Andy looked up from his paperwork; movement caught his eye. His scowl at the mountain of paperwork turned to a smile when he realized who had walked into his office area. All the guys were looking; it was hard not to notice her. Most were afraid of her, but they'd all commented before that she was hard not to notice. She was beautiful, particularly beautiful today. Her hair, she'd kept it longer than normal because he'd told her he liked it. She'd told him that keeping it a little shorter had been easier when the kids were infants because they were always grabbing at her hair. Now, though, Ricky was getting bigger, at least big enough to know that he shouldn't touch her hair. That didn't mean that he always followed that, but he was understanding more. Her long, straight and flowing hair was gorgeous, and it really stood out against her black blouse and tan colored slacks. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, off of her. Sadly, he wasn't the only one staring her down, but luckily for him, he was the only one dating her. The rest of the guys in the office would comment; he was sure of it, comment about what a nasty person she was. It bothered him, had and still did. Sharon had told him to just let it be, to forget about what they were saying. Still, it was hard. He worked with these guys and was dating Sharon. They didn't know how great she was, but he did. He felt himself staring until something hit him. He looked down to see a wad of paper now on his desk. He knew the culprit and turned to glare across the desk at Provenza. Their desks faced each other, and he was not something Andy enjoyed looking at. Provenza's eyes had followed Andy's and knew the reason Andy was staring. Provenza knew the two were dating. Andy hadn't told him every single detail, but he knew most of it. Andy frowned at Provenza. Provenza rolled his eyes at him and gestured to their paperwork. Andy looked up and frowned to see that Sharon had gone into their captain's office. Hopefully, he'd catch her eye when she was done.
"You could look a little more obvious, Flynn!" Provenza hissed across the desks. "I still can't believe with all the women in Los Angeles, you picked that one."
"Be nice, Provenza," Andy flashed a grin. "You know she's great on so many levels. You just can't stand that she's so good at her job."
"Her being good at her job has annoyed you plenty in the past, Flynn," Provenza huffed. "She's constantly making us redo things for FID. If she shows up at one of our crime scenes anytime soon-"
"She's not; she won't," Andy grinned at her. "If anything we do involves her, she's going to excuse herself. So, if something good comes out of this for you," Andy grinned at Provenza, "you should be thanking me because I'm keeping her out of your hair. Speaking of hair," he winked, "you have to admit hers is amazing. She's grown it out so much. Ahh," he smiled at Provenza and nodded. Provenza gave him a disgusted look and gestured to the paperwork.
"Get back to work, Flynn. I don't need to hear anything more about your dating life. I've got my own issues. I've told you about my marriage issues. It's not getting better, and no, I don't want to talk about it," Provenza pointed out.
"Sorry, Provenza," Andy frowned. "I really am," he said when Provenza looked at him like he was joking. "I think you two are going to be fine. Just talk to her. I never understood what ladies saw in you, but you did get her to marry you, so go back to whatever you did that works."
Just then, his head snapped up again. The door to the captain's office was opening again, and as he hoped, Sharon was stepping out of the office, their captain behind her. The two were finishing a conversation, and Sharon handed him a packet of paperwork. He nodded and walked over to another desk set where two other detectives sat. The room was only about half full, meaning there were only six of them there right now. The office was relatively quiet for a weekday. Paperwork was keeping everyone busy. Andy watched as she walked toward them. He raised his eyebrow, impressed that she was coming over to talk to them.
"Gentlemen," she said as she walked up to their desk set. She crossed the remaining paperwork she had over her chest and smiled at Andy first before she looked to Provenza.
"Raydor," Provenza grumbled with at least a nod to his head. "I'd ask what do we owe the pleasure, but I have a pretty good idea."
She just gave him a small smile. Andy rolled his eyes and looked up at her, trying not to look giddy. He gave her a warm smile, "Hey, how's it going? We in trouble?"
"No, no," she waved her hand. "Follow up paperwork my department needed from your captain. I heard where it needed to go and volunteered to bring it here. Ahh, free for dinner? Emily wants spaghetti. I haven't had a chance to talk to you or see you in almost a week. Emily will probably want to give you a preview of her Halloween costume."
Andy chuckled and nodded. The mention of the kids had Provenza looking at them again.
"What is the costume?" Provenza asked. Andy raised his eyebrows, surprised at Provenza's interest. Sharon pursed her lips and closed her eyes as she looked at Andy before she answered Provenza. She turned to him, "A witch. She's going as a witch."
Provenza started to chuckle and pointed at Andy, "Can't make this up, Flynn." He looked back at Sharon, "Your kid is going as a witch? Does she know half, okay, more than half the LAPD think her mom IS a witch?"
Sharon cleared her throat and continued to look directly at Provenza, "The humor is not lost on me. My daughter decided on her own costume. She's six. She wants to be this ballerina witch, and I'm not exactly sure how all of this will come together," she gestured with her free hand.
"I'd love to come to dinner," Andy leaned in slightly to address her. "I've missed seeing all of you. It's been a busy few weeks, yes. I don't know where September went. Hard to believe it's already the second week of October."
"I know," Sharon nodded and sighed. "My mom has decided to come for Halloween."
Andy's eyes widened, and he gestured at Sharon. Provenza watched as the two spoke, "Your mom is coming? How is that going? That's an interesting development."
"Hmm, yes, part of what I wanted to discuss tonight. So," she said with a nod, "before people start talking more than they are, I should get back to work. See you around 6:30?"
"I'll be there. In fact," he said leaning in and speaking quietly, "I'll bring some dessert for the kids."
"Looking forward to it," Sharon said with a smile, one that she tried not to display too broadly. Andy heard Provenza groan and looked over at him.
"Stuff it. Just because "marriage number I can't even keep count" is falling apart doesn't mean the rest of us can't be exploring positive relationships." Sharon tried to hide her smile, but she smiled broadly at Andy before she turned to leave. He watched every step she took.
Andy stood on the steps of Sharon's townhouse at 6:40, slightly behind schedule, but there for dinner. He was really glad to be here and excited Sharon had invited him. Their relationship was about as opposite as it had been when the two were really just sleeping together, but he was trying to be okay with it. He had continually told himself that he couldn't mess this up; Sharon was too important to mess this up, that he'd acted on impulse most of his life, and that had failed him. No, he was okay with whatever this was, even if they weren't really seeing each other that much. Sure, other couples had dinner nightly or at least several times a week. They weren't, but they both had odd work schedules, not to mention Sharon was a single mom with a ton of responsibility. Sure, the physical contact had come to a complete stop for months after her dad's death, after the miscarriage of their baby, but he was okay with that too. It had been a traumatic time, and as much as he wanted to carry Sharon off to bed, he hoped, that in time, she'd get back to that too. The desire was there, at least for him, and he had a feeling it was for her. He wasn't about to push her on that topic either. He was trying to let Sharon lead their relationship but hoped they could discuss things at some point soon.
"Hi," he snapped out of his thoughts as she opened the door. He smiled brightly, taking in her jeans and black long sleeve top. The nights were cool, and she looked like a vision. It was a simple outfit, but he was totally in love with her, with all of her. That was something he'd slowly been telling her, that he was crazy about her, and eventually, he wanted to just put all cards on the table; he was absolutely in love with her.
"Hi," he said, grinning at her. "Sorry I'm late, but I brought these," he said, handing her a mixed bouquet. He really wanted to get her roses, but he didn't have a lot of extra cash right now. His new car payment was taking up his free cash, and now that baseball was over for the season, he didn't have that extra money from working some of the games. Her face lit up at the sight of the flowers.
"You didn't have to bring me flowers," she said, gesturing for him to enter. "Thank you," she said squeezing his arm. He took a quick survey of the room and with no kids in sight, he put his arm around her waist and kissed her. She leaned up into the kiss, pulling toward him; both seemed hungry for it. They stepped back at the sound of Emily running down the hallway.
"Andy!" Emily screamed. The two had stepped apart just in time. "Yay!"
"Hey, there, kiddo," he said, bending down to greet her. She ran up to him and started to laugh. "I'm funny, huh?"
"Emily, what is so funny?" Sharon asked.
"Andy's just funny," she said, still giggling. Andy looked up to Sharon. Both shrugged, and they looked to Emily.
"So funny, huh?" Andy asked. He shook his head at Emily, "Too bad. I guess only funny people get to eat the brownies I brought for dessert," he said, holding up a box.
"Brownies?" Emily jumped. "I love brownies!"
"No kidding," Andy said, looking up and winking at Sharon. "Guess I'm a good guesser with desserts. I heard there's spaghetti for dinner. I love spaghetti. Sounds like it's a perfect dinner for both of us," Sharon laughed at that.
"Why did you bring flowers?" Emily asked, pointing at them. "They are pretty."
"Thanks," Andy grinned at her. "I thought so too. Well, it was my lucky day at the store. They were giving out flowers with the brownies. I thought maybe if you and Ricky ate the brownies, your mom could keep the flowers. What do you think? I mean, the other option is that your mom eat the brownies, and you and Ricky get the flowers."
"I want the brownies!" Emily said, jumping up and down.
"Emily, kindness," Sharon reminded her. She gave her a look, and Emily frowned, looking at Andy.
"We can give Mommy the flowers. I'll eat the brownies," Emily informed him.
"With Ricky," Sharon included. "You and Ricky can eat the brownies."
"Okay," she agreed. As she said that, Ricky yelled for Sharon.
"Oh, he's so hungry. He was sitting at their little table by the kitchen eating bread. I'm sure he's ready for dinner," she explained.
"Great, I'll help," Andy said, following them though the townhome. "Put me to work."
"Thanks for dinner," Andy said, putting his napkin on the table as he sat back. "I'm stuffed," he admitted and laughed.
"You're welcome," Sharon said, smiling across the table from him. She had a small square table. The kids had finished both their spaghetti and brownies. Ricky was running his trucks up and down the hall, while Emily was in her room playing with her Barbie house. It was anything but quiet, but the two were enjoying their rare moment alone.
"Your mom is coming to visit?" Andy asked as the two talked about Emily's Halloween costume, which she'd tried on right after dinner. He looked across the table and raised his eyebrows.
"Hmm, yes," Sharon nodded and pursed her lips. "I'd like to talk about that, but let me get the kids to bed first, okay?"
"Sure, yeah," he nodded. "I'm not in the way then?"
"Of course not," Sharon smiled and laughed slightly as she stood. "I'd like you to stay some this evening. We've barely had a moment to ourselves what, the last month? Please stay and we can talk."
"Only if you let me do dinner duty cleanup," he gestured to the dishes. "You cooked; I clean."
Sharon rolled her eyes, "You make it sound like a gourmet meal. It was jar sauce with homemade meatballs, salad, and garlic bread. Pretty basic."
"Okay," he nodded. "I am not at all complaining about dinner. It was fantastic. Loved the meatballs. You'll have to share your recipe sometime and maybe," he winked, "I'll share my homemade sauce. Put the two together and wow, what a combo."
Sharon smiled brightly at him, "That could be said for other areas too. I'm going to work on getting the kids to bed."
"Oh, and Sharon," Andy called to her as she started for Emily's room. She turned, "When they are in bed, I might happen to have two additional brownies, you know, if anyone wants to eat them."
Sharon laughed again, "Perfect."
Sharon walked down the stairs 45 minutes later and as she rounded the corner into her kitchen, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"Not exactly the place I thought I'd find you," she said, causally kicking at his shoe. She heard him chuckle.
"Well, I was cleaning up dinner, and your garbage disposal was making a weird sound. Then, it just stopped. So," he said, lifting his head slightly from where he was sprawled out under her kitchen sink, "I'm fixing it."
"Is it fixable?" Sharon asked. "It has been making an odd sound for a few days.
"Yup," Andy told her. "I fixed it. Just finishing up now," he told her. She stood back and watched, and a few minutes later, he crawled out from under the sink. "There," he grinned. "Done."
"Thanks," she told him. "I hadn't had a moment to even look at it."
"It was clogged, but I got it," he said. "Kids in bed?"
"Hmm," she hummed and stepped toward him where she wrapped her arms around his neck, "yes."
"Good," he said, and the two started kissing, softly at first, and then, it turned hungrily into more. Before long, Sharon found herself braced against the kitchen cabinets. Andy had his hands on her hips, and they were both gasping for air when they took a moment to breathe.
"Sorry," he said between breaths as he smiled at her. "Well, actually, I'm not. I've been wanting to do that longer than I can count."
"Andy," Sharon said, now running her hand down his chest, "I know this is not what you expect, that we seem to be all over the place, that we've rushed into a mess, that we went the opposite-to no interaction, and I want you to know I appreciate that we're taking time to do this right."
"I know," he said, resting his forehead against hers. The two stood there looking into each other's eyes. "I don't want to mess this up. I have a lot I want to say, and I don't even want to rush that, Sharon."
She nodded and bit her lip, looking down slightly, "About my mom."
Andy eyed her and winked, "Please don't tell me you are thinking about your mom while we are making out, Shar?"
Sharon burst out laughing and playfully punched at him in the chest, "No, actually what you are saying does tie in with her visit."
"Oh?" Andy asked.
"I think you should meet her," she said quickly letting out her breath. "I want you to meet her."
Andy raised his eyebrows a bit, "Okay," he nodded. "I'd love to meet your mom, but only if that's what you want."
"It is," she said, running her hand down his chest again. "I'm fooling myself if I think that I should hide you. You're in my life," she said quietly. "She needs to know that."
"So," he said, loosely wrapping his arms around her, "what are you planning to tell her?"
"I'm going to tell her that we are dating. She knows your name from when you lived here before. If she asks about other things," Sharon said, biting her lip, "I'll tell her the truth. She's intelligent. I'm guessing she will piece together that you've been the man in my life. I'm not necessarily going to give her a play by play, that we started off fooling around first because she doesn't need to know all of that. She just needs to know that I have a wonderful man in my life."
"Really talking this guy up, Shar," he chuckled. He pretended to look around, "Who is this stud of a guy?"
Sharon laughed again and looked up at him, standing on her tip toes to kiss him again. He responded, hungry for more. When the two caught their breath several moments later, they just smiled, their eyes saying everything. Andy's hands returned to Sharon's side, and he stepped back slightly so she wasn't sandwiched against the opened his mouth to say something and-
"Mommy?" the two heard. Andy immediately stepped back, giving Sharon some space. The two looked over at Emily, standing there, holding her favorite doll and rubbing her eyes.
"Ahh, Emily," Sharon said, looking to her daughter and then to Andy. He turned and started to pick up the kitchen sink area where he still had everything out from where he'd been fixing it. Sharon walked to Emily, acting normal, "What's wrong?"
"I have show and tell tomorrow. We didn't put it in my backpack," Emily told her.
Sharon sighed; Andy, who was not facing them, chuckled. She threw a glance at him, one he didn't see, but she turned Emily toward her room and started talking to her as they walked. Andy finished and moved into the living room where he turned on the table lamp and sat down. Sharon reappeared a few minutes later.
"Crisis averted?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Sharon just chuckled and sat down next to him, patting his leg.
"Appears to be. She decided on this random toy of hers," she gestured in the air with her hand. "Ahh, well, I hope the kitchen wasn't a problem."
"She didn't say anything," Sharon told him, shifting sideways to face him. "So, you're okay meeting my mom?"
"Like I said, I'm happy to meet her. I'm glad you asked. As much as I'd like to talk more about her, I can't help but stare at you and want to do more of what we were doing in the kitchen."
Sharon smiled and leaned closer. The two began kissing again, soon finding themselves horizontal on the couch. Her phone rang, ending that. She groaned and sat up, righting her glasses as she used her fingers to comb down her hair.
"I've never understood that, straightening your hair. No one can see you on that call," he called to her as she walked across the room to answer her phone. She gave him a look and a roll of the eyes. He sighed and flipped over, stretching out on the couch. He was tired and this was the first time today he'd had a chance to relax.
"Raydor," he heard her answer. From the sound of it, it was work. She spoke for a few minutes, writing down several things, and when she was done, she hung up and walked back to him.
"Oh," she sighed. "I want to be right there, lying down there next to you. That looks perfect," she nodded.
"No one is stopping you," he gestured next to him. "I'm offering plenty if you want to join me."
"It's work. I have to go. Simmons is the one on call, but he's still about an hour out. I'm not exactly sure what's going on there. Anyway, I need to call my sitter because I have to go to a crime scene at least until he gets there. I hope I don't end up taking the case in its entirety. I still have two pending ones on my desk."
Andy sat up quickly, "Don't call her. I'll stay here with the kids. I mean, they are already asleep. I'm not doing anything. I'll just turn on a game or something. Worst case-you work all night-I can get them up and ready for school and daycare. I've done it before. Really, Sharon, let me help."
"Are you sure?" Sharon asked, a pleading, but cautious look on her face. "I really don't want our relationship to be me taking advantage of you as a glorified babysitter. I don't think of you like that."
"I know," he said, now sitting up and then standing up right next to her. He put his hands on her hips again, "I'd love for you to take advantage of me, I mean in other ways," he winked.
"I'm getting there," she said, patting his chest. "It's not an attraction issue. It's, it's just, more than that," she sighed.
"I know," he said, leaning in to kiss her head. "I hope you realize I'm not pushing."
"There's the elephant in the room we haven't discussed, the problem that we both thought was a non-issue, but ended with me getting pregnant."
"Ahh, yeah," he said as he nodded slowly. He frowned, "Let's just add that to the list of things I've screwed up in my life. I did see the doc. Promise," he said holding up his hands in surrender. "I explained what had happened. Yeah, I would need to have that redone. Turns out all the calls from the doc's office after I had that done a couple years ago that I dodged and ignored, I should have gone back to get checked. I know he probably told me that, but let's also point out I wasn't in a good place then. It's all on me; I'm really sorry, and I would do anything to change the past. I realize my being irresponsible caused you pain and grief, that it altered your life. I'm sorry."
She listened and nodded. They hadn't talked about this at all, not since she'd told him she'd been pregnant. It had been hanging in the air, something neither wanted to discuss, but with their intimacy approaching new levels again, it was bound to come up. She looked at him and nodded again, "Thank you for telling me. So, did you make an appointment?" Sharon eyed him, his hands still on her hips. He stood back, dropping contact.
"No, I didn't. I told the doc I wanted to think about it. Listen, all that has happened, Shar, I never expected to get seriously involved with a woman. I thought that, well, before I was sober, I'd hit bars and take home women. Honest. I'm sorry to admit that, but I did. That's where I was when I had the vasectomy originally. Sandra and I were done. I didn't want more kids, and I didn't want to deal with things with women. I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted to drink and forget the world. Here, now, a few years later, it's like I have this second chance, we have this second chance," he clarified, looking at her. He pulled her toward him, his hands back on her hips, a position he liked, holding her close. "I know you have to go. I know we have the worst timing with this discussion, but looking down the road, maybe this is a second chance for us. I know I'm rushing things. Just can we talk, later, I mean, about all of this?"
"Ahh, you're right," she said, stepping back. "I need to get to work. Thank you for watching the kids." She looked down, and he sighed, running his hand over his face.
"I'm sorry. I ruined a great evening. I knew we had to talk about this, and I didn't mean to do it now, while you have to go," he admitted.
"It's just that I have two kids," she said, gesturing. "You already have two kids. We're not married, which I'm well aware doesn't mean you, me, married, baby makes three, but I'm Catholic and cannot have a child without a father. I already get looks at church because I'm divorced. Some might say that it doesn't matter, but it matters to me. If I've learned anything, it's that I'm going to not rush anything. I don't want to just have a kid. I have two and am raising them alone. As much as you want to promise me you'd be there, it would still be me, raising three kids from two different men, and shuffling a shared child back and forth isn't my idea of a great life. I have a lot on my plate. You're missing your kids. Having me pop out another isn't a replacement for them. Let's not even forget that there's no guarantee. Andy, I could never get over another miscarriage. I just couldn't," she shook her head, looking away. "There's no guarantee."
"Okay," he sighed and looked down, trying to swallow all she'd said to him. "Just think about it, see if you might want that. I'm not ruling it out."
"We are both still a mess. Neither of us has money. You've not been sober again even a year. I mean, just so much," she said, sighing as she stopped talking. She put her hand to her forehead and gave him a sympathetic glance, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to focus on your sobriety or mean to be insensitive suggesting you are trying to replace your kids."
"No, no, you bring up a good point, good points" he said waving his hand. "You already had a drunk. I'm not far from it right now. You're right; I haven't been sober for a year, almost, but not yet. It's just under another month until I hit the year mark. I tell myself every single day to just take one day at a time. I want to hit that mark, Sharon. I want it for me, and I want it for you, for you to see that I'm a changed man. Replacing my kids? I miss them. They were my world. I guess I hadn't thought about it that way. I'd like to say that that's not what this is, but I really hadn't considered it. I don't want it to be that, for this to be a replacement. I just-," he threw up his hand. "Anyway, enough with this," he shook his head and gave her a small nod. "I know you need to go, needed to go," he gestured toward the door. "I'm not sorry we talked, but I am sorry I unloaded as you need to go."
She just nodded and leaned up to kiss him quickly, "Thank you for staying with my kids. I think we both still have a lot of healing to do in all areas of our lives before we discuss us any further."
Andy gave her an odd look and gestured with his hand as she turned to get her things, "Wait, that wasn't like a breaking up with me, was it?"
Sharon turned, a quizzical look on her face, "No, it is just that it's premature to mold some future, you, me, whatever it is. I think right now, we need to focus, one day at a time. I still want you to meet my mom at Halloween, and let's just focus on that, on communicating and see if this," she gestured between them, "is what we both still want."
Andy felt like she was giving him some mixed messages, saying she wanted him to meet her mom, but that they needed to see if a relationship was what they both wanted. He knew now wasn't the time, so he just nodded at her and watched as she collected her things. She hurriedly kissed him as she started for the door, "I appreciate you."
"Sure," he nodded as she unlocked the door. "Be careful."
"I promise I'm not just using you for babysitting," she told him, turning as she was leaving. He just nodded and gave her a small wave as she turned and closed the door. He eyed the couch and sighed. What was he doing?