A/N: This took a while, but surprise! Before Thanksgiving! :) This idea has been brewing for a little while, but the journal just came to me on the way to my internship a couple days ago. I thought it was perfect. :)

Let me know what you think!

It's coming to the end of their suspension! It looks like there may only be a couple more chapters left. Maybe three or four more chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

Chapter 7: Day 20

Andy snuck up onto the porch, carefully cradling the box in her hands. It would be just her luck to trip and dump the box, and then all the chocolate frosting he loved so much would be all over her instead of his birthday cake.

She glanced back at his driveway. His truck still wasn't in the garage, but his porch lights were on. No matter how much Sam teased her, she couldn't repeat Sunday. She'd been so close to rushing into his arms instead of throwing that box at him. Much as she wanted to see him, she couldn't. For her own sanity.

She carefully lowered the cake box onto the porch ground and placed the small wrapped box—complete with a bright red bow and nametag—next to it. Andy tucked the envelope with her latest letter—along with a birthday card—in it underneath the wrapped gift.

She was smugly eying her masterpiece when she heard the purr of an engine coming up the street. She turned to look, and horror gripped her when she saw it was Sam, drinking a cup of coffee as he drove. He looked like he was about to pass out he was so tired.

They had to stop meeting like this.

She muttered a curse under her breath. She'd parked her dad's car two blocks away, in case something like this happened. That way, he wouldn't see the car to recognize she was around. Now, she regretted it. It would be infinitely harder to get past Sam this way.

She jumped off the front porch and took refuge behind a nearby bush. For now, it would have to do. Besides, this way she might get to see his reaction to her gifts.

Sam slowed to a stop, hiking his bag higher on his shoulder, as he noticed his front porch light, shining like a spotlight down on two boxes, setting just in front of his front door. A slow grin inched up the corners of his lips. Coming home to Andy's affection was a million times better than he could have ever imagined it would be.

He took the few last steps to his front porch, crouching down to study the packages. The larger of the boxes bore the seal of his favorite bakery—he'd dragged Andy there on more than one occasion—and the smaller box was wrapped in shiny, shimmery red birthday wrapping paper, a perky red bow plastered to the top. A nametag was tucked just underneath the bow, the words Happy Birthday! shouted across the top. He flipped the nametag over and smiled when he recognized Andy's girly, flowing script. To Sam, with love, Andy.

He smiled to himself and reached down to gather all the boxes into his arms. With the bakery box, the smaller gift box, and the letter he'd found tucked under the gift box, his hands were full, and it wasn't easy juggling everything into one arm while he unlocked his front door. After a few attempts, he managed to get the door open, and he discarded everything on his couch in the living room.

He dropped to his knees and carefully lifted the bakery box, grinning when he saw the chocolate cherry cake. A little handwritten note was taped to the inside of the box. I wish I could spend your birthday with you, Sam, but maybe this will make it up to you… a little bit. I know how you love your chocolate cherry cake!

He smiled at her words. Even seeing her words on the paper, the way her heart came across every word, was enough to make his birthday better. He'd had a good time with Alice, Liv, and Sarah and her husband, Patrick, but try as they might, they just couldn't compare with spending his birthday with Andy.

He reached for the gift box. It was too late to eat cake, anyway. He'd have some tomorrow. Maybe he could save it, and share it with Andy once their suspensions were over.

Sam ripped off the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box, surprised when he saw a journal before him. Glued to the front was a picture of them. Andy had tucked herself into his arms, and her arms were wrapped around his waist. He couldn't even remember when they had taken the photo, but they were at the Penny. Underneath the photo, to offset the brown cover, Andy had written in white-out, My Life with Sam.

He opened the journal to the first page.

Dear Sam,

Happy Birthday. I wish I could be sharing this with you in person, but since I can't, and no one will give me any hints as to what you could possibly want, you'll have to settle for this for now. :)

I absolutely love the journey that has led us to where we are right now (except for the whole separation thing!), and I can't wait to see where we are going next.

Love,

Andy

He smiled softly to himself as he let his fingers trail across her writing. The journal smelled faintly of her perfume. He ached for her. Sometimes he missed her so much he didn't know what to do. Sarah, Alice, and Liv had been a welcome distraction, but he was home again, and he didn't know how he was going to survive this next week.

He turned to the next page and burst out laughing when he saw the photo glued to the top of the page. He was scowling at the camera, his arms crossed angrily over his chest. He was wearing his uniform. He remembered that day. A few minutes before his shift had started, his bank had notified him that someone had stolen his identity and had used up all but $0.37 from his savings account. Then he'd been paired with Dov. Who insisted on yammering on about his girlfriend all through their shift. Then that drunk guy had puked all over the front of Sam.

All he'd wanted was to be back with McNally, even though she'd just announced her engagement to Calla-looser. But she'd been stuck at the front desk all day, answering telephones and directing visitors, and when he appeared near the front desk, still wet from trying to get the puke off of him (of course he hadn't had an extra uniform at the barn on that day of all days), Andy had whipped out a digital camera, a wildly wicked grin on her face, and she snapped his picture and refused to erase it.

Underneath the photo, in Andy's script, the caption read, Once upon a time there was a grouchy old man named Samuel Avery Swarek. He wasn't very nice, and he always got mad at the nicest people. Especially the awesomest girl in the world, Andrea Marie McNally!

The next page had a picture of Andy smiling sweetly back at the camera. She was only a rookie, but Sam didn't like her very much. She was only trying to help, but she accidentally ruined his undercover operation. She said she was sorry a million times, but Sam was still mad…

He smirked as he continued to read her account of the last two years of their lives. It was filled with humor, affection, and teasing, and he loved the pictures she'd attached to her commentary. He had no clue how she'd managed to get a hold of so many pictures of him, much less that he'd had his picture taken that many times in the past two years. When he got to the last page, his heart tugged at the sight of a pouting Andy, sitting on what appeared to be her bed. Her dark hair fell in waves around her face, and she was wearing a pretty, flowy peach-colored blouse that brought out her eyes. She looked so adorable, so perfect, and so lonely. He missed her so much.

Underneath the photo of her read the words And now we're both on suspension (oops!). I miss that crazy, grouchy old man like crazy, but I try not to let it get to me, because when it's over in a few short days, I'll see him again, and then a whole new chapter of our lives will unfold. I can't wait for that day.

And maybe then, then there will be a whole new episode to write about. And that's something I can't wait for.

Sam traced the contours of her face slowly, softly. He wished he could be with her, but this was a really good substitute. Her voice had shone through every word she had written, and the journal was really beautiful. A memento of everything they'd shared, and it was a hundred times better than anything he could have asked for.

With a jolt, he remembered that he still had to read her letter. He reached for the envelope, still resting on his couch, and he slid his finger under the seal, breaking it.

Dear Sam,

Happy birthday! Maybe it's a good thing that today we can't be together, because we'd probably be on shift together all day, and do you know what that would have meant? I would have made sure to sing you the Happy Birthday song for every year you've been alive. I'm pretty sure you would hate me by the time we got off duty! Think of it this way. This is your last birthday without my constant chatter, without embarrassing birthday songs, just you and your peace and quiet! :)

I hope you liked the journal and the cake. It seems so inadequate now, but there's just not that much else I can do, especially since you'll be at Sarah's most of the day. Maybe we can do something special after we finish our suspensions.

YESSSSS! Absolutely I will go to dinner with you! (You had to ask?) But a surprise? Aww, c'mon, Sam… :/ No fair.

And oh, on Sunday… :*( Baby, I just about started to cry, right on your front porch. All I wanted to do was climb into your arms and never leave. How could you do that to me? I want nothing more than to be with you, but we both know that can't happen yet. What in the world would cause you to torment me like that? Crazy man! Arghhhhh! :)

Haha, Sam, I think I really want to meet Sarah! That's my kinda girl! I'd volunteer to help tie Best up with heart-shaped rainbows anyday. :) I think I would have strangled you if I tripped over you on my front porch, but I would have been so happy to see you, Sam! I think I would have cried for real.

Hey, baby, I have an idea to keep us not too bored! I know you were always complaining about having nothing but Judge Judy to watch, and I've been looking for a few good new TV shows to watch, too. Maybe we could check out TV shows "together"? Have you seen the new Hawaii Five-0 yet? Traci keeps telling me to watch it, and it seems like it has just enough rough-and-tumble, he-man, grrr-this-is-war! stuff for you, and adorable interactions for me. :) I'm gonna watch the pilot tonight… you should check it out, too. Then maybe when our suspensions are over, we can have some TV shows to watch together! You know. :) (Is it totally lame that I want to be able to fall asleep in your arms after along day, watching TV together?)

Miss you, baby.

Until next time,

Andy xoxoxoxo

P.S. EIGHT DAYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

A slow smile lingered on Sam's face as he pushed to his feet and carried the cake to his refrigerator. He loved that she was trying to remedy his television dilemma, and he actually had wanted to check out the show she'd mentioned. He could imagine them watching TV together, Andy falling asleep in his arms. The thought made him smile. Tomorrow he'd definitely see if he could find some of the episodes online.

He returned to his living room, retrieving the letter and journal, and he trudged back to his bedroom. Everything else could wait. Right now, what he needed was sleep, and lots of it.

A/N: Review, please!