A/N: Once again, I posted this a bit later than usual. This week has been hectic for me and I've been fighting off an illness that refuses to let go of me (nothing fatal, but a rough respiratory infection that's very painful and unpleasant), so I've been exhausted and pushed off posting this chapter. I think the episode where Sharon has to deal with Ricky's reaction to the adoption is one of my favorites in the show, so adapting this episode into a chapter in my story was a lot of fun and I feel like I managed to add some texture into the story, which I hope you all enjoy reading.

I also have a little notification that I hope won't upset all of you too much. As some of you may know, I have been a BA student for almost 9 years. I've put a lot of effort into my degree while also working full-time throughout my school. I have reached a stage in my degree where I have no classes to attend or tests to take, but in order to finally receive my degree, I'm required to hand in one last research paper, which is due in February 2019. I've been trying to work on it and also write this story, but doing both isn't working out for me. Since I only have a short time left to write my paper, I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that I have to take a long break from writing this story, which also means, I'll stop posting for a while. I decided to post the last chapter in the week before Christmas, and I hope to resume writing and posting this story in late January or early February. I hate to do this, but sadly, I must hand in the research paper or I won't be able to receive my degree and move on to study for a master's degree. I sincerely apologize, but I hope you'll understand. Hopefully, you all enjoy your winter breaks so much that you won't notice the absence of this story.

And as always, I'd like to thank blossom-of-snow who's doing a marvelous job beta-reading and editing this story. Also, she's a talented writer herself, and if you have a moment, go and read her fics (she's bloom-and-grow-forever on FFN).

Sharon had not expected Ricky's visit to go wrong so quickly. It's been over two years since either Ricky or Emily have been to LA, and she was pleasantly surprised when Ricky called her and announced that he was coming for a surprise visit. Sharon was thrilled. She missed her son deeply and the idea that the following day she would be able to hug him and see him in person made her heart leap with joy. However, Rainie did not seem to share Sharon's excitement.

"Where is he going to sleep?" she asked when Sharon told her about Ricky's planned visit.

"On the couch in the living room," Sharon said and motioned towards the couch.

"So I don't have to give up my bed?"

"Of course not," Sharon said.

Rainie went back to reading the magazine she was holding, and Sharon assumed that the girl was satisfied with the answer and that that was the last of it. Except it wasn't. When Sharon casually asked Rainie to pick Ricky up from the airport while they were having breakfast, Rainie looked like she swallowed a frog.

"What's wrong?" Sharon inquired.

"Nothing," the girl replied. But it wasn't nothing. Several hours later, Rainie showed up at PAB and caught Sharon in the middle of a conversation with the newly appointed head of the Special Operations Bureau, Fritz Howard.

"I can't pick up Ricky from the airport by myself; I barely know him. And he does not like me very much," Rainie said in a panicky voice.

"Why would you say that?" Sharon wondered. Rainie was a lovely girl and Sharon couldn't think of a single reason why Ricky wouldn't like her.

"Because ever since you started divorcing Jack, he has been, like, really distant on the phone," Rainie explained. Rainie's interpretation of the situation sounded odd to Sharon. Ricky barely had any memories of Sharon and Jack together that he would cling to his parents' marriage as a reason to dislike Rainie. She was sure the girl misinterpreted something Ricky said on the phone and made the wrong assumption. She knew that Rainie was still recovering from years of emotional abuse, and the low self-esteem was still something she struggled with. She reassured Rainie that Ricky was not blaming her for anything and that since they were going to become siblings, she should be the one who picks him up from the airport. Rainie agreed reluctantly and once again, Sharon thought that the problem was solved.

She was wrong. It quickly became apparent that the two soon-to-be siblings did not click immediately. A few comments Ricky made to Rainie clearly hinted that he was not satisfied with the girl's presence in his mother's life. Sharon attributed it to jealousy. After all, no matter how old a person was, when a new sibling came into the picture, the green-eyed monster raised its head. It probably didn't help that Ricky was bad at sharing her even with his older sister.

Later that evening, when it became clear that Sharon would not make it home for dinner, she offered that Rainie and Ricky would have dinner together. The fear that sparked in the girl's eyes surprised her. Sharon was convinced that the girl has gotten over her general fear of men, especially those who were close to Sharon.

"Rainie, it's Ricky. He's a big goofball. You're perfectly safe with him," she tried to assure the girl. Rainie shook her head. "I'll be working until late. I know this visit isn't working out the way we'd hoped, but I think the two of you will have fun together if you just give each other a chance."

"I'd rather stay here until you finish working. Ricky can take the car," Rainie replied.

"No," Sharon insisted. "You are going to be siblings, and you need to spend some time together and bond. I promise you that he will not hurt you. In fact, you two have a similar sense of humor. You might find that you enjoy his company."

Trying to talk Rainie into spending time with Ricky made Sharon feel as if she was talking to a young child who doesn't want to go to bed. It was frustrating. Rainie started saying something when Ricky entered the break room and announced that he was done with the server. Sharon regretfully had to tell him that she would not be joining them for dinner and tried to help her two children to initiate a connection. However, Ricky shot down her attempt and said that he was tired and was going to raid the fridge and go to bed. Sharon now realized that the task of helping the two to get to know each other was not going to be easy.

As she watched Rainie reluctantly following Ricky out of the break room as the two future siblings headed home, she decided that it was time for a serious conversation between Ricky and her that would clarify to him the way their family was about to change.

That was another thing that went wrong. After directly approaching the topic the next morning, Sharon found herself undergoing an amateur psychoanalysis by her son. In fact, it sounded more like her soon-to-be ex-husband was talking out of her son's mouth. It was now clear that much of Ricky's attitude stimulated from his conversations with his father, which he didn't care to admit. Sharon was happy that Ricky had a relationship with his father, but she wasn't letting it sabotage her plans to adopt Rainie.

"Helping this girl a little bit, that's great, but to make her legally your daughter – I think that we need to take a giant step back here and just re-eval…" At that point, Sharon stopped Ricky's litany and watched as a surprised expression spread across his face.

"Before we go back, I should clear up a big misunderstanding that you have."

"Okay," Ricky looked at her with hopeful eyes, as if he expected her to tell him that it was all a big mistake.

"I'm not asking your permission to adopt Rainie or Emily's permission. I see great things in this girl, and I mean that from the bottom of my ever-so-lonely heart," she declared.

"Come on, Mom. You know that I did not mean loneliness as a criticism. I was only pointing out the facts," Ricky tried to defend his position.

"It's clear what you're pointing out," Sharon could not believe the lack of empathy her son displayed towards a girl who had such an unfortunate background. "Now I'm pointing out to you. If you don't develop a little human compassion for this young woman who grew up with none of the advantages you took for granted every day of your life, then I'm gonna leave here wondering where I went wrong as a mother," she exclaimed and pushed herself off the armchair.

She made her way towards the door when Ricky called for her to wait. "Look, I am gonna have children one day, so is Emily. Do you really want your grandkids to call that girl Aunt Rainie?"

Sharon felt her ears warming up with anger. How was it even possible that her son, the boy she raised to be kind and merciful was insinuating that Rainie was unworthy of love because of what she had to do to survive? The idea that thoughts like that even went through Ricky's head made some select words float through her head: chauvinist, misogynist, intolerant, cruel, and inhumane were among the worst of them.

"That is a whole lot better than what I'm thinking of calling you right now," she said, letting him in on what was going on inside her head in the most polite way she knew.

"Mom!" Ricky exclaimed.

"Richard William Raydor, you listen to me, and you listen to me good," she demanded. "You've got one chance to get this right. You need to turn your attitude around right-this-minute!" She clapped her hands angrily to emphasize just how quickly she expected him to regain his senses. "Because if you make Rainie feel unwelcome in this family, after all of her and my work, I will be just so disappointed." Her vision blurred with unshed tears. Seeing so much ignorance and intolerance oozing from her son felt like a personal failure to her. "Oh my God, I'm so disappointed in you right now I don't even know what to say." With these words, she grabbed her keys and left, hoping that by the time they saw each other again, her son internalized the meaning of her words and changed his ways.

To her great relief, the remarks had the desired effect on her son, and when she had the chance to see him and Rainie again, she could tell that he exercised a cautious civility towards the girl. Once Rainie opened up to him and dared to comment on his haircut, it seemed that the walls between the two future siblings fell. Watching the two of them exchanging jokes and getting to know each other's sense of humor filled Sharon's heart with joy. This was the reception she had hoped Ricky would give Rainie from the get-go.

Much later that evening, after Rainie had gone to bed, Sharon went out to the balcony. She couldn't exactly call the air on the 11th floor fresh since the smog in Los Angeles was easily able to reach the higher floors, but she did enjoy the breeze. Ricky followed her there and stood by her side.

"I'm sorry for being an asshole this morning," he said.

Sharon hummed in response.

"She's a funny kid," he added. "And smart. It's almost hard to believe that she was a prostitute."

"Rainie had a rough life, Ricky. Becoming a prostitute wasn't her choice." Sharon explained. "When she just came here, this intelligent and talented girl that you met today was hidden under layers of fear and pain caused by years of abuse. It takes a lot of strength and work to move on from these traumatic life experiences."

"So you love her more than Emily and me?" Ricky teased, but Sharon could sense that the question was not entirely a joke to him.

"Of course not. I love her the same way I love you and Emily. The two of you are irreplaceable, and so is she."

Ricky wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the sweet moment of closeness with her son. She was happy that even at the age of 25 he was still willing to follow her guidance and to learn from her. And she was happy that he realized how wrong he was about Rainie. But at that moment, what she was the happiest about is holding her beautiful son – the boy who will forever be her baby, even if he was no longer the youngest in the family.

She hoped her arms around his shoulders further assured him how much she loved him, how much she missed him when he was away, and how good it felt to have him home at last.

-TBC-

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts about this chapter, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.