40–"It's just a nightmare, it's nothing real."

"Hey, you ready to go?"

Sharon looked up from her desk and smiled at Andy. "Just a second." She finished what she was doing, shut down her computer, and stood up to gather her things. Everyone else was gone, so she didn't protest when Andy kissed her. "You still staying over tonight?" She murmured in his ear.

"Yeah..." Andy gave her a look of mock concern. "But I don't think I have my pajamas."

Sharon shrugged. "I don't think you'll need them." They'd been getting more and more intimate lately, but Sharon was planning to finally take the final step that night.

"Ewwwww, you guys! Get a room!" Rusty had come back upstairs to ask Sharon something he couldn't even remember at the moment before heading to Gus's for the night, but whatever it was couldn't have been that important.

"Sorry, honey." Sharon backed away from Andy and smoothed her blouse. "What do you need?"

"Something for nausea," Rusty muttered, making a hasty exit.

Sharon looked up at Andy. "Should we go before we earn my son even more years on a couch?"

They didn't waste any time and hurried through dinner. Andy practically quivered when Sharon stepped out of the bathroom in a navy chemise that left no mystery to her intentions. A little while later, he groaned when her phone started ringing. "Ignore it," he pleaded.

Sharon was tempted, but she pulled his face from her breasts and reached over to just see who was calling...Provenza. "Damn it," she muttered. After taking a moment to compose herself, she answered the phone, trying to control her breathing.

"Good Evening, Captain. We've caught a case, and we need you for this one...Have I caught you at a bad time?"

"Of course not. I was just, uh...Doing yoga," Sharon sputtered. She jabbed Andy in the ribs and covered his mouth with her free hand when he started chuckling. She wrapped up the call and reluctantly pulled herself away from him. "We have to go."

"Yeah, I gathered," Andy mumbled. A grin spread over his face as they started getting dressed. "Yoga, huh? New nickname for me? I like it."

A couple of days later, they finally headed back to the condo after no sleep. Andy was staying over this time mostly because he was exhausted, and the condo was closer to work than his house. After a quick dinner, the speediness due to fatigue this time, unfortunately, they collapsed into bed.

Andy woke up later that night to Sharon mumbling and thrashing around beside him. He tried to put his arm around her, but she pushed him away when he tried to calm her, never waking. Unable to go back to sleep, he tried to wake her, to no avail, so he just helplessly watched her toss and turn. She finally woke with a gasp, jumped out of bed, and hurried through the bathroom door. The hell was she doing? Andy was too stunned to move until a panicked "Rusty!" sounded from across the hall. Finally realizing that Sharon's nightmare must've been of the Stroh variety and that she was probably too drowsy to remember that he was at Gus's for the night, Andy tore through the bathroom after her before she could give herself a heart attack.

"Hey, it's all right. Rusty's at Gus's tonight, remember?" Andy pulled her into his arms, but he wasn't positive that she was fully awake.

"He—I—Stroh—"

"Is gone. It's okay, it was just a dream."

Sharon was still struggling against him. "No, Andy, I saw him. I saw him, but I couldn't get up. I don't know why, but I couldn't move. And then I swear I heard Rusty scream—"

Andy nodded at Rusty's bed. "Look, so you think Stroh would've stopped to make the kid's bed? And your bedroom door has been closed since we went to bed, so how could you have seen him? Rusty's all right. It's just a nightmare, it's nothing real."

"Stroh is very real." Sharon was more alert now and finally realized that Andy was right. The nightmares had slowed down, but she didn't know that they would ever disappear. This wasn't the first time one had sent her running to Rusty's room, but it was the first time where she'd found his bed empty instead of a lump under his covers mumbling a disgruntled "what?" in her direction when she flung open his door.

"I know he is, but everything's okay." Sharon still felt tense in his arms, but he held her until she finally relaxed against him. "Do you want me to make you some tea, or are you ready to go back to bed?"

"Tea, please." Sharon walked with Andy down the hall, relaxing a bit more with his arm securely around her, and curled up on the couch with her favorite blanket while he made her a mug of tea. "Thank you." She gratefully accepted the mug and lay against his shoulder as she sipped it.

Andy stroked his fingers through her hair and rested his chin on top of her head. "Want to talk about it?"

Sharon shook her head. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. "They're always so real. You know how during a dream, there's usually something off? Like you think you're at home, but it's someone else's house? Or you're talking to someone, but you know they're really supposed to be someone else? Something is usually out of place, but that's never true with these. They're so vivid, and everything's exactly right. You were beside me, and the only thing different was that the door to the hall was open. I saw Stroh walk down the hall, and the gait was even the same as his, but I was frozen and couldn't move. They're worse when I haven't had much sleep."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know you had dreams like that."

"I keep hoping they'll go away, the longer Stroh's gone." Sharon hadn't had one while Andy had been there before, and it wasn't something she cared to talk about.

"Do you want to sit on the balcony for a little while?" Andy suggested, seeing that she was still worked up and knowing that always relaxed her.

Sharon shook her head. "It's too—never mind. It's stupid."

"Uh, Sharon. I rambled on to you about the dream I had about Provenza and Taylor being Oompa Loompas for three days in a row a few weeks ago. Try me."

Sharon smiled. "It's too big. LA is. The view just reminds me that Stroh could be anywhere. I feel safer in here, where I feel like I have control over it."

Andy nodded. "I can see that. And it makes me feel kind of stupid for being freaked out by the Oompa Loompas."

Sharon looked up at him. "I thought it was Taylor and Provenza in that dream that freaked you out."

"Why would Taylor and Provenza freak me out?"

Sharon shrugged. "I don't know, why would the Oompa Loompas freak you out?"

"Those little fuckers are creepy as hell!" Andy defended himself. "Nicole and Drew loved that movie, and even just hearing them sing from another room weirded me out."

Sharon laughed as she finished up her tea, then nuzzled into his shoulder. "I love you."

"Same here." Andy kissed her forehead and rubbed her back for a few minutes. He looked down when she started to feel heavier against him. "Want to go back to bed—I guess not," he murmured when he saw that she was asleep. She looked so peaceful, and he couldn't bear to wake her up. He pried the blanket from her hands and straightened it over them before getting as comfortable as he could under her. He was going to have a crick in his neck and a sore back the next morning, but it was well worth it.

Sharon woke up a couple of hours later, disoriented from lack of sleep and being on the couch. By the time she'd used the bathroom, the memory of her nightmare and how they'd ended up on the couch came back to her. She went back down the hall and softly shook Andy's shoulder. "Come on back to bed," she suggested when his eyes fluttered open.

"'Kay." He drowsily followed her back to the bedroom, wrapping a protective arm around her once they were back under the covers.

"You should've gotten me up sooner, that couldn't have been comfortable," Sharon mumbled, her eyes already closed.

Andy shook his head. "You were comfortable. That was good enough for me."

41-"You should sleep in my bed more often."

Set sometime during Season Four.

Sharon jerked awake with a gasp, relieved that the dream of having sex with Andy in the middle of the murder room in front of god and everybody was just a dream. The yearnings it had created inside of her definitely were not fictional, however, and it was taking a minute to catch her breath.

It wasn't the first time Andy had witnessed her waking up in a panic from a dream, and he draped a protective arm over her before he was able to pry his eyes open. "What'sa matter?" He mumbled. "You 'kay?"

"Yeah, uh…Dream," Sharon murmured, hoping he would go back to sleep.

Assuming it was a frightening dream, Andy sat up and pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head as she lay on his chest. He lingered for a few moments to smell her hair, acting like he didn't know about the small, sweet-smelling bottle in her purse that she spritzed through her hair before going to bed when they were together. "You want to talk about it?"

Sharon shook her head. She'd had a couple of similar dreams before, but only when they were at Andy's house, for some reason. She'd had physical relationships since Jack, but she'd made a point never to share a bed with other men before. Now, it was the opposite. She and Andy had been spending the night together a couple of times a week, give or take, for the last couple of months, but hadn't yet reached the physical step. Not the ultimate physical step, anyway, but they'd been slowly but surely making their way to that point. Sharon was taking it slow, for a variety of reasons. She was more than ready for it physically, obviously, but mentally, she wasn't quite there, although she knew it was getting close.

Andy reached over and switched on a lamp when he felt Sharon tremble against him. "Are you sure you're okay? Your cheeks are flushed. You want some water or something?"

"No, I'm okay," Sharon quickly answered. "Just want to go back to sleep."

"All right…You can wake me up if you need anything, or have another dream."

"I know." Sharon smiled up at him and kissed him before rolling over and getting comfortable again. Andy was asleep just a couple of minutes later, a trait of which she'd been envious since they started staying together at night, but it was a while before she was able to find sleep again.

On Saturday morning, Sharon was drawn out of bed by the smell of coffee drifting from the kitchen. It was a little chilly, so after brushing her teeth and a couple of rounds with mouthwash, she got Andy's robe from the hook on the bathroom door. Once Andy had gone back to sleep after she unintentionally woke him up the night before, it had been close enough to morning for her to go ahead and slip out of bed to brush her teeth and use the mouthwash in case she didn't have a chance to do so before seeing him in the morning. It would be a while before she was comfortable enough with him to expose him to morning breath, and she always took advantage of the fact that she usually had to wake up at least once during the night and would brush her teeth before getting back in bed. She inhaled his lingering scent wafting from his robe as she padded down the hall, still in bare feet. "Hey," she mumbled, stumbling to the coffee pot with her eyes barely halfway open. She was midpour when she remembered that, while Andy usually stuck with tea, he sometimes liked a decaf coffee. She paused and gave the coffee pot a suspicious glance. "Is this…"

Andy grinned. "Yes, it's 'real coffee,' as you put it. I went with tea this morning."

"I will never understand the point of decaf coffee," Sharon muttered. She eyed Andy in just his boxers. A broken internal thermostat had been a lingering annoyance of being post-menopausal, but even she was a little cold this morning. "Are you not cold?"

Andy shrugged. "Waking up beside you makes me feel all kinds of things, but 'cold' is definitely not one of them."

Sharon smiled. "And I thought you just did that at the condo to freak Rusty out."

"Yeah, well, that's just an entertaining bonus."

Sharon placed her coffee mug on the counter when she felt Andy's arms around her waist and his warm breath against her ear. "Morning."

"Good Morning, honey." Sharon tilted her face up to kiss him. It was a small thing, but she loved that she had to look up to kiss him, even when she was wearing heels. "Thanks for being so patient with me. I'll be ready soon, I promise."

"I know I tease you sometimes, but it's really not a big deal. I don't want to do anything until you're sure you're ready for it." Andy kissed her forehead. "However long it takes, I'll be right here. Blue balls and all."

Sharon poked him in the side. "You're so charming."

"I try." Andy leaned down to kiss her again. "You're beautiful."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I just rolled out of bed and haven't even brushed my hair or put on a stitch of makeup."

"Exactly." Andy kissed her a little more powerfully, his hand sliding up to cup her breast.

By the time they came up for air, Sharon was breathless. She reached for her abandoned coffee mug and winced as she took a sip. "Ugh, it's cold now."

Andy nodded. "Yeah, well, I wish I could say the same." He opened the refrigerator and started pulling things out to make breakfast. "Tonight's a no-go, huh?"

Sharon nodded apologetically. "Emily's getting here this afternoon and will be here all week, and my niece has to be here for work Monday and Tuesday and is staying with me. I have to pick her up in a couple of hours." She dumped her coffee out and refilled her mug. "I do want you to see Emily and meet Maggie, though. Why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow night, and then you can stay over later next week when we don't have such a full house." She sipped her coffee. "But, I have to admit, my dreams are better when we're here."

Andy looked confused. "Really? But last night…"

Sharon shrugged. "It wasn't what you think. You were there, and let's just say we were doing things in the murder room that we could get written up for."

Andy grinned. "Ah, it's about time." He'd been having dreams like that about her for a while now and had shared them with her, but she hadn't told him anything like that yet.

Sharon nodded. "I only have them here, though. I don't know why."

Andy pushed her coffee mug away from her lips and kissed her again. "You should sleep in my bed more often."

"No arguments, here."

Sharon turned in early Saturday night, leaving Emily and Maggie on the balcony with a bottle of wine. After getting ready for bed, she called Andy and talked to him for a few minutes before doing her rosary ritual and going to bed. She woke up in a sweat just before midnight, and the nature of her dream left her surprised that she was in her own bed and not Andy's. This had been the most intense one yet, and, years ago, she would've gotten out of bed in search of a cigarette to help her enjoy the cool-down. While she'd quit before she got pregnant with Emily and avoided cigarettes during both pregnancies, there were occasional times afterward where she'd give in to cravings. She remembered that Maggie was there, and while she wished her niece wouldn't smoke for health reasons, it was coming in handy tonight. She got out of bed and wrapped her robe around herself, wishing it were Andy's. Emily and Maggie were still on the balcony, and they looked up in surprise when Sharon opened the sliding door.

"Hey, Mom, did we wake you up?" Emily asked.

Sharon shook her head. "I just, uh, couldn't sleep."

Noting her disheveled hair and sleepy eyes, Emily gave her a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

The older and more removed from cigarettes Sharon got, the more it usually repulsed her, but the glowing stick between Maggie's fingers was enticing this time. "Maggie, you mind giving me a cigarette?"

"Sure," Maggie agreed, just as confused as Emily. "Since when do you smoke?"

"She doesn't usually, but she would every now and then when we were growing up," Emily answered.

Sharon's eyes widened. "You guys knew?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Of course we did. You weren't nearly as good at hiding it as you thought you were."

Sharon accepted the cigarette and lighter from Maggie. "Yeah, well, sometimes a hellacious day at work just called for one. Or hellacious children," she added, with a pointed look at Emily. She hadn't had a cigarette in almost ten years, now, so she coughed a little as she lit it. Once her body adjusted, she inhaled again. "Oh, that's great. But don't you get any ideas."

Emily wrinkled her nose, looking disgusted. 'There's no danger in that."

Sharon finished her cigarette and put it out in the ashtray she kept on hand for the occasional smoking visitor, usually Gavin. The post-coital smoke, even though it had unfortunately just been a dream this time, was just as phenomenal as she remembered. "Thanks, Maggie. I'm going back to bed. Love you guys."

Maggie looked at Emily once Sharon was gone. "That was weird. She looked like she'd been asleep. The only time I smoke after being in bed is after sex. Or maybe a particularly good dream about it."

A look of horror came over Emily's face. "Oh, no! That's exactly what that was! Oh, gross. I need another bottle of wine for this."