A/N: So, the title for this chapter is loosely based on two surprising moments that Sharon experiences in this chapter. I'll let you figure those out as you read though, as I'd hate to spoil anything for you guys ahead of time. Enjoy and happy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or M/C, but if I did, this is what would happen.
Chapter 2: I'll Be Here
About 11am, the women began taking turns in the bathroom to shower. After each woman got out, Patrice painted everybody's nails. Each of the bridesmaids nails were painted a neutral nude color so as not to clash with the purple bridesmaid's dresses they would be wearing at the wedding. Meanwhile, Sharon's nails were painted a fall mauve color so that they popped a bit against her ivory lace wedding dress, but still coordinated well with it.
After Patrice finished everybody's nails, she finally got into the shower as Emily took over and started doing everybody's hair. Amy opted for a half up, half down look with the ends slightly curled, while Andrea left her hair down with a slight curl to the ends. Once Patrice got out of the shower, Emily styled Patrice's hair similar to Andrea's, but with slightly less curl to it.
As the other women went to change into their dresses, Sharon stood up from her place at the end of her and Andy's bed and said to Emily, "Sit for a few minutes. You've been running around doing everyone else's hair. Sit down and let me do yours."
"Shouldn't that be my line? It is your wedding day after all," Emily pointed out as she took a seat in the chair in front of the vanity.
"It is, but I haven't gotten to do this in a really long time. Plus, it'll give us a chance to talk for a few minutes and then I'll let you do my hair afterwards," said Sharon.
"Just like when I was a kid," responded Emily.
At that, a few loose tears fell from Sharon's eyes. She quickly swiped them away before she asked Emily, "Okay. Do you want your hair up or down?"
"Are you sure you're okay, mom?" Emily inquired as she turned around to look at her.
"I'm fine. You're just so grown up. It seems like just yesterday you were dancing in your first ballet recital and now look at you. You're grown up and living in New York and living your dream of being a professional ballerina," replied Sharon nostalgically.
"Oh, mom. No matter how old I get, you'll always be my mom," said Emily as she gently squeezed Sharon's hand.
"I know. I guess getting married is just making me a bit nostalgic. So, up or down?" Sharon asked Emily as she turned her attention back to doing her hair.
"How are you wearing yours?" inquired Emily.
"In a nice updo. It'll look better with the birdcage veil that way," answered Sharon.
"How about a simple updo then with a couple loose strands hanging on the sides? Then, you can get into your dress and I can do your hair," said Emily.
"Deal," replied Sharon as she began brushing and styling Emily's hair.
"Mom?" inquired Emily.
"Hmm," Sharon hummed questioningly as she began pinning up Emily's hair.
"What if I have a different dream?" Emily asked her.
"What do you mean?" Sharon prodded curiously.
"What if I've fulfilled my dream of being a professional ballerina and my dreams have changed?" asked Emily.
"Well, I'd say that's part of life. I mean look at me. I wanted to go to law school, but what started as a job to bring in a source of income turned into a passion for helping people and enjoying being a police officer more than my original dream of being a lawyer. Sometimes dreams change and we find new passions in life," said Sharon.
"Yeah. I think that's what's happening with me. I love being a ballerina, but I'm getting older and a professional ballet career doesn't last forever. I have a friend in New York who owns his own dance studio and I've been teaching a few modern dance classes on my off days and I really love it. So, I was thinking maybe I'd finish out the rest of this season and start teaching dance full time," Emily told her mother.
"I think that's great, honey! It's obvious that you've found something else that you really love. It'll probably be much more predictable hours too. So, you'll actually have time to have a social life," Sharon pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess so. There's also one more thing. I was thinking I might move back to LA and teach at a dance school here. It'll be closer to you guys and Rusty and it'll be easier to go and visit Ricky more often. New York is great, but…" Emily trailed off.
"It's not home," Sharon finished.
"Exactly. I just wanna be closer to all of you and be able to spend more time with everyone," replied Emily.
"You know that I would love having you here in LA full time, but this has to be your decision. Only move back here if it's what you truly want," Sharon told Emily.
"I know. It's something I've been thinking about for a while actually. I'm positive this is what I want, mom. I didn't want to tell you until I was absolutely sure," assured Emily.
"Okay, then. So when would you be moving back?" Sharon asked her.
"I'll be home for Christmas this year and then I should be able to be out here by early next year. I was planning to go look at apartments while I'm here. See what's available," answered Emily.
"This is the best news you could've given me today," Sharon told Emily as she wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders.
"I'm glad. I'm really excited to move back. It just seems like the right time, you know," said Emily.
"Yes. I can't believe all of you are going to be in the same state again. It's gonna be great," replied Sharon excitedly as she put the finishing touches on Emily's hair.
After Sharon finished with her hair, Emily stood up to face her mom as she told her, "I'm gonna go grab Patrice, Andrea, and Amy so they can help you change into your dress."
"Okay," acknowledged Sharon before Emily left to retrieve the other three women.
As the four women reentered the room a minute later, Patrice cheered, "Okay, dress time."
Patrice and Andrea took the knee length lace dress off the hanger and undid at the back of it so Sharon could step into her dress. As Sharon began to disrobe, Andrea caught a glimpse of the lavender lace push up bra and matching underwear she had on and said, "Damn, girl. Somebody wants to get lucky tonight."
"Isn't that generally the point of a wedding night?" Sharon cheekily asked her.
"It is if you're doing it right," piped up Patrice as Sharon began to step into her dress.
The women laughed at Sharon and Patrice's comments as the two women slid the dress up Sharon's body and helped her into the lace sleeves. After that, Andrea zipped up the back of it before Emily said emotionally, "Oh, mom. You look beautiful."
"You really do, Sharon. The lieutenant is gonna lose it when he sees you," said Amy.
"Oh, he's gonna lose it alright. He won't be able to keep his eyes or his hands off of her," added Patrice.
"Not that he does anyways," remarked Andrea.
The three women laugh at the amount of truth contained in Andrea's comment before there's a knock at the front door. Emily excuses herself for a moment to go answer it. When she opens the door, Emily finds Nicole standing there with a man she doesn't readily recognize.
She looks at them for a moment before it occurs to her who this man is and she asks him, "Are you...?"
To which he sticks his hand out towards her and replies, "The mystery son? Yes. Brandon Flynn."
Emily introduces herself and Nicole mentions to Brandon that Emily is Sharon's daughter. Emily chastises herself for her lack of manners and tells them to come in.
After Emily invites them inside, she has Nicole and Brandon follow her about halfway down the hallway before she asks them to wait a minute so she can clear everybody else out of the room.
Once everybody else exited the room, Emily told her mother, "Nicole's here to see you.
"Oh my goodness. Nicole, get in here," Sharon told Nicole as she quickly steps inside and Emily quietly excuses herself from the room.
The two women hug before Nicole said, "I brought a bit of a surprise with me today."
"A surprise?" Sharon asked confusedly since her and Andy had asked all the guests not to bring them any wedding presents.
Nicole eagerly nods her head and it begins to dawn on Sharon what, or rather who, the surprise could be.
"No way! He's here?!" Sharon responded excitedly.
Nicole nods her head and smiles before she pulls her brother into the room.
A few tears fall down Sharon's face, before Brandon says to Nicole, "What's happening? Did we just break dad's fiancée? I'm not an expert or anything, but I don't think you're supposed to do that to your dad's future wife on their wedding day."
Nicole punches her brother in the shoulder as Sharon laughs at Brandon's comment and says to Nicole, "I see he has the same sense of humor as your father."
"Definitely," chuckled Nicole.
Brandon steps forward towards Sharon and extends his hand as he says, "Brandon Flynn."
"Sharon Raydor," replies Sharon as she shakes his hand.
"Soon to be Flynn," comments Brandon.
"Yes. Can I give you a hug?" Sharon emotionally asked him.
"Sure," answered Brandon as he opened his arms up to her.
Sharon enveloped Brandon in a hug as he patted her back awkwardly.
"Sharon's a hugger. You'll get used to it," Nicole piped up from behind her brother.
"You better get over here too. You're not exempt from any of this either," Sharon told Nicole.
A few moments later, the group hug broke apart as Brandon asked his sister, "Hey Nic. You mind giving us a few minutes?"
"Sure. Sharon?" Nicole asked.
"We'll be fine. We still have about an hour and a half until we need to leave for the church and all that needs to be done is my hair and attaching the veil. I'd like to spend a bit of time getting to know this brother of yours that I've heard so much about," smiled Sharon as she looked from Nicole to Brandon and back again.
"Okay. I'll be out in the living room with Emily and the rest of the bridesmaids," replied Nicole.
"Thanks, Nic," Brandon told his sister before she shut the door behind her and headed for the living room.
"So, I got your letter last week," Brandon began.
"And you've decided to come to the wedding," replied Sharon questioningly.
"Yeah. Dad and I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to our relationship, but it seemed like the right thing to do," said Brandon.
Sharon smiled to herself for a moment and motioned for Brandon to sit before she asked, "Do you mind if I tell you a story about your father? It seems oddly fitting for this occasion."
"Sure. Go ahead," replied Brandon kindly as he sat down on the bench behind him and motioned for Sharon to continue.
"Okay. So, about four years ago, around the time of Nicole and Dean's wedding, your father was rather grumpy and I couldn't figure out why. So, I asked his partner...you know Provenza, right?" Sharon asked him.
"Oh, good old Provenza," Brandon replied in acknowledgement.
"So, I ask Provenza why Andy had been so grouchy lately and he told me that your sister was getting married that weekend and while Andy was looking forward to being there for Nicole, he wasn't so much looking forward to having to interact with people who hated him. Anyways, a couple days later, your dad came into my office after we'd closed a case to see if he could leave a little early so he could be there before Nicole's wedding started. Meanwhile, I'd had this plan in my head for a couple days now to offer to go with him and be a buffer between him and some of the people there who might not be his biggest fans. I think it sort of took him by surprise when I offered to go with him though. We weren't anything more than Captain and Lieutenant at that point and I think he was shocked that I'd even offer to do something like that. I told him that I liked weddings, but I think he may have initially gotten the wrong impression about what I was offering because he asked me to clarify that it wasn't a date, which I assured him it wasn't. So, if you saw me smiling there for a moment when you said coming to the wedding was the right thing to do, that's why. Your dad said pretty much the same thing when I asked him if he'd decided to go to Nicole's wedding that afternoon," continued Sharon.
"From one wedding to another. Is that why you wrote the letter?" Brandon asked Sharon as he smiled at the story she'd just told him about his father.
"Maybe a little bit. You are your father's son, so I figured he must have passed at least a few of his personality traits onto you. That's not why I decided to write you that letter though. You see, we're about to share the same last name. Family is very important to me and seeing as you're about to become my stepson, I didn't want you to feel isolated from us or excluded in any way just because you and your father have a complicated relationship. I wanted you to feel just as much a part of this family as Nicole, Emily, Ricky, and Rusty are despite the way things are between you and your dad. That I'm not in the business of taking anybody's side in this just because I'm about to marry your father. That I'm here to listen and support both of you through this process and beyond," explained Sharon.
Brandon smiled at Sharon's answer before he replied, "Well, thanks for sending the letter. It may have been the push I've needed for a while now to take that first step to try and rebuild my relationship with my dad."
"Like I said, I'm not here to take sides or push either of you into anything you're not ready for," reiterated Sharon.
"I can see that and I'm grateful because god knows the relationship between him and I is complicated enough. It's time though and no matter how much I try to deny it, if there's one thing I've inherited from him, it's his stubbornness," said Brandon.
"Yes, I've experienced that on both a professional and personal level with him," admitted Sharon.
Brandon chuckled at Sharon's response before he asked, "Umm...do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Not at all," responded Sharon genuinely as she gave Brandon a warm smile.
"Okay. Well, I guess I'm just wondering how the two of you came to be together," said Brandon questioningly.
"Well, I've known your dad professionally for quite a few years. His name used to come across my desk quite a bit when I worked in Internal Affairs. Needless to say we were well acquainted with each other back then and not in a good way," began Sharon.
"So, you guys hated each other's guts," said Brandon questioningly.
"That's one way to put it. I thought he was a troublemaker and a bit of a pain in the ass and he thought I was the wicked witch," Sharon clarified.
"So, how did you guys go from that to where you are today?" asked Brandon.
"Well, almost six years ago, I was transferred from Internal Affairs to, Major Crimes and became your dad's boss after his previous commanding officer left the LAPD. We still didn't get along super well at first, but we eventually came to have a mutual respect for each other as colleagues. After about a year and a half, we became friends and started spending a little more time with each other after we went to Nicole's wedding together. At the time, I was legally separated from my ex-husband and had been for a number of years. He hadn't been a part of my life or Emily & Ricky's for a long time, but I guess the Catholic in me couldn't put pen to paper and make it official years ago like I should have. Anyways, your dad and I started spending more and more time together outside of work and as my youngest son, Rusty is so fond of pointing out, Andy and I were "dating" several times a month for about a year before we officially started dating," continued Sharon.
"So, you got divorced," said Brandon.
"Yes, but not because of that. Rusty, my youngest son, is adopted, and at the time I'd been fostering him for a couple years and was looking to make things official and adopt him," explained Sharon.
"So, you kicked your ex to the curb," said Brandon.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. After that was taken care of, I adopted Rusty. Things between your dad and I were beginning to change, but I think both of us were a bit afraid to acknowledge it at that point. The next few months got a bit hectic and chaotic for me and I started to push your dad away. Eventually though, I came to realize that you can't put your life on hold because of life's what ifs. So, your dad and I took things slow, but we started dating a couple years ago. We were already best friends by that point, so falling in love with each other came about rather organically for both of us. Fast forward a couple years, your dad and I had been living together for a while, he surprised me with a romantic proposal out on the balcony, and the rest is history," finished Sharon.
"I haven't seen him much the last couple years, but when I have, you could tell there was something different about him. He seemed happier and just more at peace. I guess we can largely attribute that to you becoming a bigger part of his life," said Brandon.
"I definitely think being together has changed both of our lives for the better and brought both of us a sense of inner peace and contentment that we'd been missing in our lives, but your dad deserves more credit for the changes he's made to his life over the last few years than I do. I was just there to love and support him along the way," explained Sharon.
"Do you think he'd want to see me before the wedding?" Brandon asked unsurely.
"I think he'd love that. He's been hoping against hope that you'd decide to come today. He'll be over the moon to see you," Sharon answered confidently.
"Okay. Well, I should let you finish getting ready, but thanks for taking the time to meet with me. I think Nic and I are gonna go see dad before the wedding, but congratulations and welcome to the family. It's easy to see how good the two of you are for each other," Brandon told Sharon before standing up and unexpectedly enveloping her in a hug.
As Sharon pulled away from his embrace a few moments later, she tearily replied, "Thank you. It was very nice to meet you. I hope we'll be seeing a bit more of you in the future. Before you guys go though, can you go grab Nicole real quick and come back here for a minute? I've got a little something for each of you."
"Sure," replied Brandon as he went to open the door and headed down the hall to get Nicole.
A minute later, Brandon came walking back down the hallway with Nicole following closely behind him. As they walked back into Sharon and Andy's bedroom, Nicole immediately smiled at Sharon and said, "Since I didn't get a chance to say this before, I'll say it now. You look absolutely gorgeous, Sharon. Dad's seriously gonna freak out when he sees you."
Sharon smiles a watery smile as she goes to hug Nicole and said, "Thank you sweetie. Sorry I'm such a mess. I can't seem to stop crying today."
"It's all part of the overwhelming happiness of such a special day. Besides, that's why God invented waterproof mascara," Nicole told her.
Sharon laughed heartily at Nicole's comment before she said, "You're like the third person who has told me that today."
"Well, we must be onto something then," replied Nicole.
"Yeah," responded Sharon as she swiped at the tears that fell from her eyes.
Sharon took a moment to compose herself before she turned around and opened the top drawer of her nightstand and pulled out two small wrapped boxes.
"This one's for you," explained Sharon as she handed one of the boxes to Nicole.
"And this one's for you," said Sharon as she handed the other box to Brandon.
"Oh, Sharon. You didn't have to get us anything. Thank you," replied Nicole.
"Now, before you guys open those, I just wanna say something. I may not have given either of you the gift of life, but life has certainly given me two extra special gifts in the form of the two of you. It seems like just yesterday, I had 2 grown children and was a completely empty nester. I didn't realize that anything was missing from my life back then, but now I can't even bear to picture a life where the two of you, Rusty, the boys and Dean, and your father aren't
in it, nor do I ever want to. All of you have brought so much joy into my life from the moment you entered it and I seriously couldn't have asked for two better bonus kids. So, while today is about your father and me making important promises to each other in front of God and all of our family and friends, it's also about us making a promise to the five of you. To love each of you forever too. So, this is a symbol of that promise," Sharon genuinely conveyed to Brandon and Nicole before she motioned for them to open their boxes.
Once Nicole and Brandon opened their boxes, they each found a necklace with matching inscriptions that read:
Today I tell your Dad I do and I promise you forever too.
Each necklace was signed with a small heart punched out at the bottom and then Sharon's name next to it. Nicole's was a round silver pendant with a matching silver chain, while Brandon's was a slightly longer and thicker gold chain with a dog tag shaped pendant hanging from it.
"Oh my goodness, Sharon. You're gonna make me cry. This is such a beautiful gift and...just thank you so much. For this, for coming into Dad's life and keeping him in line, and for coming into our lives with the warmest welcoming presence anyone could ask for. I truly can't imagine a better person for Dad to be marrying today or a better woman to call my stepmom," replied Nicole emotionally.
By this point, both Sharon and Nicole had tears streaming down their faces as Sharon pulled Nicole into a hug and whispered, "That's a title I'm overwhelmingly proud to hold."
"Let not forget the other title you'll be taking this afternoon," added Nicole.
Sharon laughed and smiled at Nicole's comment before she replied, "Yeah."
"Okay, I think we've done enough crying for now. I'm gonna go down the hall and fix my face real quick."
"Okay," replied Sharon before Nicole excused herself and made her way to the bathroom.
As Sharon swiped at the remaining tears falling from her eyes, she turned around to look at Brandon and smiled as she told him, "You don't have to say anything. Like I said in that letter, we hardly know each other."
"How did you know I'd decide to show up?" Brandon asked her.
"I didn't. I just had faith that things would work out the way they were supposed to in their own time. Regardless of your decision about whether to come today or not, I was gonna make sure you got that. Even if it meant I had to send it along with Nicole to give to you. You're a part of this family, Brandon. I wanted you to know that I'd always be here, even if you weren't quite ready yet to address things between you and your dad," explained Sharon.
To Sharon's surprise, Brandon made his way towards her and wrapped her in a hug. Sharon returned the hug before Brandon pulled away a few moments later and said, "I know it's not gonna be easy, but I'm ready to start working on things with him."
Sharon smiled at that before she replied, "He will be so happy to hear that."
"Yeah. Like I said, it's time," said Brandon.
"Well, I'll be here for both of you every step of the way," Sharon told him.
"I'm glad. Something tells me you're going to be an integral part of helping to bring us together," Brandon told her.
"Whatever I can do to help you guys repair the damage between you," responded Sharon.
"Thank you. For that and for this. It really means a lot that you were willing to make such a huge promise like this when we barely even know each other," said Brandon.
"Well, now that we've officially met, I look forward to getting to know you more," Sharon told him.
"Me too," replied Brandon.
"You guys are seriously gonna make me start crying again," Nicole told them from her place in the doorway.
"Well then, let's say goodbye so Stepmommy Dearest here can get her hair done and this wedding can start on time," suggested Brandon.
Sharon laughed at the nickname before looking at Nicole and saying, "What did I tell you? Just like your father."
Nicole laughed at Sharon's comment before replying, "Too much sometimes."
"Okay. That's enough out of you. Bye, Sharon," said Brandon as he gently pushed his sister towards the doorway.
"Bye Sharon," Nicole called from the hallway.
"Bye. I'll see you guys later," Sharon called out to them.
As Brandon and Nicole made their way back into the living room, Brandon said, "Okay, ladies. She's all yours now. It was nice to meet you, Emily."
"You too," replied Emily as she walked them towards the door.
"We'll see you at the wedding," Nicole told Emily before she quickly hugged her as Brandon opened the front door.
"Okay," said Emily as she quickly hugged Nicole back before she and Brandon began to make their way down the hall and towards the elevator.
As Emily shut the front door and began making her way back down the hallway towards her mother and Andy's bedroom, she thought about just how great this day was shaping up to be and how it was only going to get even better. The thought of which made her smile to herself because she honestly couldn't think of two people who deserved this level of happiness more than her mother and her soon to be stepfather. Each had traveled a difficult path in their lives, but meeting one another and falling in love had been a life altering experience for both of them. One which would soon culminate in the two of the saying I do and her mother taking Andy's last name, which made her smile even more. Andy was a great guy and most importantly he made her mother deliriously happy. After growing up and watching all the pain and heartache her mom went through with her thankfully now ex-husband, happiness and love were the two best things Emily could've asked of the man about to marry her mother, and Andy more than met that criteria.
A/N: Hope ya'll enjoyed the second chapter of this fic! The plan is for this story to be five chapters long. It was originally only going to be four chapters and end with the wedding, but I've decided to add on a reception chapter as well. Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this latest chapter. As a writer, I find your feedback and constructive criticism to be of immense value as I feel that it helps me to become a better writer. Thanks for reading!
