A/N: So, I said I was worried about getting this finished before I left... and now it seems like it could happen, but that I also have a couple more ideas left that are taking longer to write than I had imagined... I couldn't sleep this morning, so I was able to get most of this next chapter typed up. :) I hope it works and that no one wants to kill me for taking forever to wrap up this idea that started as a simple tumblr prompt from an anon last month.

A Little Snow Chapter 13

A phone buzzing to her right pulled her out of her dreams of ice skating and Christmas trees. The vibration against the table and bright light flashing from the device had her groaning, but reaching out to answer nonetheless. At least the ringer was on silent, she thought to herself, thankful her daughter could continue to sleep in. Emily was only a morning person when she had to be, and Christmas morning was not one of those times.

Without bothering to put on her glasses, or to look at the screen, Sharon fumbled for the green answer icon. "Hello?" she whispered groggily into the receiver, mildly confused as to who would be calling at this hour. The only logical assumption was that her son was repaying the wake up call, but there was also a small chance it was someone from work. Taking into account one of her people could be out late on a case she took a breath to add, "Captain Raydor," but was halted by a grouchy voice on the other end of the line.

"So, you're not dead," the man began not bothering to listen to any response. "Ye' gods, Flynn, I thought you said you would call when you got in. Do you realize how close I was to calling the hospitals?" Confused Sharon pulled the phone away from her ear. She squinted at the phone and took in a heavy breath as she read, The Idiot, across the top of the screen. Sharon flipped the device over in her hand. The case was darker and heavier than she expected. She sighed heavily at the observation; this was not her phone. No, this was the phone that had been plugged into the charger the night before. This was the phone that she had just placed to the side last night without further study. She flipped it over again and stared at the screen, finally realizing what was going on. Somehow Andy Flynn's phone had made it from, "drying out," in the backseat of the rental car to fully functioning in her daughter's apartment.

Sharon thought back to the previous afternoon. Emily had retrieved her bag out of the backseat. The container of cookies had been sitting to the side. Her daughter must have thought the phone had fallen out of the bag as well.

"Uh, hmm? Are you going to say something or not, Flynn?" Lieutenant Provenza's aggravated voice once again carried through the speaker. Sharon almost swiped her thumb across the end call button, but was interrupted once again, "I am just going to keep calling until you answer. For some unknown reason I am awake early and phoning you. I have all day to call back and harass your ass if you do not at least acknowledge the fact that you were supposed to call me when you got to your sister's place."

She bit down on her bottom lip and lifted the phone to her ear. Sharon covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her voice, "Lieutenant," she began in best imitation of Liv's voice. "My brother is still asleep. He got in late, safe, but late. He will have to call you back when he gets up."

"That idiot is still asleep?" Provenza cut in, "It's Christmas morning. I am awake out here, which is all his fault, I might add. Wake him up, I need to yell at someone about this whole situation."

Sharon rolled her eyes at the response, "He will be touched to know you care…"

"Care?" Provenza shot back before she could complete her sentence, "I do not care. He said he would call me." He took a breath to collect himself, "and are you sick? You sound different. I am sorry to hear you are stuck with that man and not feeling well." He paused once again, "Um, Merry Christmas, Olivia. Just have him call me. I guess it can wait for now. After all sleeping beauty needs his rest if you have to deal with him today."

Sharon sighed still muffling her voice, "Indeed. Merry Christmas to you too," she paused briefly to consider how Liv would address him. Taking a breath she smirked and added, "Louie. I'll have him call you."

Without waiting for a reply, she pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed end. She dropped the phone to the cushion beside her and fell back on the pillows. Running her hand over her face she let out a long breath, silently thinking back to the absurd events of the last couple of days; the same flight, the snowstorm, the road trip, the hotel room, the wake ups, the damaged phone, the dinner, the ice accidents… The universe was having a good time with this one.

She rolled to her side and looked at the phone again. At least it was not permanently damaged after his fall. Sharon reached for the device and pressed her lips together in a thin line as she considered her options of what to do next. He would need his phone at some point, but it was still a little early to call and wake up his sister. Sharon glanced toward Emily's bedroom door. She vaguely remembered her daughter shifting off of the couch a few hours ago and turning off the television. Emily had stayed awake through the end of the film, but Sharon only remembered watching to the point where Kris Kringle told them he had his own Santa suit. As she had predicted her tired body had succumbed to sleep as soon as she had allowed herself to relax. Her daughter had outlasted her, but now she deserved some rest.

Picking up the phone, Sharon rotated to sit up on the couch. She felt like she could have slept a little longer, but now that she was up and aware of the phone situation she was going to have a difficult time falling back to sleep. Rolling the phone between her hands she had to laugh at the fact that she only barely dodged an early morning interrogation and subsequent Christmas confession with Lieutenant Provenza. She chuckled lightly and looked down at the phone in her hands, what a holiday.

As she continued to stare at the device the display flashed, Two New Messages, across the screen. Instinctually Sharon clicked on the icon, temporarily forgetting that this was not her phone and that they were not her messages. Before she could close it down again, the name 'Nicole' popped up on the screen, followed by the texts: "Merry Christmas, Dad!" and "Hope Aunt Liv is being nice to you. Tell her hi and Merry Christmas from me."

A soft smile spread across her face at the messages. Andy would appreciate the fact that his daughter had reached out to him on Christmas. Sharon has assumed that his kids would at least say something, but she also knew Andy had a rocky relationship with his family and he was worried. She smiled again and pushed a couple buttons on the phone to search through his contacts. She found his sister's address, and was happy to note that the other woman lived nearby. Since Emily was still asleep Sharon thought it would be okay to drop it by the Liv's building. She could at least leave the phone with the security guard in the lobby if nothing else. Emily would be asleep for a couple more hours, so she had time to make the trip.

As Sharon stood to get ready her swollen knee shot a slight twinge up her leg. The injury convinced her to take a cab over to Liv's apartment building, and then perhaps she would stop for coffee on the way home. Emily would definitely appreciate a festive Peppermint Mocha to drink while they opened their Christmas presents.

— A few blocks away —

Andy was awake significantly earlier than he had planned. After dozing on and off during the movie he had moved to the bed in his sister's guest room. His already sore body would not have survived a full night on the couch, no matter how comfortable it was or how tired he had been. Even the bed had done little to prevent his stiff shoulder and sore lower back from waking him up early on a day off.

Rolling slowly onto his side he groaned at the time - 7:30 was too early today. He was used to running on only a few hours of sleep. He was even used to nursing an injury or two from time to time. However, today he had wanted to enjoy the holiday and to sleep in a little later than normal. The past couple days of travel and falls had worn him out. Also, he knew he would get very little rest tomorrow on his late afternoon flight home. In the bed, Andy pulled the comforter up around his neck to try to get comfortable once again, but his body had other plans. The position on his side aggravated his back, and if he tried to roll onto the other side his shoulder would pinch. He groaned to himself, no he was going to have to just get up and to get moving.

Shifting slowly he dropped his feet to the floor and stretched his upper body before standing. He stepped lightly through the room and into the hallway. His sister's bedroom door was still closed, and there was no sound from the other side. Andy contemplated waking her up, but even if they were adults now she was still mean when provoked. Instead, he rubbed a hand over his face and twisted his neck to the side. During the stretch he caught sight of a red piece of paper propped up on the coffee table. He wandered into the living room and picked up the note.

"Good Morning Old Man,
Merry Christmas! Do not under any circumstances think about waking me up. Trust me, it will not be fun. I may be older, but can still take you. However, if you are up early and decide that you need to go to the store for meds… I would not say no to a coffee that was something maybe - pepperminty, chocolatey, and covered in sprinkles.
Love, Me
P.S. Don't forget the pastries. (The cranberry ones are festive.)"

Andy rolled his eyes at her threat and request, but still smiled. Walking back into his room he decided to get dressed and head out. He would be able to rest much easier for the rest of the day with another dose of anti-inflammatories and a coffee.

After getting ready he took the elevator downstairs to the lobby. When the elevator doors opened he stepped out to see Sharon standing at the desk. He stopped to listen in as she continued to speak with the guard at the door.

"Could you just please see that they get this?" She confirmed handing over a phone. "I did not want to wake them this morning, and I am sure they will notice it is missing before long."

The guard took the phone, "I will ma'am. Now, could I please have your information for the log?"

"I'm not trying to visit," she began.

"It's okay," Andy stepped forward and nodded to the guard. "I will take it."

The guard looked up, "And you are?"

Andy removed his wallet from his pocket to retrieve his ID, "I am Andy Flynn. Guest of Olivia Flynn, or it could be under Martin. Apartment #901N." He handed the card over and waited for the guard to confirm his information.

Sharon smiled softly as they stood side-by-side in silence watching the guard double check the list from the last shift. Verifying the photo and the signature he handed the ID back to Andy, "I'm sorry, sir, thank you."

"No need to apologize," Andy reasoned retrieving the card and gesturing toward the phone on the desk. "I appreciate you taking the time to make sure I was not a whacko. Could I have that now, please?"

The guard picked up the phone, "Yes, here you are, sir. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Andy nodded before turning to Sharon. He moved his hand to the side to direct her to the other side of the lobby. When they were out of immediate earshot of the guard he held his phone in front of him, "Thank you. I did not know you had this. You didn't have to come all the way over here this morning, but thank you."

Sharon shrugged her shoulders, "I know. I, um, well, I did not know Emily had picked it up." She paused and forced a smile, "She must have grabbed it thinking it had fallen out of my tote in the backseat. It is working though. She plugged it in yesterday when we got upstairs. It appears that your little slip up on the ice did not do any permanent damage."

"My little slip up?" He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. He cringed lightly as his hand ran over the bump that had formed overnight, "I guess that is what I would call that one. The second slip up though? Not so little. My head is still killing me."

At his action Sharon reached up and brushed her hand against the back of his head, just beside his hand. "I'm sorry," she hummed, her eyes focused her hand. Not expecting her to reach for him, he momentarily froze at the touch. She noticed the shift in the air and immediately pulled her hand back. She tucked it into her coat pocket and looked around the room. "Well," she sighed turning back to him, "I mean, that's not good. I am sorry you are still hurt. Did your sister have anything for the pain?"

"She did, but only a couple tablets." He stepped back and covered the awkwardness with a grin, "She does not believe in those kinds of medications and told me I was on my own for today's doses."

Sharon chuckled lightly, "On your own? That sounds about right." She angled her body toward the door, "Is that where you were going? I don't want to keep you. I was just bringing the phone by on my way for coffees. Um, it rang this morning, your phone that is. Uh, your partner may need to speak with you soon."

Andy dipped his head back and groaned, "I didn't call him when we got in. I am sure that will be a fun conversation." He forced a laugh, "The old man acts like he could not care less, but he worries. Just a big teddy bear."

"I would say so, but I would probably not go as far as to call him a teddy bear," Sharon smiled. "I accidentally answered, and well, he was a little irritated with the lack of communication on your part."

He let out a steady breath before gesturing to the phone. "You answered? Oh geez."

"I did," Sharon confirmed. "Like I said, it was early and I did not know your phone was at the apartment. I think I convinced him I was Liv, but who knows."

Andy shook his head to the side, "You probably did. He has only spoken to her on occasion. I am sure he was more upset about not getting to yell at me than to question who he was speaking with."

"Let's hope," Sharon gently exhaled. The two stood in silence for a moment before she pointed to the phone, "Um, there was another message as well. I am sorry, but I was not thinking clearly and I opened the text messages when the alert popped up." He lifted the phone to view the screen. She bit down uncomfortably on her bottom lip as he selected the most recent message. She watched his eyes light up upon seeing the texts from his daughter. Sharon dropped her voice to an encouraging whisper, "Even though she was not here, she still made a point to wish you a Merry Christmas."

Andy swallowed the lump that had begun to form in his throat, "Yeah." He beamed typing out a message, "She is a good kid."

Sharon stood in front of him as he sent his reply. She smiled, "Seems like it."

Andy nodded again and dropped his phone into his pocket. He smiled up to Sharon, "What were we talking about? You were getting coffee?"

She chuckled softly at his excitement. "I was, or I am. Emily is still asleep so I thought I would drop the phone off here for you, and then pick up coffee on my way back to her apartment. She will probably still be out, but the coffee should at least help her to be okay with the wake up call."

"Liv is that way too." Andy pulled his sister's note out of his pocket, "She even left me a request before she went to bed."

Sharon laughed as she read over the piece of paper. "Pepperminty and chocolatey?" She hummed, "I really can see why my daughter and your sister became such fast friends." She handed the note back to him with a smile. "If nothing else can be said about this strange holiday, at least Emily has a new person in the city."

"True. My sister is a fun one to have around. Everyone loves her," Andy smiled gesturing to the door. "Well, since they are both asleep, um, what do you say to walking that way?"

She pressed her lips together in thought. Two days ago the answer would have been no, but now it did not seem like the worst idea. "Fine," she shrugged stepping toward the door, "but only if you promise not to injure me along the way. I am already a little gimpy on this knee, and I would like to return to Los Angeles in one piece."

Andy held up his hands in defense. "I promise to be careful, and if I fall I will do my best not to bring you down with me." He stepped toward the door and held it open for her.

She rolled her eyes at his jest, and stood in front of him pretending to weigh her options. "Okay, deal. Let's go grab a coffee." She walked through the door ahead of him and turned to the left. "Are we stopping for headache relief first, or are we going directly to the coffee shop?"