Andy smiled at Sharon's receptionist as he stepped into the studio, his head shaking when she started to stand. He held up the bag of food and she smiled in return before returning to her work, leaving Andy to walk down the hallway. When he saw the mess in the locker room, he realized he was earlier than anticipated. He smiled and walked down the last hallway to peek into the dance room to judge how close she was to finishing with her class. He saw the kids sitting on the floor at her feet and smiled before he returned to the front area and stepped into Sharon's office.

He left the food on her desk and smiled at the pictures adorning the walls and her desk. He smiled at the pictures of her with her kids and a picture of her with her parents, and then turned his attention to the newer pictures. A picture of them on their wedding day sat right next to her phone and there were even a few pictures of them hanging on her wall. There was a small picture of them with his grandsons on her bookshelf.

He heard the noise outside her office suddenly increase and stepped out of her office, nodding a greeting to the few mothers who recognized him. He eased past them and returned to the dance room, smiling when he found Sharon surprisingly alone.

"Hey, honey." He let the door close behind him and glanced up at the waiting room to make sure none of the mothers were lingering behind.

"Andy!" She turned around and smiled, her hands smoothing out her dress. She crossed the room and kissed him softly, her hand resting on his bicep.

"Lunch is waiting in your office if you have a few spare moments." He rubbed her side and smiled at the faint sheen of sweat on her brow. "Though if you've been dancing, you're probably just ready for a nap."

"Oh, a nap can wait." She smiled and kissed him again. "What's for lunch?"

"Your favorite sandwich shop. Even though you always get a salad and ruin the point of a sandwich," he teased before pulling back.

"Oh, hush." She swatted his arm and followed him out of the room, lingering to say goodbye to her few remaining students.

When she finally caught up to him, he followed her into her office and locked the door behind them. "What time is your next class?"

"Not for twenty minutes. Why? Plan to monopolize my time today?" She sat down and he pulled a chair around to sit on the same side of the desk.

"Considering I might not get to see you tonight, I'd like to see you as much as I can right now." He started pulling their food out of the bag and glanced at her.

"Andy," She pouted and crossed her arms. "I didn't see you this morning and now I won't get to see you tonight?"

"I know, I'm sorry." He sighed and passed her salad to her, a fork and napkin following. "I had Provenza cover for me just so I could get out to bring you lunch."

"I'm glad you did that." She popped open her salad and leaned over to kiss him softly. "Why are we so busy?"

"Because I'm a cop and you took on thirty new students last month," he pointed out, his nose wrinkling.

"I knew that was a stupid idea." She huffed and started stabbing at her salad.

"It wasn't a stupid idea, honey. You wanted more students and they're great kids. Great dancers. You said it yourself." He unwrapped his sandwich and looked at her, watching as she shook her head.

"But this is an entirely new class. More dances to choreograph, students to deal with." She sighed and pulled her glasses off before she resumed stabbing at her salad.

"Sharon, your extra class is during the day when I'm working anyway. It's not taking any time away from us." He took a few bites of his sandwich and continued watching her.

"I know," she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I just miss you."

"I miss you too." He set his sandwich down and leaned back in his seat too, his arms crossing over his chest. "We'll figure it out. You know I'll have a few days off once this case is over. Maybe we could take a weekend or something and get away."

"Not until after the competition. Once it's over, I can be away from them without regret and Samantha can continue classes." She shook her head and her pout returned. "We could just retire and have all the time to ourselves."

"You'd be bored within a week."

"So would you." She laughed a little and ran her fingers through her hair, glancing at the time.

"Retirement is out then. We'll just have to figure things out as they are." He moved his chair closer to hers and pulled her practically into his lap.

"We've been married a year, Andy. You think we would have this stuff figured out by now." She settled against him, her head resting against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

"Because my job is just as unpredictable as it was when I started too many decades ago. Besides, the case could be solved by the time I get back and I'll be home in time for dinner." He shrugged and rubbed her arm.

"But I shouldn't keep my hopes up," she murmured.

"You can always do that. Leave a light on for me," he teased, squeezing her against his chest.

"Always. You're lucky I love you." She kissed his cheek.

"Yes, I'm very lucky. I love you too." He turned his head to kiss her on the lips.

A knock on the door broke them apart. Sharon jumped from his lap and closed her salad container before she unlocked the door and pulled it open. Andy leaned in his seat so he could see what was going on.

"Mrs. Samson is here and she's complaining about her bill," Samantha sighed, her head shaking. "I'm sorry to bother you. I know Andy's here."

"No, it's fine. I had a feeling we'd hear from Mrs. Samson this week." Sharon sighed as well and rested her hands on her hips. "I'll deal with her. Tell her I'll be out in a minute."

"Thank you." Samantha bowed her head grateful and then disappeared.

"I'll let you get back to business." Andy stood up and wrapped up his sandwich before he stuck Sharon's salad in her little fridge under her desk. "I should get back to work anyway before the Chief misses me."

"I'm sorry, honey. But call me whether you'll be home tonight or not." She took a quick sip of her tea before she kissed him and smiled a little.

"Of course. Good luck with Mrs. Samson. I'll sneak out before that confrontation starts." He rubbed her arm and smiled a little too. "I love you."

"Love you too." He followed her out of her office and squeezed her hand before he waved to Samantha and left.

The house was quiet and dark when he finally made it home, earlier than he expected but still later than Sharon would be up. He found the kitchen light on and smiled at the note she left him on the table.

I left a light on, just like you asked. If you find your way home tonight, there's a prize waiting for you upstairs. Love you.

He shook his head and left his gun and badge in the downstairs safe, his shoes abandoned by the door. He made sure the doors were locked and then went upstairs, surprised to find the light in the bedroom on. Rusty's door was shut and the light off, so he assumed the kid was either asleep or out. He shook his head and walked into the bedroom, smiling when he found Sharon upright in bed and reading.

"I heard there's a prize waiting for me up here," he murmured, already shrugging his jacket and suspenders off.

"Oh? Who told you that?" She set her book aside and gave him a sly smile.

"Someone left a note downstairs. Didn't even sign their name." He tiled his head. "Oh, god. It wasn't left by Rusty, was it?" He gave a mock horrified gasp and looked at her.

"Oh, I left the note." She rolled her eyes and sat up in bed. "You're silly."

"And you love me for it." Without undressing all the way, he flopped on the bed beside her and smiled. "So, where is this prize of mine?"

"Mhmm, nothing physical. I hope I didn't get your hopes up." She smiled and leaned down to kiss him softly.

"But?"

"After you left today, I talked to Samantha. She's been subtly asking for more work around the studio and I got to thinking." She shifted onto her side to see him better and he raised an eyebrow. "There's no way I can abandon the students at a competition, but I could… leave early. She also convinced me that she could handle a week of classes."

"You're saying…" He paused, wanting her to confirm what he was thinking.

"I'm saying that if you could get some time off work, we could spend a week together. Here or we could take a vacation." She shrugged and looked at him. "What do you think?"

"Sharon, I think that's amazing." He stretched his arms out and wrapped them around her, pulling her against him.

"Oh, I haven't told you the best part." She kissed him and ran her fingers through his hair. "I think I'm going to let Samantha take over a class. If it's one of my later ones, it'll give us more time together in the long run."

"Are you sure?" He took her hand and laced their fingers together, pointedly looking at her. "You'd willingly give up one of your classes?"

She let out a breath and looked at the ceiling. "I won't be able to run the studio forever, Andy. I don't want to just shut it down and if I had to pick someone to take over, it would be Samantha. Which means I should start giving her more responsibilities and starting while I'm still there sounds like a good idea."

"You've put some thought into this, haven't you? Why didn't you say anything?" He pushed himself up and she did the same with a small shrug.

"It's crossed my mind occasionally, even before we got married. It's only recently that I've really thought about it." She smiled wistfully and looked at him.

"I think if that's what you want to do, then I'll support you. Especially if it means we get to spend more time together." He smiled and leaned over to cup her face, his thumb stroking across her cheek.

"I love you," she murmured after a moment.

"I love you too. So, this vacation of ours?" He laid back down and pulled her close again.

"It's not even definite yet. You have to get the time off work and then we'll plan things." She settled against him with her head on his chest and he smiled.

"I'll get the time off. We'll make this all work, honey." He held her close, ignoring that he still had to finish changing.

"I know. It's frustrating until we get there, though. Now go change so we can go to sleep." She pushed away from him and pulled the blankets over herself.

"If you insist." He grinned and stood up, quickly changing into his pajamas.

Once he tossed his clothes into the hamper, he settled into bed beside her, pulling her close once again. She curled up beside him, her arm draped over his chest. He held her close, thanking whoever was listening that he could fall asleep every night with his wife beside him.