Here's the next part for you, Happy Easter!
Andy Sipowicz stood awkwardly in the doorway between the hall and the kitchen, he couldn't remember the last time he felt so uncomfortable around his old partner. Each time he had visited him in the hospital he had been accompanied by either Eric or Calleigh and now to be left alone with the man he had grown to hate for so many years made him feel distinctly unsettled. The feelings of hate and mistrust had been replaced with those of heartache and sorrow as John's true identity was finally revealed, now Andy only had feelings of hate for himself that he had been so ready to believe that his surrogate son was dirty. He admonished himself for not seeing the signs that were now so starkly evident in hindsight, wishing he could go back and change what had happened between them. John had risked his life to keep him and everyone else around him safe, he had isolated himself and pushed his loved ones away, Andy cursed his stupid pride for letting John do it so successfully.
"There's coffee in the pot if you want it." His friend's voice was quiet as he sat at the table in the kitchen fiddling with the mug in his hands.
"Coffee sounds great." Andy groaned at his own lacklustre attempt at appearing jovial and relaxed. Walking over to the counter he poured himself a mug and added several spoons of sugar to the black liquid. He saw the other man giving him an amused look, "What?" he asked testily.
"That much sugar isn't good for you, I can't believe you still load your coffee up like that," the redhead responded, almost wistfully.
Andy hiked his trousers up over his considerable gut, "It's a bit late for me to start worrying about getting a six pack. Might as well enjoy life while I still can, you never know when you might kick the bucket."
Horatio's smile faltered at the older man's poor choice of words, "Guess so."
Andy cursed himself inwardly; he knew he had put his foot in it. The pair of them sat in awkward silence, neither looking at the other.
"How is Andy Jnr?"
If he hadn't already been sitting down Andy was sure that his legs would have given out beneath him at his partner's innocent question. 1996 had been one of the worst years of his life, not only did he have to contend with the 'death' of his former partner it was also the year that his eldest son had been killed in a robbery gone wrong. The impact of both of these incidents had sent him spiralling down into another phase of alcoholism, his previous years of sobriety meaning nothing to him as his world came crashing down around him. It felt as if he had lost two sons for that was how he regarded his young and eager partner, fate had meant the two men met at a time in both their lives when they needed each other the most whether they realised it or not. Andy saw in John a chance to atone for the mistakes he had made with his own son, he had taken the rookie detective under his wing and showed him the affection and love he had never shown to his own child.
The shock of discovering John's involvement with the Malucci's hit him like a punch in the guts; he had been floored to think that his young charge could be capable of such actions. For years he carried the guilt of not caring enough about his partner to see the toll his double life was taking on him, he knew John would have his reasons for doing what he did but Andy never took the time to hear what they were. Even now he could still vividly remember the day that he and Bobby were called to scene of the badly burnt and mutilated body beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. The shock he felt as he realised the corpse was that of his former partner, it hit him then as he realised he would never get the chance to come face to face with the man he had grown to despise and ask him why he had thrown away everything he stood for to join a vicious bunch of criminals.
The birth of his youngest son should have been the happiest time of his life but only hours after Sylvia had brought Theo into the world Andy's life had been shattered by the news of the death of his eldest son, caught in the middle of a robbery gone wrong. Time and life seemed to lose all meaning to him. John's apparent death had left him reeling whilst Andy Jnr's had been the knockout blow that sent him crashing to the floor. Ignoring Sylvia's pleas, he had sought solace once more in the bottle, it was the one thing in his life that he could depend on not to judge him and he knew would never leave him. His years of sobriety fell by the wayside as he drowned his sorrows for the sons he had lost; it was only his relationship with Sylvia and his youngest child, Theo that kept him from drinking himself into an early grave.
His heart ached as he thought of his late wife, an innocent victim of a courthouse shooting. Andy could do nothing as he saw the bullet hit Sylvia square in the chest as she fell to the ground, he scrambled over to her as soon as the shooting had stopped but one look at her told him he was too late. "Take care of the baby," she had gasped with her last conscious breath and he had made a promise to her that he would. Theo was fast becoming an adult, studying law at university in an effort to emulate his mother, he had been so young when she'd died but Andy had made sure that his son knew everything he could about his wonderful mother.
He tried to keep his voice level as he finally spoke, "Andy Jnr died, John."
Horatio sat in stunned silence as he listened to his former partner recount the horrific memories as he one by one reeled off their deaths in an almost clinical fashion. He had abandoned his partner when he needed him the most, run away like a coward as he made a new life for himself halfway across the country. He wondered if he had ever given his loved ones in New York a second thought, he'd built relationships here in Miami that much was obvious by the way Calleigh and Eric had steadfastly stood by him since he'd woken up in the hospital. Had he forgotten about the people he'd left behind and the damage his actions had caused them?
"I'm so sorry," Horatio said finally after another tense silence filled the room.
"Why are you sorry?" Andy asked, perplexed at the statement.
"For what I put you through, I should have been there for you. I admired you so much; I never wanted things to turn out this way."
"You did what you had to do, John. Sure, I wish things had turned out differently too but it is what it is, we can't go back and change it now."
"Would you tell me, please? What happened to Lori and Robin after I left?"