What Sharon discovered during the following days was how she missed having a house full of people. After Ricky had left for college and before Rusty came into her life, she had spent a few years alone in that house. Yes, she had friends that she occasionally would meet and she had a couple of dates, but nothing serious. She didn't spend her years alone locked inside her house, but nothing felt as good as coming home and hearing the house full of life… or so she thought.
The first morning after their talk, Sharon got up quietly. She stirred awake and watched Andy sleeping on what had become his side of the bed. She knew he hadn't had a peaceful night. She had heard him moving around during the night trying to find a comfortable position to sleep on without hurting his side. It seemed that he was finally resting. She went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for her day. Nearly fifteen minutes later she walked back into the bedroom, her body wrapped in a fluffy purple bathrobe and she was drying her hair with a spare towel. She was going to check on Tyler. She lifted her head from under the towel and gasped at the empty crib. In that moment she heard gurgling coming from the master bed. Tyler was crawling around the bed under the watchful eye of his awake father.
Sharon grunted and put her hands on her hips. "Really?" She knew that Andy did exactly was he wasn't supposed to do. He got up from the bed and lifted Tyler from the crib.
"What?" he shrugged. "He was crying." And he tickled Tyler making him squirm.
"You're going to try that again." She glared at him. She knew he was lying. She would have heard him from the bathroom since she had left the door partly opened. "If you don't behave, I'm going to handcuff you to that bed."
"Is that a promise?" He wiggled his eyebrow suggestively.
She snorted. "You're incorrigible." She opened her drawer to get her underwear. "Oh, I meant to ask you. In your calendar I saw something scheduled at Tyler's daycare center for this afternoon…"
"Yeah…" he nodded. "I was supposed to be going at the parent and child reading hour. We sit in circle and read to the kids or something like that."
She nodded as she got dressed. She could feel his eyes on her following every movement. A couple of months ago she might have felt self-conscious going around naked in front of someone else, but Andy had a way of making her feel special and beautiful and she loved being admired by him. "I could go."
"You don't have to."
"I know, but I want to. I'm sure I can get away from the office for one hour. And if we don't have a case I was thinking about taking the afternoon off. I need to take Tyler to get a new pair of shoes. He is outgrowing almost every pair he has."
Andy noticed it too, but he didn't want to face the fact that his son was growing up. "He's getting big." He kissed his head with a distant sad look.
Sharon noticed it, sat on the edge of the bed, and ran her hand up and down the toddler's back. Tyler was curled up against his father's uninjured side. "Don't worry," she smiled at the man. "You still have many years with him."
"Yeah, but soon he won't need his old man. He will be a teenager, almost an adult and blaming me for everything that is wrong in his life."
She chuckled. "You certainly have a pessimistic view of teenagers."
"I've had experience."
"Tyler will always love you, just like Nicole and Jason do. You will always be his dad."
"But for now I selfishly want him to stay like this."
"So do I." She smiled before lightly kissing his lips. She looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was late. "Sorry, but I need to get him ready. I still need to make breakfast and wake Rusty up."
Andy nodded and reluctantly he let her lift Tyler from his arms. "Come and say goodbye before you leave." He told her before she exited the bedroom.
"Of course." She smiled.
Fortunately the day had worked out like she had planned. The team got no new cases, except for Lieutenant Tao who had gone to help Robbery/Homicide in their case, and after a morning of paperwork, she had gone to the reading playtime group at the daycare center. At first it was awkward. They were all expecting Andy, but after they had heard about the shooting they soon understood, but they couldn't hide their shock when Tyler had called her mama. The parents were mostly police officers and they knew who she was; or because they had met in the past (their paths crossed when she worked at FID) or because of her reputation. So when one of her lieutenant's son considered her his mother, she knew that gossip would travel fast and by tomorrow morning everyone would speculate about their relationship.
After the reading session, she took Tyler to the mall. She bought him a new pair of shoes, some new t-shirts and cute little suspenders that looked exactly like his father's. Before returning home, she stopped by the groceries' store. Since she had an early afternoon, she planned to cook a nice meal for everyone; something that Rusty would enjoy and something for Andy's new diet.
The make up temporary family passed a nice evening. Sharon had helped Andy to the living room so he could leave the bed for a while and they all had dinner together and after she had put Tyler to sleep, Sharon, Andy and Rusty watched a film together and Sharon had been happily curled up against Andy.
That had been just a few days before. By the end of the week, Andy mood had shifted. The team got a case and in the last two days Sharon had to stay late in the office. Fortunately Nicole had come to help with Tyler and when the young woman was busy, members of the team stepped in. Andy was frustrated because he was stuck in bed while everyone was working on the double homicide and was snapping at everyone who came to visit him.
Even before entering the house, Sharon could already hear Tyler's loud crying. She walked through the door and laid her handbag and keys on the small table in the hall.
"What's going on here?" She asked when she entered the living room.
"Mama" Tyler shouted sobbing as he half ran and half crawled towards her. Sharon immediately picked him up and tried to calm him down.
"I'm so sorry Sharon," Rusty told her nervously coming from behind the kitchen counter. "He got scared when I accidentally dropped the pan."
"It's true Ma'am." Buzz Watson confirmed.
The young technician had brought the toddler to Sharon's house since she was still busy at work finishing the paperwork. It hadn't been an extra trip for the Buzz since he already had plans to take Rusty out for burgers and maybe they could also go to the movies.
"Shush…" Sharon rocked Tyler in her arms. "I'm sure it was an accident." She walked towards Rusty and laid a hand on his arm as she smiled at him. "Where's Andy?"
The teenager shrugged. "I haven't seen him all day. He hasn't come out of the bedroom. I tried to bring him lunch but he just grunted from the door."
Sharon sighed. It was getting worse. She couldn't really blame him. He was being forced to stay in bed during a heat wave and without doing anything. She was getting worried. The doctor had warned her than the new hearts meds could cause depression and irritability. She also suspected that Andy probably needed a meeting too. It usually helped him to deal with the events in his life and find the courage to fight. He hasn't talked about the shooting yet. She wondered if Provenza knew how to contact his sponsor. For now it was up to her to help him however she could.
"Could you stay for another fifteen minutes?" She passed the now calmed Tyler to Buzz. "I need to go and get some things from Andy's apartment. I won't be long."
"Sure."
Twenty minutes later she was back with a full bag. Rusty and Buzz said their goodbyes before leaving followed by the inseparable detail.
"Okay," Sharon bounced Tyler in her arms and walked to the bathroom. "Let's get ready to surprise Daddy." She changed the toddler and got her clothes from the closet.
When she walked inside the bedroom, it was completely the dark and she could barely make out a body under a big pile of covers. She turned the light off and a groan came from the bed.
"Come on! Or are you planning on staying here all day? What's left of it. Maybe you're thinking about staying here for the rest of your life." she walked towards the bed, grabbed the covers, and removed them with force.
"Leave me alone." Andy hid his face under the pillow.
"Get change!" She ignored him and threw him something.
"Change?" He lifted his head and saw that she had brought him his swimming trunks. Looking careful, he noticed that she was dressed in a summer dress.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" He picked his swimming costume.
She rolled her eyes. If she didn't love him so much, she would have hit him days ago. "Put it on. Tyler is already in his swimming costume and I've got the things ready to cover your stitches."
"I don't know" He shook his head.
"Pool, Dada. Pool." Tyler came slowly running in the bedroom and climbed on the bed.
"Hey buddy." He ruffled his hair.
"Are you really going to disappoint your son?"
He glared at her. "That's a low blow." He sighed. "Okay…" he slowly got up the bed. "Let me get changed."
Minutes later they were inside the indoor pool on top of the building. Andy was floating on his back trying not to put stress on his stiches while Sharon was paddling with Tyler in her arms as he giggle and splash water.
"It feels so strange being wrapped up in plastic again. I feel like a Christmas present." Andy complained.
"Well, lately you've been a very annoying Christmas present."
"Have I really been that bad?"
"Yes." She told him sincerely as she swam towards him. She stopped holding Tyler between them. "The doctor said it was to be expected with the change of your meds and you haven't seen the department psy…"
"I'm not depressed!"
"Andy, you were shot and then…"
"I've been shot before, nothing is new."
"But it is!" She exclaimed. "Tyler is here and maybe you were scared. Scared to leave him alone, that he would lose both parents."
He tilted his head down suddenly fascinated by the sparkle in the water. She could ready him so well. "If I have trouble, I usually go to a meeting or two."
She looked at him with caring eyes. "I know. It's not much, but I'm here if you need to talk. Just please…" She took a deep breath. "Don't give up."
"I won't and you being here is more than enough." He leaned over to kiss her.
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!" He exclaimed shocked. "I kiss you and you say ouch."
She chuckled. "It's the beard." She said palming his cheek with one hand. "You really need a shave."
"Tyler likes it." He said smiling as he rubbed his rough cheek against his son's neck making him laugh. "I was thinking about trimming it and growing a goatee. What do you think?"
"That's fine." She nodded. "But don't expect any more kisses coming from this end."
He stopped thinking it over. "Okay, I'll shave tomorrow morning."
"That's what I thought." She smiled knowingly.
Soon Andy's checkup appointment was around the corner. Since he had more mobility, Andy and Tyler moved back to their place. It was great being all four under one roof, but Sharon's apartment wasn't big enough for a longer stay and Andy was ready to get things back to normal.
Sharon and Rusty often came for dinner and they would stay the evening watching moves or if Rusty had homework to finish, he would stay in the study while Sharon and Andy played with Tyler. Nicole and her family would often come to visit and Provenza would sometimes drop by to watch a game on TV. Andy was never alone and soon he had his stitches taken out. Sharon would come over for breakfast to pick Tyler and take him to daycare while leaving Andy at the hospital for his PT.
October flew by and Halloween arrived. Tyler's daycare was organizing a Halloween's party and all the parents were invited. Andy and Sharon were supposed to go together but major crimes got a last minute case and Sharon had to stay in the office while Andy took Tyler. Since it was still his last week of medical leave he didn't have to go in.
"Oh my God, look how cute he is!" Detective Amy Sykes's voice suddenly erupted in the murder room as the team was discussing the evidence they had so far.
"I hope you mean the little one, not the old Dad." Provenza grumbled from his seat. Even though he had to admit that little Tyler looked cute in his Halloween costume. Andy had dressed him as a baseball player with the entire Dodger's jersey.
Andy was walking further inside the murder room holding his son's small hand. "What do we say Tyler?"
"Ick o eat" The toddler laughed. In his other hand he had a small plastic Jack-o- lantern basket.
"Yes, go and ask Uncle Provenza for something. Money is better" Andy gently pushed his son towards the older lieutenant's desk.
Sharon was standing next to the murder board, a big smile on her lips. "He's just adorable." She told Andy when he reached her. "How was the party?"
"A big headache. A lot of screaming kids."
"Oh, you poor thing." She mocked him caressing his arm affectionately.
"How's the case?"
"Nothing new." Julio answered him as he opened his desk drawer and gave Tyler a lollipop. Often on Halloween Day police officers' kids came trick or treating, so they usually kept the drawers full of candy. When Chief Brenda Johnson was head of the Major Crimes division, it wasn't easy keeping the candy hidden from her.
"A packet of baby carrots?" Provenza exclaimed snooping inside Tyler's basket. "Is that what they give to kids on Halloween nowadays?"
Andy rolled his eyes. "He's sixteen months old, what do you except? He can have a few sweets but that's it. No chocolate."
"Your father is a control freak." Provenza muttered as he put a small bag of sweets inside Tyler's basket.
"Where's Rusty?"
Sharon tilted her head towards the bullpen that unofficially became her foster kid's.
"I thought he might wanted to go trick or treating."
"He's seventeen." Sharon looked at him wondering if he was serious.
"Well, then stay at the house to give away candies, dress up or something. It's Halloween and he's locked up inside. Doesn't his school have a party or something?"
"There's a party and I told him he could go if he wanted. He said he didn't want to go with a bunch of cops following him around and that he's not that into Halloween. It's stupid." She repeated Rusty's words from that morning.
Andy sighed. "I'm taking the kid home and see if I can change his mind about Halloween."
"Don't exaggerate." She warned him. "If he wants to be left alone, let him be."
He started walking towards the bullpen leaning towards her to whisper something in her ear as he passed by. "Maybe if you finish early you can show me your costume."
She lightly giggled. "What makes you think I've got one?"
"Well, I told you all my Halloween costumes fantasies."
"Yes and the doctor still hasn't cleared you for any funny business." She teased him.
"Oh Jeez. I really didn't want to hear that!" Provenza exclaimed with a disgusted frown. "We said no flirting at work."
"I'm off duty. I'm being the boyfriend right now." Andy smirked and put an arm around Sharon's waist.
"Still don't want to know. Get the kids and go away so we can actually solve this murder!" Provenza shooed him away.
Sharon laughed before stepping away from Andy's embrace. She tried to glare, but he could see the sparkle in her eyes. It was going to be strange to be back to work the following week. They will have to go back to being Captain and Lieutenant after weeks of being only Sharon and Andy. Maybe he should really consider that retirement plan.