Wes was downstairs at the PAB turning in the evidence boxes when he got the text from Emily, "We have a problem-call me when you can." So, Wes finished his paperwork downstairs and headed upstairs where he would have better cell reception. He stepped outside, as to have a private conversation with Emily.
"Hey, what's up?" Wes said after Emily answered.
"Ugh! My trip is getting more and more complicated," Emily complained.
Emily recounted her conversation with her Mom as Wes stood there, listening, and then frowned. He could hear the annoyance in Emily's voice, and he had to agree; it was annoying. Unfortunately, he didn't see anyway to change it.
"Em, it's not at all what we'd planned, but honey, I don't see a way out of this," Wes told her.
"I know. That's partly why it is so frustrating. It's not like I don't want to see my family; I really do! I haven't seen my grandparents in a long time, and well, they are getting old. I love to go to the ski resort too, and a full week hanging out with them-well, it sounds awesome, but that means I don't have that time with you. Of course I'm looking forward to helping Mom and Andy plan their wedding, but that's not the point. Plus, even when we get back, I know you'll be busy at work. We both discussed you couldn't take two weeks off when I visited. Ugh! This is so unfair," Emily whined.
Wes agreed, and stood there shaking his head, "Em, we'll make it work, okay? I won't lie; I was really looking forward to that time, but I will take what I can get. You'll still be here a week, okay? Honey, it'll be okay. I'll look at my schedule and see if I can figure out a time to come in February. We knew this was going to be difficult. This is one step of that," Wes added.
"I know," Emily said sighing. "It also just messes up our plans to tell them."
"No, we still can when you get back. Talk to your mom about doing dinner when you get back, okay?" Wes asked her.
"I will. I really miss you. Now, you can't even get me at the airport. I have a feeling we'll be going right from there. I was looking forward to seeing you," Emily sighed.
"Yeah, me too, but think of it this way-I can most definitely take you back to the airport. By then, your family will know about us, and we won't have any reason to hide around it," Wes smiled.
"Why do you have to be so logical and understanding?" Emily teased, "So, tell me about your day…"
Once Emily had finished talking with Wes, she felt a little better, but she still didn't like the situation. She thought for a minute, and then she picked up her phone to make another call. Hopefully, she'd get some advice.
"Nicole, hey, it's me," Emily smiled as Nicole greeted her and started the conversation, "Yeah, we had a great visit. We're planning to tell Mom and Andy in January, but here's the problem…"
Nicole listened on the other end of the phone, and she felt for Emily. However, she agreed there wasn't much that could change things. Nicole did make a few suggestions about the family dinner that would introduce Wes.
"So, you need to make it clear to Sharon that you don't want this huge family deal, or before you know it, Dean, the kids and I will be invited, as will Rusty and Gus," Nicole told her.
"You're right. Okay, so how do I handle it?" Emily asked her. "How do I tell them without a big audience?"
"Hmmm, that's a good question. "Well, as much as you wanted to do things at home, why don't you suggest the three of you go out-that you need to talk to them about something and have Wes join you. I know it's springing it on them, but honestly, I don't see another way around it without Sharon wanting to explore her sense of occasion and invite people over. Plus, at home, you always have the possibility of Rusty and Gus dropping by, and unless you want to clue him in on things, I'd suggest going somewhere low key."
Emily thought about what Nicole had suggested, and she concluded that she was probably right. Emily knew she would put a bit more thought into it, specifically figuring out just the right spot, but for now, she focused on talking to Nicole. The two agreed to meet up when Emily came to LA, and Emily promised she'd come and watch the boys at their ballet studio. After her talk with Nicole, Emily felt a bit better, but she overall hated how her trip had been somewhat hijacked.
The next couple weeks passed quickly for everyone, and soon, Emily was packing for her trip to Los Angeles. She had quite a bit of luggage considering she was going to be in two totally different climates. Sharon had told her to put all of her luggage charges on her credit card; Sharon always tried to cover expenses for her kids, even when she knew they were grown and working. Sharon had told Emily that it was partly her fault that Emily would have extra luggage, and the least she could do was pay for it. Emily smiled at her wardrobe. It was a lot, but all needed. She had sweaters, coats, and boots for the snow. She had lighter clothing for California. She had a couple of new dresses she hoped Wes would like. She had some unmentionables she hoped Wes would like-change that-she hoped he'd even get a chance to see, but with her current travel plans, that wasn't looking likely. Soon, Emily found herself in a taxi on the way to the airport. She was trying to stay really positive. While she wouldn't see Wes for another week, she was really excited about her trip-she'd see her whole family on this trip, possibly even Jack, if he kept his promise to have lunch with her next week.
Sharon and Andy were home in the condo finishing up their packing as well. It was early, and they had packed most of their stuff over the last couple of days. Sharon, always being prepared, had probably overpacked. Andy had teased her about that, but he had not disagreed they would need much warmer stuff than they normally wore.
"I don't understand how you enjoy the snow so much when you are always so cold," Andy joked. "I'm picturing you in the snow with maybe 10-12 layers of clothing on."
"Yes, well, I do get cold, but that is all the more reason to have gotten a new coat, new sweaters, and even some new boots. Besides, once I come in from the cold, I'll probably need some help undressing out of all those layers," Sharon teased.
"Oh, I can help with that," Andy smiled, "Sign me up."
Sharon and Andy had gone shopping and bought new winter coats, as well as sent Rusty and Gus out for new coats as well. None of them were prepared for the cold of the ski slopes. Rusty had approached Sharon and Andy about Gus coming along a couple weeks ago. There had been no argument; Gus was considered a member of the family, and of course, he could go. So the group had all arranged their time off. Rusty wasn't back in class yet for the new semester, so his schedule was easy. Sharon had taken off her time, and Andy, almost as much time. He was working a half day today while Sharon took off the whole day to get Emily from the airport. Gus had worked a very late night, and Rusty was going to swing by and pick him up, and then the two of them had decided to drive up on their own, partly for space in the car, but also because Gus had been able to get four days, not a whole week off.
So, the plan was to load up Andy's car, and then Sharon was going to drop off Andy at work while she went to get Emily. Andy probably could have taken off a full day as well, but with his recent health issues, he knew he'd been out more than he wanted. He knew he had paperwork to do, and a few hours this morning would allow him time to finish that. Plus, it would give Sharon and Emily some girl time alone, where Emily could gush over Sharon's ring and all before the trio headed north.
"You know, I'm not sure my doctor wants me carrying all of this stuff to the car," Andy looked at Sharon as she had hauled out more to the living room.
Sharon, sensing his intentions, gave him one of her "Darth" looks and said, "Well, that's fine. I suspect if that's the case, though, I'll have to inform your immediate supervisor that you need to drop back to desk status. I'm sure he'd love to call you the designated "Desk Monkey" again. Your doctor cleared you for all activities-and if that needs to be changed-well, then we'll limit those activities at work, and while we are at it, we best limit ALL activities here at home."
Andy's eyes grew wide, "Umm, you know, I'm feeling fine. I'm sure my doctor would be okay with me taking these simple things to the car-and everything else you just mentioned," he said as he nervously chuckled.
Sharon, smiling wickedly, "You do that. Go ahead and start loading the car, Andrew. Maybe if you do a good job with that, I won't have to restrict any other activities."
Andy gave her a nervous laugh and started picking up things to go downstairs. As Sharon turned and walked back to their bedroom, he shook his head-Sharon, he'd do anything for her. This week, that included driving hours north, into the cold, to spend a week with all of her kids and her parents. While he liked all of them, he thought he needed a medal for all of this at his age. Never would he have thought he'd be hanging out with his elderly in-laws at his age. Truth be known, a few years ago, he never thought he'd have any of his kids around him, and now, he had their five kids, two grandkids, and now in laws. Life had a way of being funny, and while Andy knew it was going to be a long week in some respects, he couldn't be more excited.
An hour or so later, Sharon had dropped off Andy at work, and she was headed to the airport. She had plenty of time; she was so excited to see Emily that she made sure that she would be early. Sharon planned to park the car and meet Emily inside. After she parked, Sharon checked the flight tracker and saw that Emily's flight was on time. Sharon smiled, soon she would have her girl home for a couple of weeks. It hadn't been that long since she'd last seen her, but it felt like it. Sharon sent a quick text to Andy letting him know things were still on time. They had looked at all of the timing earlier, and she had planned to pick up Emily, get her something to eat, and be back at the office just before lunch. With that schedule, they could beat all of the afternoon traffic out of LA and get up to the ski condo before it got too late that night.
After what felt like forever, Sharon spotted Emily walking through the airport security area and smiled. Her girl was home, at least for awhile. She waved at Emily, who waved back. Sharon got up off the bench where she had been seated and grabbed the two cups of tea she had purchased. She and Emily were alike in so many ways, and one was they both enjoyed the same teas.
"Mom, I'm so glad to see you!" Emily shrieked as she ran over to Sharon and gave her a hug.
Sharon returned the hug, "Oh, sweetheart, it's so good to have you home."
Emily pulled back to look at her mom, "Gosh Mom, you don't need to cry!"
Sharon laughed and swatted at Emily's arm, "I can't help it! I'm just so happy you are home. It's so good to see you."
"You too Mom, but seems as if I need to see something else," Emily replied, as she grabbed Sharon's had to look at her new ring.
"Ahh, good job, Andy," she said aloud. "Mom it's beautiful. I'm glad he went with that one."
Sharon had a mildly confused look on her face, "He asked you?"
"Mom, I helped him shop! We looked at this ring back when he was still at home. He said he wanted to think on it-not about asking you-that I believe he was set on doing a few years ago-but he wanted to think about the actual ring. He told me that something that important-something you'd never take off the rest of your life-was worth thinking about. I'm glad he got this one. It was my favorite," Emily smiled, still holding Sharon's hand.
"I don't know what to say," Sharon smiled with tears in her eyes, "Honestly, that man! He can have me worried, scared, exceptionally happy, all in the same moment."
Emily laughed, "I know Mom. I know. Well, let's go get my stuff."
Sharon handed Emily her tea, "Here, I know you had an early morning. This should help, and we can get you some food on the way to get Andy. He's at work."
"He's at work?" Emily replied. "I thought he'd be in the car driving around."
Sharon shook her head as the two walked to baggage claim, "No, I took a full day off, dropped him off at work, and he's finishing some paperwork. He only took a half day. You know-his boss is a real slave driver."
Emily giggled, "So I've heard. What's the plan then? Are we picking him up?"
Shaking her head again, Sharon said, "Yes, we'll get you fed, swing by the station with lunch-I figured that I needed to sweet talk Lieutenant Provenza with lunch, you know leaving him in charge of all the paperwork for a week while taking his best friend too-drop off lunch for everyone, and then we'll be on our way. I'm sure everyone will be so glad to see you."
Emily panicked a little and squeaked out, "Yeah, I'm sure EVERYONE will be glad to see me."