Z is for Zoo

A few years after they got married, Sharon semi-retired. She was done running Major Crimes, but she couldn't handle being home doing nothing all day, so she worked part time in an administrative capacity and she increased her volunteer hours at the shelter. She was done with the long hours and the middle of the night phone calls, but she was no couch potato or "kept" wife.

Now, she was free every weekend. One one of these weekends, Alistair and Sharon took her grandson, Mason, to the San Diego Zoo for the day. Mason had just turned 3 last month and they planned to visit all of his favorite animals.

He liked cats, so they took him to the tiger exhibit and the female tiger had two cubs. She would growl as she would walk circles around her babies. There was a boy cub and a girl cub and no father in sight.

Alistair pointed to the tigers, "Sharon, Jonathan, Kelly, and Jackson." Alistair was pointing at empty space when he said Jackson.

Sharon rolled her eyes at him, "very funny." Sharon had always been protective of her children, just like the mama tiger.

"Monkeys!" Mason cried out. They went on to see the monkeys and then the orangutans and they had chimpanzees. The zoo accepted donations to go to the conservation of primates in the wild. Alistair wrote them a check as Mason tried to run away to the dipping dots cart. The employee hadn't gotten a big check ever before, so she was a bit stunned. She never thought the conservation drives the zoo had would amount to anything. Never say never. Sharon steered Mason away from the ice cream only to have Alistair come back with ice cream.

Sharon looked at him.

"What kind of grandparents would we be if we didn't spoil him, so he acts up at home when he goes back to Kelly?"

Sharon couldn't help but smile. He had a way of keeping her relaxed when she was used to having to be uptight all the time.

While the trio explored the zoo, Kelly had a relaxing day at home. She planned on knitting, but it turned into a reality tv binge. Her husband was overseas in the navy, and she considered herself lucky that her mother and stepfather were eager to help her with Mason. He could be a handful.

Andrea and Sanchez were housesitting for the Callahans while they were in San Diego. Xander was happy to have two familiar faces there to play with him and feed him. It did not take long for Andrea and Julio to start dating after the wedding. They might have gotten a playful nudge from Brenda, and by nudge, I mean Brenda shoved Andrea into Julio's arms at a holiday party, literally. After awkwardly falling and smiting Brenda, it didn't take long for them to figure out that they both wanted something more than a "work friendship with a side of flirtation."

The otters at the zoo were so cute. They would pose for pictures and then throw each other into the water, run, push, jump, pose, that's all they did.

Sharon got a video of them playing on her phone. Then, they saw the elephants that were nearby.

"ELEPHANT!" he yelled out joyfully. He kept yelling about them, so Alistair got a video. He was quite adorable.

Once they saw the main exhibits, they took Mason to the toy store, where Sharon said he could have one toy, "not five," she told Alistair. He bought one toy, in front of her. He got two more while she was in the bathroom. She didn't see them until after they brought him back to Kelly's house and she glared at him.

"What? I love to spoil him."

"You're going to spoil him rotten," she admonished.

"That's why I have you to keep him in line." He smirked as she ruffled her his hair. He leaned in for a kiss.

"EW COOTIES!" Mason yelled.

"I got the cootie shot," Sharon said, "but Alistair's infected."

He shook his head at her. "She's contagious. You better not touch her."

Mason ran away. Of course, Sharon caught up with him and gave him a big hug.

Alistair smiled, seeing Sharon with Mason was always so heartwarming.

Epilogue

Both Allistar and Sharon were afraid of falling in love given their pasts. Sharon hid in work and Alistair hid in play. Somehow, they managed to love each other and step back from their prior distractions from the things that really matter. I hope you enjoyed reading. I enjoyed writing.

THE END