It was quiet. Sharon stopped rocking in the chair when she realized that Faith had fallen asleep. What a long weekend it had been, and things were still such a mess. Sharon heard Faith sigh, her little baby sigh, and she smiled, as she rubbed her back. Teething again. It had awakened here, but thankfully, Tom wasn't bothered by it-that sweet boy. He was always happy. Faith was the impatient one, even while teething. Tom seemed like a gumming mess, drooling everywhere, but still smiling. Faith was always wound up, frustrated, and the teething clearly got to her. Sharon stood, shifting Faith so she could put her back down in her crib to sleep again. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a long night; it had already been a really long weekend.

Sharon walked back out to the living room where her guys all sat, well, all but Tom. Oh, how she loved all these men in her life. They'd been worried about her, about Emily, all weekend, but it was now out of everyone's hands. No one had spoken to Emily since the party; Ricky and Rusty had both tried to call. Sharon and Andy had both sent her text messages, but she was clearly showing her decision-making skills; she'd decided to go with the dirt bag. Sharon and Andy had discussed it at length, late into Saturday night, and even some during the day today when the boys weren't around. They didn't understand how she could make such a dumb decision, but they were both reminded of the dumb decisions they had made in their own lives. In some twisted way, then, they did understand it. When you were in the middle of a mess and didn't see it as a mess, it was hard to dig your way out. Just like addictions and the like, you yourself are the only one who can decide to change. Andy could relate; no matter how much his friends and family had tried to tell him to stop drinking, it had taken a decision from him, and him only, to actually make that change. No amount of talk or reason from others could make him change. Sharon had dealt with a similar situation with Jack. She'd known what he was like, and no amount of encouragement from others could make her divorce him; that had to come from herself. Honestly, the same could be said with her idiotic fling with Steve. She had to wake up and realize she'd thrown the best part of her life away before she could begin to repair the damage. Sharon and Andy just wondered how much damage Emily would inflict before she saw the light. Unfortunately, she seemed to have more of Jack's destructive side than anyone cared to admit. Jack was still in his mess after years and years of refusing to see the damage. They hoped Emily didn't go down that path, that she had enough of Sharon in her to fight back and dig out.

"She asleep?" Andy asked, looking up as she entered the room, and opening his arm up for Sharon to come and sit next to him.

"Yes," she smiled, "teeth again."

"She and Tom are really amazing, Mom," Ricky nodded to her. He and Rusty were perched in the orange chairs, and they had all just finished watching a movie when Faith had awakened. Since then, the news had come on, and now, they were enjoying the quiet while still talking. "I know I've not treated you well this past year, and I'm sorry. I guess I didn't react well; I held your life choices against you. What happened is between you and Andy, and I can see that you have both worked hard to get back to this point. I'm really happy for you guys, and I promise that I'm going to do a better job with everything."

Andy squeezed Sharon's hand, and Sharon nodded at Ricky, "Thank you," she said, getting a bit emotional. "I love all of you so much. I know this was a mess, but we've addressed everything, and Andy and I are very happy now. We're in a good place. We love all of you kids."

Ricky nodded. Rusty listened. Ricky spoke up again, "Andy, I've always respected you, but thanks for taking on our crazy family. Thanks for being such a good dad for Faith and Tom. Rusty and I both know what it's like to have a crappy dad, so it really is great you're here for them, and that you'll see them grow up. Rusty and I talked, and we want to be better big brothers than we have been to them. We're going to be around more, promise."

"Yeah, we're going to have to be around more, you know," Rusty jumped in, a sly grin on his face. Obviously, he had something snarky to say, "We'll need to beat the boys off Faith with a stick as she gets older, but by then, Andy will be so old, he can just use his cane to beat them off."

Sharon and Andy rolled their eyes, and both turned to give Rusty a sarcastic glance, while Ricky started to chuckle.

"What?" Rusty said, acting surprised, "Andy, you are old, you know. Like it's going to be embarrassing if you need a walker when they graduate from high school. I may not sit with you then," he nodded his head toward Andy.

Andy sighed and looked up, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry their party was ruined. Glad you are doing a do-over next weekend. Sorry I can't make it," Ricky changed topics.

"Yeah, Sharon, sorry that I have that chess tournament next weekend. I'd change it, but" he started to say, but Sharon waved him off.

"No, both of you-it's fine. Yes, we'll do a small party next weekend. Provenza, Patrice, and I think Julio for sure are coming. It will be nice-just a little gathering. They're one; they won't remember it. I appreciate you were both here this weekend," she smiled.

"Well, as much as I hate to say it, we need to get going. It's almost midnight now, and I've got to catch that early flight to get home and back to work in the morning," Ricky said as everyone stood. "Andy, take care of everyone, and thanks for letting me stay at your place," he shook Andy's hand. The four all said their good-byes, and as they were walking the boys to the door, Andy's phone went off.

"Seriously," he muttered, and he stepped away and could be heard taking down details.

"You sure you're okay here tonight, Mom? Sounds like Andy is heading to a crime scene," Ricky asked.

Sharon rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine. Andy's not even here all the time, even though he's been here a lot more lately. I manage just fine with the kids, but thank you," she hugged him again. "Rusty, we'll see you for dinner soon," she added.

Sharon cleaned up while Andy finished on the phone, and he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "Glad the boys are doing better with things," he said as he kissed her head.

"Hmmm, I am too. Can't believe Emily, but if anything good had to come out of that confrontation, the boys do seem to understand. So, crime scene," she asked, pulling back to look at Andy.

He nodded, as he leaned in to kiss her again, "Yes, as usual, the worst timing," he winked. "I'm going to stop by my house and get changed. I know I have a couple suits here, but the crime scene isn't far from my house. I'll make sure the boys got back there okay too."

Sharon nodded, "Thank you for checking on them. Be safe, and I'll see you sometime tomorrow at work. I'll expect your updates," she grinned, knowing that Provenza's tactic months ago to have Andy call her with all the updates was now her favorite excuse to talk to Andy during work."

"Oh, don't you worry; you'll get the updates. Can't make the boss mad," he winked. "Kiss the kids for me in the morning. Love you," he kissed her again and then left.

Sharon arrived at work the next morning, ready for the latest update on the case. Andy had spoken to her twice during the night, apologizing for having to wake her, but truth be told, she wasn't sleeping well. Emily was still on her mind. She texted her again that morning, the same text she had now sent her Saturday, and Sunday-"Know that I love you." The text showed it had been delivered, but not read, so Sharon had no idea if Emily was even looking at her messages. Emily was spiraling down a deep path, but she only had herself to blame. Sharon had spent a lot of her sleepless night thinking about just how much she loved Andy and how glad that both of them, while had spiraled out of control, had found their way back to each other. Their weekend "plans" had been put on hold with the Emily mess; both wanted to wait than to have anything related to Steve on their minds. Sharon and Andy knew the love they had; it wasn't going anywhere, and really, it was only growing, and Sharon felt like soon they really needed to discuss their future. The babies cramped in the condo-it would have been fine for Sharon as a single mom, good actually, but since her future was looking much brighter than it had a year ago, Sharon felt that a discussion would need to happen at some point. The two-home issue, the space issue would all need to be addressed.

"Chief Raydor," she said as she answered her office phone.

"Hi Sweetheart," Andy said into the phone. Sharon chuckled at that. Andy had taken her by surprise. She hadn't expected to be greeted with a "Hi Sweetheart" on her office phone, but they both were at the office.

"Hello Lieutenant Flynn. What can I do for you? It's not your extension, so I'm assuming it is you calling-not many can get away with calling the chief "Sweetheart."

Andy chuckled, "Yeah, sorry. I'm just in electronics. Listen, we're still working the case, kind of at a stall right now waiting on some warrants, but Provenza said if you wanted to stop by, we'll give you the update. You know, Taylor always used to lurk around, waiting for an update. It's kind of refreshing to ask you to come to us for one."

Sharon smiled, "Well, I trained all of you well, you know."

Andy chuckled, "Seems like we all remember it the other way around. Anyways, does an update fit into your schedule?"

Sharon nodded as she spoke, "Yes, that's fine. Tell Provenza I'll be there in about 15 minutes; I'm just finishing up some paperwork I have to sign off on and send out."

"See you then," he answered and hung up.

Sharon finished her paperwork and walked over to Major Crimes. She liked her current job, but she really did miss her team. She missed the daily interaction, their bather, their closeness. Most of the time now, she spent her days alone, and while that was fine, she still missed it.

"Surprise!" they all said when she walked in. The Murder Room had been transformed into a one year old birthday party, with the two stars fresh from daycare.

"What's all this?" she smiled looking around. The team had a new cake, all the presents, and the decorations setup around the room. The rest of the police force would double over laughing if they saw how Major Crimes was currently decorated with yellow ducklings everywhere. Both kids were in Andy's arms, and when they spotted Sharon, both got smiles on their faces. Faith reached toward her calling out, "Mama!"

Sharon chuckled as she walked over to Andy, holding the kids, where he was grinning, "Yeah, we might have taught you a few things, but your sense of occasion has rubbed off on us too," he winked.

Sharon reached for Faith who was trying to claw her way out of Andy's arms anyway. Tom was still just smiling and drooling. Sharon turned to the group, holding Faith, and simply said, "Thank you."

"Captain, I swear if any picture of me at a one year old duck party hits The Facebook or The Instagram, I won't let you live it down," Provenza waved a finger at her. The room laughed.

"Ma'am, we couldn't let the kids think that birthday parties were a bad thing. I mean, it's their first one. If you ruin it now, it will scar them for life," Julio smiled.

"Thank you all," she nodded, "from the bottom of my heart. It means so much. Andy and I are so blessed to have all of you in our crazy life. Thank you for not giving up on me, on us," she smiled.

"Flynn! Are you going to cut that cake or not? I skipped Patrice's healthy breakfast she packed me for that cake. I'm starving!" Provenza ranted.

"Well, we're on a tight deadline with the boss," Andy grinned looking at Sharon, "so, yeah, I'll cut it. We already had one dirt bag ruin the party; we aren't going to let some murder ruin it this morning."