Notes: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in posting. I'm adding the last three chapters of this fic. Thank you so so so much for humoring me with this fic. Your reviews have been great, you've been great, it's been great. Please let me know what you think of the end!
Sharon leans in the doorway of the dance studio, watching as Emily leads a class of preteen kids. Charlie was sitting in her carseat, gumming on her fist as she watched with wide eyes as well. Emily leads them through a series of twists, turns, and leaps in time with the music occasionally pausing to correct a position.
"Alright let's see if we can do this once in full," Emily says as she makes her way to the stereo, spotting Sharon in the doorway. Sharon lifts her hand in a small wave, smiling at her daughter. Emily offers a small smile back before finishing her trip, restarting the soundtrack, "Alright, positions. 1, 2, 3…"
Sharon watches amazed as the kids move in time with each other and the music. Emily watches them with a practiced eye, walking along the front of the class. Once the music finishes they all come to a resting position and Emily rewards them with a big smile as she claps.
"Great job everyone," She praises, "Looks like we are out of time for tonight. I want you guys to keep practicing, I'd like to get through this movement quickly next class and move on to the next one. We only have a few weeks before the recital and I want you to be able to get through the whole scene by the end of the month and work on tightening up the week before the recital."
"Thank you, Miss Emily," The class choruses before they go to get their bags. Sharon steps out of the doorway to let the kids pass, waiting until they all leave before she approaches Emily who was picking up the studio.
"What are you doing here?"
"I saw your note when we got back from brunch, I thought I'd catch you before you went to Ron's," Sharon says as she rests against the barre, "Do you have a minute?"
"Sure," Emily says as she puts a couple towels into the studio's laundry. She sinks down to the floor and pulls her bag over, starting to change.
"Andy told me about what you guys talked about," Sharon starts, "About the money."
"I was going to talk to you about that eventually," Emily says with a sigh, pulling her legs together and looking up at her mother, "It's not a big deal really…"
"Emily, I don't want you to think that you have to rush out or anything," Sharon says, "I know things haven't exactly been going your way lately with the accident and then the soloist position…I'm proud that you've dealt with it as best as you have. But you're welcome to stay at the house as long as you want and or need to. When I said a year I figured that would be enough time for you to have the baby and get settled into a routine, that I'd be around to help you get started."
"I get that, Mom, I do. That's not the point," Emily sighs. She looks up at the ceiling of the studio before looking back at Sharon, "I am 31 years old. I have a daughter to take care of. And I can't…I don't want to have to depend on you to make things work. That's not where I should be in my life."
"But that's your circumstance right now. You're doing what you can to make it better, and if you need a little help doing that…"
"I thought moving back to LA was going to make things better," Emily whispers, looking down at the floor. Sharon pushes herself up and walks over, sinking down next to Emily. She wraps her arm around her shoulders and hugs her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Well, Miss Emily," Sharon murmurs, "Better is relative. Can you imagine a life without Charlie now?"
"No," Emily shakes her head, sighing as she lifts her head and rests it against Sharon's shoulder, "Not at all."
"I want you to stay. I want you to fix things. And I'm here to help in any way I can," Sharon says.
"Thank you," Emily hums. Sharon squeezes her tight before letting her go.
"Now I need you to help me up off the floor," Sharon says. Emily laughs and pushes herself up, reaching down to help Sharon before picking up her bag and grabbing Charlie's carseat. Sharon hikes her purse over her shoulder and looks Emily in the eyes, "We're okay?"
"Yeah," Emily nods, "Thank you for coming over."
"Have a good evening with Ron," Sharon says, kissing Emily's cheek before leaning down and giving Charlie a kiss. She makes her way back home, dropping her keys in the bowl before calling out for Andy.
"Living room!" Sharon kicks her shoes off and makes her way to the living room, sinking down onto the couch with Andy. He easily wraps his arm around her and presses a kiss to her head, "Everything good?"
"Yeah, everything's good," Sharon smiles, snuggling into his side and curling her feet under herself.
Before they knew it May had approached and soon the wedding was upon them. Sharon sighs as she closes the sliding glass door to the back yard. She and Andy had spent the day cleaning up the house and decorating the back yard before he had begged off to Provenza's for an evening with the guys. Emily was staying at Ron's with Charlie and she planned on taking advantage of having the house to herself by taking a long hot soak.
She stops on her way upstairs as the doorbell rings, sighing and changing direction. She looks through the peep hole, pausing before opening the door.
"Surprise!"
"What are you two doing here?" Sharon says as Gavin kisses her cheek before pushing inside with Andrea.
"Last night of freedom, we had to come celebrate."
"You two…" Sharon shakes her head.
"I brought your favorite," Gavin says as he pulls a bottle of white out of the bag. Sharon shuts the door and takes the bottle from him, following Andrea into the kitchen as she carries a pizza.
"And I brought pizza."
"Where's Emily?"
"She's staying at Ron's tonight," Sharon says as she opens the bottle of wine before pouring out three glasses. Andrea opens the pizza box and Sharon practically growls as she looks at the melted cheese. Since Andy's blood clot they had maintained a relatively healthy diet and rarely ever indulged in pizza anymore. In fact at the moment she couldn't remember the last time they had ordered in. She reaches out and grabs a slice out of the box, expertly bending it in the middle before groaning as she takes a bit, "Oh god that tastes good."
"Back yard looks nice," Andrea comments as she takes a sip of her wine and looks out at the back door.
"We just decorated this afternoon," Sharon comments, chasing her pizza with a sip of wine as she goes to stand next to Andrea.
"Nervous?" The blonde asks, looking over at her friend as she takes another drink. Sharon shrugs as she takes another bite of the pizza, continuing to look out at the yard before turning to look at Andrea and Gavin.
"I'm ready for it," Sharon says definitively, "Andy and I...we've been through a lot together and I'm just ready for it..."
"But?" Gavin prompts.
"Still doesn't stop the nerves from settling in," She says letting out a short laugh.
"Well that sounds like the perfect segue into bad movies with hot guys in them," Gavin says, holding up a couple DVDs from the bag he had brought with. Sharon laughs and rolls her eyes, following her friends into the living room after grabbing a plate with another slice of pizza.
By the end of the night the three of them had each finished off their own bottle of wine and were considerably more giggly and drunk than when the night began. Sharon was practically curled in on herself laughing hysterically, tears streaming down her face as Gavin imitates a judge he had recently gone up against.
"Oh my god, you have to stop," Sharon begs as she bursts into another fit of giggles, "Or I'm going to pass out."
"Seriously, I swear to god Shar, you never want this guy. He's terrible," Gavin says as he laughs himself, plopping down in one of the arm chairs. Andrea looks at her watch as her own laughter dies down.
"Mm we should get going, it's late and Mrs. Flynn here needs her beauty sleep."
"No, no, no don't go," Sharon says as she puts her empty glass down, "You guys stay for the night."
"We can just get an Uber..." Gavin says, gesturing towards the door as he pulls his phone out.
"No, stay tonight. I'll make breakfast in the morning," Sharon says as she takes Gavin's phone away.
"Heyyy!" Gavin says, going to grab it back from her.
"Chocolate chip pancakes," Sharon plies, holding the phone out of his reach.
"With bacon?" Gavin bargains, his blue eyes flashing behind his glasses. Sharon sighs and rolls her eyes.
"I will defrost the hidden bacon I have in the freezer, just for you," Sharon says as she gives him his phone back before making her way down the hall to the linen closet. She grabs out blankets and pillows for the two of them before bringing them out to the living room, laughing as she trips slightly on the step down into the living room, "Oh, I swear if I wake up with a hangover tomorrow I'm killing both of you."
"I told you we shouldn't have opened that third bottle," Andrea says as she collapses on the chaise part of the couch and pulls a blanket over herself.
"That was the one that you brought," Gavin retorts as he takes the spot along the length of the couch, tossing his glasses on the coffee table.
"Shut up," Andrea says, kicking him.
"Ow!" Gavin exclaims. Sharon giggles as she turns the living room light off before heading upstairs, holding onto the railing. She closes the door to the bedroom behind her, and undresses before sinking onto the bed with a soft groan. She quickly sinks into a deep sleep, her arms wrapped around Andy's pillow.
She jolts awake as she feels a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently. It was still dark in the room and she blinks her eyes a few times, trying to clear her vision before she notices Gavin standing over her, holding her phone out.
"It's the Lieutenant."
"Andy?" Sharon asks as she reaches out for the phone.
"No, Provenza. You left your phone downstairs, he's called a few times."
"What's going on, Lieutenant?" Sharon mumbles into the phone as she holds it to her ear. Her mouth was dry and she could already feel a headache forming as she tries to make out the numbers on the clock, only discerning that it was some time after three in the morning.
"It's Andy," was the only thing that Provenza had to say before Sharon was up from bed, heading after a pair of clothes.
"What happened?" Sharon asks as she grabs a pair of jeans from her drawers. She wedges the phone to her shoulder as she pulls them on.
"He woke up a little while ago complaining of chest pains," Provenza explains, "I just got him to the hospital and they took him back."
"Where are you?" Sharon prods as she grabs a cardigan, slinging it on before wrapping her fingers around the phone again.
"St. Vincent's."
"I'm on my way," Sharon says before she hangs up, making her way down the stairs. She reaches out to grab her car keys and Gavin takes them out of her hand.
"We'll drive you. Where are they?"
"St. Vincent's," Sharon whispers.
"What did he say?" Andrea asks as she follows the two of them out to the car, getting into the back seat as Sharon takes the front.
"Chest pains…" Sharon says as she spins her phone in her hand, trying to decide if she needed to worry any of the kids at the moment. She tucks the item in between her legs as she shakes her head, watching the lights pass as they drive.
[TBC]