"You want anything from the kitchen?" he asked standing in the doorway of their bedroom. They were settling down for the night. "I'm going to grab a drink of water."

She pulled the covers tightly around herself and turned away from him. "No, I'm fine."

Jamie looked over at wife and sighed. She hadn't been herself for a couple of days. The times that he asked her what was wrong, she'd brush him off with an "I'm fine" and walk away.

What did I do? he thought to himself as he walked to the kitchen. He racked his brain and thought of the past few weeks. There was nothing that he could remember that would've sparked an argument or some sort of conflict between the two of them.

They were doing good, in fact, they were doing great. They'd just gotten back from a romantic 4-day weekend away in Montauk a little over a week ago. They walked the beaches, watched the sunset, and got in that particular one-on-one time that they'd desperately been missing.

He walked back into the bedroom and shut the door. He turned off the bedside lamp, got back into bed, and gathered her up his arms.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into the back of her shoulder.

She glanced back at him, "What are you sorry about?"

"Whatever I did to you. I'm sorry. I don't like you being upset."

She caressed his arms that were firmly locked around her waist, "You didn't do anything, Jamie."

"You haven't been yourself for a couple of days. If it isn't me, then what is it?"

She pulled his arms from her waist and got out of bed.

He sat up. "Where are you going?"

She opened the door of their bedroom and walked out towards the kitchen. "I have to get something out of my purse," she called out.

She walked back in, handed him a crumpled up piece of paper, and got back into bed.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Read it."

He opened it and read:

Eddie,

I wouldn't blame you if you crumpled this up and threw it in the fireplace. I know we haven't spoken since before your wedding, which was about three years ago. Your mother gave me your address. She sent me a picture from the wedding and you were a beautiful bride, sweetheart. I'm so happy that you found Jamie, he's a good man and I know he's taken good care of you.

The biggest reason I'm writing you is because I'm going to be released next month and I would love to see you. I know you probably don't want anything to do with me but just give me a chance. I've screwed up more times than I care to admit. I know I've caused you and your mother so much pain.

I'll be staying with your Aunt Marsha and Uncle Robert in Rochester when I get out. They're letting me stay with them until I get on my feet. I hope to see you. I put your Aunt Marsha's phone number and address on the back.

I love you, Edit Marie.

Dad

Jamie folded the paper up and placed it on his nightstand. He turned to see Eddie staring out the window. He carefully put his arm around her and pulled her into him.

He kissed her temple, "When did you get the letter?"

"The day after we got back from Montauk."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I think I just needed to process it myself, I guess. It just came out of nowhere. I haven't thought about my dad for a long time. I thought he still had 3-5 years left?"

"Well, it's been three years since we last saw him."

She nodded, "Yeah."

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I don't know yet." She grabbed his face and kissed him, "I'm sorry that I've been pushing you away all week. I just didn't know how to deal with it."

Jamie rubbed her back, "It's okay. I'm just glad that you told me."

He slid them both down onto the bed and pulled the covers over them.

"I love you," he whispered, "Get some sleep."

The next morning, they took a walk to their favorite coffee shop that was down the street from their apartment.

"I was thinking about calling my Aunt Marsha" she spoke out.

Jamie glanced over at her, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I haven't talked to her in a while. A few years actually."

He smiled at her. He knew that most of her family relationships were ruined after her dad went to jail. The only people that he'd met of her family was her mom, dad, and talked on the phone to a distant cousin of hers who lived in Europe. He was glad that she was reaching out even when she didn't have to.

"That's good. I think it'll be good for you to talk to her, Eddie."

She stopped in her tracks and grabbed his arm. "I think I want to see him."

He turned toward her, "You think or you know? It's completely your decision. I'm behind you with whatever you decide."

She took a deep breath. "I know I want to see him. I'm tired of being mad at him. I don't want to be mad anymore. I just want to move on, even if that's with or without him in my life. I need to do it. For me."

He pulled her in for a hug. "Okay. Do you know exactly when he gets out?"

"I don't know anymore than what he said in that letter. I'll have to ask my aunt. Are you coming with me?" she asked.

"Only if you want me to go."

"I want you to go."

"Good" he replied. "Because I wasn't going to let you go alone anyways."

She hugged him tight before letting him go and started to drag him along.

"Come on!" she hurried. "We need to get there before all the good seats are taken."

He smiled and caught up with her.

The next day, they were all in the kitchen at Frank and Henry's before family dinner when Jamie pulled Frank out to talk to him.

"Did you know?" Jamie prodded.

"Know what?" Frank replied.

"That Armin is getting out next month."

Frank pursed his lips, nodding, "I check in on him from time to time."

"I thought he'd still be in for a while," Jamie said. "The three-year mark just barely passed."

"Good behavior, son. They say that he's been a model prisoner. How'd Eddie find out?"

"He sent her a letter. She got it the day after we got back from Montauk but didn't tell me until Friday night."

"When's the last time she talked with Armin?" Frank asked curiously.

"The month before our wedding."

"Wow. So, it's been a long time."

"Mmm hmm." Jamie paused, "We're going up to Rochester, next month. To see him. He's staying with Eddie's Aunt Marsha until he gets on his feet. That's what the letter was mainly about. We don't know the release date, though. All he said in the letter was next month."

"September 4th," Frank said glancing into the kitchen at Eddie, "That's his release date." Jamie made a mental note and nodded.

Frank put a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Be careful when you go up there. I'd advise to be overly cautious. You just never know."

Jamie nodded. "I know. Thanks dad."

Later that day, Eddie was in the bedroom getting ready to call her Aunt Marsha while Jamie was in the living room giving her space.

You got this, Eddie said pep talking herself. She sat down on the bed, pulled out her phone, and dialed the number. After a minute, there was a voice.

"Hello?"

Eddie sat up straight, "Aunt Marsha?"

"Who's this?" the older woman asked.

"It's Eddie... Edit Marie."

There was a pause on the line before an excited voice piped up. "Oh Edit! My little Edit Marie! It's been so long, sweetheart. Oh, how good it is to hear your voice. I think about you so much."

Eddie smiled, "Me too, Aunt Marsha. Me too. How've you been?"

"I'm doing so much better now talking to you. Everything is fine here, doll face. Still living in the same old house here in Rochester with your Uncle Robert. How've you been? I saw the pictures from your wedding. You looked like an absolute dream, dear heart."

She looked down and started to pick the lint off of the pajama pants she was wearing.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't invite you guys, Aunt Marsha," Eddie said feeling guilty. "We hadn't talked in years and my mom and I weren't really on good terms with anyone from the family. We still aren't."

"It's okay, Edit" she replied with genuine affection. "Don't feel bad about that one bit. I'm just glad you had a happy day. Your mother was the one who came and showed your Uncle and I all the pictures."

"What?" Eddie exclaimed with a surprised tone. "You and mom talk?"

Marsha laughed, "Yes! We have for awhile now. Your mother wanted to invite us to the wedding but I declined because you hadn't seen us in years and I didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Oh. Wow."

"Now tell me about this special guy. Jameson, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's Jameson but everyone calls him Jamie." She smiled softly, "We met at work…"

Jamie turned from his place on the couch to see their bedroom door still shut. It had been almost three hours since Eddie went in their room to call her aunt. He got up, went over, and knocked gently.

"Eddie? Is everything okay?"

He heard some rustling and her footsteps walking toward the door. Then, it opened and her crystal blue eyes stared back at him with a gentle smile.

"Everything's great," she replied. She went and laid back on the bed, "It honestly went way better than I expected."

"See!" He said smacking her thigh and laying beside her, "I told you it would go well!"

"I honestly thought that she'd want nothing to do with me after what happened with my dad."

"That was completely out of your control, Eddie. That was all on your dad, not you. And if she would've put the blame on you for that then that would've been shame on her."

"Yeah, that's what she told me. She said that she never was mad at me. She was pissed at my dad for what he did. She said that she regrets all the years she stayed away from me. And I do too."

He grabbed her hand. "Well, now it's time to make it right. You two can start fresh."

She turned over and laid her hands on his chest. "They're coming to the city on Wednesday to visit some friends of theirs. She asked if we wanted to do lunch. I told her that I'd ask you and let her know."

"It'll have to be a quick one. I work the morning shift and don't get very long off for lunch."

"That should work" she replied. "My uncle Robert just wanted to get some pizza since they have dinner plans later that night."

"Alright. Let them know that we're on for lunch." He then looked up at her mischievously.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she laughed.

He grabbed her arms, rolled on top of her and started to play fight with her. She giggled wildly while trying to fight him off, "Jamie!"

That Wednesday, Eddie walked into Jamie's office and saw that he was no where to be found. She pulled out her phone and saw that she had a message from Jamie.

Wait for me in my office. I'm dealing with a collar rn.

Okay, she wrote back. I'm already here.

She sat down in his rolling chair and looked around his office. It was pretty normal with the basic pen and pencil cup, the Sergeant Reagan nameplate, and some random papers strewn about. She decided to organize his desk for him so they could just leave when he got back.

When she stacked up the last piece of paper, she opened his desk drawer to place them in there but found something else instead.

She smiled softly, "I didn't know he had this" she said to herself.

She pulled out a small wallet sized photo of them from the drawer. It was one that Nicky had taken of them at their rehearsal dinner. His arms were wrapped around her, their foreheads were pressed together, and they had the biggest grins on their faces. It was one of her favorite pictures of them together.

"Did you find anything interesting?" She turned and saw him leaning against the filing cabinets with a smile on his face.

She held out the picture to him, "I didn't know you had this in your desk."

He blushed. "Yeah. Nicky gave it to me so I can keep it in my wallet."

She stood up and walked towards him, her eyes alight, and kissed him so soft and sweet that he leaned in and kissed her again.

"I love you," he said looking down at her.

"I love you too," she replied sweetly. She reached up and fixed the collar of his uniform,"We should get going because I think they're probably there by now."

"Oh yeah," he snapped back into reality and grabbed her hand, "Let's go."

A few minutes later, they walked into Robert's Pizzeria that was right down the street from the 29.

"Do you see them?" Jamie asked.

"Um…" she said scanning around. "Oh! Now I see them."

Eddie grabbed his hand and led him toward the back of the restaurant. "Aunt Marsha! Uncle Robert!" she called out.

An older couple who appeared to be in their mid-60's stood up and smiled as they approached. "Oh Edit!" the woman called out. She approached them and pulled Eddie into a big hug. "It's so nice to see you sweetheart! Oh my goodness…"

The older man approached Jamie. "I'm Uncle Robert" he said holding out his hand. "And you must be…"

"I'm Jamie," he replied shaking his hand with a firm grip. "I'm Eddie's husband."

"Ah Jamie," Uncle Robert replied, "I'm just terrible with names so please forgive me if I keep asking you what yours is for a while."

"It's fine, sir" he said with a chuckle.

Then, he turned and watched Eddie happily chat with her aunt. He could tell the two had really missed each other.

"Aunt Marsha," Eddie grabbed Jamie's hand and pulled him forward. "This is my husband."

"He's even more good looking in person" she exclaimed while giving him a hug. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise, ma'am."

"There's no ma'am with Jamie" she interjected. "Just call me Aunt Marsha."

He nodded, "Aunt Marsha."

They sat down on their respective sides of the table. There was a bit of an awkward silence.

"How've you two been?" Aunt Marsha began. She reached out and grabbed Eddie's hand. "It's been so long, Edit. Too long."

"For sure," she squeezed her hand, "we've been doing good. Our precinct is right up the street. Jamie was just at work," she gestured to his uniform, "as you can tell."

"Do you two live around here?" Uncle Robert asked them. He paused as the waiter arrived with their pizza.

"Thank you" they all said in unison. The waiter nodded and walked away.

"We live in the East Village," Jamie said. "On third street. We've been there since we got married."

"That's great," Aunt Marsha replied.

The table got silent again before Eddie spoke up.

"Uh... have you spoken to my dad?" Eddie asked her aunt and uncle.

"Yeah," Uncle Robert said, taking a drink. "He actually called yesterday morning."

"He told me that he asked you to come up to Rochester when he gets out," Aunt Marsha said. "Are you going to come, sweetheart?"

"Uh, yeah I am," Eddie replied. "We both are. I just feel like I should. Even with everything he did, I think it'll be good for me."

Marsha nodded. "It took me a long time to forgive your father. A long time. We didn't reconcile until almost a year ago. He asked me to go see him in prison."

"And what happened?" Eddie asked.

"We talked. We laughed. We cried. And I forgave him. But it's still not all sunshine and roses. We still have a long way to go."

"I don't think I can forgive him just yet," Eddie said.

Marsha reached out and took her hand, "And I don't expect you too. He hurt you in a way that I will never understand because you were his little girl and he was your hero. That trust is so strong and when it's broken... it hurts. It really does. I know it's going to take a long time to repair your relationship and I'm always here to talk if you need me."

Eddie reached over and hugged her aunt, "Thank you so much."

The group talked for a little while longer until it was time for Jamie head back to the precinct. "This was great," Marsha said as they made their way outside.

"And long overdue," Robert added.

"It was," Eddie said. "I guess we'll see you guys next month." She reached out and hugged her aunt and uncle, "I love you guys."

"We love you too, dear," Marsha said. She reached over and hugged Jamie, "It was so nice to meet you. Take care of Eddie. She's very special to me."

He nodded, "I will."

They said their goodbyes to Uncle Robert then watched the older couple walk away, hand in hand.

Jamie put his arm around Eddie. "You good?" he said, jostling her shoulder.

She looked up at him, sighing happily, "I'm great. I really am."

He smiled, tightening his hold around her as they walked back to the 29.

I've had this in my drafts for a few months so I decided to finish up this first chapter and release it to the masses. This story will be at least 4-5 chapters long. I'm not sure when I'll update this one so bare with me because Life and As This Life Passes Me By will be top priority. I hope you enjoyed!

Next, Jamie and Eddie head to Rochester a few days early for she can show Jamie the city she spent so much time in as a little girl and Armin finally becomes a free man.