A/N: Thank you again for the kindness in your reviews. I am thrilled that you are enjoying the story. Oh by the way, I lied again. Shorter chapter? Yeah right. 6000+ words later. Enjoy.
Chapter 7-Wow, this is normal?
Sam had spent the weekend at Jerry's completing the tree house. It really looked awesome if he might say so himself. He had hoped to see Leo's face when he saw it completed but Leo had been with Dex for the weekend and was not expected home till 8:00 pm. Sam packed up his tools and with an all knowing grin told Traci and Jerry that he would see them tomorrow at work. He couldn't wait.
When he got home that night around 6:00, his answering machine light was blinking. He had two messages. The first was from Sarah wishing him a good first day back and of course much luck with his date. The second was from Frank advising him that his meeting with Guns and Gangs at Headquarters was postponed until noon so he would expect Sam at parade first thing in the morning. Sam couldn't wait to get back to work. He had never been suspended before so the three weeks off had been a new experience for him. If he really thought about it, there were quite a few things that he had never experienced before he met Andy McNally.
In his hurry to finish at Jerry's, he had bypassed lunch, so he made himself a huge plate of pasta and sat down to watch the hockey game. His mind was really on anything but hockey. He was going through his mental checklist. His house was clean, he had shopped for whatever he would need for his dinner with Andy and now it was just a waiting game. He was so anxious, he wished he could just wake up and it would be Monday night. As he heard the commentators announce the beginning of the third period he shut the TV. He got up and washed the dishes, then headed to his bedroom. Between his time undercover and the suspension period, it felt a bit strange packing his bag with his uniform again. He took down his lock box with his weapon and pulled his boots out of the closet. Finally, he washed up and changed for bed and hoped that sleep would come quickly.
Andy could hardly believe that she had slept a wink the night before. She felt like a kid waiting for Santa to come. She was so excited to finally see Sam but the truth was that she really missed her job as well. She leapt from the bed and practically ran to the shower. There was no chance she was going to be late today.
Sam continued to watch his alarm clock almost willing it to sound. He had been staring at the ceiling for the greater part of the last hour hoping to get back to sleep but no such luck. Finally the alarm blared through the room and he headed for the shower. A short time later he was showered and dressed and pouring coffee into a travel mug. He still had an hour before parade so he headed to the car wash. Andy would have his truck tonight and she would expect nothing but immaculate from him. Forty minutes later he was pulling into the Division parking lot. He shut the engine and sat for a minute trying to calm his nerves. He wasn't sure when he turned into THIS guy but he was pretty sure that it coincided with the arrival of a doe eyed fresh faced rookie slapping the cuffs on him. Yep, he was positive that that was just the beginning of Andy mastering her skill of wrapping him around her finger even if she was clueless to her abilities."
Sam was relieved that the locker room was fairly quiet, until suddenly it wasn't. It was almost as if they sensed his presence that Oliver and Jerry strolled in and sat on the bench in front of his locker staring at him. Right behind them were Epstein and Diaz. The truth is, he was thrilled to see them. All of them.
After man hugs and handshakes everyone got suited up. Jerry headed for his office and left Oliver sitting next to Sam, both men tying up their boots. Shaw noticed Sam's bag in between them and was just about to grab the white box with the red ribbon just as Sam zipped up his duffle bag and threw it in his locker.
"Not a chance Shaw." Sam smiled
"Aw come on Sammy, you can show me, I can keep a secret."
"Yeah sure.…. Ya know…. I would but we really have to get going." Sam snapped his locker shut, spun the dial and headed for the door. He chuckled as he heard Oliver slam his locker and mumble something about, No one tells him anything.
Andy kept looking toward the door and then back to the front of the room. She repeated the pattern five times before Traci finally grabbed her arm. "Careful McNally, you might strain your neck and that might put a damper on your sexy time with Swarek tonight."
"Traci!" she couldn't help but grin at her friend. "What makes you think…" she was whispering.
"Oh please, I saw what was in your duffle bag. Apparently, Victoria's not the only one with a secret." She folded her arms in front of her.
The women leaned in, heads together, "He sent me a poem. Well actually his nieces wrote a poem for me…. from him. He's gonna put something in my locker today. It's something like a treasure hunt." She pressed her lips together and crossed her arms in front of her.
"Wow. Swarek is really full of surprises." She looked over her shoulder. "Speaking of prince charming, look who just walked in."
Andy whipped her head around to see Sam sit on the back table next to Oliver. She really wasn't looking to bring any more attention to them but she couldn't help the smile that took over her face, even better he was giving one right back to her. He gave her a wink just as Frank walked in to begin parade.
"Good morning Coppers. Three quick notes this morning before you head out. First, all uniformed officers will be attending retraining exercises beginning next week, please check the schedule for your days. Secondly, we're looking for volunteers to spend one shift a week at the local schools as part of our community outreach program. The signup sheet is on the bulletin board. Last order of business,…..today we are happy to welcome back two of 15th's finest, Sam Swarek and Andy McNally." A round of applause filled the room. "It's been a long time, ….glad to have you back. Swarek you're to report immediately to the gun range for recertification then straight to booking. Once you're medically cleared you will be put back in the rotation for patrol. McNally check the board for your assignment. Now serve, protect and …..please,….stay out of trouble." With that, everyone started to disperse to their assignments. Andy checked the board and saw that she was partnered with Noelle for the day. As if on cue, everyone vacated the parade room while Andy and Sam still lingered. Noelle looked between the two, gave a quick eye roll and smiled. "McNally, meet you outside in ten."
Andy acknowledged with a quick nod of the head and came to stand in front of Sam.
"Hey." He said with a smile.
"How've you been?" she gently traced her finger over the scar under his left eye.
"I'm good, really good… now." He wanted to say so much more. "I missed ya." He whispered.
Andy moved her hand to his name tag and pretended to straighten it. "Missed you too." She whispered back looking up at him through dark lashes. She was feeling overwhelmed by her need to touch him, to make sure that he was really there. He placed his hand over hers against his chest.
"I really wanna kiss you right now but I don't want to push our luck on our first day back." He smirked.
"That's okay." She leaned in. "I'll let you make it up to me tonight."
"Sounds like a plan." He grinned as they both headed for the door.
She nudged his shoulder, "I thought you didn't like making plans?"
"Only when they're with you McNally." He winked and was out the door.
Sam met up with Lieutenant Galvin at the gun range and went through the required exercises. Not surprisingly, he passed with flying colors. He felt good enough to go back on duty but apparently doing construction on his time off did not go unnoticed by his physician, who refused to sign off on his medical form. He would therefore have to suck it up for another week at a desk. Fortunately, it was a very busy day which made the shift go quickly. He got to see Andy later in the morning, only briefly as she handed off a shoplifter to be fingerprinted. They signed him in and headed back out to patrol. Around 11:30, Sam headed over to headquarters for his Guns and Gangs meeting. In the meeting was Superintendent Peck, two officers from Internal Affairs, the Head of Guns and Gangs and Sam's police union delegate. He was deposed by his union representative as to the facts of the Brennan case regarding Donovan Boyd. He was more than happy to oblige. Sam was the first one to support his brother officer, however, this time it hit too close to home. Boyd had no regard for him or Andy or the innocent lives of Margaret and Gracie Brennan. He would never be able to live with himself if he let this get swept under the rug again, despite the fact that he would have to rehash his and Andy's involvement.
Two hours later he was back at the barn in booking. He found it funny that normally he loathed being assigned to booking. A parade of characters was marched through the doors to be processed. However, nothing was going to sour his mood today. He left Officer Andrews at the desk momentarily and ran to the men's locker room to get Andy's box. He slipped into the ladies locker room without being seen and quickly made his way to her locker. He had watched her open her locker a hundred times so breaking in was a piece of cake. The fact that he knew her combination wouldn't surprise her. She would smile that he remembered. That was the main reason for her making the stops around the city tonight. Well, part of it anyway. Since they both were on the same shift, it would certainly buy him some time to make sure everything was perfect for their date but also it was a chance to show her that even though he hadn't made his feelings known, he had been paying close attention from the very beginning.
As quick as he came in was as quick as he was out and back to the desk. When shift was over he went immediately to get changed and find a ride home. Jerry was in the bullpen when he came out and was happy to give him a lift.
Andy was practically skipping into the women's locker room after shift. A fact that did not go unnoticed by…well anyone. Noelle was right behind her and behind them were Traci and Gail. Andy immediately opened her locker to find a white box with a red bow. Attached to the bow were Sam's truck keys. She couldn't help the grin that was overtaking her face.
"Hmmm, looks like someone got a present." Noelle commented.
"Come on Andy, open it up. Let us see." Gail interjected.
Andy hesitated for a second; quickly slipping the keys in her pocket, then untied the bow and opened the box. The girls weren't kidding when the poem said solve the puzzle, in the box was an actual puzzle. She loved puzzles but really Sam? This man was gonna be the death of her.
"Want some help?" Traci asked.
She was torn. Sam was a pretty private guy but at the same time all she could think of was that the sooner she put together that puzzle, the sooner she could be with Sam.
"Yeah, that would be great." It looked to be about a hundred pieces. They moved over to the towel table outside the showers and dumped the pieces out. Traci and Andy started to fit pieces together. Noelle pulled up a stool and tried to help. Gail rolled her eyes and walked right past them and out the door. She was more interested in seeing if Detective Callaghan would like to take her to dinner then help Andy McNally with her love life.
They were about half way through the puzzle which was starting to take the shape of a Toronto city map. Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. In walked Chris and Dov.
"Ice Queen told us that Swarek made you a puzzle." Said Dov as he looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing.
"Do you want some help?" asked Chris.
"Sure, ….why not?" said Andy.
"Amateurs, everyone knows you build the border first." Now, it was Oliver looking over their shoulders and pushing the guys to the side.
Before Andy knew it, the six of them had completed the puzzle. She grabbed her note pad and wrote down the stops and addresses. Now it was time to get dressed. She grabbed her stuff to jump in the shower.
"Uh, excuse me?" she waved the men out the door. "Do you mind?" she laughed.
Andy quickly showered and dressed in skinny jeans, black boots and a black flowy top. She dried her hair wavy and did her makeup, dramatic but not over the top. She grabbed her notes, the keys and her bag and headed for the parking lot, where her friends were waiting patiently.
"Wow, Andy you look gorgeous." Said Chris."
"He's right Andy, you do." Traci commented.
"Rock n roll McNally." Said Dov.
"Don't you guys have lives?" she chuckled
Then from the car parked next to Sam's truck, "McNally, McNally, don't you see, this is like the perfect storm. All the stars are finally aligned for you two, so go get your man already." She blushed at Oliver and hopped up into Sam's truck. As she waited for the truck to warm up she fished Sam's pin out of her bag and pinned it to her jacket lapel. She turned the radio on, a track on the cd started to play, 'I can't wait to see you.' She smiled; glad he had been enjoying the cd she made him.
The first stop on the map was a liquor store on Dundas. She walked in not really sure what she was supposed to do but not to worry; the owner was waiting for her. "Good evening, you must be Andy?"
"Yes, I am. My friend sent…."
"Your friend" he raised an eyebrow and grinned. "….left something for you." He acknowledged the pin on her jacket, reached behind the counter and handed her a bottle wrapped in a clear cellophane bag.
It was her favorite wine. A staple for her and Traci's girl's nights. How would he know that? She never drank wine at the Penny and she didn't recall any discussions of favorite alcoholic beverages with him. She grinned and said thank you to the man and made her way back to the truck.
The second stop was at Sabbatino's Italian Bakery. Andy loved that place. When she was a kid, she and her dad would go there every Sunday morning to get fresh rolls and then he would let her pick out any treat that she wanted. It was a small but good memory that she was able to hang onto from her childhood. Again, she walked in and the owner walked up to her.
In her thick Italian accent she said, "Good evening Andy, I'm Maria. Your sweetheart picked this just for you. He said it was your favorite."
"Can I look?" Andy asked.
"Of course you can."
She opened the box and once again another of Andy's favorite things. Red Velvet cake. She shook her head. It had been a passing comment. One of the officers wives, had twins, a boy and a girl. He had red velvet cupcakes some with the icing colored pink and the rest with blue. Andy had mentioned it was her favorite but to no one in particular. Only Sam would remember something so insignificant.
Her last stop was at the Perfect Petals florist on King Street. For the third time that night, she was approached by the owners of the shop. This time she knew the couple, Mr. & Mrs. Evans.
Months before there had been a robbery at the jewelry store next door. Sam and Andy had taken the report and during their canvas of the area had come in to get a statement regarding any information they might have about the perps or the getaway vehicle. It was the very first call on her very first shift after she broke up with Luke. She had spent the day teetering on the border of anger and hysterics the entire day. Somehow, she held it together. Barely. To the average person she was just having a bad day but Sam knew there was more to it. He had asked her immediately what was wrong and in typical McNally fashion she had deflected the conversation. As she finished up with the Evans' they handed her a single daisy. She immediately put her hand up and said that she couldn't accept it. Mr. Evans put his hand on her shoulder and said, "It seems like the real crime is such a sad face on such a beautiful girl." She had smiled at the gesture. Her first genuine smile in 36 hours. Such a sweet act of kindness. Her mood was a little lighter the remainder of the day.
Mr. & Mrs. Evans saw her walk in the shop and called for one of the employees to handle the counter.
"Hello, Ms. McNally, is it ok if we call you that?" said Mrs. Evans.
"Andy, Andy is much better."
"Well, Andy, we have something for you." Andy was already blushing.
They walked with her back to the walk-in fridge and handed her the most stunning bouquet of Gerbera daisies. Her favorite, of course.
"Thank you, they're gorgeous."
"You're welcome. We're happy for you and Sam. He's a good man that Swarek." Said Mr. Evans.
"I know. He definitely is. Thanks very much."
Andy hoisted herself back into the cab of the truck and seat belted herself in. She hadn't even gotten to Sam's yet and she was already a bit overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness. She was bordering on tears and trying her hardest to keep it together. A couple of deep breaths and she was headed in the direction of his house.
Jerry had dropped Sam off and wished him luck. As soon as he got in the door he started getting dinner under way. He set the table and even took out candles. He had been torn about what to make for dinner. He decided on one of his mom's recipes that happened to be one of his favorites. Chicken Hunter. He chopped and sliced and mixed and finally layered everything in a glass baking dish. Once that was in the oven, he ran to shower. Afterwards as he stood in front of the vanity shaving, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. This girl had him jumping through hoops and he quite frankly…he loved it. He had never wanted to make things so perfect for a woman before; then again, no woman had ever come close to Andy.
He finished in the bathroom and put on dark jeans and a button down shirt. He must have played with the buttons ten times. Buttoning and unbuttoning. Rolling the sleeves up then back down. He threw on shoes and straightened the comforter on his bed. He had changed the sheets before he left for work, just in case. He smiled to himself, again. What the hell is wrong with me?
He headed back to the kitchen to start the risotto and make a salad. About halfway through, his cellphone rang.
"Swarek."
"Hi Sam, it's Tom Evans. She just left."
"Thanks for the heads up and for your help." Sam said.
"Be careful son, she looks stunning; you are in big trouble my friend."
Sam chuckled, "Don't I know it. Thanks again."
Suddenly, the butterflies were back.
Dinner was almost ready. Sam heard the rumble of his pickup truck in the driveway. He wanted to run out the door, grab her and carry her in but he was trying to hang on to his last shred of manhood. He smiled as he heard the knock on the door.
She looked beautiful. Her hair was down and wavier than normal. Her makeup looked different than he had ever seen it and her face was rosy. He wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or that she was blushing. "Hi." Andy said smiling at him, the wine bottle tucked in her arm with the cake box in her hand and her flowers in the other hand.
"Hey you." He immediately reached out to grab the wine and the cake and placed a kiss on her cheek. Her face was warm. Definitely blushing. He held the items with one hand and grabbed Andy's hand in the other and walked her toward the kitchen. She hung on to the flowers and let him guide her, neither one saying a word. Mr. Evans was right, she was stunning. And yeah, he was in a whole lot of trouble. They walked into the kitchen, Sam still holding her hand. Andy looked down at their intertwined fingers and then back up to his eyes. He took the wine and the cake and placed it on the counter. He helped her shrug off her jacket and Sam laid it over the dining chair.
He cupped her face in his hand and kissed her gently. When he pulled back, it was her turn to pull him closer. He kissed her again until their need for air was too great.
"I've been thinking about that all day." He admitted.
"Thank God, I thought it was just me." she said shyly.
She looked down at their hands joined once again and then up to his face with a smile. "So, it's JD is it?"
He immediately knew she was teasing him after her comment undercover.
His face got very serious. "No, It's Sam, …it was always Sam." He kissed her again. One hand in her hair the other on her waist. God knows they could have stayed like that all night. The timer on the stove went off shaking them out of the stupor they were in. Sam cleared his throat.
"Make yourself comfortable. Would you like a glass of wine?"
"No way. Partners remember? You finish your cooking, which smells unbelievable by the way, and I will pour the wine."
He pointed to the cabinet with glasses and grabbed a bottle opener out of the drawer.
Andy poured them each a glass and set them down. She then hopped onto the counter where she could watch him. He took a step toward her and boxed her in. She held out a glass to him, feeling a bit flushed by his proximity. "Um…..Should we toast to something?"
"Ok. How about to being normal?" he chided.
"We can do better than that." She smiled.
"Fine. Fine." He thought for a few seconds and then raised his glass to hers. "Here's to taking chances."
"Aw come on, I've been sooooo good. Ok, well before the whole Brennan thing. Haven't I?"
"I meant you taking a chance on me." All humor left her eyes as she realized the sincerity of his words.
"Oh." No matter how hard she tried she couldn't look away from his stare. He turned to stir what was on the stove.
"This is my favorite. How did you know?" she pointed to her glass.
"I just know." He smiled.
"Come on. How? I don't remember us ever talking about wine or me ever drinking it with you." She prodded.
"Nash. We were partnered one day and she was talking about how you guys had a ladies night with entirely too much of your favorite pinot noire. Something about your super powers and hanging things straight…..oh yeah, about those super powers…Leo…."
"Yeah. I know." She said embarrassedly. "I hope you weren't uncomfortable..I mean, they were just stories….don't get me wrong, I think you are an amazing cop…."
"Andy. Andy." He tried to slow down her nervous chatter. "I didn't mind it…. at all. Honestly, I loved that you were talking about me. Those super hero stories are what got me through those three weeks. Even though we couldn't talk I felt like I was hearing it from you. By the way, I think our friend is on to us. Did you ever tell him about you getting shot?"
"No, …..well, actually I think he did find out. I had been at Traci's and was showing her my bruise and Leo walked in. He freaked out a little bit, so Traci explained what happened. Why do you ask?"
"I was over there the other day and that was the story I told and he got really quiet. I think we are gonna have to have a chat with our little friend at his birthday."
"Definitely."
They sat down to a leisurely dinner. Sam was an exceptional cook. Not only was the food delicious but the conversation flowed easily, not an uncomfortable moment had passed. They discussed going back to work and talked about what they did during their time off.
"God Sam, this was so good. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"I mean you did tell me that you cook, you clean, you're an excellent driver and …oh yeah you're good with tools. By the way, you really are good with tools! I saw the work you did over at Jerry's, so great. I might have to recruit you for my new place."
"Whatever you need. I felt bad that I couldn't be there to help you with everything. Especially the testing of your new bed." He winked.
"Oh my God! I told Traci that he heard us talking." She laughed.
They cleared the table and cleaned up together. Sam had bought her favorite French vanilla coffee. Then it was time to bust out the cake.
"Ok. How'd you know about the Red Velvet cake? It was the cupcakes for Dennison's twins, right?"
"Yep."
"I can't believe you remembered that. Such an insignificant thing. You were really paying attention."
"McNally, you have no idea." He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.
They relocated to the den with two giant pieces of cake and their mugs of coffee. Sam sat with his feet up on the coffee table, Andy kicked off her boots and sat next to him her feet bent under her.
"Okay, so how did you know those were my favorite flowers? And don't say you just knew."
Sam hesitated before answering. "Last year, your birthday, Luke bought you roses, I remember the look on your face. Then Diaz got you one of those big flowers. From the look on your face, I could just tell. I ended up going to see Tom and Karen the other day and just tried to find the same flowers. I didn't even know what they were called. They laughed at me. You must think I'm an idiot."
"No. Actually, I think you are unbelievably sweet. Especially, to go through all that trouble. Even the puzzle, the poem, so thoughtful."
"My sister and my nieces were a huge part of that." He admitted.
So how are Sarah and the girls?"
He grinned. "They're great. They were really excited to be involved in this whole…thing."
"I didn't put it together right away that day when she delivered the basket but then she smiled and it was like looking at you….only prettier." She winked. "The dimples were a dead giveaway. Then the girls came over, they are adorable."
"I know. They are too much. Every time I see them I feel like I've missed so much time. They are just growing up so fast. By the way, they really want to meet you, you know…..officially."
"I would love that. That poem was pretty great. Not as great as my DVD message but great."
"You liked that did ya?"
"I loved it. Didn't know you had it in you."
"I think there is a lot about me that you might be surprised about."
"Really? Like what?" she said seductively.
"I'm sorry, but that's on a need to know basis." He replied in kind, his dimples beaming.
Andy got up from her seat and straddled his lap, staring into his eyes with a bravado she never felt before. "Well in that case, I think I definitely need to know." She leaned in and kissed him. Sam couldn't help himself. He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her closer. When he couldn't handle it anymore, he planted his legs firmly on the ground and scooped her up, her legs hooked around his waist and her hands around his neck, he carried her to his bedroom.
In that moment all he could concentrate on was her neck. That slender neck and oh God, he was pretty sure that no one should smell that good. He couldn't leave enough kisses on that neck. Until he was suddenly sidetracked, by her hands, unbuttoning his shirt. Before he knew it, it was off. He couldn't stop staring at her as she ran her hands over his chest. He felt like he was having an out of body experience. His body felt warm everywhere she touched. Finally, as his heart was beating out of his chest his eyes met hers. Her hands went down to the hem of her shirt and she gently pulled it over her head only to throw it on the floor next to his.
Andy couldn't get over how many things Sam had noticed, how many little things that he had taken the time to know. Who does that? In any event, it was her who was noticing things now. She noticed how dark his eyes got every time she smiled at him, she noticed how she could feel his heart beat get faster every time she moved her hands over the muscles of his chest and most of all she noticed that she never noticed how drawn to this man she was.
They had done this before. They had been intimate before, very intimate. So why did he feel like he was discovering her for the very first time? She stood before him in a purple lace bra. He had never seen anyone sexier in his life. He unhooked the button on her jeans and then slid them down those legs that went on for miles. Oh God, matching underwear.
She loved the way he was looking at her. It was as if she was the only one in his universe. She didn't miss the almost hiss-like sound that escaped his lips as she unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down his muscular legs. From that point on nothing went slow. The rest of their clothes came off in a frenzy, three weeks of wanting suddenly bubbling to the surface. He backed her up toward the bed and she flopped down with a giggle. He just stood there staring down at her and she could hear the definite hitch in his breath.
"Sam. What?"
"You're beautiful, ya know that?" He crawled up the bed to lie next to her.
"Thank you." She blushed.
He paused for a second but the pep talk from Oliver resounded in his head. "She must mean an awful lot to you for you to let her get near you while you were undercover "Three weeks is not forever. When you get the chance man up and put yourself out there."
"I never told you that." He brushed the stray hair off her face. "I never told you a lot of things."
"Sam, don't. It's not all on you. I wasn't exactly….. forthcoming."
"Promise me something Andy." His eyes never leaving hers as he spoke.
She nodded in agreement, it didn't matter what he would ask her.
"Promise me that whatever this is between us, that we give it a fair shake. I don't think my heart could take it otherwise."
"Oh Sam, I wouldn't…I could never….."
He cut her off, "I would imagine that with your tendency to save the world and my tendency to try to overprotect you, things might get….dicey at times. Just….don't give up on me okay? Relationships…. aren't exactly something that I've had time to master but I know that this is something I want more than I've ever wanted anything."
"Sam you're the one person who NEVER gave up on ME and you are by far the most stable person in my life."She rubbed her finger across his jawline. "We are in the same place, finally. This isn't casual for me either. I would't have risked everything, my job, our friendship, my life if I didn't know that this is what I truly wanted."
She pushed him on his back and climbed on top of him. "And as far as the relationship stuff goes, so far everything has been just...…heavenly."
He gave her a shy grin as he gently pulled her toward him to kiss her.
"Heavenly huh?" as he gently rolled her onto her back.
"Mmm hmmm." She ran her fingers through the hair at the back of his head.
"C'mon, I'm pretty sure I can do better than that."
