This is the third part of the series that started with "He lets me call him Frank now" and "Follow Your Heart" - I would advise reading them in order if you are just starting. This installment is more of a Reagan family-centric piece to put some things in place before the next, which I think will be a little darker. Jamie and Eddie move on to the next stage in their lives together.

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing. CBS owns Blue Bloods; I just take the characters out for a spin for fun. Also I am not a medical professional or in law enforcement so please forgive any glaring errors.

Chapter 1

"Jamison, please tell me again why we are driving out to Bay Ridge before seven o'clock on a Saturday morning?" Eddie asked for the third time. She had not been amused when the sound of Jamie's phone ringing woke her up before six. Today was her only scheduled day off this week and she had planned to take full advantage of it by sleeping in as late as possible. "Some of us don't keep banker's hours, you know Reagan," she added.

Jamie sighed as he glanced over at his irritable wife. He sympathized with her of course, remembering full well how draining weeks with extended tours were. Since his move to the legal division at the beginning of the year, his work schedule had become far more predictable and overtime was generally restricted to days with big court cases or time spent at home over the weekend reading up on case law. Even with some of the freelance legal consulting jobs he'd picked up after the notoriety gained from the Denison case, he very rarely pulled any true late nights anymore. On the other hand, there had been some kind of virus plaguing the 12th precinct for the last several weeks so everyone who remained healthy had been called in for several extra shifts. He knew Eddie was tired and needed her rest; she had been worn down lately. Jamie wished he could slip back into his uniform and take a few tours for her. He enjoyed his new job but part of him still missed being on the streets.

"I'm sorry, babe," he said. "Gramps said it was important, but he wouldn't tell me anything else. Just asked that we come and pick him up at the house right away."

"I think you could have handled driving your grandfather somewhere by yourself," Eddie griped. "It's not like you needed me for that. He probably wants to go to the market to get something special for Sunday dinner tomorrow, which I have to miss anyway since I'll be working," she emphasized.

"Nope, he specifically told me you needed to come too," Jamie said. "I promise, whatever it is we'll try to get through it as quickly as possible, and then I'll draw you a nice hot bath when we get home so you can relax and nap all afternoon."

Eddie pouted and looked at him sideways, "Promise? With bubbles?"

"With bubbles of course, and music, wine and maybe a little company too if you'd like," Jamie grinned. He loved flirting with his wife. They had been married now for just over three months and he had never been happier.

Eddie relented and softened her stance. He was so good to her that it was hard to stay mad at him for any length of time. She leaned her head against the window and daydreamed sleepily as Jamie guided the car through the quiet picturesque Brooklyn streets near the family home. They were just a few blocks away when she did a double take as she noticed Henry sitting on the steps leading up to a house with overgrown bushes and high grass on the front lawn.

"Jamie!" she exclaimed, "what's Pop doing sitting over there?"

He quickly slowed the car as he caught sight of his grandfather and pulled into the adjacent driveway to turn around. He immediately recognized the address. This had been his grandparent's house at one time, before Grandma Betty had passed away and Henry had sold it to the Petersons. He'd moved in with Frank after Mary had died of cancer and the children were all gone. Jamie had been saddened to watch as it had fallen into such a state of disrepair in the years since. He had spent many happy hours in this house as a child but it was in a bit of a bad state at the present. He parked the car at the curb and shrugged at Eddie as he opened the door. "I guess whatever it is, he wants to talk to us here," he said. "Let's go find out."

Eddie joined him as they approached Henry. He was smiling and leaning on his cane. "Wasn't sure if I was going to get up here in time before you drove through," he said.

"Gramps, what are you doing here?" Jamie asked. "I thought you wanted to meet us at the house?"

"I did," Henry replied. "I just forgot to tell you which house."

Eddie looked at Jamie with concern. Henry wasn't making a lot of sense and given the things she saw daily on the job, all types of possible medical issues were popping into her head, anything from Alzheimer's to a stroke. "Pop," she reiterated, watching him carefully and not knowing his history with this place, "why are you here?"

Henry smiled. He was still sharp as a tack and recognized the anxious tone in her voice. "Now Eddie, don't you worry about me," he said. "I haven't fallen off my rocker just yet. I just wanted to talk to the two of you about something." He got up and turned around to face the front of the building. It had been a stately brick home at one point; quite similar to the house he now shared with Frank but on a slightly smaller scale. "Betty and I shared a lot of great memories here," he said nostalgically. "We raised your father in this house... and babysat all of you grandchildren. The Petersons took pretty good care of it until about four or five years ago when Mark died unexpectedly and left Ella alone. She called me the other day; she was diagnosed with stage four cancer a few months ago and she's behind on the mortgage. The bank's going to foreclose soon if she can't find her way out of it. She doesn't have a lot of time left."

"Oh, that's too bad, Pop," Jamie said. "Doesn't she have any family that can help her out?"

"Nah," Henry replied. "They had a daughter, Mia, but she died in a car accident twenty years ago. They outlived all of their other relatives."

Jamie was starting to get a clearer picture of where this was headed. There was an ulterior motive behind Henry's early morning meeting request. "Why are we here, Pop?" he asked pointedly. Eddie was still puzzled as to what she had been dragged out of bed so early for.

"Your Grandmother loved this house, Jamie. It's a fine place to raise a family. I feel like I owe it to her to try to leave it in a good way before my time is up," Henry admitted.

"Pop! Please don't talk like that!" Eddie cried and went over to hug him. She'd become very close to Henry over the past year. He had treated her as family right from that very first night when Jamie had been in the hospital and he'd welcomed her into the Reagan home. Her own grandparents had remained in the old country when her mother had immigrated to New York. She'd never met them and had been happy to embrace Henry's warm and inviting demeanor as an elder. It didn't hurt that he had hundreds of fascinating cop stories to share as well. She could sit and listen to him reminisce for hours, and he was only too happy to do it. Eddie reminded him very much of his beloved Betty when she was younger.

"Gramps, we can't," Jamie said, shaking his head and looking up at the structure, mentally calculating the cost in time and money that would be needed to restore it just from outside appearances. It was well outside of their means. "Eddie and I just got married. We haven't even discussed buying a house yet. We're not ready and there's no way we could afford it."

"Here me out, Jamie," Henry said. "I've given this a lot of thought. I've been meeting with a financial guy to do some estate planning and he told me I that I needed to start gifting some of my investment savings away for tax purposes. Your father has his own money. I want to give it to my great grandchildren. Nicki, Jack and Sean will get help with college. You two... I'm not gonna be around long enough to see your kids go to school. I want them to have a good home to grow up in, whenever they come, God willing. With the right amount of money down your mortgage payments would be about the same amount as you are paying in rent right now. Ella is not looking to make any profit. There's no one to pass it along to. She just needs to be bought out of what she still owes quickly so she can take the little bit of equity she has to move into hospice care when she's ready." Henry pulled a set of keys out of his jacket pocket and unfolded a piece of paper. "She's away for the morning at a doctor's appointment. Go in and have a look around and talk about it. Here are the numbers my planner came up with. I'll see you at church tomorrow." He started down the street towards home before turning around. "Just think about it," he said. "We'll talk more later." With that he continued to make his way down the sidewalk.

Jamie looked disbelievingly at the keys and paper in his hand and turned to his wife. She wore the same shocked expression on her face, not unlike the night a few months ago where he had proposed and orchestrated a surprise wedding and reception all in the same evening. Considering how long it had taken to express their true feelings for one another, the rest of their romance and marriage had certainly been conducted in a whirlwind fashion. The anniversary of his accident was coming up in just a few weeks time. So much had changed in the last year.

"Eddie?" he questioned as he grabbed her shoulder and turned to face the house. They both stared at it without moving. He didn't have any other words to add at that point. Jamie Reagan was speechless.