A Story of Us

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. It's just my favorite sandbox to play in.

Chapter 36

"Weddings are for the young." Those were the words that left Andy's mouth as he reclaimed his seat at the table he was sharing with his wife and the rest of their family. Emily was sitting with the other bridesmaids, but the boys were with them, including Charlie. Andy stretched his back before he relaxed. He reached up and loosened his tie before he stretched an arm across the back of his wife's chair and let his fingers toy with her hair.

"Hm." She chuckled quietly, in deference to the sleeping toddler in her lap. "Yes, but so is having babies." Joey was seated across her lap, reclining against the crook of her arm with his head laying on her shoulder while he slept. He was gone to the world. He hadn't moved, not even in response to the loudest of the laughter or music that filled the reception. His little suit jacket was gone, leaving behind his vest, and the tie that his father had put on him prior to the wedding. In the little gray, pinstripe three piece suit he couldn't have looked more like his father if he was genetically predisposed to do so. She had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his vest a bit. He was as comfortable as he could get, sleeping in her lap as he was.

Sharon looked over at her husband. His suit was a lighter shade of gray, but the three piece ensemble had looked very good on him. Like Joey, his jacket was gone, draped over the back of his chair. She chuckled again at the pair of them and lay her cheek against the top of her son's head. It had been a long day, but a beautiful one. Nicole could not have been more beautiful, nor Mark more handsome. It was obvious that they were beside themselves with joy. His boys too, they seemed so pleased to have Nicole joining their family.

"Well it's official," Ricky dropped into a chair at the table. He shook his head and ran a hand over his unruly mop of dark hair. "Emily has found a dance floor. You may never see her again."

"And a new dance partner." Rusty muttered as he slumped into a chair. "Thank god."

"Her new nickname is energizer," Charlie decided. Like his father, his jacket was gone and his tie loosened. He shook his head and lifted his drink to his lips. He smirked a bit. "Although if you ask me, I think little brother has the best seat in the house. How can he sleep in all this noise?"

"He's a Flynn." Sharon smirked at her husband.

He snorted at her. One time he'd fallen asleep on her, just one time, and she was never going to let him forget it. In his defense, he'd spent three weeks working almost around the clock to wrap a case. He'd fallen into a small coma when he got home. Unfortunately, he'd done it while his wife was changing into something more comfortable. "Damned straight he is." He wound a lock of her hair around his fingers. "Like my kid said, he's got the best seat in the house." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"Oh my god, quick, someone feed me. I'm starving." Nicole dropped into a chair at the table. When her stepmother slid an untouched slice of wedding cake toward her, she smiled brightly. "Thank you." She lifted a fork and quickly shoveled a bite into her mouth. "God that's good." It was the first bite of food that she'd had, the little bit of cake that she and Mark shared earlier notwithstanding. With all of the pictures, the toasts, well wishes, and the dancing, there hadn't been time enough yet for her to eat. "Mark took the boys to change. Emily is occupying his best man, Jeff has Mom on the dance floor and I am starving."

Her gown was an ivory, strapless number that was trimmed in red. Her dark hair was twisted into a bun atop her head, and decorated in an array of sparkling crystals and tiny red roses. She had been utterly breathtaking on her father's arm, with her stepfather on her other side. Somehow, despite how the request had made her father feel, Nicole managed to make it work. She had danced with her father first, and then her stepfather, and spent much of the rest of the day moving around from one relative to another, mingling with friends, and generally giving the impression of a bride that could not be happier.

"She has been dancing all evening," Nicole reflected of her stepsister, who was now taking a turn around the floor with her new husband's best friend. "How does she do it?"

"Professional." Ricky grinned widely. "She dances for a living."

"That didn't sound dirty at all." Charlie smirked at him.

"You'd be surprised," Ricky said, "how many people immediately assume that she's a stripper when I tell them that my sister is a professional dancer. I spent my first two years at Stanford convincing my frat brothers that it was ballet and no they did not need to meet her."

Sharon shook her head. "The worst part was," she explained, "Emily ended up dating one of them anyway."

"It didn't last," Ricky said. "Long distance relationships rarely do, but I was glad when that one ended. I got tired of hearing about it. There are some things that I am just not meant to know."

"Seconded." Charlie nodded. "None of my buddies ever dated my sister. They were afraid of her."

"You better believe it," Nicole slid another bite into her mouth and made quick work of it. "The first lesson dad ever taught me was what to do to a boy if he ever put his tongue in my mouth."

"Then she turned sixteen and stopped practicing." Andy shook his head. "Damn but they do eventually grow up, don't they?"

"Much too fast." Sharon agreed. "Soon they're playing with boys instead of running from them, and then they're dating the boys. Next thing we know, they're marrying them." She laughed. "When I married Jack, we did it all very quickly. He was starting law school soon, and I was about to graduate from the Academy, so we wanted it done. The night before our wedding, my brothers took him out… essentially to terrify him. They'd somehow gotten it into their heads that we were moving so quickly because I was pregnant. Naturally Jack then got it into his head that there was something I wasn't telling him…" She shook her head. "He managed to make it all the way through the wedding, and finally, in the car on our way to the reception, he asked me why I hadn't told him about the baby. A baby that, as far as I knew, didn't exist, mind you. So after clearing that up… and making us late to our reception, I had to deal with my brothers, and believe me, I did deal with my brothers." She paused for a moment and sighed. "Then I found out a month later that I was pregnant with Emily… to this day they don't believe I didn't already know."

Nicole giggled. She covered her mouth to keep from spitting cake everywhere. "Oh god. Honeymoon baby?"

"No," Sharon said at length. "We didn't have a honeymoon." Her lips pursed and her head tilted to one side. She cleared her throat. "Limo to the reception baby."

"Oh god." Ricky jerked with a full body shudder. "Mom. Seriously? I didn't need to know that."

"You are so sheltered." Rusty shook his head. He lived with Sharon and Andy, hearing that was nothing. "Try living with them," he nodded to his foster parents. "My earphones and stereo are my friends."

Andy looked at his wife. "Kid still thinks he's a comedian."

"They all do." She shrugged. "They're our children, what can we do?"

"Lock 'em out of the house and have our own fun?" He grinned crookedly at her.

"Yeah, I'm out of here." Ricky stood up. "Some things I really don't need to know."

"I'm going with you." Rusty followed.

"Finicky bunch aren't they?" Charlie smirked. "I was thinking more along the lines of Go Dad!"

"Me too." Nicole smirked. "Oh well, we'll just have to teach them." She finished the cake and stood. "I need to find Mark. Come see us before you go?"

Andy shared a look with his wife, who just nodded once. "Yeah, we will. It'll probably be soon. Joey needs his own bed."

"As does his mother." Sharon smiled tiredly. It had been a long night and even longer day. The case they'd worked wasn't really a new one, but rather they'd gotten a break in an existing case. Their work had stretched through the night and well into the new day. She ended up meeting the rest of her family at the country club, just as they'd thought she would. Now all she wanted to do was find a bed and collapse on it.

"Then I'll go and get Mark, we'll say goodbye now." Nicole stood. "Thank you for letting him join us. He was perfect." The two year old had a hard time staying on task, but they expected that. Still, he was adorable in his little suit and he had enjoyed standing at the front of the alter with his new step-nephews. Nicole couldn't wait to see the pictures. "When Mark and I get back from St. Thomas, we'll all get together and look at all of the pictures, they should be back by then…"

Even as she spoke, Nicole was hurrying away to find her new husband. "I think that was the longest she's stayed in one place all day," Andy shook his head. He chuckled quietly. His girl was full of energy and floating on a cloud. He remembered that feeling. As he looked at his wife, his smile softened. Yeah, he remembered it well. "I'll take him." Andy stood up and lifted Joey into his own arms. The boy hung limply there, but sighed when his head settled against his father's shoulder.

Sharon stood up and retrieved his jacket, as well as Joey's. "I'll find Rusty and see if he's going with us or staying with Emily and Ricky." She didn't see a problem with leaving him behind. Emily would keep an eye on him.

"You lead," Andy told her, "I'll follow." When she rolled her eyes at him, he just grinned crookedly. He followed her through the crowd. It was a slow process. People who knew him wanted him to stop and chat, which they did, just to be polite, even if Andy knew that half his family didn't really care for him. Truth was, it didn't seem to bother him that much anymore. Nicole and Charlie were good with him, and he didn't argue quite so often with Vicki anymore. He could handle the rest and all of their disdain. It wasn't as important as having his kids back in his life. He had to admit, it was a little freeing, not being there alone. There was something just a bit bolstering about being able to introduce his wife and his son, and watch some of them make the connection between Sharon and the Captain that they saw on local news broadcasts when he mentioned her work.

It was only Keith, Vicki's brother, who bothered to push the envelope a little too far. But then, Andy remembered, he'd never really gotten along with Keith in the first place. "I thought you were in that group," he asked. "Vicki says you're back doing your old job now. How does that happen?"

It was Sharon that answered, she leaned in to his side and put a calming hand against his back. "The LAPD has regulations against couples working together, particularly spouses in a command structure. We were allowed to try it for a while, until a position opened that was suitable to his record and experience. When that happened, our superiors insisted that Andy transfer. It worked out quite well for him in the end. He's running his own division and we get to see more of each other off duty." She smiled politely, but her gaze was sharp. "To be honest, it puts him in line for a promotion once our freeze is over. Career-wise it was the best move he could have made."

Andy shook his head at the last. "That will never happen." She seemed to think so, but Andy couldn't imagine it.

"Oh, I think so." Her hand stroked up and down his back. "I'm very much looking forward to seeing it too. Excuse us," she made the segue into their leaving look almost seamless. "I see my daughter. We really need to speak to her before we get the sleeping prince home. It was very nice meeting you."

He almost laughed out loud. Keith didn't have even a moment to respond before Andy and Sharon were gliding away from him. Andy managed to suppress the urge, however. "I don't know why you keep saying that," he continued. "I'm the last person that Taylor is ever going to let get promoted."

"He doesn't have a choice anymore." Sharon smiled widely at him. "He pushed you into a leadership role. I'm telling you, it's going to happen."

Andy snorted at her. "You're an eternal optimist, you know that right?"

"No, honey, I'm a realist." She fluttered her lashes at him. "It's really going to happen." Sharon's eyes sparkled. "I tell you what. When it does happen, and it will, we get to go away for the weekend. Just the two of us, to any location of my choosing."

"When it doesn't?" Andy smirked back at her. "What are we going to do then."

"Hm." Her lips pursed. She glanced away for a moment. Then a smile slowly curved her lips. "When it doesn't happen, but it will, you and I will… go away for the weekend, just the two of us, to a location of my choosing." Sharon smiled brightly at him. "It's a win-win situation."

Andy tilted his head at her. "Basically, you're saying that if you're right, we go somewhere you want to go, and if you're wrong, we still go somewhere you want to go."

"Yes." She nodded once.

He shrugged. "Yeah, okay. That sounds right. Welcome to marriage. It's all about the compromise." He kissed her upturned, smiling mouth. "Come on, let's grab Emily before she disappears again. I swear, that child is just like you."

Sharon arched a brow at him. "Beautiful, witty, and indescribably intelligent?"

Andy stared back at her. "Yeah," he deadpanned. "We'll go with that."

She made a face at him. "I'm going to remember that… later, when I'm trying to decide if I want to stay awake or not."

He laughed. "You'll be asleep in the car before we make it to the highway." Of that, Andy had no doubt. Not after working all night and most of the morning. When he weighed in two glasses of champagne and all of the wedding festivities, he knew that her energy reserves were beginning to fade. They'd leave her car with Ricky, since the boys had ridden with him to the country club.

"There could be a lot of truth to that," Sharon agreed. She was dragging, and was looking forward to the solitude the drive home would provide. It had still been a beautiful day, however, and she had no regrets about it.

They located Emily, and then Ricky and Rusty. After explaining that they were going, they gave the kids the option of staying or tagging along. Rusty was on the fence about it, but the other children tipped his hand. They convinced him to stay and enjoy the remainder of the wedding. Emily promised to keep an eye on both of them, despite the fact that Rusty was seventeen and Ricky was twenty-four. The boys were already planning how they could get even with her. Sharon and Andy left them to it.

Rather than napping, as she was wont to do, Sharon waited until they were back on the highway before glancing at her husband. "Has Rusty told you what happened at dinner with Kris's parents yet?"

"Not really." Andy shrugged. "Just that they had a lot of questions, and then decided he shouldn't spend time with Kris anymore. I figure he went into more detail than he needed to. You know the kid, he gets defensive about it."

"Hm." Sharon hummed quietly and let her head rest against the car seat. "He told them about the letter he received. So yes, I would say that he went into far more detail than he needed to. The thing is, I think Rusty is looking for ways to distance himself from Kris."

"Why would he do that?" Andy glanced over at her with a frown. "They seem to get along okay. The kid doesn't have a lot of friends."

"No," Sharon said carefully. "But I believe the issue is that perhaps Kris would like to be more than simply friends." She stared at him, and when her husband glanced away from the road again, her brows lifted pointedly.

"Oh." Andy's lips pursed. He looked at the road again and shook his head slowly. "That could be a problem." It was pretty obvious that the kid was gay. Okay, so it was obvious to Sharon and she had to point it out to him, but now that she had, Andy could see it too. It wasn't just about the gay hustling on Sunset Boulevard, but a real preference. It was possible that the kid could still be confused, based on that, but they didn't think so.

"Yes," she said. "And Rusty doesn't want to talk to me about. He doesn't want to talk to a professional about it." A smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth while she watched him. When realization of what she was asking came, Sharon folded her lips into a thin line to suppress the urge to grin and laugh.

"What?" Andy stared at her. He shook his head. "Oh no. Come on, Sharon. That's asking a lot, don't you think? What the hell do I know about all this? What am I going to say to the kid about being gay and dodging girlfriends. Not like that's an issue I've ever had before. Besides, what makes you think he wants to talk to me about it anyway?" As he spoke, he kept one hand on the steering wheel while he gestured with the other. Andy sighed, shook his head again. "This is the kind of thing he should be talking to… hell, I don't know, Buzz about. He's younger. He's got to know about this kind of thing."

"Buzz has been very helpful," Sharon told him. "But he isn't responsible for Rusty and it isn't his place to have this discussion with him. I've tried to do it myself, but Rusty wasn't comfortable talking about it with me. That only leaves one alternative left. He has to talk to someone, and in the absence of a professional…" She gestured delicately at her husband. "There you have it."

He squinted at her. Andy took in her sparkling eyes and the small smile she couldn't completely suppress. "This is my punishment, isn't it? This is what I get for bringing home a dog without talking to you about it first and god knows what else." He huffed. "Shit, Sharon…" Andy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "You know, when I had the talk with Charlie, that was bad enough. Now you're wanting me to—"

"Not go into any great detail." She giggled quietly. "But at least make sure that he understands that we are aware of the situation and supportive." She stressed the last bit. "That's very important, Andy. He has to know that we will still be there for him, whatever his choices. That we want him to be safe, and to be kind, and to be self aware."

Andy looked at her again, eyes wide. "And you want me to talk to him about that?" He shook his head at her, sounding and looking incredulous about it. "Lady, I think you've forgotten who you married. Maybe we should have a fresher. My name is Andy and I'm—"

"A very good father," She said gently. "You're not Rusty's, I know that. But we are what he has. He's ours now, so…" She gestured with her hand again before allowing it to drop to her lap where she folded both her hands together. "Do your best, I know it will be wonderful." Sharon leaned her head back with that and closed her eyes.

"I don't believe this." Andy sighed loudly. "You know, I was supposed to have about another thirteen years before I had to go through that again. Dammit, Sharon."

She hummed again and smiled serenely. "Don't Dammit Sharon me. At least Rusty and Joey have someone that can do that for them. Who do you think had to sit down with Ricky? You know, I tried, and Rusty didn't want to talk to me. He's not comfortable discussing certain things with me. That is where you come into the picture. It's going to be fine."

She wasn't giving him any option about it. He was going to have to do it. Andy shook his head again. At this rate, he was going to end up spraining something in his neck. "For the record," he grumbled, "this was not what I signed on for." When she only giggled softly, he rolled his eyes. "Damned woman is going to be the end of me," he muttered, only to her continued amusement. Andy huffed another sigh but looked over at her. Her eyes remained closed. He glanced into the backseat. Joey was slumped against one side of his carseat, still unaware of the world around him. He'd hardly even moved when they fastened him into it. Andy grunted quietly and reached for her hand. "Fine," he said, "I'll take the kid out, we'll have the damn talk. You're making it up to me after."

"I promise." Her thumb swept over his hand as their fingers twined together. With her eyes still closed, she smiled sweetly. "If you happen to take Lieutenant Provenza with you, well, Rusty could use all the support that he can get and they've gotten very close since you transferred."

Andy's brows shot up. He slanted a look at her. A grin slowly tugged at his mouth. He pictured how that conversation could end up going and chuckled. Suddenly, it wasn't looking so bad. "You know, I think I will ask Provenza to come along. It's been a while since we've been out. We'll take the kid for burgers. I know a place that even has a pretty good soy burger. You're right, it'll be great." He lifted her hand and drew it to his lips.

She rolled her head against the seat and smiled at him. Her eyes fluttered open and sparkled playfully. "I knew that you'd see reason in the end. There is always a method, Andy. You should know that by now."

"Yeah." He was still grinning imagining the look on Provenza's face. "Mentioned lately that I love you?"

"I think it's come up once or twice." She tilted her head at him. She gave his hand a squeeze and resettled in the seat. "Joey didn't eat much today, let's stop and pick up dinner," she said, changing the subject. "He'll be hungry when he wakes up, and I don't know about you, but I don't particularly feel like cooking."

"Nope." Neither of them was particularly hungry either, but that would change later. "We can swing past the bistro or something. Maybe grab a pizza. Joey likes pizza." He liked to pick all of the toppings off of it, saving the crust for last. The kid could be a marvel at times, the way he approached the simplest situations. It was a joy to watch. "Looks like we're going to be in traffic for a while," he pointed out, as they slowed to an almost stop. "Take a nap, I'll wake you when we get closer to home." Late Saturday afternoon traffic could be just as bad as any given day of the week.

"I'm going to take you up on that." Her eyes closed again. "Don't forget to stop and pick up the dog." Julio was watching it for them, at least until it was kennel trained.

Andy laughed. It was Sharon that wouldn't let him leave the dog locked in the utility room, in its kennel crate while they were gone to the wedding. She didn't like the idea of him being confined that long. Especially as he whined every time he was placed in the kennel. For all of her protesting, she had given in easily enough. He wondered if it had anything at all to do with the pictures he'd sent her last night of No-No curled up on Joey's toddler bed with him. Of course, boy and dog had both ended up in their bed before the night was over, but… Andy wasn't going to tell her about that.

It took them more than an hour to reach Julio's place to pick up No-No. Andy woke Sharon when they pulled into the drive, and then he went in to get the dog while she pulled herself back together. He wasn't surprised to find her standing beside the car when he returned with the dog, Julio beside him. When he opened the back passenger door to let the dog into the car, he laughed when it immediately reared up on the carseat and began licking Joey's face. The toddler came awake with a start.

Joey's eyes blinked open. He lifted his head and looked around, at first disoriented. Then he laughed and squealed when the puppy tried to climb into his lap. Andy pulled back on the leash to keep the dog in place in the seat beside Joey's carseat. He was wriggling around, tail wagging. When he reared up on the side of the carseat again, Joey turned his head away and laughed. "No no!"

"That explains the name." Julio laughed. "I just walked him, so he should be fine." He held out the bag of toys that Flynn brought to the Captain. "How was the wedding? You look tired, ma'am."

She smiled at the concern in his tone. They could all use a break after their most recent case. "It was lovely. Nicole was beautiful. It has been an exceptionally long day, however. I think we should get these two home. Thank you, again, for watching him."

"It was no problem." Julio smirked. "I wouldn't want Flynn to get into anymore trouble." He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I don't think he could get into anymore trouble at this point." Sharon glanced into the backseat. She shook her head when the puppy climbed over Joey to explore the other side of the car. She was glad that she had left hers with the kids.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Andy had unclipped the leash from the dog's collar. He dropped into the floor behind the driver's seat. "Kids like puppies, puppies like kids. It's all good."

"Hm." Sharon shook her head slowly. "They also like throw pillows, shoes, and rugs…" She shot a very pointed look at her husband. "Very expensive, designer throw pillows. That are now in the trash, rather than on my sofa, where they belong."

"You know something," Andy pointed at her. "I thought you said we should think of it as our sofa." When her eyes narrowed, he threw up his hands. "Just trying to make a point."

Julio snorted with quiet laughter. "Some things never change." The Lieutenant was still putting his foot in his mouth. Julio moved past him to lean into the car. "Hey, mi hombrecito, we hangin' out tomorrow? Just you and me right?" The plan was to barbecue and watch the game while Ricky was still in town, before he drove back north to Palo Alto.

"Yes!" Joey laughed again when the dog climbed back over to lay across his lap and yap playfully at Julio. His entire body wiggled with the wagging of his tail.

"Alright man, high five?" He held his hand up for Joey, but the puppy jumped and licked it instead. "Dude, that's gross." Julio leaned back out of the car and shook his head. "Good luck, Lieutenant." Training that puppy was going to be fun, he was full of energy. He seemed smart, but full of energy.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Andy rolled his eyes at him as he pushed the car door closed. "We're going to get out of here. We'll see you tomorrow. Say around… noon?"

"I'll be there." Julio stepped back from the car. "I'm bringing the good stuff, ma'am. They're already made."

Her brows lifted. She turned to her husband. "I'm staying here, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Uh huh." Andy grabbed her shoulders and turned her. "Nice try, Julio. Get your own girl." He gave her a gentle push to get her going to the other side of the car.

Sharon gave a large, exaggerated sigh. "He never lets me have any fun anymore."

Julio laughed again. It was nice to be getting back to the way things used to be, before the Captain took over Major Crimes. It was awkward for a while, and most of them had put aside the relationships that they had before that… back when she was just Flynn's girlfriend, and later his wife, the nice lady who let them hang out on the sofa and watch the game on the big screen TV. Well, nice when she wasn't investigating them for some reason or another. For the last year, since the Chief left and she became their boss, well it was adjustment period. They all had to get used to things being different. It took a while for some of them, even him, to get their heads wrapped around it. Now he was like the others, back in a place where he could separate the two.

Weird as it was, and as much as none of them had liked losing the Lieutenant to Robbery Homicide, Julio thought that maybe it was easier to separate all of it now that Flynn was no longer part of the squad. He was just their buddy who worked in another division. His wife happened to be their boss, but when they were over at the house, the Captain was no where to be found. It was just Flynn's wife and his little buddy's mom. Julio shook his head. "Sorry ma'am." His dark eyes glittered. "Don't worry, I made extra, just for you."

Sharon preened and smirked at her husband. "Just for me." She pulled open the front passenger door.

Andy turned and fixed Sanchez with a bland look. "Really? You gotta do that in front of me? Come on!"

"What?" Julio arched a brow at him. "I'm not going to do it when you're not around. That would be wrong. I'm a good boy." His shoulders shook with silent laughter. He could hear the Captain laughing as she got into the car.

"You're nothing but trouble." Andy pointed a finger at him. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you, Sanchez." He opened the driver's side door and slid into the car. When the dog climbed between the front seats and into his lap, he sighed. "Come on, cut it out."

Sharon leaned closer to her door and folded her hands in her lap. She smiled a bit too sweetly at him. "Well," she drawled, "you wanted to get a dog…"

Andy rolled his eyes toward her. "You want me to drive the car or not?" He nudged the dog again. "Come on, pup… you've got to move." He pushed him toward Sharon, since he didn't seem interested in getting in the backseat again.

"No!" She made a squeaking sound when the dog climbed into her lap. "Andy! I'm still in my dress." She made a face when he tried to lick her face and groaned when he succeeded. "Oh god." Sharon turned her face away from him and lifted the dog into the floorboard at her feet instead. With his tail wagging and body wiggling, she sighed. "I'm changing your name. I'm going to call you Flynn."

"Funny." Andy made a face at her. "Real cute, Sharon." He put the car in gear and started backing out of Julio's driveway.

In the backseat, Joey giggled. "Finn!"

"Hey." Andy turned and fixed him with a look. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

Sharon giggled. "Well, he's a very smart boy. Whose side do you think he's on?" Her head tilted and she thought about it. "Finn, I like that, actually." The dog had its head laying on the seat beside her leg. He was content enough, while they were moving, to let her pet his head and rub his ears. "Joey, what do you think? Finn?"

Joey had a toy car in his hand. He banged it against the side of his carseat. "Finn! Finn puppy."

"There you have it. He has a name." Sharon smirked at her husband. "Now he needs name tags." The only thing on his collar so far was the tag the shelter had placed there indicating he'd had all of his shots. "He also needs to go to the vet." She arched a brow at Andy. "You'll take care of that, won't you?" Not that she didn't trust the shelter, or the papers that had come with him, but if the dog was going to be climbing all of her child she wanted to know, without a doubt, that it was perfectly healthy.

Andy sighed. "Yes," he said, trying to to sound too aggrieved. "I will take him to the vet." He glanced at his wife. He grinned as he turned them back toward the highway to head home. "Admit it, he's cute. I did good."

"I'll admit that he is not unfortunate looking," Sharon said with a smile. "But I will not say anything on the other matter." She lifted her chin in defiance but her eyes were sparkling. She leaned her head back against the seat rest and turned her attention on Joey. "We're going to stop for food. Do you want pizza?"

"Pizza, mmm!" He nodded once and continued to run his car around on his legs and the sides of his carseat, making vrooming noises as he did.

"Pizza it is," Andy said. "Do we want Murphy's, or should I stop at that little place on the corner of Mohawk Street?"

Her lips pursed while she thought about it. "Which one has the twisted bread sticks that he likes? With the garlic sauce instead of the marinara." Even as she asked, she reached into her purse for her phone to check the last place they had ordered from.

"That's the place on Mohawk," Andy told her. "If you call it in, we'll be there in about twenty-five to pick it up." He glanced over and grinned. She was already dialing. Andy shook his head, the woman could read his mind. "Get the veg—" He trailed off as she began placing the order. She was already doing that too, ordering a cheese pizza for Joey and a veggie delight for them to share later, when they were hungry. He reached for her hand and held it as he maneuvered them back out onto the highway. She could read his mind, finish his sentences. The kid was chattering in the backseat, mostly gibberish, put they could pick out the words that he knew. He was holding an entire conversation, and after she finished ordering the pizza, Sharon managed to keep up with him. Andy could pick out something about trucks and trains, Finn, and daddy, and Rusty, and had a pretty good idea that Sharon was setting up a play date for them later, one that was going to end up with him rolling around on the floor until his back and knees hated him. The sound of her laughter as she arranged it made him smile.

Life didn't get much better than that.