Finally a longer chapter. I was pretty pleased with it but any suggestions or critiques are always welcome. Thanks for the reviews thus far.

I still own jack-all.

Previously: "Is everything okay?" Andy asked reaching their side and taking in the scene. She turned and looked at the little group before moving her eyes over Jacob. Sarah could see the millisecond when recognition dawned.

"Andy I swear I didn't," Marissa tried to explain but Andy seemed lost in her own world.

"Jacob?" she whispered bringing her hand up as though she were going to touch his cheek.

"Hello Andy."

Andy sat on a stool in Traci's kitchen nursing her drink and looking out over the party. Nearly all of the fifteen division had arrived to congratulate them but Andy felt her 'company' face falling.

The party itself was excellent. Giving credit where it was due, Oliver, Jerry and Sam had done a beautiful job. Even better, all the kids were intact and there had been no repeat hammer incidents. There didn't seem to be a square inch that didn't have some kind of decoration, for which Zoe apologized. "I told him it had to be festive but this is all kinds of scary. Who knew he actually listened to my decorating advice?"

Andy hadn't minded though. All the streamers and balloons and food had obviously taken their husbands hours. She knew Sarah was behind the idea but it was obvious to her that Sam and Jerry had run with the idea. The beautiful amethyst bracelet on her wrist attested to that fact. Traci's gift had been equally lovely and all of the cops present had ooohed and aaahhed over the gifts between stuffing their faces with the assorted food trays.

A pair of arms wrapping around her middle from behind the stool startled her out of her reverie.

"You want to go?" Sam asked her quietly, pulling her back up against him.

"After Oliver finishes his story," she replied turning and kissing him lightly.

Sam snorted. "He's completely changed the facts you know."

Andy raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she asked him skeptically.

Sam nodded with certainty. "Yup. He wasn't riding alone, we were rookies, that's not allowed."

"That's it?" Andy asked unimpressed.

"No," he shook his head at her in mock anger. "The guy wielding the chainsaw wasn't naked, the woman running after him with the meat cleaver was."

Andy continued to look skeptical.

"If you don't believe me, ask your dad," Sam cautioned with a shrug.

Andy smiled. She'd do that eventually.

Sam cleared his throat uncomfortably, "So do you want to talk about what happened at the mall?" Sam asked her curiously.

She shook her head, "Not here."

Sam just nodded re-settled himself behind her as she relaxed into him.

"Thank you for this," Andy said to her husband as they exited the Barber abode, a sleeping Theo passed out on his father's shoulder.

Sam just smiled back. "You deserve it and I wanted to celebrate getting my partner back."

On the whole the party had been a great success. Andy and Traci had loved the work that had gone into the party. They got to visit with colleagues who had been too busy to chat much during the week. Dov had brought along a karaoke machine and insisted on singing "I Will Survive" repeatedly until Oliver had taken away the microphone. Even Andy would admit it took her mind of the day's events, until the end at least. Sarah had been watching her like a hawk the whole evening and she knew she'd put a bug in Sam's ear about the mall. When Sarah and Elliot came up to them and asked for their spare keys to put the kids down for bed, Andy couldn't hand them over fast enough. Anything to get Sarah's prying eyes off her for at least the rest of the night.

The ride home itself was in a comfortable silence. Sam was giving her the space she needed to process. He always knew her so well. They arrived home and Andy couldn't help but smile at all the lights Sarah had left on for them. In their practiced manner Sam picked Theo out of his seat and grabbed his belongings while Andy waited for her boys at the door. Once inside Theo was settled in mere minutes and Andy found herself in her own kitchen boiling water for tea, of all things. Sarah had left a note apologizing for the early bedtime but promising a breakfast treat in the morning. Sam found her pouring it and when she asked if he wanted any he nodded. This was likely to be a long talk.

They sat at the island sipping quietly, Sam patiently awaiting her break in silence. When it didn't come immediately he started to get antsy and had to stop himself from prying. He heard her take a deep breath and let it out before she began.

"I'm not even sure where to begin," she said looking to him for guidance.

Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "How about with seeing your brother for the first time in almost twenty years," Sam said bluntly.

Andy looked surprised at his phrasing but nodded. "How much did Sarah say?" she asked him curiously.

"Enough for me to know that you've been thrown for a loop," Sam said cryptically. Sarah had been her usual candid self but she didn't need to hear Sarah's running commentary on the matter.

She eyed him suspiciously. He knew more than he was saying but she couldn't be too surprised by that. Sam was Sam, after all. "He was there with his cadet team raising money for some charity or another," she told him simply.

"Cadet? RCMP?" Sam asked quizzically.

"Fire," Andy answered simply and laughed a bit at Sam's face. "Oh come on. Not you too?" Andy asked seeing his look of scorn.

Sam's scowl didn't change. "Hose monkeys." he said, repeating Oliver's phrase.

Andy snorted, "I know that's Oliver's. What do you have against fire rescue?" Andy asked with a smirk.

"Nothing," Sam sighed. "Fire rescue are heroes and I appreciate everything they do for the city," he recited with a smirk.

Andy laughed. "Okay then. That sounded sincere," she added sarcastically but let the topic go. "Anyway, yeah, he was raising money for the cadet program. Marissa said he hasn't told their parents and they think he's prepping for law school."

Sam's eyebrows raised. "Good for him," he said with a touch of admiration in his voice. "So did you talk to each other?" Sam asked curiously trying to get to the heart of the issue.

Andy nodded slowly before shaking her head in the negative. "Well, sort of. I mean we didn't talk talk but we had polite conversation. I mean you can't talk about that stuff in a mall."

Sam merely waited. She'd tell him the full story when she was ready.

Andy herself thought back to the afternoon. What had started off as such an odd day had only continued as such.

She and Traci had watched that scene unfold in front of them. Sarah stood off to the side as Marissa argued with the mystery man. When their voices became raised Traci got concerned. Her own history of a violent relationship had her springing up. "All right. That's enough of that," she said marching over. Andy quickly followed behind her prepared to back up her friends. "Is he bothering you?" Traci asked first putting herself close to Sarah and Marissa. "Look buddy, we're cops," she said to the guy in the red t-shirt stepping forward.

He shuffled backwards and put his hands in the air. "Whoa, okay. No, it's nothing like that."

Traci raised her eyes skeptically. 'Yeah, right'. Andy managed to reach them just as Traci was starting in on the kid. Sarah looked surprised but stayed off to the side, much to Traci's surprise.

"Is everything okay?" Andy asked. She looked over their group and saw no damages before she turned to the man standing in front of her. It felt like a lighting bolt of 'knowing'. She saw his four year old face beneath his older features and she swore part of her soul cracked. She stared at him in amazement as her mental image of the crying preschooler superimposed itself on the face of this grown man. She vaguely heard Marissa trying to explain but she didn't register her voice. She heard her own voice though it seemed very far away. "Jacob?"

"Hello Andy," he replied with a reserved and somewhat sheepish smile.

Andy could barely take it all in. Jacob was here and so was she and it was like she was fourteen again. But this Jacob couldn't be picked up to be comforted. He wasn't running to her arms or begging to stay with her so no monsters would come. She met his eyes and saw equal shock reflected in his. Any feelings of betrayal that may have surfaced with Marissa were instantly quelled. He had no idea she was going to be here. She shook off a bit of the fog and realized she had dozens of questions but no idea where to start.

Sarah thankfully seemed to be the most cognizant. "Okay then. I think you two should chat. Traci, Marissa, let's go see what Laurel and Emily have made for the babies and make sure they've not been dyed pink in our absence," she said gathering the two women and shooing them in front of her toward the Make-a-Friend workshop.

Jacob and Andy watched them go, slight desperation showing identically through their shared features. Their eyes met again and they both looked away embarrassed. Jacob was able to make sense of their situation first.

"So this is awkward," he said carefully.

Andy couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, just a bit," she said as she noticed a rather large man making menacing faces behind Jacob's back. "Umm. Not to ruin this or anything but is that mean looking guy over there your boss?"

Jacob looked backwards and got a sharp "Come here" motion from the man who then turned his smile back on for the crowd of women donating to the fire school.

"He is." Jacob looked torn; His job or his newly re-found sister.

Andy decided to help him. "You're obviously in the middle of something here," she said motioning to the table behind him.

He nodded apologetically. "I can ask to get out early…" he bargained. This could be his only chance to talk to his sister.

"No, I know how important the cadet stuff is," she said looked at her quizzically and Andy laughed slightly. "She wasn't kidding. We really are cops," she told him.

He smiled back at her. "I always knew you'd be a police officer like your dad," he said to her with certainty. He seemed to think the mention of her father ruined their moment because his apologies followed quickly thereafter.

Andy stopped them quickly. "No. Really, it's okay. My Dad has been sober for about four years now. We can talk about it if you like, but I don't think now is the best time or place," she said gently reminding him of their place outside the children's stuffed animal Mecca behind them.

He nodded in reluctant agreement. "Can we meet again soon?" he asked her, his forlorn face weaseling its way back into her heart. She remembered when his toddler crocodile tears would worm their way into her heart where she couldn't help but give him what he wanted.

"When do you have your next day off?" she asked running through her mental calendar.

"Tuesday," he replied quickly. "But my classes are flexible," he fudged.

Andy raised her eyebrows, knowing the complete lack of flexibility in the fire school. "Tuesday is fine," she said easily. "The baby has a doctor's appointment in the morning but if you'd like to get coffee afterwards, I think that could work well."

"You have a baby?" he asked, truly surprised. It seemed like Marissa could keep her mouth shut about some things.

Andy nodded, "Yup. Just the one, his name is Theodore, or Theo to pretty much everyone. He's seven months old."

Jacob nodded and smiled. "So I'm an uncle?" he asked curiously.

Andy nodded and smile. "You can meet him tomorrow. He may be crabby from his shots but he's a pretty happy baby."

The loud throat clearing of the mean looking supervisor from behind Jacob startled them both. Andy flushed, embarrassed for getting him in trouble. Jacob apologized briefly. "Marissa gave me your number."

"Okay. Text me something when you get a chance. I'll program your number in and I'll text you the address on Monday," she told him reassuringly.

Their goodbye was brief and awkward with small waves as Andy hunted out the rest of her party who were still in the stuffed animal place.

"Don't you find all these plush carcasses just the tiniest bit odd?" Zoe argued with Sarah. "I mean its like a unicorn was hit by a semi," she said picking up the flattened unicorn body in front of her.

Sarah and Traci laughed loudly before noticing Andy's return. Traci rushed up to her, "So how did it go?" she asked her best friend searching her face for signs of trauma.

Andy just shrugged. "We're meeting for coffee on Tuesday," she said, watching her niece and Emily rush through the store with their new creations. "Is that a purple raccoon?" she asked of Laurel's animal.

"Yes," Zoe answered. "That one is for Theo. The blue dog is for Robby."

"Cute," Andy said appreciatively. "It's also less than an hour before I should start dinner. We should be heading home."

The group agreed happily before Zoe announced she'd had a text from Oliver saying he locked his keys in the car. She happened to have the spare in her purse, so could they stop at Traci's first? No one had any objections and they set off toward Traci's surprise completely in tact.

"So you were surprised," Sam said happily. "I was wondering when you walked in if Sarah blabbed or not," he told her happily.

Andy nodded with a small smile. "I was surprised and it was a wonderful party," she said leaning over to give him a hug.

He hugged her back tightly breathing in.

"I love my bracelet too. It's gorgeous," she whispered to him watching her bracelet dangle in the light.

"I'm glad you like it," he said leaning back to meet her eyes. "Are you okay with all of this?" he asked her, wanting a truthful answer.

She nodded. "I think so. I mean it was a shock but the more I thought about it the less scary it was," she said before flushing slightly. "That sounds stupid

but I was so worried about it I think I blew it all out of proportion," she said abashedly.

Sam adopted a look of faux-shock. "You? Overreact? Never!" he joked and laughed when she punched his shoulder playfully.

"Shut up," she said smiling and leaning back into him. "So I'm meeting with my brother on Tuesday," she repeated to herself as much as to her husband.

"I'm there if you need me," he told her simply and she smiled back at him.

"I know," she said kissing his cheek. "You're always there when it matters. It's why I love you so much."

That declaration had Sam flushing before he moved swiftly ducking and putting her over his shoulder. She shrieked as she felt the blood rush to her head and her feet leave the ground.

"You know, I never got why they called this the fireman's carry," Sam explained lightly wrapping his arms around her legs tightly immobilizing her. "Firemen don't carry sacks of potatoes."

Andy snorted from her upside-down position smacking his rear. "Are you calling me a sack of potatoes?"

"Of course not dear," he placated as he started up the stairs to their bedroom. "You're too pretty for potatoes. You're much more of a turnip sack."

Their teasing laughter continued well into the night.