Sunday Morning

Gabriel sat in church like he did every Sunday. The pastor gave his sermon, but David's mind was elsewhere. He really liked Eliza, but he was nervous about starting a new relationship. He lost his temper with Irene, his next girlfriend was a rat who cost him and the Chief their jobs with Major Crimes, and his next girlfriend was a total nut. He looked around, married couples, their children, their children's children. David wondered if he'd ever be like these families. He wondered if he even wanted that anymore. The sermon finally ended. Gabriel got up to leave. His pastor found him on his way out the door.

"Are you alright, David? You don't seem like your usual self."

"I'm in a rut. It seems like my life is just spinning wheels."

They went to his office in the back to talk. "I had a plan," David began. "I was supposed to find a woman, get married have kids, bring my kids here like my parents brought me here and live the life, but everything fell apart. I thought she was the one. She ended up costing me my friends, I had to transfer at work, my boss's career got a wrench thrown in it, and ever since, it's one mistake after another."

"You have to forgive yourself, David."

"What?"

"You blame yourself for everything, Irene, confiding in your lawyer-girlfriend I'm sure you blame yourself for whatever happened since then. You have to let go of your past, your anger, your demons."

"How do I do that?"

"Do something else this week. Do things you wouldn't ordinarily do. Go somewhere new. The world is too big to hold onto the past. Your demons live in your patterns. They can wait for you there. They can haunt you. Make new patterns. Set your foot in somewhere else."

David couldn't believe it. He pretty much told her the same thing that Brenda did. He laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"My boss told me pretty much the same thing."

"Smart lady. I don't want to see you here for the next month."

"But I come here every Sunday."

"Find somewhere else to be. Sometimes, people become too dependent on the church. They screw up, get mad at themselves, come here to feel better, just to make the screw up again next week anyway. God is with you always. You don't need to be here to find him."

"Thanks."

Gabriel was off. He had no idea what he would be doing or where to go, but the world is big. I'll have to find something in it.

David walked by a building. He saw that it was covered in graffiti. It was actually very good. Someone was telling some kind of story: the kids played, the men fought, the women watched in horror and a poor boy was caught in the crossfire. Someone knew this neighborhood's history pretty well. Someone committed it to the public sphere.

He smelled fresh spray paint. He looked around the corner. The story continued to grow. Gabriel watched for a minute. This guy was really good. When he noticed he was being watched, the guy took off running. He dropped his sketchpad in a rush. Gabriel tried to catch him, but he was too quick. He found pad of paper. Gabriel flipped through it. No name of course, but he could see the basis for the graffiti. Gabriel took the notebook and went home.

His phone rang. "Hello, Detective Sgt. Gabriel." He assumed it was work.

"Ooh I was just looking for David."

"Hi Eliza. How are you?" She called him?

"I'm fine. I was wondering if you wanted to come to a bridge with me."

"A bridge?"

"Yeah."

"Why not?"

Gabriel got the address and met her there. Eliza was there, pencil and paper in hand. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"What are you up to?"

"The mayor asked me to put something together for the city, and I'm trying to find locations that people pass but never notice."

"You picked under a bridge."

"Yeah. What's that in your hand?"

"Oh this. I found it. A graffiti artist dropped it when he ran away." He showed her the notebook.

"This is really good."

"I know. I saw him painting the wall."

"You saw him, and you watched." She seemed offended.

"What? He was working in public. It was cool."

"It's an underground art form. You can't watch. That's like being a peeping Tom in the artist world."

"Why was he out there at 1PM?"

"I dunno. Maybe no one's there around 1PM. You have to give this back."

"How? He ran away, and he left no name."

She flipped through the book. "Yes he did." She pointed to a symbol of a hawk eating a snake.

"Who is he Prince? That's a symbol, not a name."

"To an artist, it's both. I bet I can find him with this symbol."

"If you do, can you return the book."

"Of course. Now, sketch time."

She showed Gabriel how she worked. She started by surveying the scene and scaling the size of each object. She lightly drew rough shapes, squares, circles, ovals as stand ins for her subject. They came together to form a complex matrix. Once she did that, she refined the sketch, over and over in layers, until a scene emerged. She lightly did some detail work and then got her dark pencil and deeply did the major lines. She used her fingers to blend and ghost the image and before Gabriel's eyes, an image appeared. She took the same, boring underpass that Gabriel saw and made it haunted, menacing, strangely fascinating. "That was amazing."

"That's just the first draft."

"Draft?"

"I will refine this with my charcoal at home."

Gabriel's mouth hung open. He couldn't believe that was just a draft. "So no one ever sees these."

"I hold on to them, but they're just drafts."

"Have you ever thought of repurposing them? Taking them all and putting them together some how."

"Like what, a book."

"Or a mural, or imprinting the image onto something, like a box."

"A box?" She laughed. This sounded rather silly.

"Yeah. A music box, a jewelry box."

"Hmmm!" Who was this guy trying to give her ideas for her own art. Why is he interested anyway?

"Are you hungry?"

"I could eat. I know a great chicken and waffles place around here."

"Chicken and Waffles. Are you from the south?"

"No. I'm from San Francisco. Every can appreciate chicken and waffles. Except vegetarians, but they don't count as real people anyway."

Gabriel laughed. "Let's go, then."

Sharon's House

She slept soundly. She had a great night last night. She had forgotten how nice it can be to go out for once. She hugged her pillow.

Rusty snuck in. He had been out half the night with Kyle. Somehow, she didn't seem to notice. Let's keep it that way Rusty thought as he began to make breakfast. Rusty took the bacon and eggs out of the fridge and started to cook. He made some toast and sat down with a plate of food and a glass of juice. Sharon is usually up by now. He thought as he ate alone. After breakfast, he put his dishes away and went to knock on her door. "Are you alright in there?" He opened the door. She was sound asleep.

He went back to his room and started his homework.

Andrea's House.

Clothes were all over the floor downstairs. Andrea was sound asleep in her bed. Flynn slipped downstairs and started to poach some eggs. He made english muffins and put butter and sauteed spinach on top.. He even made a hollandaise sauce to go on top of the eggs. He opened the freezer. She had those pre cut hash browns, and he seared some with a little oil. He plated the food and set the table.

He found his boxers, put them on and went back upstairs. "Breakfast is ready," he told her as he gently woke her up.

"Food." She was still sleepy. She eventually got out of bed and threw a housecoat on and went downstairs. "It smells lovely."

They started eating, mostly not talking but smiling at each other. Andrea put on some coffee and got some juice out of the fridge. Flynn grabbed her from behind and started kissing her neck. She turned to him and kissed his lips. She ruffled his hair and went back to eating, she was hungry.

After breakfast, they cleared their plates. "Stay for a while," she said softly as her arms wrapped around him. He kissed her on the head, and they sat in front of the tv. Flynn watched sportscaster to learn about the games the night before, and Andrea rested on his shoulder.

Brenda and Fritz's apartment

Bobby made breakfast. He was in a great mood. Sharon's green eyes stayed in his mind as he made waffles. Bobby wasn't paying too close attention, and he accidentally dropped one. As soon as it hit the floor, Hunter stole it and ran way. She caught a prize. Joel hopped up and followed. He was going to share in the winnings. Bobby made another waffle. He put on a skillet for some scrambled eggs and a pan for some bacon.

Brenda and Fritz were still spooning. Brenda could smell the food and wanted to get up, but she didn't want to leave Fritz's side. When she heard him groan, she turned to face him. "I think breakfast is coming up."

They got dressed and left their bedroom.

"I came home and you all were fast asleep."

They looked at each other and smiled. They knocked themselves out being very active.

Brenda put on some coffee, and Fritz poured the juice. They sat down for breakfast.

"So how was your night, Bobby."

"It was nice. Sharon, Hunter and I went for a run and a moonlight picnic."

"Sharon?" Fritz was confused, surely he didn't mean Captain ….

"You know, Brenda's friend."

"Friend?" Fritz wasn't sure if friend was the right word.

"We're friends, Fritzi."

"The kind that can't stand each other?"

"Everyone has a friend like that," said Bobby. "You know, the people you like but you can only handle them in small doses."

"How did you all meet?"

"Brenda introduced us. I locked myself out the house, and I had to borrow Brenda's key. They were all having lunch somewhere, and I sat down."

"So when will you be seeing her again."

"Oh, Brenda, we just met."

"You're blushing," she teased.

"AM NOT!" Well, now he was bright red.

"Bobby and Sharon sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S …."

"Oh you shut up!" He got even redder. Brenda knew exactly how to get under his skin.

"You kissed her didn't you." Bobby didn't answer; Brenda knew she had him. When's the wedding? I bet Fritz would be glad to give her away."

"What!" Fritz yelled out.

"Oh you shut up! I like her, and don't you go around meddling."

"I won't," Brenda lied, with her fingers crossed behind her back.

"And uncross your fingers."

"They weren't crossed," she lied again. "Oh I'm just teasing. I think it's nice you found someone. You might want to keep it on the DL though."

"Why?"

"Well, if Joyce finds out,"

"Screw her."

"She might try and use it in the divorce. Just make sure you keep your assets separate until it's all over."

"Assets, we just met."

"And who knows how long this divorce will take. You might be in a different place then."

"You think it will take a long time?" Bobby had no interest in staying married to that bitch, even if it was in name only.

"Well, Charlie called. She was worried."

"About what."

"She said Joyce hired a hotshot lawyer, and she's trying to clean you out."

"What! You didn't tell me."

"She just called, and what were you going to be able to do before Monday.

"You don't think Jacob can handle this one."

"I don't. At least, not alone. He's going to need some help, but we're a family. We'll get through is. We always do."

Bobby sighed. He had been having such a good weekend. He did not want to face this now.

Brenda grabbed his hand. "You're going to be just fine. I'll call Jacob on Monday, and see what we can do to help him."

"Thanks Bren."

After breakfast, they clear their plates. Bobby took Hunter out for a walk. Joel slept on the table.

"Were you serious the other day?" Fritz asked Brenda.

"About what?"

"About going to Florida for Thanksgiving."

"Well …." Brenda didn't know what to say. Her daddy missed her and she missed him to. She also didn't remember the last time she spoke to Jr.'s kids. "I think my dad might be expecting us."

"Why would he be expecting us?" Fritz did not like getting ambushed.

"Well, he was upset that we weren't planning on coming down for Christmas, and that Charlie's coming here."

"Charlie's coming here?"

"We didn't tell you. Bobby and I were talking..."

"Brenda."

"Charlie hasn't been here in a while. She hasn't seen her father since Christmas. Please."

"Well alright. Charlie coming is fine, although I wish I had been in the loop. About Florida..."

"We need to get tickets, ASAP and make sure you can take the time off work."

"So we're going."

"Please. It will mean a lot to Daddy, and I am trying to get better about staying in touch with my family."

"Well okay, I'll check the schedule tomorrow, but I am not making any …."

"Oh, you're wonderful. She kissed him and rushed to clear the table."

I feel like I have been snookered Fritz thought as his wife put the dishes in the dishwasher.

Brenda came back and kissed Fritz again. "I'll make the trip worth your while," she hissed into his ear as she fell into his lap. "I'm sure there are plenty of things you want to do to me."

Fritz smiled as he placed his hands on her lower back. "You have no idea."

They kissed and snuggled.