More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 5

"Whoa. Way to go mom."

"Who the hell is that?"

"Really? That is just so many different levels of disgusting."

It was like having a bucket of ice water doused over them, the voices rising from her living room as they stood, leaning against the wall opposite her door. His hand was about two centimeters from her breast while her leg was curled around his hip. They stared at each other, chests rising and falling in rapid succession, while the enormity of just how embarrassing the moment really was settled over them. Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, a deeper, voice joined the fray.

"You really have no idea just how bad it is."

As his hands dropped away from her, Andy wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry. Sharon smoothed her sweater down and stepped around him, hair mussed and lips swollen, but too astonished to care. "What are you doing here?" She looked between the two, Ricky and Katie who had risen and walked around the sofa to greet her.

"Surprise." Katie put her hands on her hips and smirked at them. She was every image the ballet dancer Flynn knew her to be. Taller than her mother, but her hair was the same shade, and the look on her face was all Sharon, even if her eyes were more hazel than green.

Ricky on the other hand, was much taller than both of them. Broad across the chest and shoulders, his hair was dark with none of the red or gold highlights. He had his arms folded over his chest and was glowering at the pair of them, although mostly Flynn. Andy had seen that look before, it too was all Sharon. He could see Jack in them too, if he looked hard enough, but it was their mother he was looking for. "I think she's surprised alright."

"I'm scarred for life." Rusty had his hands over his eyes. "That image is never coming out of my head."

Provenza reached out to pat his shoulder. "There, there… time heals all wounds. It at least makes them less horrific."

"I told you to go to Utah," Sharon moved to them, embarrassment forgotten. She hugged her daughter first, then her son.

His glower faded as Ricky lifted her, laughing, off her feet and into a tight hug. "We wanted to come here. It was Rusty's idea. He and the Lieutenant worked it out." He set her back on her feet and grinned crookedly.

"Maybe if we had known you had a date," Katie teased, "we would have waited until tomorrow. Does he have a name or are you finally getting in touch with your naughty side?"

Provenza snorted, Sharon blushed, and Rusty groaned. Andy rolled his eyes and stepped forward to hold out a hand. "Andy Flynn, I work with your mom." At her apologetic look, for having forgotten him, he simply winked.

"I knew that you had gone out a couple of times," Rusty stated, "but come on. I'm young, I'm impressionable. I'm in a very fragile state of mind. There are some things that I'm not supposed to see and I'm pretty sure that is one of them."

Ricky hooked a thumb in his direction. "I like him."

"Yeah mom, can we keep him?" Katie flashed a playful little grin.

"What am I? A puppy?" Rusty glared at her, although it lacked much in the way of any true heat.

"No, that's Flynn's job," Provenza muttered. He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head at them.

"Lieutenant…" Sharon turned toward him. "I don't… I can't…" Her mouth was working, but she wasn't making any coherent noises.

Provenza smiled widely. "The Captain is rendered speechless? My work here is done." He picked up his jacket and shrugged into it. "Don't read too much into this. It was all Rusty's idea. I just… took the kid to get something to eat and played taxi for your little brood. I'd also better be getting home, I turn into a pumpkin at midnight."

"Only at midnight?" Flynn shook his head at his old partner. "You old softie."

"Shut up. I'm still put out with you." He shook his finger at the man. "We're going to have another talk later."

Flynn shook his head, he walked over to the door with Provenza and picked up his and Sharon's jackets, along with her purse. "You helped Rusty get her kids here for Christmas." His eyes narrowed at his best friend. "You didn't tell me?"

"So you could tell her? What do you take me for, a Rookie?" Provenza shook his head. "Don't get yourself all worked up over it, Flynn. It's Christmas, she asked her kids to stay away because of the threats. Consider it my one good deed for the year."

Hell of a thing. Flynn shook his head again and carried everything back to the living room. "Sharon," He laid her jacket and purse on a chair, but held on to his. "I should head out too, let you all get caught up and settled."

She turned toward him and reached out, laying a hand on his arm. She would have liked to ask him to stay, but with her kids there, and their relationship still so new it didn't seem fair to inflict upon him anymore of Katie's wisecracks, Rusty's loud protestations, or Ricky's sudden descent into mother's keeper. "I'll walk you out," she said, pleased to no end to see her kids, but with a small amount of regret at how their night was ending. Sharon's hand slipped down to curl around his wrist, she pointed a finger at all three of her kids. "You lot behave."

"No fun." Katie sighed.

"Typical," Ricky shook his head.

Rusty shoved his hands into his pockets and sorted. "You're one to talk."

The look she shot at them had all three of them scurrying into the kitchen. Flynn was laughing. "Don't you start too." She grinned as she led him to the door. "They're going to be a bad influence on him."

If her eyes hadn't been so full of amusement and joy, he might have felt he needed to reassure her that Rusty was a little beyond being influenced by the older two. "You're going to love every minute of it." She had stepped out into the hall with him and pulled the door closed behind her. Andy reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Go easy on the kid."

"Hm." She pressed her lips together and shrugged. "Best present ever. He gets a pass for completely ignoring my wishes. Besides, he wasn't alone in it, Ricky and Katie are adults. When I ask them to stay away for their own safety, I expect them to heed my warnings. They're here now, and I've decided that I'm simply too happy to see them to bother being upset about the rest."

"Good." Andy bent and kissed her goodnight. "I'll call you."

"You'd better," she smiled. "I still expect to see you Wednesday for dinner. You'll give Nicole my best?"

"She'll probably bust my chops for not bringing you," he teased. "I think she likes you better than she likes her old dad."

"It's a gift." Sharon smirked at him. "Good night, Andy."

It took some work to turn and walk away from her, but one last kiss goodbye and Andy managed to make it to the elevator without, further, embarrassing either one of them.

Sharon stepped back inside and found three pairs of eyes staring at the door, waiting. She arched a brow at them. "May I help you?"

"Dish." Katie tapped her foot.

"Who is he?" Ricky still wanted to know.

"They made me stand here," Rusty said with a shrug. "I already know him, and I do not want to know." He winced when Katie elbowed him. "What? I don't. I'm not the boyfriend police."

"Dude." Ricky shook his head at him. "We have got so much to teach you."

"Tons," Katie agreed.

"You two leave Rusty alone," Sharon gently admonished. "If he doesn't want to be drawn into one of your wild, troublemaking schemes, so be it."

"Oh, sure," Katie put her hands on her hips. "Take his side, just because he's the youngest…"

"Welcome to my world," Ricky looked skyward. "Now you know how it feels."

"I can't believe you're both really here," Sharon smiled widely at their antics. Her babies hadn't changed at all. She held her arms out again and they both stepped forward, leaving an awkward looking Rusty behind with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"So… you're not mad?" Rusty shuffled where he stood.

"I have decided to accept your gift in the spirit with which it was meant, so no, I'm not mad. Thank you, Rusty." She peeked out from where Ricky had his arms wrapped around his mother and sister.

Katie rolled her eyes at him. "Told you. Spaz."

"Katherine, behave." Sharon shook her head at them. She walked toward the kitchen. "Does anyone want anything?"

"I made tea when we got here," Katie said. "It should still be warm. We weren't that far ahead of you. My flight got delayed. I had to take a train to Philly and get on a plane there. I made it out before they shut down the airport. That storm is nuts." Much of the midwest had been blanketed in snow that was now falling on the northeast.

"Katie was late, big surprise," Ricky teased. He folded his six-foot, two inch body onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Yes, because I am all powerful and I can control the weather. Fear me, for I am a goddess." The girl smirked and poured steaming liquid into her mother's favorite teacup.

"It really is important that you believe that. I'm glad that your self confidence has improved with age, jumping bean." Ricky smirked at her.

Rusty glanced uncertainly at Sharon. "They've been like this all night. Are they always so… you know… like Flynn and Provenza?"

Sharon considered that comparison and laughed. "I never thought of it like that before, but you're right. They are, when they're together. Imagine what it was like when they lived together."

"That might just be a little more damaging to my mental wellbeing than the image of you and Flynn devouring each other that is permanently burned into the back of my eyelids." Rusty told her.

"Rusty." Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. "Why don't we agree to never discuss it again?"

"Nah, he's going to get miles out of that one," Ricky stated. "It's worth gold. Pace yourself though," he advised Rusty. "Don't irritate her with it too soon. Speaking of… Mom, since when are you dating?"

"Since about the time that it became your business to know," Sharon replied. "Richard, enough." She was crossing it off the list of topics they were allowed to question her about.

"Wow. It's not just me she does that too," Rusty blinked. "Well, I feel better."

"I do recall warning you that you were not the first adolescent whose presence I'd ever been graced with," she reminded him.

"Yeah, sure, anyway," Katie waved a hand at them and set the tea in front of her mother. She took a seat at the table and folded her hands around her own cup. "So, we guess you really like him?"

She said it with such a look of profound innocence that even Rusty laughed. Sharon's head thumped against the table. "We are only going to have this discussion the once," she stated. "Yes, I like him. Yes, I suppose you can say that we're dating. It's a little complicated because he works for me." After lifting her head, she held up a hand to ward off their other questions. "He's divorced, he has two grown kids, a boy and a girl, and this just started so I can't tell you anymore than that." She sighed. "Oh, and he'll be here for dinner Wednesday evening. Now, can we drop it, please?"

Having decided that they'd given her enough grief, but gotten their questions answered, Ricky and Katie exchanged a look and dual shrugs. "Sure."

"Whatever you say," Katie leaned back in her seat.

"Good." Sharon lifted her tea. "So, how long do I have you for?"

"Friday," Ricky told her. "We told Gram and Pop that we'd come up for the weekend. I fly back to San Francisco on Monday, and as long as the airport in New York is open, Katie goes home the same day."

"Otherwise, you might be stuck with me for a few more days," her daughter added. "Which is fine, I don't have to be back in the studio until the sixth."

"Well, we'll have to make the most of it, won't we?" Sharon smiled brightly. Four days, it was more than she could have hoped for. "I'm sure both of you are exhausted, so let's see if we can get the camp beds set up out here, hm?"

"They're in the hall closet, with the spare linens," Rusty said. "I pulled it all out this morning and stashed it where I'd be able to find it and not tip you off."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Sharon smiled warmly at him.

"Well, not everything." Rusty shrugged. "I mean, if I had thought of everything, we would have stopped for ice cream or something and spared Flynn a cold shower." He high-fived Ricky as he walked past him.

"Oh god." Sharon buried her face in her hands. It was official, she was now out numbered three to one.