A/N: Thank you to everybody for reading and reviewing, and I'm so sorry about my unpredictable updates. I'm doing my best. Stick with me though, and be sure to hound me if I'm not prompt :P
Please continue reviewing, and enjoy!
Sam's been sitting on the couch for a good half hour, passing his phone between his palms. He's got Andy's number dialed, but he's wondering if its technically still socially acceptable to call at this hour? His mother always told him the past eight was rude, but these were the days of late night talk shows, and late late night talk shows. Andy's usually up pretty late anyways, surely his mother won't roll over in her grave.
When he hears a small noise coming from his phone, he realizes to late that he must've accidentally hit the call button in his little game of 'hot potato'.
"Hello?" A frustrated Andy questions on the other end.
"Hey, it's me. I'm sorry to call, I know it's late."
"It's okay, I wasn't asleep. Is Cooper okay?" She asks, suddenly realizing the only reason she should be expecting a call from him at eleven ay night.
"He's fine, doing better actually. I told him if he was feeling better we'd do the zoo in the morning." He says almost like he's asking her permission.
"Oh! Well that should be fine-"
"He wanted you to come with us." He says, and now she understands completely. "I told him we'd see, but I think he really wants you there. You could invite Luke too, if you want."
He doesn't really want Luke to come but, he probably minds the late night call more than Andy does.
"Luke's in Ottawa this weekend. And, it's my day off but, I have to go grocery shopping, and do the baking for treat day at the school-"
"Andy, it's fine, he just wanted me to ask. Also, he said that you were supposed to tell him, uh, to tell him..."
"What?" She asks, laughing a bit at how shy he's being.
He takes a bit of a breath, she can tell.
"The story of how we met."
The other end is quiet, and Sam's not surprised, Andy's taking a moment to figure out if he's done that already. If he's gone down a road they can't come back from. If they're doing the right thing by letting Cooper into that part of the past when they should be making sure he's alright with the future, Luke.
"Yeah. I didn't get around to it yet." She sighs at last. Sam switches the phone to his other ear, and leans back into the couch getting ready to discuss whatever was bothering her. He just, knew.
"I started. Told him about the Penny. Told him I'd tell him some more tomorrow."
Ever since that night that Coop asked her, she hasn't been able to stop thinking about the time when they were just starting out. About how sweet he was, and how he'd understood why they wouldn't work out. When they met again, and she couldn't help but want him more for it.
"Maybe I should come." She says, taking Sam completely by surprise, herself included. "Make sure you tell it right."
She's laughing a bit, at him, he's not sure. But it's good to hear.
"Stop by around 10, I guess."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Night Andy."
And as expected, the next morning Cooper is shaking Sam awake... rather violently. After insisting he was better, showing him he had no bats in the cave, and that his temperature was back to normal, he made himself toast and scarffed it down in front of Sam.
Sam agreed that he was looking better, and sent Andy a quick text letting her know they were on. And Cooper raced to his room to get dressed.
Sam made coffee, put enough on for Andy's travel mug too, and made sure to get granola bars and a couple of apples to put in her backpack. She'll forget, and hate paying the prices for food there. She'll be meticulous in packing sunscreen, a hat maybe, extra sunglasses, wipes. She's a mom. But since sometimes she forgets to eat, she'll forget that their kid is a garbage disposal. He could eat for days on end.
It's 9:45 when Andy knocks at his door, and Cooper's still getting himself ready to go.
"Hey, you guys all set?" Andy asks, still on the porch.
Sam shakes his head, and moves out of the doorway to let her in, which she does, hesitantly. She's been in his place before, but between him being gone, and Cooper usually being handed off at their place, she never really comes inside.
Once she steps over the threshold, she smells coffee, and laundry detergent and Sam.
This is the smell of home she's gone without for six years.
"Coffee?" Sam asks, after disappearing to the kitchen, taking her mug out of her hands while she was taking in his living room.
"Yup." She smacks, resting on the arm of the couch while she waited.
"Mom!" Cooper shouts from down the hallway. She hears him before she can see him, and he comes crashing into her, knocking her onto the couch cushions.
"Well someone's feeling a lot better, huh?" She laughs, tugging him to her chest. They're lying there together when Sam gets back into the living room with Andy's coffee, and allows himself to pretend that they're a family. He allows himself to get lost in the possibility that they could be a family again. Allows himself to believe that he never let this out of his grasp.
"My coffee?" Andy questions when Sam doesn't move. He's been staring at them for a little while, and Andy knows just what's going through his head, because it was going through hers the minute she stepped into the house.
"Yeah, let's go."
They've been at the zoo for an hour, and Coop can't keep still at any of the animals they've visited. He's constantly forging ahead, and they all know he's just excited about the wildcats. Lions, tigers, panthers, all of it. That's what he's here for.
Once he had them run half way around the grounds to the exhibit, Sam and Andy just sat back on a bench, while Cooper got as far to the front as he could.
"When did he get so big?" Andy asked, studying him amongst the other kids, brown head popping out above them.
"It's from my side. I'm the runt remember?" He laughs. Andy does remember meeting Sarah for the first time and thinking that she was kind of an Amazon. "So what's Luke doing in Ottawa?" He asks at last, not able to take the silence that emanated without Cooper to talk to or about.
"His moms birthday." She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. Sam raises his eyebrows, but doesn't say a word. Knows Andy will elaborate, but she takes her sweet time. "Woman hates me. Thinks that dragging Luke into a relationship with a single mom is the worst thing for him. I'm the devil, blah, blah, blah."
Sam laughs at her briefly until he knows that she's more than irritated by this woman.
Sam's never really known that problem. When woman did find out about his son, it always made a stronger attraction. From the time Coop was a baby, whenever Andy wasn't there he was getting hit on left, right and center, despite the wedding band.
"Yeah well, moms get that way."
"I would never do that to Cooper." She insists, giving Sam a pointed look, and he knew it was time to shut up and agree. "Think he was faking?"
"It's possible." Sam says, knowing exactly the lengths Coop would go to for the results he wanted, and those results happened to be a day at the zoo with his mom and dad. No harm no foul, he didn't miss school.
"He could've just asked." Andy says, watching as Cooper smiles over his shoulder at his parents. They each gave him a small wave, and noted the look of pride on his face.
"No he couldn't have Andy. You would've made excuse after excuse. Like you did last night." Sam sighs, looking back her way. "Is it really that bad to be around me?"
She can tell by the look in his eyes that he might actually be crushed that they can't even be around one another without Cooper.
"No. I guess that's the problem." She says, almost under her breath when she notices Cooper running towards them, clearly ready for whatever's next.
What's next is lunch, and Sam runs to grab some hot dogs, while Andy tries to make Cooper eat the bar and apple first. They get set up on the grass, on a thin blanket Sam thought to bring last minute, and waited for Sam to come back.
When he does, Cooper eats his dog so fast Andy's concerned he might be sick for real, and he waits patiently for his parents to catch up. And since Coops got both of his parents, he's feeling a little spoiled today.
Cooper asks for soda, Andy tosses him the water bottle, he wants dessert, she offers up another apple.
But when he asks for the next part of the story, she turns to Sam.
This one she can't field alone.
Cooper leans back against Andy and they both get comfy, looking to Sam to start.
It was six months, after the first time, that they saw each other again. He'd managed to get a short undercover assignment, and had been back a month when he saw her. And surprised Sam was. She was meant to be in Toronto for four months, but here she was right in front of him, waiting in line at Starbucks. He was in uniform and Oliver was waiting in the squad, but that was the furthest thing from his mind. He doesn't remember planning his next line, or even tapping her on the shoulder, but he did.
"You know, it's dangerous lying to cops McNally." He says before she's even turned the whole way around.
She purses her lips suppressing a smile then her grin breaks full out when he flashes her his dimples.
"Hi Sam." She said, eyes sparkling more than he remembered. Her mega watt smile was sweeping him off his feet again.
"So, you dodging me?" He smiled, unable to hold back his own smile.
"What ever do you mean?" She said, playing coy, giving him her best innocent voice.
"Only in town for a semester..."
She laughed this adorable little laugh and returned her focus to the front of the line, placing her order. Then back to Sam.
"I didn't lie." She said before walking over to wait for her drink.
Sam grabbed his and Oliver's coffees, and joined her in the wait.
"I was going to stay for one semester, but my dad asked me to stay." She admitted.
He laughed and bumped her shoulder.
"That's why you should take peoples numbers McNally, in case."
Her smile fell a little bit, and Sam doesn't know where he went wrong.
"Nothing's changed, Sam, I'm still focusing on school."
"I'll help you study."
"I can't go out much."
"I'll bring the dates to you." He insisted, not willing to give in until she agreed. At each instant of persistence her smile returned, until she was biting down on her lip, seriously considering his offers.
"C'mon Andy. If it's getting in the way, we'll cool things. I just want to give this a shot." He said, hoping it was enough to get her to agree. "Six months, an undercover, and I still can't forget that smile."
She dropped her head, trying to desperately hide her blush. It's not the first time someone's said something of the sort to her, but for the first time she knew it was sincere.
"Okay." She said at last holding out the palm of her hand.
"Not a big hand holder McNally." He said, looking at it with smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
"Your phone, smart guy."
He digs into the side pockets of his uniform pants, and hands her phone, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling so hard it splits his jaw.
"This weeks kind of crazy, but, maybe next weekend? Doesn't matter what shift your working, I'm up late." She suggested, handing him the phone again.
"Crazy week, a lot of midterms?"
"Why else would I be buying lattes at 8pm on a Tuesday? Ugh, so much work to do ." She whined as her order was called and placed on the counter.
"Hey me too, I'm on duty right now. Got my partner waiting on me." He said, looking for some sympathy. But all he gets is a snort. He's not even turned off by it, it's endearing.
"Aw that's cute. You have to sit in a car all night." She said, pretending to pout.
He smirked back at her, before looking over his shoulder, to where Oliver was parked. Oliver was leaning back against the driver's side door, gesturing at his watch. Sam nods his head slightly in Andy's direction, and Oliver threw his hands up in surrender, and hopped back into the car.
"I'll call you next week." He said before turning away and walking out.
"I'll be waiting by the phone." She called, wishing at the last second that she hadn't, and hoping he could tell she was kidding.
"Smooth dad." Cooper says rolling his eyes at Andy, who's giggling at her son. "I mean you always said we have a natural charm, but you had to use strategy and logic to get mom. She wasn't falling for the family dim-"
"Baby, your dad did his best. But school came first for me. It's not always about dating and relationships. Remember that, school first!" Andy scolds, distracting him from his quest to embarrass his father. Sam shoots them both a smile, Coopers a little more sarcastic that Andy's.
"Okay, so what happened next?" Cooper asks, giving his father his full attention once again.
Sam let out a breath, knowing it wouldn't just stop here. He wants to know it all. Every little detail and he probably wouldn't stop.
Andy did wait by her phone, in a way. Brought it with her when she left rooms, took into the bathroom while she showered. She didn't want to miss it, so she stared at the screen while she blow dried her hair. She didn't have to wait long, he called the next night right after his shift, and set up a dinner for next Friday like they'd discussed. But Andy found herself impatient to see him again, so...
"How about bringing dinner to me and helping me study?" She suggested, hoping he'd really meant it.
"Chinese, Thai or pizza?" He asked, almost immediately.
He heard her amazing laugh on the other end and smiled.
"I thought I was getting a home cooked meal..."
He's surprised at that. He can cook, it's just something he usually uses later on to really surprise women, kind of seal the deal.
"Well, then a home cooked meal you'll get." He laughed right back at her.
"Oh, no, Sam, I was kidding-"
"Yeah, well I'm not. I'll see you in an hour Andy." He said happily, not giving her the opportunity to argue any further.
And surely, there he was on her doorstep at 6pm grocery bags in hand. He gave her his dimpled smile, and she smiled back and let him in.
She sat in the kitchen studying her cue cards, teasing Sam, and listening to some of his work stories. He had this way of making her laugh with the stories of his closest friends in the academy.
Some of the initiations and rites of passage they had to suffer through... The many times Jerry had to bet his facial hair when they first got invited to poker with the senior officers. Oliver stoping in for a snack and wound up busting a robbery in progress his first week on the job. His good friend Noelle getting the most collars as a rookie.
And she told him about her friends too. Traci, her best friend, hardest working woman she's ever known. The many jobs she had to work to be able to pay for school and support her son. Traci and Jerry were still seeing each other, and taking things slow, but he'd met Leo now, and Sam was surprised when he said that that didn't change anything.
She told him about Gail, who'd be getting married in a couple of months to her military boyfriend who was shipping out only two months after the wedding.
She confessed to him like she felt maybe it was time to find something important to her other than school.
And soon enough they were sprawled out in her living room amongst her textbooks and notes, her laying against him while he flipped through her cards.
It was midnight by the time he checked his watch, and realized he needed to get to bed so he wouldn't be totally useless in the morning.
She walked him to the door, and before he had a chance to turn the knob, she encased her arms around him, until he turned around.
He moved his hands immediately to her waist, and pulled her even closer. Andy was so close he could move his head an inch and be on her lips. But she wouldn't let him. She got her hands on either side of his face to keep him still. Slowly she moved in and kissed him just feather light. And then one more time a little harder.
She controlled the pace until finally she was really kissing him. Lips desperate like she wasn't getting enough. He managed to get his tongue past her lips and then she really stepped up her game, turning them around so that her back was to the wall. Until finally they were both so worked up that if they let it continue for another moment, it'd be impossible to stop.
They were still tangled up, and breathing heavily when the first words were spoken. His thigh between hers, his hands braced on the door, her hands fisted in his shirt, he swallowed the lump forming in his throat when he felt the heat rolling off of her body in waves.
"I should go." He whispered, letting his forehead fall against hers.
"Come back, any time." She said quite seriously, causing him to laugh.
For Coopers sake, they were smart enough to tone it down, tell him there was a kiss and then goodbye. But while Andy sat there listening to Sam recant the tale in perfect detail, her body remembered exactly the way it had that night. Every bump of his hips to hers, every inch of his perfect mouth...
"Well Dad, maybe you do have some game." Cooper announces, riding Andy's head of those memories immediately... for the better. "Sounds like a pretty good time."
"Maybe if organic chemistry wasn't involved." Andy snorts, not missing those days at all.
"Oh, we would have had chemistry regardless." Sam quips quietly, only so Andy can hear.