There was a lot of things Rusty never experienced in his young life: leaving the States, going on a family vacation, seeing snow in real. It was about to change! When Emily accepted a last minute contract to fill in the shoes of the Nutcracker's choreographer, the opportunity presented itself. Major Crimes had covered for the other division for Christmas but they were off for the New Year. And Ricky was too. So here he was, looking anxiously through the window while Andy drove them to LAX. They would spend the first 2 days in Montreal, Emily would be off on the 28th and Ricky would arrive on that day. They would then all head out to Mont Tremblant, a ski station a few hours away from the metropole. And he didn't know what to think about it all. Mostly because he didn't know what to think about his mother's relationship with the lieutenant. He always felt awkward toward the man, didn't know how to interact with him. He couldn't understand how he had immediately felt at ease with Lieutenant Provenza, who was really not as nice and easy going as Andy. Sure the fact that Nicole had told him that her father was a womanizer and had been dating girls more her age than Sharon's was not estranged to that fact. Anyway, that might be the perfect occasion to get to know the man who had stolen her mom's heart better.

Lost in his thoughts, he had not seen much of the trip and realized they had arrived when the car stopped. He shook his head, amused by Andy medieval chivalry as he rounded the car and helped his mother exit the Explorer. Sure the car was higher than Sharon's but he was pretty certain she would have managed on her own. He joined the two elders near the truck and accepted the suitcase and bag the lieutenant gave him, letting his mother carry only her purse. Amused, he followed them in the departure hall and got in line behind them for the check in. Fortunetly the line moved quickly, he was getting more anxious by the minute. All those little hassles (the check in, passing through security, boarding) were nerve wracking for him. He had talked about it at length with Dr Joe, who said it might be because he felt illegitimate as a traveler and was fearing someone discovered it. He knew it was true, in part. Coming from where he came, living in a car, hustling for two years, he never thought he'd ever get the chance to see anything outside of LA, not even speaking of taking a plane or going to a foreign country. But now, 4 years later, he should be pass it and accepted Sharon's generosity. She changed his life. He was not a criminal nor bottom of the barrel anymore. Still…

« Do you want to be seated at the window, Ma'am, or your husband? » asked the counter lady, sending a shiver down his spine. Her husband, he might just puked. But then he saw Sharon's smile, bright and illuminating all her face and he felt bad for his last thought. She deserved to be happy and his being called Flynn's wide made her day, well… And Andy, with his big goody grin on, seemed as much as happy as her. « No, the kid can have it. » He heard him say while he was fumbling in his bag for his passport. Sharon's cold fingers attracted his attention. She had already given it to the hostess, of course.

He let his mother hook her arm through his. He needed a bit of support before going through security and having to open all his belongings. In any other setting, he would have retracted his arm, scooted away from her. He wasn't one for display of affection. He didn't really liked to be touched neither. Dr Joe led him to believe it had to do with the fact that he had been touch in an unpleasant way for too long. Deep down, he just thought he was not a tactile person, not like his mother or Andy. God, these two… Always holding hands, arm in arm, or, the worst: his mother playing with the lieutenant tie. He was sure it was some kind of fetish, something sexual. He hated it when she did that. He could see in her eyes how she would just pull him by the tie and kiss him if he was not there. yuck. But sometimes he could allow himself some small confort and Sharon being close to him, was one.

The security thing went, unsurprisingly, very well for his mother. She had packed her laptop and kindle in one pouch and her cosmetics in another. She had removed her watch in the line, emptied her pockets at the same moment. She was organisation personified. Andy, on the other hand… it was kind of fun to watch though. His suitcase fell on the floor while he was trying to grab his pills and all its content got scattered everywhere, he wouldn't be surprised if he lost one thing or two in the process. Of course, his iPad was at the bottom of said suitcase, which fell a second time on the floor as he tried to find his own kindle inside. He never found it but managed to stuck what looked like his mother's panties in the belt. He spent 5 minutes swearing while trying to take out his bracelet. Luckily one the security Gard took pity on him and allowed Sharon to go back through the security gate to help him. And the idiot had some kind of hardware in his shoulder from a past injury which made the gate scream when he passed through. Sharon rescued him another time, she had taken photos of his X-rays and showed them to the guard. All in all, Rusty felt pretty good when he opened his bag, managed to not drop a single item and toss his own computer on a bin.

Andy was quite flustered after the incident and, weirdly, his mother was very amused. He would have imagined her pissed off or maybe even angry but no, she was biting her lips, obviously trying not to laugh out loud. She always surprised him, more often than not in a good way. When not at work, she was really light and fun to be around. She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief before she reached for Andy. She cuddled close to him, putting her head against his shoulder and kissed his jaw. Rusty turned his head at that moment, not wanting to witness more « Will you let me do your baggages next time? » He heard the man groaned then laughed wholeheartedly. He turned his head toward the couple and saw the lieutenant put a small kiss on his mother's nose saying « You always have to be right, don't you? » Sharon shrugged her shoulder before laughing, snuggling even closer to the man next to her. Seeing them like that, carefree, visibly in love and so confortable around each other gave him pose. He knew he had a long way ahead of him with Gus. Maybe these holidays will allow him to learn one thing or two about intimacy too.