I have been doing very short drabbles describing what Sharon and Andy have been doing on the holidays since the season 6 finale concluded with their wedding (Indulge me people) This one turned out to be much longer so I decided to post it here. It is a stands alone.
Santa Lucia is a fictional Southern California town where I have decided to place Andy and Sharon.
Even though he was used to being woken in the middle of the night, Andy was not an early riser. He usually needed an alarm. Sharon, on the other hand, often woke before her alarm and she was one of those lucky morning people, able to splash a little cold water on her face and was wide-awake. "It's a mother thing," she had assured him while he stumbled bleary-eyed to the kitchen for his coffee, needing that quick kick of caffeine to send him on his way.
Today, the feel of the sun warm on his cheek woke him before his alarm, while Sharon slumbered on beside him. Opening his eyes, he squinted against the natural light slightly disoriented and trying to gain his bearings in a still unfamiliar setting. Scanning the room, he saw walls painted a warm golden cream, long drapes in deep rich terracotta, a small kiva fireplace facing the bed from the corner and large windows with a comfortable window seat overlooking the backyard and the pool. Straight ahead was the source of most of the sunlight. French doors that opened out to a large terrace allowing them a glimpse of the Pacific that he knew would broaden when he stepped outside.
Home. He smiled. They were home.
Rising from their new bed with its intricate swirled wrought iron headboard and footboard, he padded over to the doors and flung them wide open, inhaling deeply the scent of the Pacific on the breeze. He leaned against the rail, looking out over the red-tiled roofs of the houses below them. They were a half mile from the water, but high enough up one of the many hills to have a gorgeous view of the ocean and coastline. Nestled between Santa Monica and the Palisades, Santa Lucia was a small former fishing village with a secluded cove that still held some of that old California charm. He and Sharon had fallen in love with the house and the town the minute they had set foot here. After visiting well over a dozen homes all over LA, they had begun to despair that they would ever find exactly what they were looking for…and then they had stepped into this house. It had everything they wanted-including a separate mother in law suite off the garage so that Rusty had his own personal quarters where he could come and go. Yes, he would still need to use the kitchen but he was now far enough away from their bedroom that they would no longer have to worry about the thumping and pumping of their bed, a remark that he had made to Sharon that had earned him a slap on the arm. Sharon was not incredibly vocal in bed but he knew that she too was getting tired of trying to stifle her soft cries and low moans when they made love and of having to cover his mouth when he groaned out his completion.
The cream stucco Spanish Revival, with its Mediterranean wooden shutters and red tiled roof had four bedrooms that included their master with its walk-in closet and large en-suite master bath, 2 guest rooms upstairs and the mother in law bedroom/sitting room combo downstairs. There were three and half baths, a small formal living room and a larger family room. The ceilings were high, painted white and had gorgeous dark wood exposed beams. The rooms led one to the other through graceful Moorish archways. The kitchen was open to the dining room and the dining room doors opened out to a pergola covered patio. Just off the kitchen was a small office with a view of the olive tree in the front yard and a nice bright laundry room. Off the dining room, to the right was an addition, a screened in porch, the ceiling of which was their master bedroom terrace. The house came with a two-car garage, a decent sized backyard with a pool, a hot tub and a couple of citrus trees and it was everything they had been looking for and more. Its only drawback was a bit longer commute than they had wanted, but the gorgeous view, the cool ocean breezes, and the backyard oasis more than made up for that. It was a house they could envision one day retiring in; a house that would be a perfect fit for the many grandbabies they hoped would surround them in the future.
"You're up early." Arms wrapped around his torso and he felt the warmth of Sharon's breasts pressed into his back, her lips soft on the nape of his neck.
"We have a lot to do. Got a big crowd coming." He turned into her embrace.
"Yes, we do. Thank God we have almost everything unpacked." They had moved in a week ago and had most of the rooms in order, with a few things here or there left to unpack or rearrange, mostly in the guest rooms and the office.
"It's a good thing we had some time on the books, and that your son is such a whiz with electronics." Ricky had taken some time off leading up to the fourth to help with the move. They had hired professional movers to get everything in, and being as organized as Sharon was, everything was labeled well and put in the exact right spot. But, there had been some rearranging and a lot of unpacking and they had needed Ricky to help set up the large screen TV Andy had purchased for the family room and the surround sound that came with it. Sharon wasn't a big TV watcher but Andy had sold her when he played up to her major weakness asking her to envision football games on such a big screen, "it will be almost like we're there" he had pressured, like a kid convincing his mom. She had caved into his enthusiasm with a long-suffering sigh but secretly was really looking forward to curling up on the big plush leather couch that had come from Andy's house via storage and spending football Sunday's watching the games on the big screen.
"Well." Andy startled Sharon out of her reverie. "Work isn't going to get done with the two of us staring at the ocean all day. Let's go woman." He smacked Sharon on her silk-clad butt on his way back into the bedroom.
Sharon shook her head with an affectionate roll of her eyes. Her husband was so excited to have the whole the family and the squad coming over for a traditional Fourth of July barbecue that he could hardly contain himself. Almost a year ago they'd looked at their first house together and he'd been nearly giddy when he said to her, "An affordable house in the Hollywood Hills and a family to share it with," only to have those dreams come crashing down when the realtor informed them that the house had black mold. That had been the end of that. Now his dream was finally coming true. They were married, had five children between them and a comfortable home they could share with family and friends.
They found Rusty still in his pajamas sitting half asleep at the island in the middle of the kitchen. His head was propped on his hand and he was half-heartedly spooning cereal into his mouth.
"I would have made you breakfast," Andy said.
"Mm…I needed a break from all the eggs."
Sharon gave Andy a shrug. She had bought Andy a state of the art grilling station with gas, charcoal and wood options, along with several burners as her house-warming gift to him. Every morning, since they'd moved in, he'd gone outside, cooked them all eggs and turkey bacon, and grilled wheat toast, which they ate outside on the old farmer's table they had bought at the Long Beach Antique Market and had set up under the pergola.
Andy stood with the carton of eggs in his hand. "Would you rather have French toast?" He asked Sharon.
"French toast sounds lovely." She sat beside Rusty at the large dark wood island with the granite top and three chairs that came from her condo bar and asked, "Why are you up so early this morning?"
Rusty's narrowed eyes fell on Andy where he stood in his pajama bottoms and gray t-shirt at the coffee/tea bar they had set up along one wall. "Ask your husband."
Sharon bit back a smile. Andy was always "your husband" now when Rusty was irritated with him. "Andy?"
"What?" He turned to see her looking at him expectantly. "Oh for god sake I asked the kid to put up a little patriotic bunting."
"A little? Geez, you should see the stuff he bought."
Sharon continued to fight her smile. She had found a man whose sense of occasion was every bit as strong as hers.
"Where is Ricky, isn't he going to help?"
Rusty gestured toward the yard. "He's already out there." His older brother and his stepfather were two peas in a pod. He wasn't sure who was more enthusiastic about the party, Ricky or Andy.
"Sharon, you want a cappuccino?" Andy was still at the coffee bar. They had gotten an espresso maker as a wedding gift and once he had figured out how to use the damn thing, he had become obsessed with it. Cappuccino was his new drink of choice.
"I'd love one."
He set to work and soon the kitchen was filled with the sloshing and gurgling of foaming milk. Sharon accepted the large ceramic mug he handed her when it was finished and, sipping at the froth, she followed him through the dining room. They had kept her dining room table and chairs, only now it sat under an elegantly scrolled iron chandelier in the Spanish Revival style of the house. Once outside she sat at the table, leaning back and enjoying the peace of the morning while Andy cooked at the grill. The little waterfall that ran from the hot tub into the pool gurgled soothingly and it was nice to listen to birds chirping rather than the sound of traffic.
"Dammit!"
Okay, so maybe not so peaceful. "Ricky?" She looked over to the far end of the patio where Ricky had been hanging red, white and blue bunting from the freestanding stucco fireplace and where he was now cursing and hold his hand. "Are you okay, honey?"
"I just hammered my fu…frakking thumb."
She rose and went to him to take look. "Frakking, huh?" She lifted a brow causing him to grin.
"You still don't see it?" He asked.
"No, I don't." One day during the holidays while she was baking Christmas cookies Emily and Ricky were home and the two of them were watching some Sci-Fi program called Battlestar Galactica with Andy and Rusty. They called her in to take a look and kept talking about how much she looked like the lead character who happened to be the President.
"Mom, Laura Roslin could be your twin."
"I'm not sure I'd go that far." Sharon was not generally a sci-fi fan but that day she had gotten hooked on what they referred to as BSG. It wasn't anything like what she had expected. She had also fallen hard for the love story between President Laura Roslin and Admiral William Adama, sobbing at the end when Laura died. She had even seen a tear trail down Andy's cheek and she'd never seen him cry over a movie or TV show. "She just looks so much like you, " he'd said. She had assured him that this was real life and in real life, women did not always have to die at the end.
"I swear to God if he serves up that dry, flourless, sugarless, tasteless thing he called a cake or tofu or whatever health food kick he's on now we are going home."
Andy rolled his eyes at Sharon. "Provenza's here." Sharon looked up from where she was rearranging food on another table she'd set up under the pergola to see Provenza and Patrice coming around the house from the side yard.
"Sharon, everything looks beautiful. I can't believe how much you've gotten done in a week." Patrice took in the red white and blue streamers draped along the house, the patriotic balloons and the big American flag tacked to the side of the gardener's shed. She and Louis had helped the Flynns move in last week, well, she had helped and Louis had sat around on the couch shouting out orders as to where things should go…and grumbling when Andy ignored him.
"Thank you, Patrice." Sharon took the large bowl Patrice handed her.
"Potato salad," Patrice said. "My grandmother's recipe."
"It looks delicious." Sharon set it down next to what she had already laid out. Baskets of tortilla chips, salsa, and her favorite garlic guacamole, mounds of cheese, crackers and salami, bowls of olives and pounds of jumbo shrimp and cocktail sauce.
Andy watched his friend eyeing the table, sniffing appreciatively. "But since you might not like what we're serving, I think you ought to eat this." He handed Provenza the veggie platter he was about to set on the table.
"Now, now, Flynn, I may have been a little hasty in my judgment."
"You think?"
Patrice leaned into Sharon. "And they're off."
"Papa Andy! Mimi! We're here." Tyler and Scotty raced around the house throwing themselves at Andy and Sharon.
"Indeed you are." Sharon swung Scotty up onto her hip, while Andy lifted Tyler.
"Mimi?" Provenza asked, his lip quirking at the cutesy name for his elegant Commander.
"When Andy and I got married they wanted to know what to call me. I told them they could pick. We went through the choices, they liked Grammy Sharon but thought it was too long so they shortened it to Mimi."
"I think it fits," Amy said, eyeing her boss who was wearing a low cut one piece navy bathing suit with tiny white stars and a mid-length red sarong tied around her slender waist… "You sure as heck don't look like anyone's grandmother."
"And she's not sucking up this time," Julio said.
Sharon smiled at them appreciatively then asked the boys. "Where are your mom and dad?"
"They're coming. We wanna go swimming."
"Sorry about all this," Nicole set a couple of bowls down on the food table while Dean followed her carrying various flotation devices. "I told the boys that you said you had floats for them to keep here but they wanted to make sure."
"Wait until you see what I've got." Andy set Tyler down as did Sharon with Scotty and he beckoned them to follow him to the shed. "Mark you come too." Mark grinned at Julio who nodded.
"Go with your Uncle Andy." Mark raced off. He had gotten to know Tyler and Scotty at the wedding so Julio knew they were all going to have a good time.
"Whoa! That's so cool." The boys were gushing enthusiastically over Andy's choices. Three oversized floats, a killer whale, a great white shark and an alligator. However, what really got them excited was when he pulled out several large squirt guns that looked like bazookas.
"Look mom!" Tyler ran to Nicole to show her one up close. "Papa said they're Super Soaker Zombinator's. They kill zombies." Nicole showed her appreciation and he ran off back toward the pool where Andy was filling the guns with water.
"A Zombinator?" She questioned Sharon who shrugged.
"Don't ask me. Your dad picked them out. In fact, I think he was just as excited about them as the boys."
"Not surprising," Provenza rumbled. He shook his head watching Andy filling the excited boys' water guns. "It looks like he bought out the store."
"He wanted to make sure there were enough for everyone. And…he figured it wouldn't be just the boys who would want to use them."
"He figured right." Amy watched with amusement as Ricky, Rusty, Coop, Julio, Buzz, and Wes all went to check out this new toy.
"Men," Patrice shook her head good-humouredly. "They never really grow up."
"Not true. You don't see me over there," Provenza said.
"Speaking of which," Sharon eyed him. "Aren't you going to put your bathing suit on?"
"I don't wear bathing suits."
"Not even to swim?" Amy asked.
"I don't swim. I do, however, like to eat." He grabbed a plate and started filling it with food.
"Hello, Captain. I mean Captain Sharon. I mean Commander…uh Hello, Sharon."
Sharon would know that stuttering southern drawl anywhere and turned with a welcoming smile.
"Brenda, Fritz. I'm so glad you could make it." She wasn't sure they would come. She was still close to Fritz, of course, they had a great working relationship, but while she and Brenda were no longer adversaries and had even come to a sort of tentative friendship, they would never be close. They were just too different. And with Fritz and Brenda working through a long-distance marriage with her in Atlanta and him in LA, the last time Sharon had seen them together was at her and Andy's wedding,
"Your house is beautiful, just beautiful." Brenda felt awkward. She always did in social situations. At one time, she had been so close to these people. She'd been their chief. But when she walked away from Major Crimes, she never looked back. That's just the way she was. People were in her life or they were out of her life. She had no long-term friendships or ties and now she felt like she hardly knew them at all. And she had certainly never known them like this. Seeing them all here, in Andy and Sharon Flynn's-and would she ever get used to saying that-backyard they really looked like a family. She got updates from Fritz so she knew what was going on in her old department and she knew that Sharon Raydor, of all people, had created a bond between the squad that was far deeper than the one they'd had working under her.
Otis Redding was singing about sitting on the dock of the bay and Sharon was relaxed, listening to the music and sipping on a frozen margarita while watching the guys roughhousing in the pool. She had taken her dip and was cool and content. She watched Ricky dunk under water and come up with Rusty on his shoulders, Julio did the same with Mark, Dean with Tyler and then….Andy with Scotty. She leaned forward anxiously in her chair.
"He's okay, Sharon." Patrice rested a comforting hand on her forearm. "The clot is long gone."
"I know." She tried to release her tension. "I guess old habits die hard."
Patrice smiled sympathetically and then glanced over at Andy. "He's really in his element out there."
"Are you kidding me? He's been waiting for this kind of thing since the day we closed on the house…no let me take that back, I think he's been dreaming about this from the day we decided to buy a house together."
The softness in the look on Sharon's face as she watched her husband and kids caused Patrice to draw another conclusion. "I think maybe you've been looking forward to this just as much as him."
"Am I that obvious?" Sharon sipped her drink, relishing the tang of the lime and kick of tequila.
Patrice shrugged and laughed. "Yeah, actually you are."
"I guess I just …" she paused at the prickling sensation of tears stinging her eyes. "I never thought I'd have this in my life. I'm just so grateful. For Andy, for our family, for all of this. It's something I never had with my first husband."
The boys began to shriek with laughter as their game of "chicken" began, drawing the women's attention back to the pool. "Enjoy it now honey, you might be wishing for some of that peace and solitude real soon."
After their game of 'chicken' and a spirited water polo match, the boys started a cannonball competition. Julio had made the biggest splash so far, thus, he was winning when Scotty called out to Sharon, "Mimi, you do a cannonball."
"Don't be stupid," Tyler said. "Mimi's skinny, you gotta be big to make a big splash."
"Thank you Tyler, I love you," Sharon blew him a kiss.
"And what do you mean by big?" Julio feigned outrage. "Are you saying I'm fat? You're going to pay that for that ninito." Julio tossed him in the air and Tyler came up sputtering and giggling.
"You're gonna win, Uncle Julio," he assured the now laughing man. "I don't think Mimi can do a cannonball anyway."
"What do you mean you don't think Mimi can do a cannonball?" Sharon took off her sunglasses and turned on her best Darth Raydor glare.
Andy grinned. "When she looks at you like that boys, you better watch out."
"That's right you better watch out. You watched me dive into the pool."
"Diving's different."
"Well, I can sure as heck do a cannonball." Sharon set her margarita glass down, stood, tossed off her wide-brimmed hat, untied her sarong and jumped in the pool cannonball style. The boys all cheered for her but still declared Julio the winner.
"Close your jaw, Brenda Leigh," Provenza smirked.
Brenda did, but still had a funny look on her face. "If you would have told me 10 years ago, that Andy Flynn would be married to Sharon Raydor and that I'd be sitting by their pool watching her do a cannonball I would have thought you were on hallucinogens."
"Join my world, Brenda Leigh, join my world."
With the cannonball competition over the guys left the pool to set up a volleyball net in the grass with almost everyone participating in a rousing game. Everyone that is, except for Provenza who laid in a chaise lounge calling out his critiques.
"That was lazy Flynn; you could have gotten to that one."
Sharon turned with her hands on her hips. "Which Flynn are you referring too, Louis?" Her sweetly asked question was laced with an underlying deadly edge.
"Remember, when she looks at you like that you gotta watch out," Tyler said, remembering what Andy had told them.
"I'll keep that in mind. Of course, I'd never call you lazy, Commander. I was referring to your lazy ass husband."
"Oh yeah, if you think you could do better why don't you come out here and play?" Andy shot off.
"Yeah Louis, come on," Patrice called to him.
"Ye Gods, I don't think so." Provenza pulled his little white hat down over his eyes and pretended to take a nap.
Andy rolled his eyes and hit the ball over the net. He loved this, it was what he had always wanted, a big family, music, noise, laughter, people arguing, and football games in the backyard. The only thing missing, other than Emily of course, was a dog or two but he was sure that would come eventually.
As the afternoon progressed more guests arrived, the doctors Joe and Morales, Mike and Cathy Tao, Gavin and Andrea, Andy's son Justin, Judge Steven Grove and his wife Linda and even Leo Mason and his family. Andy stood at the grill in his American flag swimming trunks and flip-flops deftly flipping burgers, hot dogs and the chicken shish kebobs he had been marinating overnight, while also keeping an eye on the vat of barbecued pulled pork staying warm on one of the burners. He changed the Sirius station he'd had playing out over the Bose outdoor speakers, a wedding gift from Ricky, from 'Margaritaville' which they'd been listening to all afternoon, to the Dodgers game.
Along with the meats Andy was cooking, the potluck side dishes included a variety of salads- Caprese, Caesar, broccoli, potato, macaroni, and pasta-coleslaw, baked beans, garlic bread and cornbread. There were also plenty of desserts, cookies, brownies and blueberry pie. But when everyone had finished eating Sharon went inside to get the piece de resistance. A large strawberry sheet cake she had frosted with whipped cream and decorated with big fat blueberries and lines of sliced strawberries in the design of the American flag. She popped in two sparklers and lit them so when she walked out with the cake it was shooting sparks everywhere.
The kids were thrilled.
As the day turned to dusk some of the partygoers left, while others followed Andy, Sharon and their family down to the beach to watch the small fireworks display the town was going to set off on the pier. There were a couple of bonfires and a small live band playing patriotic favorites. Mark, Tyler, and Scott saw the vendor trucks set up on the edge of the beach and convinced their parents they needed a Kona Ice to watch the fireworks. When they got in line Andy and Sharon continued on to find a good spot.
The breeze off the Pacific had a slight chill with the tide coming in so Andy set their blanket up fairly close to the bonfire. He sat with his knees lifted, Sharon between them, her back to his front and he wrapped his arms around her. Little kids ran around on the beach waving sparklers, random firecrackers went off and colorful orbs of fire lit the sky from private backyard displays. The night sky over the Pacific sparkled with stars in a natural display of beauty. Sharon leaned back against Andy, his voice warm, tickling her ear. Content, that is how she felt, purely, completely content.
The band had just finished that old Arlo Guthrie hit "City of New Orleans" when the rest of the family joined them with their Kona snow cones.
"We got one for you Papa and Mimi," Tyler held out red-topped snow cone.
"Tigers Blood," Mark said.
"Sounds delicious," Andy took the cone.
"You have to share," Tyler said, turning to glare at his younger brother. "Scotty dropped one."
Seeing that Scotty was about to burst into tears, Sharon reached out and took the little boys hand. "It's okay Scott. I'm still so stuffed from all that food today; I couldn't possibly eat a whole snow cone. "
"See, I told you, buddy." Rusty prodded the boy.
Andy held the snow cone out to Sharon who took a bite off the sweet icy top. "See, we can share, no problem. Now, why don't you guys get settled in before things get started."
A whistling noise filled the air and suddenly the sky was alight with dazzling explosions of color. The fireworks had begun.
When it was over, the crowd cheering at the finale, the band had one last song. A sing-along that was one of Sharon's favorites not just because it was about the beauty of the nation but because it really summed up what America was at its best, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people as Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address. And, even the boys could sing along to this one.
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
And saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me
I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me, a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling
In the wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land still made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
Happy Birthday, America! Proud of your past, looking forward to your future, surviving your present.