~Celebrating Sobriety~
Our weekly BamDammmsters prompt: a sense of occasion.
Just our way to get through this dreaded hiatus.
Andy usually spent his annual anniversary of his sobriety with Provenza. Either they stayed here at Andy's or went to Louie's to watch the game. On a rare occasion, they would spring for tickets to watch the Dodgers play at the Stadium but his friend didn't do well in crowds. It was a sight to see a grumpy Provenza hearing fans around them cheering for the other team. There would be lots of grumbling going on by his friend about if he were the manager he would have never had that idiot be the starting pitcher. If the Dodgers lost, lord help the person that bumped into the sore loser as they were leaving. Andy was always surprised they didn't end up arresting people for getting in Provenza's way. Though he was sure the only thing stopping his friend from dragging them down to the PAB in handcuffs was that Louie didn't want to deal with the added paperwork. Instead of spending the day laughing and making fun of his partner here he found himself alone sitting at home staring at the game on TV completely not interested in seeing his team lose again.
Provenza had Patrice now and was always busy with her. Yes, Sharon and he had been dating but they had gone to a movie and dinner last night. He didn't want to overwhelm her by looking like he needed to spend every moment they had off together. Though that was something Andy would really like but didn't want to push her. He was happy that she was willing to date him.
He was proud of his sobriety and had no problem talking openly about it especially if it helped someone turn his or her life around. Except with Sharon, it was different because she had lived the other side of Andy's life being married to Jack. Things were going great with her and he didn't want to dredge up old memories by celebrating his sobriety in front of her. When her own ex-husband couldn't seem to stay sober for her, himself or even his kids. The more Andy thought about what Jack-ass, as he thought of Sharon's ex, put her through the madder he got. He could sit here and think about all the ways Jack and him were the same and see that he really had no reason to be in a relationship with Sharon. The problem was Andy really cared for her.
Getting more frustrated he stood up and ran both hands over his face then turned off the TV. He wasn't watching the game anyways, deciding to head to his bedroom maybe he'd just lay down to pass the slow ticking time. As he was standing in the dark room Andy figured it would be better if he headed to an AA meeting. What better way to celebrate your eighteenth anniversary of being sober then talking and helping other alcoholics reach their goals. Andy's mood was pretty gloomy when he heard a knock on his door. Knowing he wasn't expecting anyone he took his time to get to the door. Provenza had already turned him down saying that Patrice and him were hosting a Sunshine Kids charity event. Yes, he knew Louie always had a soft spot for kids. Usually Andy hosted with his friend but lately, he felt like the third wheel even if Patrice insisted he wasn't. Seriously Andy had no idea on how an always grumpy Provenza ended up dating and now living with such a great lady. He stopped sulking long enough to finally make his way to the door. Andy swung it open and asked sourly, "what do you want?"
Sharon put a hand up and was taken back at how aggressively Andy answered the door. "Well, I came here to take you out to lunch but if you're too crabby then I don't know if you'll make good company." She quickly turned away to go back a few steps.
He was stunned speak-less after opening the door and seeing the person he would rather spend his day with manifest herself on his front step. Andy only got his voice back after she started walking away from him. "Sharon, wait," he called out to stop her. When she turned he asked again, "but really what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to take you out to a lunch like I said. Provenza texted me earlier, something about it being an impotent day for you." Sharon laughed, as she looked him up and down. "Honestly, I couldn't figure out his text or why Louie was telling me about your... um your personal problems." She shook her head as she looked at her phone in her hand. "Really, Andy I think he texts worst than you," she said laughing again. Taking a step closer, "I ended up calling Louie and he explained it was an important day for you. That it's the anniversary of your sobriety and he was worried that you would go out and do something stupid." Sharon held a hand up again when Andy started to protest, "your best friend's words not mine. Not that either one of us would think you would ever take a drink; you've worked too hard for this. Louie just thought you should stay busy. So if you wouldn't mind spending the rest of the day with me I'd suggest..." she paused as she took in Andy's appearance, his hair was ruffled, his gray LAPD t-shirt was wrinkled and looked as if he had got out of bed. "Did I wake you, Andy?"
"No, I wasn't sleeping, just being a couch potato watching my team lose." Andy leaned on the doorjamb and had a Cheshire cat smile on his face. "I'll go if we get to call this a date?"
She rolled her eyes and then shot him a slight glare. They had been seeing each other regularly now so she wouldn't see why it would be considered a date. Sharon was sure it was Andy's way to rub in the fact they had sort of been dating for over a year now and that she was the only one that didn't realize it. To show him she could give as good as she gets Sharon tilted her head and asked in a confused tone, "date? Are we dating?" Andy stood up straight, his eyes locked on hers as he took a step towards her. He gave her that lopsided smile that always got to her and made her heart beat a little faster. She held him back with a hand on his chest, "Oh alright," looking at her watch she gave in and said, "if you can get ready in ten minutes, you have yourself a date. So, I suggest you go get a quick shower and let me buy you lunch."
Andy stepped away from her even though he didn't want to but he could see not to push her too much or she might just walk away to prove a point and he didn't want that at all. Holding the door open wider for her he happily said, "then you better get in here 'cause my time is counting down." Andy closed the door and hurried down the hall towards the bathroom calling out as he went, "sorry, no time to chat, I've got a date with a hot woman I need to get ready for. Make yourself at home. I'll be out in…" Andy copied Sharon's previous actions by looking at his watch, "in nine minutes."
Sharon laughed as she sat on the couch to wait for Andy and sending a quick text to Rusty it's a go pass the word. She was surprised when what seemed like a few minutes later Andy came out dressed in a deep blue t-shirt and black jeans. His hair was still wet and he smelled incredible as he got closer to her. When he stopped right in front of her she stood up and ran a hand through his damp hair. "Andy, I would have allowed you a few more minutes to get ready," she said with a laugh.
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close to him, looking down into her sparkling green eyes. Her laughter made him smile and wanted to make sure she laughed more often. It made her eyes shine and her face light up. "Oh no, you gave me ten minutes and I got ready in eight so that gives me one minute for this." Wasting no time he leaned down and kissed her and used up all every last second he was given.
As they were leaving Andy took her hand in his and said, "thank you for making what was going to be a boring day that much better."
Sharon looked up at him confused, "Andy, we haven't even gone anywhere yet."
"Just spending time with you is all I need." Andy smiled at her and pulled her close to him as they walked to his car.
She let Andy pick where to eat. It was his day and Sharon wanted to make it about him. He was always doing things for her, going wherever she wanted to go. As he drove to the restaurant Sharon let out a "hmmm" as she looked out the window squinting at the sun shining in her eyes. Slipping the sunglasses that were resting on top of her head down to shade them. She was thinking about the questions she had for him but would wait until they got to where they were going to eat because she wanted Andy's undivided attention.
When they were seated and ordered their lunch, she turned to ask him her about what had been on her mind since she got Provenza's text earlier. With a bit of hurt in her voice, Sharon asked, "Andy, why didn't you tell me what today is?" They had just had dinner last night and they are practically always together whenever they had free time and they worked together. Though they didn't mix their personal life with professional, there could have been a time that he mentioned to her that his eighteenth year of his sobriety was coming up. Sharon had known Andy had no qualms about talking about his sobriety so why didn't he feel he couldn't bring it up to her? She was sure they had been getting close to the next step in their relationship and if he couldn't tell her things like this then how far should they take it? Maybe he didn't know how she felt about him but she wasn't sure she was ready to voice that yet. It was hard enough for her to tell herself that she loved him. So, she decided to express it another way. "It's very important to you and what's important to you is important to me too. You do know that don't you?" Sharon watched Andy closely.
Andy looked her pensive then back down to his lunch before saying the truth. "Sharon, I didn't want to bring up bad memories of you having to deal with a drunk Jack or how many timed he actually tried to get sober."
Sharon was happily surprised at his answer. She should have known he was doing it to protect her. She placed her hand on top of his and said softly, "Andy, you are nothing like Jack. Please, don't think you need to hold anything back from me, especially something so important as this." She leaned across the table, she knew he would meet her halfway and their lips meet in a quick kiss. "Now, when I have more time we'll need to celebrate such a hard-earned feat." When Andy rolled his eyes at her, Sharon added, "believe me I know how hard you've worked I have known you for a long time. Anyway, where's your sense of occasion?" She couldn't help but smile as Andy groaned.
They had a nice lunch and took a short walk along the beach then heading back to Andy's so she could get her car. He didn't want the day to end but Sharon said she needed to get back home to Skype with Emily. There were only certain times her daughter could talk between rehearsals and being on different coasts made it harder to talk. He pulled into his driveway after putting it in park Andy leaned over the middle console to kiss her. They had been sharing little kisses all day but it seemed that he could never have enough. Sharon pulled away as their kiss grew deeper, placing her hand on his cheek she regrettably, "Andy, I'm sorry I do have to go, though. I'll call you later tonight and maybe we can plan to have a lazy Sunday together if we don't catch a case that is?" She kissed him one more time and went to get out of the car. Andy ran around to help her then walked her to her car, even though it was parked right beside his. "Oh, wait I forgot my scarf in your house. I must have left it while I was waiting for you to get ready for our "date." Sharon did air quotes with her fingers as she said the word date.
Andy laughed as she smiled at him, "You can wait here and I'll run in and get it."
"No, that's ok I know exactly where it is. It will be quicker for me to just go grab it." Sharon stood on her tips of her toes and kissed him. "Thank you for offering though."
They both headed towards his front door but as he went to open it he stopped, Andy spun her around and pressed her up against the door. His lips meet hers in a hunger for more of her taste. One hand explored her side, up to her rib cage and down to her hip again. The other hand had a firm grip on her hip. After overcoming her initial state of shock Sharon put one hand around Andy's neck the other she softly place on the side of his head. She could feel her leg start to work its way up his calf to rest around his thigh. It was if her body was responding all on its own as he deepened the kiss her mind couldn't deny how much she wanted this man. Coming up for air Andy smiled at the sight of her swollen lips and the feel of her leg running along his. He went to places kisses along her neck and whispered next to her ear. "I just wanted to give you a proper goodbye."
Then suddenly the door swung open and they both practically fell into Andy's home. Luckily Andy caught her and grabbed onto the doorframe with the other hand stopping them both from crashing to the floor. "Will you stop that and I mean right now. By the way, you have everyone waiting, Captain. We were getting worried that you changed your mind about this sense of occasion," Provenza said loudly and grumpy.
Andy stood up completely and helped Sharon to make sure she had her balance back after teetering with him. "What are you doing here?" When the door opened wider Andy could see the whole team inside his house with shocked faces of seeing their Captain and Lieutenant kissing. "What are all of you doing here?" He turned to Sharon who was beside him still blushing from being caught making out on his doorstep and having Andy almost fall on her in front of everyone. He reached out and tucked a lock of loose hair behind her ear and asked, "I thought you had to get home to talk to Emily?"
"I texted her earlier and ask if we could talk on Monday instead." She offered him a smile and a shoulder shrug. "As for this you can blame my sense of occasion," Sharon said with a laugh as she took his hand and pulled Andy inside.
"Before you ask, I still have your key, idiot." Provenza slipped the item out of his pocket and held it up the metal object as if to show proof.
Andy reached out and yanked it out of his hand. "You're busy with..." as he looked over at Patrice "other things now and I have plans for this key."
Provenza cringed and walked away after muttering, "e-gads."
It was a great night, though for the last fifteen minutes before everyone left, all they heard was his partner complaining about having to park around the block just because Flynn's girlfriend wanted to surprise him. Sharon had stayed to help pick up, explaining since she planned the party it would be only fair that she stay and help clean the mess. Suddenly Andy took the garbage bag from her and she squealed when he lifted her up on his kitchen counter. "Andyyy."
Standing in front of her with his hands on the cabinet beside each of her legs, basically trapping her Andy asked, "So tell me, Sharon, how did you pull this off? You didn't even know what today was until a few hours ago."
"Well, they don't call me the Wicked Witch for nothing," She said with a small knowing smile as she laid her arms to drape on his shoulders.
"So, in the few short hours you somehow managed to call in our team, Rusty, you got Nicole, her husband, and my grand-kids here. Even though you might just be a witch, you are definitely not wicked." He watched as Sharon smile grew more teasing and he could feel her hands now running from his shoulders to his upper back. Causing the heat to build up in him as her hands continued their pattern. In return, Andy slid one of his hands along her jean-clad thigh and in a low voice he said, "though I have no doubt you can be quite wicked when you want to be."
Stopping her movements Andy frowned when she pulled away and leaned across the counter. When he saw she was trying to reach her purse, he started to move away from her thinking she wanted to leave. Maybe he was pushing her too fast, but when he attempted to separate himself from her, she put one leg around him to hold him right where he was. Not like he was going to fight to leave her. When she finally got her purse she reached in and handed him an envelope with a big smile on her face. Andy looked at her confused but opened it up. "No, I can't accept this Sharon," and he tried to hand it back to her.
She refused to take the envelope and continued to smooth circles along his chest as she said, "you can and you will. Bring Provenza but I want to go to go a few times too," Sharon said with a pout. "Of course as long as there are no dead bodies in either of your garages that is," She added trying to keep a straight face but failed miserably.
Andy raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, "You heard about that?"
"Who in the entire LAPD didn't hear about what you and your partner did for sky-box tickets?" Sharon leaned against Andy and kissed him. It was strange to her that she had gone a long time without kissing anyone with no problem at all, but now she couldn't seem to get enough of Andy's kisses. Breaking off the last kiss she said with a smile, "who do you think gave Chief Johnson the idea on what punishment to give you both?" When Andy's eyes widened. Sharon couldn't help but laugh. "I told Brenda that I didn't want to hear anything officially. At that point all I heard was rumors but if I was in her place she might want to ask for compensation for all the time put into a case that wasn't theirs. There was no way Chief Delk was going to pay overtime to Priority Homicide when the case was actually Taylor's."
Andy looked the tickets he placed on the counter next to them. "Sharon, season sky-box passes to the Dodgers is too much, for nothing really."
Sharon leaned back on her elbows and looked up at him, "Andy, eighteen years sobriety is not nothing and besides I did it for selfish reasons too. Like I said you can take Provenza but I want to see some of the games too."
"Man, I'm pretty lucky to fall in love with a beautiful woman that likes baseball and Dodger dogs." When he noticed the shocked look on her face he questioned her, "What am I wrong you don't like Dodger dogs?" She shook her head not being able to speak "You don't like sitting in the comfortable sky-box seats?" Receiving only a glare from her, Andy tried again trying to keep the smile off his face. "Oh, so you don't really like baseball?"
Having enough of his teasing Sharon sat up and grabbed Andy's shirt and pulled him between her legs. Their lips meet with a force that sent sparks through both their bodies. Sharon scooted up to the edge of the counter until their hips meet. Their eyes connected and she said in a strong voice, "I'm lucky enough to fall in love with a man that is amazing and is willing to fight his inner demons for his family and those he cares about." Sharon kissed him not wanting to hold back anymore she put all her emotions into their kiss.
Needing air but not wanting to let her go, Andy leaned back and placed his forehead against hers. Taking Sharon's hand he set something cool in her palm. When she looked down she let out a surprised gasp. Quickly looking up at Andy's face she could read everything in the depth of his brown eyes that grew darker with passion as he looked at her, but she still questioned him, "Are you sure? You don't have to do this."
"It's better than Provenza, and I want you to feel that you can come over here anytime, Sharon. Even if I'm not here." Andy smiled at her surprised look; he gave her a nod, kissing her again while his hands wandered freely along her back up through her hair then retracing their path.
Without breaking their kiss Sharon placed the key to his house that Andy had just given her onto the counter beside them then wrapped her legs around his waist. In between kisses, she said with a smile, "if you liked this sense of occasion wait until you see what I have planned for your ninetieth and twentieth sobriety anniversaries." Then she slid her hands under his shirt as she felt Andy's hands slid into her back pockets and pull her still closer to him. After a few long, deep passionate kisses she breathlessly told him, "Andy, I wasn't kidding about wanting to have a lazy Sunday with you and I think it should start tonight."
~The End~
Thank you to the BamDammmsters and the other great friends out in the virtual world I've met for making writing fun, for helping to keep me motivated to write. Also for helping catch my mistakes and help with "research," but most of all thank you for the laughs we share ;)