So, I've had this idea floating around for awhile and finally had a moment...


"I'm still not sure about this, Andy," Sharon sighed, as they walked up the stairs to the front doors of the building.

"We talked about this, Sharon," he encouraged her. "That house is perfect for us, but we we'll need a mortgage for at least a little while. We want to sell your condo first and pull out enough for Rusty's law school tuition. Whatever is left plus the down payment we're putting down from the sale of my house, we won't have a mortgage that long. We should be able to pay it off in a couple of years. Trust me," he squeezed her hand that he was holding.

"Hmm, is that what you say with Provenza? Those situations never end well," she teased.

He stopped at the front door, his hand on the handle, ready to open it, but he turned back to Sharon, "Look, if you are totally against this, say the word, and we'll leave. We'll continue living in the condo, maybe with Rusty, maybe without. If he stays here in LA for law school, he's with us another three years, which is fine with me," he held up a hand to calm her if she was worried he would say otherwise, "but, I think it would be nice for everyone-us, Rusty, all the kids, the grandkids-if we had a bigger place. We really love that house, and you can swim everyday."

Sharon looked down at their hand that was joined and nodded. She squeezed his hand again, "You're right," she shrugged, smiling up at him. "Okay, let's go talk to this broker."

After the mold house incident, they had stopped looking at houses, and then they had dealt with Andy's heart attack. They'd only recently started talking about looking for a new house, not even contacting a realtor yet, when they'd stumbled onto an open house in a quaint neighborhood completely away from anywhere they had looked previously. Sharon had driven through the neighborhood, following her GPS directions to a bridal store. Her GPS had gone haywire, sending her through a residential neighborhood, but looking back, it had been a blessing in disguise. She'd driven by the house, noted the signs advertising it for sale, and she'd doubled back. She ended up driving by the place not once, not twice, not three times, but finally four times before she got back on track and found the boutique. She'd called Andy right away, and by that evening, she hadn't found a wedding dress, but they had contacted the realtor for a tour of the home. Now, four days later, here they were, ready to start the process.

"Hi, I called earlier, and we have an appointment," Andy greeted the receptionist. "Last name is Flynn."

"Ahh, yes," she nodded. "Someone will be right out," she gestured to the comfortable waiting area. "Please have a seat."

Sharon and Andy smiled at the receptionist and nodded to her as they went and sat down. It was a large company, not that it was a surprise in LA, so they knew they could be ushered around the building. Sharon had a stack of paperwork with them, all their bank records, pay stubs, and other miscellaneous items they both knew would be needed to start their home buying and mortgage process. They'd called a few companies and weren't locked into one yet, but they had to start somewhere. Today, they were meeting with the listing agent to discuss their offer, and then after this, Andy had setup appointments at two banks to work on the actual mortgage. Here, they were going to work on the offer and everything that went with that. They'd taken the day off, joking this would be more irritating than solving a murder.

"Mr. and Mrs. Flynn?" they heard and looked up to see a woman questioning if they were the couple. "Ahh, actually," Andy started to say, but Sharon patted his arm to get his attention.

"It's fine," she smiled up at him. "We will be soon enough, and yes, I know we're buying the house before we are legally married, which could be a headache with some of this paperwork, but you don't need to correct her," she smiled. Andy grinned, winking at her, gesturing for Sharon to go ahead of him.

"I'll get you setup in the office, and then we work as a team here, so we'll be joined by my colleague. My name is Tammy," she told them. "Here, we're going to walk you through all the steps in making the offer, discussing things like all the insurance you'll need to obtain, title paperwork, and more. It's a lot, I know, but we'll be here to help," she offered a smile as she gestured for them to walk in and sit down at the table.

"Let me get my colleague, and we can get started," she nodded to them. Sharon and Andy just offered a small smile, as she walked away.

"A Mr. And Mrs. Flynn," they heard as another voice entered. "Tammy told me you were here," he said as he walked into the room. Both Sharon and Andy stood to greet him.

"Daniel!" Sharon gasped when she turned to him. She grabbed Andy's arm, both in shock and in fear. They hadn't seen Daniel Dunn in five years, and Sharon knew Andy would like nothing more than to deck the guy for everything he'd done to Rusty.

"Oh, Sharon," he said, eyes widening, as he realized just who this client was. He looked to Andy, a questioning glance on his face, as if he was trying to place him.

"Tammy, would you give us all a minute. I haven't seen them in years," Daniel asked, and Tammy, now curious, nodded and left the room, closing the door.

"Ahh, Sharon," he said again nodding and looked to Andy, "I'm sorry, but you look familiar."

"I should," Andy said. "I stood just a few feet from you when you signed away your parental rights to Rusty."

"Oh," he turned red, nodding. "Well, that was a long time ago. I've been through a lot, just now getting back on my feet. Do you know whatever happened to Rusty? DCFS wouldn't give me any information since I'd signed away my rights, and even after I knew he would have turned 18, I tried again, but they said I wasn't authorized to get any information.

"Hmm, what did happen to Rusty?" Sharon pursed her lips, turning to Andy. "Well, Daniel, I don't know why you would be worried about that. Let us do the asking here-how is your wife?" she asked, her voice rising. Andy knew Sharon was trying to get a rise out of Daniel. He couldn't blame her for that.

"Ahh, well, we never did get married," he stammered. "That's what has ruined my life, just as I told you it would back then. She couldn't believe I'd sign away Rusty, but of course, I couldn't tell her it was that or be arrested. She broke it off with me, and I tried to get her back for a year. It was awful, and I really was in a bad place. I'm only now dating again, Tammy actually," he grinned. "But," he noted they didn't share his joy, "I've thought about Rusty a lot and wondered if he was okay out here, if he had done anything with his life."

"No, of course, I'm sure he's weighed heavily on your mind," Sharon hummed and offered a fake smile.

"So, you work together; that's why you are familiar?" Daniel asked Andy, assuming they were going to continue with business.

Andy crossed his arms, and Sharon stood next to him, paperwork still in hand. Both knew they were going to be leaving this appointment sooner than expected, but they did want to clue Daniel in regarding the amazing son he'd surrendered.

"You could say that," Andy nodded. "We work together, but more importantly, we have one amazing family. Sharon?" he passed off the little chat with Daniel to Sharon.

"Yes," Sharon said very calmly, even though on the inside, she wanted to punch the guy. Andy always joked he would rub off on her, and now, she had a small glimpse into sensitive matters that would set off his temper. She continued, still very calm, "Daniel, we don't need to get into specifics here, now. There will be no way we will be conducting business with you. Certainly, in all of LA, we can manage to find someone else," she faked a smile. "As for Rusty, you asked if we had any idea whatever happened to him? Andy, do we know what happened to Rusty?" she turned to him. Over the years, the two had gotten quite good at reading each other, feeding off each other as they questioned suspects, and right now, this didn't seem much different.

"He's our son," Andy said proudly, smiling. He noted that Daniel's eyes grew wide, probably never imagining that. Andy realized Daniel might have figured Sharon would keep Rusty in the interim, maybe even long term, but Andy was certain the "our son" comment had thrown Daniel for a loop he hadn't expected.

"Oh," Daniel shook off the shock that was evident on his face. "I didn't realize," he gestured between the two of them.

"Yes," Sharon smiled, reaching for Andy's hand. "Rusty is part of our family, legally, even, but gosh, between solving murders, dealing with dirt bags day in and day out, it's almost difficult to remember what Rusty has been doing."

"Sharon, don't forget Rusty being stalked by the serial killer. Yes," he nodded to Daniel, "you know, Rusty was that material witness, remember? You might have forgotten; it's been so long," he flashed a fake smile. "Well, Rusty had to deal with that, months of anguish from that. Sharon made sure he lived as normal of a life as possible, even with all that. She made sure he played chess, graduated from high school, spent time with normal professional adults-you know, kid stuff. Oh, I almost forgot that Rusty learned all about having siblings too. He's got four of them now, even two nephews," he grinned.

Daniel's eyes danced between the two as they easily jumped from person to person, continuing their story.

"Ahh, Andy," Sharon noted, "Rusty has been a great son too, on so many levels, but remember how Rusty wouldn't leave your side through all your health issues? He was worried sick when you had surgery and then when you had your heart attack. He's a good son," she smiled. "Ahh, the biggie-let's not forget he's graduating from college," she nodded again. She turned to Daniel, "I'm sure you never thought Rusty would amount to much, but luckily, we knew better. Our whole team knew better-remember them? Yes, they've all been part of Rusty's success, and yes, he's graduating from college. About that too, Andy, didn't we just sit in the lobby and discuss moving some of our money around?"

"Oh, that's right," Andy chuckled. "You see, we are here, were here," he corrected himself, "because we're selling our condo and wanting to buy a house, a house you won't be selling us," he added. "Now, with our salaries and good financial planning, we could pay cash for this house, but we're moving money around to pay for Rusty's law school."

"So, Daniel," Sharon picked up again, "we're going to be leaving now and let you explain to your colleague while we aren't staying. I'll be happy to tell her if you like?" Sharon offered. "Now, with Rusty going to law school, just a piece of advice, should you ever need legal advice in the future, don't call him."

With that, Andy moved to the door, holding it open for Sharon, and the two walked quickly out of the building.

"Can you believe that guy?" Andy gestured, as he and Sharon walked to his car. Sharon shook her head, still angry, yet not wanting to show it anywhere near the building.

"Of all the places in LA!" Sharon exclaimed once she and Andy were both in the car. She looked to Andy, a sad, pitiful look.

"Yeah, right," he nodded. "So, that house, apparently listed with Daniel's firm, is a no. I only wish that we could have really gotten a reaction from him about Rusty, you know?" he said, turning to Sharon. "Rusty has come so far; he's changed so much, and you've been responsible for so much of that, Sharon," he sighed, shaking his head. "Imagine where Rusty could be if he'd been left with that dirt bag. What a difference," he continued to shake his head. Sharon groaned, closing her eyes, and putting her head on the back of the seat.

"Andy," she said, "I think the condo is just fine for us."