You'll Find Me There
Chapter 19
1 month later..
.Here is a new chapter of You'll find me there . im really sorry it sooo long . Muse wasn't cooperating !
Sincere Thanks to Melinda B . for getting this done soo fast !
Sharon and Andy made their way slowly up the walkway to Patrice and Provenza's house. Although Sharon was quite able to walk on her own after her surgery in Ireland, she walked with her hand at Andy's elbow. Andy put his hand on top of hers and their fingers intertwined. He looked down at her and smiled lovingly into her eyes. Sharon smiled back. As they walked towards the Provenzas' front porch, she looked around her and sighed, happy to be back. She couldn't believe it had been nearly six months since they had been in Los Angeles, let alone at their friend's house.
When they arrived home a week ago, they had been picked up at the airport by the Provenzaes. As they drove them back to the condo, Louie had suggested they come to dinner the next evening. He and Patrice were so happy and excited to have their good friends back, but exhausted from the trip and plagued with jet lag, they had begged off. They scheduled the dinner for today, a week later, needing the time between to rest and recover. They had had a serious case of jet lag, not to mention the fact they'd only just recently been patients in an Irish hospital, recovering from a very bad fall off their horses during their honeymoon.
Patrice, good friend that she was, had made sure that their refrigerator was stocked and the condo was cleaned within an inch of its life. Everybody was glad they were home, but thankfully, they'd been understanding about the Flynns needing the time to recover.
Rusty had spent the first two days they were home waiting on them hand and foot, the rest of the week staying with Gus to give Sharon and Andy some much-needed privacy.
At first, they had simply stared at one another, not sure what to do first. Then suddenly they had fallen into each other's arms and kissed to their heart's content. The rest of their time alone together had been spent making love to one another. It had been glorious, after so long a time not being able to make love because of fragile health concerns.
Approaching the Provenza's small porch, Andy shifted his hold on Sharon to her elbow, so she could carefully navigate the few steps. She looked up at him and smiled. She suppressed a knee jerk reaction of "I can do it myself." She knew it was out of his innate gentlemanly manners that he helped her, not because he was afraid she couldn't do it on her own.
Patrice opened the door before they had time to knock. She wore a red sparkling pullover dress and red high heels. Her dark hair was sleek and flipped up on the ends. She smiled widely, so glad to have her friends back from Ireland. "Ohhh, there you are! I'm so glad you are here! Come in, come in! Let me take your coats," she said excitedly.
Andy helped Sharon remove her black faux fur jacket and handed it to Patrice. Then he removed his own black leather jacket and handed it to her as well. Underneath her jacket, Sharon was wearing a short sleeve, scoop-necked, royal blue tea-length dress with a black lace shawl to go around her shoulders. She wore black leather ballet flats on her feet. Still not confident in her ability to manage the high heels she used to wear. Her auburn hair was half up and half down, with a diamond barrette holding the sides together at the nape of her neck. She had a slight bang with two curls framing her face. She wore pink lipstick on her lips and a light blush on her cheeks. She was still pale from her ordeal in Ireland, but she was finally healthy again. As they were removing their coats, Sharon thought she heard a muffled sound, but it was cut off and not repeated, so she didn't think much about it. Then as they turned towards the living room she became aware that they weren't alone.
"Surprise!" yelled her entire team from Major Crimes, hers, and Andy's children except for Ricky, and Emily who had to go back to work after being in Ireland for a lot longer than they had expected to be. Rusty, Nicole, Drew, and their children and spouses were there, however. Once the team, Nicole, Dean, and the grandchildren yelled surprise they all converged on the surprised couple and gave them heartfelt hugs and kisses.
"Oooh! Oooh my!" Sharon stuttered in surprise and sat down hard in the easy chair behind her
"Hey!" said Andy, "we didn't know this was a party!" his voice was rough with emotion. Feeling loved and accepted by his family was tops on his list of favorite things. It hadn't always been that way!
"Hence the word surprise being shouted at you," Louie said dryly.
"Hence? Did you say hence?" Andy asked, amazed that his friend who'd always been a bit of a neanderthal seemed to be catching up at least in the language department.
"I know those kinds of words… Patrice taught me," Louie said defensively.
"All right, Louie, cool it," Patrice said to her husband. Then she turned back to Sharon and Andy. Patrice chuckled, "to be honest, the surprise party wasn't my original intention, at least not so soon after you arrived home. I asked you to dinner, that was my original plan, but when the team and your family heard you were finally home and coming here, they couldn't wait to see you. So, without asking me first Louie invited them and things just snowballed and it became a surprise party."
"Thank you, it's wonderful to see everyone," Sharon said quietly. Her throat closed with emotion. She was overwhelmed with the outpouring of love. Her life although not completely devoid of love from her family, as Andy's had been had not always been easy. She'd been abandoned and betrayed by her alcoholic husband, time and time again. She had been hated by her colleagues because of her position in IAB and had very little time to develop friendships because she was so busy trying to pay off debts that Jack had left her with, plus take care of the children and do her job. Then the kids had grown up and left the nest and she'd thought she was content in the quiet life she led but what she'd been was lonely. Her life had changed dramatically ever since she'd been transferred to Major Crimes and Rusty then Andy had come into her life. Now she was surrounded by people who not only liked her they loved her
Suddenly Braden and Ian, Andy's grandsons squeezed between their parents and hugged Sharon and Andy. "Gramma Sharon, Grampa Andy, we love you bunches and bunches and we missed you so much! Look, we got sisters and they are twins too!"
Sharon and Andy pulled back and smiled at each other and then at the boys. "Oh my, look how much they've grown! We know about your sisters, we were there when they were born."
"Really?" The boys asked together.
"Yes, really."
"Did you know one of them is named after you, and the other one has Daddy's mother's name and Mama's mother's name. Her name is Charlotte Sandra but we call her Charlie."
"Yes, I did." Sharon teared up a little as she said, "I'm very flattered to have a namesake. What do you call Sharon for short?" She asked, smiling now.
"We call her Sherrie. Daddy sings to her." Then the six-year-old twins did an adorable imitation of their dad by singing in a perfect falsetto voice reminiscent of Frankie Valli himself. "She…rr...ie. She..rr..ie ba.. a ..by. She…er..rie, Sherrie Baby, Sherrie! Can you come out tonight? Come, come... come out tonight?" As they sang they bobbed their hips back and forth in a dance and snapped their fingers. "We did it just like you and the four seas right Daddy. Did we do it right?"
Blushing profusely, Dean patted his son Braden's head. "You were both great champ. Just great! Only it's The Four Seasons. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons." The boys looked at him slightly confused but they visibly shrugged it off.
" You'll have to come up with a song for Charlie , or she'll get jealous " Andy said , laughing .
Sharon was both charmed by her grandson's short performance and highly amused by Dean's embarrassment. She busted out laughing and snorted. Then it was Dean's turn to laugh at her embarrassment. Suddenly everybody was laughing uproariously.
When they had all calmed down and everyone was focused on eating the snacks available, as well as engaging in quiet conversations. Amy came over to Sharon with a small plate of finger foods. Veggies, dips and some fruit salad. As well as some cold cuts and cheese roll-ups and asked politely if she could sit with her for a while. Sharon nodded and indicated the seat beside her. Amy offered Sharon the plate but she told her Andy was on the way over with plates and drinks for both of them.
Amy spoke up, "We're all really glad you're back from Ireland, Commander. We've missed you. Will you be coming back to the PAB?"
"Thank you, Amy. We missed you too, but no, we are officially retired. The trip to Ireland turned out quite differently than we expected it to, as I'm sure you've heard. It gave us a new perspective on how fragile life can be and we've decided to enjoy the rest of our lives together, free of the darkness that we used to see every day in the course of doing our jobs. Man's inhumanity to man can weigh a person down."
"Yes, it sure can, but Commander, never forget that you turned Major Crimes into the amazing force it is today. It's your legacy to the LAPD. You taught me so much about how to be a woman in the police force and the entire team about what it means to be an officer with integrity. You were an amazing boss."
Sharon was touched by Amy's heartfelt declaration. "Thank you, Amy. What a sweet thing to say and I want to tell you that I am very proud of the woman and the officer you've become. You've come a long way."
"Thank you, Cap… Commander. Please say you will at least come to visit us occasionally?"
"We will, and you are welcome to visit us as well, just um... call first. Okay? You never know we may be off to Hawaii or somewhere else?"
"Commander, you haven't been cured of travel, after all, you've been through in Ireland?" Asked Provenza coming in on the last part of their conversation. Patrice was always trying to entice him to travel, but after the Flynn's and the Commanders experiences in Ireland, he wasn't so sure it was a good idea.
Sharon shook her head as she said, "Louie, it doesn't matter where we were when that accident happened. It could have happened here or anywhere. It didn't happen because we traveled to Ireland. The people we met were wonderful and… and generous. Up till we had our accident, we had a marvelous time."
"Really? Flynn says he doesn't remember a whole lot before he woke up from the coma. He says he dreamed… well never mind. Let's not go there," he shuddered.
There had been a time, years ago, that while he would never truly wish someone dead, not even his ex-wives, he would not have been above wishing he'd never have to see Captain Sharon Raydor ever again. But since she'd become "Sharon" to Andy… and eventually to him and they'd become friends… dear friends… well, the thought of her dying had become devastating to him.
Sharon bowed her head to hide the tears that had filled her eyes. "Yes, it's... sad that his memories are still so sketchy."
Feeling bad for making Sharon sad, Louie tried to remind her of the bright side. "He did say you are helping him remember with all the pictures you took before the accident happened."
"Yes, we did take a great many pictures. We spent some of the time we were recuperating, putting them in albums and I tried to jog his memories. There are still a lot of blanks though. Everything that happened after I collapsed in the murder room from the relapse of the flu, including our honeymoon itself. He says his memories of the nightmare he had while he was in the coma are sometimes still more clear than what actually happened. Which I confess… I don't understand," She shook her head.
Patrice came in on the tail end of the conversation. "What did the doctor say? You have seen his doctor since you got back?" Asked Patrice who had come over to see that Sharon had something to drink and a plate of hor d'oeuvres. Andy had headed over to the food table to get her some snacks and gotten waylaid by his children and grandchildren.
Before Sharon answered, she looked for Andy because she needed to talk to her friend Patrice and Andy's friend Louie. She didn't want Andy overhearing something that might hurt his feelings. Spotting him across the room with Nicole and her family, Sharon was glad that Andy was spending time with his children and grandchildren, separate from her. She mouthed to Nicole where she was going and Nicole gave a slight nod. She knew what was going on and agreed to keep her dad busy for a little while.
Patrice indicated that Sharon should follow her and took her into the kitchen and outside on the sun porch. Once she was seated she handed her some punch and the plate and sat down on her husband's lap. He had followed them.
Sharon smiled at Louie's blush. "Yes, we saw her the Monday after we got back and she referred us to a Psychiatrist/Psychologist. We saw him the same day."
"What did he say?" Patrice asked.
"He said a lot of things," Sharon said ironically. "One of the things he said is that the realism of the dream or nightmare Andy had while he was in a coma has shaken Andy to his very core. That the fact that events like my collapsing in the Murder Room and our wedding, happening in both dream and reality, possibly has significance, but as yet he has no idea what that is. He also said that it will probably take several sessions with a therapist to get to the root of the problem." Sharon looked down and blinked tears back.
Patrice got up from Louie's lap and hugged Sharon around the shoulders. "Oh honey, I know it's got to be hard. Has Andy agreed to go to him?"
"Yes, he very much wants to shake the lingering effects of the nightmare off so we can enjoy the time we have together and he doesn't have to feel constantly anxious about where I am."
"What do you mean?" Patrice asked, concerned.
"Well, if he's asleep when I go to the bathroom, take a shower or leave the room for some other reason and I'm not there when he wakes up, he has a moment of panic until he can see me. He says for a split second it's like he's back inside the nightmare again. I feel so bad for him. At first, it seemed that once he woke up from the coma and he could see that I wasn't dead, he was fine. At that time, his focus was on helping me get better. Most likely, helping me through the surgery and physical therapy, gave him something else to focus on besides that damn nightmare but since we've been back…"Sharon continued to look down and rubbed her nail, as she talked. She sighed. "He's been having panic attacks, not big ones, but I worry about his blood pressure and his sobriety. So I am very careful to make sure he knows where I am. If he's asleep, I put a post-it note where he can't miss it telling him where I am or I wake him up."
"Sounds exhausting," Louie said, deadpan.
Sharon gave a small laugh. "You have no idea! You know, I love him with everything I have. He's my soulmate. If he's hurting, I'm hurting. I can only hope this is only temporary. That the memory of the nightmare will fade and the real memories will surface."
TBC…
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