Chapter 55:

"Jules is pregnant," Chris smiled and put his arm around his wife's waist, half-hugging her.

Sharon's eyes widened for a moment but then she smiled. She hasn't had time to get used to the idea of being a grandmother, and now both of her children are going to make her one. "Congratulations!" she said happily and hugged the two of them together. "I'm getting TWO grandchildren!" she said before pulling away and they laughed. "Does your grandmother know?"

"No, we wanted to tell you first," Chris said. "Cat figured it out because of Jules' morning sickness and told Rusty, but we asked them not to tell anyone."

Sharon looked at Cat and Rusty, and joy filled her heart. Before her children have met him, she feared that Rusty might not get along with them, and seeing how much they liked each other now made her truly happy.

"Well, maybe you should tell her now, if you don't want her ranting for hours about not knowing earlier," she said and Chris nodded.

"We'll be right back for that pizza," he said to Cat.

"Are you sure you don't want to have dinner with us?" Sharon asked them, and they all nodded at once.

"It'll be pizza night for us," Cat smiled. Truth was, none of them wanted to be present in that awkward evening that Angela had arranged, and Sharon knew it.

Chris and Julia left the apartment with Sharon at the lead. The second she stepped into the hallway, she saw Sykes and Sanchez getting out of the elevator.

"Evening, Captain," Sykes said and Sanchez nodded.

"Good evening. Are you the first ones here?" she asked, trying to sound kind. It was hard for her after a long day, when all she wanted was to have a quiet evening at home.

"No, Ma'am, I believe the rest are already here," Sanchez said quietly. Sharon nodded and showed them the way to her apartment. Chris opened the door to let everyone in and Sharon saw that Sanchez was right. Tao was sitting in the living room with Provenza, Flynn and Angela. They all got up the moment the door opened.

Angela's eyes sparkled when she saw her grandson. "I thought you weren't joining us for dinner," she said, hoping to hear that they have changed their minds.

"We're not, but Mom wanted us to tell you something," Chris said.

"Oh, you finally told her you were having a baby?" she asked coldly and the three froze for a second in shock.

"How did you know?" Sharon asked as she walked to the living room from the entrance, followed by Sykes and Sanchez. Chris and Julia also took a few steps forward but didn't go all the way.

"It's obvious, dear. If you weren't so busy all the time, you'd have noticed too," she said in the same cold tone and Sharon rolled her eyes. "Congratulations. You should have told me earlier," she said to Chris and Julia and then walked towards them.

"Have a seat, please," Sharon said to her squad members and they all sat down on the couch and armchairs.

"Congratulations, Captain," Tao said politely.

"Oh, that's right. You're going to be a grandmother. Congratulations," Provenza smiled, and Sharon wasn't sure if he was mocking her or really being nice.

Half an hour later, they were all sitting around the table, admiring Angela's cooking. The initial awkwardness was no longer hanging between the people in the room, and the conversation at the table was lively. Sharon caught Flynn staring at her a few times, but she looked away quickly at each time, afraid to lose herself in his gaze and get noticed by the others.

"Hey, Angela," Provenza said loudly so she could hear him over the chatter, and everyone turned their heads to look at him. "You owe us the rest of the story from the wake. I believe you stopped just before telling us how you caught your daughter doing something with her boyfriend when she was 17."

"And I believe," Sharon said quickly in a mencaing tone before Angela could respond, and this time everyone looked at her, "that some things should remain in the past," she didn't raise her voice at all but the look in her eyes was intimidating.

"That's true," Angela said. "Besides, Sherry was always a good girl. There's nothing really interesting in her past."

"Thank you, Mother," Sharon said sarcastically and heard chuckles around the table.

"Her brother was the problematic one," Angela ignored her, but when she looked in her daughter's eyes, she saw how much she didn't like the new topic. "But I can't really talk about it. Sherry has always been very protective of him."

"I didn't even know she had a brother," Provenza said in surprise. The rest of the squad members seemed just as confused as he was.

"He lives with us –"

"Mother…" Sharon glared at her mother, feeling the anger building up inside of her. Angela always knew exactly what buttons she had to push in order to get some real emotion from her daughter, and Sharon hated the fact that she found it hard to control herself around her.