Note: Slowly closing the gap on these chapter posts! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling up to writing smut for this chapter, so you'll have to forgive me for the "fade to black" we have. I hope everyone enjoys.
"Andy, you made this sound like it was a little over, it's way above what it should be," Sharon reprimands her husband as she looks at the test results from his recent doctor's visit. She sighs as she folds up the paper and tosses it onto the kitchen table, "You have a history of heart problems in your family, this is an issue."
"Shar I'm going to be fine, I'll change my diet, start working out a bit more…" Andy trails off as she gives him a look, "Okay, start working out again."
"You're also going to start taking more food with you to work instead of eating out with Provenza and the team so much. I don't know how any of them haven't had a heart attack with the stuff you guys eat," Sharon shakes her head as she clears their dinner plates. The kids were out at friends houses for the evening so Sharon had managed to cook them both a salmon dinner intending to get more information from her husband about his doctor's appointment. It was a pain to get him to go, and from the sounds of it she needed to push him to go more often.
Sharon gets the dishwasher loaded and turns it on before checking her watch. She turns off the kitchen lights and walks over to Andy, wrapping her arms around him from behind as she kisses his temple. He reaches up and pulls her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm.
"Hi."
"Hi," Sharon replies, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck and inhaling his scent, "I love you you know that?"
"I had an inkling," Andy replies with a smile on his face. He leans back and looks up at his wife, brown eyes staring into green, "I love you too."
"And that's why I make you go to the doctor and get on your ass about what you eat."
"I know," Andy sighs softly and shrugs, "I'll be better, I promise."
"Good," Sharon smiles at him and presses a kiss to his forehead, "Up for some exercise?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well, we have about an hour before the kids start to trickle home..." Sharon trails off with a suggestive look on her face. Andy hums and pushes away from the table before hoisting Sharon over his shoulder and heading towards their bedroom.
"ANDREW!" Sharon squeals in laughter as she flails from her new position.
"Scream as loud as you want," Andy laughs as he drops her onto the bed, "No one is going to hear you."
"As creepy as that sounded, that is the point," She tells him as she grabs his tie and drags him down to her level.
Later in the evening Sharon collapses into bed next to Andy after tucking the twins in. She burrows closer to his side and rests her head on his chest as she wraps an arm around his waist. Andy rubs his hand up and down her back through the t-shirt she had on. He looks down after a few moments, surprised when she doesn't say anything or start to relax into sleep.
"Penny for them?"
"I'm worried about Drew," Sharon admits, shifting her position slightly so she could look back up at Andy, "He was so quiet when he came home today. And that's after spending the afternoon at Carter's house."
"Maybe he was just worn out," Andy suggests.
"I don't think that's it. He's...he's been different ever since the school year started. What if something is going on at school?"
"He does great in school, all of his teachers love him. And they would have called us if something was going on. Or he would have said something. Maybe I don't know, is he old enough to be broodish from puberty?"
"Hardly," Sharon laughs softly, "Maybe you could talk to him? See if he'll say anything?"
"Sure, I'll talk to him tomorrow night after school."
"Thank you," Sharon murmurs and leans up to kiss her husband before laying her head back down and letting out a long sigh as she starts to relax, "I need to make sure I'm off the schedule for the next round of conferences, we've been slacking on going this year."
"We have such smart kids we don't need to..."
"Yes we do," Sharon replies, smacking Andy on the abs, "But we do have some pretty smart kids."
"All you," Andy grins and yawns before closing his own eyes, "All you babe."
A few weeks later, Sharon sighs as she pulls up to the pickup lane at the school. She had been running on time but got stuck behind an accident on her way over and ended up being late picking up the twins. Throwing the car in park she jumps out and heads towards the school doors, noticing a grouping of kids yelling and playing in the open yard next to the jungle gym. She reaches out to grab the door handle but pauses on her way inside as she sees a flash of familiar red hair on the ground. It's then that she notices the yelling was more jeering and the kids were all standing in a circle. Sharon lets go of the door and rushes down the steps and across the yard towards the kids.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Libby yells as she tries to jump on the older kid's back and pull him away from her brother. She gets flung off onto the ground, a puff of dirt blowing up around her. She growls and jumps back up onto her feet, running over to the kid and kicking between his legs just as the crowd begins to break up as Sharon and a couple of the nuns arrive, "I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE."
"Elizabeth!" Sharon snaps at her daughter, pulling her back roughly before grabbing the other kid who was towering over Drew, the boy curled up on the ground.
"HEY! Let go of me."
"Knock it off!" Sharon tells him, her voice going deep and stern and she feels him go stiff. She lets him go, knowing he wouldn't dare move a finger. She turns her glare on the teachers that were reprimanding the last few kids standing around, "Get Father Daniels, now."
"Mrs. Fly…"
"Now," Sharon repeats, flashing the badge still attached to her hip, "Or I can call a patrol officer. Your choice."
"Sister Mary," The older nun nods towards the school. Sister Mary nods and heads off towards the school to retrieve the principal. Sharon kneels down next to Drew and rolls him onto his back, shushing him as he sobs.
"It's okay, honey. I'm here," Sharon whispers, checking him over. The sleeve of his polo shirt was torn and there were scuffs and scrapes on his arms and hands, his nose bloody along with his lip. How had this managed to go on long enough for Drew to get so hurt? She brushes her hand through his hair and dislodges a fair amount of dirt. She continues to console the boy as Libby squats down next to them.
"I kept telling him to leave Drew alone," Libby whispers, a waver in her voice, "He's always picking on him."
"It's okay honey," Sharon assures her daughter, turning to press a kiss to her forehead, "Why don't you go grab the first aid kit out of the car, hmm?"
"Okay," Libby takes the car keys from Sharon and runs over to the car to grab the first aid kit they kept in the trunk. She runs it back over and holds it out to Sharon. The older woman takes it and opens it up, grabbing out a few packets of gauze. She shushes Drew as she stuffs the squares of gauze under his nose before wiping off his lip and seeing if the cut needed stitches. She sits him up after determining it didn't and looks up as Father Daniels comes rushing over along with the nun that had been sent to get him.
"Mrs. Flynn! What in heavens name is going on here?"
"I was hoping you could tell me, Father. I just got here to pick up the twins from the after school program only to find Drew on the ground getting the snot beat out of him and Libby trying to fend off his attacker, a boy who by the looks of it is probably in the eighth grade. My daughter tells me that this has been a problem for a while, why haven't I heard anything about this?"
"We've sent letters home with Andrew about the matter to keep you and your husband abreast of the situation. And Mr. Matthews here is supposed to be serving a detention right now. Not out in the yard," The priest glares at the older boy, "I expect we'll be talking to your parents about this when they come to pick you up later this afternoon. Sister Mary, can you please escort Mr. Matthews to my office, please?"
"Of course, Father."
"Mrs. Flynn, please accept my sincerest apologies, it shouldn't have gotten this bad."
"A nine year old shouldn't have been expected to bring home letters of his own bullying!" Sharon retorts as she helps Drew stand up, noticing the guilty look in his eyes while getting him to hold the gauze under his nose. She closes up the first aid kit and stands herself, "And an LAPD officer shouldn't be breaking up fights on school grounds."
"Mrs. Flynn…"
"I expect that the school's zero tolerance policy will be taken into account when Mr. Matthews is being punished this afternoon, or I might find myself back here with an investigatory squad and taking my children's education elsewhere."
"Now let's not be so hasty."
"Consider that while you're doling out your punishments later this afternoon," Sharon reminds him, "I expect that there will be an incident report of this if we should ever have issues in the future."
"Of course."
"Libby, where's your stuff at?" Sharon asks as she looks at her daughter and son, noticing they were sans backpacks.
"Over by the jungle gym."
"Let's go grab it," Sharon tells her as she wraps her arm around Drew and follows the girl over to where their bags were. Hers was laying in the middle of the ground while Drew's had the contents strewn about. She sighs softly and kneels down to pick everything up, jamming it back into the pack before hurrying the kids to the car. She gives Drew a new round of gauze in the back seat just in case his nose starts to bleed again before getting in the front and starting to drive home.
"I'm sorry," Drew whispers as Sharon drives.
"Honey…you have nothing to be sorry about," Sharon tells him as she looks at the both of them in the rearview mirror. She pulls into the garage a while later and follows them inside as they get out of the car. She stops Drew at the top of the stairs and checks his nose once more before sending him to take a shower. She empties out his backpack on the table and goes through, trying to put it in some semblance of order before he gets out of the shower. She finds several envelopes addressed to her and Andy from the school in the contents of the pack, opening the most rumpled one up first. She finds a letter explaining that there had been issues between Drew and other kids at school to keep Sharon and Andy aware of the situation. She opens up the other envelopes all reciting the same generic information. That Drew was being bullied in school by various students. Violence had never occurred. Just wanted them to know.
"You know you parked in the middle of the garage?" Andy calls as he walks up the stairs from the garage.
"Huh?" Sharon asks as she doesn't turn to look at him.
"You parked in the middle of the garage. What's up?" Andy asks as he puts his hands on her waist before reaching out to grab one of the letters she was holding, "Drew's being bullied?"
"Apparently for a while now," Sharon says as she sighs, "He was getting beaten up by some kid when I got there to pick them up today. Bloody nose, split lip…whole nine yards."
"What the hell were the teachers doing?"
"I don't know, smoke break?" Sharon folds up the paper in her hands and sets it aside as she continues to clean up the contents of Drew's backpack putting it on the chair, "Pretty sure I put the fear of Jesus into them. And that's saying something for a Catholic school."
"I have no doubt of that, mama bear. Is he okay? Where is he?"
"I sent him to take a shower, he was covered in dirt."
"I suppose that's what's been going on."
"Probably," Sharon grumbles, "I don't understand. I've been to that school a hundred times since the school year started, so I haven't been able to make conferences, but I've talked to his teachers. None of them said anything about him being bullied. What was the point of these letters? What were we supposed to do? Make him less bully-able?"
"I'm sure they're covering their asses for something or other."
"Well if that little jackoff doesn't get what's coming to him…"
"I think jackoff is my word."
"I'm borrowing it, I'm mad," Sharon replies, starting to fume again.
"I'm sure the kid will get whatever punishment was coming to him. If not, I'll go down and talk to them myself."
"If not, we can take our money and the kids elsewhere. I don't care how long we've been going to Saint Josephs, this is ridiculous."
"Mommy, I can't get this bandaid on," Drew says as he comes down the hallway dressed in his pajamas with damp hair. He holds up a mangled bandaid to Sharon and points to the cut on his lip.
"Oh honey, I don't think we're going to be able to put a bandaid on that," Sharon tells him as she leans down to look at his face now that it was clean.
"How you doing bud?" Andy asks as he ruffles the boy's hair. Drew shrugs and looks down at the floor. Sharon sighs and puts a hand on his back.
"Come on, we can put some cream on it so it doesn't get infected. Maybe Dad can get you some ice for your eye."
"I can do that," Andy nods and heads into the kitchen as Sharon guides Drew back down the hall. He grabs a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer and fills a small baggie with them before heading to the kids' bathroom where he could hear Sharon and Drew talking quietly, "Here bud, put this on your eye."
"This isn't ice, these are peas," Drew says as he takes the bag from Andy.
"Very astute," Andy smiles, "It'll fit your eye better than giant ice cubes would."
"Oh," Drew says, looking at the baggie before holding it to his eye, wincing at the cold, "How long do I keep it on?"
"A little while, it'll help with the swelling," Sharon tells him as she puts some ointment on the cut on his lip, earning another wince out of the boy. She wipes her finger off and puts the cap back on before putting the tube away, "I think that's the best I can do, honey."
"Thanks, Mom," Drew says quietly.
"Honey, look at me," Sharon requests as she squats down in front of the boy sitting on the closed toilet seat lid. She waits until he looks her in the eye before continuing to talk, "Is there a reason you didn't give Dad and I the letters that the school sent you home with? Or didn't say anything about kids picking on you?"
Drew shrugs and looks down again as he continues to hold the baggie of peas to his face.
"That's not really an answer, Drew."
"I didn't want to bother you," Drew whispers, his voice thick, "No one else gets picked on...I didn't want you to have to talk to Sister Agatha just cause of me."
"Baby, this has evolved a little beyond just getting picked on. That boy was beating you up," Sharon tells him, "How long has this been going on?"
"He's only hit me once before."
"He's hit you before?" Andy asks.
"In gym class one time..."
"When you said you got the black eye from the ball hitting you in the face?"
"Yeah..."
"How long has he been bullying you?" Sharon clarifies.
"Since last year," Drew whispers.
"Are there other kids that pick on you?" Sharon asks. Drew nods silently, sniffling.
"Oh honey, come here," Sharon says and pulls him off of the toilet and into her arms, shushing him as he bursts into tears.
"I don't want to go to school anymore!"
[TBC]