Andy watched the FBI detail pull up in front of Sharon's house as he parked in the driveway. He sat in the car for a moment thinking of how he had been prolonging this task all morning. He had been up all night thinking about what had happened. When he found the note Maddie dropped in the back seat of his car he was completely stunned. He had always thought there was a strong resemblance between Sharon and Maddie, but it wasn't unheard of for aunts and nieces to look alike. After finding out they were mother and daughter it dawned on him, they were a like in so many other ways. He smiled to himself briefly wondering how Maddie could give the same Raydor glare that Sharon gave when they were hardly ever around each other.
It didn't really hit him until he walked into the house that he wouldn't be having dinner with Rusty and Maddie anymore, there would be no more chess matches, or swimming practice. There would be no more holding Sharon in his arms at night. The thought of not having her so close to him every night made is body ache or was it just his heart that was aching… He had half hoped that she would be there waiting for him, wanting to talk it out, work it out. He had hoped for a sign of some kind that would let him know she hadn't really wanted to end it. He didn't blame her for saying that it was over between them, he would have said the same thing if the tables were turned.
When he reached the bedroom door, he stood in the doorway for a moment. He let the last few moments of the fight play out in front of him. When she commented on his children and the booze, he turned away from her so angry he wanted to hit something. Instead, he turned around and said, "I might have picked booze over my kids when I was a drunk, but they always knew that I was their dad. You can't say that ALL of your kids knew who their mother was, why because the church would frown upon you having a child with man that was not your husband."
Running his hand over his tiered face, he knew that there was no point in standing there rehasing the events from the previous night. He moved to the closet and grabbed his clothes and his overnight bag from the bottom shelf. He placed the clothes and the bag on the bed and moved to the dresser to gather the rest of his clothes. He didn't know it when he took the first handful of clothes away, but when he went back for the rest he saw the black box sitting on top of the dresser. He picked up the box and opened it only to find that nothing had been touched. He saw the note and his heart started beating faster as the thought this was it, this was the sign he needed. When he picked up the note and saw one sentence, he knew that he was wrong. He suddenly felt the same hurt and sadness fill his body once again. It was over, really over. He shoved the box in his pocket and crumbled the note up tossing it in the bathroom trash as he grabbed all of his things from the bathroom. Before he headed back down the stairs he took the house key off his key ring and left it on the stand beside the bed.
Sharon looked at her watch and sighed as she walked towards the elevator. It was nearly 7:30, which meant Rusty would have cooked dinner for him and Maddie to eat by themselves. She wondered if maybe she had made a mistake by accepting the transfer to Major Crimes. If she were still in FID she would have been home to cook the two of them dinner.
Driving home, she thought about how she was going to approach the subject with Maddie. She wasn't sure how long Maddie had been holding on to that note or even when she had received it, but she knew that Maddie had known the truth or part of it anyway for a while now. Her sister was not very clear as to the details of the situation, which made Sharon certain that Maddie was under the same impression that Andy was. She had to explain everything to Maddie, but she honestly wasn't sure that she had the strength to do it tonight.
When she got home, Rusty was sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop and Maddie was outside swimming. "She was pretty upset that she had to miss practice tonight. She has been in the pool since she finished her homework. I tried to get her to come in and eat, but she said she had to be ready for her first meet that she has in a few weeks." Rusty said trying to evaluate Sharon.
"What did you cook, it smells good," Sharon said fully aware that Rusty was trying to determine if she was ok or not.
"It's just some lemon baked chicken. No big deal," Rusty said turning back to his computer.
"I think I'm going to go for a swim with Maddie for a little while to try and make up for her practice tonight," Sharon said turning to go upstairs to change.
"Sharon, I know it's really not my business, but is Andy coming back?" Rusty said quietly.
"About that, Andy and I have decided that being involved on a personal level would only jeopardize our careers with the LAPD and so we have come to the conclusion that it would be best of Andy moved back to his apartment before he started back to work. He should be cleared for active duty by next week and therefore we felt no need to prolong the inevitable," She said hoping that he would not push the subject.
"Oh, ok," Rusty said clearly knowing that Sharon was lying to him once again, but he knew this was a subject that he needed to late go.
Maddie saw Sharon in the kitchen before she came out on the patio, but she pretend not to see her.
"How is the water?" Sharon asked dipping her toe in.
"It's fine," Maddie said with no intentions on trying to carry on a conversation with Sharon.
"I'm sorry that you had to miss your practice tonight Maddie," Sharon said as she settled into the warm water.
"Yeah well if Andy were here he would have taken me," Maddie said with no hesitation.
"Yes, he would have," Sharon said calmly. "But he isn't here any longer so you and I will have to find a way to work around your practices."
"Well if I don't place in this first meet it will be because I haven't had enough practice," Maddie said with that edgy tone that drove Sharon crazy.
"Well how about I help you practice now?" Sharon said trying her best to smooth this over with Maddie.
"You have never been to a single one of my practices, how can you help me?" Maddie said purposely wanting Sharon to feel bad.
"Let's start out with a race. Let me see just how fast you are," Sharon said.
"Fine," Maddie said getting into position.
Rusty watched the two of them from inside the house. They swam down and back to their original position with Maddie in the lead the entire time.
"YOU LET ME WIN!" Maddie said the moment Sharon was above the water.
"Maddie, you are a very good swimmer and very fast," Sharon said before dipping her hair back into the water.
"You hesitated on the turn, I watched you do it." Maddie said climbing out of the pool. "Letting me win won't help me."
"Maddie, wait I know some drills you can do for your speed. Come back and I will show you." Sharon said wondering if she would ever do anything right in Maddie's eyes. But Maddie didn't stop, she ignored Sharon as she went into the house. Sharon figured a few laps would help her unwind some before she went in.
After she showered, she headed downstairs to make their lunches for the following day and from the sounds her stomach was making she figured she should eat something before she went to bed. Trying to keep busy, she straighten the kitchen up a little while she was waiting for her dinner to heat up. When the microwaved chimed, she took her plate and headed to the table. The one thing she didn't like about the new kitchen was how bright the lights were. Since she was the only one eating, she went ahead and shut all off the lights except for the one above the stove.
She had been eating for a few moments when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She figured it would be Rusty coming for a snack before bed, but to her surprise, it was Maddie. Maddie stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw Sharon sitting at the table. "You can come in, I won't bit," Sharon said turning back to her plate. "Rusty said you didn't eat dinner, would you like for me to heat some up for you?"
"I'm not a baby you know, I can fix my own food," Maddie said in a rude tone.
"Alright Maddie, I have put up with the sarcastic comments for almost two weeks now. I know that you are angry with me, but this cannot continue. We have to find a way to work this out." Sharon said with a firm tone. No one spoke while Maddie heated up a piece of chicken. Maddie sat down beside Sharon, but Maddie wouldn't look up from her plate at Sharon.
"I think you and I have some things that we need to discuss," Sharon said watching Maddie as she spoke. "I found the note from Emily Maddie. I know that's why you have been so upset with me over the last few weeks. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way. If I would have known that….." but before Sharon could finish Maddie stood up from the table.
"I know that you want to talk about why you gave me away, but I'm honestly not ready to hear about how much you didn't want me. If you can just figure out a way to get me to and from swimming practice I will be a good little girl and stay out of your way." Maddie didn't give Sharon a chance to respond, she washed her plate off and placed it in the dishwasher before she headed for the stairs.
Sharon sat in silence trying to force down the rest of her dinner, but the harder she tried to shake Maddie's comments away, the more nauseous she became. Finally, she gave in and threw the food away. When she went to get her night close out of the dresser, she noticed that Andy clothes were gone. She quickly scanned the room. When she saw the key by her bed, she couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer. She had hoped that he would have left her a note. She needed something, anything that would give her hope that they would make it through this. When she didn't find anything she knew that it was really over. She climbed into the side of the bed at Andy normally slept on and wrapped her arms around the pillow as she laid there and cried.