11.
Rusty approached Sharon's office door with curiosity, wondering why she wanted to see him so urgently.
Since finding out that the 'other Sharon' was pregnant, courtesy of the very same boyfriend who had abandoned him at the zoo, he had decided there had been enough chances given. He hoped that some day she would realise what she had lost, but when he was honest with himself, he couldn't see that happening.
Provenza had commented to him once that "You don't see old addicts". He knew what that meant. It didn't mean they eventually cleaned up their acts and moved on from that life. It meant they didn't live to see old age. He wasn't about to waste the life he had now been given, worrying about when the inevitable would happen to the woman who had put him through so much.
His mother, as he had come to see her in his heart, was behind this door. He didn't know whether he would ever be brave enough to actually use the name, but it's who she had become. In the few months since she had been seeing Andy Flynn, she'd proven to him through her actions, that love had no boundaries. No upper limits. Rather than feeling that he had to share her love with Andy, he felt her love had expanded to encompass them both. He had expected to feel some loss. That feeling never arrived. She didn't need to use words to reassure him, because her actions spoke loudly and clearly.
Giving Andy a questioning sideways glance on his way past, but getting no response in word or action, he knocked and opened the door.
"Rusty!" she smiled at him, and any concerns he had melted away. Whatever she wanted him for, her eyes told him how much he was loved.
"Is anything wrong Sharon? It's just, you don't normally call me in to tell me things here" he asked.
"Well... we were wondering" she began, and he relaxed in the knowledge that if it was 'we' it meant her and Andy, and if it was both of them, it was personal and not work related, because nobody in the unit knew anything about them.
"We were wondering if you felt up to going with us to Nicole's tonight for dinner." she finally got out.
"Nicole, as in Andy's daughter Nicole?" he ventured.
"The one and only" she responded with a smile.
"Sure, Sharon, if you want me to go, I'll go. I'm just surprised, since you did the whole 'we're not dating' thing last Christmas."
Sharon took a deep breath before answering "It's time our families knew".
"Well, Nicole will be easy" Rusty told her. "She was so disappointed when you told her you were just good friends".
"Yes, well that's why we decided we'd start with her" Sharon laughed.
On his way out, he leant over Andy's shoulder and said "you could have given me a heads up on that you know".
"What? And ruin the surprise?" he answered grinning.
"You'll get yours Flynn" Rusty told him "when you least expect it."
The clicking of heels alerted them to Sharon's approach. Asking Rusty if he was ready to leave, she threw her jacket over her arm and looked at her watch. "Don't stay too late, any of you. Taylor's in a tizz over budgeting and overtime" she said to the whole room. "Let's pray we don't catch a murder for a day or two."
"Taylor's always got his panties in a wad over something" Provenza chimed.
Text Exchange:
[Sharon] Lieutenant Flynn, what's your E.T.A?
[Andy] Just long enough to avoid suspicion Captain.
[Sharon] That's not what I asked Lieutenant.
[Andy] Rendezvous point in 20 Captain?
[Sharon] Don't keep me waiting Lieutenant.
Even after impressing upon Nicole that they were, indeed, just very good friends, they had continued to accept her invitations to dinner. Sharon genuinely enjoyed Nicole's company, and the two little guys she had inherited when she married Phillip, had tugged so hard on Sharon's heartstrings that she looked forward to seeing them. She and Andy had maintained that they were "just friends" the whole time, primarily because until a few months ago, that's truly what she had believed, despite Nicole's obvious disappointment, and Rusty's teasing. By the time Nicole finally accepted that answer, something had indeed changed, but until now, they hadn't been ready to let her in on it. Adding Rusty to the mix was a first on this occasion, but only because he always seemed to have other plans.
The threesome, in casual dress, arrived together after meeting at Sharon's condo. They'd gotten quite good at planning around the well-trained eyes of detectives in the few months that had passed, and rarely felt guilty about it at all.
Always the consummate hostess, Nicole greeted them at the door, taking coats and hanging them. She went out of her way to make Rusty feel welcome, assuring him of how disappointed she had been at not having had him there every other time.
"The boys are upstairs getting ready for bed" Nicole told them. "They will want to see you before they agree to sleep" she added.
"You guys go ahead" Rusty told them. "I'll stay down here and chat with Nicole."
"Oh no you won't" Andy chuckled, knowing exactly what Rusty was up to. "You can come and say goodnight too".
The three of them ascended the stairs and were immediately pounced upon by two little boys, one slightly taller than the other. "Grandpa! Sharon!" they squealed and bounced like Mexican jumping beans from one to the other.
"And you remember Rusty right guys?" Andy asked them. "He came to see you dance too remember?"
Their eyes widened with the memory and suddenly Rusty became the target of their excitement.
"We just came up to say goodnight to you two gentlemen, because your Mommy says it's bedtime, so let's get you tucked in and ready to sleep" Sharon told them.
After many pleas of "don't go", they managed to make it back to the table in time for dinner.
Rusty attempted several times to catch Nicole's eye, but someone interrupted every time by speaking and averting her attention from him. They were just sitting back enjoying a glass of wine, or club soda in Andy & Rusty's case, when he finally got her to look at him. Inclining his head slightly in Andy & Sharon's direction, he wiggled both eyebrows at Nicole, eliciting a very puzzled look from her.
"What's going on Rusty?" Nicole asked. "Your eyebrows look like they're trying to tap out a message in morse code on your forehead."
"O.M.G. Nicole! Obvious much?" he almost shouted. "Remind me never to go undercover with you" and he burst out laughing.
Andy snorted with laughter at the interaction between the two, and then decided it was probably as good a time as any.
"Nicole there's something I need to straighten out with you" he began.
Rusty rolled his eyes.
"Dad, we've had this discussion. The last time it started with exactly those words too. I told you I believe you. You don't have to keep ..."
Andy cut her off mid-sentence by leaning over and firmly locking lips with Sharon, and remaining that way for altogether too long for Rusty's liking.
"Oh guys GROSS" he told them. "A little warning would have been nice."
Nicole just stood there with her mouth open.
"Nicole, are you trying to catch flies?" Rusty asked poking fun at her.
"What in the hell Dad? Wait, what in the HELL Dad?" was all she managed to get out.
"Well.." he grinned "you wouldn't shut UP long enough for me to TELL you Nicole."
"You mean?" she stammered "Sharon are you telling me you're ON BOARD with this?"
Sharon blushed. "Well if I wasn't, don't you think I would have slapped that smirk off his face?" she laughed. "I didn't know he was going to DO that, but yes, we decided it was time to tell you" she beamed at Nicole.
The endless questions began, and continued well into the night...
