Robert woke up with his wife's back pressed against him and his arm wrapped snugly around her body. He nuzzled his face into her hair, inhaling her jasmine-scented conditioner. He smiled to himself, it had been too long since he was able to sleep with his wife in his arms. Between their temporary separation and the few hours, he spent in a jail cell, he just wanted to lay here with her sleeping soundly in his arms.

*Beep…Beep…Beep*

He heard Andy sigh as she carefully reached for the alarm clock turning it off, trying not to wake her "sleeping" husband. She carefully lifted Robert's arm so she could sit up and lean her back against the headboard, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and running her hands through her hair.

"Good morning to you too," Robert said moving so his head was on her lap.

"How long have you been up?" Andy said smiling down at her husband cupping his cheek in her hand leaning down and kissing him.

"For a while," he said. It was his turn to rub the remaining sleep out of his eyes. "We should probably get up; we don't want to be late." Robert got up and out of bed kissing his wife on the forehead, making his way into the bathroom.

Andy rolled out of bed after sitting and staring at the closet doors in front of her for who knows how long. She was happy.

"Babe?" Andy said leaning against the door frame of the bathroom.

"Hm?" Robert said, turning to face her with a toothbrush in his hand and toothpaste all over his mouth.

Andy laughed a little to herself. "Do you have a meeting with your sponsor tomorrow?"

Robert spits out the toothpaste. "Yeah, after shift, why?"

"I was wondering how you would feel if I went with you, as support." She realized how long he had been quietly staring at the counter. "If that makes you uncomfortable it's okay, I don't-,"

He looked up and looked at himself in the mirror, then down at his forearm where the burn was from that day the last time, he had a meeting, then up at his wife. "Sounds like a great idea."

"This is going to be great!" Andy said walking into the bathroom hugging her husband from behind.

Robert just laughed and continued to brush his teeth.

The two danced around the bathroom, never once bumping into each other. They fell into a routine fairly quickly. A routine that wouldn't be broken anytime soon.

They walked into the station hand in hand. They vowed to keep things professional at work, but holding hands wasn't against the law. They quickly ran up to the lockers and changed into their uniforms and entered the beanery.

"Well, look here Vic. Looks like the Sullivans decided to come to work early," Travis joked nudging Vic

"Good morning to you too Travis," Robert responded. Andy looked at him surprised. "What?" he asked confused looking down at her

"You just never acknowledged anyone but me by anything other than their last name before," She smiled nudging him a little.

"Stop it," He chuckled nudging her back

The four of them sat in the beanery eating breakfast waiting for the rest of the team to get there. Jack was the last person to walk in which led to the team making jokes about him going over to Inara's first before shift.

"So, Jack how's your girlfriend?" Dean asked which caused the rest of the team to laugh

"I don't have a girlfriend," Jack said giving Dean the 'you're so annoying' look

"Yeah, sure you don't. You just go over there before every shift, you bring them groceries, and help her son with his homework," Robert chimed in. His participation in conversation became less of a surprise to the team as time went on. It was still weird, with him being a probie and all but things were slowly getting back to what one could call normal during a global pandemic.

"I- "Jack started but was cut off

"It's okay Jack. Believe whatever you want, but you're not going to sit here and tell us that you haven't at least thought about sleeping with her," Andy said walking over to the table placing a hand on her husband's back before taking her seat.

Everyone's eyes went to Jack when he suddenly went quiet.

"Oh my god! You did! You slept with her didn't you," Vic screamed slamming her hands on the table.

"I- "Jack started

"Line up in 5 Nineteen" they all heard Maya yell from the barn.

The team got up forgetting about the conversation they were having and cleaned up the beanery. Andy washed while Robert rinsed and dried the dishes and Vic put them away. Dean, Jack, Travis, and Warren cleared off the table and put the rest of the food in containers and into the fridge on the A-shift shelf before running down to line up.

"Morning 19," Maya said walking into the barn

"Morning Captain,"

"Okay let's get started with assignments. Montgomery, Warren you're on the engine with Hewlitt and Carlton. Miller, Gibson you are on the ladder with me and Larson. Since there has been an increase in aid car calls since the pandemic started, I will be switching you, Sullivan from the engine to the aid car with Herrera and Hughes. Is that okay?" Bishop asked looking down at the clipboard in her hands. After all this time of being captain, it was still hard for her to get rid of the clipboard, it was like a crutch that she kept with her at all times.

"Yes Captain," Sullivan replied with a nod.

"Great now onto chores. Herrera, Hughes truck maintenance. Sullivan, Miller, and Gibson, I want you guys to polish the trucks, and Montgomery and Warren I want you to check equipment. Alright, you know where to find me if you need anything. Dismissed." She said walking out the barn back to her office.

Andy, Robert, and Vic made their way over to the aid car making sure it was stocked in case they got called out soon.

"Andy can you pass me more sanitizer please," Vic called out from the front of the aid car

"I got it," Robert replied, grabbing the bottle of sanitizer, passing it to Vic who put it in the cupholder.

Andy was in the back with the clipboard checking off everything, "Babe can you pass me a couple more masks just in case,"

"Babe? What happened to 'keeping it professional' Herrera," Robert replied, he heard Hughes snicker in the front which caused him to crack a smile.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," she said smiling

Aid car 19 requested channel 3 to 4317 Willow Lake Drive

"I'm driving," Vic yelled, hopping in the driver's seat and starting the engine. Robert climbed into the back leaving the passenger seat open for Andy.

The shift was pretty uneventful for everyone except Andy, Robert, and Vic. Maya was right there were a ton of aid car calls, mostly for people who were experiencing the slightest COVID-like symptoms who the three had to let know that not every sniffle was COVID. There were a few that they had to take to the hospital but nothing worth talking about.

The three hopped out of the aid car for what felt like the 100th time in the past 3 hours.

"I think I might just have to burn this uniform," Andy said leaning against the truck

"We just had four back-to-back COVID calls, I think I might have to burn my skin," Vic said taking off her mask

"Give me the keys, I'll saniti-" Robert started but was cut off by the alarm going off again.

Aid car 19 requested channel 5 to 2395 Sullivan Road

"Oh, would you look at that Sullivan Road, for that you get to drive," Vic said, throwing the keys at Robert, who hung his head and got in the car.

When they got back from this call, they were completely over it. The three of them went in a single file line up to the locker room to go take a shower.

If someone were to walk into the bathroom while those three were showering the steam alone would've been enough to melt their faces off.

Andy was the first to get out of the shower. She brushed her hair into a bun and went up to the catwalk to take a breather.

"Hey, you okay?"

She turned her head to see Maya walking up to her.

"Yeah, I just needed some quiet," Andy replied looking at the "19" that was hanging on the wall

"I can go if you want to be alone…" Maya said stopping in her tracks

"No, it's okay you can stay,"

A comfortable silence filled the air between them. They both looked straight ahead of them.

"How's Carina? I'm sure she is happy that I'm out of the apartment. She doesn't have anyone touching her cheese anymore," Andy said with a chuckle, breaking the silence

"She is good. She misses you actually. She said that you and Vic need to come over for a girls' night soon. How is Sullivan doing, you know with everything that happened?" Maya asked. She was referring to him being arrested, she is sure Andy got the idea behind her question without her having to spell it out.

"He's coping. We talked about it after a few days of avoiding it at all costs. He spent a lot of time visiting Ripley's grave and Claire's grave. I think that helped him."

"He seems okay. I mean I don't have much to compare him to since he has always been Captain Fire Grinch in my eyes, but he seems like he is doing okay."

"Yeah, we are getting back to normal. We should do something you, me, Robert, and Carina. Come over to our place, we can have dinner, watch a movie, and chill." Andy said to her best friend

"That sounds amazing, we will definitely plan something. I'm happy you and I are better. I missed my twisted best friend," Maya said nudging Andy a little

"I missed my twisted best friend too. Now let me go find my twisted husband and make sure he eats something," Andy said with a smile walking back towards the beanery.

The rest of the shift was a blur. The entire team got called out to a house fire, a girl was trying to cook some new quarantine recipe, which went horribly wrong. Everyone was sitting in the beanery when Maya called for the last lineup.

"Excellent work today guys. Don't forget to clear out your bunks and wipe them down before leaving. See you all tomorrow for your next shift. Dismissed Nineteen."

Andy and Robert went straight to the locker room and swiftly changed into their civis.

"Bye guys, see you tomorrow," Andy said, turning to wave at the rest of the team. The two walked out of the station, exhausted from the busy shift they had.

Andy let out a loud yawn. "If you are tired, I can take you home before I go to my meeting, it's no big deal," Robert said before pulling out of the station parking lot.

"No, I want to go with you for support, I'll be fine," Andy said, taking her husband's hand in her own, intertwining their fingers.

"Okay then, let's go." The drive to the park wasn't long. It's a park that she and Robert had gone for walks in before. It's the same park they took pictures in after they got married. As they walked over to the playground area hand in hand, Andy began to reminisce on those moments. She looked at the swings where the picture of them that was hanging in his locker was taken. She looked over to the trees in the open area not too far from where they were walking where they took some more. Finally, she looks over at the fountain that occupies the place in the center of the park where they took the picture that now occupies her phone lock screen and a place in her locker. She let out a laugh.

"What's going on in that head of yours that's making you laugh," Robert inquired, kissing the top of her head.

"I was just thinking of when we took that picture by the fountain after our wedding and the dog ran up to us and pounced on you," She said now fully laughing. Robert thought for a minute and immediately lost it laughing.

"Do you remember the face that lady made? When she ran over, she was apologizing profusely. She thought she ruined our day," Robert said trying to calm down.

"That was so funny,"

"Robert!" The two turned when they heard someone call out. Dr. Webber was making his way over to them. "Andy, it's nice to see you again. Will you be joining us?" Richard asked looking between Andy and Robert

"I think I'm just going to go sit on the swings over there to give you guys some privacy. I'm just here as emotional support," Andy smiled

"Okay great,"

Andy squeezed Robert's hand before walking away over to the swing set.

The two men took a seat on a nearby bench. Robert watched as Andy began to swing back and forth.

"So, Robert, how are you doing since the last time we met,"

"I'm doing okay. I'm working on opening up more especially to Andy about my feelings."

"That's good. So, since she is here, I assume it went well when you told her that the separation was over?"

"Yeah, it was great. Things took a swift turn afterward though, which dampened the mood for a few days, but we are good, I think."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Dr. Webber asked, watching as Robert couldn't take his eyes off his wife.

Robert nodded and proceeded to tell Dr. Webber everything from the salsa dancing in the beanery, to them having sex on the floor of his old office, and finally to the rescue mission that resulted in him being arrested. But all the while, even when he started to talk about the not-so-happy events that took place that day, he couldn't get rid of the smile that was on his face, this feeling of overwhelming joy that was within him.

"Well, despite all that you seem to be overflowing with happiness." Richard pointed out

"It's because of her," Robert said looking over at his wife who was smiling up at the sky. "Being with her makes me the happiest I have been in a long time. After Claire died, I didn't think I would ever find a love like that. I didn't think I would be lucky to have two great loves. Most people don't even get one. And now I'm happiest when I'm with Andy. I loved Claire with my entire being and I still love her and I owe so much of who I was to her, and now I owe all of who I am now to Andy."

"You, my friend, are making significant progress. Until next time?" Richard said getting up from the bench

"Next time," Robert said, shaking his sponsor's hand. He watched as Richard walked away in the direction of the Hospital. He made his way over to his wife who was still in her own little world.

"Babe?... Babe!"

"Hm?" Andy looked up at him

"Let's go?"

"That was faster than I thought," she said standing and dusting off her jeans

"Yeah. He said I'm making significant progress though, which is good."

"That's great Robert, I'm proud of you," Andy said, clinging to her husband's arm.

They talk the entire ride home, about nothing in particular. They pull into the driveway, and Andy gasps.

"What? What happened?" Robert asks, sent into an instant panic.

"Can we get a dog?" She asks, turning to her husband who is looking at her with wide eyes.

"A dog?" He asks. Maybe he didn't hear her properly, maybe this was just a dream

"Yeah, a little puppy." She says smiling

"You know having a dog is like having a kid, right?" He asks

"And who said I didn't want kids?" Andy said hopping out of the car, going into their apartment, leaving her husband in the car utterly dumbfounded.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed my submission for the Surrera Countdown! Let me know what you thought! Only 13 more days!