Author's Note: I started writing this last spring in response to the prompt 'Sharon teaches Rusty to ski' from TheCloserFicFest. I claimed the prompt and then the snow melted and with it my inspiration. Anyway, it seems that not only the snow is back!

Winter Holidays

"Help!" Her boy's voice rang out over the mountain. "Help! Sharon, shit!"

Maybe in hindsight this hadn't been such a good idea. Although it had sounded like a perfect idea to start out with.

The family was meeting in Park City like every year and this year, for the very first time, she was going to join them with Rusty. The family skied, that's why they went on winter holidays. Sharon had skied ever since she had been a little girl, learning the ropes as barely more than a toddler between her mother's legs. Well, Emily hadn't been allowed to ski in recent years, her contract with the ABT stipulated that she wasn't allowed to partake in certain high risk sports. She actually went tobogganing instead, which, in Sharon's mind at least, was a much more dangerous sport but had obviously slipped past the regulations. Ricky boarded and Sharon was grateful he had given up the fun parks and crazy jumps a while ago. She remembered a few trips to the hospital, a broken collarbone, a broken wrist although that had turned out to be Ricky's friend who had given her contact because he'd been scared of his own parents. He figured a police officer would be able to protect him from his father's ire. Funny boy.

Yes, winter holidays were fun. Fresh air and sunshine during the day and then treating yourself at the spa in the afternoon to a massage or a facial or just some relaxing time in the steam bath. She had stopped going to the sauna in recent years because as she got older she had found that she tolerated the heat less and less well.

"Sharon, help! Help me! I can't stop!"

Rusty. She had told him to wait for her, but he had obviously felt that wasn't necessary.

"Snowplough, Rusty. Snowplough," she shouted as she caught up with him.

"This is too fast! Help!"

His arms flailed wildly and he was picking up more and more speed. Then, suddenly, he disappeared in a cloud of snow and was tumbling down the slope. Sharon came to a hard stop beside him and extended a hand. "Come on, get up."

"I don't want too, I'm only gonna fall again." Rusty made no move to get up.

"That's part of learning, Rusty. You're doing much better than yesterday."

"Stupid snow!" Rusty tried to kick the offending aggregate, but his ski was still attached to his boot, so he didn't manage to do much. "I want to go home."

Sharon smiled and extended her hand again. "Then let's get up and ski down to the resort – we're almost there."

"We're not almost there! We're miles away! I'm cold and I want to go home," he whined reminding Sharon of the teenager she had taken in a few years ago.

She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. This actually wasn't half bad. Rusty was outside, trying to learn something new, and for the most part he had been enjoying himself. They had been out for a few hours, he was sore and cold. She was getting cold herself. She had underestimated the time it would take them to get back.

"I'll make you a deal, Rusty. We'll only ski to the next station and then we'll take the gondola the rest of the way."

"You said you never did that."

She had. Loud and clear. The only time she had ever taken the gondola down had been when her children or their friends had gotten injured. It hadn't always been like today when the snowcats and helicopters came at a moment's notice and took people off the mountain. Oh well. "There's a first time for everything."

Rusty sat up. "Pizza!"

"What?"

"I want pizza for dinner."

She laughed, that was her boy, pouting and petulant, demanding pizza and she was sure it was going to be burgers the next night. "Well, I'm sure Ricky will be happy to go out with you tonight for some junkfood. I don't think pizza is on my mother's menu."

/

"Mum tells me we're on our own tonight?" Rusty looked up at his older brother trying to make out the expression on his face. Maybe he would have preferred to have dinner with his family? But he needn't have worried. "She mentioned you'd like to have pizza but there's this really cool burger place, they make their own sauces."

"Sure – that sounds cool!"

"Great. So how was skiing with mum? You look beat, buddy."

Rusty cast a quick glance at Sharon and seeing she was busy talking with her father, rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, she makes me do the same thing all day, but I keep falling and I don't understand what she wants. She's like 'Bend your knees.' Not like I could keep my legs straight in these funny boots anyway!"

"So you're not enjoying it?"

"No, I am. I mean … I watched all these videos on youtube and there's so much cool stuff you can do, like carving and jumps and stuff and I'm like a little kid out there with my mom." It felt a bit ungrateful to say it like that. Sharon was trying and she was super nice and he did enjoy. Just that he would have liked to not ski among all those small kids.

Ricky interrupted his train of thought. "So what's she taught you so far?"

"Like the snowplough thing and then sliding down the hill sideways. It's all about how you stop."

"Important basics. Well, how about we give it a shot tomorrow? We go can to where the really cool kids hang out."

"Really?" Rusty couldn't believe his luck.

"Sure, you gotta learn somehow. If mom's taught you how to stop, then that's pretty much it. So, tomorrow – boys' day?"

When they told Sharon after they came back from their burger dinner she raised an eyebrow at her older son, "Are you sure that's a wise idea, Richard?" The last time he had taken a beginner out had been her nephew. It had ended with a mild concussion and a split eyebrow. Admittedly, she couldn't really blame Ricky for that, but still. Rusty was her youngest and she still remembered him hobbling around her condo on crutches those early days after Stroh had attacked him. She couldn't stand the thought of him getting hurt.

"Lizzie," her father used the name that had been his pet name for her for as long as she could remember, "you've raised one of them and you've spent the last few days teaching the other, you gotta trust them to be on their own at some point."

She was going to protest that she had raised Rusty as much as Ricky, but that would have weakened her point. Then Ricky beat her to it.

"Cool, granddad says it's okay. Deal, then?"

She took a deep breath. Deal. Gosh, sometimes she really didn't like deals. "You have to promise me that you'll bring your brother back in one piece!" she said with the strictest voice she could muster.

"Sure, one piece you say? So like a few scrapes and bruises or a collarbone …"

"Richard William Raydor! Not funny!"

"Okay, okay!" Ricky raised his hands and then pulled his mother into a bear hug. He towered over her and she had to crane her neck to look at him now. "I promise you I'll take good care of Rusty. Look, Mom, we're just going to hang out and have some fun with the guys. He'll be watching more than doing any actual skiing."

Her heart plummeted. "You're not planning on taking him to the fun park?"

Ricky grinned. "That is exactly what I'm going to do. He said he was bored. I can teach him some basics, just like you've done, and then we'll hang out and watch the guys. You know, bond and be brothers and all that stuff you asked us to do."

The fun park. Now she was worried about Ricky. That's where he had gotten his only serious injury over the years, and he'd been lucky then, damn lucky. Oh dear, when had she become this overprotective mother who wouldn't let her kids explore and have fun? Her grown kids! Still, she worried. She knew she hadn't always been like that, but she had come close to loosing Rusty too many times.

A big hand settled heavily on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll take good care of your brother, Richard, so your mother here won't have to worry. Actually, Lizzie, why don't you use tomorrow for some skiing yourself. I know you've been wanting to get back on those double blacks…"

She laughed. Her father knew her entirely too well. "Okay, I give in! You can take out your brother tomorrow afternoon, but in the morning, you're going to come out with me and I'm going to race you!"

"Deal!"

This time she reached for Ricky and ran her hand through his hair, happy to be reunited with him. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her father's happy smile.

/

"Sweetheart, how are the lessons going?" Andy asked her when she rang him later already curled up in bed. She missed him, particularly at night. The days were filled with sun and snow, but at night she felt his absence. Those phone calls were nice, but they were not what she was used to. What she had gotten used to over the past months was him, his arms around her, the sound of his breathing, being able to reach out in the middle of the night and finding him there. They always talked about their day just before falling asleep and she missed that, too.

"He's decided I'm too boring and he prefers to go out with his brother," she complained and Andy could almost see the pout through the phone.

"Aww, and his poor momma feels unappreciated."

"Says he doesn't like to do the little kids' stuff."

"While you've been telling me the past few nights how much you missed the real skiing. Sounds like a win-win to me."

"Ha! Yes, Ricky and I are going out for a few runs in the morning. Gives me a chance to talk to him before he…"

"Sharon, you wanted them to get on, and I know part of you is thrilled that your boys are doing this together. Come on, sweetheart, stop complaining. You could be hanging around with us waiting for another murder while enjoying a snow free winter."

"That bad?"

"It's okay, I've avoided having to wear a Christmas sweater so far."

And just like that he'd made her laugh and forget all about being cast aside and her boys growing up much too quickly. They talked for a few more minutes before hanging up and she fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

She woke up in the middle of the night, disoriented. Something had woken her, but she couldn't make out what it was. She pulled the covers up to her nose and snuggled closer into Andy's embrace.

Andy!

"You're here?" she whispered happily after she pulled back from their kiss. Andy wasn't ready to let go of her quite yet. After talking to her from the airport, Ricky had picked him up and brought him to the timeshare. He had snuck up into Sharon's room and climbed into the bed beside her, but instead of waking up, she had snuggled into his arms, warm and relaxed, and he had fallen asleep next to her.

"Surprise," he pressed his lips to hers again and slipped his hands under her top, caressing her back. "Buzz pulled out the Christmas sweater so I thought I'd be safer with my Captain."

Sharon hummed happily into the kiss. "I can't believe my father let you in like that."

"He didn't," he smirked. "Ricky smuggled me in after your parents were asleep while Rusty stood guard – on condition that you do all the explaining tomorrow."

Her smile was wide enough for Andy to see even in the semi-darkness of the room. "Well," she said, her eyes sparkling, "if I'm going to have to explain the presence of a good-looking man in my bed to my father, I'd better take full advantage of the situation." And with that she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head.

Fin.