That's what this is all about
Sam and Andy struggle with their growing family, their victories and limitations and how much they love each other and how far they've come, and learn a valuable lesson along the way. Post season 6.
Chapter 1:
Milo Samuel Swarek was 10. He tossed his hockey gear to the side as soon as he came trough the door. Sam trailing in behind him, he had just picked him up from hockey practice, seeing that he had a pretty big game the follwing day, he was having none of it though, it was just a bad day really.
"It was just a miss buddy, not a big deal, alright?" Sam said. His son turned around to give him an eyeroll, one like the ones Andy gave him almost everyday.
"Easy for you to say, I just threw my career down the toilet." He huffed, jumping on a chair on the kitchen island.
"What are you talking about?" Sam smirked. "You do know you are ten, don't you?"
"I've been practising for months, okay? And I blew it, you don't come back from that." Milo sighed. Sam could swear his son was more mature than he was at times.
"Coming back from what?" Andy came into the kitchen totting the youngest of the Swarek clan. "How was practice?"
"Don't." Sam warned. Andy arched an eyebrow. "Just don't." This was an easy routine. It had always been actually, since they had the kids, Milo was the one who always had made sense of everything for Andy, he had been the first one of their children after all.
"Oh hi." Another voice said as she came into the room. Sofia was their eldest. In truth, she had been Sam's but Andy had never made any distiction between her children, she had promised Sam and herself to love this child as her own and she did.
"Hey yourself." Sam came closer to his daugther to hug her.
"Did someone die or something?" Sofia asked as she glanced between her parents and little brother.
"Yes, my pride." groaned Milo. Sofia shared a glance with Sam and they both smirked, watching as Milo moved over to the living room, giving Andy some space for them to start dinner in.
"No, really, what happened?" Andy asked Sam as she placed Eli on his high chair.
"What happened my dear is that, that boy is too much like you..." Sam said playfully. "He...He is worried he won't make captain now, he had kind of a bad steak on the ice today."Sam explained. Milo had just recovered from an injury from a few months back and it was his first week back, it wasn't going too well.
"Well I'm not the one who's pretending to be invincible all the time, he got that from you." She retored back at him. "Plus, he's meant to be taking it easy."
"You want to be the one to tell him that?" Sam glanced over at the boy. "Be my guest..."
"I'll talk to him." Sofia offered. She and Milo were really close since there was about a year or so between them. Andy and Sam watched as the girl went on to sit with her brother.
"So...How was your day?" Andy asked Sam. His shift had just ended before he had to go pick up Milo so they had not seen each other all day. Sam kissed her lips softly.
"It was...well it sucked ..." He whispered as he hugged her. "I kind of had to deal with this kid today, not really much older than MIlo, his brother was charged with attempted murder, it was... you know, it gets to me, as if..."
"Sam.." Andy touched his chin softly. "You know you can't save everyone, I know you'd love to, but..."
"Excuse me? Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" Sam smirked. "You are the first one to jump in front of a bullett for everyone, so don't start that with me."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Came the voices of the missing Swarek children as they argued. "Mommy!"
"Yes baby?" Andy glanced at her little girl. The one thay had just like Sofia, Sam wrapped around her finger.
"Charlie said I have a boy's name!" AJ explained. She did really, but Andy and Sam loved their child's nickname so much, uknown to him, it had been Charlie who had called her that in the first place. "I don't, right?"
"She really does." Charlie said in a matter of facty way. Andy rolled her eyes at Charlie, he was her very intelectual 6 year old. And when he argued, he wanted to always be right. "My friend Rilley said so."
"And what do you say?" Andy reasoned. Charlie stared at her for a moment, thinking hard, to her surprise he just shrugged.
"That's what we call her, even though her name is Alice." AJ made a face at the sound of her full name.
"So, Alice, which is her real name is a girl's name, right?" He nodded. "Well there you go then, now aren't the two of you forgetting something?" Andy said, Sam had remained quiet, watching his two children exchange a really cute banter.
"Guess I just have three kids then, huh?" Sam pointed out.
"No daddy, you have..." AJ waved her hand to count. "Five, you have five!"
"Do I, now?"
"Tenchnically..." Charlie babbled out. Andy could swear he was more Dov's child than hers and Sam's.
"Technically..." Sam came to grab his two middle children as they giggled."Technically mommy and I could use a few more hands around here so we can finish dinner on time, what do you say?"
A moment later the whole Swarek clan was hands on making dinner and soon enough they sat down to eat. Andy helping baby Eliot and Sam managing to cut AJ's chicken. "So...Sof, your mom called she said she'd be picking you up from school tomorrow so you can spend the weekend with her." Andy said.
"Oh, okay." Sofia lived with them almost full time and she would see Marlo on the weekends now. It had been a recent developtment really, as Marlo's disease had prevented her from caring for Sofia properly nowadays. Andy knew it made her a little anxious seeing Marlo so sick, and yet the little girl had nothing but to help her mom out. "She did say she had something special planned, the whole family, whatever that means..."
'"Sofiia..."
"What? I know Shane is getting tired of having to take care of her, he's going to divorce her and take the kids, and she'll be all alone..." Sam took her daughther's hand in his.
The table fell silent. It was hard on Sofia, Sam knew, having Marlo being sick constantly, they had explained to her that was the reason they had taken her to live with them, and she loved it, but deep down she missed her mother and she missed being the one to take care of her, as she was the best for the job anyway, Shane was good too, and they knew how much she loved Marlo, even in the midst of everything, but the children were young and it worried Shane what could happen.
In reality, Andy worried about Marlo, and what the prospect of losing her children could do to her, even though she had agreed on Sofia's living arragment, it was proving to be really hard for her to be apart from her child as she had lived with her most of her life, dividing her time between home and Sam and Andy's. But things had changed for Marlo in the last few years since she had had her last child, something about this pregnancy was different from the others and it had taken a toll on her health.
"Honey that won't happen, Shane loves her." Sam said.
"Yeah, when she isn't sick." She answered back bitterly. Andy and Sam shared a glance.
"And as far as the being alone part." Andy added in. "She won't have to be alone because she has us." This made Sofia smile, much to her parent's releif. "Never forget we are all a family, okay?"
"Okay." She smiled. "I'm just going to go and call her, may I be excused?"
"Of course sweetie, but you come right back for dessert, alright?" Sam said sweetly. The girl disappeared down the hall to her room.
"As long as we are passing on messages and unadverted crisis..." Andy said a moment later. "I got a call from Sandra today."
"Yeah, and?"
"We'll have to go in and meet with her next week, and if everything goes according to plan, they will aprove surgery for for the next couple months." Sam turned to watch his youngest child. Eli looked up and smiled at the sight of his father. "It's really happening Sam."
"It is." He smiled. He ruffled Eli's hair picking him up from the chair.
"Daddy..." He giggled. Sam totted him for a while lomger as Andy and Milo started to clean up the table, just as Sofia had come back from her call and fisnished her dinner.
"We've got this, why don't you go ahead and make sure thsese little ones are ready for their bath?" Andy said about the remaining children.
Sam was taking AJ out of the bathtub as Andy came into the room. "Hey, how did it go?"
"Eli is already in bed, and Charlie is finishing to put his pijamas on, but this one wanted to stay in the water a little longer, I just figured I'll let her, just as long as she doesn't turn into a mermaid or anything..."
"Daddy!" AJ squealed in his arms. "I am no mermaid. I'm a dolphin!"
"Oh, right, i forgot.." Sam laughed as he handed Andy the 4 year old girl. "Charlie, let's hustle buddy, time is money!'
"Sam..." Andy warned. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get all the kids in bed by 9 McNally..." He said to her as if they dd this every night, which they did. "I'm not about to lose a bet."
"Oh so this is about money?" Andy smirked.
"More like about my pride, but sure, let's call it money..." He called for his son again. "Afer all, it was you who made a bet agaisnt me. which I don't inted to loose."
You are so going down, Swarek." Andy smirked as she took AJ over to the other room.
"Done!" Came Charlie'striumphant voice as he hurried to his room, Sam following close after him. MIlo was already in bed, playing on his game.
"Did we win?" Milo asked.
"Well, that's three out of tree kids in bed, so i'd say we did indeed." Just as he spoke, he saw Andy coming into the room with AJ and Sofia in tow. "What do you say guys, shoud mommy take us out for pizza tomorrow night?" Andy rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just remember I gave birth to you, so you owe me your life." She pointed at her boys. The girls said goodnight to Sam as did the boys and Sam and Andy moved to ther room, not before checking on their youngest child. They both watched as his chest rose and fell slowly but steadily. "At least we got some good news, huh?"
"We did." Sam agreed. Taking her hand as he closed the door behind them. "It'll be okay Andy."
"Yeah, I know.." Her eyes were cloudy and watering now. She hadn't really taken a moment to process the news as their busy household prevented her from thinking about something more than her children, here, alone with Sam, she had the chance to contemplate what this all meant.
"Mom? Dad?" A voice said from the door as they heard a knock.
"Hey Sof, Are you alright?" Andy asked as the little girl came in. "Come over here.." She patted between her and Sam.
"What is it kiddo?" Sam asked.
"I just..." It was then when she broke into river of tears.
"Oh hey, hey, what's up?" Andy grabbed her chin. "Is this about Mom?"
"It is..." She admitted. Struggling with her words as she explained. "She has to be okay, she can't be sick anymore... it's just...I want to help her and she says she's getting better..."
"She is baby, I talked to her doctor the other day, and she said she's getting there..."
"The only thing we can't do here sweettie is give up, alright?" The girl nodded. Andy wrapped her daugther into a hug as she glanced over at Sam who comforted her as well.
It wasn't until an hour or so had passed, Sam picked his sleeping 11 year old into his arms and carried her to bed.
How you like me now! I'm back into writing RB as this popped into my head after watching the finale last night, only I cannot have the show end without McSwarek having a baby, right?
I do hope you like it and please revrew if you get the cahnce, thanks for reading!