Family - Chapter 12
by Kadi
Rated: T
"I don't get it." Rusty was staring at the vast blankets of complete whiteness in front of him. His nose wrinkled. "It's… bright." He wasn't completely prepared for just how much sunlight shining off snow could hurt the eyes. "It's cold." He made a face. "Why are we here again?"
"Grandparents. Family. Holiday. Ringing any bells?" Katie nudged him. "Come on. It's great!" When he wouldn't budge, Katie got behind him and pushed. "Rusty, let's go! It's a vacation, we're supposed to have fun."
"Katie. It's cold." He was wearing jeans, and one of the thick sweaters and coat that Sharon got him. He understood now why she sent him to get boots.
"It's snow, Rusty. It's supposed to be cold." She rounded him and took his arm, pulling on it. "Do you want mom to think that you completely despise her absolute favorite place on earth?"
"Hey, I never said she wasn't weird," Rusty smirked. He rolled his eyes and fell in step with her. "Okay, fine, where are we going?"
Katie was right about the cottage, it was huge, but there were still some of them camping out in the large den and family rooms. Sharon's brothers were there, Dave and Alan with their wives and children. Her sister Helen had stayed home with her husband and children. Her daughter Melanie had a brand new baby and wasn't traveling yet. Not all of the cousins were present, some of them had to work, and those that were married were with their spouses' families. Even with Nicole and Jake staying at the lodge with their two boys, they were still a large group.
They had flown out in groups. The elder Raydor siblings had taken charge of Rusty for his first trip to Park City, while Sharon and Andy had arrived with his daughter and son-in-law the next day. Upon which the children, without Tony who had drawn the unlucky straw of having to work, had bestowed their surprise on the pair. The five of them had chipped in and rented a small cabin on the other side of the resort. They had gotten the grandparents involved. Patrick Cavanagh had put down his edict. They were expected at dinner the first night, and Christmas Eve dinner and mass, and of course breakfast Christmas morning, but were otherwise to enjoy themselves and if that meant not being seen - so be it.
"I don't want to be cooped up here." Katie admitted. "The cousins are being weird." At Rusty's look, she snickered. "Weirder than usual. They're looking at me like I'm all… you know… damaged or something. I made it through Chemo, my leg is going to get stronger, and I just have to ace the tests in January. Also, I haven't thrown up in like, days, so life is good!"
"They let you have coffee and sugar for breakfast didn't they?" Rusty slanted a look at her. "You know, protein and caffeine is fine. Sugar and caffeine, not so much."
"Bite your tongue." She tossed her hair. "Gram's waffles were divine!"
"Oh, they were great," he agreed. "For those of us who are not you and now bouncing off the walls. I get the dancing thing now. You're totally wired." Rusty grabbed her arm when she almost slipped in the snow. "Ok, but let's not go too far, I don't want to walk around in all this wet, nasty, stuff."
"Snow," she corrected with a grin. "Okay. let's go skiing!"
He slanted a look at her. "No." Rusty shoved his hands into his pockets. Sharon told him to pack gloves. He hadn't. He made a mental note to get some at the boutique in the main lodge. Hopefully before Sharon found out he hadn't packed gloves. So far, they hadn't seen her since dinner, so he wasn't entirely worried. "Let's go check out the lodge," he suggested.
"You're no fun." Katie sighed.
"You mean I'm not insane like you are." Rusty smirked. As they walked, his phone chirped. He took it out of his back pocket and slid a finger across the screen. Rusty shook his head. "Your mom has no understanding of the word vacation." She was checking on him. I'm fine, he sent back.
Katie leaned over to check his screen and laughed. "Well, yeah. That's mom. How long have you lived with her?"
"Good point." Rusty continued walking, glancing down when his phone chirped again.
"We're at the lodge having breakfast with Nicole and Jake. Did you eat?"
"Seriously? Doesn't she know me at all?" He laughed.
"Your mom made waffles. They were great. Katie is bouncing off the wall. We're headed that way. Exploring."
"We're in the restaurant. Find us."
"They're already at the lodge," Rusty told her. "We have been summoned."
"Of course we have," she laughed. "She wouldn't know what a vacation was if it walked up and bit her on the—"
"She frets, you know." Rusty grinned.
"Yeah, we'll go with that." Katie said. "Alright, let's go show the mommy type person that we are still in one piece even though she took her eyes off us for a whole evening."
"We're not going to say that to her, right?" Rusty arched a brow.
"Heck no!"
When they reached the lodge, they went by the boutique first so that Rusty could replace his forgotten gloves before they found Sharon and Andy. Afterward, they stepped into the restaurant at the back end of the lodge. It sat overlooking the mountain, and the vista was absolutely breathtaking.
Rusty had to admit, even if it was cold and wet, the snow was kind of pretty from that vantage point. His eyes swept the room and he spotted Andy's head first. Nicole and Jake sat with them at the table, their boys on either side of them devouring a mound of pancakes. Andy had his arm draped across the back of Sharon's chair, and she was leaning against him, laughing as he spoke. From the way he was gesturing with his other hand, Rusty could imagine what sort of story he must be telling. Tales of the amazing antics of Flynn and Provenza were pretty much endless.
He had to admit, though, even after they arrived the previous day, they had still seemed drawn and tired. This morning it was as if all the excess baggage of LA was finally washed away. Both of them were lighter, more relaxed. It was something of a relief. When he and Katie approached, he noticed that Sharon's eyes were softer. They brightened when she spotted them.
"Rusty doesn't like the snow." Katie reported instantly.
"It's cold," he said.
"California boy." Andy chuckled. "You'll get used to it."
"Says the Jersey boy," Rusty fired back.
Andy shrugged. "It's got its advantages." His wife's blue jeans and form fitting sweaters for one. He was liking the snow just fine. "What did you kids have planned?"
"We were just walking around," he said. "Someone let Katie have sugar and caffeine at breakfast, so…"
Sharon laughed. "That would be her grandmother. It is a phenomenon I am well acquainted with. Well, after breakfast we were going to take the boys down to the pond. I thought maybe you'd like to join us."
"The pond?" Rusty's brows drew together. He looked a bit skeptical. What was there to do at a pond in the middle of winter when everything was covered in snow.
"Ice skating," Katie told him. "You'll love it."
"I don't know." He was pretty sure that he wouldn't. "I've never done it before."
"Seriously?" She made a face. "Well, now you have to go."
"I agree." Sharon smiled at him. "Rusty, it will be fine. We were going to work off some of the boys excess energy. Someone agreed they could have pancakes with syrup and powdered sugar for breakfast," she shot a look at her husband.
"Hey, that's my job," He flashed a grin. "You'll get the hang of it," he told her. "You just need more practice with the spoiling and handing back sequence. Right now you're stuck on keep mode."
"Hm." She didn't seem convinced. "Then after lunch, Andy is going to watch the boys while I take Nicole and Jake up the mountain."
"Skiing." Andy explained. "Shoulder's not up to it, and I was never any good at it."
"I'm not sure my leg can take it," Katie said honestly. "How about I hang with you guys? We'll build snowmen, and have hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows. What do you say?"
"Yeah!" The boys cheered, she grinned.
"That's my girl." Andy smirked. "See," he pointed at Katie. "She gets it." His wife's eyes narrowed and he shrugged. "Okay fine. Have it your way."
"I will, thank you." She tilted her head at her children. "Rusty, I'd like you to come with us this afternoon."
"Do I have to?" He was slowly shaking his head. "I mean, I get that I'm not going to be able to runaway when Ricky and the others take me snowboarding, but can't I just kind of, pretend that I'm going to avoid it all?"
"If you really don't want to," she said gently, "then no."
She pouted, just a bit, and Rusty rolled his eyes. "Fine. We'll go skiing."
Katie giggled. She nudged him. "Sucker."
"I think we're done here." Nicole stated. The boys had degraded into playing with their food instead of eating it. "You guys ready to go skating?"
"Let's go get cleaned up first." Jake stood up and took both his boys. "We'll meet you in the lobby."
Nicole laughed. "I'd better help."
While they took the boys up to get them cleaned up and into warm clothes, Andy took care of the check. Afterward, they made their way down to what was referred to as the old pond. It was actually a very large, man made structure, which was completely frozen over. A rail bordered half of it, and there were wooden benches and a stand for renting skates.
Rusty made a face when his were handed to him. "Really? Is that even safe?"
Sharon sighed. "Rusty."
"Okay, okay." He sat down and started putting them on. "I still say this is such a bad idea."
"Come on, big baby. You'll live." Katie knelt down beside him and took over his laces, since he was doing it wrong.
"This is insane," He said, wobbling when he stood up on them. Rusty walked to the edge of the pond and stood there. "I really don't know about this."
"It's fine. Watch." Katie stood beside him, unsteadier than she usually was. She rubbed her thigh, and then carefully kicked out onto the ice. She wavered just a bit on her injured leg, and then compensated for it and turned. "See?"
"Rusty, you're fine." Sharon glided backward, just a pace, and then stopped. She held out her hands. "Come on, I've got you." She crooked her fingers at him. "Rusty. Trust me?"
"You would play that card, wouldn't you Sharon?" He wrinkled his nose at her. "If I fall…" Rusty held his breath and took a step onto the ice.
"You're not going to fall." She caught him when he wobbled, held both arms, and then pulled him with her away from the edge. "See? I've got you, one foot and then the other."
"If I go down, just for the record, I'm taking you with me." He had an almost vice grip on her upper arms. When she laughed, he had to smile.
"Hey." Ricky leaned against the rail beside his stepfather. His mother had sent him a text that they would be down here. They both had skates on, but took a moment before stepping out onto the ice. His eyes tracked the rink, found his sister first, then his mother. "She taught us, just like that. Of course, we were about their age," he nodded toward where Nicole and Jake were guiding their boys.
"Yeah." Andy had gotten another cup of coffee when they got their skates. He was letting her have this moment. Cheeks flushed from the cold and the joy, eyes alight, she was simply stunning. Her laughter floated across the cool air to where they stood. She wasn't letting Rusty fall. He was wobbling a bit, like a newborn calf on those skates, but she had a firm hold on him. "They've come a long way. Time was, the kid hardly said a word that wasn't meant to drive her or anyone around them nuts."
"That's being a teenager." Ricky grinned. "We put her through hell too. Don't let us fool you. Sneaking out of the house, drinkin', smoking pot with the cousins…" He smirked. "Wrecking the car. That was just me. Then there was little miss ballet." Ricky nodded to where his sister was skating alongside their mother and Rusty. "She loved it, and don't get me wrong, she's good. Really good. I know she's a bit of a pip, always happy, bouncing off the walls, but once upon a time she was just a teenage girl too. Real diva. It had to be the best, classes, teachers, shoes. I wasn't much better. New cleats, new pads, baseball gear or whatever." He could laugh about it now, after they'd made it out the other side. "You know, we were damned lucky. Mom would work all night, come home and sleep an hour, maybe two. Then it was off to school, or little league, dance class, rehearsal, games, recitals, whatever was going on. Then come home, make dinner, go back to work, and start all over again. That was before she was IA. After that, it was a lot easier. But she had nights when she was on call, we'd be out until ten or so because I had a game, or Katie had a show. Mom would get a call out at three in the morning."
"Just so she could deal with some asshole who gave her nothing but crap," Andy drawled with a grin. "Fighting with her is just always so much fun."
"Not something I need to know about," Ricky replied. "I'm not surprised about the whole Rusty thing. I don't think she knows how to not have someone to take care of." His gaze followed them and he sighed. "She's not going to dance again is she?"
Katie was favoring her leg, putting weight on the good one. Occasionally, despite her laughter, she would reach down and the top of her thigh, where the metal rod had been attached to her hip. Andy considered his coffee cup. No one wanted to say it. Katie didn't talk about it, not openly. "No, not like she did. She'll dance, because it's part of her. She'll enjoy it, because she loves it. It won't be Giselle in front of a full house in New York." He slanted a look at his stepson. "She knows. It's why she gave up the apartment. When I offered to pay the rent, she admitted what the rest of us didn't want to think about. She could more than afford to keep it, but she wasn't going back. Last couple of weeks she's been talking about going back to school. She hasn't decided if she wants a second Bachelors or if she wants to get her Masters in fine arts. It's going to be a while before her leg is strong enough for her to teach or try auditioning locally. She wants to do something in the meantime."
"That's our bean, can't sit still," Ricky said quietly. "What do you think she'll do?"
"I don't know," Andy said honestly. "That's got to be up to her. She'll figure it out. I'm not worried." He wasn't. There was too much of her mother in her. She wouldn't dwell. She would feel it, and then she would move on. Andy had a feeling she already had. He drained his coffee and tossed the cup into a nearby trash bin. "Right now, I think she just wants someone to keep her from falling on her butt." He grinned and moved around the edge of the rail to kick off onto the ice.
"Oh, I can handle that." Ricky followed with a laugh. He made a beeline for his sister, and once he reached her, lifted her up and twirled her around until she squealed.
Rusty had graduated to having only one arm held and skating alongside Sharon. He was still unsteady, but no longer in danger of taking both of them down. "Kids, behave." Sharon moved Rusty away from her elder pair, who often chose to act as though they were unruly twelve year olds. "Richard, do not drop your sister."
"Let them have fun." Andy appeared beside her, moving slowly. "Looks like the kid might be getting the hang of it." He watched Rusty wobble again and almost go down. Sharon caught him. "Okay, maybe not."
"He's doing fine." Sharon righted him again. "Just needs a little practice.'
"You're kidding right?" Rusty gave her an almost panicked look. "You want me to do this again?"
Sharon laughed. "It's really a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. No one just starts out knowing how to skate, Rusty."
"I think I'm just going to go right here." Rusty let to of her and let himself glide to the rail. "See, I'm good now. Really. This is a great place for me. You crazy kids, go have fun."
Sharon and Andy stopped skating. They exchanged a look. "Yeah, nice try." Andy moved over and took his arm. "Come on kid. She's not going to give up, you know that." He took Rusty on his good side, and let Sharon have the other.
"Oh god." Rusty groaned. They laughed. He decided he would get them back, he really would.
After almost an hour of guided skating, Rusty was more or less stable enough to turn over to Ricky. Sharon followed Katie to the edge of the rink, while Andy moved off to join his daughter and the boys. Cups of coffee in hand, Katie had shed her skates for her boots and was leaning against the rail. "Okay baby?" Sharon wrapped an arm around her and leaned close, they were both chilled.
"It's fine." Katie shrugged. "It hurts. I'm definitely not bound for the slopes." She wasn't much for skiing anyway, always worried she'd get hurt. She sighed quietly, she had gotten hurt anyway. Even if it did turn out to be a good thing, she had her days. "I'm okay," she said, but leaned into her mother anyway.
"I know you keep saying that, but are you sure?" Sharon studied her. "Katie, it's fine to not be okay. It hasn't been easy, I know. You've had some serious blows the last few months. I worry about you. That you're just rolling with it and—"
"Not really coping?" Katie shook her head. "How can I not cope? It's kind of hard to deny it all when I've got poison flowing into my veins, or my leg hurts. It's really okay," she smiled. "I'm not going to flip out. You don't have to worry about me, Mom. You worry enough. Yes, it hurts. Like crazy. I miss it more than you know. I'm tired of being sick, and I'm tired of everyone looking at me like I'm sick. I'm tired of you all worrying about me all the time. Just because I don't scream and cry and throw things in front of everyone doesn't mean that I haven't. I have had my moments, believe me. I ripped up my red leo, and I have thrown away my shoes so many times I've lost count, only to dig them out of the trash again." Katie gave her mother a pointed look. "I dyed my hair blue, I mean, come on. What did you think that was about?"
"I liked it blue." Sharon pulled her closer and leaned against her back. She rested her chin against her daughter's shoulder. "We drive you crazy with the worrying, I know. I'm sorry. I just don't want you to wake up one day and everything hit you all at once. The reality of your situation is—"
"Sucks." Katie said. "The word you're looking for is sucks. Big, fat, hairy—"
"Katherine." She slanted a look at her.
"Okay, you get the point." Katie smiled. "I guess what I'm saying is that when I tell you that I'm okay, I mean it. My career is shot straight to hell, and that's… it's not really okay, but there's nothing I can do to change it. I know that. My head knows it. My heart hasn't completely caught up with it yet, but I'm working on it. I don't know how to explain it, Mom. I knew, the minute I heard that bone snap, I was done. But you taught us not to dwell on what we can't change. So that's what I'm trying to do. It's not going to do anyone any good if I mope around and throw fits about it, least of all me. People get sick every day, and they get hurt, or worse, and they don't have the things that I do, the support system that I've had. I'm a spoiled rotten brat, and I know it. I also know I've let you carry too much of this, both of you. Maybe that was my way of coping. You know?"
"I know." She held her close. "I didn't mind it. It's sort of part of the job, honey." Sharon reached up and stroked her hair. "One day when I'm much, much, much older, and you've made me a grandmother, you'll understand. You can't ask me to carry too much, because that's why I'm here. You'll always be my baby. I just can't believe you went and grew up on me. All three of you did."
"Sort of the point mom." Katie grinned. "All your hard work has to pay off at some time."
"I'm having a moment here," she said drily.
"Oh, my bad." Katie straightened. "By all means, continue."
"No, it's gone. I've lost it." Sharon sighed. She hugged her daughter again and kissed the side of her head. "I think you're going to be fine."
"Me too." Katie continued to watch the goings on out on the ice. "Mom…" She shook her head. "At some point, we're just going to have to face the facts that Rusty just isn't—"
"I know." She shook her head. "He's a thinker." Sharon tilted her head. "Your bother and cousins want to take him snowboarding."
"I heard." She chewed her bottom lip. "Ricky will keep an eye on him. Maybe the snowboarding will go better than the skating?"
They looked at one another. "No," they both said.
"He'll go once, because he should at least try it," Sharon said. "Then we'll find something more to his liking. He'll be okay."
"Or he'll surprise us," Katie was ever the optimist.
"He has surprised me before." She agreed with a nod.
The skating lasted only a while longer. As was expected, the children lasted far longer than the adults that had been keeping an eye on them. Afterward, with plenty of time left before lunch, Nicole and Jake took the boys to an indoor playground to finish tiring them out. After lunch, Andy took charge of the boys with Katie's help while the others went skiing.
Once they were back, and the boys turned back over to their parents, Andy walked Sharon back to their cabin. They walked in to the sound of whining coming from the kennel in the small kitchenette. Sharon had asked her nieces Erin and Anna to check in on the animal during the day, and knew that she could trust them not to let the secret slip to Katie. She gave her husband a nudge toward the room. "It wants out."
He rolled his eyes at her. "It's a dog, Sharon. It's not a disease." He walked into the kitchenette and flipped the kennel door open. The small ball of fur bounced out and began jumping around his ankles. "It also happens to be a she."
"One shoe, Andy. Just one," she called, on her way to the bedroom.
Andy shook his head and bent down to scoop the animal up. He held her in front of him. "I should teach you to go for the really expensive ones, but I know she'd either shoot me or make me replace them. Or both." He set the dog in the crook of his arm and went to find its leash. "Come on, out you go. Let's make it fast too. It's cold out there and my woman is about to get in the shower. I'm not missin' that, not even for small, defenseless creatures." His wife sent him to find a dog for her daughter, he came home with a German Shepherd pup, not the cute, prissy breed she was expecting him to pick out for Katie. She was upset about it shedding all over the house. He didn't see a problem. Katie wasn't going to live with them forever, eventually she would be back in her own apartment and she would need a good watchdog. Sharon couldn't argue with his logic there, but she was still demanding that it stay well away from her shoes… and that he would be running the vacuum twice a week. He'd wear her down.
When Andy came back inside, he listened for the shower, but didn't hear it. "Okay pup, be good." He checked the outer room for anything she could conceivably chew or otherwise destroy and then lay her in the box with the blanket that they'd set up for her. Sharon didn't like leaving her in the kennel all the time. Andy smirked. He was already wearing her down.
He walked into the bedroom and tugged off his boots. He rolled his head on his shoulders and reached up to rub the injured one. It had only been a few weeks, and he was going without the sling more than he should. A broken collar bone at his age wasn't a walk in the park. He was using it too much outside of physical therapy. Andy palmed a couple of ibuprofen from his shaving kit and chased them down with the bottle of water he kept nearby for just that purpose. After today, it hurt like hell.
Sharon was leaning back, eyes closed, in the large oval tub when she heard the door open. A smile graced her lips. "That was fast."
"The pup wants one of us to like her, so we came to an agreement." He watched his wife hum but her eyes remained closed. He finished disrobing and joined her. His lips moved along her shoulder to her neck. "Do you know what today is?"
"Hmm?" His arms circled her, but she made note that he kept the right closer to his body. Sharon knew he wouldn't admit that it was bothering him. Her arms twined with his, and her fingers drew lazy circles against his forearms.
"December twenty-third," He stated quietly. "Do you hear that?" His lips traced the outer curve of her ear. "Not a sound. No one to walk in on us, the phones aren't ringing, and you don't have to rush home to relieve the Rusty-sitter."
A low, throaty chuckle filled the room. "No, I don't have to go anywhere. That also means that it has been exactly a year since we started this." Sharon tipped her head against his. "What do you think about complicated now?"
He nuzzled her cheek, drew a smile from her. "I think complicated is pretty damned great," he rumbled. "Getting better everyday."
"Hm." She pulled his good arm more firmly around her, so that she was engulfed completely in his embrace. "Now all we're missing are your hands up my shirt, my kids, and your partner."
Andy chuckled. "I think we can do better than that."
"Oh?" Her interest was piqued. Her head tilted when his lips began to explore again.
"Definitely." He tipped her head around and captured her mouth. A lot had changed in a year. The kiss was slow, languid. The heat was there, certainly, and the passion, but it wasn't always wild abandon with them. The quiet, peaceful moments came too few, they enjoyed them when they could.
Later, wrapped in a blanket in front of the fire, Andy rattled a small gift box in front of her. "Open this." It was rectangular, covered in blue snowflakes, and a silver bow.
"You're early aren't you?" She arched a brow at him. "As you pointed out earlier, we still have two days until Christmas." Katie's puppy was nipping at her toes. Sharon was trying to distract it by pushing a small toy toward it.
"I know. But you might just get emotional, so it was better to do it early. We're going to be busy tomorrow, and then we'll be going over early for breakfast Christmas day…" Andy grinned at her. "The kids fret, you know."
"Hmm." She took the box from him and considered it for a moment. "They do, don't they?" It was becoming quite the saying, among all the generations of her family. "What did you do that will make me emotional?" Sharon turned it around in her hands and lifted the top. She pealed the thin tissue paper back and drew a breath. "Andy."
"You don't wear much jewelry." He reached around her and lifted the simple, platinum chain. "But I thought you might wear this." The pendant was a simple, platinum knot, small, almost delicate. Nestled into the center of the knot was a diamond and gem cluster, with three distinct stones. Andy drew it around her neck and fastened it. "Ricky," he said quietly, of the pale alexandrite. "Katie," his lips brushed her ear when he indicated the light green peridot. Of the third stone, the delicately colored aquamarine, he kissed the corner of her eye and the moisture which had pooled there. "Rusty."
"You really are something Andy Flynn," she murmured, and turned in his arms so that she was draped across his lap. "I can see where you thought I might get a little emotional." Her fingers traced the line of his jaw. "It's perfect."
Andy slipped his hand into the thick curtain of her hair and drew her to him. "Love you," he mumbled against her mouth.
She smiled into the kiss and pulled him with her when she lay back on the thick cushions they'd stacked in front of the couch. "More everyday," she whispered back.
