Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or M/C, but if I did, this is what would happen.

A/N: This is part one of two Thanksgiving chapters. Just this part was starting to get a bit long, so I figured I should probably split it into two separate chapters. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 6: Amazing

It was the day before Thanksgiving and it was a typical day in the Major Crimes Unit. The team was currently between cases which gave Andy the perfect opportunity to put his plan into action. He got up from his desk and went to knock on Sharon's office door.

"Come in," said Sharon.

Andy opened the door and walked over to Sharon's desk, where she was currently working on paperwork.

"Is that something that absolutely can't wait an hour?" Andy asked her.

"No. As long as I get it in by the end of the day. Why?" Sharon asked curiously.

"Well, I was thinking that since neither of us has eaten yet, that we both might go up the street and have lunch together," Andy suggested.

"What? Like a date?" Sharon asked him.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it a date," Andy replied.

"Hmm…I think this is a fantastic idea. Why haven't we ever thought of doing this before?" Sharon asked.

I don't know," Andy replied.

"Okay. Let me get my bag and then we'll get out of here," said Sharon.

Around noon, Rusty received a text from Andy.

As Rusty was driving, he said to Emily, "Would you mind checking that for me? It's probably Andy."

Emily picked up Rusty's phone and read over the text message from Andy before she said, "Yep. He said that he got mom out of the PAB and that they're up the street at a restaurant eating lunch. He said he'll text you when they're getting ready to come back."

"Cool. We're almost there. So, that should give us plenty of time," Rusty replied.

"Oh my gosh! Mom's gonna freak out," said Emily.

"Freak out is an understatement, don't you think? I mean, she freaks out when you guys show up and she knows that you're coming to visit. Imagine how she's gonna react when it's a complete surprise," said Rusty.

"This is gonna be so great!" Emily exclaimed.

About ten minutes later, the elevator doors opened and both Emily and Rusty stepped off the elevator and walked towards the murder room. Once they arrived, Provenza looked at Rusty and gave him a confused look.

"It's a surprise, okay. Mom doesn't know anything about it. That's why Andy just took her to lunch," Rusty explained.

"So, that lovesick idiot is in on it and he didn't tell me?" Provenza asked.

"Basically, yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I asked him not to tell anybody. I didn't want the surprise to be ruined," said Rusty.

"Fair point. Forgive my manners. Hello, Emily. It's nice to see you again," said Provenza.

"Thanks, Provenza. You too," said Emily.

Rusty and Emily continued talking with the team for another forty minutes or so before Rusty got a text from Andy saying that they'd be back at the PAB in five minutes.

"Okay, I want everyone to act normal. We'll be in her office. Andy will take it from there," Rusty announced to the team.

Everyone took a seat at their desks and tried to look as normal as possible. Rusty and Emily went into Sharon's office and closed the door. Rusty opened the blinds so that Andy would be able to point out that Rusty was waiting for Sharon in her office when they got back. Meanwhile, Emily sunk into the chair behind Sharon's desk and turned it towards the window so as not to be noticed. Rusty got his camera ready so that he could record the whole thing and send it Ricky. In the meantime, Rusty tried to make it look like he was simply looking at his phone while he waited.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sharon and Andy enter the murder room, and quickly propped up his phone and hit record before he said to Emily, "It's showtime."

Once they entered the murder room, Andy said to Sharon, "Hey, Sharon. Why is Rusty in your office?"

"I don't know. I hope nothing's wrong," said Sharon as she walked towards her office.

Andy waited until she opened the door before he began walking towards her.

"Rusty, is everything alright? Did something happen?" Sharon asked worriedly.

"No, everything's okay mom. More than okay, actually," said Rusty as he smiled at her.

"What are you talking about?" Sharon asked confusedly.

Suddenly, Sharon noticed her chair turn around as Emily said, "He means me. Surprise!"

"Oh my god! I thought you said you weren't gonna be able to come home until Christmas!" Sharon exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her daughter.

"Well, that's usually the case, but this year I may have told a tiny white lie so that I'd be able to surprise you. Believe me though, I did have a little help," said Emily as she looked at Rusty.

"You knew?" Sharon asked Rusty.

"Yeah, we sort of planned this together. Emily wanted to surprise you and I may have encouraged her to go big or go home in terms of surprising you," said Rusty as he walked towards them.

Sharon grabbed both Emily and Rusty and enveloped them in a hug.

"Well, I am definitely pleasantly surprised to say the least. Wait though…how did you know I wouldn't be here when you got here?" Sharon asked them before turning around to see Andy standing in the doorway.

Sharon walked over to Andy and smiled at him before she said, "You knew."

Andy smiled back at her as he said, "Yeah, for about a week now. I knew you'd be ecstatic, so I went along with this little plan of theirs."

"Just one of the many reasons why I love you," said Sharon as she reached up to quickly kiss his lips.

"I love you too," said Andy.

Meanwhile, having heard them, Emily asked Rusty, "Hey Rusty, you wanna fill me in on anything?"

"What are you talking about?" Rusty asked her.

"Did you not hear what they just said?" Emily asked him.

"Not really, why?" asked Rusty.

"They just said I love you to each other!" Emily exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh. I guess I hadn't really noticed," Rusty replied.

"Goodness. So, when did this whole I love you business start?" Emily asked as she smiled at both Sharon and Andy.

"Umm…I guess about a month or so ago," Sharon replied as she looked over and smiled at Andy.

Meanwhile, Rusty made his way over to the table and turned the camera off as he quickly sent the video to Ricky before rejoining the group.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you, mom! Both of you, actually. See Rusty! Ricky has absolutely nothing to worry about," said Emily.

"I tried to tell him that. He's still insisting on the whole overprotective son bit though. Mom would've called Ricky and lost it on him if it wasn't for Andy," Rusty told her.

"It's not really a big deal. Like I told your mother, I completely understand where Ricky's coming from on this and I am more than willing to answer any questions he may have regarding my intentions," Andy replied.

"Still. Please forgive my brother if he decides to act like a huge jerk," said Emily.

"Okay. Andy and I have to get back to work and the two of you should probably get back to the condo before Ricky gets there. I will call you when I'm about to leave. Do the two of you have dinner handled?" Sharon asked.

"Of course, mom. You're gonna be cooking a lot tomorrow. We'll handle dinner tonight," Emily replied.

"Thank you. I'm so glad that you're here," said Sharon as she hugged Emily.

"Come on, Emily. Let's get home before Ricky raids the fridge and there's nothing left for dinner," said Rusty.

"Okay. Bye, Mom. Bye, Andy," said Emily as Rusty dragged her out the door.

"Bye," both Sharon and Andy replied.

"We'll see you later," said Rusty as he was walking away from Sharon's office.

Ricky arrived at the condo as expected around 4 pm.

The three siblings were now sitting around the living room talking when Emily asked, "So, what are we gonna do about dinner?"

"We should honestly just order something in. It's easier. Plus, there's going to be enough cooking going on tomorrow," Ricky replied.

"Not by you. Thank god," said Emily.

"Well, whatever we order, we should order enough for five people," said Rusty.

"Five? But there's only four of us," Ricky replied.

"Yeah, but something tells me mom will probably bring Andy. He's been spending a lot of time here lately," Rusty explained.

"How much time?" Ricky asked.

"Well, he's usually over here at least two or three nights a week after work," Rusty replied.

Meanwhile, back at the PAB, Sharon was just finishing up the last of her paperwork for the day. When she was done, she stood up and grabbed her bag before making her way over to Andy's desk.

She stood next to him as she leaned against the desk and asked, "Almost done?"

"Yeah. I can finish the last of these later," Andy replied as he looked over at Sharon.

"Good, because I have an excellent idea," said Sharon.

"And what would that be?" Andy asked curiously.

"I say that you follow me back to my place and join us for dinner," Sharon suggested.

"Are you sure? I'm already going to be there tomorrow and I don't want to bombard them with my presence. Us dating is still fairly new for them," said Andy.

"I'm positive. Come on, it'll be fine," said Sharon.

"Okay, let's go," Andy told her as he got up from his desk and they made their way towards the elevator.

About twenty minutes later, Sharon and Andy arrived at Sharon's condo. Once they made it to her condo, Sharon unlocked and opened the door before she spotted Ricky and ran over to hug him.

"Hi mom," said Ricky as he hugged her back.

"I'm so glad you're here," said Sharon as she let go of him.

"Me too. Hey, Andy," said Ricky as the two men shook hands.

"Hey, Ricky. How's it going?" Andy asked him.

"Pretty good. I can't complain. How about you?" Ricky asked.

"My life's pretty great at the moment. Your mom deserves quite a bit of credit for that," Andy replied as he looked over and smiled at Sharon.

"So, what did you guys end up doing about dinner?" Sharon asked her three children.

"We ended up ordering a few pizzas. They just got here a few minutes ago," said Rusty as he went to grab plates while Emily grabbed cups for everyone.

After everyone was finished eating, Sharon grabbed everyone's plates and went into the kitchen with Emily following behind her with everyone's empty glasses to be put in the dishwasher. This left just Rusty, Ricky, and Andy sitting at the table.

"Hey, Andy. Do you think we could go out on the balcony and talk for a minute?" Ricky asked.

"Sure," Andy replied as he got up and they headed outside onto the balcony.

Once outside, they each settled into a chair. Ricky was the first to speak.

"Listen, I'm not out here to bust your chops or anything. From what I've seen so far, you seem like a good guy and mom is the happiest I think I've ever seen her, but I hope you understand where I'm coming from when I ask what your intentions are," said Ricky.

"No, I totally get it. That's your mom and you're just looking out for her. She's been hurt a lot in the past and I understand you wanting to watch out for her and make sure nobody hurts her like that again. She didn't deserve that kind of treatment then and she sure as hell doesn't deserve it now, or ever for that matter. As for my intentions, I know that I love your mother very much, and while currently, I think we're both pretty comfortable just dating and being a couple, at some point down the line, I would love it if she agreed to become my wife. So, if you're asking whether I'm in this for the long haul, then the answer is yes," Andy replied.

"Thank you. For understanding my need to question your intentions and for loving my mother and treating her like she deserves to be treated. For the majority of my life, or at least the parts he was actually there for, I saw my father treat my mother like crap. She always tried to shield us and protect us from that side of things, but we knew. It always baffled me, but no matter how much he hurt her, she never once badmouthed him in front of us," said Ricky.

"That's just the kind of woman your mother is, Ricky. No matter what your father has done to hurt her over the years, she still wants you and Emily to have some sort of relationship with him. He may have hurt her tremendously over the years, but she still holds out hope that someday he might just become the father that the two of you deserve. Hell of a woman if you ask me," said Andy.

"Yeah, I guess she's pretty awesome, huh? She seems really happy with you and I'm grateful for that. Between what little she tells me and what I hear from Rusty, you seem to make her very happy," Ricky replied.

"Well, the feeling is mutual. You're mom is an incredible woman and I count myself lucky that I'm even remotely in her league, much less that she somehow agreed to date me," Andy replied.

"Don't kid yourself. You're a good guy, Andy. Even from what little I've seen so far, I can tell that that's true. Speaking of that, I should probably tell you that Rusty has been sending Emily and me intel on you and mom," said Ricky.

"Oh jeez! How scared should I be?" Andy asked him.

"Don't worry. It's nothing bad. The majority of it's pretty positive, actually. In fact, you should probably know that he sent me a video last week," said Ricky.

"Of what?" Andy asked.

"Here," said Ricky as he opened the video and handed his phone to Andy as the video began to play of Sharon and Andy dancing to Adele's Remedy.

Andy smiled as he watched the video play.

"Did you know he was recording this?" Ricky asked.

"I had no idea. Although, it sort of makes sense now that I think about it. He must have gotten back sooner than we realized. Do you mind if I send this to myself? I'd like to have a copy of it," said Andy.

"Sure, go ahead," Ricky replied.

Andy quickly sent a copy of the video to his own phone before handing Ricky back his phone.

"Well, we better get back in there before they think I threw you over the railing," said Ricky.

"Don't worry. Rusty warned me about your intended grilling session," Andy told him.

"That little shit," said Ricky as he opened the door to reenter the condo.

Andy laughed at that as he followed Ricky back inside.

"Hey, little brother. You wanna to fill me in on why you decided to warn Andy about my interrogation?" Ricky asked Rusty.

"Well, for one, I didn't want him to be completely blindsided by the whole thing. Then, of course there's the small fact that when mom found out what you were planning to do, she lost her shit and almost called to chew you out. So, really, you should be thanking me and Andy for saving you from that lecture," Rusty replied.

"First of all, I wasn't going to lecture him. Secondly, it must have not gone half bad, judging by the way the two of them walked in just now," Sharon told Rusty as she walked into the living room from the kitchen and put her arm around Andy's waist.

"Yeah, I elected to let him stay around instead of tossing him over the balcony. Murder's a messy business. Plus, I'd rather spend Thanksgiving eating a bunch of food here with all of you than sitting in a jail cell," Ricky joked.

"He gets that from you, you know," Andy pointed out to Sharon.

"And why do you say that?" Sharon asked him.

Remember what you said at the end of our second date?" Andy asked her.

"Really, Andy? I was kidding when I said that," Sharon replied.

"I know. So was he. Plus, I've got at least forty pounds on him," Andy pointed out.

"Okay, now I have to hear this second date story," said Emily.

"Do you wanna tell them or should I?" Andy asked as he looked over at Sharon and smiled at her.

"Okay, so it was towards the end of our second date. Lieutenant Provenza ended up calling me to let me know that we'd caught a case. While I was on the phone with Provenza getting the specifics, Andy went inside to change real quick and grab his gun and badge. Anyways, right before we were getting ready to leave, I popped the trunk to grab my extra blazer and change into a pair of heels. So, we get into the car and I start driving towards the PAB when Andy asks me what I keep in the other bag that was in my trunk. So, I decided to be a bit sarcastic and told him that there was an unregistered gun, fake passports, and some stolen credit cards in the bag. He knew I was kidding and of course didn't believe me, but it was funny," Sharon explained.

"Oh, that was the time you guys went to the Dodger's game, wasn't it?" Rusty asked.

"Yes," replied Andy as he smirked at Sharon.

Later that night, the three siblings were playing Uno with Andy. Sharon had been sitting at the table watching them, but Andy noticed that she had excused herself and was now standing out on the balcony.

"Okay. I'm out guys," Andy told them.

"What? No…" they all said as Andy made his way into the kitchen.

He grabbed a mug, filled it with water, and then reached in the cabinet above the Keurig to grab a pod of Sharon's favorite tea before sticking it in the Keurig to brew. In the meantime, he poured himself a glass of water and waited for the tea to finish brewing.

Once it was done, he grabbed the mug and made his way out onto the balcony and walked towards Sharon. He wrapped his free arm around her waist from behind as he presented the mug of tea to her with his other hand.

"Mmhmm. Thank you," said Sharon as she gladly took the mug from him.

"No problem. I thought you could use some," Andy replied.

Sharon smiled widely at him before she said, "Sounds like things were going pretty well in there."

"Uh huh. You've got great kids, Sharon. You did that, you know," said Andy.

"What?" Sharon asked him.

"It's easy to see that you're the reason they all turned out so great. They have you to thank for that," Andy replied as he kissed the side of Sharon's forehead.

"I just did what I was supposed to do. I loved them and tried to guide them as best as I could. They did the rest," Sharon replied.

Andy smiled at her before he said, "All I'm trying to say is that you're amazing. I hope you know that."

"I do know that. Especially when I have this amazing man in my life that never stops reminding me just how amazing I am," Sharon replied.

"I'm just speaking the truth. Speaking of amazing things, I've got something to show you," said Andy as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Andy sat in one of the chairs on the balcony as Sharon followed him and sat on his lap as he snaked his arm around her waist and began playing the video Ricky had showed him earlier.

"Oh my god! Did you record this?" Sharon asked him.

"Nope," Andy replied.

Sharon thought about it for a moment before she asked, "It was Rusty, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. He must have got back from the library sooner than we realized," Andy replied.

"So, he sent it to you?" Sharon asked him.

"No. I guess after he filmed it, he sent it to Ricky and I'm guessing Emily too," Andy replied.

"This is amazing," said Sharon as she leaned her head against Andy's.

"Yeah, it is," Andy replied.

"In fact, this whole night has been amazing. You know what would make it even better than it already is though?" Sharon asked.

"What?" Andy asked her.

"If you stayed the night," Sharon replied.

"Sharon…" Andy trailed off.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't ask if I thought it would make any of them uncomfortable. It'll be fine. Plus, it means you won't have to wake up early to drive over here in the morning," said Sharon.

Andy smirked at her before he said, "You're lucky I took a page out of your book and packed a change of clothes in my trunk after I spent the night last week. Otherwise, you're plan might have been slightly flawed."

"Well, I'm glad to see that my sense of occasion is starting to rub off on you. So, does this mean you're staying?" Sharon asked him.

"Yeah," Andy replied as he briefly kissed her lips.

Meanwhile, back inside Emily, Ricky, and Rusty had just finished another round of Uno, when Emily looked up and saw her mom and Andy cuddling in a chair out on the balcony.

She smiled to herself before she said to Ricky, "Well, if that doesn't convince you, then I don't know what will."

"What are you talking about?" Ricky asked her.

Emily motioned towards the balcony, as both Ricky and Rusty looked in that general direction.

"It's not that I wasn't convinced, Emily. I just needed to gauge the situation myself and make sure I was confident that he'd never hurt her. Our father did enough of that over the years. Mom shouldn't ever have to go through that again," Ricky told her.

"I agree. Dad treated her like shit and she didn't deserve that. I'm just glad that she's with someone who seems to treat her right and makes her happy," Emily replied.

"So, are you convinced now?" Rusty asked Ricky.

"Definitely. I have every confidence that he'll treat her right and that they'll both be very happy together," said Ricky as he moved to put the cards away and call it a night.

"Looks like I'm crashing on an air mattress on your floor, little brother," Ricky told Rusty.

"Cool. I'll go help you set it up. We'll let Emily have first dibs on the bathroom," Rusty told him as he stood up from the table.

"You might live to regret that, but okay," said Ricky as he followed Rusty down the hallway to set up his bed for the night.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," said Emily as she followed closely behind them on her way to the bathroom.

"You forget that I grew up with you," Ricky replied.

"Whatever," said Emily as she rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

"The coast is clear. Are you ready to go to bed?" Sharon asked Andy.

"Yeah. Let's go," said Andy as they made their way inside and he locked the door going out onto the balcony while Sharon made sure the front door was locked.

As they were walking down the hall, Andy said to her, "Well, I know I have at least have a t-shirt here, as for pants though…" Andy trailed off as they made their way into Sharon's bedroom and closed the door.

"I may have snagged a pair of sweats from your dresser late last week when I stayed over," Sharon told him.

"I don't know whether to be scared or grateful," said Andy jokingly.

"Well, I figured you being in yesterday's clothes the next morning is just as much a dead giveaway as you walking into the kitchen in your pajamas. So, you might as well be comfortable," Sharon replied.

"I love you and your sense of occasion," said Andy as he pulled Sharon towards him and kissed her.

"Well, I love you and the fact that you're so understanding when it comes to a certain child of mine questioning your intentions," said Sharon.

Andy smiled at her before he said, "Come on. Let's get ready for bed."

That night, as Sharon and Andy drifted off to sleep together, they both had the biggest smiles on their faces. Him because he had this amazing woman in his life and in his arms and her for a couple of different reasons. One, because this amazing man seemed to be getting along so great with her children, and two, because she still had a surprise in store for him the following evening. One that she knew he was sure to love.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, let me know what you thought of it by leaving me a review. The next chapter should hopefully be up sometime next week! Thanks for reading and reviewing!