Going to the Courthouse - In the Tough Universe

Going to the Courthouse

Boston, Massachusetts
July, 2026

"Collin, relax," Nikki soothed her nervous new husband for the tenth time that day. "They are going to love you as much as I do. My Grandpa already knows you, so does my Mom and they all love you."

"They love me as your boyfriend, Nik, not your husband. You're entire family is going to flip that we got married down at the courthouse."

"Yeah, well, if they weren't constantly meddling in my life we wouldn't have made this choice. It's bad enough they vetted you, if they started digging into your family's past, it would be Aunt Eddie and Uncle Jamie all over again."

"I still can't get over the fact your Aunt Eddie is a woman," Collin laughed. "The first time I heard that name I swore that she was a he."

"Don't say that in front of my Uncle Jamie. He's a pretty even tempered guy for a Reagan but stuff like that about Aunt Eddie sends him off the deep end."

Collin started the car and looked over at his wife. He still couldn't believe it. Nicole Mary Reagan-Boyle was his wife. They met a year ago when Nikki took a job working with his law firm a social worker. She was pretty, smart, and a strong advocate for the families that needed her particular kind of intervention. Collin remembered being impressed that such a calm and even tempered lady could have such passion and drive. Slowly but surely, Collin won Nikki's heart. She met his family long before he met her some members of hers.

Collin was connected to the Donnelly family on his mother's side. Back in Henry's day, they had been members of the Irish mafia, but now they were involved in some shady business dealings on Wall Street. Collin had wanted nothing of that life, when his parents divorced, he moved to Boston with his mother, got a full ride to Harvard, and made a successful family law practice. Still, Nikki feared her family's reaction when the dug into Collin's background.

The night before Jamie married Eddie, she heard her mother had a heart to heart with her uncle, trying to convince him not to marry Eddie. Erin had been concerned that Eddie's father's criminal past would hinder Jamie. What would her mother think if she knew most of Collin's family had a criminal record? They were married now, it was too late for that kind of intervention.

Reagan Family Home

"Hello!" Eddie called from the back door as she and Jamie entered the house with two year old Lila and five year old Joey. "Go on kids, go find Grandpa!" The kids ran off to find Frank while Eddie put her baked beans and a tray of cupcakes on the counter, her contribution to Sunday dinner.

"Hey, Eddie," Linda greeted giving her younger sister-in-law a hug. "Oh you made those beans they'll go great with the ham."

"Jamie loves your ham. Is Nikki coming?" Eddie asked. "She called Jamie earlier this week to make sure he was going to be off today. She said she had some big news."

Erin nodded, "She said she had big news and she's bringing Collin to dinner so I'm thinking that he's probably asked her to marry him."

Eddie smiled wide, "Oh that's so great! Our little Nikki all grown up and getting married! Marriage is probably the best institution in the world." Eddie looped her arm through Jamie's and laid her head on his chest. "Right, Jamie?"

"Yes, dear," Jamie replied earning him a laugh from everyone but his wife. Eddie elbowed him in the ribs.

"No, it is wonderful and if Nikki is engaged, don't worry Sis, Danny and I will make sure he's an upstanding citizen, not like that last guy that left her at the alter."

Eddie bit her tongue. She was convinced that Nikki's last fiancé had left her because of how overbearing Erin had been about the wedding and how unreasonable Danny and Jamie had been all together. They had appointed themselves her father figures when it came to screening her boyfriends.