"What's Nutcracker 2.0?" Bob asked, clearly puzzled.
"Oh, Grandpa," Rusty grinned, "that was the second-year Andy took Sharon to the Nutcracker, the year Nicole and I made them really agitated at dinner.
"Yes, well before we get to Russell's fine performance at dinner-Nicole's too-we need to back up and start from the beginning. Nicole showed up here in the Murder Room to see her good friend, Sharon," Provenza said irritated.
"They were-are-friends!" Andy exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, they are," Provenza nodded, "something we all saw as soon as she walked in, embracing 'Sharon' like they'd been gal pals for years! Flynn, we were all very much aware your lovely daughter showed up, but what struck us as particularly funny was that she wasn't interested really in seeing you-no she wanted to see the captain! Now, why would any of our children come here to see someone else?"
As Provenza said that, Sharon glared at him and hooked her finger at Rusty, rolling her eyes.
Provenza caught that, and before Sharon could comment, he jumped in, "Oh, no, Captain. Don't even try to compare Rusty to Nicole. Rusty has grown up here; we all feel some sort of paternal role with him, even if it's in different capacities. Now, we won't argue that you've taken the brunt of it, and lately, Idiot #1 has been there too, but Rusty coming to any of us for help or advice is NOTHING like Nicole coming to you. No, that threw us for a loop."
"That's right," Julio grinned, "we didn't realize that aside from the wedding, you and Nicole had spent much time together."
"They'd spent tons of time together!" Andy said irritated.
"Ahhh," Provenza waved his finger, "yes, we know NOW, Idiot #1. Then, we didn't know. You'd kept that under wraps, that your families had becoming chummy. Idiot #1 plus Idiot #2 equaled Idiot Family Events. So, Nicole blows into the office, desperate for a little girl talk with her BFF Captain, aka Idiot #2, and well, we can only guess that it had to involve Idiot #1 because you, Captain, ended that conversation very quickly and came out flustered for the rest of the day. You could barely look at Flynn, and for once, we didn't notice that he'd done anything to irritate you. The only solution had to be Nicole."
Sharon narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Do you really want to know what she said?"
"Oh! Please Ma'am! We're dying, even a couple years later," Julio grinned.
Sharon rolled her eyes as she glanced at Andy. He put his hand on his head and chuckled, as he patted her knee.
"Fine," she said. "She came here to ask me for relationship advice."
"You?" Buzz asked. "Why? She's married. We knew she came here with the Nutcracker tickets, but we just assumed she was trying to talk to you about being Lieutenant's girlfriend."
"Well," Sharon shifted, "she was, sort of. She asked me for relationship advice in the workplace-how do you handle being the boss at work and not at home-something to that effect. I think she said how do I boss Andy around at work and be normal at home."
Julio and Provenza's eyes met, and they both started to laugh. The rest of the team continued, and Sharon's parents added to that. Rusty just grinned, "Nicole told me all about it."
"Oh, we've clarified this discussion," Andy winked the group, proud of himself, as he crossed his arms. Sharon's glare found him fumbling, "Ahh, we've just clarified that she might be the boss here, but at home, we discuss everything."
"Sure, you think you are discussing it, Lieutenant," Julio grinned, "until the captain tells you how it's going to be."
Sharon rolled her eyes again, "That's not how it is at all! As for Nicole, she took me by surprise, and even though I tried to explain to her Andy and I weren't dating, she blew past that and handed me the tickets to the show-right in front of all of you. I didn't know what to say; she wasn't having any of it."
"Not dating, you say, even after we find out you'd been vacationing in Park City together for years?" Provenza questioned. "Idiots."
"Invited us to all go as a family," Rusty grinned pulling the conversation back to the Nutcracker, "you know, because she didn't have enough tickets for everyone," he nodded. "I'm surprised none of you picked up on the fact that she knew who I was-no introduction needed. Remember, I was here on an errand for Badge? Yeah, I'd been around her a lot, but none of you seemed to catch that. You also didn't happen to notice we left at the same time, catching the same elevator, and we had plenty of time to talk," he grinned, "perfect setup for dinner that next night."
Sharon gave him a shocked look, and Andy just shook his head.
"Maybe, Captain, we need to give Nicole a title. She's not Idiot #3. She could see the writing on the wall that had been there for years! You'd been to her wedding, what a year and a half before, and you were still her dad's BFF, doing more and more with him. Nolan, we might just send you packing and bring Nicole in as our newest detective," Provenza chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I allowed my family to think that, and I just never corrected them," Andy admitted sheepishly.
"You don't say, Flynn! I know that. You were always antsy, worried the captain would find out what you'd allowed your family to believe, but it was all truth. You were dating, even if neither of you cared to admit it," Provenza pointed out.
"Oh, they were, Lieutenant," Sue smiled. "We also know Sharon and knew no one else could convince her of that. People could lay the groundwork, but she had to see it."
"Enter Nicole and Rusty," Rusty grinned.
Sharon groaned, and then she continued, "So, I quickly got her out of my office, which I felt badly about because Nicole and I do get along really well, but we did have that time sensitive case."
"Plus, you probably wanted to kill the lieutenant," Buzz grinned.
Sharon bit her lip, "The thought did cross my mind that day, but I was too busy to deal with FID. Plus, I really did want to see the boys in the Nutcracker," she grinned, "and, if I had killed Andy that day, I would have ruined my chance."
Andy chuckled as he nodded, "She definitely knows how to go into 'Grandma Sharon' mode," he grinned.
"Instead," Buzz interjected, "you just made it the most awkward day in the history of the electronics room," Buzz grinned. "I wish I had my camera on to record how you treated him, Captain. It was really funny, and I had trouble holding it in. He kept trying to explain things to you, and you wouldn't hear it. The closer he got to you, the further you moved, and that wasn't like you two at all. Usually you were always playing with his tie, his suspenders…" he trailed off.
"Sharon, really? You would do that at work and didn't think you were flirting," Sue asked, shaking her head.
Sharon hung her head, and she shook it. Andy chuckled, and Wes added, "Please, Captain, I know I'm a new addition, an attractive young thing, but please, keep your hands to yourself," Wes grinned.
The whole team burst out laughing, as Mike added, "Wes, just don't wear suspenders, and I think you'll be okay."
"Horrible, horrible people," Sharon groaned, as she looked to Andy for support.
"Hey, you were the one who said you liked my suspenders and bought me several sets!" he added.
"Andy!" Sharon admonished him, as she continued to groan.
"Now, after Buzz had to deal with Idiot #1 and Idiot #2 in electronics, Captain coincidently sent the team away to give herself a moment to recover," Provenza continued.
"Yes, and whenever the captain is flustered, she always wants to 'go over things again' with me," Buzz grinned. "Normally, she is spot on, but when she's flustered, she misses things because she's distracted. I knew she was really flustered because not only did we go over the video another time, we went over it three more times," he grinned.
"I had a lot to look for on that video!" Sharon exclaimed, and everyone laughed."
"It's okay, Captain. We were glad you sent us all out; we spent the rest of the morning discussing it," Amy smiled. The rest of the team nodded.
"And, I spent that evening making Sharon squirm," Rusty grinned. "Andy had his meeting, which was probably a good thing because I can't imagine Sharon being more awkward than she was at home with me. After Nicole and I talked in the elevator, we realized we needed to pry the information out of them. So, I teased her at home, telling her something like dating someone at work can be tricky and asking her why Nicole would have thought she and Andy were dating," he grinned. "It was great."
"You discussed this at home with your mom?" Andy asked Rusty, and he turned to Sharon, "Why didn't you just call me? I knew you were irritated."
She turned to him, "That's just it. I wasn't irritated. I wanted to be, but I couldn't look at you and be irritated," she admitted, smiling.
The team groaned, as did Rusty. Sue and Bob chuckled, "I don't think Sharon can turn down Andy's sad face," Sue smiled.
Andy threw Sharon his sad face look, and she rolled her eyes and swatted at him, as he said, "Still got it!"
"So, Nicole and I put them on the spot that night at dinner," Rusty grinned. "Dinner itself was fine; we all chatted like we had before. Sharon had dinner all planned out that night before, telling me I couldn't be late to dinner, but I don't think she told Andy until the next day. As far as I knew, she didn't want to talk to him that first night," he grinned. "So, after dinner, I know they are trying to talk to Nicole, and Sharon thinks I'm there to be her buffer-that's what I called myself-and when I asked to help clarify things, well," he smiled.
Sharon scowled at him, "Yes, you did jump in and did no clarifying of the sort!"
"I didn't lie, Sharon," he grinned. "I only pointed out that you and Andy had been spending tons of time together doing all sorts of things. You should be thanking me that I didn't get into Park City and all sort of other things."
Andy grabbed Sharon's hand, "Sharon was just slow to get on board with things," he grinned, "with Jack not an issue, I wasn't pressuring her, and she knew that, but she also knew it meant she had to move forward on her terms."
"Yes! I had planned to discuss that more at Park City that year, which never happened, but I didn't like being blind sighted like that," she admitted.
"How was the ballet that night?" Julio grinned as he asked.
"Oh, that depends on your perspective," Rusty said gagging. "At first, the car ride was awkward. Sharon withdrew into herself, you know, like she does when she's flustered. Andy didn't say a word, so Nicole and I made all the small talk, just knowing we'd put them on the spot. Well, as you all know, Sharon can't resist Andy for long, nor the Nutcracker. She just admitted she couldn't turn down his sad face. So, we get there, park, and Andy, being the gentleman he is, offered Sharon his arm, and that was the end of the awkwardness. Then, we just moved to the mushy irritations again, the flirting the glances at each other, you know."
"Did they sit by each other? We took bets on that, figuring the captain would almost prefer to stand outside," Julio asked.
"Oh, they totally did," Rusty nodded. "I sat as far away as I could, but I can definitely report there was hand holding, the eyes, and I'm sure more. I kept my eyes shielded as much as I could," he groaned.
"Rusty!" Andy hissed.
"What? You two are intent on dragging me to family events, telling me it's good bonding time and all, so don't be surprised when I report back what I saw. Don't get me started on the kissing, the comments all the time," he gagged. "That Christmas," he sighed, "yeah, the Nutcracker seemed to kick off the holidays, and I mean more of Andy around all the time. I don't think I realized my egging them on was actually going to move them along with things. I wanted to mess with them, but I guess it helped to clarify things."
Sharon just shrugged, with a twinkle in her eye, "I love the holidays," she winked at Andy, "and, there's nothing to discuss."
"Well, we all noticed the next morning, things seemed to be business as usual," Provenza rolled his eyes, "yeah, we noticed you two seemed to be a chummy as ever."
"Well, Jack did show up too after all that," Mike nodded, "don't forget, we caught that next case right away, and Jack came in as the attorney."
"Oh, Jack-we don't have to see him on this trip, do we?" Sue asked.
"If I see Jack, I'll be up here in your custody," Bob stated. Andy chuckled, as he nodded.
"Bob, I may be arrested as your accomplice." Sharon glared at both men and shook her head.
"Well, if there's anything that pulls you two closer," Provenza nodded to Sharon and Andy, "it's a dislike of Jack. Flynn, don't think we didn't notice how you were able to reign it in with Jack."
"Sharon asked me to," Andy replied, "We'd had a brief moment in the hallway, and she asked me to keep my cool with Jack. I did," he shrugged.
"Yeah, but you almost lost it about Jeff being here for Badge," Rusty grinned. "I still love how irritated you get about that show."
Andy turned to Rusty and smirked, "Really, Beckon? Want to talk about Jeff and Badge? Go ahead; if you recall, I joined you and Sharon for burgers after that case, and I recall the milkshake I bought you to stew over your lost friend, Jeff."
Rusty's face grew huge, "No, we're good, Andy. No need to dig that up. I thought old people were supposed to forget details," he scowled at Andy. Andy just chuckled.
"Well, we don't need to discuss, Stroh. Flynn, if was no surprise you were protective of her during that. We all wanted to be, protective of Rusty too. By then, we were just accepting you were protecting your family."
"Except that it seemed to take forever for you two to get past that," Amy nodded. "I know that was a major stressor for a long time, but it was five, what six months before we saw any real progress with you two. What gives?"
Sharon gave Andy a small smile, and he clasped her hand, "While we weren't moving forward in the public eye, in what people consider dating, we had our own progress. Sharon really had a hard time with that, Rusty too, but Sharon needed some emotional support then."
"Andy's emotional support opened my eyes to just how much I cared," she smiled, "allowing me to finally, finally admit to the world what we'd started years before."
"She liked me," Andy grinned, "a lot."
