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A mere month after meeting Amy’s father for the first time, Jake somehow finds himself at Amy’s childhood home with every single member of the Santiago clan.
Apparently after arriving home from New York Mr. Santiago had told his wife all about how Amy was the happiest he’d ever seen her, and that somehow it was due to Jake. Upon hearing this piece of information Camila called her daughter and insisted the two of them come out for Christmas. She needed to meet Jake and and judge this man’s character for herself.
And, as Jake quickly learned, one does not simply say no to Camila Santiago.
Not that he would’ve said no; he’s wanted to meet the rest of the Santiagos for years. He already felt like he knew them after hearing all of Amy’s stories. Of course he wanted to make it official. So they agreed, and within minutes Amy’s phone was vibrating off the table as her brothers badgered her and asked how in the world her boyfriend got an invite to Santiago Christmas when their significant others didn’t get invited until there was a ring or a baby.
What can he say? He’s irresistible.
But anyway, now here they are, spending Christmas Eve with all seven brothers, six in-laws, thirteen nieces and nephews, and, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago themselves.
At some point he loses Amy so Jake wanders into the kitchen, hoping to offer his assistance in the dinner prep or at least find out where Amy went. However Camila quickly shoes him out, telling him she’d rather him spend time with the family and, most importantly, make sure Amy doesn’t touch any of the dishes she’s preparing.
“My Amy, she is good at many, many things. But she cannot cook a decent meal to save her life,” Camila says as she follows Jake into the living room. She turns him so he’s facing her and jabs a rather scary meat thermometer towards his face, the look on her face eerily similar to the one Amy gave him when he lost her favorite moisturizer. “You will keep her distracted, mm?”
Jake nods, his eyes wide with panic. “Scout’s honor, Mrs. Santiago.”
Camila goes from straight scowling to smiling the sweetest smile, giving him a pat on the cheek for good measure. “Thank you, dear.”
He grins back at her, successfully resisting the urge to give Amy’s mom a finger gun or two before she heads back into the kitchen. Amy’s gonna be so proud of him!
The last thing he wants is to ruin this great rapport he and Mrs. Santiago have going, so he does as he’s told and sets off to find Amy. He hasn’t seen her all day, having spent the last couple of hours in a heated discussion with Christian and Luis about who would win in a fight, John McClane or James Bond (If you don’t know the correct answer then you can get outta here).
However finding his girlfriend proves to be much more difficult than it should be, as there are approximately twenty people everywhere he looks, all with her same raven hair and tanned skin. To his left he’s got Lucas, Esteban, and Julian hauling groceries to the kitchen, and to his right Mr. Santiago and one of the in-laws are looking through some sort of binder. In every other direction the little ones are running through every room, most of them still in their pajamas. Behind them are Carmen and Kate attempting to corale said children, get them out of their pajamas, and into their Christmas best. It’s chaotic to say the least. But there’s something kinda cool about the chaos and seeing the family come together, as cramped as it is. It’s something Jake always saw in movies, but honestly he never thought he’d get to experience it himself.
“Hey Jake?”
His thoughts are interrupted by a very frazzled-looking Jenna, David’s wife, who’s got a whimpering baby in one hand and a bottle, baby blanket and two bags of baking supplies in the other which are threatening to spill over at any moment.
“What’s up, Jenna? Can I help with something?” he asks, reaching out to take the bags. But instead of the bags she leans over and gestures toward the baby.
“Yeah, actually. Could you feed Daniel for me? I promised Camila I’d make dessert and I am way behind,” she says, nodding towards Daniel again.
“Oh! I --” Before he can fully form a coherent sentence the baby is placed in his arms and the bottle and blanket are set on the table beside him.
“Thank you so much,” Jenna says hurriedly. “Just give him the bottle -- he should drink all of it -- and burp him when he’s done. You can do that, right?” Jake opens his mouth to respond but she just talks over him. “Great, okay. You’re the best, Jake.”
And before Jake can even process what just happened she’s gone, lost amidst the rest of the in-laws and nieces and nephews and he’s got a freaking baby in his arms who looks like he could start crying at any minute.
For a moment Jake just stares at him with a mix of apprehension and intrigue. What do you even say to a baby?
“So...How’s it going?” Jake asks awkwardly.
Daniel gives an impatient squeal in response.
Oh god, there’s no way he can do this. Why did Jenna intrust him with an infant? He can barely feed himself, let alone a baby!
He scans the room, hoping someone would sense his discomfort and relieve him of this task, but everyone is in the midst of their own jobs or supervising their own children.
Come on, Peralta. Buck up. You’ve fought countless bad guys. Hell, you were shot, like, three months ago. You can handle feeding a baby.
Time to try again.
“Okay. Hi buddy,” Jake murmurs, lifting Daniel up before sitting in a nearby chair and helping the baby nestle into the crook of his elbow. “I’m Jake. It’s nice to meet you.” He takes a chubby, ravioli-sized fist and gives it a shake before grabbing the bottle. “Now, I’ve never fed a baby before, but my friend Charles made me bottle feed a goat once. How different can it be from a human, am I right?”
Jake gingerly guides the bottle to the boy’s mouth and sets the tip against his lips. Right on cue Daniel opens up, latches on and starts to drink, causing Jake to let out a gasp. Success!
Once again he looks up, this time hoping someone saw him successfully feed a baby on the first try, but just like last time no one is paying him the slightest bit of attention.
“Guess it’s just you and me, kiddo,” he says, bringing his gaze back to Daniel, who is now going to town on the bottle. The only sound he’s making now are tiny little snuffles, which are actually kind of adorable.
Jake has to admit, the kid’s cute. He’s got a mess of dark hair and the cutest lips, but it’s Daniel’s eyes that get to him. His eyes are a carbon copy of Amy’s; dark, inquisitive and wide as saucers.
Maybe our kids will have those eyes.
The thought comes out of nowhere. And while a few months ago a thought like that would’ve probably freaked him the freak out, right now he’s completely calm. Because while those six months in witness protection were terrible and lonely, they did manage to make him realize that, no matter what, it’s always gonna be Amy. She is who he wants to come home to at the end of the day, who he wants to spend all of his days with.
She is the love of his life.
As Jake watches the baby in his arms, he can’t help but think about if this was their baby he was feeding. Their baby with Amy’s eyes and maybe his curly hair — although, if he’s being honest, he would be perfectly happy with a bunch of little Amy clones. The world needs more people like her.
Jake looks up and sees Amy in the midst of helping Ellie, her three-year-old niece, into her dress. Amy’s pulling a multitude of faces while Ellie giggles and shouts “Do the funny eyes, Tia, do the funny eyes!”
It’s this image that launches Jake’s imagination. He can see it now: Amy getting their daughter ready for school, brushing her unruly curls (his) and packing her science-themed lunchbox (hers) while Jake feeds the baby. Suddenly it’s all he wants, a couple of babies who are half him and half Amy, kids they can play with and care for and love for the rest of time. It just makes so much sense. They already make such a good team, how could parenting be any different?
By now Daniel’s finished his bottle, so Jake does a quick Yahoo! Answers search to find out how to burp a baby. It seems easy enough. He’d seen people burp babies before, but still, he doesn’t wanna screw it up and accidentally, like, choke the kid. Once he’s read through the instructions a couple times he sets the bottle down, carefully lifts Daniel, and holds him against his chest.
“You think you can keep a secret, kid?” Jake asks the baby before patting his back. Daniel blinks up at him, his eyes framed in the most gorgeous lashes.
Jake turns so his lips are right next to Daniel’s tiny (adorable) ear. “Someday, I’m gonna have a baby with your Tia. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
Daniel burps right in Jake’s face, causing Jake to burst out laughing.
“I’ll take that as a ‘Your secret’s safe with me, Jake!’”
He pats Daniel’s back a couple more times for good measure before setting the baby back in his lap. He bounces his knees and therefore Daniel, earning him a smile and a tiny laugh. Not wanting to lose the smile he repeats the action, and soon both of them are laughing as Jake lifts Daniel higher and higher off his lap.
Did I just become a baby whisperer? Should I take this up full time?!
But before he can really dive into this potential career change, Jenna reappears in the kitchen doorway and Daniel instantly cries out, reaching out in her direction.
Apparently not.
Upon hearing her son’s cry Jenna makes her way to the table.
“Hey little man, what’s up?” she coos as Jake hands her the baby. The crying ceases as soon as Daniel’s back in his mom’s grasp. “You giving Jake a hard time?”
“No, he’s been great,” Jake answers honestly. “He ate the entire bottle and burped right in my face, which I’m pretty sure means we’re best friends now.”
“Oh for sure.” Jenna gives Jake an exaggerated nod before turning back to the baby. “Are you and Jake buddies? Are you?” Daniel gives her a gummy smile, a smile which turns Jake’s heart into a puddle of goo. God, he really is such a cute kid. Jenna looks back to Jake and squeezes his shoulder. “Thanks again, Jake. I really appreciate it.”
Jake gives her a dismissive wave. “No prob. Anytime. Seriously.”
“Good to know. I’ll have to keep that in mind for the next Santiago gathering.” She gives him a not-so-subtle wink before whisking the baby back into the kitchen.
Next Santiago gathering? Does this mean Jenna thinks he’ll be invited to more? Is he officially part of the family?? What could that possibly mean?!?
Later on, when he asks Amy about it, she simply smiles and pecks his cheek, telling him not to read much into it. Jenna was probably just joking around.
It’s almost three years later, as Jenna’s feeding their kid at her first Santiago Christmas, that she reveals she was actually not joking around at all. Turns out having Jake feed Daniel had been the in-laws’ way of finding out if he was truly ready to be part of the family. “And your daddy passed with flying colors,” she coos to the baby. “Yes he did! He fits in perfectly.”
Jake grins over at Amy, who’s just shaking her head.
What can he say? He’s irresistible.