The doorbell rang, and Emily sprang to open it. It was Saturday evening, and she still hadn't seen Wes. Both Jack and he were due to arrive any minute for dinner. The day had been a fun one, one that Emily had enjoyed despite still not seeing Wes. The girls had been shopping all day; it had been successful. Sharon, Emily, Lauren, and Meghan had met Nicole at a dress shop where the girls all found something to wear to Sharon and Andy's wedding in April. The girls had settled on a very light purple, simple dress they knew would look good in pictures. Andy was going to be wearing a suit, as were the brothers, and Sharon had found a very simple ivory dress with a bit of lace over it. The wedding was going to be simple, yet classy. They had even found a coordinating dress for Meghan; Sharon had agreed she needed one to go with the rest. She, after all, was family now too. So, the dress shopping for Sharon's wedding had gone well, and they'd made even more progress with Lauren. She'd found a wedding dress. While they were at the dress shop looking at the purple dresses, Lauren fell in love with one she saw hanging there. She'd only just started looking and had no idea what she wanted, but after Emily convinced her to try it on, it was evident this was the dress. Lauren had wanted to buy the dress herself, but Sharon had told her nonsense, in the absence of her own mother, Sharon, as the mother of the groom, would buy it, along with anything else that was needed. Emily had enjoyed the day, wondering if someday, she and Wes might get married. They had briefly discussed it, but with no real conclusion to their bi-coastal setup, they weren't ready to go there yet. Now, here it was, dinnertime, and Emily was glad she was finally going to see Wes.
She flung the door open, "Oh, Dad, hi," Emily said slightly disappointed, but still glad her dad had actually shown up.
Jack gave her a half wave, "Hi princess. Good to see you," he said as he stepped inside, kissing Emily on the head as he moved past her. Emily closed the door.
The doorbell had caused another person to come running, Meghan. She adored Wes and was hoping he was at the door too. She came running down the hall yelling, "Someone's here!" as she slid into Emily.
Jack's eyes grew large at the tiny figure. He did know about Meghan, but seeing her was a different story. She was adorable, Jack had to admit. He bent down to her level, where she was now standing at Emily's side.
"Aunt Emily, who's that?" Meghan asked.
"I'm Jack," Jack told her, "I'm Ricky and Emily's dad. You must be Meghan," he smiled at her.
Meghan gave him a big nod, "That's my name."
Jack chuckled and reached into the small bag he had in one hand, "Well, Meghan, I have heard about you and brought you something. Your Aunt Emily," Jack said as he looked up at Emily a bit puzzled by the term aunt, "used to have one like this one." Jack pulled a small blue stuffed bunny rabbit out of his bag and handed it to Meghan. Meghan's face lit up, "A blue bunny! Blue is my new favorite color!" and Meghan ran off to show her toy.
Emily chuckled, as did Jack. He stood back up, looking at Emily, "Aunt Emily?" he questioned.
Emily nodded, "Well, Dad, it's a bit complicated to explain that we're not really related-we're her brother-in-law's family, but when Ricky is acting more like a dad to her, well, it seems easy to tell her we're her aunts and uncles. That was a sweet gesture you bringing her the bunny."
As the two were talking, Sharon's voice could be heard walking down the hall, "Well, Meghan, aren't you the luckiest girl to have a new blue bunny," and she stopped as she entered the foyer to see Jack and Emily standing there. "Jack, hi, I didn't know it was you. Meghan said she had a new bunny, and I'm sorry, but I assumed Wes had brought it with him. Glad you could make it," Sharon plastered on a small smile.
"Sharon," Jack nodded at her, with now Meghan standing in front of Sharon and Emily at Jack's side. "Oh, I brought you this," he said as he handed her the gift bag. "You know, I thought it could be like old times and all. This always was your favorite."
Sharon peeked in the gift bag, as Meghan said, "Ohhh, Gigi, what is it?" Sharon looked up at Jack, "Jack this wasn't necessary."
Jack shrugged, "I still remember. Maybe we can all have a glass?"
Sharon sighed and shook her head, "Jack, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Ahh, come on Sharon, one glass for everyone wont' hurt you. Your lapdog doesn't have to have any-by the way-where is he? I didn't see his car parked outside. Did he decide to make a run for it and not intrude on our family dinner?"
Sharon sighed and turned to glare at Jack, "Meghan," Emily jumped in, "Let's go show your bunny to Lauren and Ricky," she said as she turned to guide Meghan away from the argument that was about to happen.
"Jack, for your information, yes, one glass WILL hurt you. I'm not about to encourage that. Thank you for bringing it, but for tonight, I think it is best none of us partake. As for Andy, he's in the shower. We had a long case that took almost two days. He's been asleep since he got home this morning, and his car is in OUR garage, parked right next to mine. Regarding the family dinner, he's now my family, so if anyone is potentially out of sorts here, it's you. Now, you can come into Andy's and my home, be polite, greet your children and their families, or you can leave. You can also be polite and nice to Rusty; yes, I know he's not yours, but he's part of our family, and I won't put up with you being rude to anyone," and with that, Sharon crossed her arms, waiting for a reply.
"I'll be good," Jack raised his arms, "Now, where are my two kids?"
Sharon rolled her eyes and pointed, "They are all back by the pool. I'm sure you can find the way. I'm finishing up things in the kitchen."
Jack made his way to the backyard, where he was surprised to find everyone except Sharon and Andy gathered. He walked over to where Ricky was kneeling helping Meghan put on her swim goggles. He cleared his throat, "Uh, hi Ricky."
Ricky looked up, now noticing Jack was there, "Dad, hi,' he said as he stood. "Dad, this is Meghan," Ricky picked up Meghan, holding her on his hip.
Jack nodded, "I met her at the door and gave her a bunny."
Ricky nodded, "Yeah, right, sorry. Thank you for that. Meghan, this is my dad."
"Jack," Meghan said, "He said his name was Jack. Do I have to call him anything else?"
Jack looked at Ricky with a questioning glance, and Ricky just shrugged, "Up to you, Dad. She calls the siblings aunt and uncle. She calls Mom Gigi and Andy Pops, so up to you."
Jack thought a moment and shrugged, "I'm okay with Jack, or whatever."
Ricky turned back to Meghan's face, "Ok, Megs, you can call him Jack."
Meghan nodded and then motioned to be put down. She took off and jumped into the pool. Lauren, who had watched the encounter, took the opportunity to walk over to Ricky and Jack. As she approached, out of Jacks' line of sight, Jack noticed Ricky's face light up and turned to follow the source.
"Dad, this is Lauren," Ricky smiled, eyes glistening, "Lauren, this is my dad."
Lauren stuck out her hand to greet Jack, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Raydor. I've heard all about you."
Jack returned her handshake, "Oh, I know that can't be good," he chuckled. "Jack's fine."
Lauren nodded, and the trio started talking while watching Meghan in the pool. Sharon, now with Andy there too, walked outside, with a tray full of lemonades for everyone. She glanced around and was surprised to see that Wes had arrived in the chaos. His eyes caught hers, and he jumped from the lounge chair where he was sitting with Emily to help with the drinks.
"Wes, I didn't know you had arrived," Sharon smiled.
"Yeah, well, I got here just after Mr. Raydor did, and as I walked up, I could see all of you talking at the door, so just walked around and came in the pool gate," he told her.
Andy had walked up, as had Emily, and Andy replied, "Yeah, smart man, getting out of anywhere Jack is." Sharon sighed and looked at him, and he looked back, "Well, you know it's true," he shrugged. Wes and Emily talked to them another minute before returning to their chair.
"I have missed you so much this weekend," Emily smiled as she snuggled up to Wes. "I'm so glad you finished your case. How about I come unpack my full suitcase tonight?" she smiled up at him.
"Oh, I definitely think that's a good idea," he teased back, rubbing circles on her back. "Sorry I didn't get to see you today."
Emily smiled, "That's okay. Mom said you dropped off Andy around 4 AM?"
Wes nodded, "Yeah, your mom had taken his car home last night. Lieutenant Provenza gave us the option to stay and finish or go home, come back, and finish. We all decided to just plow through, so we ended up finishing after 3 AM. I knew Andy didn't have a car there, and the idea of sending Provenza out here-well, I knew both the old guys were tired. After I dropped him off, I don't think I was home 10 minutes before I passed out. I'm getting too old to go a couple days without sleep. I have no idea how your parents keep doing that."
Emily sat up when they saw Jack make his way over to talk to them. Jack sat down on the lounge chair next to where the two were sitting together, "Wes, Emily," he nodded. "Still together, I see."
Emily rolled her eyes, and Wes patted her arm to keep her cool, "Mr. Raydor, nice to see you," Wes said.
"I've decided you can call me Jack," he told Wes. "If the seven-year-old over there calls me Jack, you can too."
Emily chuckled, "Meghan's calling you Jack?"
Jack shrugged, "It's my name? Why?"
"No reason," Emily replied, "She just calls Mom Gigi and Andy Pops, like grandparents."
Jack sighed and looked back at the group, "Yeah, well, I'm not her grandparent, and I don't need to be referenced to anything like Flynn over there. He's already taken everything else that is mine."
"Dad, don't' start," Emily scolded him, "and really, Dad, your brought wine? You know you can't drink."
Wes raised his eyebrows at this and Jack waved her off, "Just trying to get in your mom's good graces again. Deep down, she still loves me. It is going to be a bit tougher than I anticipated to win her back. Everywhere I look in this place, I see Flynn's stuff. Pictures of Flynn, Flynn's kids, your mom with him-pictures of him all over her, it's going to be a bit of a challenge."
Wes shook his head, and Emily continued to scold him, "Honestly, Dad, I've always stuck up for you, but come on! Mom's divorced from you. She bought a house with another man! She's marrying that same man in less than a month. My goodness, we picked out dresses today. When are you going to let her go?"
Jack stood, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," as Wes moved from behind Emily to stand.
"Jack, I think it would be good if you would stay. Focus on Ricky and Emily. They both came a long way to see you, and I think you should talk to them. I'll go work on the food prep so you and Emily can chat," and with that, Wes nodded to Emily and walked away.
Wes walked over to the grill area where Sharon and Andy were huddled together, giggling and putting food on the grill, "Need any help?" he offered.
Sharon looked up and looked over to see Emily and Jack talking, "I'm sure we can find something. Looks like you are the one who needs the help. Is he causing problems?"
Wes nodded, "A bit, but I think I took care of that."
Andy chuckled as he flipped some chicken on the grill, "Good man, Nolan. I knew I liked you. Sharon just told me Jack brought wine for everyone."
Wes nodded again, "Yeah, he did, and that was one of our-discussions. It won't be an issue."
Sharon smiled, "Good. Thank you for being her-for us-for Emily."
"Nowhere else I'd be," Wes replied.
Dinner continued and the rest of dinner went as well as could be expected. Meghan's innocence helped soften things and lighten the mood. By the end of dinner, everyone was ready to wind down for the night; it had been stressful.
"Rusty, what time does Gus finish tonight?" Sharon asked as the group was eating their cheesecake for dessert.
"He gets off at midnight," Rusty replied, "He's off tomorrow, so we are going to catch a movie."
Jack, sitting across from Rusty and next to Emily, asked, "Gus your boyfriend?" and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, Jack, he is" Rusty replied. "That okay?"
Jack rolled his eyes, and Emily turned and glared at him. Jack, wanting to offer a snide comment, took the warning look from Emily and just replied, "Hadn't heard about him, that's all."
The group was in the middle of a discussion about Ricky and Lauren's wedding plans when both Andy and Wes' phone started ringing.
"Oh, that's not a good sign," Sharon sighed, smiled, and patted Andy's hand, as he stood and could be heard answering, "Flynn."
Wes stepped away from the table, talking as well. Both finished at almost the same time and looked at each other. They had a case. Sharon, still sitting, watched the interaction, and Andy turned back to her.
"We've got a," Andy started and then saw Meghan, who had been sitting on his lap and was now in his chair, "We've got a job at an address. I will call you, but doesn't sound like we will need you at work for a couple hours."
Sharon nodded, and Wes gave a sympathetic look at Emily. She sighed, stood, and walked over to Wes, "I know I should be grateful I got to see you a couple hours, but I have to say, I'm really frustrated," Emily told him.
Wes returned the frustrated look, "I know. Sorry, I won't be home again tonight. Best you stay here at your mom's house. I will make it up to you," he whispered as he kissed her. "Lieutenant, want a ride?" he asked Andy.
Andy looked at him and nodded a yes, holding up his finger, signaling for Wes to wait a minute. He knelt down next to Meghan, "I'm sorry Princess. Pops has to go to work and catch a bad guy."
"You already caught a bad guy," Meghan pouted.
Andy chuckled, "I did. There's another one."
"There's too many bad guys in Lost Angeles," earning a chuckle from the group, calling it Lost.
"Megan, my thoughts everyday," Sharon giggled.
Andy kissed her on the head, and Sharon stood to walk Andy out. Andy and Wes turned to the group, waving good-bye at everyone. Sharon followed Andy and Wes to the door, collecting the case details they hadn't been able to share in front of Meghan and promised she'd see the guys soon.
As she walked back outside, she overheard Jack saying, "So, now that our family is left here, let's enjoy some family time."
Sharon rolled her eyes, turned and walked back to the kitchen. She'd have to find a way to get rid of Jack and soon. Maybe Jack did have a good idea in bringing that wine over. If only she wasn't going to have to go into work, she might take to drinking all that wine just to get through the rest of the evening with Jack. For now, she'd leave Jack with the kids and hope that they could all be civil for at least a little while. Ricky's upcoming wedding, that was going to be a struggle to be civil to Jack through that.
Emily, sitting on the patio, was having her own pity party, wondering if she'd ever get more than a couple hours to spend with Wes. Her trip home was really a reality check into the life of a detective.