Sharon double checked the address on her phone, then pulled her car over to the side and parked. Traffic was surprisingly heavy on the small street, given the time of day. She had no doubt it was used as a thoroughfare during rush hour to avoid the lights. It certainly wasn't the kind of neighbourhood she envisioned when she entered the address in her phone.

Running more than she wanted to avoid oncoming cars, she made it to the other side of the street. The small Post-war cottage was gated, so she pushed the grate and closed it behind her before she walked up and rang the doorbell.

Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it.

Andy looked just as confused when he saw her. "Captain?"

"Sharon, it's off-hours. I came to see you. Might I come in?"

"Oh, sure... sure... Sorry about that, come in."

The tweed wool of Andy's cardigan scratched her hand as she walked past him into the narrow entryway. "I'm sorry I didn't call ahead. I was just going to see if you were here."

"That's okay. I wasn't doing much," he confessed, putting his book down on the table so he could help her with her trench coat.

"What are you reading?" she asked, looking at the cover. The topic surprised her, and she couldn't keep the sound out of her voice, "the Bolshoi?"

"Yeah..." he sighed, "I need something to talk to my new grandsons about. They don't like baseball."

Sharon couldn't help the giggle. "Oh Andy, that must be so hard for you."

He saw the humour in it too, and chuckled. "It just means I've got stuff to teach them."

"When they see how much you love it, I'm sure they will change their minds."

"I hope so," he said wistfully. "I don't know how much time I'll get to talk about it, though. I don't see them very often."

"Mmm... we've got to work on that."

"We?" Andy's eyebrow raised at the reference as he watched her walk into the main living area.

Sharon was charmed instantly. She knew Andy Flynn to be a gruff teddy-bear, who was in your face and threatening when it was needed. She'd seen him push criminals into the wall with such force she was worried they would be sued. She'd also seen him hold the hand of a mother who had lost her child and was trying to grasp the overwhelming grief. She knew he bought many of the teddy bears that lived in the trunk of squad cars until they were needed for a scared girl or boy, even though he tried to do it without drawing attention to himself. He was a study in contradictions and the member of her squad that most intrigued her. Now being in his home, she saw a completely new level to the complex man.

She had never pictured him to be a reader, but the far wall of his home was lined with short bookcases. Above them pictures of family hung on the wall and covered the top surfaces. There were a few small pieces of sculpture, that had an obvious child's touch and who's beauty was seen by the heart as much as the eye. Laying haphazardly around the room were other books, magazines and coffee cups. A blanket was tossed over the back of a wingback chair, and slippers lay in the corner beside the coffee table. The entire room screamed it's masculine owner's presence, right down to the LAPD baseball trophy from years back, finding a place of lesser honour in the corner.

"Sorry, I would have cleaned up if I'd known you were coming."

"Nonsense, I came to see you, not your cleaning skills. Besides, I think it looks just fine... very comfortable and lived in."

Andy chuckled, "Lived in... yeah, it's that. Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?"

"Tea, if you have it."

"Yeah, I got tea. It's not the fancy stuff that you drink, but I've got some black tea and green tea. And I think I've got some mint somewhere."

"Mint would be lovely, thank you."

Andy grabbed the empty mugs, and motioned with his elbow for her to find a place to sit. Then he went into the kitchen, leaving Sharon alone to pick over piles on his coffee table.

"You are quite eclectic," Sharon said, when Andy returned with the heated mugs.

"Nah... I just get bored easily."

Sharon smiled, placing the book she was holding back on the table. "I doubt that. Dogs with bones would look at your drive in envy."

"Only in some things. Other stuff I think I should know, but I can't keep focused on it enough to learn anything. That Bolshoi book is boring the daylights out of me, but I gotta have something. Every time I'm with Nicole and her family, my ex keeps pointing out what I don't know. Little things like toe shoes have wood in them, and male ballet dancers are stronger than body builders."

"That's true, they have to pick up ballerinas almost like they are dead weight, and hold them above their heads, often walking at the same time."

"Yeah... about that, how do they do that?"

"Well, it helps that most ballerinas are barely one hundred pound. But what the audience doesn't see is that just as she's being picked up, she does a special little jump, so the men have momentum to work with."

"No kiddin'..." Andy was surprise and impressed.

"Mmm-hmm... and these dancers start out like your grandsons. They are trained right from an early age how to lift girls, so they don't hurt themselves or the girls. There is a lot of science in ballet. A lot of physics and biology. Nothing is left to chance."

"See, you know this stuff."

"I have a special reason to know about ballet. My daughter is a professional dancer, and I've spent years watching her and learning with her."

"I didn't know that either until Provenza told me. You don't talk about them much."

"No, I guess I don't. I compartmentalize a lot. They don't know much about my work, either."

"That's probably a good thing," Andy acknowledged.

"Yes, it was until my son started working in the Emergency Department of his hospital, and started to meet officers who weren't interested in protecting him from what could happen on the job. Now he worries too much. Major Crimes is often in the news, so he he hears it all."

"It's nice that he cares so much."

Sharon nodded, "Yes... but it also has it's drawbacks. He works crazy hours just like we do, so he can be up and ready to demand I prove that I'm okay at 2 AM, just when all I want to do is fall into bed and sleep for days. I love him for it, but it can be irritating. I don't think he can believe that his mother knows how to take care of herself."

"Well you're his mom. He sees you as homemade cookies and bandages on scraped knees. He doesn't see you chasing down a suspect and hitting a guy between the eyes at twenty paces."

Sharon laughed at the image. "You've got a point."

"At least your kids worry about you. Mine seem to forget I exist," Andy said sadly.

"I know for a fact that isn't true," Sharon changed the topic and watched Andy's reaction. When he didn't say anything or look up at her, she continued. "I had a visitor after everyone left for the day. Your daughter came to see me."

Andy looked up with a start, "Nicole went downtown? What did she want?"

Sharon was saddened to see the panic in Andy's face, and made every effort to alleviate it. "Well... she wanted to talk about you. She wanted to know what she should get you for Christmas."

"Huh? Why would she ask you?"

"It seems she is under the impression that we are quite close."

"Oh..." Andy sounded dejected and lowered his gaze again, "about that..."

"Don't bother. I think I figured it out."

Looking up with suspicion, Andy asked, "Figured out what?"

"Well... there are Acts of Commission, and Acts of Omission, and I suspect you omitted complete honesty with your family as to the nature of our relationship."

Andy hung his head again, "Listen Sharon..."

"What did you tell them about us? About me?" she asked softly.

He sighed heavily, but didn't look up from his cup. "I don't know why I didn't explain it. I told them you were my friend, just like we agreed, but they took the word 'friend' to a whole new level. I didn't embellish or nothing, I just didn't stop them when they did. My ex is convinced you're a lie and that I'm the liar, and that someone as great as you would never be interested in a guy like me. I just get tired of hearing that, you know what I'm saying?" He finally looked up at her, hoping she understood what he wasn't saying.

Sharon nodded, "She does seem to take every opportunity to put you down."

Andy laughed without mirth, "Yeah, you can say that again. I don't know why she even bothered with me to begin with, seeing as how she thinks I'm the worst human being on the planet. I can't do nothing right. If it's not my job, it's my language or how I dress. And she's never going to let me forget I'm a drunk and ruined my family."

"We have a term for that, you know?"

"What, being an alcoholic?"

"No, I'm talking about your ex-wife. We call that a mental and emotional abuser. I don't want to make excuses for your drinking, Andy, but if she was like that years ago, I can see why you would drink more than you should."

"I'm not going to put that on her. I did what I did. I'm not going to give myself an out."

Sharon smiled knowingly, "No... of course you won't. That's what makes her even more cruel. You have taken responsibility for both your own poor behaviour and hers. You don't deserve that."

"Maybe..." Andy looked down at his cup again, "but she's still right, and I have to admit to my family that I'm a fraud. Nicole won't want anything to do with me after that. I've been trying to come up with some way out of it, but there's none."

"Truth is a good way."

"Yeah..." he sighed. "Guess I won't need the books on the ballet anyway. It's not like I'm going to get to see those boys too often."

"Don't be so sure. Nicole came to me, remember. She wants to know what to give you for Christmas. She's not blocking you out of her life."

"Yeah, but that's only because she thinks I'm in a good place. When she knows I've lied, again, she'll close the door for sure."

Sharon leaned forward on the sofa, trying to catch his eye. "Andy... I don't think you're giving her enough credit. And I know you're not giving yourself enough credit. What exactly did you tell them about me?"

Andy shrugged. "Not much... um... I've told them you look great in pink, and I think it's your favourite colour."

"It is, and thank you."

Smiling, he continued, "I said you drive a volvo. When they asked me if you'd be around over Christmas, I said probably not because you usually go skiing in Utah, and stay with your parents at their chalet. I've said you scare me with how you run in those designer heels. Uh... one time we were going to meet at a restaurant and I suggested a sushi place where you like to order delivery. The food's pretty good there. I guess they were surprised I eat sushi. Honestly Sharon, I haven't told any whoppers about you."

Sharon's eyes were twinkling when Andy looked up, and the look of confusion on his face made her laugh out loud.

"What?"

"Oh Andy..." she giggled.

"What?" he said again. "It's all true."

"It's little wonder your ex-wife wants to put me down and call you out for lying, if that's the image they have of me."

"But that's you! You do run in those ridiculous heels. Not very much, but I've seen it. And you like that restaurant. You even told me it was a favourite of yours." He shrugged as he continued, "Nicole seemed to really like those little things about you, so when she assumed me and you were more friendly than we were, I didn't have the heart to tell her she was wrong. I'm sorry."

"That's okay."

"No, it's not. I lied to them."

"Andy, you didn't lie, you just didn't clarify. The reason your ex-wife is so hostile about me is because you've made me sound larger than life."

"Believe me, you are," he said under his breath, earning another smile.

"That's very sweet of you. I understand the situation now, and I also understand Nicole's reaction."

"What reaction?"

"Andy, your daughter feels caught between you and her mother, and from what I can see, your ex-wife that is driving this whole situation. She is trying to make you look bad to Nicole."

"Yeah... well she's good at that."

"Precisely, and she's had years of practice. Nicole doesn't want to believe her, but she doesn't know how to stand up to her mother. You have to help her with that."

"Help her?" Andy looked confused.

"Andy, your ex-wife is a bitch."

Once the initial shock of the words receded, he nodded, "Yeah... that's true. But what can I do?"

"You've still got your buffer. I told Nicole that she should spend time with you, alone. I also told her if her mother insists she be there, then I will be there too."

"You'd do that for me?" Andy looked incredulous.

Sharon smiled. "Of course. You deserve someone in your corner more than anyone I know."