Liberties have been taken with characterization :)

9 - "You're soft and warm and I don't want you to move." ~Fall 2020

Sharon woke up one Friday morning to the sound of pouring rain and booming thunder. Oh, yes, this was definitely a perk of being retired—she didn't have to leave the house and could lie in bed as long as she wanted when it was storming. She'd gotten a little hot the night before, so she'd turned the thermostat down, but now she was freezing. She wished it were Saturday so Andy could stay in bed with her. Stormy mornings were rare, but it was the perfect excuse to spend the morning in bed. Andy's shrill alarm violently jerked her more awake, and she spooned herself behind him as he turned off the alarm and started to sit up. He paused when he felt Sharon cuddle him from behind. "You hafta go to work?" she mumbled, her voice faint and muffled and her words not as clearly enunciated as usual in her drowsy haze.

"Afraid so. Some of us still have weekday obligations, you know."

Sharon wrapped her arm around Andy and pressed herself more closely to him. "Email in. I think you need to stay home."

Andy grinned as he rolled over and kissed her forehead. "And my excuse would be…"

"That you're soft and warm and I don't want you to move."

Andy chuckled. "Yeah. I'm sure Hernandez would go for that one."

Sharon smoothed her hand over his chest and gave him a pleading look. "You're retiring soon, anyway, and you have an ungodly amount of sick days. You look a little under the weather to me." The longer she was retired, the less important work technicalities seemed to be. Hell, Andy had more than put in his due time. He deserved a day off.

Andy was actually starting to consider this. They didn't have a case, he was caught up on paperwork, and he'd probably spend most of the day at work watching Provenza cuss his way through crossword puzzles and ask unending questions to try to fill in the blanks. He hadn't taken a sick day in over a year, so he didn't feel much guilt there, either. Staying in bed was sounding better and better. "Hmmmm…You are not a good influence."

Sharon shrugged. "Who said I was?"

Andy grabbed his phone from his nightstand and emailed in that he needed to take a sick day before he could change his mind. With that taken care of, he crawled back under the covers with Sharon and wrapped his arm around her as they both went back to sleep.

A little while later, Sharon woke up to the feeling of Andy's lips on her neck. They were starting to heat up when they heard little feet toddling into their room, and they both froze. "What…Crap, I forgot Emily and Marie were here," Sharon muttered. Emmett was traveling for work, and Sharon had invited Emily over for dinner the night before. Anticipating a few glasses of wine on the porch afterward, Emily had brought their things so she and Marie could spend the night.

In a panic, Sharon tore herself away from Andy and pulled the covers up over herself. She was already mostly undressed, and the last thing she needed was Marie asking questions about her absence of "'jamas." She lay back down and closed her eyes, hoping against hope that Marie would go back to Emily if she thought they were asleep, but of course the two year old was unfazed. Sharon inwardly groaned when she felt a small hand patting her cheek. "Up, Gammy! Canbakes!" It never failed, the first word Sharon always heard from Marie in the morning if she was with them overnight was a demand for pancakes in her toddler tongue.

Sharon slowly opened her eyes and stroked Marie's light brown hair. She was so cute in her footie pajamas and disheveled hair. "Morning, precious. Girl. That is some serious bedhead."

Recognizing Sharon's predicament, Andy climbed over her and slipped into the bathroom to grab his robe. He was at least still in his boxers. He tied his robe on and scooped Marie up. "Let's go get our pancakes started, and Gammy will come in just a minute, okay?" He cast a suffering look at Sharon. "Cockblocked by a two year old. Unbelievable."

"Andy," Sharon chided. Once they were gone, she pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a sweatshirt. She wasn't any happier than Andy was that they'd gotten interrupted, but damn it, Marie was too adorable to refuse. She could hear dishes clanging and Marie giggling as she approached the kitchen, but she was surprised when Emily wasn't there. "Where's Mommy?" She asked Marie.

"As'eep," Marie answered.

Sharon's eyes widened. "How did you get out of your pack'n play?" She didn't think she'd be able to climb out, but Marie was too focused on watching Andy making pancakes to answer.

Emily rushed in a few minutes later as Sharon was pouring a mug of coffee, and she was relieved to see Marie with Sharon and Andy. "Oh, thank god. I panicked when I woke up and she was gone. I think her other molars are coming in, and she woke up screaming a few times last night. I finally just put her in bed with me."

Sharon got another mug and poured some coffee for Emily. "That explains it. I thought she'd somehow climbed out of her pack'n play when you weren't up yet."

"Mama!" Marie exclaimed. She pointed at Andy. "Cock-ba!"

Emily looked bewildered. "What?"

Marie pointed at Andy again. "Cock-ba!"

Sharon bit back a laugh as Andy's cheeks flushed. She'd warned him about saying things in front of Marie that didn't need to be repeated. Emily giggled. "It sounds like she's saying 'cockblock.' She can be one, but I don't think Emmett's whined about it when she was around before."

"Papa cock-ba!" Marie insisted.

Emily gave Marie a chiding look. "Did you wake up Gammy and Papa?"

"Papa no wear 'jamas!" Marie announced.

"I wasn't wearing the kind she's used to seeing me in," Andy clarified. He checked her diaper, desperate for a distraction. "Nobody's changed you this morning, have they? Let's get you out of this wet diaper." Andy fled the room with Marie in his arms. He'd never been so happy to change a diaper in his life.

"Wait, is Andy not going to work?" Emily asked. She didn't teach ballet on Fridays, so it had felt like Saturday to her at first.

Sharon shook her head. "They're a little slow at work, and he, uh, is trying to burn through some of his days off since he's getting close to retirement."

Emily raised a suspicious eyebrow. "I thought you guys got reimbursed for unused time when you retired."

Sharon thought fast. "He, um, still has a lot of days, and today it was just worth it to stay home."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "I'm just going to take your word for it. I haven't had enough coffee—it's too early to be grossed out." She looked out the window and sipped her coffee. "Ugh, I wish 'it's storming' were a reason to cancel a pediatrician appointment. I guess this is what I get for being a few weeks late on her two-year wellness visit."

Sharon's ears perked up. "What time is her appointment?"

"I need to get her dressed and leave soon after breakfast…Ew, Mom, don't look so excited! Gross."

Sharon quickly schooled her features, or tried to, anyway. She wasn't sure how successful she was.

An hour later, Emily and Marie were gone, and Sharon gave Andy an expectant look and nodded toward their bedroom. The storm was still howling outside, and she was more than ready to slip back into bed. Andy feigned ignorance. "I think I'll catch up on some laundry since I have the day off."

Sharon shrugged and gave him a coy half-smile. "You won't need any clothes if you come with me, but suit yourself."

They both looked up at the ceiling as the lights flickered off. A crash of thunder sounded outside, and a streak of lightning flashed across the window. Yeah, the power would probably be out for a good while. Andy pretended to look like he was deep in thought. "What will we find to do now?"

Sharon took his hand and led him out of the kitchen. "I have some thoughts on that."

4–"You're so perfect, and I'm so fucking lucky."

Sharon soaked in a bath with a glass of wine early one Friday evening, listening to music and enjoying having a little time to herself. Rusty was visiting Ricky for the weekend and wasn't coming back until Monday, and Andy was picking up takeout for dinner and coming over after work. Major Crimes had been a little slow that week, so she'd worked from home and had gotten offline a little early. After being in the bath long enough for her to drain it a little and add more hot water because it had cooled down twice, she decided it was time to get out. She sang along to her phone and sipped her wine as she took her time drying herself off and slipping into her robe.

"It's just a matter of time

Before you make up your mind
To give all that love that you've been hiding
It's just a question of when
I've told you time and again
I'll get all the love you've been denying

Sooner or later, love is gonna getcha Sooner or later, girl you got to give in

Sooner or later, love is gonna letcha Sooner or later, love is gonna win"

When Andy arrived, he was barely in the door before she started kissing him. "What, no 'hello?'" He teased.

"We've been saying 'hello' for years. We've only been doing this for a couple of months." They'd been kissing, in general, for longer than that, obviously, but not this kind of 'screw everything, let's go to bed' kind of kissing. Sharon took the bags from Andy one at a time and placed them on the counter behind her, somehow managing not to stop kissing him as she made the transfers. When she and Andy had finally had sex for the first time a couple of months ago, Sharon quickly realized that menopause hadn't been kind to her in that department and that adjustments needed to be made. She'd heard that could happen, but she hadn't been with a man since before menopause was a concern, so she didn't realize it was a problem until her and Andy's first encounter quickly turned painful and awkward. Despite trying different positions and Andy being as gentle as he could, it hadn't improved, so she'd made an appointment with her doctor to find out what the problem was. He had mentioned several options, but basically said that more frequent stimulation, intercourse or otherwise, could often work wonders. Now, several weeks after that suggestion, she had gradually improved and felt like she was almost over the hump. She planned to spend the majority of the weekend trying to get completely over it and would take her doctor's advice as many times as Andy was able to participate.

"You're not hungry?" Andy asked as Sharon started to lead him toward her bedroom.

"Yeah, but if we do this now, maybe we can do it again before we go to sleep. I'm sick of you handling me like I'm going to break every time we do this, I want to get back to normal as soon as I can."

"I just try not to hurt you!" Andy protested, feeling like his performance was being criticized.

"Oh, I know. I'm just ready for that to not even be an issue. I think I'm getting close, and I hope this weekend will get me there."

"Challenge accepted."

As they made their way to the bedroom, Sharon trembled when Andy's lips reached a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. He paused and slowly made his way back to it, grinning when he got the same response and a low hum. He was still finding new ones every now and then, and he always loved when he got an unexpected reaction from her. "I really like this doctor of yours, I've gotta say."

The next morning, after following doctor's orders, of course, Sharon and Andy ran a few errands and ate a late lunch before going back to the condo. Andy made sure the hall was clear before nipping at the sensitive spot on Sharon's neck he'd discovered the evening before as she unlocked the door. He loved the way she reacted to it, and he hadn't been able to leave it alone. Taken by surprise, Sharon dropped her keys. "Seriously, Andy, you're going to give me a hickey if you keep that up!"

"It's your fault. The way you react to it is foreplay in itself."They'd both gotten less and less cautious in bed as Sharon gradually improved, but it had still been a while since she'd gotten an orgasm from something that was actually attached to a man. The awkwardness and discomfort she'd been experiencing, although dwindling, hadn't exactly been conducive to that. A little while later, a familiar and long overdue warmth started to surge through her, and she knew she was finally close. She knew Andy probably wouldn't last much longer, and the only thing worse than no orgasm at all was an incomplete one. "Harder, Andy, please," she panted.

Confused, Andy started to slow down. "What? Are you sure—"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just do it." Sharon winced as Andy's thrusts became more powerful, but the slight pain wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She couldn't help but cry out when an overwhelming wave of pleasure pulsed through her, and Andy's expression of bewilderment had quickly turned to one of cocky satisfaction as he felt her shudder against him. He gently pulled out of her a couple of minutes later when he felt himself go flaccid, and he kissed the top of her head as she snuggled into his chest.

Andy twirled his fingers through Sharon's hair as they lay together in comfortable silence. "I hate what you've been going through, but hearing you scream like that was well worth the wait." It hadn't been much of a secret that he'd felt a little inadequate when he constantly failed to get her off.

Sharon smoothed her hand down Andy's side. "I know, right? Even sex is sexist…And ageist, come to think of it."

Now that Sharon was getting close to being back to normal and they'd finally found their rhythm, she and Andy couldn't get enough of each other. They spent the rest of the weekend following doctor's orders in various places of the condo, and the times where the one small sexual problem reserved for men became an issue, Andy just switched media, which was also a new development in their relationship.

Needless to say, they were both exhausted by Sunday night. Sharon's voice was a little hoarse, no doubt from the uncharacteristic screaming Andy had elicited from her for most of the weekend, but it was more than worth it. Several years ago, when she'd suspected she was in the beginning stages of menopause and started reading about it, she'd been surprised to find out that it caused some women to have an increased sex drive. Everything she'd ever heard about it suggested the opposite. She was even more surprised to discover that she was one of them, but that hadn't really worked in her favor until just recently. Unfortunately, most urges occurred in the middle of the night, and even when Andy was staying over, she'd never woken him up to give her a hand. This time, when a nagging pulsing pulled her out of sleep, she propped herself up on her elbow and tapped Andy's shoulder. "Andy?….Andy!"

"Hmph," Andy mumbled, not opening his eyes.

Sharon tapped him more insistently. "Andy."

Andy jerked awake and squinted up at her. "What? You okay?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to, you know…uh, can we…" Sharon finally stopped beating around the bush and started kissing him. That was the last thing Andy had expected, but he wasn't complaining and happily complied.

The next morning, Sharon stumbled into the bathroom and started the shower when her alarm went off. She was brushing out her wet hair when what appeared to be a discolored, nasty-looking bruise on her neck caught her eye. Where the hell had that come from—"Andrew James Flynn!" She yelled as she wrapped a towel around herself and went back into her bedroom. "I told you this was going to happen!" It must've happened during their middle-of-the-night encounter. She'd gone to the bathroom afterward, but she probably hadn't looked at herself in the mirror.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Andy moaned from under the covers. "I don't have to to get up for thirty more minutes! Why are you middle-naming me at the crack of dawn?! I like the way you woke me up last night better." He sat up and looked at her, and his gaze immediately went to the finger she was pointing at her neck. His face twisted into a guilty grimace as he raised himself to his knees on the bed and tilted her chin so he could get a better look at it. "Shit, Sharon, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Sorry isn't going to cover this up!" Sharon pulled his hand away from her face in exasperation. "There's nothing to look at, Andy, it's a hickey, plain and simple."

After experimenting with her various concealers and powders, Sharon managed to mostly cover it up. Andy was stepping out of the shower as she was carefully applying concealer, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the image of her trying to disguise a hickey. Sharon caught his eye in the mirror as he dried himself off and hanged his towel on the door. "This isn't fun—" She didn't get very far in her reprimand before dissolving into giggles, herself. Having Andy standing in her bathroom, naked as the day he was born and not giving it a second thought, while she tried to hide the evidence of their intimacy from the night before was too much for her. "I'm 56 years old, and I have a fucking hickey."

Andy grinned and kissed the top of her head. "I think it's pretty hot."

Someone would probably have to be looking for it to notice it, but she was still paranoid about it, so Sharon dug through her winter clothes for a turtleneck. LA never got cold enough during the day for them, but she found one that was thin enough to not be too miserably hot. Andy cast a suffering look in her direction. "I don't like turtlenecks."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Not enough cleavage?"

"Exactly."

When they got to work, Provenza was already there and rolled his eyes so hard at their same-time arrival that Sharon was afraid they were going to stay that way. "Morning, Lieutenant."

"Morning, Captain…Are you sick?" Sharon quickly shook her head and made a quick escape to her office. Provenza gave Andy a look. "What's the turtleneck about? If I didn't know better, I'd think you gave the Captain a love bite."

"Laundry day. Don't be ridiculous, we're not teenagers. I think I know how to avoid those by now."

Around lunchtime, Andy poked his head into Sharon's office. "Want to go get something to eat?"

Sharon shook her head. "Sorry, honey, I'm meeting Janet for lunch. Rain check?"

Andy pretended to look appalled. "You're getting lunch with one of your friends instead of me, whom you see every day?! Uncalled for."

Sharon gave him a playful look. "If you're really upset about it, I could make it up to you later."

Andy grinned. "In that case, I'm fucking pissed. I'll need lots of making up."

Sharon pressed her face into his shoulder. "If one more person asks me if I'm sick, I'm going to lose my damn mind. I can't exactly say 'no, I just had toe-curling sex with my boyfriend all weekend.' My voice and need for a turtleneck are both entirely your fault, by the way."

Andy shrugged. "You can't blame that on me. You're so perfect. And I'm so fucking lucky. That's all you."