This is an AU inspired by (not based off of, not replicating) the movie Playing for Keeps. Andy and Luke are engaged, at a very different time in her life. She and Sam have a past, and a son. Also, Andy and Luke are NOT TPS, I had a tough time making that decision.
I SWEAR IF I SEE ANY SAM OR ANDY BASHING I'M GOING TO EXPLODE. This story has only just begun, and I'll try to clarify their past as the story continues, so please, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.
He took a minute to brace himself as he saw Luke peek out from behind the curtains of the living room, and Andy waved to Cooper from the door. The small kid dragged his gear behind him, head down, definitely sulking. Sam hopped out of the truck, and met his son half way, and enveloped him in a hug that would force a smile out of him. Once he heard the kid holding back a laugh, he let go, and a ruffled a hand through his sons black wavy hair.
He got very lucky on the genetics front, the perfect mix of his parents. Andy's curls, his strong chin... 'thankfully' (Andy's words) a combination of their eyebrows. Not too bushy, not too thin. And more than anything else, Sam couldn't help but be grateful that Cooper got Andy's eyes. Andy's expressive, and innocent eyes. Those eyes were how he fell half in love with her the first time they met.
"Hey buddy," Sam smiled, draping an arm over his sons small shoulders. "How was your day?"
"Mom's pissed at you."
"Don't say pissed Coop." Sam scolded, as he dropped the trucks tailgate, and threw the hockey bag into the bed. Before Cooper could mumble an apology, Sam's picking him up from his under arms, and sits him down on the tailgate. "What's up kid?"
Cooper shrugs his shoulders once, and refuses to look up at his dad.
"Buddy, you can talk to me about anything. You know that right?"
Cooper nods once, and gets a wicked grin on his face, much like his moms. Cooper looks like maybe he's going to test that theory, with a cheeky answer, when they both turn their attention to the front door that just opened.
"Sam! He's already late, you've gotta go." Andy laughs, like it's stressing her out that he might be five minutes late to Squirt hockey practice.
Sam let out a sigh, and returned Cooper to the pavement, and he scurried off the passenger side of his dads silver beast. He shook his head and offered Andy a tight smile.
"I've got it, we're going. Don't worry." He was frustrated with Andy's tight schedules, and her frustrations when that plan is tampered with. One of the many reasons they couldn't be in the same space for very long.
He yanked open his door, and slid into the drivers' seat, and looked over at Coop while he put his keys back in the ignition. He knows Coop will break, he can't lie or hide anything, part of the Bambi eyed curse, yet another reason to be thankful for them. Though having a cop for a dad shouldn't be totally dismissed. He made a point of teaching his son right from wrong, and to use his judgment in the grey areas.
"Dad stop." Cooper whines, crossing his arms over his chest, and looking out the window to the house. Sam looks along with him, and Andy is trying to point at her wrist watch and wave them off simultaneously. Cooper and Sam chuckle at the same time. "She's such a nerd."
"You don't know the half." Sam smiles back at him, deciding to drop the matter for now.
The kid stayed quiet for the beginning of the ride, and pulled on the strings of his oversized hoodie. Well, Sam's old academy hoodie, the one that Andy adopted and stretched out while she was pregnant with Cooper. Imagine that on a nine year old boys frame, he absolutely drowned in it. But it was his favorite article of clothing ever since he found it in his moms closet a few months ago.
They were only five minutes from the rink when Cooper couldn't seem to hide whatever was going on from Sam any longer.
"Mom's gonna marry Luke." He whispered.
Sam felt his heart stutter in his chest, and if he hadn't had his son in the truck he may have let the truck drift into the other lane. But his hands reacted quickly, before the truck was too off course, and Cooper didn't even seem to notice. He schools his expression quickly. This isn't about him, it's about how it's affecting his kid.
"You don't want her to marry Luke?" Sam inquires, kind of hoping that that's it. It's not like he's threatened that the man will take over his role as a father. Maybe under different circumstances he could like the guy, but... he's with Andy, and that never sat right with Sam. And even though Cooper's disapproval might put a wet blanket on the engagement, he doesn't want Andy dealing with that conflict.
"No... Luke's alright. I just-" He stops suddenly, like he was about to reveal some huge secret. Sam doesn't speak, and just let's Cooper figure out what he's willing to reveal. One decision that Sam and Andy made together was to be sure he knew he wasn't being interrogated. That Sam had to make sure he could turn off that side of himself at home, and so far he'd managed to do things that way. Cooper was more likely to come clean to them when there was no pressure at all. 'His mothers Catholic conscience...'
"I guess, I just wanna know why you and mom can't be together. Or try again."
That was definitely not what Sam expected out of his mouth. Sure, Cooper was three when they finally gave up and split, but it seemed like any early memories Cooper would've had of them as a family would've been when they were fighting. Their divorce was so early on that he really hadn't known what their lives were like when they were happy, so how could he miss it?
"Your mom and I drove each other nuts. It seemed like no matter what we were talking about, we were screaming. You hated it, you didn't understand what was going on. So we decided that we weren't doing you any favors by trying to hold on, so, we decided it'd be better to live a part for a while." Sam managed to get all this out before he had the truck parked in front of the rink.
He got out his door, and Cooper did the same. Sam reached into the truck bed and hauled out his hockey bag. Cooper joined Sam's side and they made their way in while Sam continued.
"Eventually, your mom started to look better, you know? She started to wear that same goofy look she gets when you watch any commercials with puppies or kittens-"
"I know what you mean."
"Right, so, it seemed like the whole living apart thing was working for us, and even you too. And now she's engaged, so we must've been right." Sam tried to smile, and reassure his son that the families fall out was really as simple as that, even though he knew the complicated truth.
"But what about you, dad?"
"I'm doing just fine buddy. Besides, not a lot of women can handle my job." He says. If anyone can understand how hard his job was, it was certainly his kid. He would be gone a couple months at a time, sometimes without being able to explain. Cooper never once complained... to him.
They're outside the doors of the boys locker room, and he can see that half of them are already out on the ice warming up. A real role reversal in their lives, Andy's the one who's always on time now.
"Have a good practice kid." He says, patting him on the back, before taking his seat in the bleachers.
"Andy, I don't understand why you always ask him to drive Cooper to practice, he's late almost every time." Luke says, finishing untying his tie.
Andy sighs in response, and makes her way over to him, and slides the tie from around his neck, and undoes the top button of his dress shirt. Check her out, being the 50's housewife.
"Hockey is their thing. And he just got off shift. It's a miracle he makes it here in time, ever." Andy knows that Luke doesn't quite understand that the way Andy did. Her dad rarely made it home in time for dinner when she was growing up, at least not until after her mom disappeared. After that, coming home late wasn't just an hour, it was three or four, and there was usually a bottle of whiskey to accompany him.
"Alright, I'm just saying-"
"I think he's going under again." Andy says, interrupting Luke's next jab. He raises an eyebrow, wondering how she could possibly know that. He's not insecure about his relationship with Andy or anything, but he was almost always nearby when she and Sam had their talks. He did, after all, meet Andy three years after their divorce, so at least he knew there wouldn't be a threat of a second try.
"His truck looks washed, and the breaks didn't screech when he got here. Which means he tuned it up. He used to do that so it wouldn't break down on us while he was gone." She explained, knowing he'd want a little proof. Being an attorney does that to you...
"Guess it became a habit. Had this thing about taking it in to get looked at, too big of an ego for that. Mr. Fix It-"
"I got it Andy." Luke cuts her off, knowing she tends to get worked up when reminiscing about her relationship with Sam. She pulls away from Luke, and walks to the other side of the living room, and stands behind the couch, looking out at the front yard.
"I knew it was too long. Didn't I say that last week? He never lasts this long without even a short job. Cooper was just getting used to having hockey time together. And they finally re did his bedroom over at his place..." Andy let the sentence die, because she quickly learned that if there was one subject Luke hated, it was Sam and his job.
It had been a sore spot in their relationship from the beginning, and Luke had to learn to live with it. And most of the time it was fine. Till he left. The whole first two weeks after he would leave, Cooper would be beside himself, so Andy got anxious about Cooper. And then she'd spend the rest of the time trying to figure out if he was alright, and if something happened, how she'd have to explain it to Cooper.
Sam was getting better about being on the streets, Oliver and Jerry must've been keeping him entertained, it's been a year since his last stint. He used to be gone up to five months at a time, but then he managed to start getting smaller jobs, and he'd take two of those a year. Eventually, sometime in the last couple of jobs, it's been knocked down to three month-ers, once a year. She turns, back to the picture window and leans forward.
"He'll only be gone a couple of months." Luke whispers in her ear, hugging her from behind, while she had her hands braced on the back of the couch.
"It's just different now. I get why he started doing it, we needed the money. It paid much better than walking the beat, but then, even after we had some money in the bank, he kept going back."
"I know baby."
"It's been years. It's like he's addicted to them." She starts again, and Luke knows that she's too anxious and nervous to fight right now. She just wants to be assured that he's got his reasons, and it has nothing to do with Cooper.
"I've heard some of the detectives talk, between cases that deal with the guys like Sam help bring down, and they say he's the best. That undercover is an adrenaline rush like you wouldn't believe-"
"We used to be enough."
"Andy he was trying to provide for you guys." Luke found himself defending Sam a lot of the time, ironically, but it was always so Andy wouldn't say something she'd regret, something that Cooper might hear.
"Yeah, maybe at first... but it changed. He just changed."
A/N 2: Alrighty, reviews mean more to me than F&F's, so drop me a CONSTRUCTIVE line or question. I know I've been very vague about where their relationship went wrong, and who's at fault, and what not, but that's all coming. So pleaaaaaase, be patient there. THANK YOU!
