Notes: Thanks for the reviews, glad to see people are still enjoying following the Flynn's around.
August 1998
"Bye my darling babies," Sharon murmurs as she leans down to press a kiss to Drew's head before doing the same to Libby. The toddlers were knelt next to the coffee table coloring while Emily and Ricky watched tv. She brushes her daughter's bouncy, red pigtails before kissing the older kids, "Be good, listen to the babysitter. Bed by 9. I love you."
"Yes, mom," Ricky and Emily drone in unison. Sharon rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a small smile before meeting Andy at the front door.
"Kids," She huffs slightly with a grin before following him out to the car. Andy had talked her into calling a babysitter for a Friday evening they both were scheduled completely off. There were no meets or games or recitals to go to. They had an evening completely free and he was hell bent on taking her out for their first proper date in a long while. He makes his way to the passenger side of the car, opening her door for her.
"M'lady."
"Thank you," Sharon smiles and climbs into the passenger seat before Andy shuts the door and goes around to the driver's side. He climbs up himself before starting the car and backing out of the driveway. Sharon rests her hand on his leg as he drives, "Any hints as to where we are going?"
"Back in time a bit," Andy says mysteriously.
"Back in time?" Sharon questions before humming quietly.
"You'll like it," Andy assures her with a smile. Sharon smiles back and squeezes his leg, enjoying their drive through the city. She's not surprised to figure out that they are headed for the beach, but arches her eyebrow slightly when they pull up to a non-descript bar and grill a bit of the way off of one of the boardwalks. Andy parks the car and hops down from the driver's seat before going over to Sharon's side and opening the door. Her head tilts as she continues to look at the restaurant.
"Have we been here before?"
"Yes," Andy nods as he holds his hand out, "It's been a while though."
"It must have been," Sharon shakes her head before taking her husband's hand and following him inside. They are sat at a table by the open windows and given menus after they put in their drink orders. Andy orders a Coke as Sharon orders a glass of white wine after being rebuffed by the waitress that they didn't have a wine 'selection'; they had red, and they had white. She rolls her eyes after the waitress walks away as he laughs, both of them picking up their menus.
"I think a burger sounds good," Andy says.
"You always think a burger sounds good," Sharon grins as she looks over the menu, "But tonight I'm in the mood to agree. I was getting tired of chicken. If I see another chicken nugget in my life it'll be too soon."
"Aren't the kids having chicken nuggets tonight for dinner?"
"Yes! I'm trying to get rid of them," Sharon laughs, "We bought that damn economy size bag at Costco. It was a terrible idea."
"Oh yeah," Andy chuckles himself before tapping his menu against the table, "How about appetizers?"
"What were you thinking?" Sharon replies, continuing to look over her own menu.
"Mozzarella sticks?" He suggests with an arched eyebrow. She brings her menu to her face, her eyes peeking out from behind. After a moment they crinkle and she nods enthusiastically. The waitress comes back with their drinks and Andy orders first, asking for the mozzarella sticks and a cheeseburger and fries. Sharon hands over her menu as she orders a cheeseburger for herself as well.
"Toppings?"
"I'll do bacon as well, just tomato and mustard. Can I do a side salad instead of fries as well?"
"Sure," The waitress nods, "Dressing?"
"Italian please," Sharon smiles.
"Alright, I'll have those sticks out for you soon," The waitress tells them with a small smile before leaving the table. Sharon takes a sip of her wine and lets the liquid roll along her tongue for a moment before she swallows.
"How's the white?" Andy teases.
"I'm pretty sure it's a chardonnay?" Sharon questions with a tilt of her head before shrugging and taking another drink. She sets her glass down and stretches her hand across the table, curling her fingers around Andy's. She squeezes gently as she smiles at him and slowly traces the bumps of his knuckles with her thumb, "I'm glad we decided to do this."
"Me too," Andy smiles back, looking down at their joined hands. His thumb reaches up and brushes over her wedding rings, "I wish you would let me get you something better."
"Why?"
"Because, you deserve something besides a plain ring. At least a diamond," Andy reasons. Many times over the last few years he'd tried to talk her into letting him get her a new ring or upgrade the one she had. She always fought back on his offer though telling him in no uncertain terms that she loved her ring and didn't need anything else.
"I don't need diamonds," Sharon says in a gentle tone that let him know she was humoring him by having this conversation again, "I don't need a new ring. I don't want diamonds or a new ring."
"But..."
"Andy, I love my ring, a lot," Sharon interrupts, "It means a lot to me. It's a reminder of what we've been through together. I don't need some big fancy rock on my finger to impress people. All I need is the ring you bought me because you wanted me to wear it, because you were willing to wait for me for...forever if you had to. It's not just a ring to me. None of the jewelry, or anything, for that matter, you've ever given me is."
"I love you, you know that right?"
"Of course I know that," Sharon smiles, watching as he lifts her hand to his mouth, pressing his lips to the back of it. Every once in a while he still surprised her with how romantic and sentimental he could be., "I don't need the best. All I need is you."
"Mmm, I can only hope I'm enough."
"You most certainly are," Sharon squeezes his hand again before looking around the restaurant. The decor wasn't tacky, but it wasn't high end. The tables at least had table cloths on them, if only to hide tacky laminate underneath. There were a couple TVs around the bar area that were showcasing sports highlights and the pregame for the Dodger game that night. A small corner was set aside for a live band with a small dance floor area laid out in front, most likely for use on the weekend evenings. It wasn't necessarily a place she wouldn't be caught dead in but she can't imagine that she would have arranged for her and Andy to ever actually come have dinner here. It was out of the way of their usual beach haunts, and just out of the way in general, "When did we ever come here?"
"Still bothering you huh?" Andy laughs, "I'll make you a deal. If you don't figure it out by the end of the night, I'll tell you. And I won't even be offended."
"How kind of you to take pity on me," Sharon laughs before looking up as their waitress brings over their basket of mozzarella sticks, setting it on the table between them along with two small tea plates.
"Can I get you anything else to go with these?"
"Actually a side of ranch would be great," Sharon asks with a shade of guilt.
"Sure, I'll bring it right over," The waitress smiles before retreating.
"God you are so gross," Andy comments as he picks up one of the sticks. Sharon rolls her eyes as she reaches out to grab one for herself.
"Once again, if you hadn't gotten me pregnant, I wouldn't have had the craving to put ranch all over everything, and I wouldn't have kept putting it all over everything afterwards," Sharon points out with a grin before biting the end off of the fried cheese, hissing as she encounters hot steam encased within, "Hot!"
She glares at Andy as he laughs as she tries to bite off the cheese, only succeeding in pulling out a long string of it and burning herself in the chin before she gives up on the whole thing and drops it onto her plate, "Crap that's hot."
"I see," Andy says as he puts his down on his own plate, giving it time to cool off. The waitress drops off the side of ranch a couple moments later and Sharon gives the snack a second chance after dipping it into the cup of dressing.
The two continue to talk over their appetizers and dinner, Andy watching with interest as Sharon devours her burger not leaving a lick behind on the plate. The waitress asks if they want anything else before dropping their bill off. Andy scans the receipt and drops enough cash to cover the total and tip before getting up and offering his hand to Sharon. She finishes the last dredges of her wine before taking his hand and pulling herself up.
"So, any ideas of when we were here yet?" Andy asks as he walks her out the back of the restaurant and onto the walkway that ran along the back of the few restaurants set out there. The breeze off the ocean wasn't too heavy, but the waves were rolling against the shore heartily while the sun was starting to set. It was late summer so the nights weren't as long as they had been but they were still able to get a bit of sun after dinner.
"It does seem familiar," Sharon comments as she leans against the railing for a moment, taking a deep breath of the salty air, "I can't place it though. It must be important if you remember it."
"I don't know if that's a dig or not," Andy laughs as he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her back against his chest. He presses a kiss to her head and squeezes her tight, his rough voice quietly filling her ear, "Regardless though, 10 years ago I walked out of that bar to find you leaning here, much like you just were…and I was struck. I'd spent three years trying to get 20 minutes in another bar out of my head, and when I saw you here and when you kissed me as we sat on the beach together I realized it was a futile effort. It's one of the most sobering moments I've had in my life. And I was a dozen sheets to the wind."
"I think by the time I kissed you we were laying more than sitting," Sharon replies as a soft smile stretches across her lips. She turns her head to look back at Andy and squeezes his hand resting on her middle, "Your promotion party."
"My promotion party," Andy nods in agreement, "Someone at work reminded me the other day that I've been a sergeant for a decade. And it got me thinking about that night, about other things."
"I'm honestly surprised either you or I remember anything...we were so drunk when we left," Sharon comments, her mind drifting back to that night if only for a moment.
Their escapades on the beach had come to a close when a burst of raucous cheering from the bar had interrupted the afterglow with Sharon slumped against his chest as the world spun around her. Her heart was beating an impatient rhythm against her ribcage and her nerve endings felt like they were melting and on fire all at the same time. The solid chest beneath her shaking form had been a comfort as she tried to banish the horrible thoughts that immediately started to plague her. The empty bourbon bottle and tablecloth had been abandoned in the sand as they took a wide berth of the bar to find a cab on the main road, heading back to the hotel Andy had been staying at. By the time they arrived they probably should have been arrested for public indecency, or at least warned, for the things that happened in the back of that cab. When her back hit the mattress in his hotel room she didn't know how they had gotten there and if she was still drunk on the liquor or drunk on him.
"It wasn't all bad," Andy comments, breaking her train of thought as her eyes snap back up to his, "We got Ricky out of it."
"We did," Sharon's smile brightens.
"That night, I knew I wanted you...I needed to have you. You were and are...so ingrained in my system. I don't know how you do it," Andy continues to explain to her. Sharon could tell that he had been thinking about that night a lot with the way he was talking. If she told anyone at the station how much of a romantic he could be when he wanted to he'd probably get laughed out of the building. But she liked it. It made him much more charming to her, not that he needed to be. She leans up on her toes and presses her lips to his in a deep kiss. Pulling back she strokes her fingers along his cheek as she gives him another kiss, this one quick and chaste.
"You certainly had me," Sharon replies, her eyes sparkling, "My mother kept asking why I wasn't walking straight my first couple days there. I had to tell her I pulled a muscle running."
"Shar..."
"I used to think about you too. Most of the time when I was rocking Emily to sleep at night or if she was being particularly ornery. So, I'm not the only one that is invasive," Sharon admits as she stares up into his eyes, taking in the slight flecks of gold in the depths of chocolate as she finds herself lost in another memory, "That first Halloween we spent with Vicky when Ricky was a baby...she told me you used to mumble my name in your sleep. I was horrified."
"I couldn't get you out of my head," Andy shrugs and looks down at the ground, "God...I was such an asshole..."
"You have more than made up for it since," Sharon reminds him as she shifts their position and runs her hands up his back.
"Have I?" Andy questions. Sharon can see his brow furrow slightly and she dips her head down to kiss it gently.
"Most definitely," She whispers, "Absolutely, many times over. People grow and change. If you'd asked me 20 years ago if I thought I'd be here, I'd have laughed my way into an insane asylum. We've come very far and you've come very far in 10 years, and I'm proud of you every day."
"I don't deserve you," Andy sighs softly.
"Well you're stuck with me anyway," Sharon replies as tips his chin up and gives him a playful grin. Andy grins back and kisses her hungrily.
"Good," He mumbles against her lips.
"How about we walk for a bit?" Sharon suggests. Andy nods and slips his hands into hers, squeezing before letting one go and pulling her with him as he walks towards the steps down to the beach. They both take their shoes off, holding them in their free hands as they step onto the sand and make their way closer to the tide. She digs her toes into the damp sand and sighs softly as she leans her head against her husband's shoulder. The two walk for a while in silence, enjoying as the sun dips below the horizon. They turn to head back before it gets completely dark and Sharon heaves a sigh as she lifts her head.
"What's on your mind?"
"I've been going back and forth on when to bring this up," Sharon starts.
"Cause that doesn't have me worried."
"It's not bad," Sharon smiles and takes a deep breath before letting it out, "I want to go back to school."
"Back to school? Law school?" Andy asks. After they had moved in together he had bothered her about it every so often, whether or not she was going to pursue the dream she'd had before Emily had come along. He spent a lot of time trying to convince her that they could make it work between student loans and his salary. Eventually she'd assured him that she was content working for the LAPD, she enjoyed it much more than she ever thought she would and liked the side of the law she stood on. Besides, she reasoned, if she ever got a whiff of ever wanting to go to law school again she'd only have to ply Gavin and Andrea with a couple bottles of wine and ask them about their days to remind her why she didn't want or need to.
"No," Sharon shakes her head, "There's a Masters of Public Administration program at USC. I could do it part time, in the evenings…it would take about two years. When I finish there's an automatic pay increase at work, but the main thing is that it would look better when I apply for promotions. My Captain's promotion is coming up next and I'd like to go further than that. I think I have plenty of merit, and I think the degree would set me apart and prepare me for more official leadership. At least it would counteract the knock I get for being a woman."
"That's great!" Andy says enthusiastically, stopping their progress towards the bar. He turns to look down at Sharon, smiling widely at her.
"You think so?" Sharon asks as she looks up at him apprehensively. They both had just lapped forty. One moment it seemed futile to go back to school and start all over again, the other age was just a number and if she wanted to better herself she had the right to do it.
"Of course. Honey, I think it's great that you want to do that," He replies with an encouraging tone, squeezing her hands.
"You don't mind? It's…tuition isn't cheap. And it means taking up part of if not all of the little free time we have."
"I don't care if it was a hundred thousand a year and took you half way across the world," Andy exaggerates, "If it's going to make you happy, do it."
"That's a bit much," Sharon laughs as her head drops back slightly, rolling her eyes at her husband's antics.
"I'm serious," Andy growls as he pulls her close, "If you want to go back to school, I think you should go back to school. And whatever you need from me…I'll give it. I want you to be happy and fulfilled. I do have one request though…"
"No cheerleading outfits."
"Damn," Andy curses. Sharon laughs and presses her lips against his jaw as he hugs her close, "You're going to do great. When do you plan on starting?"
"Ah…two weeks," Sharon bursts into a peel of laughter as Andy lets out another growl and starts to tickle her.
"Woman!"
[TBC]