Obsidian

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox. I just enjoy playing in it.

A/N: I began this a couple of months ago. It was inspired by conversations with NarcissaNerea,who has also been kind enough to beta. Most of this is a product of my own craziness, but Chapter 2 is dedicated to her. Also, when you reach Chapter 2... I wrote that before Flynn's so-called baking attempt, so now I'm even more pleased with how it turned out.

All remaining mistakes are my own. As always, enjoy!

You can have a sound of the thousand voices calling your name
You can have the light of the world blind you, bathe you in grace
But I don't see so easily what you hold in your hands
'Cause castles crumble, kingdoms fall and turn into sand

-Shinedown "How Did You Love"

Chapter 1

It came as a bit of a shock to Sharon when, still dismayed at how he had managed to ruin the surprise of her engagement, Ricky offered to take over the planning for a more official engagement party. He spent the couple of weeks following his visit trying to think up a way to make that up to her, as well as Andy. He also still had the lecture that she had given him and Rusty ringing in his ears. Their mother was none too pleased with their meddling. She was very touched at the intent behind it, but she had specifically asked them to not get involved.

Ricky kind of expected that to happen. It was worth it, though, to know that she was getting the happiness that she deserved. She was happy, of that he was certain. He saw that with his own eyes before going home. His mother hadn't wanted Andy getting blindsided with the knowledge that his ex-wife's sudden decision to get an annulment had come from her side of their new extended family, so she sat him and Rusty down and made them come clean.

Thinking back on that now, Ricky decided that he had even more reasons to like his mother's new fiancé. Not that he hadn't liked him before. Oh no, Ricky had always liked Andy. He wasn't an idiot. He saw the way that guy looked at his mother, long before she realized how he was looking at her. Maybe it was a guy thing, because he was pretty sure that it hadn't taken long for Rusty to figure it out either, even if his darling little brother had balked a bit at the reality of it.

Ricky had quizzed his mother on that guy Andy long before the idea of them being a couple had been a disgusted gleam in little brother's eyes. Some time before he finally met Rusty, Ricky had started to notice another name occasionally slipping into conversations with his mother. She would mention plans for the weekend, or what she had been up to recently, and more often than it didn't, those plans would include a certain Lieutenant. He teased her about it at first, but his mother had just rolled her eyes and insisted they were friends. Good friends, she would tell him. Then in some of his phone conversations with Rusty, his then-foster brother would mention that mom was out with Lieutenant Flynn.

He decided to start questioning his mother about that guy when it started to look like he was the only one that she was spending any time with outside of work. What he managed to get from her was a little concerning at first. He was divorced, his kids were grown, and he was over fifteen years sober. It was the part where he was an alcoholic that Ricky was the most concerned about. He started timing his calls home when he thought the guy would be there, based on things he was hearing from his mother or Rusty. He seemed like an okay enough guy, and yeah, maybe Ricky had done a little digging on his own… being a computer expert had to come with some advantages, didn't it?

Ricky decided pretty quickly that he liked the guy. From what he gathered, Andy was doing a hell of a lot more to reconnect with his family than his own father ever had. Besides, his mom was happy, and he started to realize what Jack was so worked up about when it came to her new job. His dear old dad was jealous, and as far as Ricky was concerned, that was nothing but good news in his book. Jack deserved it for all the crap that he put her through over the years.

It wasn't until he was able to finally get down to Los Angeles and lay eyes on the situation that he fully made up his mind. By that point his mother had filed for divorce and his dad was spitting mad. He was blaming it on the kid, though, and maybe his own jealousy at not being the youngest anymore allowed his dad to get into his head about Rusty. His mom set him straight in a hurry. She usually did, and being there, well the kid wasn't so bad.

Neither was Andy.

It only took him about five minutes of being around the two of them to see how the older man looked at his mother. He sure never saw his dad look at her like that. It wasn't just that he was attracted to her, something that Ricky joined Rusty in never wanting to know about, but he looked at her like he actually cared, like she was special and nothing would ever convince him that she wasn't. He wasn't the only one that had that whole puppy love thing going on, either. Ricky had noticed his mother looking at Andy the same way a time or two, when she thought no one was watching.

It wasn't something that could be rushed, however, and she wasn't divorced yet. Ricky knew his mom, and she had not spent twenty years being legally separated from his dad just to jump into another relationship before the ink was even dry on their divorce papers. It was going to take time and Ricky figured that a guy that looked at his mother the way that Andy did was good with waiting.

Christmas that year was especially enjoyable. By the time that he and Emily were in town the whole ballet debacle had already happened. Their sister didn't find it as amusing as he and Rusty did. Ricky decided to chalk that up to her being the one stuck staying with dad, since that was who Jack asked for. He had to mentally roll his eyes when his mother told them about it. Jack always asked for Emily. Probably because he had an easier time playing the guilt card with her, she didn't always fall for it, but his sister was a lot more sympathetic to their father than he was.

In any event, he and Rusty had gotten a little mileage out of the ballet situation that holiday season. He was pretty sure that his mother was ready to throttle the both of them, but Andy had taken it in stride. His penance, he told them, for being the cause of the whole thing. Ricky had decided then that Andy was definitely good people, and if his mother was going to move on and start dating someone new, he was the one.

So Ricky had waited. Patiently. Oh so patiently, for some kind of announcement to come after Christmas. Rusty told him there had been no movement on the dating front, and they were, in fact, still playing the friends game. Ricky was really starting to think that he might have to take matters into his own hands as summer approached and there was still no movement on the dating thing. There was slow and then there was dude, do I need to ask her for you slow. If he were honest about it, Ricky was getting ready to fly down and deal with them when his brother sent him a text a couple of weeks into July. Omg, she said he might stay the night sometimes, ew!

Little brother was obviously freaking out and after a few text messages and one almost desperate call to figure out what was going on, Ricky had throw his arms up in celebration. They had dating! His man Flynn had not let him down after all, and he wasn't going to have to risk his own life with playing matchmaker.

At some point Rusty had obviously figured out that mom dating meant more than hanging out at the movies and holding hands, which explained why he was so freaked out about it. Ricky didn't want to know what was going on with her romantic life either, at least none of the actual specifics, but he was glad that she was finally allowing herself to experience all that again.

Now that they had actually started seeing one another, Ricky figured that all he had to do was kick back and let the mutual adoration steer that particular ship. He had to admit that he was a little surprised when they moved in together before Andy popped the question, but as long as they were happy, everything was moving along just fine.

Until the heart attack, anyway.

Ricky didn't realize, until then, just how deeply his mother had fallen. He had a pretty good idea that she loved the guy, he was living in the condo and they were looking for a house together, but it never actually occurred to him that it could be that soul shattering, unable to breathe, cannot live without you, kind of love. At least, he didn't realize it until he flew down the night Andy had his heart attack and got a good look at his mother. He had never seen that kind of fear or grief in her eyes before.

He didn't have a lot to compare it to, but he was old enough to remember what it was like when his father would leave them. He remembered all the times that his mother took him back, those times when Jack promised that it would be different than it was the last time. Ricky knew what a broken heart looked like. He witnessed his mother go through that enough times, enough to know that whatever had gone wrong between them she had loved Jack. Whatever she said now about holding on to that marriage out of professional convenience and religion, Ricky knew otherwise. He let his mom believe that he believed that, because it made it easier for her, but he had seen her hurt before. He just never saw her looking that scared of losing someone that wasn't gone yet.

She was holding it together okay, that's what his mom did. She took care of everyone around her, but who the hell was taking care of her? Ricky knew that his mom had a habit of putting herself last. She did that when he and Emily were kids. She sacrificed a lot for them. It wasn't just about money, either, although that was certainly true, especially in those early years. It was her time, her sleep, sometimes even her sanity or her health. It was who his mother was, she took care of the people that mattered to her, and rarely considered her own needs in the process. She was keeping an eye on Andy's kids, keeping her team updated, coordinating his medical care now that she was his proxy, and putting on a strong front for the man that was lying in a hospital bed. All the while she was terrified, she was devastated, and she was so in love that she didn't know where she ended and he began.

They got through it, thank God. Ricky didn't know what was going to happen after that. A lot of things seemed up in the air. For one thing, they stopped looking for a house… not because they didn't want one, but it just seemed illogical with Andy on desk duty and the two of them not really sure how the job situation was going to workout with his latest health scare. Ricky was expecting things to slow down for them again; at least until they both caught their breath. It would have been totally understandable. He was surprised when they called to tell him about the engagement. Surprised, but not worried.

Come to think of it, his mother had sounded almost worried. He didn't know why. He and Emily both liked the guy. They were happy for her. That was why they had done everything that they did to make sure that she could have her Catholic wedding. They knew what that would mean for her. It was all worth it, even the tongue lashing that he and Rusty had gotten for their part in meddling with Andy's ex-wife.

Once again, though, Ricky had to say… his man Flynn did not let him down. When his mother sat them down to come clean with him, Andy had stared at them for a moment, after Rusty finished explaining how he had called Nicole and explained the issue with the annulments and the church, and gotten her to agree to talk to her mother about it all. Then he had thrown his head back and laughed. Really laughed.

They both looked cautiously at their mother from where they sat on the sofa, shoulder to shoulder, to gauge her reaction. Honestly, they were a little concerned about his sanity. Had this year finally taken its toll? Was it all just too much for him?

Sharon's mouth dropped open. She was standing beside his chair, arms folded over her chest, where she had overseen her sons' confessions. She reached down and smacked her fiancé's shoulder with the back of her hand. "Andrew Charles Flynn, this is not funny!"

"Yes it is." He rubbed a finger across his upper lip. When he looked up at her, his dark eyes were sparkling happily. "It's funny because this is all your fault."

Her eyes widened. Sharon's hands went to her hips. "How in the world is this my fault? They were the ones that meddled," she waved a hand at her sons, "after I expressly forbid it," she stated, and slanted a look toward her boys as she spoke.

Andy shook his head at her. He gave her an indulgent, adoring smile. "Sharon, if you'd just told me this is what you wanted, I could have called Vicki myself and the boys wouldn't have gotten involved at all."

"That's exactly the point," she exclaimed. "This had to be your decision, Andy. I can't dictate the terms of your previous marriage, and whether or not you get it annulled. That was something that you were going to have to come to yourself and none of us," she shot another look at her sons, "should be involved in that decision."

"Sharon…" Andy just reached for her hand. "You were the one who said that you would like to get married in the Church, if it was possible, but we didn't talk about it beyond that. You had me at yes, sweetheart. After that, I was good with however you wanted to approach it. The hard part was done."

She drew her hand back and her brow arched. "The hard part?" She asked pointedly. "What exactly is that supposed to mean, Andy?" From the corner of her eye she could see the boys trying to get up, obviously to make their escape. "Don't even think about it," she pointed at them, "sit."

Rusty and Ricky exchanged another look. With a sigh they dropped back onto the sofa. "Just trying to offer you two some privacy," Ricky said.

Sharon smiled at him, but it was far too saccharine for anyone's liking. "Oh, now you want to offer us some privacy? Don't move. I'm not finished with either of you yet." She turned her attention back to Andy and folded her arms across her chest. "Or you. I'm waiting for an answer, Lieutenant."

"Nope." He grinned crookedly at her. Andy shook his finger at her. "You don't get to use that here. We're not married yet, so the only place you get to be totally in charge is at work. Everything here is still a discussion."

Ricky couldn't help himself. He snorted a quick laugh. When they both glared at him, he quickly turned to Rusty. "So, how about those Dodgers this year, huh?"

"Then please explain, Andy, how it is that asking me to marry you is the hard part, because I am just dying to discuss it with you," Sharon drawled.

Andy rolled his eyes at her. "Easy. You try being the guy. You get to stand there looking all surprised and happy, but we've got to pick out the perfect ring," he started ticking it off on his fingers, "find the perfect time, and the perfect place, hope nothing gets in the way, and hope to hell we don't end up having another heart attack in the process… and frankly, I was just thrilled that I didn't end up tripping and falling off the balcony with the way that the last year has gone. So yeah," he smirked at her, "that was the hard part. Anything else can't come close, and as far as I'm concerned, I'll marry you in the Church, on a mountain, under a tent on the side of the road if that's what you want. We can have a Priest, we can have a judge, it can be Tao or one of his damned Badge of Justice pals, as long as it's not in the morgue and it ain't Morales marrying you to my corpse, it's all fair game."

"You know," Rusty said, "that last part might have been a little bit of over—" he trailed off when his mother glowered at them yet again. "Okay, never mind. No more helping; got it."

"So then," Sharon replied, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, "what you are saying is…"

He sat forward on the edge of his chair and pulled her around to stand between his legs. His hands rubbed the sides of her legging clad thighs, from knee to hip. Andy tipped his head back and offered her another crooked grin, the one that usually got him out of trouble. "If getting married in the Church is what you want, what you really want, Sharon, then that's what we'll do. It looks like it's definitely going to be possible now, thanks to the kids, but I'm not going to blame them for meddling. None of this stuff is as important to me as it is to you, but that doesn't mean that I don't recognize that it is important to you. It also doesn't mean that I'm not willing to discuss it. Okay?"

Whatever their mother's response was, they didn't hear it. When she leaned down to kiss him, Ricky nudged his brother. That was their cue. It was time to make a break for it while she was distracted. Rusty seemed to read his mind because he was already getting up and making his way toward the hall. They didn't get more than a few steps past their mother's desk when they were drawn up short.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Her voice sounded behind them. "We're not finished with the two of you yet."

Rusty sighed. "Crap."

Ricky's shoulders slumped. "Damn," he muttered. They shared a look and turned around to walk back into the living room.

Her eyes were narrowed, but her hands were still resting against Andy's shoulders. He was trying not to look too amused at their plight. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" She asked them.

The boys looked at each other again. Rusty shifted where he stood. "We're really sorry for butting in where we shouldn't have, Andy."

"Yeah," Ricky continued for him. "That probably wasn't very cool, even if our intentions were very good."

"And we'll never do it again," Rusty said quietly.

"Oh." Ricky's head snapped around. His brows shot up. He grinned at his little brother. "No, we will. We'll just work harder at not getting caught."

Andy started laughing again. Sharon pushed him away from her as she turned away. "Get out of here, both of you, and you," she rolled her eyes at her fiancé, "you are no help at all."

"You're right." He half rose from his chair, just enough that he was able to curl an arm around her waist and draw her back. "I'm terrible. Bad, very bad boys," he waved his hand at Ricky and Rusty as he pulled Sharon onto his lap. "Now go to your room and stay there…"

"Oh god." Rusty made a face as he turned. He didn't have to be told twice. "That will never be not disgusting," he groaned.

"Better get used to it, little brother." Ricky beat a hasty retreat too, because really, he didn't want to see it either. At least she was laughing now, and not lecturing them anymore. "You know," Ricky told his brother, "I think I'm gonna have to call him dad…"

Rusty just snorted. "I'm still working on Andy, but if that makes you happy…"

It wasn't really their happiness that Ricky was worried about, however. It was his mother's happiness. If any of them had one thing in common, it was that they really wanted her to get everything that she wanted and deserved. Part of Ricky did still feel bad about the meddling, specifically that it had upset his mother. A couple of weeks later, when he learned that an engagement party had still not been planned, mainly because she and Andy were still both just too busy, he decided to do it for them.

They had a lot going on, what with the almost being blown up and having to try and piece case files back together and re-catalogue evidence that was not completely destroyed by the bomb that had gone off in their murder room. Then there was his mother's promotion, something that everyone was really happy about, but it was keeping her busy. There was some kind of restructuring thing going on. Ricky didn't understand it all, but Andy had grumbled about it a few times… or more precisely, he had grumbled about how he was still stuck behind a desk.

His mother seemed pretty skeptical when he offered to take on the planning, but he promised her that it would be worth it. When he told her that he would even find a way to get Emily out to Los Angeles for the event, she agreed to leave it in his hands.

Ricky had obviously lost his mind, though. Never in his wildest dreams could he imagine that planning a simple party to celebrate the upcoming marriage of two people, one of whom was his mother, could be so hard. Although in hindsight, the difficulty was probably him. He just wanted it all to be perfect.

What was so wrong with that?

-TBC-