This is a prompt given to me by sharon-fucking-raydor on tumblr :)
It was breaking Andy's knowing that there was something going on with Sharon, possibly between the two of them, that she wasn't telling him. For the past few days, her mood had shifted and he couldn't put a finger on why. There were a few occasions - first at work - when they ended up alone in the break room, and he asked her if she was okay. She grabbed his hand and gave him a small smile, saying she was okay. That was beginning to be her new favourite word: 'okay'.
Something however, was seriously not okay when she fainted in the murder room a few days ago. Not only did her outburst throw Andy off guard, but he certainly wasn't expecting her to pass out. He didn't want to pressure her to tell him what was going on in the hospital, he just hand her hand and was there for her. He did know, that whatever was going on must be bad if Sharon hadn't told him yet. It'd been a few days since she was released from the hospital, and she kept promising she would tell him what was going on. The first night back in the condo, Andy had attempted to ask her but she shrugged it off saying she was tired, and ever since he had decided that he would wait until she was ready to tell him.
When they got home from the station, he took her coat and hung it next to his near the door while she went into the kitchen to pour a glass of water. "Hon, do you wanna talk about what happened the other day now?"
He walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, watching her sip the water slowly, almost as if it were a stalling tactic. "Did Rusty text you back about whether he's coming tonight?"
She walked back to the door and pulled her phone from the bottom of her purse. "He said, he's staying at a friends for the night. Why don't we get ready for bed, and then we can talk?"
"Okay." He smiled.
He shut the light off in the kitchen, and then went over to the couch to turn off the lamps. He looked up and saw that she'd found her way to her desk. "Hon?" He began, his arms folding across his chest, but she cut in before he could finish.
"I'm just going to send Provenza an e-mail, and then I promise I'll come to bed."
She gave him a small smile, before focusing her attention on the screen.
He gave up and walked past her to the bedroom, where he changed into his pajamas and sat on the bed, going through his phone while he waited for her. She came in a few minutes later and oddly enough, took the change of clothes into the bathroom with her. He shrugged it off, just relieved that he was finally going to understand what was happening.
On the other side of the door, Sharon changed quickly, hanging her blazer on the back of the door and leaving the rest in the hamper. She leaned over the sink, like she did once before, decades ago and couldn't believe she was about to do it all over again. She prayed to God that she could.
She took a makeup wipe in her hand and brushed it across her face, slowly revealing the growing, soft wrinkles surrounding her eyes, finishing with her lipstick. She had no shame in the way she looked at her age, but for a woman about to take on a challenge like this, maybe not as much.
She heard Andy call from the bedroom and was brought out of her thoughts. "Are you done? Because I'm growing more stressed by the minute?"
She dropped the cloth into the waste bin, and took one last look in the mirror, as if she were reminding herself of who she was, and what she was capable of. She was a commander for the LAPD, been through a nasty divorce, had three children – one of which was adopted -, her fiancé had been dragged by a moving vehicle and she'd killed someone; She sure as hell could handle telling her husband-to-be this news, that at least had a bright side.
She opened the door and saw him waiting for her at the edge of the bed. Hesitant of being too close to him and breaking, she sat across from him, wrapping the robe tighter around her middle. "Sorry Andy, I just had to gather my thoughts first." She could see the pain in his face, that she had caused from waiting this long to tell him.
"I just want you to know first, that I can't thank you enough for helping me since the incident at work, and the hospital and I'm so so grateful for you, and everything you've done for me." The tears were already straining her voice and she figured she should hurry up before she was a complete mess and scared him even more. He laid on a hand on her knee, but she shook off the tears, assuring him she was okay. "I'm okay." There it was again. "I just wanted to tell you that, so you know that I believe we can get through anything together at this point, and I really don't think there's anything that could change my mind about this wedding."
She could see him smiling now, and felt better about continuing. "So, what is it? What are we dealing with."
He braced himself, remembering sitting in the waiting room at the hospital room a few days ago, promising himself that whatever it was he was going to be strong around Sharon, like she was with him during his accident. The last thing this family needed was more stressing.
"Well," she began. "It's not as bad as you think, Andy. I can promise you that."
"Okay," he said hopefully.
"After the doctor did the preliminary examining she said everything was fine and that she wanted to run a blood test; Mainly to check on my flu symptoms. It turns out that I am fine, and in no danger. What I experienced in the murder room was a panic attack, which was probably brought on from everything going on lately."
It didn't add up to him. He was so relieved that Sharon was okay, and it wasn't serious, but then why had she waited so long to tell him? "Okay, well that's great hon, but why are you just telling me this now?"
She inhaled sharply, getting ready for the hard part. "Well, she found out something else from the blood test."
Her eyes met his and in the silence she swore she could hear his mind screaming. "Andy, it turns out... that I am expecting."
It took him a few minutes to catch up. "Expecting...?"
"Expecting a child, Andy."
His brown eyes that were scared only a minute ago, grew twice in size. "You're..."
"Pregnant," she finished.
He went silent. She understood that he needed time to take it all in, but she was starting to worry now. She reached for his hands, taking them in hers. "Andy, what are you thinking?"
"I'm- I'm thinking that this is a bit of a surprise."
"Yes," she began, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "But good news too, right?"
He snapped back to reality and saw the worried look on her face. He immediately felt guilty for giving her the impression that he wasn't happy with the news. "Oh sweetheart, of course this is good news. I just wasn't expecting to find out tonight that I would be having another child."
She smiled and squeezed his hand, biting her top lip from the thought of there being a Raydor-Flynn child in the world in less than a year.
"I mean, assuming this is what you want." He quickly added.
He didn't want to put any further pressure on the situation and while he was over the moon with the news, he knew that Sharon was older than most expecting mothers, and already had three children of her own. No matter what she decided he would support her one hundred percent.
"Oh, Andy of course it's what I want! Aside from the whole Catholic view thing, I think this is great!"
The tears had returned, but they were the happy kind. She was so grateful that among all the chaos there was finally some good news, no matter the risks. "In fact, I think this is exactly what we need. A silver lining in all the trauma in our lives lately." A tear escaped her eye, trailing down her cheek and he caught it his hand. He held his arms out, inviting her next to him on the bed, where she moved to and rested her head on his shoulder. "I can imagine how scared you must also be right now, and I want you to know that I will be right here, the whole time, and so will Rusty. I want you to feel just as safe and comfortable as I did when you took care of me the way you did when I was in recovery."
She'd never met a man more caring than Andy, and she couldn't help but bring a girlish grin across her lips. She wondered once again, how she'd managed to find someone so great, and how that very man had once drawn witchy stick figures of her. She remembered the first argument in the morgue, and him saying, "All the problems we're having is because of you," and now, sitting across from each other, soon to be a married couple, she was the reason for all of his happiness.
