Wow. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've posted! I'm so sorry to leave you all hanging like this, but honestly season 9 did not give me much Jamko inspiration, although it was pretty good. I've managed to piece this together over the last several months and finally finished it today. I hope it makes sense! The beginning is sort of a summary of events up until 9x7 and 9x10, where I continue a bit after those episodes. Sadly I probably won't be able to post again in a while... school is about to start and I will be working on ironing out a thesis topic, so I doubt I'll have much time for anything but inhaling books and articles. *sobs* Anyway, hope you enjoy it after such a long wait. Thanks for reading!

"I'm so proud of you, you know that?"

Jamie smiled shyly, trying not to show the nerves he felt at the thought of starting his new job as sergeant. "Sergeant Reagan, this house is on fire. Hose it down, start from there. Understood?" The words from his commander echoed through his mind one more time. The brush of Eddie's knuckles against his cheek brought him out of his head and the tangled mess of thoughts.

"I know," he murmured gently, smiling as best as he could.

"You're going to do great, Sarge." She grinned, her lips pressed against his cheek and her fingers straightened the numbers on his collar.

"Thank you. See you after shift."

Eddie nodded, gnawing on her bottom lip as he walked out the front door.

He could do this. It would be fine.

...

The adjustment was harder than he thought. Having opposite shifts from Eddie was probably the hardest. It seemed like they hardly saw each other anymore. Jamie could take the trash talking behind his back, the late hour shifts, the hard work he was already putting in to turn the house around. But not seeing Eddie every day at work, not having her beside him… That was nearly unbearable.

When she transferred to the 2-9 things got a bit better. They saw each other much more, even if they weren't on the same shift. Of course there were growing pains, moments where she tiptoed the line and he had to do what was best as the boss, even when he hated making her upset. There were times when he pushed the boundaries of their agreement to stay strictly professional while they were in uniform and on duty. Like when Eddie insisted on that damn undercover stint and nearly got herself hurt, or worse. And it was different now—he was her boss, no longer her partner.

Overall, though, it wasn't too bad. There were still days when Jamie struggled to trust his instincts, when he thought he'd be better off going back to walking the beat, helping people on the streets. But after several months, things were slowly starting to calm down. The officers were beginning to realize that he was going to stick to his word—whether that was the threat of a rip or having their backs.

But even when things on the job settled down, the growing pains continued, in both their jobs and their private lives. When Eddie's mother had appeared, out of the blue, back from her self-imposed exile from the Caribbean, things got a little bit weird. But he had a feeling they would manage to get through, thanks to a bit of his stubbornness and Lena's apparent acceptance of him in her daughter's life.

That night, after they had all met for in his apartment, Eddie gave one final wave to her mother and then closed the door. Her cheeks were flushed, her limbs buzzing from the wine. She crossed to the couch and dropped down beside Jamie, snuggling herself much closer to his side now that they were alone.

"Was it weird having two moms growing up?" Jamie asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"Not really," she shrugged, "my birth mom—the one who died when I was thirteen—she was young when my dad met her. Barely out of college, just starting her career. It was a whirlwind romance sort of thing. It didn't take long for either of them to realize they weren't meant to be. But I was already born and my mom decided she wanted to focus on her career. Dad was more than happy to take care of me. Spoil me. He met Mom not long after and they got married when I was three. She's really the one who raised me. Mama, that's what I always called her, she was more of a visit and bring gifts when she thought about it type. We had fun together. I loved her, but Mom was the one who was there for me. When she wasn't too busy finding the best deal online."

Jamie chuckled. "She really does love you, you know."

Sighing, she nodded against his chest. "I know. And, I guess I can kind of see where she was coming from. But I still say she had no right to scare away every boy I brought home!"

"Maybe not, but for what it's worth I'm glad she did."

Smiling, she closed her eyes for just a moment. Suddenly Jamie was laughing, his chest rumbling.

"What?" she asked, "what is it?"

"What was that thing you said earlier? That your mom taught you to say?"

"What thing?"

"Something about dishes," he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

Eddie groaned. She took a long moment before forcing the words out.

"Forget the dishes on the shelf, be a tasty dish yourself?"

His laughter increased, his deep chuckle rippling through the air.

"How many boys did you score with that one?"

"Oh, shut up. I hate you."

She hit him with one of the accent pillows as he continued to laugh uncontrollably. Rolling her eyes, she tried to get up, only to be pulled back down by a pair of strong arms. Jamie's fingertips dug into her side, making her squirm. She repressed the laugh bubbling out of her chest, unwilling to give him the satisfaction. But it was no good. Before she could stop it the laughter was rippling out of her chest and she moved enough to tickle him back. Soon they both collapsed, exhausted, with smiles on their faces and cheeks warm from the wine.

...

A few days later, as Jamie unlocked the door and they both stepped inside, Eddie kept thinking about hearing that call over the radio. She'd known that shots were fired, but not whether anyone was hurt. There had been no call out that an officer was down, and that had consoled her, but it had still felt like she couldn't breathe until she saw him. Until she looked in his eyes and knew that he was still okay, that he hadn't been shot or hurt in anyway. She could tell Maya was suspicious, but her partner wasn't the only one.

"I honestly don't know what to think about Tuna. He seemed sincere tonight, but I can't be sure."

"Yeah," she said absently, taking off her jacket and boots.

"What are you thinking?"

Jamie wrapped his arms around her waist, and even with her mind distracted by her whirling thoughts she smiled.

"That I can't believe you gave me a rip."

"Eddie…we talked about this, I—"

"I know," she sighed, and she did. As much as she hated it, she understood. Jamie had always been so straight-laced. She didn't expect anything less now he was a sergeant. "And I'm also thinking that maybe Tuna is being genuine."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I think it might be Maya. She asked me how long we'd been sleeping together."

"What? What did you say?"

"I demanded an apology. The way she said it…" Eddie shook her head, biting the bottom of her lip. "It felt like she was implying I was sleeping my way to the top, or something. Like I only wanted to use you to get to One-P-P. And I hated it, and…well, if she thinks so highly of me, then I have no doubt she thinks worse about you."

Jamie shook his head, thoughts racing for a moment. "I thought you two were getting along better? You seemed friendly at the bar earlier."

"I thought so too. And we are, mostly… She's still a bit of a wildcard, but… I don't know, as much as I want to trust her there's something stopping me. I know she's suspicious about us, but after the way she accused me of using you—I don't want to tell her anything."

"Good thing you don't have to," Jamie said with a grin. "I'll keep an eye on both of them. For now we'll see if the pranks stop. If not, well…I'll figure it out then."

"I know you will."

Eddie buried her hands in his soft hair, still not quite recovered from the dread she had felt this morning. Being apart from him at work was hard some days. Jamie wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest.

"I promise I'm fine," he said softly, apparently reading her mind.

"Thank God," she said, smiling and squeezing him tighter than ever.

...

Working separate shifts was harder than Eddie had imagined. And adjusting to life at a new precinct, with Jamie as her boss rather than her partner, was…well, interesting to say the least. Sighing, she gave the dog she was visiting at the shelter another rigorous pet and then stood up. If she didn't hurry, she would be late for her lunch date. A thrill of excitement shot through her. She hadn't seen Ariel since she'd graduated from the police academy and it wasn't exactly easy to make friends on a cop's schedule.

She couldn't help but squeal when she joined Ariel at her table forty minutes later.

"Eddie!"

Hugging the taller woman tightly, Eddie couldn't contain the laughter bubbling up inside her.

"How are you?" she demanded once they finally had released each other, settling into their seats.

Ariel launched into the story of her life the past five years, Eddie responding in all the right places with gasps of surprise and squeals of excitement. She was beyond happy to have this time with an old friend. As much as she loved Jamie and his family, it was nice to have someone in her life that she could rant to who wasn't a Reagan.

"And what about you?" Ariel asked, eyes sparkling mischievously. "A little birdie told me you're engaged."

She didn't have to ask how Ariel could have possibly known. Eddie knew her mother still occasionally talked to Ariel's mother. And of course Lena would have been more than thrilled to share the news of her daughter's engagement with anyone and everyone she knew, despite her and Jamie's reluctance to publicly announce anything yet. All she could do was grin and nod excitedly.

"Yeah. His name's Jamie."

Before she could stop herself she launched into the story of how her partner had become her best friend and then much, much more. Ariel, much like she had, simply let her talk and 'oohed' and 'ahhhed' at all the right moments. Eddie had forgotten how nice it was to have a female friend who understood you so perfectly.

"Well, he sounds like quite a guy. I hope I get to meet him some day."

Eddie couldn't agree more as she smiled, her heart soaring and cheeks warm from her long story about her and Jamie's relationship. As they finished up their meal nearly two hours later, Eddie realized that as much as she was glad to have Ariel stop by to catch up and chat, she couldn't wait to get home to her boy scout.