As the case came to a close, Brenda went back to calling him Flynn or Lieutenant, not Andy anymore. It was her attempt to create some space between them, to put behind her the fact that she may have wanted more than just a kiss on the forehead from him. She wasn't that kind of woman she kept telling herself. She'd been shocked when she'd found out that Pope was married the entire time she'd been seeing him. She had no desire to put Fritz in the position of having a woman cheating on him. She couldn't do it. So, she did what she did best, she avoided the situation.

It was hard for her to do. She really needed to talk to someone about how she felt. How Fritz had deceived her parents. Again, she didn't know whether she was relieved or disappointed that Fritz had staged the break-in of her parent's RV. Yes, he'd accomplished his goal of getting them not to move to L.A., but by doing so, he'd kind of ruined Christmas for the Johnson family. There was no time to get new gifts, and Brenda couldn't give her parents the pleasure of opening the gifts in front of them. But, Brenda pushed down her feelings of disappointment and acted happy as they celebrated Christmas in the murder room. She sat with Fritz, her eyes only occasionally glancing down the table towards Andy. She watched as he actually laughed with Raydor on occasion, and a feeling of discontent coursed through her. She felt an irrational pang of jealousy, as if she was suppose to be the one to make him laugh.

After everyone helped clean up, the team broke up for the night. Tao was catching a late flight to Hawaii, determined to salvage what was left of his time with his family. Gabriel was the same, he'd rebooked a flight to Italy and would be joining his parents. Brenda watched with surprise as Pope and Raydor left at the same time, Pope trailing after Raydor like a puppy. Something was up between the two of them, was the thought Brenda had. Perhaps misery loved company. Either way, Fritz should be pleased that Will had found someone to keep him occupied and away from her. God knows that being friends with Will should be illegal in his eyes. She sighed, turning away from the site. She went to Tao and hugged him, apologizing for making him late for his vacation and wishing him a good flight. She did the same for Gabriel and soon after, both men left. Sanchez headed home to his family and Provenza went to do the same. When it came time to say goodbye and Merry Christmas to Flynn, Brenda didn't want to. But, she did, apologizing once again for ruining Christmas dinner with his family. And decided that tomorrow, regardless, she would phone his ex and apologize to her as well.

Brenda smiled as her mother pressed a dish of leftovers into Flynn's hands, telling him to take them, he needed them. She had done so with Provenza as well, and Brenda found it kind of cute. Taking care of everyone, her mother wanted everyone to feel wanted and welcomed. She put an arm around her mother as they again said goodbye to Flynn. With a final backwards glance, Flynn left the murder room, leaving only Brenda, Fritz and her parents. Brenda felt so alone standing there. She quickly went to her office and grabbed her purse, so they could return home.

So, that's how her Christmas ended. On Boxing Day, she went with her parents to look for some Christmas gifts to replace the ones that had been "stolen" and felt guilty about it. She'd tried to protest that she didn't need anything, that she was fine, but they insisted. So, she caved and went with them. Fritz had just looked on her with a strange look, but she didn't know how she could do otherwise, given the circumstances. They'd gone to a nearby mall, and Brenda trailed along behind them, battling with the other bargain hunters out there that clogged the mall. This was not how she'd pictured spending the day, not at all. But if it made them happy, she'd do it. Fritz had begged off, staying home. She knew he tolerated her parents at the best of times, and she'd been working so much lately that she didn't even care he didn't come along. If it made him happy, so be it.

As they walked along, she heard her mother exclaim suddenly "Why, Lt. Flynn, it's good to see you again!"

Brenda's head snapped up when she heard who it was her mother had spotted. A smile came to her face and she quickened her pace to catch up to her parents.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at your ex's house, making up for missing yesterday!" Brenda said.

"Well, I was. And as punishment, she sent me to the mall with them to spend their Christmas money. They're in the store over there. And I will remain out here, waiting for them." Andy smiled.

"This is punishment? Them getting to shop?" Brenda enquired.

"It's punishment for me. She knows I hate to enter the mall, and on Boxing Day of all days? Yeah, she knows it's a punishment." Andy grinned.

"How old are your kids? You trust them in a store by themselves?" Brenda was curious. In all the time she'd been over at his place, she'd never really looked at his family pictures and she really didn't have a clue as to how old they were.

"They're 14 and 12. My son does a good job of looking out for his younger sister. I trust them. And they've heard enough over the years from me about being careful that you'd hear them screaming down the mall if anyone tried anything." Andy was proud of his kids. Maybe he didn't get the time with them he wished he did, but they had quality time. And he made sure he taught them right, without suffocating them with warnings.

"I'm sure your children are just lovely, Lt. We're just here to find Brenda a new Christmas gift. Ours were stolen out of the RV yesterday. It's just not Christmas without giving Brenda a gift." Willie Rae commented.

If Brenda could have sunk into the ground, she would have. Guilt overwhelmed her, and while her parents didn't catch on, Andy noticed how Brenda looked at the ground and reddened. Something was up, he knew it.

"Do you care to go for a coffee? My treat, Mr and Mrs. Johnson. When the kids come out, we'll all go to the food court." Andy offered.

"Why, thank you, Lt.! We haven't been here very long, but I'm already tired. And I'm sure Clay would like to sit down for a bit." her mother said happily.

When Andy's kids joined them, Brenda was amazed by how much his son looked like him. Darker hair of course, but he was his father's son. Even had some of his attitude, by the looks of it. His daughter was blond and petite, must have resembled her mother. She was very sweet, and Willie Rae took right to her, as the girl did to her. They all walked to the food court, and Brenda listened as the girl told Willie Rae all she'd gotten for Christmas. Andy talked quietly to his son, asking what he wanted to eat. They managed to find a table with enough seats and Brenda and Andy went to get the food, leaving her parents with his kids.

"Did your ex forgive you for not being there yesterday?" Brenda asked, making conversation.

"Yeah. She says that I'm not going to change and there is no use being angry about it. She said me taking them shopping was a great Christmas gift to her. She gets some alone time." Andy smiled. He actually didn't mind, gave him a chance to be with his kids. "What about you? Not find anything yet you want for Christmas from your parents?"

"Oh, I've seen plenty of things. I just don't know if I should let them buy them for me." Brenda said.

"Why, I mean, if the gifts were stolen, it's nice of your parents to take you out to replace them." Andy was curious.

"I really don't want them to spend the money. Listen, I know where the gifts are. And the guilt is killing me. And don't you dare tell my parents!" Brenda said, glancing over at them. They seemed to be getting on well with Andy's kids, a lot of smiling and laughing was going on.

"Tell your parents what? I don't hear anything!" Andy went along with it.

"Fritz staged the robbery. He hid the gifts. It's all in an effort to keep them from moving to L.A. And it worked. They're not moving here." Brenda felt a bit of relief, being able to tell someone about this.

"He broke into their RV? Kind of cruel of him, if you ask me. Even if it means you can stay here and not move to Washington."

"I know, I know. I don't know whether I'm relieved or disappointed. I just felt so bad that we robbed my parents of Christmas. And I can't tell them." Brenda said as they moved up in line.

"Don't tell them. It will just cause problems for you and Mr. FBI. Let them buy some small thing for you." Andy advised.

"He also stole their microwave, to make it look like a real burglary. I owe them for that too." Brenda groaned.

"Buy them one today. I'm sure you can get a bargain, it is Boxing Day." Andy smiled. He seen how hard this was on her.

"We might as well look while we're here. Thanks, Andy. I just needed someone to listen. I've felt so guilty since yesterday when Fritz told me. I had no idea he was that desperate to not have them move here he'd go that far."

"Better than you moving to Washington." Andy muttered, but Brenda heard him anyway.

"You'd miss me if I was gone?" Brenda wanted to know.

"It would take too long to break in someone new. I mean, I'm used to you now." Andy joked.

"You mean it would take too long for anyone to get used to you and Provenza. Somedays I don't know what to do with you two." Brenda smiled.

"Face it Chief, you'd miss us. We make your life exciting." Andy grinned at her.

"Exciting or terrifying, I'm not sure which." Brenda joked back.

Conversation ended as they came to the front of the line, and Brenda felt happy. It wasn't the day she'd expected, but she was having a better day now that Andy was there too. It was good to have talked to someone about her guilt. The two families had spent the rest of their time at the mall together, enjoying the time together, an unexpected treat for both families. Brenda had finally gotten her parents to just buy her something small, and then she'd replaced the stolen microwave for them.

Andy had helped with putting the microwave in the car and felt disappointed once she drove off with her parents. This wasn't a feeling he should be having, but at least she'd called him Andy today. The last day or so, it had been Lt., or Flynn, and he'd found himself missing her calling him by his name. It had been good to spend time with her outside the office. And somewhere from inside him, the feeling that he wished he was in that car with her, heading someplace popped up. Whatever he was feeling for her, he felt guilty. Sighing, he turned to his kids and they headed back to his car. A least she wasn't moving to Washington, he had her here for the time being. Living with that, that was going to be the problem, because he was finding himself in a situation that he didn't want to be in. There was going to be no way to resolve it without someone getting hurt and he had a bad feeling that it would be him on the losing end.