DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
A/N: Hello everyone! Here is the next story, continuing about a week after Firebug ended. I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 1
It was a slow day at the office for the Major Crimes team. Julio and Amy brought the Christmas decoration boxes up from the storage closet and placed them on the desks. Everyone was helping out decorating the Murder Room to look festive for the holidays. Sharon was in her office looking over some paperwork regarding the new chief's position. She was happy staying where she was at and didn't want to move up but Chief of Police Pope insisted, at his last meeting, that she put her name in the pool for the job. She and Andy had discussed it several times over the past months and she told him that she didn't want the job. He understood and supported her decision. Now, a couple of months later, she was staring at the paperwork, wondering what she was going to do.
She took a break and looked out her office windows to the scene unfolding in the Murder Room. Her team was putting up decorations. The Christmas tree was already up thanks to Mike and Andy putting it together. Amy was currently decorating it with ornaments. They had placed one of Sharon's angels that she had brought in a couple of years ago on the top of the tree. The office was starting to look very festive. Sharon decided to join in the decorating and walked out of her office. She walked up to join Provenza who was 'overseeing' everyone put up the decorations. He was sitting back at his desk enjoying giving orders to everyone on where certain decorations should go. "Lieutenant, you are certainly in the Christmas spirit" Sharon said to Provenza as she walked to his desk and noticed him wearing a Santa's hat already. "Yes Captain, well it is the season to be jolly and I figured why not" Provenza said to Sharon and then he barked out an order to Andy and Mike. "No! That sign does not belong there, hang it over on that wall" he said pointing to the wall behind Mike's desk. Andy just gave him a look and shook his head as he and Mike walked over to the wall Provenza pointed to. Andy looked at Sharon and smiled at her as they were walking. Sharon giggled and smiled back at him.
After the team decorated the whole office, including the electronics room and the new video room, Sharon told everyone that they could leave since nothing else was going on for the day. Everybody packed up their things and started to head out. "See you guys tomorrow" Andy said to them as he waved. "Good night Lieutenant" Julio said as he walked out the door. Andy sat back down in his chair and waited for Sharon to be ready to leave. It was three weeks till Christmas and he decided to look at his list of gifts on his phone. He wrote down everyone's names that he was buying for and what he had got them for Christmas. They were hosting Christmas this year at the new house and everyone was getting excited to come over. Emily had called him earlier and had said that she was able to get some time off from the ballet to come home for Christmas. Sharon was happy about that and couldn't wait to see her daughter. Ricky was driving down a couple of days before Christmas to spend some time with them. Andy had hoped they didn't catch a case this year around Christmas because he wanted Sharon to be able to spend time with her kids. This was also going to be Matthew's first Christmas with them as a foster child.
Andy thought back to his and Matthew's conversation one week after Thanksgiving. "So Matthew, what are you going to ask Santa for Christmas this year?" Andy had asked him as they were sitting at the kitchen table. Andy was going over some of the homework that Matthew had. Matthew just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know" he said to Andy. Matthew continued to do his homework as Andy watched him. This kid had a hard couple of months with his mother being killed and then Sharon and Andy fostering him. Andy wanted to make sure that Matthew knew he was loved now, so later on at night he and Sharon had talked about it and they both agreed that they wanted to make this Christmas special for Matthew. Sharon opened her office door and Andy stood up, placing his phone in his pocket. "Are you all set?" he asked her as she walked out of the office with her jacket and bag. "Yes, let's go pick up Matthew and Moxie and head home" Sharon said as she touched his tie and smoothed it down before walking out of the Murder Room together.
They decided to pick Moxie up first and then headed over to Matthew's school to pick him up from after school care. Sharon went inside the school to get him while Andy stayed in the car with the dog. He was tired, even though they didn't really do anything at the office today, or the past week. It had been very slow. Andy had gone to see his doctor yesterday for his monthly check-up and everything looked good. Sharon was pleased with the results from the doctor and they celebrated that night when they had gotten home. Andy grinned at the memory and then the car door opened and Matthew got in the back and settled in. "Hi" he said to Andy and Moxie. "How was your day at school?" Andy asked Matthew as Sharon got in the front seat. "It was okay" Matthew said. Andy looked at Sharon who had a worried look on her face. "We'll talk later about it" she said to him quietly. "Okay" Andy said to her and they drove home.
They got home and entered their house through the back door. Andy had turned off the alarm system before they had entered and Sharon went in to the kitchen to start on dinner. Matthew ran inside with Moxie, dropping his backpack off in the mud room before running through the house. "Wash your hands, Matthew!" Sharon said as he ran past her and then stopped at the first floor bathroom. Andy followed Sharon in to the kitchen. "What are we going to have tonight?" he said to her as she was washing some vegetables. "I thought we would have a little stir fry with some wheat noodles and some chicken" Sharon said to him as he came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. Andy brushed Sharon's hair away from her neck with his nose and began kissing her there. He looked at her stitches that were healing nicely and just a faint scar remained. He kissed her on her scar. Sharon hummed. "What did you want to tell me when we picked Matthew up from school?" Andy asked her as he continued to kiss her neck. He was trying to distract her, but Sharon wasn't going to let that happen. "The teacher told me that he got into an argument with another kid in the class and that he had to go sit in the principal's office for lunch and recess" Sharon explained to him. "Just Matthew?" Andy asked her. "No, the other kid too" Sharon said. Andy looked back at her and nodded. "I'll ask him about it" he said to her. She continued to prepare dinner for them. "Is Rusty joining us for dinner?" Andy asked her. "He texted me saying that he was running late, but that he would join us when he got home" Sharon said as she started to cook everything. Andy let her go and walked towards the hallway to see where Matthew went.
Andy found him and Moxie in the family room watching a Star Wars cartoon on the TV. Andy sat down next to Matthew on the couch and started watching the cartoon with him. Andy followed it a little bit from his step-grandsons so he sort of knew what Matthew was explaining to him when he asked what was happening on the cartoon. "Is Santa Claus real?" Matthew asked Andy innocently. Andy looked down at Matthew and smiled. "Of course he is real, why do you ask?" Andy said to Matthew. "Well, Jerry in my class was talking with Tommy and he told Tommy that Santa wasn't real and then I started arguing with him" Matthew started to explain as Andy listened to him. "My mom was always busy around Christmas time and I always thought Santa would help me" Matthew said quietly to Andy. "Well Matthew, I will tell you this. Santa Claus is real no matter what the kids at school might say" Andy said as Matthew was listening to him. "Have you ever spoken to Santa?" Andy asked him. Matthew shook his head no. "I'll tell you what, tomorrow night, if Sharon and I get out of work on time, I will take you to go talk to Santa Claus" Andy said to him. "How do you know where he will be?" Matthew asked. Andy chuckled a little bit. "Because I know Santa" Andy said to him and Matthew's face just dropped in amazement.
Matthew then got off the couch and hurried in to the kitchen to tell Sharon what Andy told him. Matthew saw her standing by the stove cooking. He walked over and sat himself on one of the stools. "Did you wash your hands?" Sharon asked him as she saw him enter and sit down. "Yes" he said and waited a bit before speaking again. "Did you know that Andy knows Santa Claus? And he is going to take me tomorrow night to go talk with him" Matthew said to Sharon and he seemed excited about it. "Oh really? I did not know he knew Santa Claus" Sharon said to Matthew and then looked at Andy as he joined them in the kitchen. Andy just shrugged his shoulders at Sharon. "What?" Andy said to Sharon. "Go grab a seat at the table, Matthew" Sharon said as dinner was almost done.
Rusty joined them for dinner and they all sat around the table eating and talking. "So, Rusty how was class today?" Sharon asked him as they ate. "Oh, um it was okay. There's this opportunity to go work with underprivileged kids in the area and help them out with school work. My professor thinks that would be a good fit for me, plus I can get credits to put towards law school" Rusty said to her. Both Sharon and Andy looked at each other. "So, are you going to do that?" Andy asked him as he took a sip of his water. "I don't really know yet. I'm taking a lot of courses right now to get prepared for law school and I'm just not really sure" Rusty said to them. Sharon looked disappointed and cleared her throat. "Rusty, I think that is a good opportunity for you and if your professor thinks so, then" Sharon started to say but Rusty interrupted her. "I know Mom, I know" Rusty said and then looked at his plate. Rusty then excused himself from the dinner table and went to his apartment above the garage. "The kid has a lot to think about, Sharon" Andy said to her as he got up and started to put things away. "Okay Matthew, I want you to start on your homework after the table is cleared" Sharon said as she brought the dishes to the sink. "Okay" Matthew said as he helped bring his dish to the sink.
After the table was cleared, Matthew brought his backpack and placed it on the table. "What homework do you have tonight?" Sharon said as she sat down next to Matthew. "Spelling and Math" Matthew said as he pulled out his spelling book and started on that. Andy was outside in the backyard with Moxie when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Provenza calling him. "Don't tell me we caught a case" he said as he answered the phone. "No, we didn't. Look, I don't know what to get Patrice for Christmas and I was wondering what you got the Captain" Provenza said. Andy pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the display. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Provenza?" Andy said into the phone. "Flynn, I'm being serious here" Provenza said to him. "Okay, okay, calm down" Andy said as he watched Moxie run around the yard. He turned around to make sure that Sharon was not in site and then he told his friend what he got her. "It's a Pandora bracelet that has these little charms you can customize to fit whoever you give it to" Andy said to him. "That's it?" Provenza asked. "No that's not all, there are some other things I got her but they're a surprise" Andy said to him. "A surprise, why can't I know?" Provenza questioned. "Because you have a big mouth and I don't want Sharon to know what I got her, okay." Andy said. "Well, thanks a lot Flynn. Listen I got to go, see you tomorrow" Provenza said and then he hung up. Andy looked down at his phone and shook his head. "Come on Moxie" he called to the dog and Moxie followed him back in the house.
Andy saw Sharon sitting at the kitchen table looking over Matthew's competed homework. "Where's Matthew?" Andy said as he walked over to her. "He went upstairs to put his pj's on" Sharon said as she was looking over the math problems. Andy just looked at her. She peaked up from her glasses and smiled. "Yes?" she said to him curiously. "Nothing, I'm going to make sure Matthew is okay" he said as he leaned down and pulled her into a kiss. "Maybe we could watch a movie later?" he whispered to her and she nodded back at him. He went upstairs to find Matthew and Sharon stayed in the kitchen, Moxie lying next to her.
By the time Andy went upstairs; Matthew was already changed into his pajamas and was brushing his teeth in his bathroom. "When you are done up here, go back downstairs so you can put your homework away" Andy said to Matthew and Matthew gave him a thumbs up. Andy then walked into the master bedroom and went over to the closet where he hid Sharon's gift. He took the bracelet out of the box and looked it over again with all the different charms he got her and then placed it back in the box. He knew she was going to love that. All of the charms represented something or someone in her life. He had also gotten her tickets to see Emily's ballet performance, not in New York City, but right here in LA. That was a surprise, Emily's ballet company was going to be traveling across the country and they would be in LA in January for three weeks. Emily had told Andy that in a text last week, but she wanted to surprise her mother. So as soon as Andy had heard about that, he immediately went online and got two tickets for them to go. The tickets were on his phone, easily hidden from Sharon.
Andy then heard feet running up the stairs and the dog following whoever he was chasing and he quickly put the gift away. Andy went back into the hallway and saw Matthew playing with Moxie, with Sharon following them upstairs. "Okay Matthew, time for bed" Sharon said to him. Matthew got up off of the floor and went into his room. Moxie followed him and so did Sharon. Matthew climbed into bed and Sharon sat next to his bed in a chair. "Can you tell me a story about Santa Claus?" Matthew asked her. Sharon nodded. "Okay Matthew" she said and waited for him to settle in. Andy was leaning against the door frame listening to Sharon tell Matthew the story. As Matthew's eyes were closing, Sharon slowly got up and turned the overhead light off, leaving the lamp by his bedside still on. Andy moved so that Sharon could close the door and then he gathered her in his arms and gave her a hug. "What's that for?" she asked as she pulled away and started to head back downstairs. "For being you, smart and sexy, and such a great storyteller" Andy said as he followed her downstairs.
"What movie do you want to watch tonight?" Andy said to her as they made their way into the family room. "Hmm, how about a romantic comedy" Sharon said to him as she sat down on the couch. Andy looked through all of the different movies they had and then found one that Sharon would like. He put When Harry Met Sally into the Blu-ray player and joined her on the couch. The movie started to play. About halfway through the movie, both Sharon and Andy were lying on the couch, Sharon was on top of him, head on his chest as he lazily drew circles on her back. "Are you still awake?" he whispered to her. "Uh huh" she said as she was enjoying the movie and Andy. The movie was over and they were both asleep on the couch.
It was well after midnight when Andy's phone rang, waking him up from his slumber with Sharon still on top of him. He reached over to the coffee table to answer his phone, slightly moving Sharon and she woke up. "What is it?" she asked still sleepy. "My phone is ringing" Andy said back as he answered it. "Flynn" he said to the other person on the line. "Hey, sorry to wake you up but, we got multiple dead bodies at Union Station" Provenza said to Andy. Andy quickly got up from the couch. "What happened?" he said and that got Sharon's attention. Sharon got up and turned the TV off. If they were catching a case, she needed to have someone stay with Matthew while they went out. She picked up her phone and dialed Rusty's number, surprising he answered right away. Five minutes later, Rusty was in the house as Sharon and Andy gathered their things to leave for the roll out. "You sure you are going to be okay with this? You will probably be taking Matthew to school later on this morning" Sharon asked Rusty before they left. "Yes Mom, I can handle it" Rusty said as they left to head to the crime scene.
As they got in the car, Andy turned to Sharon in the passenger seat. She was busy looking at her phone at the message that Chief Howard had sent her regarding the crime scene they were heading to. She was responding back to the Chief, Andy decided what he had to say could wait and then they drove off to the crime scene. "Multiple bodies at the scene, what happened?" Sharon said to Andy as he drove to Union Station. She tucked her phone back into her pocket of her jacket and wondered what exactly her team was heading in to.
TBC