It was finally the day. Joe had invited Angie out to dinner for this evening, and he was so excited. He had visited his safety deposit box, earlier in the week, after proving he was indeed alive and well. He only took out two things. The first being a beautiful Celtic men's ring on a chain he used to wear all the time, and the second an engagement ring. He had purchased it many years ago, for Angie and planned to finally use it. "Morning Jamie. You better hurry or you will be late for work with Officer Janko." Joe teased.
"Yeah yeah. I'm going. I'll be back before you leave for your date." Jamie said as he grabbed his coat and put it on.
"Have a great tour. Dad said he was making the arrangements for me to start at the 12th soon." Joe said.
Jamie gave him a quick hug and said "That's great news. I can't wait to see you at the house." before leaving the apartment and driving off to work.
Jamie drove to work and when he got into the precinct, he met Eddie. She was smiling and she whispered "Hello darling."
It threw Jamie off guard and he whispered "Oh hello sweetheart." before he walked into the men's locker room.
'What was that? Crap we totally sound like a couple. Better tone it down.' Jamie thought as he got changed.
Jamie quickly changed and waited patiently outside the women's locker room for Eddie. Kara walked out and stopped when she noticed it was Jamie waiting. "She's struggling with her hair. I tried to help her, but she shooed me away. Anyways congrats." Kara said with a knowing smile.
"Oh err... thanks. Tell Regetti to take good care of you." Jamie said, and she nodded and walked off.
5 minutes later Eddie came out with her hair in a wavy ponytail. "Isn't that how you had your hair when you came in?" Jamie asked.
"Ugh.... I can't get it to work for me today." Eddie let out a frustrated sigh.
"Sit on that bench and give me a few minutes and I will fix it. If we are chasing someone and they pull your hair it could end badly for you." Jamie said in a concerned voice.
Eddie sat down and Jamie took her elastic out. He quickly braided her hair, and then spiraled it into a bun, before putting the elastic in place. "There. Now I won't worry about you all tour." Jamie said as he stared at her hair.
"Thanks Jamie." Eddie said, grateful to have such a resourceful partner.
The pair got their radios and then went off to start their tour.
Back at the apartment, Joe was making a pot of his favorite tea and a bagel, when he thought about Angie. 'I should text her and wish her a wonderful day at work.' Joe thought.
He grabbed his iPhone and sent a text message to her. "Good morning Angie sweetheart. I hope you are having a wonderful morning."
"Good morning Joe. My morning is going great."
"Are you on your way to work? I wanted to wish you a wonderful day at work."
"Aww thank you sweetie. I'm just on my way to my counseling appointments, with the ladies at the women's shelter."
"You are such a kind person. You really care about others. That's why I love you so much, because of your big heart."
"I love you, because you always fight for what you feel is right. I have to go now, I arrived at my stop and have to get off the metro. See you tonight. <3"
"See you tonight sweetheart. Stay safe."
Joe smiled as he finished texting her and sat down to drink his cup of tea. He enjoyed the quiet of the apartment, but he was looking forward to going back to work as a cop. He loved the thrill of catching the bad guy, but when he was in the warrant squad, he had missed being a detective. Finally he was going to be a detective again like Danny. He knew he would probably get grilled by Danny, but he was ready for anything his older brother threw at him.
Joe did some cleaning around the apartment all morning, then he went out and did some shopping in Chinatown. He got a bunch of fresh vegetables and some nice steak, deciding to cook dinner for Jamie. He then texted Jamie and said "Invite Officer Janko to dinner at the apartment tonight. I'm cooking for you guys. Call it a date on me."
"What?!? Joe no." Jamie texted him back.
"Invite her, or I will tell Dad you're dating your partner." Joe texted.
"Okay. I'll invite her, please don't tell Dad." Jamie texted.
"I wasn't going to, I just really want you to have a nice dinner with her." Joe texted.
"Okay I have to get back to work. Thanks Joe. Eddie says yes by the way. I just asked her." Jamie texted.
"Great. Dinner should be ready by the time you finish shift, and it won't take you two long to get here." Joe texted.
"Thanks. Great. Getting back to work now. Love you." Jamie texted.
"Love you too." Joe texted back, before he went to pay for all the groceries.
Back on patrol, "Sorry about that. Joe wanted to cook us dinner." Jamie said.
"That's okay. I love to eat, and I'm excited to try his cooking anyways." Eddie said.
"He's a great cook. He's a better cop though." Jamie commented.
"I bet he is." Eddie said. "Do you think when he works with us, we will help him, like we help Danny?" Eddie asked.
"Probably. I mean that makes sense. I think even more than Danny, because he would be from our house." Jamie reasoned in reply.
They continued to walk down the street, patrolling the area and watching for signs of trouble.
Joe had just gotten back to the apartment and inside, when the phone rang. "Hello?" Joe answered.
"Joe it's me Erin. I need a favor. I can't pick up a dessert for Sunday dinner this week, and I was wondering if maybe you could bake something." Erin replied.
"I can bake something. Busy week?" Joe asked.
"You have no idea. Speaking of which my next appointment is here. Gotta go. Love you." Erin said.
"Love you too Er." Joe said, before hanging up the phone.
Joe put away the food and got himself a glass of water, before deciding to have an afternoon nap. 'You earned it. You cleaned and bought groceries.' Joe thought.
Joe drank the water, then set an alarm on his phone, before crashing out on the window seat.
3 hours later, Joe's alarm went off and he woke up. He had a big stretch, followed by a big yawn, and it was quite the sight. He was really tall, and when he laid down on the window seat, he could almost touch end to end. He had a bit of space to play around with, but not much. Jamie had laughed the other day about that. Joe had found it rather humorous too. 'Time to cook dinner for the lovely couple.' Joe thought as he migrated to the kitchen.
Joe pulled out the various vegetables, and the steak and started prepping them. He washed the vegetables, the proceeded to chop them into smaller pieces. He then sliced the steak into thin strips, and made a quick asian stir fry sauce. He got the water and rice going in a covered pot and left it to cook, setting a timer, so it didn't burn. He fried the steak first and cooked it through, before adding the vegetables. He added each vegetable in according to cooking time.
When the stir fry was almost ready, he added the sauce he had made from scratch and mixed everything in the pan. He turned it off and covered it to keep it warm. 'Now to wait for the rice to finish.' Joe thought as he warmed up some tea.
A little while later Jamie and Eddie walked in the door to find dinner prepared and Joe all ready to leave for his date. "Tonight's the night Jam. I'm so nervous." Joe said.
"Okay pep talk time." Jamie said and grabbed Joe's shoulders. "Look at me." Jamie insisted and Joe did. "You got this. This isn't just anyone, this is Angie. The woman you have loved for years, and she is so going to say yes. You and I both know she wants to marry you, and we would both be fooling ourselves, if we believed any differently." Jamie finished.
"Thanks bro. You always know just what to say. Well I'm off, enjoy your date. Listen... not that it's any of my business, but you should really consider telling Dad soon. It's better if it comes from you." Joe said and with that he walked out the door.
"What if your Dad doesn't like me?" Eddie suddenly voiced.
"Oh nonsense. Dad already likes you." Jamie replied.
"Yeah as a cop and your partner. What if he doesn't feel I'm the right fit for his youngest son?" Eddie was genuinely concerned about this, and looking for Jamie to convince her it wasn't an issue.
"Sweetheart, you know he likes you a lot. Just give things a chance okay. I promise you are the right fit for me, and Dad will see it too. You are very.... wonderful." Jamie reassured her.
"If you say so. Come on let's eat before the food gets cold." Eddie said getting all excited for dinner.
"There's the Eddie I love. Passionate about filling her stomach." Jamie commented in a teasing fashion.
"Hey! I happen to love food a lot. I just happen to love you more." Eddie said.
"Good save." Jamie said, as he dished out the food into bowls.
Elsewhere in the city Angie was waiting at Lidia's. It was this Italian restaurant owned and operated by a woman straight from Italy. Joe and Angie had fallen in love with the food there, the first time around. Joe made a reservation, seeing it as a fitting place to propose. Joe walked in and saw Angie sitting, waiting for him. "Table for two. Joe Reagan." Joe said to the hostess.
The hostess showed them to their table and gave them menus. "The waitress will be along in a few minutes. The kitchen is good tonight, so there won't be a long wait for your food." The hostess said, before walking back to the entrance.
They viewed the menus, while thinking about being with each other.
Back at the apartment, "Jamie that's hilarious. Kara said you always make her laugh when you guys ride together. She said one time you almost made her hit someone's bumper." Eddie said,
"Yeah I remember that. We were at a red light and suddenly she burst out laughing, from my joke, then she accidentally hit the gas and almost hit the person in front of us' bumper." Jamie explained.
"If you ever did that, on the off chance I was driving, I would withhold kisses, until you could make it up to me." Eddie said.
"Well we won't be having too many more of those. We have to put in our papers soon. Joe's right... if someone catches us and tells my Dad, we could face serious consequences." Jamie said.
Eddie was saddened to hear this, but perked up when she realized she could come home to Jamie, and have him all to herself at night. "Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. I can see about switching with Kara. I'll take Regetti and she can have you. I trust her with you, and not just because she's married, but because she really protects you and has your back." Eddie commented.
"That could actually work. We need to discuss this with them, and see if they are okay with it." Jamie suggested.
The waitress had arrived, Joe and Angie ready to order, handed her the menus. "I'll have the pasta with mussels in the red sauce. Angie?" Joe said.
"I'll have the chicken parmigiana. Thank you." Angie said to the waitress.
"Anything to drink tonight?" The waitress asked.
Joe wanted to order champagne, but didn't want to give it away. He looked at Angie, before he replied "Two glasses of red wine please."
"I'll be right back with those." The waitress said.
5 minutes later she came back with the wine and served it to the couple. Joe smiled and grabbed Angie's hands in his own. "I love you. You're incredible." Joe said.
"I love you too. You're incredible too. I can't wait for you to get back out there and change the city again as a cop. I'm so proud of you." Angie said.
Jamie and Eddie had finished their dinner, and were now under the comforter on the window seat, kissing and cuddling. She had an arm around his neck pulling him closer, and he had an arm loosely draped around her waist. She smiled into the kiss, before releasing a giggle. It vibrated on his lips and tickled him. "I'm pretty sure that was the oddest sensation, I have ever experienced so far." Jamie concluded.
"Hmm me too." Eddie added.
They laid in each others arms, legs tangled and arms wrapped around each other. It was a beautiful sight, and anyone who saw it would have melted on the spot. Eddie smiled and gave Jamie's lips little kisses. "I love you." She said, between kisses.
"I love you too." He said back.
Back at the restaurant, their food had arrived, and Joe and Angie were excited to eat the food. "It all looks so delicious. Do you want some of my chicken?" Angie asked.
"Sure. Do you want some of my mussels?" Joe replied in question.
"That sounds perfect." Angie said.
The pair exchanged a bit of their meals with each other, then started eating. Joe was still a little nervous, until he remembered Jamie's pep talk. He reached into his pocket and fingered the box. 'I can't believe I'm going to ask her. I really hope Jamie is right and that she does say yes.' Joe thought internally.
"Are you okay? You seem like you are thinking about something." Angie noted.
"I am thinking about something. It's very important. How's your dinner? I think the mussels are great tonight. The pasta is perfect." Joe said, trying to get her off the subject, at least for a little while.
"The food is amazing. I love everything, and I'm glad you thought to come here. I really appreciate all you do. You are so sweet." Angie said.
The pair finished their meals and ordered dessert. Tiramisu to share, and some decaf Italian coffee. As they waited for dessert and coffee to arrive, Joe thought 'It's now or never.' and pulled out the ring box. He got down on one knee by her chair and said "Angela Elizabeth Williams we've been together a long time, and we just recently found each other again. I want to spend forever with you, and I want to ask you to do that. Will you marry me?"
Joe's heart was racing, as he awaited her answer. Angie was in shock, as she stared at the ring and then back at Joe. "Oh Joe.... Yes. I want to spend forever with you too." Angie said and accepted the ring.
Joe slipped it on her finger and she kissed him. People around them clapped and the waitress said "Dessert and coffee is on us. Congratulations." before walking away.
Angie looked down at the ring and smiled when she looked at Joe. "Thank you for making me the happiest man alive." Joe said.
"Thank you in return for making me very happy as well." Angie said.
When Joe returned home, he was so excited. He couldn't wait to tell Jamie. He walked into the apartment and said "Jamie..." then stopped. He looked at the window seat and there sound asleep were his brother and his girlfriend, all comfortable in each others arms, under the comforter. 'I can tell him tomorrow.' Joe thought before going to bed.