The announcement that Sharon was promoted to Head of Leadership Unit came in late June. Chief Mason's secretary called Sharon to schedule a meeting with him for the following day. Knowing that she was one of the only two candidates for the position, she made the safe assumption that the meeting was about the position and that Chief Mason was either going to let her know that her candidacy was terminated or accepted. Sharon had hoped for the latter.

When she saw Chief Mason's smile upon her entrance into the room, she knew that she had been the one that was chosen for the position.

"Rarely do I come across a glowing recommendation from a different police department," Chief Mason said as he handed her a letter of recommendation about her that was written by Chief Antonio Alvarez, the SFPD Head of Major Crimes Department, a Deputy Chief Sharon remembered fondly. "Apparently, you play well with others."

Sharon smiled shyly. She did not expect the warm compliments that she received from Chief Alvarez, even though she admittedly formed a very cooperative and fruitful work relationship with him during her stay in San Francisco.

"Based on this recommendation and other performance reports, the committee decided that you are the most suitable candidate for the Head of Leadership position," Chief Mason said.

Sharon smiled. She was thrilled and couldn't wait to share the news with Andy and the rest of the Major Crimes team. She was sure Provenza would be especially happy to inherit her current position as Head of Major Crimes.

"So what do you say? Do you accept the position?"

"Oh, Gosh. Of course," Sharon replied.

"You're aware of the job's educational requirement, correct?" Chief Mason asked.

Sharon nodded.

"Good. So I spoke to HR before our meeting and they updated me on all the nitty-gritty financial details. As you probably know, as a part of your training for this position, the LAPD will grant you a full scholarship for a one-year leadership program in San Francisco. You will have to maintain a total average of at least eighty-five to keep it. As far as housing goes, you have a choice between student dorms, paid fully by the department, or a monthly allowance for rent. In addition, you will receive an allowance for daily expenses. Your monthly LAPD salary will be paid to you as usual. The first semester starts in September so you need to fill in the enrollment forms and hand them to HR by the end of the week and we'll go from there, okay?"

While Sharon knew about the scholarship before the meeting, the rest was confusing. Student dorms? Allowances? She was relieved when Chief Mason handed her a paper that listed all the details he mentioned and she assumed that HR will be able to answer any questions that she might have about the financial aspect of the position.

As much as she wanted to break the news to her team, Sharon knew that she needed to talk to Andy before any of her other team members knew about it. Because Major Crimes was in the middle of an active investigation, Sharon did not find the chance to tell Andy about the position before dinnertime. They were both tired when they returned home, happy to find a warm dinner cooked for them by Rainie on the dinner table.

After Ember was born, Rainie moved to her apartment downstairs, but made frequent visits to Sharon and Andy's condo, and often left food for them when she knew that they worked long hours. Ember, who was almost three months old, was developing well. Despite Sharon's initial concerns, Rainie settled into motherhood without much difficulty, besides the usual new mother issues, which Sharon was happy to assist her with. Of course, there were moments where grief over what Lauren was missing overcame Rainie, but they were brief and fleeting.

What Sharon also found exciting was that Rainie began to draw again and was working on a new comic strip. She couldn't wait to read it and felt lucky when Rainie shared a few excerpts with her.

As far as the stability of her life went, Sharon knew that she could feel confident about leaving Los Angeles for a whole year without worrying that things would fall apart.

She watched Andy as he set the table for them, and wondered what a whole year without him would be like. She and Jack had spent the majority of their marriage apart, but their relationship had not been good for most of that time. But her marriage to Andy was loving, passionate, supportive, and trusting – all the things that her first marriage lacked. Being apart from Andy would not feel the same as being apart from Jack.

"You're quiet this evening," Andy wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "Are you tired?"

"I am, but it's not that," Sharon said. "I got the promotion."

"You did? That's great, babe!" Andy called out.

"It is. I really want it, but you know about what it entails, right?"

"Yes, you'll have to move away for school for a year," Andy said.

"Are you okay with that?" Sharon asked.

"It won't be easy, but I know how much you want this job and how hard you've worked for it, so I think you should do it."

Sharon sighed. "I don't wanna leave."

"It's not permanent, and we will see each other on holidays and we'll talk as often as your schedule allows you. It will be fine. You'll ace it."

"I can't believe I'm going back to school," Sharon groaned. "I had the worst college experience."

"Maybe this is your chance to have a different experience, babe." Andy pointed out.

Sharon leaned in and pressed her lips to his. She loved this man and hoped he knew just how much.

During their dinner, Sharon explained the conditions of her year in San Francisco. She knew that she needed to make a decision about the housing soon. She wished that Ricky still lived in San Francisco, but he and Eva had moved to Vancouver for Eva's work.

"So, do you think you'll choose to live in a dorm or would you prefer to rent an apartment?" Andy asked after Sharon showed him the paper Chief Mason handed her.

"I don't know. They're not giving much for rent," Sharon said. "And paying the mortgage for this place while renting another apartment is not cheap."

"Babe, we can afford to rent you an apartment," Andy said.

"We'll have to dig into our savings for that," Sharon said.

"That's what those savings are for, Sharon."

"They're for our retirement, Andy," Sharon said.

"Look, I'm not against you staying in a dorm if that's what you want. I mean, it might be better for you to have company. But then again, your roommate will most likely be about fifty years younger than you. It all depends on what kind of student life you're expecting to have."

"I haven't thought about it," Sharon admitted.

"Well, consider this: you won't be working and you won't have your usual peer group around you, so at the end of the day after you finish your homework, what do you expect to do?"

"I'm not gonna hang out with a group of eighteen-year-olds, Andy. And they'll never want to hang out with me anyway. They are not going to become my peer group," Sharon said.

"You might be surprised. You're a cool person, why wouldn't they want to spend time with you?" Andy asked.

"Because I could be their grandmother," Sharon replied.

"And everyone loves their grandmother!" Andy said.

Sharon snorted. "I don't think that logic applies in this case."

"You're not a regular grandma. You're a cool grandma."

"I'm not a cool grandma. I'm a cop," Sharon said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mention that to a group of millennials. They probably don't like cops that much," Andy said.

"Gee, thanks for the useful advice, Andy. I couldn't figure that one out on my own," Sharon quipped.

Andy smiled. "So, dorm or apartment?"

"I guess I'll give the dorms a shot and if that doesn't work out, I'll move to my own place on winter break."

"That sounds like a good plan. And in case I haven't said it, I'm so proud of you, babe."

Sharon wrapped her arms around Andy's shoulders and pulled him to her for a kiss. She didn't know what being away from him for a year would be like, but she was sure that she'll miss him a lot.