This day needed to find it's end quickly as Sharon was past the point of exhaustion. She had finally closed the investigation on an officer involved shooting earlier that morning, but the paperwork she had to finish was drowning her. Luckily she had two very patient little six year who had spent the entire first day of their summer vacation entertaining themselves with coloring books and puzzles.
"You rang?"
Louie Provenza popped into her door way looking like his usual gruff self. For a man who clearly had a never ending distaste for her, he was good friends with her husband. He was even known to be seen in her living room when a particularly interesting Dodgers game was on. But that was neither here nor there when they were at work. The man who may grunt a hello at her or maybe drop a beer in front of her rather than make eye contact was a different side of the man who just walked into her office and unceremoniously dropped into one of her office chairs.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Riley and Rusty exchange glances as she raised a brow at the man and his gruff tactics. "Yes, I did. Yesterday."
He grunted and sat a little straighter in his chair. Louie Provenza's onomatopoeia would be grunt. "I was busy. Some of us work on very time sensitive cases around her."
She glanced at her own desk covered in large stacks of files as if to gesture that she was indeed one of those people before giving him a blank stare. "I suppose I know nothing about time sensitive cases," Sharon replied dryly, choosing to ignore the now mischievous look on her children's faces as they slowly moved closer to the lieutenant.
With all their differences, he was one of the best homicide detectives she knew. Not that she would ever tell him that. The old man had an ego that was only rivaled by the size of his attitude. It pained her to imagine the kind of traffic jam his enlarged head would cause at the 9 AM rush into the LAPD as he tried to make it through the door have she ever pay him the compliment.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a few messily folded papers and tossed them across Sharon's desk at her. As she began to unfold them she noticed that not only were they crinkled and ripped slightly around the edges (something that severely annoyed her) but looked as though they had been victim of a spilt cup of coffee.
"Sensitivity training completed and papers signed," the old man announced immediately standing up. Sharon had noticed the twins had already made it back to their previous spot in the floor but were now watching the lieutenant as they pretended to color. Clearly they had done something, but she didn't feel like warning the man of her children's ornery qualities.
"These were supposed to be returned last week," Sharon stated as she dropped them back on her desk before she placed a hand on it and leaned forward a bit to look at him over the rim of her glasses. "Perhaps a lecture on punctuality and timely reporting should be considered."
Provenza's eyes widened for a brief moment before they narrowed again. "Listen here, Captain-" Clearly the man was still annoyed about being passed over for that promotion. "-my division has been a bit busy with a homicide that involves two kids and their dog. My most sincere apologies if murderers don't work around your damned schedule."
But just as the man went to made his dramatic exit, he took a step toward the door and stumbled as the chair seemed to follow him.
Both twins erupted in laughter as Sharon covered her eyes with her hand, exhaling the frustration of the entire situation and hoping that she wasn't going to crack a smile at her two little imps. Louie Provenza turned a hard glare on both of the twins before he pointed to his shoe the shoe strings tied loosely around the leg of the chair.
"Untie me. Now."
"Nope."
Sharon's jaw nearly dropped as she realized that it wasn't Rusty that had spoken, but indeed Riley, standing there with her arms crossed over her chest and her face of sheer determination. Provenza looked a bit surprised as well, but Sharon could assume for different reasons.
"'Nope'? That wasn't an option."
For his credit, the man seemed a bit amused even through his endless layers of annoyance that Sharon assumed just came from his age and personality.
Rusty shrugged a bit and scrunched his face. "Well, you aren't very nice today."
Horror came over Sharon as her eyes widened at her son. "Rusty!" she scolded as Rusty turned up and looked at her innocently. He was only telling the truth.
"Grumpy," Riley clarified quietly as she studied the old man quizzically. Then she nodded. "Yes. Grumpy."
Sharon closed her eyes tightly and quietly asked God for patience. Much to her surprise Lieutenant Provenza made a sound that may have been of humor. It sounded somewhat of a snort, or many a grunt, either way there was a ghost of a smile on his lips when Sharon opened her eyes again.
"Listen here, Flynnlings-"
Both children giggled at the nickname. They were quite used to it from Andy's friends in the LAPD especially when they decided to act a bit too much like their father.
"If you keep your father's tact and orneriness you better work on a puppy dog look."
Sharon watched as Provenza ruffled Rusty's hair who seemed to immediately take the advice and look like a sweet innocent boy who was truly sorry to partake in the mischief. He even quickly untied the man's shoe from the chair as the lieutenant turned to Riley. With more freedom of movement, he lowered himself to the girl's level and ignored the cracking in his knees when he did so.
Riley however did not look the least bit sorry. Her arms were still crossed over her chest with a look that would look extremely intimidating on anyone who wasn't a 42 inch six year old who didn't even weigh forty pounds.
Provenza straighten back up and pointed at Riley as he glanced back at Sharon. "I've said it once and I'll say it again: that one takes after you."
Sharon didn't hide her smirk as she looked over at the two twins looking triumphant. There was a mumble that sounded suspiciously like "Darth Raydor Junior" as he exited her office, leaving the door open behind him.
Exhaling loudly, Sharon collapsed back into her office chair and looked weakly at her children. "What am I going to do with you two?"
The twins looked between each other as large Flynn like smiles covered their faces. "Go see Daddy?"
It was already nearly five. With any luck, Andy was just standing was watching the clock until he was able to escape to his car as well. Sharon hummed and nodded as she pushed herself forward and grabbed her purse out of the bottom drawer of her desk. The rest of the paperwork could wait. "That is a great idea."
It amused her to watch the expressions of her coworkers as she walked down the hallway with a six year old on either side of her. They were typically very well behaved with the exception of their good natured pranks. They even silently took turns pressing the elevator buttons when Sharon directed them, and they were extremely affectionate, if only with family. Perhaps it was just odd to see the LAPD's ice queen scoop up one of her children and pepper their face with kisses as they waited for the elevator while the other hung on her leg.
As they rounded the corner toward Robbery Homicide, Sharon's heart immediately fluttered at the sight of her husband sitting with one leg on his desk and a toothpick in his mouth. He seemed to be in thought but one of his buddied called his name and nodded in their direction.
The moment his eyes landed on her, she could feel a blush cover her face as he smiled widely. "Hey you," he greeted as she moved toward his desk. They were married and she still had butterflies in her stomach at the sight of him after a long day.
If they weren't at work, they would have exchanged a small kiss in greeting. Instead she settled for his hand running down her arm briefly and giving her fingers a light squeeze. "I decided I couldn't do anymore paperwork," she explained with a small shrug.
"And we wanted to see you!" Rusty chirped lifting his arms up for one of his daddy's big bear hugs. Of course Andy immediately complied. No one in his division was interested enough in their little family to pay them too close of attention. They didn't like Sharon, but they respected their buddy and knew him well enough that there would be a fight if anyone said anything about his wife while he was in earshot.
"And I always want to see my troublemakers!" Sharon rolled her eyes a bit at the truth of that statement as he placed a loud kiss on Rusty's cheek before he looked down at Riley leaning against her mother's leg and smiling up at him.
Rusty slid down his side and immediately went for the desk drawer that Andy had his toothpicks in and put on in his mouth. That little boy always wanted to be just like Daddy even though it made Sharon a nervous wreck to watch the more buzz around with it in his mouth.
"We were hoping that you were able to leave early with us," Sharon explained. "Maybe grab some pizza. I don't really feel like cooking tonight and we have a full house for a Friday night." The girl had recently decided to go to UCLA after several long discussions with all her parents. Ultimately it came down to the fact it was a good school for her program and she really wasn't ready to leave her family behind. There had been a bit of a war when she quietly announced that she would like to officially move in with Sharon and Andy though. If only because it was closer to school.
Andy smiled and nodded. "Of course." He waved his hand over his head as he grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair. "I'm head out, boys. Don't kill each other."
There were grunts and growls of goodbyes as he slid his jacket on and pulled Riley into his arms and hugged her tight. "Did you think I missed you?"
Riley laughed and shook her head, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around him in a fierce hug. "Hi Daddy."
Sharon watched as Andy nearly stumbled, a smile pulling at his lips as his eyes found Sharon's. The disbelief on his face touched her as his own eyes started to mist. For years Andy had been the twins' father, but this was the first time Riley had ever actually called him daddy. He knew better than to make a big deal about it, after all the girl was easily embarrassed, but he could help but suddenly hug her a little tighter.
"Hi, firefly."
She rested her head on her daddy's shoulder as Andy took his son's hand.
It was nine by the time the twins were in bed and Andy and Sharon had the living room to themselves as the older kids had claimed the sun room to play video games. So far it had been a mostly quiet evening, despite Sharon and Andy having to break up a few fights over the GameCube controllers.
She had traded her work attire for a pair of comfortable leggings and one of Andy's t-shirts that hung off her shoulder. She had had a glass of wine with dinner and was finishing off her second glass of the night as the both laid across the couch, Sharon wrapped up in his arms.
How he had convinced her to watch The Ring she would never know but she knew it was because she spent the entire movie buried in his shirt from terror.
"I'm too Catholic for these movies!" She had told him the same thing every time he chose a scary movie about possession, but he only laughed at her. It was much too fun to see her scared out of her wits for an entire evening and have her wrapped around him like a scarf.
It was even funnier when she was a little tipsy.
Her eyes were glued to the TV, her eyes wide but Andy wasn't even paying attention to the TV anymore. His attention was on the exposed skin of her shoulder that his shirt allowed him to admire. There was a change in the music and Sharon let out a yelp and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck.
"No. No. No," Sharon stuttered out.
Taking pity on her, Andy reached for the remote and flicked the TV completely off. Her face was still buried in her husband's shoulder as he held her, completely unable to hide his smile, pressing his lips against her shoulder as she pinched his ribs.
"You do this on purpose," she complained. Granted she was pouting but she held no malice.
He hummed and kissed her shoulder again. "Yes. I do. I like clingy, sleepy, tipsy Sharon."
Immediately she pulled back from him and pointed an accusing finger in his face. "I am not tipsy!" Standing up, she grabbed her empty glass of wine and nailed her knee against the coffee table in the process. She hissed and glared at her snickering husband. "Maybe a little tipsy. But just a little."
At that Andy outright laughed as she grabbed the bottle of wine from the fridge and poured the remaining into her glass. There wasn't much, not quite half a glass, but she grinned triumphantly as dropped the bottle into the trashcan before turning her gaze back on her husband. He stretched as he moved off the couch and toward his wife.
"You would have been proud of your children today," Sharon mewed as she lifted herself onto the island and allowed her husband to walk around to her and stand between her legs. He gave her that patient look to continue before bowing his head and nibbling gently on the skin between her shoulder and neck. "Riley and Rusty tied Louie Provenza's shoes to a chair." She giggled as she tilted her head to give him better access. "The old lieutenant called the Flynnlings and I about melted into a puddle, because I love sharing children with you."
Emotion washed over him as her light drunken smile continued to beam at him. "I am so glad I found you," she told him sweetly, her alcohol induced state making her more open and free with her words. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she hugged him. "I had been alone for so long and then you… I love my children, I love you, but with you it was like finding a piece that I was missing."
She leaned forward and pressed a bit of a sloppy kiss on his lips. As sloppy as Sharon could get anyway. She slung her arms over his shoulders and ran her fingers through the back of his hair. "I will love you forever and ever." Her lips landed on his again and this time her tongue slid past his lips before pulling back again. "My heart will always be yours."
Andy felt his own heart soar as he pulled her as close to him as possible. "Trust me, baby. I am never going anywhere."
She nodded against his neck as she relaxed completely into him. "I love you so much that sometimes it scares me."
It was a feeling he could empathize with but he gently shushed her and kissed her hair. "I hit the jackpot and I'm not going anywhere. We have the most beautiful family, I have the absolute most stunning wife on the entire planet, and there is absolutely nothing I would trade it for."
She believed him, but she only held onto him tighter. "Love me," she muttered into his shoulder before pulling back to look him in the eye. With her sitting on the counter she was almost eye level with him. "Love. Me."
His eyes flashed with need as his lips pressed to hers quickly and she instantly responded. He pressed her hard into the counter as well as pulled her tight against him at an excruciating perfect angle. A moan broke from her lips as she tugged as his hair and he groped at her thighs.
Their children were occupied (or so they hoped) and they could get away with a bit of foreplay in the kitchen.
This was his miracle. Being able to love this woman, love his family, love children that they shared even if not through blood. His arm wrapped around her as she locked her leg around his hips, her hands buried furiously in his hair as her hips moved against him. This was his wife. His life and his family.
"I'm never giving you up. I'm never going anywhere, ever." His words were stated between kisses but the hit something deep within her that had her pulling away from his lips and looking into those amazing deep brown eyes of his.
Green orbs studied him for a moment, completely unguarded, completely at his disposal as he just let her look. She seemed to have tears in her eyes as she ran her hands from his hair over his cheeks gently. A smile tugged at her lips as a single tear slid down her cheek.
"I know."
Because she did. Andrew Flynn was not Jack. Andy Flynn was something she wasn't even sure she believe in because some deep secretive part of her in the back of her mind. The very back, the part that held things she wasn't sure if they even existed but wanted to be true was the fact that Andy Flynn was her perfect fit. He was her soulmate.
No one else in the world had love that would compare.
