Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap,
Let's go, Let's look at the show,
We're riding in a wonderland of snow.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, gidd yap,
It's grand, Just holding your hand,
We're gliding along with a song
In a wintry fairy land
Our cheeks are nice and rosy
And comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together
Like two birds of a feather would be
Let's take that road before us
And sing a chorus or two
Come on, it's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you.

"Andy, is everything all right?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"You seem very distracted. You have since we got back from our massage."

They had a lovely intimate table next to the fireplace in the inn's cozy dining room and a view of the skaters on the pond, yet Andy seemed more focused on the door leading into the inn's lobby. It wasn't like him to be so inattentive. Usually when they had dinner together he was 100% focused on her. Tonight he was distracted and fidgety and non-committal and the only time he acted like that was when he knew he'd done something that would displease her, or when he had to tell her something she wasn't going to like hearing.

Her eyes narrowed with concern. "You sure you're feeling okay?"

"Sharon, it was a pinched nerve that caused a terrible muscle spasm and I couldn't catch my breath."

"Brought on by stress over the shooting. Because it very easily could have been me who was killed instead of Taylor." She'd been standing right beside her boss when he'd been shot and killed.

"And I didn't talk about it with you because you had enough on your plate with the guilt you felt over not feeling bad about killing that Nazi scumbag Darnell. We talked about all this while I was in the hospital. I won't bottle up my emotions anymore and neither will you. Because you do a pretty good job of that yourself."

Sharon's lips twitched with amusement. "You are right about that, Andy. Look, we've both been alone for a very long time. It's natural that it would take some time to get too used to having someone in our lives that we can lean on, that we can count on. But I want us to get there. I want you to know I'm always here for you and I'll always listen to what you have to say, even if I don't agree with you or you just need to vent. You don't need to protect me. Just don't bottle it up inside anymore. It isn't good for your health and it isn't good for our relationship."

He reached across the table taking her hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles. "And you'll do the same?"

"I'll do the same."

"Oh." Andy let go of her hand like it was a hot potato.

Sharon turned to see what had created that spark of recognition in his eye and saw an attractive blond in the doorway. The woman caught her eye and immediately ducked away. "Andy?" she questioned with a frown as Andy rose from his seat.

"I'll be right back. I just need to use the restroom."

Sharon's stomach knotted, her eyes following Andy toward the direction the blonde had taken-opposite of where the restrooms were. What the hell was going on? There was no way that this was happening. Not with Andy.

Of course it's not like she wasn't well aware of his infamous past history with women. It was certainly no secret that Andy attracted women like bees to honey. She hadn't known him very well when he was on patrol or even after he'd made detective and worked in Vice, then Robbery/Homicide and finally Major Crimes, but she knew who he was and knew his reputation very well. Women talked and many of the women she worked with salivated over the very hot Andy Flynn. Hot being the operative word.

While she hadn't personally had any run-ins with Andy in FID, she knew that he'd been investigated several times but his cases had never been serious enough to make it all the way to her desk. He was known to be smart and passionate, dedicated to his job but also impulsive. It was that impulsive streak and his temper that sometimes got him into trouble. In any case, she also knew of his reputation as a ladies man. Not a crime because he was a single, but it was one of the reasons that she had moved so slowly into a relationship with him. She had to be sure it wasn't just an impulsive decision on his part and that he wasn't going to drop her as soon as he got what he wanted.

Once they'd become friends and then lovers she'd gotten to know him as a person, not just a reputation and she'd found a lonely man living with some very serious regrets. A man who had been trying to fill a very big hole in his heart with a string of affairs that had led him nowhere.

And during the entire time they'd been together she'd never had a reason to doubt him. The impulsive man who went from woman to woman had spent a year pursuing her, going out with her as a friend-no kissing and certainly no sex, or as Andy referred to it, dating without benefits. And then, when she'd finally acknowledged that what they shared was far more than friendship and agreed to officially date him romantically, he'd been very sweet in accepting her boundaries. The Andy who usually ended up in bed with women after a first date, had taken on her request for an old fashioned courtship, dates that ended with kisses rather than between the sheets, with the intensity of a man who knew exactly what he wanted.

And though he was ready for sex long before she was, he was always good natured about it and had never given her cause to worry that he might turn to another woman to get what he wasn't getting from her. He was completely focused on her and on their relationship and because of that she'd come to trust him completely.

She did trust him. So, whatever was going on with that blonde, it couldn't be personal.

When he arrived back at the table he seemed a little rushed, almost jittery.

"Andy, I'd like to know what's going on."

"What? What do you mean? Nothing's going on."

"I'm a detective. I know when someone is hiding something. And I sure as hell know when the man I am sharing my life with is keeping something from me."

"It's nothing, really. Are you finished?"

Sharon nodded and set her coffee mug on the table. Andy signed the bill to be charged to their room.

Still pondering on what was going on with him; Sharon put her jacket back on and stepped out of the inn onto the porch. At the foot of the stairs was one of the Austrian Sleigh's, the two large draft horses that pulled it snorting and stomping their feet in the snow, anxious to get moving. This was a two person sleigh, much smaller than the ones that she'd seen taking out the large groups.

"Your chariot awaits, my lady."

Sharon turned to see a broad grin on Andy's face. "This is for us? Just us?"

"Just us." He began leading her down the porch stairs.

"Welcome," said the man who greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm Ron and I'll be your coachman tonight. It's a beautiful night for a sleigh ride. You just sit back relax and enjoy the ride. There are blankets in the back to stay warm."

Once seated, Sharon cuddled into Andy and he pulled up the thick faux fur lined blanket and tucked it in around them. The horses took off with a jingle of their harness bells and they began to glide over the snow.

"I can't believe you did this," she said. "Is that what all the checking of your watch and that blonde lady were all about?"

"Yes. I told them I wanted a romantic moonlit sleigh ride with my lady and they worked it all out for me."

"Andy Flynn you really do have a romantic Italian soul."

"So, you're not still jealous the kids did this without us yesterday."

She gave a soft laugh remembering how she'd pouted a little bit when she thought they'd been left out. "No. This is much, much better." She lifted her face to press a kiss to his jaw, murmuring softly against his cold skin, "Though the night was made for loving, And the day returns too soon, Yet we'll go no more a-roving, By the light of the moon."

"Did you just make that up?"

She chuckled. "I wish I were that talented. No, it's Lord Byron."

"The poet?"

"Yes."

"It fits. Though I was thinking more along the lines of, over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go. "

Sharon laughed. "Well, that fits too."

It was a beautiful night, clear and cold. The stars were bright in the dark sky, the nearly full moon creating blue swaths over the pristine snow covered hills. With jingling bells they made their way along the frozen river and over the open fields into the moon shadowed forest. Once in the woods the flat terrain steadily climbed and by the time they came out of the woods into a clearing they were at the very top of a hill where a large white gazebo sat alight with hundreds of tiny flickering Christmas lights. An oasis of glittering beauty. The sleigh came to a stop and Ron hopped down to help them out.

Andy led Sharon inside the closed in gazebo. It was warm and toasty inside thanks to a woodstove burning in the corner. In the middle of the room sat a small round table covered with a red linen tablecloth. Tall white pillar candles flickered on that table, shining in the crystal champagne flutes and on the silver bucket that held what looked like iced bottles of champagne. If she'd thought the sleigh ride was romantic, well, that appeared to be just the tip of the iceberg.

After warming her hands for a moment over the stove Sharon made her way to front of the gazebo. "Oh Andy," she breathed. "Come look at this view."

The gazebo was perched at the very top of the hill and far below them in the valley was the inn, the pond and the lights of the village.

"It's so beautiful. Like a winter wonderland."

Andy stepped up beside her, but his eyes were on her, not the view. "You're beautiful, Sharon. I've always thought so, even when I felt like you were the wicked witch of FID. But back then I had no idea that you're even more beautiful on the inside than you are on the outside. I thought having you take over Major Crimes was one of the worst things that could happen to me, but it turns out it was the best. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"Oh, Andy." Sharon turned to him leaning forward as if to kiss him, but he pulled back.

"Wait. I have to do this before I lose my nerve."

Sharon's look of adoration turned to one of confusion…Until Andy fell to one knee and she gave a sharp intake of breath. Oh my God. Was this really happening? Was Andy proposing?

Andy pulled out his little police notebook, briefly glanced at it, then stuffed it back in his pocket so he could take her hand and look her directly in the eye when he spoke. "Sorry, I don't want to forget anything."

Sharon smiled through the tears that had filled her eyes the moment she realized what he was doing.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. About you. About me. About how living together might be just the beginning for us. For so many years now I've felt empty and alone. It's like that dirt bag life coach said. I had a hole in my heart and nothing could fill it. Until you. Now when I look in my heart all I see is you.

I know we don't need a piece of paper to tell us how much we love each other or how committed we are to each other. But I think if we learned anything this year it's that life is short and it can be taken away in an instant.

I know we've got to figure some things out, but the one thing I don't need to figure out is how I feel about you, how much I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side as my wife, not my girlfriend, and I promise I will do my best to make you happy and to be the best husband I can be."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, holding it out toward her as an offering. By now the tears that had been burning in Sharon's eyes began trailing down her cheeks. "Sharon Elizabeth O'Dwyer Raydor, will you marry me?"

Sharon could hardly speak through the tears clogging her throat. "Yes," she choked. "Oh my God, yes!"

Andy rose and she threw herself in his arms. All her life she'd put her dreams away for someone else. First giving up law school for Jack, and then going into FID for her kids. Now it was her turn to take a chance at something she wanted. And oh, how she wanted a life with Andy. Sweet, sexy, passionate, dependable, romantic, Andy, who loved her as no man ever had.

"Well." When he pulled back from her embrace Sharon saw that she was not the only one moved. Tears shone in Andy's dark eyes, one sliding down his cheek. Slightly embarrassed he quickly brushed it away. "Do you want to have a look at the ring?"

"Oh, yes of course," she laughed. She took the box and opened it gasping at the glittering princess cut diamond inside. "Oh Andy," she sighed. "It's absolutely exquisite."

"It was my Grandmother Flynn's ring, it originally came from Ireland. But they were kind of poor and I wanted this to be your ring, so I brought it to a custom jeweler. He kept the vintage band and made smaller diamonds out of her original diamond, which is what you see on the sides here and then I chose this Princess cut because you said it was your favorite style for engagement rings."

"It is, but when did I say that?"

"One day when we were window shopping last summer. I specifically brought you by a jewelry store so I could get some ideas about what you liked and didn't like. Then I brought Gavin with me shopping because he knows your style pretty well."

"Andy. You were thinking about marrying me last summer? We hadn't even slept together yet."

"Sharon, sleeping with you has never been a deal breaker. Even if you were a dud in bed I'd still want to marry you. "

She gave a surprised laugh. "Gee, thanks Andy."

"You're welcome," he flashed her that naughty little half grin. "Of course, thankfully you aren't a dud. In fact, you're pretty damn amazing in bed. Truth is, I think I've wanted to marry you since our first dance at Nicole's wedding."

"Andy…" she was skeptical.

"Okay, maybe I wasn't thinking marriage then, but I wasn't lying when I said I started falling in love with you that night. It was that night that you stopped being Captain Raydor and became my Sharon."

"Your Sharon?"

"That's how I thought of you. I know you weren't even divorced yet and we weren't even dating. But after that night you were my Sharon, even if it was only in my mind."

"Oh my God, you really are the sweetest man." She reached a hand up to cup his cheek, her heart so filled it felt like it would burst. She couldn't remember a time she'd ever been this happy.

"So, let's try this sucker on." He took the ring out of the box.

"Yes, let's do." Sharon held her hand out and Andy slipped the ring down her slender finger. It fit perfectly. He'd been pretty sure it would. He knew her ring size because he'd taken one of her rings from her jewelry box with him to the jewelers and they'd checked the size for him.

"It is absolutely breathtaking," she said, moving her hand to catch the light from the candles in the diamond. "I love the vintage band and I love that it was your grandmother's and that it came from Ireland. And the diamond is absolutely perfect."

"It reminds me of you, both old fashioned and modern."

She smiled at the comparison. "And it's a custom piece, nobody else in the world has a ring like this."

"One of a kind, just like you."

"Uh, excuse me," they both turned to see the coachman. "I hate to rush you, but we're going to have to head back soon."

"How much time?"

"I can give you about 10 more minutes."

"Perfect."

"By the way, how did it go?"

Andy took Sharon's hand and lifted it, beaming as he wiggled her ring finger. "She said yes."

"Ahh…congratulations. Beautiful place for a proposal, isn't it?"

"The most beautiful," Sharon agreed giving Andy a tender smile.

"If you'd like, I could take some pictures of you."

"That would be great." Sharon handed him her phone and showed him how to take pictures with it while Andy popped the cork from the bottle of champagne and poured Sharon a glass before pouring a glass of sparking cider for him.

"To my beautiful fiancée. I will be counting the days until you are my wife," he said.

"And to my very, very handsome fiancé who planned the most romantic proposal ever. I love you Andy." They touched glasses and kissed while Ron snapped pictures.

Back on the sleigh Sharon immediately curled back up against Andy, holding her hand out to continue admiring her engagement ring in the moonlight. "The kids are going to be so surprised."

"Well," Andy hedged. "Maybe not so surprised."

"What do you mean? Did you tell them you were proposing tonight?" She couldn't keep the disappointment in her tone out of the question.

"No, not tonight, just sometime in the future."

"And how did that come up?"

"I wanted to get their take on things before I asked you to marry me. I mean I know I didn't need their permission or anything, but I was hoping to get their blessing. I know how important your kids are to you, Sharon, and I knew it was something you'd want too."

"You really do know me, don't you?"

"Guess it helps that we were friends a long time before we were lovers."

"You weren't saying that before we were lovers," she reminded him wryly.

"Yeah, well, you can't blame a guy for a little impatience. Not when he's dating a smart, sassy, sexy woman who wants to take things slow."

"You survived," she grinned.

"And you were worth the wait."

"So, did you get their blessing?"

"I did. Emily was easy. She's ready to start planning the wedding. Rusty, well he sort of expected this since I've been living with you. He's used to us together. Ricky was the toughest."

"Oh. Really?" That surprised her. Ricky and Andy had always gotten on so well. "Was he an ass to you? Sometimes I want to throttle that boy. You know when Jack left there were so many people telling him "you have to be the man of the house now". But I hated that. He was just a little boy and I never wanted him to feel like that. I was the adult, I was the parent. But there are times, especially now that he's older, that he gets a little too full of himself and starts acting like he's my parent not my son."

"Whoa, Sharon, relax. He was fine, really. I get along great Ricky. I always have. He likes me. He thinks I'm good for you. He sees how happy you are. He's just protective of you. They all are. They don't want to see you hurt. They remember what it was like when Jack hurt you and how hard it was on you. They don't want to see it happen again, none of them. Ricky was just the one that made it clear that hurting you might cause me to end up at the bottom of the Pacific."

Sharon shook her head rolling her eyes. "He said that? And I always thought he was a smart boy. You don't threaten the police."

"It's okay. I understand where he's coming from. If anyone ever hurt you, I'd put them at the bottom of the Pacific myself."

Sharon shivered. She wasn't so sure Andy was exaggerating on that point.

"You've got great kids Sharon. They love you very much. All three of them said that after putting them first for so many years you deserve to be happy and if I make you happy, I have their blessing."

"You make me happy," she assured him.

"Good, then that's settled. And you can surprise them with our news."

"I think I want to wait."

Andy's face fell and Sharon quickly took his hand. "Don't panic. Not for long. I'm done with moving slow. I was just thinking, maybe we should wait until Christmas Eve dinner at my parents. We can surprise everyone with the news and it's only a few days away."

"All right. I think I can wait that long."

"Of course that means I'm going to have to take my ring off." She sounded so sad it brought a smile to Andy's face.

"I'm glad you like it so much, sweetheart."

"I love it." And now that she had Andy's ring on her finger the last thing she wanted to do was take it off. "But I suppose I can wait a couple more days to put it on."

"And then it never comes off?"

"Never, never, never."

TBC

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