Andy's head flew up, "My daughter?" he asked, looking panicked at Cynthia. He could feel his blood pressure rising. Cynthia noticed it too, and looked around, spotting bottled waters on the bookshelf. She quickly got up and got him one, twisting the top, and handing it to him.
"Here," she encouraged, "I heard about your collapse a few months ago, a pinched nerve, right? Are you okay? Should I get you an aspirin?"
Andy waved her off and had a sip of the water. He glanced up to see Sharon looking back at him worried. He shook his head and motioned for her to come in. Cynthia turned to note where he was looking and looked back at Andy.
"Lieutenant, we don't have to involve Captain Raydor in this yet. Certainly, we have things to discuss, but your work here, well, if you decide to take some time, we can talk to her together later," she encouraged.
Andy gave her a nervous smile, "Oh, you don't know the half of it," he grumbled. "She's definitely involved in this," he sighed, as Sharon walked in, looking completely worried. Andy and Sharon didn't lie to each other, and he wasn't about to start now. She'd gotten on him in the past for not telling her when he was in pain, both during his "dust up with the car," and with the pinched nerve, and he'd agreed never to do that. Not letting her in on his pain and not telling her about an apparent child were two completely different things, and he wasn't going to lie to her or hide things from her.
"Andy, what's the matter?" she asked, almost rushing to his side, "Is it your heart? Should I call the ambulance?"
Both Cynthia and Andy started to speak, and Andy raised his hand, "Sharon, I'm fine. Heart is fine," he gave her a small smile, trying to reassure her. He patted her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, a move Cynthia noticed and had her raising her eyebrows. "While my heart is fine, there's something Cynthia is here to discuss that you need to hear. She had just started when I motioned for you to come in. Here, sit down," he motioned to the chair next to him.
Sharon still wasn't convinced, "You're sure you are okay? Andy, don't scare me like this again."
Andy squeezed her shoulder as she started to sit, "There's an issue. It's not my heart, but you need to hear this too," he said again, turning back to Cynthia. "Cynthia, I asked Sharon in here before you continue because this will affect her. Not as my boss," he said, letting that sink in for Cynthia. Cynthia raised her eyebrows at Andy, "but as my family. Cynthia, we live together. We just bought a new house and moved in over Christmas. Rusty loves his new garage apartment," Andy smiled slightly.
Cynthia looked between them. She was surprised she hadn't figured it out before now, but it made sense, "Captain, Lieutenant, I didn't know. Congratulations. Rusty is very lucky to have parents like you both, and I say you both because Lieutenant, I know you've been involved in his care and upbringing since the start. Now, Lieutenant, are you sure you want me to continue with Captain Raydor here?"
Andy glanced at Sharon, who was completely clueless as to the conversation. Her expression showed she truly had no idea for Cynthia's visit, "Yes, Cynthia, please continue," he said as he gripped Sharon's hand. She returned the squeeze, and Andy brought their hands up and rested them on the table, intertwined. "Let's hear it."
Cynthia glanced between them, not sure she herself was ready to proceed. She hated this part of the job, and she especially hated it when like now, she knew it was going to make a mess of a good thing. Cynthia never knew how people would respond to news such as this; sometimes, she felt people took it well, only to have them fall apart later. Cynthia took a deep breath, "Lieutenant, Captain, as I was telling the Lieutenant here, I am here about a five and half year-old little girl, Ella."
Sharon's eyebrows rose, and she glanced at Andy, whom she now noticed had gone pale. She squeezed his hand, and he glanced at her. He squeezed back and nodded toward Cynthia.
"Captain, I just told Lieutenant Flynn that Ella is his daughter," Cynthia said with a sympathetic smile.
"His daughter?" Sharon's total shock evident. She yanked her hand back in frustration and turned to him, "What is going on? Andy, what is this about? Daughter?"
Andy put his hand on her arm. He could calm her like she could calm him. Usually, she didn't need calming, but right now, he couldn't imagine the shock and pain she was feeling. He felt it too, but on a different level. Andy took hold of her hand, didn't say a word, and clasped their fingers together again, nodding for Sharon to let Cynthia speak.
"Lieutenant Flynn knew a woman named Linda back in 2010-2011," Cynthia started to say.
Andy held up his hand, "Actually, I knew her once. August 2010," he commented, turning to Sharon, "It was that flight attendant case with the Chief, remember? I know you heard about it because we talked about it after I got stabbed a few months later, remember? You stopped by my house to see if I was okay after I got out of the hospital, telling me I needed to stop getting myself into cases, and we talked about this one. Flight attendants smuggling drugs, remember?"
Sharon nodded and looked down, "Yes, I remember the case. I remember that people kept playing cow sounds every time you or Provenza walked into our office for months," she chuckled. "Okay, so how is this all tied together?"
Andy looked down, "Sharon, I'm not proud to say this, but well, I slept with Linda, one of the flight attendants. It was one time. In fact, we barely got in the door," he added, "Heck, I'm surprised anything came of it. We'd just dropped off Provenza and his date, and Linda lived another block away. She wanted to just stay in the car, but I told her I was too old for that. We got into her condo and not much past the front door. We weren't even there 15 minutes before Provenza called about the dead body," he muttered, sighing, Crap," he put his hand over his face.
Sharon looked down and couldn't look at him. She shook her head.
"Wait a minute!" Andy sat up, "I had a vasectomy after my daughter, Nicole was born. This can't be my kid!"
Sharon's head popped up and looked at Andy, "That's right," she added, "you did."
Cynthia watched the two speak and as they glanced toward her to confirm things, she gave them a sad smile, "Lieutenant, she's yours. We checked her DNA. I always do that before getting to this point. You should both remember that much. I don't know what you had done before, Lieutenant, but she's definitely yours."
Andy sat there, stone-faced, not sure what fact was leaving him speechless now. Not only did he have to deal with the fact his vasectomy he thought was okay wasn't, he was now dealing with the effect of that vasectomy not being successful.
Andy sighed again, and Sharon looked away. He heard her whimper, and she pulled her hand away from his to move her hair. Truth be told, he was sure she was wiping away tears. He pulled her hand back to his, and clutched it tighter than he had. He nudged for Sharon to look at him. It took her a few seconds, but she finally did. Her eyes were swelling with water in them, but she nodded at him and turned back to Cynthia.
"Go on," Sharon nodded.
Cynthia nodded too, a sympathetic smile, "Ella's DNA is a match to yours, Lieutenant, so she is your daughter. As I first said, Linda was arrested again for drugs, and this time it is more serious. She's going away for 15-20 years. Since her arrest, we have had Ella in foster care. Her grandparents would like to take custody of her, but well, we were doing our jobs too, and Linda had mentioned some cop was her dad. So, we ran a check to see if any of that was true. I guess Linda doesn't like her parents and doesn't want Ella with them. So, you came back on that DNA check, and here we are. Linda ended up striking a deal last time, and she only served a year. Ella was born in while Linda was in jail; they never transferred her to prison because she'd discovered her pregnancy. Ella's grandparents were given emergency custody the first time, and Linda got out shortly after. She's had Ella since then, and she's been arrested for two minor offenses. Lieutenant, Captain, Ella hasn't had much of a stable home, and she's spent most of her life shuffled between her grandparents and mom. Also, from what Ella has told us, Linda had several men in and out of the apartment, and Ella said he mom always had sleepovers. This poor thing; she's seen quite a bit in her short life."
Sharon glanced at Andy, unable to speak, and she shook her head. Andy agreed. This was a mess, a huge one. He was at the center of it, and more importantly, his irresponsibility from years' ago, was coming to light again.
Andy sighed and put his hand over his face. Sharon still sat there, speechless, staring at her hand intertwined with Andy's hand on the table. Sharon found her voice, "Cynthia, why are you here then?"
Cynthia gave another sympathetic smile and a nod, "Well, seems as if you have a choice to make, Lieutenant, and now," as Cynthia looked at Sharon, "now, Captain, I guess you'll be involved in that too."
Sharon nodded, and Andy, who was still looking away, speechless, sighed loudly, "Cynthia, what do you need from me? I'm guessing you want me to take her?"
Cynthia looked over at Andy until she caught his eye, "Lieutenant, I've watched you put families back together here. I guess this is a chance for you, a second chance at life, maybe. You have two options, really. You can apply for custody of Ella, or you can allow her grandparents full custody. You will have to do something, though, because now that we've identified you as her father, well, your rights are involved. Neither decision is to be taken lightly. Ella, unlike Linda, loves her grandparents. She keeps lashing out at her foster family right now, telling them how much she wants her grandparents. So, you can allow her to go with them, or," she paused.
"Or?" Sharon asked, trying to get to the bottom of this discussion.
"Or," Cynthia continued, "you fight them for custody as her biological father. Either way, this goes to family court, and as of today, Lieutenant, you have a problem to fix."
