Sharon handed Provenza a mug of the blackest coffee she knew how to make. He was working late and had stopped by the condo on his way back to PAB to give them Lauren's pregnancy test. Sharon took the clear bag with the white plastic stick, seeing the two vertical lines on the small screen.

"Did the preliminary autopsy report confirm that Lauren was pregnant?" Sharon asked.

"Yes. She was about seven weeks along," Provenza said.

Sharon felt her eyes filling with tears.

Noticing her grief, Provenza took her hand and squeezed it. "I haven't had the chance to tell you this, but I'm sorry for your loss, Sharon."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Sharon smiled bitterly. Lauren's absence in their lives was just as substantial as her presence.

Andy, who leaned against the counter and listened quietly, looked at his partner. "What else did Morales say?"

"I knew you were going to ask, so I brought the report with me," Provenza said, handing Sharon a file.

Sharon opened the file and looked at the photos inside. Those mainly were close-ups of the different wounds inflicted on Lauren's body. Two single images depicted Lauren's face. Sharon turned them over, not wishing to look at them. She began leafing through the report, knowing that it was partial information only.

"Can you summarize for us?" Andy asked.

"Lauren was stabbed five times, just like Kendall said. One stab punctured the right lung, one raptured her spleen, two stabs barely missed the heart, and the one that killed her was a stab to her throat." Provenza turned towards Sharon. "That one killed her within–"

"Five to fifteen seconds, I know," Sharon said.

"I know it's probably not much of a consolation, but she died quickly. She didn't suffer for long."

Sharon looked heavenwards, trying to blink her tears away.

"How is Rainie doing?" Provenza asked.

"It's hard to tell," Andy asked. "We're worried."

"I know she is grieving, but her statement would be helpful," Provenza said.

"I don't know if she's up to that, Louie," Sharon said.

"Actually, I thought it would be easier if one of you conducted the interview."

"I don't know about this, Provenza. She needs more time," Andy said.

"Look, I know the two of you want to protect Rainie, but memories fade, and we need her statement to piece out the timeline."

"He's right, Andy. If Rainie doesn't give a statement soon, it will not only be inadmissible later on but also hinder the investigation," Sharon said. "We'll talk to her."

"Thank you, Sharon."

"Have you eaten, Louie?" She asked, changing the subject.

"I'm afraid I can't stay," Provenza replied.

"Then let us arrange dinner for you and the team. We have a lot of untouched food from the wake. The fridge is about to explode."

Provenza nodded and leaned against the counter as Sharon brought food out of the fridge and packed it in Tupperware boxes. Andy helped her bag the boxes.

"The team will be thankful," Provenza said as he accepted the boxes from them.

"We are thankful to you and them for investigating Lauren's murder. Regardless of the outcome, I want you to tell them that we appreciate what they are doing for us." Sharon patted the lieutenant's shoulder.

"I'll let them know, Sharon," Provenza promised as he walked towards the door, carrying the paper bag. At the door, he turned to Sharon and gave a bitter smile.

Sharon could tell he was contemplating whether he should say whatever was on his mind.

"What is it, Louie?" she asked softly.

Provenza shoved his hand into his pocket and fished out a square paper. "I don't know if this will make any of you feel better or worse, but Morales thought that you should have a copy of Lauren's ultrasound." He handed it to Sharon. "He said that it was too early to determine the sex, so there's just this image."

Sharon thanked him and put the ultrasound image in her back pocket of her jeans without looking at it. She knew that Rainie deserved to see it but wasn't sure giving it to her was the right idea.

"Can I see it?" Andy motioned towards Sharon's pocket after Provenza left.

She pulled the ultrasound image out and handed it to him, watching his reaction. "Can you see anything?"

"Not much," Andy said and handed it to her.

Sharon looked at the ultrasound image. The shape of the baby was ambiguous. It didn't look like anything more than a clump of cells, but once Sharon managed to recognize the shape of the head, her heart began to race in her chest.

"Dammit." She whispered. "This was our grandchild."

Andy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"What happened?" They heard Rainie's voice when she came into the kitchen.

Sharon gave Andy a meaningful look, hoping that he would understand that she didn't want him to give Rainie the pregnancy test and the ultrasound image tonight. He shook his head ever so slightly and pulled away from her.

"Provenza was here," he said. "He brought you this." Andy handed Rainie the plastic bag with the test and the ultrasound image.

"Is that–" Rainie stared at the black and white image. "That's my baby?"

Andy hummed affirmatively.

"Fuck." Rainie's voice was thick with emotion. She turned her back to them, placed her elbows on the kitchen counter, and buried her head between them.

Sharon and Andy could see her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

"Honey," Sharon said and put her hand on Rainie's back.

"Don't touch me, please."

"I'm sorry," Sharon said and removed her hand.

Before any of them could say a word, Rainie left the kitchen. They heard the guest room door slam.

"That was not a good idea, Andy," Sharon sighed.

"It was," Andy replied. "Sheltering Rainie from the pain won't make it easier for her to deal with this."

Sharon wasn't convinced, but she didn't want to pick a fight. It would benefit no one, and she had no energy to deal with this.

"Let's just go to bed," she sighed.

Hours later, Sharon laid awake and listened to Andy's light snores. It was amazing how this man could fall asleep under any condition. Despite the deep love that Sharon had for her husband, she was glad that he was sleeping at this moment. She needed a few moments for herself to take a few deep breaths and meditate. Even though Sharon had still been seeing her therapist, Dr. Pratt, every week, meditation helped her relax and feel present in her life. Usually, she took the time to meditate every evening before going to bed. This week had been hectic, and she didn't get around to meditating even once until now.

Focused on her breath, Sharon didn't hear the bedroom door opening. When she felt a weight sinking into the mattress between Andy and her, she realized Rainie had joined them. Andy stirred from his sleep and turned to face Rainie.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice husky.

Rainie was quiet for a long moment, and Sharon could hear her daughter taking deep breaths.

"When Lauren and I decided to try getting pregnant, I told her that I was scared of going through the process myself. I don't really ever go to the OBGYN because they always stick devices into me, and it reminds me–" Rainie paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. "It's triggering."

Sharon knew that even after all those years, her daughter still dealt with PTSD. It made perfect sense that she didn't want to be the one to get pregnant due to the amount of probing that it involved.

"We started almost a year ago. They took ten eggs from Lauren, but the first three times, the IVF didn't take. In the fourth cycle we tried, she had a miscarriage after five weeks. We only had two eggs left, and if those didn't take, we were going to take a break and try again in a few months. The day of the–" Rainie paused and sniffled. "The day of the murder, she took a test before we had breakfast. We waited for the result together. We were so happy. We cried and laughed at the same time."

Sharon didn't realize Rainie and Lauren had been trying to have a child for so long without telling anyone. "You never mentioned that you were trying."

"We knew in advance that it would be difficult for Lauren to get pregnant because she had hormonal issues. And we didn't want the pressure that everyone would put on us if we told." Rainie explained.

Sharon could understand this reasoning. She's never gone through fertility treatments, but she had friends who did, and the pressure their families and friends put on them was insane. In hindsight, perhaps she understood why Rainie and Lauren kept it to themselves.

"And now all I have left from both of them is a positive pregnancy test and a post-mortem sonogram image," Rainie said.

Sharon only now noticed that Rainie clutched the pregnancy test to her chest. It broke her heart to see her daughter trying to hold on to the remnants of her wife and child.

"Can I sleep here tonight? Between you?"

"Yes, love. Of course, you can," Sharon replied and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead.

Sharon watched as her daughter drifted to sleep.

She thought Andy had fallen asleep until he reached over and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I know you're grieving too, babe. I know you were almost as close to Lauren as you are to Rainie," he whispered. "And you're trying to be strong for Rainie because you want to allow her to express her grief, but if you need someone to be strong for you, so you can do the same, I am here."

Sharon should have known that nobody in the world knew her better than Andy did, but in this specific moment, his ability to understand everything she couldn't say astounded her. And she didn't realize she needed the safe space he offered her to express her emotions.

She reached for Andy's hand and entwined her fingers with his. Right now, what she needed was to feel Andy's skin against hers and know that he was there and that he loved her. Nothing more.

-TBC-