Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them. These characters aren't my own; I'm just borrowing them. Enjoy!

"I'm taking out the trash," Sharon called out to the condo. The kids were just starting to file in from their nighttime slumbers. Emily had walked out of the bedroom and collapsed into one of the orange chairs. Ricky was sitting on the end of the couch, rubbing his eyes. Rusty was still walking down the hall as he heard Sharon call out.

"How long has she been up?" Rusty asked as he filed into the living room and flopped himself face down on the couch, near Ricky.

"No idea," Emily mumbled, "I think for hours, though. I never heard her get up."

"Is she always so cheerful on Christmas morning when you guys are home?" Rusty groaned. "She wasn't like this the last couple years."

In the hall, Sharon quickly disposed of the trash; she didn't have much to take out anyways and waited by the elevator. She smiled when the doors opened.

"You kept them on," Andy chuckled.

Sharon rolled her eyes, "Well, your text message to 'leave on the reindeer pajamas' was pretty direct. I did otherwise get a shower, do my hair, and put on my makeup. Why were you so insistent on the reindeer pajamas?" she asked as they walked down the hall toward her condo.

"Well, if you remember, I tried to suggest you buy something different," he smiled at her. Sharon rolled her eyes, "but then, you said those were not appropriate pajamas for 1-your kids to see, and 2-Christmas. Then you told me that it didn't matter because I wouldn't be seeing any pajamas-what I wanted you to get or otherwise, so I figure since I won't get my wish anytime in the foreseeable future, I might as well see the reindeer ones. They are cute on you," he smiled.

Sharon turned to look back at him, "Cute?"

As they reached her door, Sharon stood to the side of it, waiting on Andy's response instead of opening the door.

"Yes, cute. That's coming from Andy, not Lieutenant Flynn. Lieutenant Flynn would never call his boss cute-well, he might have, but he wouldn't dare now. That lady has it in for him and would send him to another sensitivity training," he smirked. "I don't remember those pajamas having a shirt under them, as you're wearing them. Now, the look minus the shirt, the open reindeer top, now that I could get on board with."

Sharon smacked at him, "Stop! You're terrible. You're going to have my neighbors out here thinking more is going on with us than there is. Now, before we go inside, Merry Christmas."

Andy raised his eyebrows, "You didn't think you could tell me Merry Christmas in your condo? Are your kids against you wishing me a Merry Christmas? Man, Sharon, what do they have against Christmas?" he joked.

Sharon rolled her eyes, "You think you are so funny this morning-apparently, Christmas brings out your good mood, and-"

Before Sharon could continue, Andy had leaned over and kissed her sweetly, "and-and what?" he said inches from her face.

"And, you'd better kiss me again here, now, because my kids would definitely have something against that," she grinned at him.

Andy kissed her again, sweetly, "Merry Christmas, Sharon."

Sharon bit her lip and looked up at him, "Well, it's a very good morning now. Thank you for shaving."

Andy smiled back at her, "I love the Nutcracker."

Sharon raised her eyebrows to him, "You are standing here in the hall with me, kissing me, on Christmas morning, and you come up with 'I love the Nutcracker' really?"

Andy pulled back and started gesturing with his hands, "Yeah, well, that amazing outing forced us to talk. Our kids put us on the spot-remind me to thank them one day-and if you recall, we talked well into the early hours of that morning. Now, we did some kissing too, eventually, but yeah, the Nutcracker-loved it," and he grinned at her.

Sharon rolled her eyes, "You do realize in all our hours of talking that night, we really didn't come to any earthshattering conclusions."

Andy nodded, "Yeah, except that we weren't calling this dating for now, the potential to really date you someday was still there, we weren't going to scare each other off by expressing our feelings, neither one of us wanted to spend time with anyone else besides each other, and we'd just take things very slowly and see if they progressed. Oh, and then, there's the whole "when." I say when because it's not an if for me-"when" I ask you out on a real date, you'll know it. I'll be very clear. I won't let you run from the hills for fear of calling it a date then. Oh, and my favorite part-we agreed we could kiss more-now on the lips. That's my favorite part of the Nutcracker."

"Kissing is your favorite part of the Nutcracker? Sharon joked with him.

"There was kissing IN the Nutcracker? I wouldn't know. I was too busy staring at you and your legs," Andy admitted.

Sharon chuckled, "I'm guessing you were also distracted thinking up ways to ask if you could kiss me, right? Your line-it was pretty cheesy."

Andy grinned, "Well, I love kissing you on your cheek, still, do, but I had to step up my game, you know. So, yes, I wanted to be polite and respectful for you and not just maul you with my lips."

"Maul me with your lips? What kind of animal are you-wait don't answer that," Sharon giggled as she shook her head.

"You have to admit, the Flynn charm worked that evening," Andy smirked at her. Sharon was now standing against the wall, hands behind her back, supporting herself against the wall. Andy was standing next to her, looking down at her eyes glistening.

"That was the Flynn charm? I think it needs work," Sharon smiled.

"What? I thought I had a great reason for wanting to kiss you-very original," he grinned.

Sharon shook her head, almost snorting now she was laughing so hard, "Let me get this straight-that was your best line? You asked me if you could kiss me because you wanted to see if my lips were as cold as my feet and hands were all the time. That's your charm?"

Andy leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

Sharon rolled her eyes as he moved back to look at her again, "Hmmm, well, I don't think my lips are cold, so you probably don't need to 'warm them up' as you said, anymore."

Andy nodded, "Up to you. You'll be back. No one can resist the Flynn charm, and when you've been kissed by Flynn-well, you'll be back."

"Mom, are you okay?" Emily asked as she opened the door in search of Sharon. "Mom?" Emily turned and saw Sharon and Andy talking against the wall. "Oh, hi Andy," she smiled and left the door open and walked back into the condo. Sharon and Andy could hear her yell out to the boys, "Mom's fine. She's not dead or anything. She's just in the hall with the boyfriend."

Sharon started laughing again and put her head into Andy's chest. She could feel him laughing as well. Sharon reached for his hand, "Come on, the inquisition awaits," she smiled up at him and stood up on her tiptoes to peck him on the lips before pulling him toward the door.

"See, already back for more-couldn't resist the charm," Andy smiled at her and jumped back as she turned around to smack him, "and I think those lips most definitely will need to be warmed up further a bit later. Yes, they're cold."

As the two walked into the condo, still laughing, Ricky looked up from his spot now in one of the orange chairs. Rusty had completely sprawled out on the couch, facedown, not ready to address the world. Emily had moved over toward the Christmas tree and was grinning at Sharon and Andy.

"So, Mom, we have a visitor for Christmas morning, huh? We've never had anyone here except just us before," Emily egged on Sharon.

Sharon rolled her eyes, "Emily, stop."

Andy jumped right in and held up a bag, "I come bearing gifts," he smiled and Sharon turned to him.

"You brought gifts?" she asked. "How did I not notice?"

Without looking at the two of them, Ricky piped in, "Probably because you were standing out there making out with him if I had to guess. Andy, nice to see you again. Merry Christmas."

Andy chuckled and said, "Merry Christmas, Ricky, Emily, Rusty."

At the sound of his name, Rusty pulled his head up off the couch for a brief moment and frowned, "Uh, hi lieutenant. I wasn't sure if you were really standing there or if it was a dream I was having here on the couch. Nope, you're here. Nice look you have there-are you Rudolph or something?" and Rusty flopped back down on the couch.

Sharon turned to Andy, both with a quizzical expression on their faces, and Sharon then saw the "Rudolph" comment. Andy had lipstick on his lips, even toward his nose. She rolled her eyes and reached up to wipe it off. Ricky chuckled and Emily grinned.

"Such a comedian," Andy shook his head, and as Sharon pulled him further into the condo, he leaned down to Sharon and whispered, "So, do you think Rusty would like to know we made out on that very same couch a couple times last week? That might knock the smirk off his face."

Sharon giggled and turned to Andy, mouthing, "Stop."

"Guys, I invited Andy over for breakfast. He's alone otherwise, so I thought it would be nice," Sharon explained.

Emily grinned, "Well, I'm glad you are here. Let me take your presents and put them over here if that's okay?"

Andy nodded, "Thanks Emily. That's fine. Rusty, if I'm Rudolph, I can most definitely speak to Santa about taking your gifts back to the North Pole."

Rusty popped up again, "There are gifts in there for me?"

Andy rolled his eyes, "You practically left me a map. How many days did I find actual printouts taped to my computer at work with the word "Rusty" next to them? I don't think your mother did that."

"You knew that was me?" Rusty asked.

Andy rolled his eyes, "Of course. Most of the dirtbags we haul in for questioning can be more subtle than that. My computer was the only one in the office with your Christmas list constantly taped to it. You should work on your tact."

Rusty now sat up fully, looking at Andy, who was grinning back at him. Sharon was trying not to laugh, looking away.

"Well, Lieutenant Provenza told me to put it there. Told me that and I quote-"The idiot future stepdad will be glad to get you anything you want for Christmas. He wants to make the Captain happy, so he'll get you your gifts," Rusty repeated.

Sharon's jaw dropped, "Provenza said that? Andy!"

Andy chuckled and turned to Sharon with a sheepish look, "I'll talk to him, and he should know better," as he turned back to Rusty, "I didn't get you everything. Your mom would like me LESS if I did that. You should know better than to trust anything coming from Provenza."

Rusty shrugged, "Well, he said it works with his own kids every time he gets a new wife." Rusty turned back to the tv and without addressing it to anyone in particular, "I'm hungry. Is breakfast ready?"

Sharon nodded, not that Rusty could see her. He was turning on a Christmas parade on television, "Almost ready, give me five minutes to get things out."

Andy turned and followed her, "I'll help."

As the two walked into the kitchen out of earshot of the kids, Sharon leaned over and whispered, "I can't believe Provenza would say that! This recon mission you want-I'm in. I'll help you."

Andy turned and smiled at her, leaning even closer to her, "Never doubted you would go. It's the charm again-can't resist it, plus, you can't resist our favorite restaurant," as he kissed her quickly and moved back to grab the plates. Sharon scoffed at him and finished getting the casserole out, "Kids, breakfast is ready."

"So, Andy, joining us for breakfast today," Ricky started in on Andy.

Rusty shook his head, "This is nothing. Granted, he's not here for breakfast ever, but he's here all the time for dinner."

"All the time?" Emily smiled as she sat down next to Sharon. "How often are you here, Andy?"

Andy fired right back, "How often are you home, Emily?"

Emily glanced at him and broke into a huge smile, "Yeah, Rusty was right. You're long gone-head over heels. Mom, I'm a size 2 when you need my bridesmaid dress size."

Sharon gave Emily a death glare as the rest of the group moved to the table.

Ricky piped in to further torment Andy, "Gee, Mom if I had known we were having company, I would have-" he was cut off.

"Would have what?" Andy jumped in, dishing it right back to Ricky. Ricky had handled things the best of all the kids where Andy was concerned. The two had always gotten along well, and even after Andy had sort of chewed Ricky out when he was giving Sharon a hard time about adopting Rusty, the two men had gotten through that rough patch, both recognizing they wanted the best for Sharon. Andy had enlightened Ricky that's Sharon's "lonely heart" was being well cared for, and Ricky seemed to relax knowing a good guy like Andy was watching out for her, and her life wasn't the disaster Jack had painted it to be. "Ricky, what? You would have-I don't know-gotten a haircut? Not worn the elf pajama pants you have on? Those-those are nice," he smirked.

Ricky gave Andy a half scowl, half smile, "Okay, I'll give you that. I did get a haircut, even if you can't tell. The pajamas, well Mom got them for me."

As Andy sat down at the table next to Sharon, he took a sip of orange juice as he said, "I know. I picked out the elf pants especially for you," and winked as Sharon turned her head away from the table, trying not to laugh.

Rusty looked up with a horrified expression, "So, did you pick out these Frosty the Snowman ones for me, or was that Sharon? I could live with these if Sharon got them, but you-that's just wrong."

"All me," Andy winked at Sharon, "She paid for them, but I found them, and she agreed. "Why the horrified expression?" he asked Rusty.

Rusty shook his head, "It just sounds so…" he didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"What?" Andy asked as he took a quick sip of juice, "Creepy?'

Rusty shook his head again, "No, not that. So, so dad-like, picking out clothes."

Andy looked at him as he stabbed a piece of food, "Well, I am a dad," and smiled at him.

"Yeah, but not my-" Rusty started to say.

"What? Not your dad? See anyone else in line? I don't. You can dish it out with your comments about your mother and me, but you can't take them yourself? Rusty, I may not legally be your dad, but who else has spent more time with you other than your mother? Buzz is close, but even he mainly tutors you in math. Me. That's who. Who has worked endlessly on the other Sharon's case? Anyone else volunteering to watch your chess matches other than your mother? No, we both come. If I recall, I'm the one who suggested taking you out to eat after every good report card, hmm and even lobbied for burgers, which I don't eat. If I recall, Buzz helped you with math, Sharon helped you with English, and I was your history guy for tutoring, remember? Rusty, I play chess with you every single time I'm here for dinner. You come with Sharon and me to most of the family outings Nicole has. I even helped you convince Sharon getting a job was a good idea, remember? Call it what you want, but yeah, I picked out the pants," and he shrugged.

Sharon, Ricky, and, Emily were all avoiding looking at each other for fear of laughing. Sharon caught Andy's eye and couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She started snort laughing. Rusty still sat there, in shock, at the realization. Andy, perfectly content, kept eating his breakfast.

Ricky stood to get more juice, turned to Rusty and said, "For what it's worth, I think you ended up with a better one than Em and I have. Hey, at least he's here," and then and bowed toward Andy, "Andy, welcome to the family," to which Emily started a full out laugh as well.

"Now, aren't you excited to see what I got you for Christmas?" Andy said as he looked at Rusty and then toward Sharon, where he winked at her.