DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
A/N: This is the last chapter of this story. Thank you everyone for your reviews on this story and for sticking with me as I haven't been able to update as much as I would have liked to. Please enjoy this...Thank you!
Chapter 15
A few days later….
Sharon stirred in Andy's arms as she started to wake up. "Merry Christmas Eve," Andy whispered into her ear, which brought a smile to her face. It was finally Christmas Eve and Sharon thought they would never get there, with everything that had happened the past couple of days, weeks, and months.
She turned her body in his arms and kissed him. "Merry Christmas Eve indeed," she said as they broke apart. "How's your arm?" he asked her as he gently stroked his hand up and down her back. "Hmm, surprisingly it doesn't hurt right now," she told him and laid her head on top of his bare chest.
Her eyes were looking at his left shoulder, which still was showing some bruising. "Your shoulder is still bruised," she whispered to him. "Yeah," he groaned as he shifted his body so that Sharon was now laying on their bed and he was looking down at her. Her hair was splayed out on her pillow and she looked breathtaking to him.
He was careful not to tweak her left arm as he leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back and things started to get heated between them when they heard a soft knock at their door. She moaned as they broke their kiss. "Maybe if we're quiet, they will go away," he whispered to her.
Another knock came on the door. "I think one of us should answer the door," she whispered back to him. "I think that has to be you, babe," Andy groaned as he moved to the other side of the bed and laid there while Sharon sat up, placing the robe around her body as she stood up and walked over to the door.
She glanced at Andy making sure he was covered before she opened the door, slightly, and saw Matthew standing in the hallway, still dressed in his pajamas. "It's Christmas Eve!" he whispered to Sharon and she nodded. "Yes, it is sweetie," she smiled. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked him as Andy pulled his t-shirt over his head.
"Everyone else is sleeping, except me and Moxie," Matthew said and then saw Andy walking over to the door. "Hey kiddo, why don't we go downstairs and start to make some breakfast," Andy told him as he placed a kiss to Sharon's left shoulder. "That way, the smell of breakfast will wake everyone else up and it will give a chance for Mommy to get herself ready," Andy continued as he moved past Sharon and stood in the hallway with Matthew and Moxie.
Andy turned around to look at Sharon and she gave him a loving smile. He returned her smile and followed Matthew and Moxie downstairs to the kitchen. "Is Mom okay?" Matthew asked Andy as soon as they were downstairs.
"What do you mean by that?" Andy asked him as he turned on the kitchen lights. "Well, I noticed that she doesn't use her left arm like she used to, I was just wondering if something happened to her?" Matthew said innocently.
Andy didn't know how to answer Matthew. He was right, of course, because Sharon wasn't using her left arm due to her injury a few days ago. He had wanted to tell the kids what had happened but Sharon didn't want them to worry.
"Oh, uh, well," Andy started to say as he looked at Matthew and sighed. Andy rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and sat the boy down at the kitchen table. "Alright, truth is yes, Mom did hurt her arm, but she's fine," Andy told him.
"How did she hurt it?" Matthew inquired. Andy looked over Matthew's head to the hallway. "When she got the bad guy a couple of days ago," Andy whispered to him. There were a few seconds of silence between the two. "Okay," Matthew shrugged his shoulders and got off the chair, making his way towards the refrigerator.
"Okay?" Andy mumbled to himself as he stood up and walked over to the stove, grabbing a couple of pans and placing them on top of the burners. "Can you grab the eggs, and the white bread?" he asked Matthew as he made his way to the pantry to get a couple of things out.
Matthew managed to balance the carton of eggs and the bread as he took them out of the refrigerator and placed them on top of the counter. "Thank you," Andy told him as he returned with the cooking spray and a small bottle of cinnamon.
"What to you say to French toast, eggs, maybe a little bacon for the meat lovers here, huh?" Andy asked as he grabbed a bowl from one of the top cabinets and placed it on the counter. "Sounds great!" Matthew smiled.
"Okay, can you help me crack the eggs?" Andy asked and Matthew nodded. The two of them started to make breakfast.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Sharon was getting herself ready for the morning. She was in the bathroom getting dressed when there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Come in," she said as she brushed her hair. Emily stepped in the room and saw that her mom was in the bathroom getting ready.
"Morning Mom, Happy Christmas Eve!" Emily smiled as she stood there watching her. "Oh Emily! Good Morning my angel," Sharon said and placed the hair brush down on the sink before they hugged each other.
"How was your performance last night?" Sharon asked as they hugged. "Good Mom, remember I said that I received flowers that one day, from some unknown person?" Emily stated. "Yes, did you find out who it was?" Sharon nodded her head as she asked her daughter.
"Well, it turns out that it was from one of the guys on the crew of the set," Emily broke her mom's hug and leaned up against one of the sinks as she spoke. Sharon looked at her as she tried to follow what she was saying. "What?" Sharon said.
"I know, I know, I guess he was also on the crew for one of my performances back in New York and he secretly had a crush on me," Emily giggled. Sharon's eye brows raised up as she watched her daughter smile and giggle.
Sharon raised her left arm and Emily saw the bandage wrap underneath her long sleeve shirt. "Mom! What happened to you?" Emily asked, changing the subject as she pointed out the bandage. Sharon closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I'm fine, I just hurt my arm a little when we were confronting our murderer the other day, please don't worry," Sharon said, pulling her sleeve further down to cover the rest up. Before Emily could say anything, Sharon continued. "And please don't worry your brothers about it either, I really am fine," Sharon assured her. Emily was a little skeptical but agreed with her mom.
"Is that bacon I smell?" Emily asked as the two of them walked out of the bathroom. "Yes, Andy is cooking breakfast with your little brother," Sharon said as she turned off the lights in their bedroom and stepped into the hallway with Emily.
"Which one?" Emily chuckled and Sharon smiled. "Matthew," she said and glanced at her watch. "I wouldn't expect Ricky or Rusty up this early," Sharon continued as the two of them walked down the stairs and headed into the kitchen.
"I think we'll eat buffet style," Andy said as Sharon and Emily walked into the kitchen. He was taking the French toast off of the griddle and placed them on a big plate. He then handed the plate to Matthew and he placed it on the island, alongside the plate that had the strips of bacon.
Sharon stepped behind Andy and wrapped her arms around his mid-section, placing a kiss on the back of his neck. "Thank you for cooking us breakfast," she told him and he smiled, grabbing a bowl and placing the cooked eggs into it as she walked over to the cabinet that held the dishes.
They were all sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast as Ricky and Rusty joined them. Ricky woke up due to the smell of bacon and had a big pile of bacon on his plate as he sat down at the table. Rusty had to be called over the phone by Sharon. Everyone was enjoying breakfast as Emily, Ricky, and Rusty were talking amongst themselves.
Andy sat back and watched the scene unfold in front of him. It brought a smile to his face as he watched them interact with one another. He caught Sharon's eyes as she did the same and he winked at her, which made her laugh a little bit.
Matthew was sitting next to Sharon and he leaned over to her. "I'm sorry you hurt your arm getting the bad guy," he whispered. She glanced across the table at Andy and then back at Matthew. "Oh, sweetie, don't worry, I'm okay," she ruffled his hair as he went back to eating.
Later on, that afternoon, Sharon was sitting at her desk in the den, working on her computer when she heard a commotion in the family room. "Mom! Mom!" Ricky's voice shouted as he got closer to the den. Sharon thought something had happened so she stood up and saw Ricky coming towards her.
"What's the matter?" she asked him as she stepped out into the hallway to meet him. "Is it true you injured your arm a couple of days ago?" Ricky stood there, concerned. Sharon rolled her eyes. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell any of you about it," she shook her head.
"Hey, what's going on?" Andy came up from the basement, followed by Matthew. They were working on a train set in the basement. "Mom got hurt arresting your creep?" Ricky turned to Andy. "Matthew why don't you go in the family room, see if they're watching tv or something, okay?" Andy asked Matthew and he did.
"Ricky, let's go in the den," Andy gestured for Ricky to walk into the den and he did. Sharon and Andy followed him inside and closed the door. Ricky stood there with his arms folded across his chest. "Mom, before you or Andy say anything, I just want you to know that I'm concerned about you and when you hear something like, oh hey Mom got injured on the job, a couple of days later from your sister, it's cause for alarm," he told them.
"Alright, first of all, I appreciate the concern, Ricky, I really do," Sharon started to tell him. "And you, why didn't you do anything? You're supposed to protect her!" Ricky turned to Andy and yelled at him. "Hey! It's not Andy's fault, and you will not yell at anyone here," Sharon scolded him and Ricky looked at his mother.
Andy looked at Sharon and gave her a silent nod before he spoke. "Look Ricky, yeah, your mother got injured during a search of our latest dirtbag, do I feel absolutely horrible that I couldn't stop that? Yes, but I know your Mom can take care of herself, she's one tough lady in my book," Andy told him.
"She didn't want to tell you kids because she knew it would upset you and Emily, and perhaps Matthew a little, although he seems to be doing okay with it now," Andy continued. "So, don't be mad at your Mom, if you want to be mad at someone, you can be mad at me," he ended.
Ricky stood there in front of his mother and step-dad. His face changed from anger to defeat. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's Christmas Eve and I certainly don't want to ruin anybody's Christmas, had enough of those growing up," he muttered the last part but Sharon still heard him.
Later on, that evening, Nicole, Dean, and the boys came over for a pre-appetizer meal before they all attended Midnight Mass at church. "Hey, let me show you all a new card game I learned on one of my business trips up North," Ricky said to Dean, Andy, and Rusty as they were all sitting around the kitchen table.
Ricky came back with two decks of cards and started shuffling them. "I hope this isn't poker," Rusty teased Ricky as he started to deal the cards onto the table. "No, it's not poker," Ricky said back as he flipped three cards on the table in front of them.
Rusty eyed Andy as he watched Ricky deal the cards to him and Dean. "Okay, so you always need to have three cards in your hands as we go around the table," Ricky started to explain to them. They all got the idea and started to play the game.
Meanwhile, Sharon, Emily, and Nicole were talking in the dining room. Nicole was still nibbling on one of the Christmas cookies that Sharon had made. "You really need to give me this recipe," she told Sharon. "Hmm, well next time I make them, and your father loves them too so I'm sure it will be soon, I'll call you over and we can make them together," Sharon smiled and Nicole nodded.
"Emily, are you finished with your ballet production this year?" Nicole asked Emily. "Yes, actually the group is taking two weeks off before auditions and pre-production of the next performance starts," Emily sounded excited as she said that. "I've been looking forward to getting some much-needed time off too," she giggled as she looked at her mom.
"That may give you time to pursue some other things as well," Sharon pointed out to Emily and Emily started to blush. Nicole saw this and wondered what was going on. "Oh Emily, do tell me what's going on?" Nicole giggled as well. "Well, it turns out I have two guys who are interested in me," she smiled and they all squealed together.
Back in the kitchen, Rusty groaned as he picked up the pile of cards because he didn't have anything in his hand higher than a King. Ricky laughed as he did that. "Oh, I wouldn't laugh, you were in that same boat not too long ago," Andy pointed out to him as he was holding one card in his hand. Ricky squinted back at Andy as he looked to see what card Andy had placed down on the table.
A few minutes later, Andy had won that hand and all the guys started to groan. Sharon walked into the kitchen to grab another refill on wine when she heard all the guys at the table. "What's going on over here?" she inquired as she walked to the island.
"Your husband has won two times so far at this new card game Ricky taught us," Dean chimed in as he took the cards that Rusty had dealt him. Sharon smiled and walked over to stand behind Andy. "That's my boy," she grinned and leaned down to give Andy a kiss on his cheek which then made Andy smile.
"Ugh come on guys!" Rusty complained to both Sharon and Andy as he looked at his cards. "Oh please, that was an innocent kiss," Sharon stated and went back to the counter of the island to grab her wine glass. Sharon smiled at all of the guys sitting at the kitchen table and went back to the dining room to be with her daughter and step-daughter.
She was surprised to see Matthew, Colin, and Avery in the dining room as well. "Is the movie over already?" she asked them as she sat down at her spot. "No, we just came in for reinforcements," Avery stated as he placed another cookie in his mouth. The three ran off back into the family room to finish the movie they were watching.
It was now close to midnight and the whole family was sitting in the pew at church. They were listening to the bell choir play their songs before the start of Midnight Mass occurred. Sharon looked down the row and saw everyone was enjoying listening to the music. She leaned back and glanced up at Andy. He looked down and gave her a wink. She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.
After Mass was over, Nicole, Dean, and the boys parted ways with Sharon, Andy, and the rest of them. "We'll see you tomorrow night for dinner," Sharon told them as she kissed Nicole's cheek. "I hope Santa is good to you," Andy said to both Colin and Avery. "Good night, drive carefully," Nicole told them and they left.
When they got home, all of the kids went to bed, leaving Sharon and Andy in the family room. They re-arranged all of the presents that they had brought up from the spare room in the basement. "I'm surprised Matthew didn't peek at these when we were down there this afternoon," Andy huffed as he placed a big present for Matthew on the side of the tree.
"Hopefully, this is the last year he believes in Santa," Andy added as he flopped down on the couch. Sharon turned around and looked at him. She smiled as she walked over to him. "Are you all tuckered out from being Santa?" she asked but couldn't hold a straight face and started to giggle. "Shhhh, you'll wake them all and I won't be able to do this," Andy stood up and held out his hand to her.
Sharon gave him a look and placed her hand in his. He smiled and moved them over to an open area in the family room. "Alexa, play Frank Sinatra Christmas on Pandora!" Andy called out and Sharon heard Alexa repeat what Andy asked. She smiled as Frank Sinatra's voice started singing, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,".
Andy held Sharon close to him as they started to dance as best as they could to that song. She laid her head on his chest and he held her to him as they moved together. The year went by fast for them with many happy moments along with some crazy, trying times along the way. Injuries and illnesses but they were both grateful to be in each other's arms. "I love you," Andy whispered. "I love you too," Sharon smiled in reply. "Merry Christmas, babe," Andy said and kissed Sharon as they danced.
The end