Disclaimer: see previous chapters

After Sam dropped Andy off at Traci's he checked his phone for the first time today. He never had gotten particularly good at responding in a timely manner with the exception of Andy McNally. Sam opened his phone to see three missed calls from Oliver, a voicemail, and an accompanying five text messages. Oops, Sam thought. Oh well, Andy is more important than Oliver anyways.

The text messages read:

Yo brother, happy day of birth!

What are you up to? Please tell me you're not spending your birthday alone like usual…

C'mon man, pick up

Sammy, I swear you better tell me what's going on

Wait are you with Andy?! You are, aren't you! Details man? She's stealing all my time with you, the least you could do is give me a few details. Pretty please Sammy?

Sam chuckled at Oliver's train of thought and dialed his voicemail to see what else Oliver had on his mind.

There was no hello or happy birthday, Oliver jumped right in, signifying the voicemail had been left after he came to the conclusion that he was with Andy. "Seriously Sammy you're getting out of control. You skipped out on poker night and you've barely been to the Penny in a week. I mean I know she's a great girl and all but I'm dying here. You gotta give me something to work with brother. I need some dirty details, it's only fair since I've barely seen you. Oh, and happy birthday I guess. You're coming over tonight for dinner. Zoe's cooking so you better not be late. I don't care if you have plans with McNally, we're not negotiating this- just bring her with you. Alright? Alright. I'll see you at 6 o'clock brother. Nice talk."

Sam once again chuckled at his friend but was slightly less amused at his voicemail than the text messages because he knew there was no way he could get out of dinner tonight now that Oliver had involved Zoe. Now he couldn't have Andy all to himself. He wasn't normally a selfish person but Sam honestly didn't want to have to share Andy with anyone now that she was finally his. He sighed and dialed Oliver to talk some things over.

The phone only rang once before Oliver promptly answered, "Ah, and Sammy finally resurfaces!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're so funny Ollie," Sam responded, dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm serious, man, I was really starting to get concerned," Oliver added, continuing his foolish charade.

"Whatever Oliver. So what's the deal for tonight…is it too late to call if off? I have plans with McNally and she's much better company than you are. And she's a hell of a lot better to look at than you," Sam added.

"Well you know Zoe… and I may have mentioned to her that you and McNally are an item so there's really no stopping it now." Oliver offered.

Sam shook his head. He knew full well that Zoe wouldn't back down now and most definitely not let him slip out of dinner. She and Oliver had taken all too much interest in his love life for way too long. Accepting defeat he huffed and told Oliver "Fine we'll be there."

"Don't sound too excited Sammy," Oliver rejoined.

Sam always enjoyed dinner with the Shaw family (the whole bunch is a real riot) and knew that tonight would be fun regardless of having to share Andy so he relented and spoke earnestly, "I really am excited, Ollie. Do you guys want me to bring anything over?"

"No, no. It's you're birthday, remember? We've got it all under control. You just bring yourself and your much better second-half."

Sam smirked and said, "I think I can handle that."

"Good," Oliver responded. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Alright, bye." Sam said and snapped his phone closed.

He sighed once more and contemplated how he would tell Andy of their change of plans. Based on what happened last time he interrupted Traci's time with Andy he decided it would be best to wait until Andy had finished her lunch before attempting to contact her.

A few hours passed and Sam finally ventured to send Andy a quick text that read:

There's been a venue change for dinner tonight…

Andy quickly responded:

Why?

Sam chuckled at Andy's use of way too many question marks. The silly little things like that would just get to him. There's no reason he should be smiling right now, but because it was Andy he was grinning like a fool. He typed his response:

It's somewhat complicated, can I call?

Before ten seconds had passed Sam's phone was ringing and Andy McNally's face lit up his screen.

"Hey," Sam said, a smile evident in his voice.

"Hey yourself," Andy chimed. "Soooooo what's going on? Where are we headed to dinner? Somewhere new?"

"You could say it's new," Sam told her. "At least new for you."

"I'm intrigued," she replied.

"You really shouldn't be. You're probably not going to like it any more than I am."

"And now I'm confused," Andy remarked.

Sam sighed and decided it would be best to just get it out there and tell her. "We're going to the Shaw's house. Zoe's cooking."

He heard a halfway-anxious noise escape Andy's mouth before she recovered and said, "I understand now. That definitely is a venue change."

"Listen Andy, you don't have to go if you're not comfortable with it. I know this is all going a bit faster than you wanted. And I know that you really didn't want the whole world to know about our relationship this quickly but you said it yourself- Ollie gossips like a high school girl and unfortunately his wife is just about as interested in my personal life as Oliver is. I don't really have a choice in the matter because the Shaws are rather demanding sometimes but, like I said, you don't have to come."

Sam awaited a response for a few moments and then launched in again, "That being said, Andy, there's nothing I'd like more than to have you by my side tonight, and for many more nights to come. I know that technically you already gave me my birthday present, but having you with me tonight would be the best birthday present a guy could ever have."

Andy's response to this was almost immediate, "Of course I'll be there Sam."

Sam smiled and breathed a quiet sigh of relief that she committed to this. Dinner with Oliver would have been quite the downgrade from dinner with Andy. "Okie doke," Sam said cheerily. "We're supposed to be there at 6:00 so I'll pick you up at 5:30."

"I'll be ready," Andy responded. She quickly added, "Or at least I'll try to be ready."

Sam chuckled into the phone and bid her goodbye, "Until then, McNally."

"Bye Sam," Andy said and hung up the phone.

Sam's phone rang not even ten minutes later to Andy once again. "Well hello again," Sam said.

There was no hello before Andy launched into a frantic slew of questions, "Sam what am I supposed to wear? And do I need to bring like a present or something? Should I bring a bottle of wine? Or maybe I should cook something? Do I need to cook something? I mean this is a little weird don't you think? He's my superior officer but I'm not coming over as a rookie, I'm coming over as your girlfriend or whatever…how am I supposed to act?"

This was more like the reaction Sam had expected from Andy, "Okay, okay. Slow down a bit Andy. Just relax, it's all going to be fine."

"Sam! How can I relax?! I've never met Zoe before. I feel like I'm just a big huge intrusion on your dinner. Maybe it'd be better if I just didn't come."

"Okay seriously Andy, slow down. You are in no way an intrusion and you never will be when it comes to me. I guarantee that Zoe is going to love you and you don't need to be worried about any of this stuff. The Shaws are simple, nice people and they do not expect any presents from you. And lastly, Andy, you look beautiful in everything you wear. I would suggest you keep it casual though if you have to know. I'll probably be wearing jeans and t-shirt."

Even through the phone Sam could tell that Andy had relaxed just by the pattern of her breathing through the receiver.

"Right. Got it," Andy replied. "Thanks."

"No problem," Sam said. "Just call me if you have any more questions, okay?"

"Okay," Andy said.

"Alrightly, I'll see you in a few hours," Sam said.

"See you," Andy said before once again hanging up.

Sam sighed to himself and shook his head at Oliver for creating this whole situation. Sam was actually incredibly excited for Andy to meet Zoe, but he had hoped that it could have been more on his terms when Andy was actually ready to jump in head first. But, as it was, Sam was satisfied with how Andy was responding and decided that he would just have to make the best of this night. He might be a little pissed at Ollie but he wasn't going to let that ruin a perfectly good evening with the girl of his dreams and his best friend.

"You ready?" Sam asked as they sat in his truck outside the Shaw's house.

Andy chuckled and said, "As ready as I can be."

When Sam saw her right hand reaching for the door, he covered her left hand with his to stop her for just a moment. She turned to look him in the eyes and he gave her a soft, reassuring smile. Sam heard at least some of her nerves audibly leave her body in a soft sigh. He pulled her in for a gentle kiss and felt her relaxing even more.

When they separated Sam gently rubbed his nose against hers and rested his forehead against hers. He whispered against her lips, "I can feel you overthinking this from here. You have nothing to be worried about. You trust me, right?"

"With my life," she responded without missing a beat.

"Okay well I'm telling you this will be fun and probably pretty entertaining for you because Oliver is not exactly shy about teasing me."

This elicited a genuine laugh from Andy and Sam finally felt like she was letting her guard down. Now they were ready to go, but they stayed in the truck for another few minutes just enjoying the comfort of each other's presence.

Approximately 5 seconds after Sam had rang the doorbell, he could hear the clamor of feet running to greet them. Sam quickly concluded that the Shaw girls were more than a little excited to welcome their guests for the evening.

The door swung open and Sam and Andy were met with three intrigued faces. Izzy, being the oldest and trying her best to act it, stood back a few feet and attempted to look like an uninterested, disgruntled teenager but she was definitely failing in that department. She was just as eager as her younger sisters to meet the woman that Uncle Sam was bringing with him to dinner. He had never once brought a girl with him to dinner at the Shaws, much to their disappointment. But Andy was something special and he was pretty sure everyone could tell.

"Happy birthday Uncle Sam!" the two younger girls shouted as they enveloped him in a tight embrace.

He grinned over at Izzy and asked, "What? You not feeling the love tonight, Iz?"

Even though she was trying her best to remain unamused, Sam saw a smile creep onto Izzy's face. It didn't take long for her to give in and offer a more subdued Happy Birthday before she piled into the group hug.

Andy just stood in awe at the scene she had just witnessed. The Shaw girls appeared to be very fond of their 'uncle' Sam. Sam put on the kind of front that says he would never be seen dead in an embrace like this, but Andy knew better than that. It was just nice to see her suppositions confirmed in real life.

Sam grinned over to Andy and remarked, "I told you I was an awesome uncle."

Andy couldn't help but laugh at the picture before her. She noticed that she wasn't the only one amused as Oliver and Zoe finally surfaced from the kitchen. They chuckled with her and Oliver interjected, "I wouldn't go so far as to say awesome. Maybe if you stopped by more often than twice a year you could graduate to a great 'uncle,' but even that would be a stretch."

Sam shot him a glare, but they could all tell he wasn't actually that mad at Oliver because he did have a valid point. Naturally Andy and Zoe laughed at Sam's expense.

"Ah, but then my visits would lose their mystique and it wouldn't be as special… I wouldn't get welcomes like this," Sam rejoined pointing down to the girls clinging to his legs.

"Yeah whatever helps you sleep at night," Oliver remarked. "Alright girls I think Uncle Sammy has had enough, we wouldn't want his ego getting any bigger than it already is. And I need to introduce you all to the fabulous Andy McNally."

Despite the attention being turned to Andy, she actually didn't feel nervous at all. She watched in amusement as the girls extracted themselves from their embrace of Sam. Andy thought it was absolutely adorable how much the girls liked him.

Oliver and Zoe had wandered over closer to where Sam and Andy were standing at the door and Oliver instructed his daughters to introduce themselves.

Oliver's youngest, Maddie, immediately approached Andy and stuck her hand out very matter-of-fact-ly and announced herself, "Hi Andy! I'm Maddie. I'm six. How old are you?"

Zoe and Oliver were both ready to scold their daughter for asking but Andy waved them off. She squatted down so she was at eye level with Maddie and shook her hand very exaggeratedly. "It's very nice to meet you Maddie. I'm twenty-eight years old." She paused for a second and then said a little quieter, but still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "Do you want to know a secret?"

Maddie nodded, very excitedly and smiled a huge smile. "At work your dad told me that you were so pretty that you should be a princess, but I think you're even more beautiful than a princess."

If it was possible, Maddie's smile got even bigger. She almost squealed with delight and turned to face her parents and announced, "I like Andy. I hope she marries Uncle Sam too."

Andy was in total shock at this remark from a six year old. Meanwhile Zoe and Oliver shared a look that said oh shit, we forgot that six year olds don't have a filter and can't keep a secret. Sam seemed to be in about as much shock as Andy and he didn't take long to glare over at his friend.

Oliver, in an attempt to diffuse the awkward situation, cut in saying, "Right so that's our very talkative six year old who listens to conversations she shouldn't." Oliver pointed to his other two daughters in turn and introduced them himself in hopes of avoiding another conversation like the one that had just taken place. "This is Kelsie, she's twelve; this is Izzy, she's sixteen; and this is my beautiful wife Zoe who puts up with the whole crazy Shaw circus."

Zoe shook her head at both her daughter's and her husband's antics. Rather than shake her hand like Maddie had, she went straight in for a hug. If this woman could put up with both her husband and Sam on the job, she deserved a hug. Also, she seemed to think she would probably be seeing a whole lot more of Andy McNally from the stories she'd heard from Oliver and even from the brief time she'd seen Sam with Andy.

"It's so great to finally meet you Andy! And I'm just going to apologize in advance for anything my husband and/or daughters might do tonight. There's really no controlling any of them," Zoe told Andy.

Andy laughed, completely at ease. Any fears she had harbored about this meal being uncomfortable dissipated after meeting the Shaw family. "It's so great to meet you too! You have a beautiful family and home."

Zoe thanked Andy for the compliment and started to herd the crowd out of the front hallway and into the kitchen where they were putting the finishing touches on dinner. The girls went first, followed by their parents, and finally Sam and Andy had a moment to themselves.

They shared a look and Sam said, "See McNally, nothing to worry about."

He flashed her a full-dimple grin. She chuckled and thought oh boy, this night should be interesting. Sam grabbed her hand and they wandered into the kitchen for what would surely be an entertaining night.

A/N: I know that my picture of the Shaw family doesn't exactly match what they were like in the show, but this is kind of how I needed it to work out for my story. Also, for those who have been around from the beginning, I sincerely apologize for taking so long to post again. I swear this story will be finished and I'm actually about halfway through the next chapter already so it should be up pretty soon. Please keep reviewing, they're really encouraging. Thanks to everyone who reads! :)