"They're coming!" Wes grinned as he moved quickly back into the Murder Room from his perch at the door. The team had put him as the "look out" for the newlyweds this morning. Wes sprinted to his seat, trying to move gracefully, and as he moved to sit in his chair, he managed to kick it with his foot and almost fall on the floor. Cami, who happened to be sitting the closest to Wes, somehow caught the chair before it moved any further, and Wes, very ungracefully, fell into it sideways. His feet went up in the air, and the rest of the team just watched, all wondering how that had just happened.
"Well, this is an interesting way to start the day," Sharon said as she cleared her throat and stood at the entrance to the room. The team all snapped their heads in her direction, and all, well, except Provenza, smiled at the scene in front of them. Sharon and Andy were standing there together, holding hands, and both looked happy, relaxed, and calm.
"Hey, welcome back, Ma'am, Sir!" Julio grinned. "I know you only took off two days, but welcome back."
"Congratulations!" Amy jumped up and smiled at them as she walked over to give Sharon a quick hug. Sharon was a little surprised at the movement, but she had just had Amy in her wedding, so she could understand how the young woman was so happy and thrilled for them.
"Ahh, sorry about that, Commander," Wes flashed a grin at the couple. "I lost my balance on the chair, and I'd have fallen out of it if Cami, I mean Detective Paige here, hadn't helped me."
"I couldn't exactly let you eat the floor," Cami stated as she nodded. "In my short time here, I've already seen the commander fall to the floor. I didn't really think it needed to happen again."
"Cami," Provenza sighed as he rolled his eyes toward Sharon and Andy. "Commander, welcome back. Flynn, get that goofy grin off your face. You're married, finally. We were all there; we celebrated, and I have to say, the leftover cake you sent here yesterday did a lot to improve my mood," he nodded.
The team chuckled, and Andy shook his head. "Provenza, I missed you too, but I've spent the last few days thinking only of my lovely bride," he smirked at the guy. "You know, Ricky and Rusty couldn't eat all the leftover cake, so you're welcome," he nodded his head toward him. "You were our third thought behind eating some at home, making sure the boys got cake, and then there was you."
"Oh, stop," Sharon raised up her hand and swatted at Andy's chest, causing him to chuckle again. "We knew the cake would get eaten here. I'm guessing there isn't any left?"
"No, Ma'am," Buzz grinned. "What the team didn't eat, we told Mason, and let's just say that as formal as he can be, the chief has a real sweet tooth."
"Anything is better than that junk Flynn makes he calls a cake. That's love," he nodded to Sharon, "to continue to eat that junk and tell Flynn it's decent."
Sharon started to laugh, and that got Andy laughing too. She nodded, and then she looked up to the team, "Well, as several of you have said, we have only been out a couple days, but it sounds like Lieutenant Provenza has kept things in line here. I'm very glad we have some down time now that the last case is closed."
"You could have taken off the whole week, Commander," Provenza nodded. "We're fine here, and it's not like in the last two weeks you dealt with a long case, had questions about your own church, had all three of your kids in town, oh wait," he paused for effect, "got married to that idiot," he nodded to Andy, "and let's not forget that you had a health scare. It's Wednesday. There's still time for you to turn around and go home. If Flynn is already annoying you in married life, we'll keep him here with us today, our glorified desk monkey and send him home later with dinner, not that I'm buying, but I can make sure he picks up dinner."
Sharon grinned as she shook her head at the team. She pulled her hand out of Andy's, and with that hand, she wrapped it around his back, and she patted his stomach with her other hand, "Lieutenant, as wonderful as that all sounds, I'll keep him around for now." The team laughed at that as Andy rolled his eyes. Sharon shrugged as she pulled back from Andy, "I mean, it is only Wednesday. We haven't even been married a week. At least give me until Friday. Then, I might take you up on that," she pointed her finger at Provenza and smiled.
Everyone continued to laugh, as Andy pulled back and looked to Sharon, horrified. He was teasing her, but it felt good to be normal at the office for once without a horrible case hanging over their heads. "Commander Flynn, I 'm shocked you would say that."
"Oh, so you are changing your name?" Amy asked as she gestured between the two.
Sharon shrugged, "It's still being discussed. For now, I've already had one name, well, title, change at work. I need to get used to that first." She looked up to Andy and shrugged.
He just nodded and looked to the team. He shrugged again too, "It's up for discussion," he explained. "Until then, I'm going to keep calling her that. Legally, she is changing her name on all our personal things, so I'm not wrong in calling her that. Work," he shrugged again, "it's a discussion, and I think if I keep calling her that, it will grow on her."
"Hmm, much like you did, Flynn," Provenza smirked as he nodded. Andy made a gesture to him, annoyed, but Sharon just rolled her eyes at the team.
"Now," she clasped her hands together, "let's get back to work. I'm sure I have piles and piles of paperwork to sign."
"Actually, Ma'am, the lieutenant, that was part of his gift to you," Julio grinned. "Now, he made all of us stay last night until almost 7:00, but Ma'am, he did all the case paperwork. It's a miracle, almost like a Christmas miracle."
Sharon burst out laughing and bent over as she continued. The team just grinned as several laughed. Andy shook his head and started toward Sharon's office with her purse and briefcase. Sharon took a few moments to regain her composure, and then she nodded to the team. "Thank you, Lieutenant. That is quite the surprise."
"It won't happen again," Provenza pointed a finger at her. "Just, you know, take care of him," he gestured to Andy.
"I assure you," she smiled and continued, "that statement is true for me. Another wedding will not happen again." She turned and smiled at Andy, who now had opened the side door to her office and walked out to his desk. He'd switched on the computer screen and looked up to find Sharon grinning at him.
"Are they always this cute and cozy?" Cami asked, rather loudly, when she was really trying to quietly ask Wes.
"No," he acted surprised. "Well," he shrugged, "only when the lieutenant had a heart attack here in the office and the commander had her health issue. Then, we see their loving side. This," he gestured to them, "is a lot, even for them."
Sharon, who had started toward her office, but had walked around to her side door by Andy's desk, turned to the group and smiled as she squeezed Andy's arm, "For years, I've worried about my reputation at work, not the rule-following one, but just one of mixing any of my personal life with work. Recently, I've decided life is short." She smiled up at Andy.
"Commander, I must say, this is the most you two have shown your personal relationship in a long time, maybe the ballet fight a couple years ago?" Amy asked. She looked to Julio and shrugged.
"Yeah, that was a good fight," Julio grinned. He turned to Wes and Cami who were looking at him with a questioning gaze. "The lieutenant's daughter came here with ballet tickets for, and I quote, 'The whole family' meaning she had brought tickets for the commander and Rusty. We all enjoyed that awkwardness, and I can only imagine the discussion at home that night," Julio said as he bent his head in laughter.
"That's not funny," Sharon tried to look serious as she told Julio that. Andy rolled his eyes at her, and she caved and started to laugh. "Okay, maybe it was. Oh, I wanted to strangle him that day, but," she shrugged as she reached for his hand again, "I still couldn't. One look at his face, and I couldn't be mad."
"Ugh, can we not discuss the puppy dog years?" Provenza groaned.
"Ma'am, before we start the day, can we at least give you our gifts?" Julio asked as he was almost jumping out of his seat. He looked to the rest of the team, "Sorry, but I held it in as long as I could."
"We were going to wait until the end of the day," Amy pointed out.
"Gifts?" Sharon asked, now surprised. "You didn't need to get us any gifts," she smiled. Andy nodded and turned to log into his computer.
"Well, technically, when one is invited to a wedding, that's an appropriate thing to do," Cami raised a finger to make a point of order.
"Commander, we have a variety of gifts for you," Buzz smiled. "One, as you heard, the lieutenant did his own paperwork."
Andy chuckled, "Wow, Provenza, you are slipping. If I had known you'd do paperwork the day I married Sharon, I would have married her a long time ago."
Sharon rolled her eyes and glared at Andy, "I mean, I would have hoped my lovely bride would have married me years ago." He grinned.
"You're digging a hole, Flynn," Provenza put his head in his hands and looked down at his desk.
"Commander, there was a lot of discussion about the right gift for you. Cami and I had classy ideas," Amy nodded, as did Cami. The two women looked toward the men. "The guys," she shook her head, "well, I don't necessarily claim what they decided."
Sharon smiled, and she moved to the empty desk in front of Andy's desk. She perched on the side of it and crossed her legs. Andy sat in his chair and moved it toward Sharon. She was turned sideways so her legs were almost in front of where Andy was sitting.
"Okay, well, it sounds like some time and maybe effort," she looked at them as if that was a question, "was put into all this, so go ahead."
"I'm going to start," Amy jumped up with a wrapped long box. "This is from all of us. Cami and I had the idea, and then, we got some help here. We know you postponed your trip to Ireland, and we felt badly about that. Enjoy." Amy handed them the box, and Andy gestured for Sharon to open it. She did, as Andy looked to see what was inside.
"Oh my," she smiled at Andy and then to the group. "Two nights at the Beverly Hills Hotel?" she asked. She looked to the team for confirmation.
"I know what you are thinking," Mike jumped in. "Yes, it's not a place on a cop's salary, but I know a guy from working on Badge of Justice. Two nights at the hotel, along with all your meals, valet parking, all at a great price to us," he grinned. "Enjoy," he nodded to them.
Andy started to scowl, but Sharon reached for his tie, and that caught his glance. He looked up at her, and she gave him a look. He instantly looked to Mike, "Hey, thanks Mike."
"You're welcome. It's for this weekend. Badge shoots scenes there all the time, and they are always telling me to call them if I need anything. We checked with Rusty, and I quote, 'It's one more weekend I don't have to haul the boxes and boxes of Christmas angels out of storage,' so we were told you were free," Mike added.
Sharon started to chuckle as she nodded, "Hmm, yes, we are free. We had no plans, well, because we were going to be gone, but this is lovely, really lovely," she nodded to the group.
"Yeah, thanks everyone. I'll make sure no murders or altercations occur in the hotel while we are there. That would be our luck," Andy flashed a fake grin to the group.
Buzz stood and moved toward them with the next gift, "Ma'am, Lieutenant, we had this idea too," he said as he handed them another gift. Sharon looked to the group, and Andy shook his head.
"Guys, really, this is too much," Andy nodded.
"Oh, just open the gift," Provenza waved a hand. "Know, though, that we put Buzz on this one, so of course, he went over the top."
"Hey! Casey thought this was a great idea."
"Oh, Buzz," Sharon smiled as she passed the wrapped gift to Andy, "it wasn't necessary." Andy took the gift and followed Sharon's nod to open it.
"Hey, this is pretty cool," Andy grinned as he held up the contents for the box.
"I went to one of those engraving stores. All of this was a team gift, but when I got there, I couldn't decide. You both have been so good to me," he said as he looked to Andy, "well, maybe not when you put dents in my Prius, but over the years, you two have meant a lot to me, Rusty too," Buzz said.
Andy grinned as he started to pull out the contents, "Look, Sharon, a Christmas ornament, and it's not an angel!" he said excitedly. Sharon smacked at his arm again, and she smiled to Buzz.
"It's lovely; thank you," Sharon said as she turned back to it.
"Our First Christmas-2017, The Flynn Family," he grinned. "Buzz, this is great."
"There's more," Buzz nodded to the box. Andy put the ornament down and pulled out the next piece. He read it and smiled proudly as he handed it to Sharon. She eyed him as she read it too.
"Ma'am, I didn't know what you were doing about your name, but that name plaque matches the one the lieutenant has on his desk. I figured if nothing else, when you do retire, they could sit side by side."
Sharon nodded as she listened. She fingered the name plate, and she smiled to the group. "This is lovely," she said as she waved it in the air. "If nothing else, I'm going to put both my name plaques side by side. That will be a conversation starter for anyone entering my office."
"I've got a bigger gift that goes with that," Buzz nodded to them and returned to his desk area. He pulled out a large wrapped gift. "This goes with all of that."
Sharon stood, as did Andy, and they accepted the gift. They unwrapped it to find a beautiful family picture from just after Christmas the year before. "Rusty helped me with the picture. He said there weren't many of all the kids and grandkids, but this one was the best."
"Oh, this is so thoughtful!" Sharon exclaimed as Andy picked up the framed photo to look at it. "Oh, the boys have gotten so big since then!" Andy nodded as he looked to the picture. He then turned it so the team could see it.
"Who has the kids? I didn't know you were grandparents!" Cami exclaimed. The team looked to her, and she sat back in her seat.
Sharon patted Andy's hand as she laughed, "Yes, we have two grandsons. Andy's children weren't at the wedding. They had a death in the family over the weekend, and while it was really hard not having them all at the wedding, it was the right decision. The last time we had all the kids and grandkids together was last year after Christmas. Emily's ballet company was on tour and came through LA. We all went to see her, and we took this lovely photo after her performance."
Andy nodded as he looked to Buzz, "This is great. Thank you. We had all the kids in town for, what," he turned to Sharon in question, "30 hours or something?"
She chuckled, "Yes, maybe not that long. Everyone, this is all wonderful. Thank you."
"Oh, wait, there's one more," Julio grinned. Amy started to shake her head, and Sharon and Andy looked to each other puzzled.
"Hey, Julio, if it's one of your day passes from Sultry Dolls, no thanks," Andy smirked.
"Sir," Julio clutched his chest, "I should be offended," he grinned, "but, I'm not. No, it's not that. I gave my passes to Wes," he nodded and smiled at Wes, who snapped his head toward the group and shyly grinned.
"Didn't want them to go to waste," he grinned.
"Commander, Lieutenant, this is the part I can't claim," Amy nodded. Cami, behind her, did the same.
Julio looked around the room, still grinning. "Can I give it to them?"
"Oh, just end this, Julio!" Provenza waved. "And no, it's not the money from my retirement fund! That printer money is mine, all earned fairly."
"You know, I almost told the FBI about your government rate," Andy grinned, "but, after what they did, I decided you could keep your inflated fees."
Julio jumped up with a small gift bag, and he made his way to the couple. "Ma'am, I'm going to let the lieutenant open this."
Sharon looked to him with a panicked expression, "Julio, let's remember this is work, and I am still your boss."
"Oh, this goes with work," he grinned.
Andy started to open the bag, and as he saw the gift, he looked to Sharon and burst out laughing. She felt her cheeks getting flushed, and she had no reason to even be embarrassed yet. Andy doubled over in laughter as he still clutched the bag. The team, knowing the contents, all started to laugh too. Sharon was left in the dark.
"Andy, what is it?" she asked.
Andy held up his hand to give him a moment. When he stood back up, he had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. "It's a," he started to laugh again, and the team did the same. Sharon rolled her eyes as she waited. She started to pull at the bag, but Andy shook his head. He reached in and pulled it out, "It's a privacy sign."
"Privacy, please," Julio nodded, and not just 'a' sign; it's THE privacy sign we've used here for years. "Like I said, it is related to work. Please, from all of us, don't use it here at work."