my Reagan connection, but those freshmen did not. I spoke

"For the Marines, it has to be my name as it was from birth, so hyphenated Reagan-Kavinsky. I know Aunt Eddie and Cousin Joe kept their non-Reagan names for the job to not seem favored, even though Joe hyphenated later. But I think I'm hyphenating in the NYPD too. I'm a Kavinsky, but I'm also a Reagan. And if people want to think that I'm favored for it, that maybe some things were given to me on a silver platter... Well, it's a free country. They can think whatever they want, and I can prove how wrong they are when it comes to the PC favoring any Reagan above any other brother or sister in blue."

Mom nodded

"You make excellent points, Baby Boy."

She hugged me close, and I relished every second of it. I was going away soon and I was going to miss her, and moments like these. Plus, it's not exactly like I ever hated receiving love like this from my own mother. Everyone in our family was promptly on their feet at the sight of Uncle Will coming out of the delivery room, a proud glow about him, his eyes glistening with happiness

"They're here. Emily and Nathan are here. Jess is resting, but all three are healthy."

We were all able to meet and hold the cuddly little newborns, and this made my heart twinge with a bit of sadness, knowing that I would miss out on around two years of the lives of my cousins and siblings in their formative years. A bit over two years with my whole family. But I wanted to serve, I knew I was going to have to give up a few things in order to do so. I still had a few days with them, all of them, which was great. Along with spending some time with my whole family, I also intended to take my Covey out on a date to Cardona's, an amazing Italian place up in Little Italy. I started to joke around with LJ to put her at ease, seeing as she was a little nervous, for reasons ranging from the level of fancy of the restaurant to our impending physical separation and my being in danger, despite being proud of me. She spoke

"Wow, this place is fancy. These menus are huge."

I smirked, trying to use my playfulness to put her at ease

"The bigger the menu, the fancier the place, everybody knows that."

Devious grin on my face, I placed my hand on one of the forks on the table

"Did you know they give you an extra fork just in case you drop one?"

She gave me a bewildered look, for some reason surprised by my antics, which should be common knowledge by now

"I don't think that's what that's for"

I smirked

"No, look."

Then I proceeded to voice the fork falling off the cliff, or, in this case, the table, as my girl tried and failed to keep her laughter at bay. Mission accomplished. I then picked up the remaining fork and said

"Good thing I have my backup."

She smiled fondly at my antics, hand firmly in mine

"You are impossible."

I grinned

"Why, thank you."

That sent her into a laughing fit again, and we enjoyed the rest of the night. Mom was slammed at the office, something about a case where an investigation into an old case was having to be done alongside IAB due to the apparent tainting of a lineup. From what I heard, Pop was involved. This certainly would not be good.

Erin's pov

I was with Pop in my office, my voice getting louder as my frustration grew

"WHY would you coach the eyewitness?!"

He was adamant that he was in the right, to no surprise

"She had short term memory, she had perfectly described her the day before! I was just reminding her of her own words!"

Rubbing my forehead where a headache was starting, I asked

"Why not record the conversation where she did ID her, though?"

He huffed

"That was the job of the cop running the lineup, not mine. I was juggling 6 cases, some of them going cold, some of them missing persons. I needed that mugging case closed fast, and it was."

She sighed

"Because the wrong person got indicted. You did not even bother with DNA when you were dealing with twins? One framed the other!

He shot back

" We triple checked!"

He took up an indignant tone

"I'm sorry we did not have all the technology you have today back when you were in diapers!"

She sighed

"I'm sorry if I came across as disrespectful, but this needs to be fixed."

On that much we agreed, and justice was soon served. Well, as much justice as the wrongfully convicted sister could get.