I didn't expect to be posting so soon, but when the characters talk, they talk! :) This is the first of a series of one shots that dip in and out of Andy and Sam's lives and of course Aunt Em keeps popping up too! :) It is set after Time, so if you haven't read that I suggest you start there, as it helps introduce Aunt Em.

I of course do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters, but Aunt Em, is mine.

Have a lovely day, wherever you are.

Sairs

What are Aunts for?

1. Thank you for helping me not to be frightened.

Emily walked up the steps and knocked on the door, as she waited for the door to be answered she looked down the street, the houses on either side were brownstone and of a similar style. She turned when she heard the door open, "Andy," she smiled, dropping her small bag on the floor and stepping forward to hug her niece.

"Aunt Em, why didn't you call when you got to the bus station? I would have come and met you."

Emily shook her head, "I enjoyed the cab ride over. Now can I come in and see the house?"

Andy stepped forward, picking up her Aunt's bag then turned pushing the door open wider so Emily could go into the house, "I'm really pleased you've come for a visit."

"I wouldn't miss a visit with you and Sam and I get to see your new house. I can't wait to take a look around."

Andy smiled, "I'll give you a tour, although we've still got quite a few boxes to unpack."

"Well, it's a god job I've come to visit, then. Where's Sam?"

"He's in the kitchen fixing the plumbing."

"A man of many talents," Emily winked.

Andy chuckled, "Aunt Em!"

Emily followed Andy into the kitchen; all she could see of Sam were his legs protruding from a kitchen cabinet under the sink. "Hello, Sam, problem with your waterworks?" Emily couldn't resist teasing her favourite nephew.

The sound of Emily's voice startled Sam and the waste pipe he was trying to patch came away in his hand, a deluge of cold, smelly water from the pipe showering his torso. His body involuntarily reacted to the sudden cold and he banged his head on the shelf, "Ouch!" he yelled.

"Oh, Sam! I'm so sorry," Emily apologised, hearing a few muttered curses from the kitchen cabinet, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Whilst Emily was apologising, Andy hurried forward to her husband, "Are you okay, Sam? Do you need some ice?"

Sam slid out from under the sink, his once white tee shirt now a dingy brown, where the water had splashed on to him, in one hand he had the now broken waste pipe; his other hand was rubbing his forehead. He looked at Emily and Andy from his position on the floor and began to chuckle, they both looked equally flustered, similar looks of concern in their eyes. "McNally, women," he muttered.

"What?" Emily and Andy asked in unison as Sam began to laugh at their reaction.

Sam shook his head as he sat up, still rubbing his forehead, "You both certainly know how to make an entrance."

Andy's face clouded with concern as Sam continued to rub his head, she walked over to the freezer and took out a small pack of peas; she wrapped it in a tea towel and handed it to Sam, "This should help."

He took the peas and placed them on his bump, "I didn't know that plumbing could be so dangerous."

Emily chuckled, "It's good to see you, Sam. I really am sorry."

"Don't sweat it; I'm bound to get more of these," he pointed to his bump, "as we work on the house." He stood and leant against the counter, looking at Andy, "Why don't you give Emily the tour whilst I go change and then I'm going to phone for a plumber, 'cause I now think this is out of my league," he glanced at the broken waste pipe.

Andy walked over to him, moving his hand away from the bump, "Let me look," she requested. He leaned forward so she could inspect the egg that was now appearing on his forehead, she gently ran her fingertips over it, "At least the swelling's coming out. I don't think we need to worry too much about your hard head," she winked, "The peas will help." She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, "better?"

Sam nodded, "a little."

Emily smiled at their tenderness; six months of marriage looked well on them.

"Good," Andy replied, replacing his hand with the peas back onto his bump. "Now go and change that tee shirt," she wrinkled her nose, "It smells!"

Sam chuckled, "Well I'm not surprised, that water's probably sat in the waste pipe for days."

"Yuk," Andy added as she watched Sam saunter out of the kitchen. She turned to Em, "Well this is the kitchen!"

The tour finished Andy perched on the edge of the guest bed, where Emily was going to stay.

"The house is lovely, Andy," Emily said as she looked out of the window over the back yard, "That will look beautiful with some flower borders."

Andy smiled, "Well I was hoping whilst you were here you'd help me choose some plants. That's something I need to learn about, I'd like to have a pretty garden like yours."

"I'm sure we can make a good start whilst I'm here," Emily turned to her niece, a smile crossing her lips, "How's Dov and Vicky?"

"Well they're still going strong. When I told Dov you were coming to visit, he insisted that he must take you to dinner with Vicky to say thank you."

Emily beamed, "I like that young man and Vicky seemed very nice."

"At the minute, you're two for two."

Emily nodded, "Well you never know what else might happen whilst I'm in town."

"As long as there's nothing too adventurous!"

"Andy, Dear, I don't do adventures, unless they're to do with the heart."

Andy rolled her eyes, "Aunt Em!"

Emily walked over and sat next to her niece, "So how are things really?"

Andy's fingers fiddled with the edge of the bedspread a small smile crossing her face, "It's more than I ever could have imagined. I love having someone to share everything with, Sam is supportive, tender and he always listens to me," she glanced at Em and grinned, "Except when we're arguing."

Emily chuckled, knowing both her niece and Sam, and she could imagine they had heated exchanges.

A gentle blush appeared on Andy's cheeks, "But we don't stay angry long and making up is certainly very enjoyable."

Emily placed an arm around Andy's shoulders, "I'm pleased for you both."

"I didn't think I'd ever be lucky enough to get this," Andy leant her head on Emily's shoulder, "Thank you for helping me see that I didn't need to be frightened."

"That's what Aunt's are for."

"I'm pleased you could come and stay."

"I wouldn't miss spending time with you and Sam, apart from your Dad you're my only family too. And would you believe it sometimes this old bird gets a little lonely."

"Well my favourite old bird is welcome to stay with us at any time, because I love how she makes life interesting."

Emily chuckled, "Although, I bet Sam is wishing I had made his plumbing experience a little less interesting."

"You have a point," Andy conceded.

Andy left Emily to unpack, suggesting that they go out for dinner as there would be little chance of preparing dinner with the sink in its current state.

She entered the kitchen to find Sam standing next to the sink, surveying the damage. She walked over to him and slid her arms around his waist, "You certainly smell better," she paused resting her head against his back, "How's your head?"

"Fine," he turned around in Andy's arms so that he could see her, noticing that she glanced at his head, "honestly."

She nodded, "Just don't go to work tomorrow and blame it on me!" she winked. "I can imagine Oliver and Jerry jumping to the wrong conclusion."

Sam smiled, "I wouldn't dare. One McNally woman's wrath is enough to bear," he flinched as Andy patted his chest, "Now that Em's staying with us I'd have to deal with her wrath too."

"Sam!"

He chuckled, "Does she like the house?"

"She's very impressed and already has plans for the yard."

"So I can expect you'll want to take a trip to the Garden Centre?"

"Definitely. Did you manage to find a plumber?"

"The earliest I could get one is tomorrow morning; do you think Emily will mind overseeing things?"

"I'm sure she won't, it'll ease her guilt."

"Guilt?" Sam asked, brushing a loose strand of hair from Andy's face.

"Well she's sort of blaming herself for your little accident."

"That's what it was, an accident. When she comes down, I'll make sure she knows that she has nothing to feel guilty about."

Andy smiled, "I thought we'd take Em out for dinner," she glanced at the sink, "As I don't think our culinary skills will be able to cope with the broken sink."

He chuckled, "Where would you like to go?"

"Emily loves Italian food, so I was thinking," before she could finish Sam said, "Angelo's?" She nodded, "That sounds good."

"I'll go and book a table," he said as he gently disentangled himself from her arms.

"I'll go and see how Em's getting on."

Sam unlocked the door and stepped to one side to let Emily and Andy inside the house.

Emily unbuttoned her coat and hung it on a peg; she turned to Sam and Andy, "Thank you for a lovely evening. Dinner was great, that's a lovely restaurant you found."

Andy smiled, "It's one of our favourites; Sam introduced me to Angelo's when we were partners. It was one of our favourite lunch stops, but their dinners are so much better."

"Well I can see why you like it," Emily yawned, "I'm sorry, but it's been a long day and I hear that lovely bed calling me," she stepped forward and kissed Andy's cheek. "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Aunt Em. We'll see you in the morning," Andy replied.

"Night, Em," Sam added, before turning to lock the door.

Andy snuggled into Sam's side, resting her head on his chest, "I didn't realise how much I missed Em, until she got here."

Sam chuckled, "Once you've met her, you will never forget her."

"She's just Aunt Em."

"She's one heck of an Aunt," he tightened his arms around her, "Now we have an early shift tomorrow, so we need to get some sleep."

Andy yawned as if on cue, "Yep. Night, Sam. Love you."

"Love you too," he replied dropping a gentle kiss on her head.

Sam and Andy opened the front door and were greeted by a wonderful smell, they dropped their bags inside the door and headed into the kitchen, "We told you we didn't expect you to cook for us whilst you were staying with us," Andy reiterated as she walked across the kitchen and gave her aunt a hug.

Emily returned the hug and smiled, "It's my pleasure. I enjoy cooking and it's the least I can do whilst you're out keeping the city safe."

"It smells delicious," Sam smiled, "Thanks."

"It's nothing too adventurous, Sam, spaghetti and meatballs."

Sam's smile turned into a grin, "My favourite."

Emily smiled, "Andy might have mentioned it to me. Now both of you go wash up, it's nearly ready."

"How was work?" Emily asked as they ate.

"I had a relatively quiet shift," Andy replied, "I was on front desk," she frowned, "Not my favourite place to work, but we all get turns."

Sam grinned, "At least I didn't have to worry so much today."

Andy smiled, "No but I got to do more as you were on patrol and I had plenty of time to think about it."

"But I did bring you lunch," he winked at her.

She nodded, "And it was a welcome relief and the company was pretty good too."

"Only pretty good!" Sam exclaimed good naturedly.

"Don't want your head to get too big, it still needs to fit through the door," Andy teased.

"I don't think I'll have that problem with you around."

Emily chuckled, "I missed this."

Andy and Sam smiled.

Sam rolled over and slid his arm across the bed, subconsciously searching for Andy, he opened his eyes when he realised that she wasn't there. He glanced at the bedside clock, five am. It wasn't like Andy to be up early, she took a great deal of encouragement to get out of bed every morning, and it was a skill he had certainly been perfecting since they'd moved in together. Concern pushing the last remnants of sleep from his body, he pulled back the sheets and went to find Andy.

As he padded across the carpet, he thought he heard a sigh and a whimper from their bathroom, opening the door slowly he found Andy sitting on the floor, her back resting against the side of the bathtub, her head tilted back and her eyes tightly closed. She looked pale and was definitely clammy, "Andy?" he walked over to her, watching her intently as she opened her eyes slowly.

She smiled thinly at the look of concern on Sam's face, "Hey," she whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"Guess I caught the flu from Traci," she explained, "She had it last week after Leo brought it home from Kindergarten. Children are very good at sharing germs as are their mothers."

Sam reached out and touching her forehead, "You don't have a temperature, but you certainly don't look a pretty colour, McNally."

"I don't feel a pretty colour, either."

"What can I get you?"

"A glass of water would be good. I've been sitting here thinking about how nice a glass of water would be, but every time I thought about moving, the room got a little swirly."

Sam's face clouded with anger, his voice was a little harsher than he meant it to be, "Why didn't you wake me?"

She knew he was concerned and ignored the tone of his voice, closing her eyes as the darkness made her feel slightly better, "When I realised what was wrong, I didn't have time to stop and wake you up. My priority was getting in here and after I made it, I didn't feel like moving."

His anger subsided and he tenderly reached out brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "I'll get you some water and then I'll keep you company until you feel you can make it back to bed."

Andy shook her head, instantly regretting the movement, "No, don't get too close otherwise you might get it."

Sam chuckled, "Andy I've been curled up in bed with you for the last six hours, we drove home together after work, and we watched TV together on the sofa. I think if I'm going to catch it I will already have your germs."

He had a valid point, "Okay, Nurse Swarek, where's my water?" she asked, trying to lighten the situation.

He smiled, "I'll be back in two minutes," he turned and hurried out of the bathroom to fetch her water.

He sat beside her, holding her hand, his thumb rubbing small circles on the back of her hand; as she rested her head on his shoulder. They'd been sitting like that for the best part of an hour, she'd been sick twice more and he'd held her hair and rubbed her back until she'd finished. "Do you think you can move back to bed?" he asked quietly.

"My stomach feels a little better," she replied quietly.

"Shall we risk it then?"

He felt her nodding against his shoulder.

He stood, bending forward to help her stand; he took most of her weight as he helped her back to their bedroom. He helped her to get settled in their bed, before fetching a glass of water and placing it on her nightstand. He also placed the trash can next to the bed in case she needed it. He looked at her pale face and couldn't help but feel concerned, "Andy?"

"Hmm."

"I'm going to phone work for you; then I'm going to get ready for work. I'll update Em on the situation. She'll make sure you're okay."

"Hmm."

"Get some sleep."

"Hmm."

He smiled before leaning over and placing a kiss on her forehead, "Love you."

"Hmm."

Andy opened her eyes and shut them quickly, the brightness of the morning sunlight too much for her aching head to handle. She lay in bed analysing how she felt, her head ached, but at least her stomach felt slightly better, she thought. It wasn't churning quite as much as it had earlier that morning.

She heard the door open and someone quietly enter the room, she didn't open her eyes and she wasn't ready for the light.

"Andy?" Emily asked as she moved quietly towards the bed.

"Yes, Em?" she replied, her voice croaky as her throat was dry.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been run over by a bus."

Emily chuckled quietly, "Would you like anything? I've made some chicken soup."

Andy's stomach churned at the thought of food, "No thanks, Em. I think I'm going to lay here with my eyes firmly closed and avoid all food, my stomach didn't like the sound of soup."

"Well, Sweetheart. I'll leave you to rest. I'll phone Sam and update him."

"How many times has he called you?" Andy asked, opening one eye slowly.

Emily grinned, "On the hour, every hour. He promised he'd be home instantly if I thought he needed to be here."

Andy smiled, "He would come home, too."

"He would. It was hard enough getting him to leave this morning. If I hadn't been here, I don't think he would have left."

"Probably not."

"Now I'll leave you to get some more rest, I'll check in later."

That afternoon Andy felt better, she managed to sit up and try a little of Em's soup. Her stomach didn't object to the food and the pounding she'd felt in her head had subsided to a very mild ache.

Emily smiled as she came in to check on her, "You look better, you've got some of your colour back. Sam will be relieved."

"Is he still calling?"

"Regularly," she perched on the edge of Andy's bed. "He said he will be home as soon as he can."

Andy smiled, "I bet he's been driving everyone crazy at work today."

"I bet there'll be a lot of people wishing you a very speedy recovery."

Andy chuckled quietly, trying not to move too much, "I'm sure there will be."

Sam hurried up the stairs and opened their bedroom door as quickly but as quietly as he could, relief washed through him as he looked at Andy, dozing quietly in bed, her face had more colour than it had that morning. He walked quietly over to the bed and gently crept onto the bed and lay down beside her, watching her sleep.

"I can feel you watching me," she said, her eyes still closed.

"I like watching you," he replied, gently brushing his fingertips across her forehead to check her temperature. "How're you feeling?"

"Much better than I did this morning. I might even make shift tomorrow."

Sam shook his head, "No. I've already told Frank you won't be on shift tomorrow."

She opened her eyes, ready to argue, but the look on his face, meant she wouldn't dare argue with him, "Okay."

Sam felt more concern when she didn't argue, "I was expecting you to argue with me."

She smiled, "I was going to, but then I saw your face," she reached out and cupped his cheek. "I'll stay here."

He returned her smile, "Good. As you will be no good to anyone if you go back to work too early."

"Is that the only reason?"

He shook his head, "No. I get a day without having to worry about you."

She smiled, "You'll worry anyway," she met his intense gaze, "Just how many times did you phone Em today?"

Sam smiled sheepishly, "At least once an hour, I lost count after a while."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Caring."

"It's natural when it comes to you, just like worrying and loving you."

"Can I have a hug?" she asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," he replied, moving so that she could snuggle against him.

Andy woke up as Sam got out of bed, instantly missing his warmth, "Morning," she stated sleepily.

"Morning," he replied, "How are you feeling?"

"Lonely," she winked.

"I'm going to be late, rest, make the most of your day."

"I'll try. Just try to limit your calls today to once every two hours," she teased.

He grinned, "I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

She chuckled, "I know."

Andy felt much better, although when she entered the kitchen, her stomach churned at the smell of the freshly brewed coffee Emily had made. "Morning, Aunt Em," Andy said, analysing her reaction to the coffee smell.

Emily watched Andy carefully, noticing her look of contemplation, "Morning. How are you feeling?"

Andy smiled, "Much better."

"I've made some coffee would you like a cup?"

Andy frowned and shook her head, "I don't think my stomach's ready for that. I'll have water."

The day passed quickly, Sam keeping to his promise and only phoning every two hours. Andy had time so she checked her phone, noticing that she had several messages, especially from Traci, who in each message apologised for sharing her germs.

Andy offered to help Emily prepare dinner but Emily insisted that she rest.

Sam hurried through the front door and walked into the living room, relieved to see Andy looked much better, "Hey."

Andy smiled, "Hey yourself."

He walked over and sank down into the sofa next to her, dropping a kiss on her head as he pulled her into his side. "You look much better."

"I feel much better, although Em would not let me help with dinner."

He smiled.

"You put her up to that, didn't you?"

"I might have made a suggestion when I spoke to her earlier."

"I do not need to be wrapped in cotton wool!" She stated sullenly.

"No, but you do deserve to be looked after and as I couldn't perform the duty today; Em stood up to the plate for me."

"And a very good job she's done too. I haven't been able to lift a finger and I'm bored. Can I go back to work tomorrow?" She pleaded, smiling her most appealing smile and running her hand up and down his leg.

"Trying to persuade me, McNally?"

"Thought it might help my chances," she winked.

"You're obviously feeling better."

"I'll show you later just how much better I'm feeling."

Sam grinned, "I can't wait."

Emily's voice behind them made them both jump apart like guilty teenagers, "Better eat dinner first to keep up your strength," she winked at them, then chuckled as they both turned a deep shade of red.

"Emily!" they exclaimed in unison.