The Family You Know, The Devil You Don't

A/N: Many thanks to siss7 and racefh853629 for their feedback on this one, which I was hesitant about to begin with. Extra thanks to racefh853629 for the title. :)
Decided to post this first since it's decidedly shorter than the other novel I've got in queue.

Home Sweet Home (Season 5, Episode 12)

Frank: No marriage is perfect. Most aren't even close.

Danny: Yours and Mom's seemed pretty close.

Frank: Your mother and I used to fight in the bathroom with the shower running so you guys wouldn't hear. We had our struggles, too, believe me.

Chapter 1

"Jamie Reagan?"

Jamie looked up from the section of the Sunday Times he'd been reading. He was tucked away in a quiet little corner near the window of his favorite coffee shop, one that he frequented quite often. "Yeah?" he responded.

A thin, tall man of about sixty with sandy, brown hair mixed in with lots of gray, sharp features and dark blue eyes stood before him. He clutched his jacket tightly in front of him as he stared at Jamie.

He'd said nothing more since saying his name. He just seemed to look at Jamie as if he knew him.

Jamie's brow furrowed at his odd behavior. "Sorry, but have we met somewhere?" he asked.

Despite the chill outside, sweat beaded along the stranger's hairline. He seemed to come out of his zone and blinked repeatedly as he prepared to respond. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally spoke. "No, actually I'm the one that's sorry," he started. "I'm sorry to come up out the blue like this."

Jamie's eyes narrowed slightly. "And you are?" he asked.

The stranger extended his hand. "My name's Christopher. Christopher Layne. I knew your mother a long time ago," Layne said as an introduction.

Jamie shook his hand despite his confusion. "My mother?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh, my late wife and I lived in Bay Ridge back in the eighties, not far from your family. Sometime after she passed, I volunteered with your mother at the local shelter," Layne explained.

Jamie lowered his paper onto the small table top next to his coffee as he tried to place the man, but failed. He certainly didn't remember seeing his face or hearing his name before today. "Oh, uh, well, my mom, she passed some years ago too," he shared.

Layne frowned sympathetically. "I heard. I'm sorry for your loss. She was a special lady," he said.

"Yeah," Jamie agreed and glanced down at the table, uncomfortable for some reason.

"May I?" Layne asked as he motioned to the empty chair in front of him.

"Sure," Jamie shrugged.

"I don't know if you've ever heard of me," Layne said.

Jamie felt a little strange, like he was under the microscope with Layne's eyes studying him closely, as if trying to find some sort of connection or recognition on Jamie's part.

"No. Sorry, should I have?" Jamie asked.

"No. Guess not," the stranger said, somewhat disappointed. "Listen, Jamie..." Layne paused and laughed nervously as he smoothed his jacket across his lap. "Sorry, I'm really nervous," he admitted.

"Nervous?" Jamie sat back in his chair at a loss as to what this was about.

Layne readied himself for what he was about to reveal. "Jamie, I knew your mother for a short time, but we got to being very good friends and I'm not proud of how far I let things go..." he trailed off and looked down at his hands where his fingers played with the frayed edge of his coat.

Jamie's stomach clenched. "Listen, Mr. Layne, I don't understand what you're..."

Layne breathed in deep and looked Jamie in the eyes. "Your mother and I were together," he stated.

"Together?" he asked dumbly, but Jamie was beginning to understand. His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed as he began to get angry at this complete stranger and his allegations. "Listen, I don't know what you're trying to start here, but I don't appreciate what you're insinuating," he said.

"Jamie, I'm not trying to start trouble. I'm really not," Layne assured him and held his hands up defensively in an attempt to soothe the young man before him.

"No, you're just spewing out a ridiculous accusation about my mother...and why would you do that any way? You obviously didn't know her at all," Jamie argued.

"I didn't mean to upset you, but I'm not lying," he stated firmly.

"It's too bad she's not around to dispute your story," Jamie snarled back. He grew angrier each time Layne opened his mouth. He wasn't normally one to get so easily agitated, but it was his mother this man was talking about.

Layne looked Jamie in the eyes, although he had not expected anything different, he was still disappointed by his reaction. How could he? "You were born on March 9, 1984. You're the youngest of four - Danny, Erin and Joe. At the time I knew your mother, your family lived on Harbor View Terrace. I heard your family still has the house there. Your mom used to say that Danny was her very own little Tazmanian Devil - always running through the house like a tornado, tormenting his brother and sister, playing detective like his father. That Erin was her feisty princess, ready to argue every little thing she could possibly dispute and never one to wilt at her older brother's attempts to torment her. And Joe, she described as an old soul, wise beyond his years. He was always playing peacemaker between his older siblings despite being the youngest. Your father, I know, is commissioner now. Mary said that her mother-in-law, Betty, helped her a lot with the kids while your father worked."

Jamie's face became stoney. "What do you want?" he whispered, stunned by how much he knew about his family. The descriptions he gave of his brothers and sister were ones he'd heard year after year from his mother. The 'Tazmanian Devil' nickname, in particular, struck a chord with him. When he was little and he'd find the cartoon airing, he'd run and tell his mom Danny was on TV because she called him that so often.

"I was with your mother in June 1983," Layne stated.

For a few moments, the two men stared at one another and the repeated hissing of the shop's espresso machine did nothing to break their spell.

Jamie's eyes widened and his breathing quickened as Layne's words sunk in. "What are you trying to say?" he asked, hoping he was wrong about what this man was insinuating and utterly confused by why he was hearing this now and from a total stranger.

"I don't know really," Layne said. He was reconsidering this whole encounter, whether he was doing the right thing. But when he thought about how long he'd considered the situation with Mary, he knew he had to go through with it once and for all. "I'm not here to hurt you or disparage your mother," he swore and shook his head sadly. "I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Doctors say it's pretty aggressive. I don't know how long I have and it may sound selfish, but I've always wondered about you." He looked deep into Jamie's blue eyes, trying to find some sort of connection. "Whether you could be mine," he said softy.

"No," Jamie snapped.

"Jamie, after everything happened, your mother was devastated...that she'd been unfaithful. We both were. She was going to tell your father, beg for forgiveness and hope they could keep your family together," Layne divulged quickly. "It seems that they were able to do just that."

Jamie paled. He felt like he was getting punched repeatedly in the gut. "My father knew?" he whispered.

Layne nodded. "They were having some issues back then, but despite all of that, she loved nothing more in this world than her family, so I let her be. But a few months later, I heard she was pregnant and due in March. I couldn't not say anything. I saw her and asked her about the pregnancy, and she said that I needed to forget what happened. That she and your father were working hard to get past everything and that the baby was Frank's."

"Then why are you doing this?" Jamie asked. He was starting to feel numb.

"Because there was something in her eyes that I'll never forget. I don't know, maybe what I saw as doubt was just regret. She asked me not to contact her again. As much as I cared for her and despite my doubts, I respected her wishes. I didn't want to interfere any more than I already had." Layne shook his head and exhaled deeply. "I don't know if you and your father were ever tested -"

"You all seem to know more about this than me. Why don't you ask him?" Jamie interrupted. Anger was bubbling inside of him again. How was it that a perfect stranger was telling him about this? he repeated to himself.

Layne smiled sadly. "Selfish again, I guess. Cowardly, maybe. You're father is quite the imposing figure." He studied Jamie once again. "And to be quite honest, I wanted to meet you. I've seen you in the paper a few times. You look just like your mother," he told him.

"So you want to know if my parents got a DNA test? And what? If they didn't, you expect me to do that now just to get you some answers - if this is even true?" Jamie said, clearly irate.

"It was not my intention to possibly throw your world upside down," Layne tried defending.

"Possibly?!" Jamie laughed humorlessly and leaned forward. "Are you kidding me?! You show up out of nowhere accuse my mother of having an affair with you and want to make sure that the man that's been the only father I've ever known really is my dad? Because you think you could be my father? Do I have all of that right?" Jamie hissed at the man. "I think you need to leave," he said with a glare.

Layne glanced around the coffee shop at the attention they were drawing from surrounding customers and then noticed Jamie's fists where they sat on the table, clenched so hard that they trembled and his knuckles had turned white.

Layne appeared almost despondnet, but Jamie was too angry to care.

"Here's my number. All I ask is that you consider it. I just want to know. I can't imagine dying, never knowing one way or another." Layne placed a card on top of the newspaper and looked at Jamie one last time before leaving the coffee shop.

Jamie remained behind, staring at the spot Layne had vacated, not quite grasping what this stranger had told him. He looked down at the card. There was no way, he thought to himself. And yet...

But there was only one way to find out.