A/N: So, this chapter takes place six years after the first chapter. We're introduced to Sharon and her children and they're introduced to Andy and his mother, Francesca. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (except Francesca) or M/C, but if I did, this is what would happen.

Chapter 1: Better Late Than Never

March 1995

One day when Sharon Raydor is dropping off her children, Emily & Ricky at St. Joseph's, her son, Ricky is absolutely inconsolable about the fact that it's not fair that everybody else seems to have a dad around except him. Sharon is trying to empathize with the situation and comfort him, but the truth is she's just as upset that Jack isn't around for his kids as Ricky is right now. To top it off, if she doesn't leave soon she's gonna be late, but she also doesn't wanna leave Ricky in such a state.

As this is going on, a man walks by them with his two kids. His son tells him that that's his friend from baseball and that he doesn't have a dad. Andy stops for a second and asks Nicole to wait with Brandon for a minute as he walks off towards the woman and her son.

"Hi. Listen I know this isn't a great time for introductions, but my name's Andy Flynn. My son Brandon is on the same baseball team as your son," said Andy.

You're right. This isn't a great time. My son is upset and I'm about to be late for work. So, if you don't mind," Sharon replied back annoyed.

All of a sudden, the man stoops down to the ground until he's eye level with Ricky and asks, "Hey Bud. What's your name? My name's Andy. I'm Brandon's dad."

Ricky sniffles as he replies, "Ricky."

"It's nice to meet you, Ricky. I couldn't help but notice that you're pretty upset about something. Wanna talk about it?" asked Andy.

"Excuse me, but-" interjected Sharon before the man signaled her to give him a minute.

"It's not fair that everyone else has a dad and I don't," explained Ricky.

"That does sound like a bit of a bummer there, dude. I'm sorry about that. Does that make you feel left out?" asked Andy.

"Yeah," replied Ricky.

"I bet it does. You wanna know something though?" asked Andy.

"What?" asked Ricky as he continued to sniffle.

"You're not the only kid who doesn't have both a mom and a dad. Brandon and his sister, Nicole, they don't have a mom, and that makes them sad sometimes too. So, if you're ever at school and you get sad about your dad, just look for Brandon and know that you're not alone. That there's somebody else who understands why you're sad too," explained Andy.

"Okay," replied Ricky.

Meanwhile, Sharon was behind Ricky trying to process what had just happened when she finally found her voice and prompted Ricky, "Now what do you need to say to Mr. Flynn?"

"Thank you," Ricky told him.

"Anytime, bud. We'll see you at the next game," Andy told him before Ricky ran off to join Brandon.

That left him alone with Ricky's mother.

"I'm sorry about biting your head off before," apologized Sharon.

"I get it. Mama bear instinct. I'd probably do the same thing if some strange person came up and started talking to my kids too," replied Andy.

"Well, in any case, thank you. I'm Sharon by the way," Sharon stuck her hand out to introduce herself.

"Good to meet you, Sharon," replied Andy as he shook the woman's hand.

"Well, I should get going before I'm late for work. Again, thank you so much," said Sharon gratefully.

"No problem. See you around, Sharon," said Andy before they went their separate ways.

It was a few days before Sharon & Andy saw each other again. This time at Ricky & Brandon's baseball game. They each happened to catch the others eye as Sharon & a girl of about nine walked towards the field and took a seat in the set of bleacher's to the right of the ones Andy, the middle aged woman sitting next to him, and the young girl sitting next to her were occupying.

"Andy, who was that you were just waving to?" Andy's mother, Francesca, asked him.

"It was nothing, Ma. She's the mom of one of Brandon's friends that I met the other day when I was dropping the kids off at school," replied Andy.

"Does this mom have a name?" inquired Francesca.

"Yeah. Her name's Sharon," answered Andy.

"Well, why don't you ask Sharon to come sit with us?" Francesca asked him.

"Ma, if she wanted to sit with us, I'm sure she would've done it already," pointed out Andy.

"Oh, Andrew Matteo Flynn, I swear, you can be so hardheaded sometimes, you know that? Suit yourself. Nicole and I are gonna go get some ice cream," Francesca told her son.

"Wait. Here, take this," said Andy as he took out his wallet to hand her some money.

"Put that away, Andrew. I have the right to spoil my grandchildren sometimes, don't I?" Francesca asked pointedly.

"Yeah, Ma. Nicole, what do you tell Nonna?" prompted Andy.

"Thank you," the girl told her grandmother.

"You're welcome. Now, what flavor should we get today?" Francesca asked Nicole as they began to walk off towards the snack bar.

After Francesca & Nicole each got their ice cream cones, they began to walk back towards the bleachers.

"Nicole, sweetie. Come this way with me for a minute," said Francesca.

Nicole complied and followed her grandmother as she made a short detour until she stood next to a woman with dark brown hair who was sitting on the end of one of the bleachers.

"Hi. I know we don't know each other, but my son, Andy, tells me that your son and my grandson, Brandon are pretty good friends. I'm Francesca, by the way," she told Sharon as she stuck out her hand to shake Sharon's.

"It's nice to meet you, Francesca. My name's Sharon Raydor and this is my daughter, Emily," Sharon told her.

"How lovely to meet you both. Have you met my granddaughter, Nicole?" Francesca asked her.

"Not formally, no. It's very nice to meet you, Nicole. Can I ask how old you are?" inquired Sharon.

"Nine," answered Nicole.

"That means Emily's right around your age too. She'll be nine in November. Emily, can you say hi to Nicole?" prompted Sharon.

"Hi," said Emily.

"Hi," Nicole replied back.

"Anyways, my son told me he met you the other day when he was taking the kids to school. I suggested to him that we invite you two to come sit with us, but truthfully, he's inherited a bit of his father's stubbornness and was being a bit difficult about the whole thing," explained Francesca.

"Do you like to color? I've got lots of coloring books and we could share the crayons and colored pencils if you want," said Nicole to Emily.

"Sure. Mommy, can I go?" asked Emily.

"I'll tell you what. Let's both go over there together since Ms. Francesca & Nicole were kind enough to invite us," Sharon told Emily as she moved to stand up and grab her bag as Francesca saw something on her hip gleam in the sunlight.

"Oh, are you a police officer?" inquired Francesca as they began walking towards the next set of bleachers.

"Yes, I am," replied Sharon kindly.

"Oh, so is my Andrew. He's a sergeant with the Robbery/Homicide division," gushed Francesca.

"Oh, really? He didn't mention that when we met the other day," replied Sharon.

"Huh. If you don't mind me asking, dear, what division do you work in?" asked Francesca.

"Oh, I don't mind at all. I'm a sergeant with the Force Investigation Division, or FID. We basically make sure good cops stay good cops and investigate accordingly if they don't follow procedures & regulations and that sort of thing," explained Sharon.

"How interesting," commented Francesca as they rounded the corner of the bleachers towards their seats.

Out of the corner of his eye, Andy saw the women round corner as his daughter ran ahead of them towards the coloring books with another little girl. As his mother approached with the familiar woman, he said, "Wow, Ma. That's the last time I trust you when you say you're going to get ice cream."

"I'm sure God will forgive me for it by Sunday. Besides, you weren't gonna do it. I was just trying to be nice," Francesca pointed out.

"What? I'm nice. I just thought it might be a little weird to just walk over to her and invite her to sit with us. That's all," Andy told her defensively.

"I believe her exact words were that you inherited a bit of your father's stubbornness and were being a bit difficult about the whole thing," Sharon added.

"Oh, really?" said Andy as he glared at his mother a moment before turning his attention back to Sharon and said, "In any event, it's nice to see you again, Sharon."

"You too, Andy," replied Sharon kindly.

"And who do we have here?" Andy asked her as he indicated towards the girl sitting there coloring with Nicole.

"That's my daughter, Emily," answered Sharon.

"Well, they seem to be fast friends," Andy pointed out.

"Yes, they do," replied Sharon as she smiled down at the girls.

"So, did you end up making it to work on time the other day?" asked Andy in an attempt to make conversation.

"I did, actually. Thanks to you. How did you know what to say to him though?" inquired Sharon curiously.

"Nicole went through a similar thing a couple years ago. Her mom died when she was three. She started isolating herself a bit from her friends because she didn't feel like she fit in with them because she doesn't have a mom like most kids do. Her teacher noticed that she'd stand by herself on the playground and called me about it. It took a bit of effort, but I finally got her to tell me what was bothering her. It's still hard for her some days, but she's been doing a lot better with it since then," explained Andy.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," Sharon told him sincerely.

"Thanks. As I'm sure you know, it's not easy raising two kids by yourself. My Ma helps me out quite a bit though, so that definitely helps," said Andy.

"Parenting alone definitely isn't an easy task. Except my husband is just an exceptionally horrible parent," admitted Sharon.

"So, you're married?" Andy asked her.

"Legally separated, actually. Have been for about five years now. Just haven't gathered enough courage to put pen to paper. I guess it's just the Catholic in me. God knows it's not because I still love him. No, that ship sailed long ago," said Sharon.

"Wow. Tough break. Hopefully everything works out the way you want it to eventually," said Andy.

"I have faith that it will someday," said Sharon.

"Oh, Andy! I forgot to tell you! Sharon's a police officer just like you," exclaimed Francesca excitedly.

"Really?" asked Andy surprisingly.

"Yes. Despite the old boys club mentality, more than a few of us women officers have survived to upset the status quo," remarked Sharon.

"Oh, no. I didn't say that because you're a woman. I was just a little surprised, that's all," replied Andy

"Uh huh," replied Sharon as she smiled kindly at him.

"So, what unit are you from?" Andy asked her.

"Force Investigation Division, actually," replied Sharon.

"You work for the rat squad?" asked Andy.

"Andrew!" exclaimed Francesca.

Sharon chuckled for a moment before she said, "It's alright, Francesca. I'm quite used to this sort of reaction."

"Ma, her division is made up of cops investigating cops," Andy protested.

"Only dirty ones. If your hands are clean, you have nothing to worry about. Contrary to popular belief, we don't hang cops out to dry," pointed out Sharon.

"How about we talk about something else besides work, huh? Sharon, what kinds of activities do your children enjoy?" Francesca asked in an effort to change the subject.

"Oh, Emily loves to dance. Has since she was very young. In the beginning, she tried out a few different styles, but Ballet is definitely her favorite now. Ricky loves baseball and video games. Lately though, he's taken to taking apart small items like the toaster, and I have to remind him that if he takes it apart, he has to put it back together. He means well though, just a bit curious about how things work that's all, which isn't exactly the worst thing in the world," said Sharon.

Meanwhile, Andy unexpectedly found that instead of focusing on their previous topic of conversation, he couldn't help but smile to himself at the way this woman talked about her children. It was clear to him that her kids meant the world to her. The way her face had lit up when the topic changed from work to her kids was noticeable and there was something about that observation that turned Andy's mood around a bit. Maybe she wasn't all bad.

"So, what do your kids like to do for fun?" Sharon asked him.

"Huh?" asked Andy as he shook himself out of his reverie.

"Sharon asked what Nicole & Brandon like to do for fun," Francesca pointed out.

"Oh, Nicole loves Polly Pocket and reading and doing her nails. Brandon likes baseball and video games too, which explains why him and Ricky get along so well," said Andy.

"Oh my goodness! We should get all the kids together sometime. Go to the park or the zoo or the aquarium. Something they'd all enjoy," suggested Francesca excitedly.

"That would be nice," replied Sharon kindly.

Being a single working mother often meant that time for friendships were few and far between. They usually took a backseat to work, the kids, and trying to balance the two and all of their activities.

Maybe there could be room for both though. This woman seemed exceptionally kind and genuine and even though her son could be a little rough around the edges sometimes, Sharon could tell that there was a bit more to him than that. Plus, the kids seemed to be getting along splendidly with one another. So, if the time the kids spent with their friends also sort of became the time she spent with hers, she might just be able to fit a bit of socializing into her often hectic schedule.

She didn't begrudge always having to be at work or with her children. She loved both dearly. Even Sharon could admit though that this bit of adult interaction outside of work had been nice and something that was wholly needed to lead a more balanced and happier life.