Sharon was running late for work, and she hated being late. She finished in the bathroom and stepped out into the hallway. Before she started down the hall, she glanced into her spare bedroom and scowled at the sight. Emily had bought the dumbest thing for the baby, and there was no way Sharon could hide it or take it back. She looked at the silly large stuffed animal ape sitting on the floor staring back at her. Sharon had no idea why Emily had found it to be so "perfect" or so funny, but there had been no talking her out of getting the large toy. It wasn't even the toy that got to Sharon, but the name. The stupid thing had a tag on it with its name, "Hi, I'm Andy the Ape." Emily had started laughing at that and had laughed for the next hour in the store after their little chat in the diaper aisle. Sharon was sure the animal was at first, an attempt at a distraction, an attempt at something funny after their long heart to heart, but of course, Emily had no idea the symbolism of the name. The ape had started as a talking point and had ended with a place in Sharon's condo. Sharon shook her head at the toy and started down the hall to get going to work.
As she moved down the hall and waited for her elevator, her mind wandered back to the dumb ape sitting in her condo. Emily had been in a silly mood after their chat. Sharon knew her daughter, and her daughter felt like she should cheer up Sharon. She'd even sent a picture of the ape to Ricky to get his approval, and because Ricky had grown up with a small monkey toy he'd adored, he'd agreed the ape was needed for his new sibling. So, without giving away the reason for her annoyance, Sharon had relented, and the ape had found its way to its new home. The toy was huge, the size of a kid's large dollhouse. Andy the Ape was in her life to stay, but thankfully, the other Andy was not.
Sharon's drive to work was rather quiet. She thought a lot about her visit with Emily. The two had enjoyed their time together, even with the tension surrounding the baby and his paternity. In a way, Sharon was relieved she'd told Emily more about the situation. She still didn't want her kids knowing about Andy, his name or anything else, but she at least felt like Emily had an understanding of what had been going on in Sharon's life. In addition to Andy the Ape, Emily had purchased a carrier for Sharon, one that she could wear the baby in while at home or out running errands. It had been the perfect gift because, as a baby, Emily had cried anytime Sharon had put her down. Ricky had been content to be put in his crib or swing, but not Emily. Sharon was really hoping this baby would be more like Ricky since things were similar in her pregnancy, but that was yet to be seen. Still, it was a great gift because as a single mother, she would need to take care of anything and everything at home alone. She could wear the baby in the condo and around town. It was also something she was looking forward to using on walks. That had been the first real baby purchase, and Sharon wasn't quite ready to make another purchase. Her superstitions about buying baby items were slowly starting to subside, but she hadn't researched the gear enough yet to make more purchases. She had a lot of research to do, and she planned to start that in the next week or so. She was hesitant to buy too much because she was really thinking about her future and where that might take her. She'd discussed those ideas with Emily too.
For the past few weeks, Sharon had been seriously thinking about retirement. She'd even started to search online for teaching jobs out of Los Angeles in criminal justice. It was a thought she'd had for years and had even discussed with Andy on their road trip. She could retire now, but had originally planned to retire when Ricky finished college. It wasn't that she had to work that long, but it had seemed like a good idea. She had started to set herself up for just that by downsizing the family home last summer to her condo where she hadn't even been living a full year now. Of course, back then, a baby hadn't been in her plans, but as with most anything, plans change. Now, she just wanted to get out of Los Angeles. She had already raised two kids here working as a police officer. She didn't want to do it again. People did it every single day; she knew that, but for this chapter of her life, she wanted to slow down and really do something different in life. Yes, criminal justice wasn't that different, but she had been thinking about teaching for a long time. The schedule would work better with a baby, and it would allow her to focus on young people starting their lives and not people who had destroyed their lives by committing various crimes. Emily understood a lot of Sharon's concerns, but she worried Sharon would regret doing anything too quickly. Sharon was certain she wouldn't regret a move. Getting out of Los Angeles would get her away from Andy too, and that was something she really wanted to do. She wanted to take the baby and start over somewhere fresh, somewhere people didn't know about her job, about Jack, or about the origin of the baby, not that many did anyway. Staying in Los Angeles was a gamble. She was certain Andy would always be lurking, and she didn't want that. She wanted to almost reinvent herself.
Another aspect of her moving plan involved her parents. They weren't getting any younger; she knew that. Sharon really didn't want to settle back in the Phoenix area where she'd grown up, but she had thought about other areas of Arizona, places that would be only a short drive from her parents. Los Angeles wasn't terribly far, but it was too far to easily check on them. So, Sharon explained to Emily she was going to focus on the Flagstaff and Tucson areas because they had colleges and might be places Sharon would consider moving. Flagstaff was particularly appealing because of the terrain; it had a more moderate climate because of the altitude, and it reminded her a little of Park City with the snowfall in the winter. As predicated, Emily had been surprised but had understood Sharon's desire to move. She'd had a lot of questions, most of which Sharon couldn't answer yet. The condo question was one Sharon could answer. She hadn't owned it long, and she'd thought about that already too. Sharon knew she could rent the place easily and believed when and if the time came, she would do that. In turn, she had thought about anywhere she moved she could also rent for the time being, at least until she got settled and was certain of her new life. That plan still left a connection to Los Angeles if she ever wanted to return. She was certain she wouldn't look back; she wanted to move on and start a new life.
Now, situated in her car and well into her drive, she started to grin as she felt the peanut waking up. He was active now, kicking her. She let out a low chuckle thinking he must just like riding in the car. She'd already been out once today, just before 4:00 AM to take Emily to the airport. She had the early flight back to New York, and Sharon had driven her there. The peanut had been very active then, too, and Emily claimed it was for her benefit. She'd kept her hand on Sharon's stomach for much of the drive as she enjoyed feeling her brother kick. Sharon had gone back home after the airport, and she could tell the peanut had gone back to sleep. He'd awakened when she'd had some breakfast, and now, it appeared, he was awake again. She loved the feeling. She loved this baby and was getting more and more excited about his arrival.
Sharon sighed as she glanced at the clock in her car. Her own arrival at work was going to be later than she wanted. She wasn't actually late, but she had planned to arrive early to get some work done. After the long weekend, she knew she had a stack of paperwork to go through and sign. With Emily's early flight, she was hoping to get an early start, but that hadn't happened. Sharon knew she'd spent too much time daydreaming at home over breakfast, thinking of the baby.
Her thoughts of the baby consumed her drive to work. It was such a relief Andy had signed the paperwork. She knew that he'd given her what she wanted and knew she'd not treated him well over the last several weeks. That had been her defensive mode talking, and while she had no plan to apologize to him for her behavior, she realized she could be kinder to him. He had been right about one thing; the two needed to get along at work. She owed him that much. She knew she couldn't promise anything, but she was going to make more of an effort to be civil at work.
It didn't take her too long to get to work. It was still early, even if she was felt she was running late. She glanced around and saw the parking garage only halfway full. Hopefully, she would get a decent amount of work done before the rest of her team arrived. Sharon waited for the elevator and turned when she heard others walking up to wait as well. She groaned to herself when she saw Provenza joining her at the elevator. Provenza was always early to work. Everyone in the LAPD knew that.
"Morning, Lieutenant," she gave him a polite nod and quick greeting.
"Captain," he nodded to her. Two others stood there waiting for the elevator, and everyone gave each other a quick nod. Sharon went into protective mode, something she'd started to notice she did when she felt people looking at her stomach. She started to run her hand on her side, almost to try and cover the view. She snapped her head toward Provenza when he spoke again, "Little one is growing," he stated.
"Yes," she cleared her throat. "That's the thing about pregnancy. The baby keeps growing, causing a lot of inconveniences to the mother, work clothing being a big one."
"How far along now, Captain?" Provenza asked as the group stepped onto the elevator.
"Six months now," she said and stepped to the back corner of the elevator. He nodded and stood at the back near her while the other officers stood toward the front. The conversation stopped as the elevator moved. She watched the numbers climb, hoping she wouldn't be left alone with just Provenza. There was something a bit nerve wracking about the man knowing all the details of her current situation. Her luck didn't hold. One officer got off on the second floor, and then one got off on the third floor, leaving Sharon with Provenza. He continued to stare straight ahead, and she did the same. She let out a sigh of relief when the elevator stopped on Provenza's floor. As he stepped off, he turned back to her, "Glad to see things are okay so far with the princess, Captain," he said, his face void of emotion. Sharon wanted to say something, but he moved away before she could. That man. He'd spoken to Andy, or rather, Andy had told him everything, even to include the disagreement over the baby's gender.
As she waited for the elevator to climb to her floor, her mind briefly wandered to Andy. She couldn't help it, but she hoped the thoughts would fade after the baby was born, and she could get out of the city. She knew she was kidding herself because, yes, even though he'd signed away his parental rights, she KNEW he was the father and would think of him from time to time. She just hoped she didn't think of him each time she looked at the baby. She didn't think of Jack each time she looked at her kids, so she hoped the thoughts would fade. She shook herself out of her thoughts as she realized she was about to miss her floor. The elevator doors were open, and she was still standing in the elevator. She shook off her thoughts, ran her hands over the peanut again, and she stepped onto her floor. A new week was beginning.