DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
Chapter 14
Dinner was almost ready and Emily walked into the family room to let her mother and Andy know that it was getting close to dinner being ready. As she walked into the family room, she saw the two of them snuggled together, both of them asleep. "Mom?" she quietly walked over to her and gently tapped her on her shoulder.
Sharon opened her eyes and saw her daughter standing over her. "What is it?" she asked in a sleepy tone. "Dinner's almost ready," Emily told her, waiting for a response from her mother. "Okay," Sharon sighed and then Emily left. Sharon took a breath before she decided to wake Andy up as well. She gently nudged him with her arm.
Andy jolted from his position and looked at Sharon in wonder. "Dinner's almost ready," she whispered to him as he ran a hand over his face. He then leaned closer to her. "It's nice and warm here with you," he whispered as he snuggled his face into the crook of her neck. Sharon started to laugh and swatted her right hand towards him.
She shook her head as he gave her a look and then sat up a little bit more. He helped her and the two of them waited to stand up when Sharon was ready. "I think we should tell Matthew we want to talk with him after dinner," she told him as they sat there. Andy scratched his head. "That's going to scare him even more," he told her.
"Tell him that we know what he did and hope that he tells us?" he asked her as he helped her stand up. "No, we just tell him that we want to talk in his room after dinner and see how it goes," she told him as she held onto his arm. "Okay, if you want to do that," he trailed off as they started to head into the dining room.
The table was already set and Matthew was bringing in the dinner rolls when Sharon and Andy stepped into the room. Ricky had placed the plate with the baked chicken breasts in the middle of the table. "Oh, Matthew, your Dad and I want to have a talk with you after dinner, in private," Sharon told Matthew and his eyes got wide.
He glanced over at Ricky who was still in the dining room and Ricky subtly just shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," Matthew mumbled and headed back into the kitchen with Ricky to get more items for the table.
"Did you tell them?" Matthew asked Ricky as Emily handed Matthew a small bowl to bring to the table. "No, of course not! I told you to tell them when I brought you home. It could have saved you from the "talk"," Ricky stated and made air quotes towards his little brother. Rusty and Emily both looked at them and didn't know what that exchange was about.
Everyone brought the rest of the food out to the table as Sharon was sitting down at the table with Andy standing next to her. "Honey, could you get me one of my pain medications?" she asked Andy and he nodded and headed into the kitchen. Matthew sat down next to Sharon and was awfully quiet. He kept looking at Ricky who was sitting across from him, wondering if he had told his parents what happened.
Andy came back with Sharon's prescription medicine and handed it to her. She took the pill with the water in her glass and then waited till everyone else was ready to eat. Rusty brought the last plate out and placed it on the table. "Before we start, I think we should say grace," Sharon told them and Ricky placed the serving fork back down on the table.
They all sat around the table and said grace in unison. Sharon looked around as was happy that all of her children were gathered there tonight. She had hoped it would be under different circumstances but, none the less, they were all there.
The plates got passed and food was placed on them and handed back to everyone. Matthew ate his dinner in silence and Andy was very cognizant of that fact. He watched everyone else eat and talk about different things. "Matthew, why don't you tell us about your baseball camp today? What skills did they work on?" Andy asked him, trying to get him to talk about something.
"Uh, we did fielding, hitting, and base running," Matthew quietly spoke as everyone looked at him. "That's great, sweetie!" Sharon told him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He gave a fake smile and continued to push the food around his plate. Sharon glanced at Andy sitting next to her and he sighed.
They finished eating dinner and Emily, Ricky, and Rusty all cleaned up the table and brought the plates back into the kitchen. Andy tried to help them. "We got this Andy, please let us," Emily told him and he held both of his hands up in defeat.
Andy then looked at Sharon who was watching Matthew still sitting next to her at the table. "Can we go have our talk now?" Matthew turned and spoke to both of them. "Sure sweetie, you go up now, we'll be up in a minute," Sharon told him and Matthew got up from the table and ran up the stairs to his room. Moxie followed him up there.
Sharon then turned to Andy who was looking at her. "So, how do you want to do this?" she asked him as she took a hold of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I think he's ready to confess to whatever is going on, let's just play it by ear?" Andy suggested and then stood up from the table and held onto Sharon's chair as she stood up as well.
"I think Ricky knows what's going on with him," Sharon said as they walked towards the stairs. "You want me to ask him before we head up?" Andy looked at her, wondering if that's what she wanted. She thought about it and shook her head. "No, Matthew needs to tell us on his own," she smiled, placing her hand on his cheek and then headed upstairs with Andy following her.
Matthew sat on his bed and waited for his parents to join him in his room. Maybe Ricky was right. Maybe he would feel better if he just came out and told them what he did. Moxie was lying down next to him and Matthew kept petting him until he heard someone coming up the stairs. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath and waited.
Sharon and Andy made their way towards Matthew's bedroom and Sharon knocked on the open door. She saw Matthew sitting there petting Moxie as she entered his room and Andy followed her closely. He then closed the door behind him to give them some privacy.
"Matthew, do you know why we wanted to talk to you tonight?" Sharon asked him as she sat down next to him on his bed. Matthew nodded. "Yes," he mumbled and then looked at Andy who was standing to the side in his room. Sharon looked at Andy and nodded to him. He took a deep breath before starting.
"Matthew, I found," Andy started but was interrupted by Matthew talking. "I'm sorry! I forged your signature on my math test," Matthew blurted out and Andy looked at him. "Wait a minute, what did you do?" Andy asked him as he glanced at Sharon. Sharon then turned to look at Matthew and Matthew looked at her.
"I forged dad's signature on my math test because I failed it and didn't want you guys to know," Matthew muttered, with tears in his eyes, and both of them were in shock. "Matthew, oh sweetie, come here," Sharon held her arms open for him and she hugged him gently. "You forged my signature?!" Andy was mad. He couldn't believe what Matthew had just told them. He was thinking something else that the kid could have down, not forging a signature.
"Andy," Sharon shook her head at him, meaning this wasn't the time to get angry. Andy couldn't believe it, and why was Sharon being so lenient on Matthew? He wondered as he watched the two. "Matthew, you know that no matter what happens in school or at home, you can always come and talk to us about anything," Sharon told Matthew as she held him.
Matthew nodded. "Well, then why didn't you tell us that you failed your math test? We would have gladly gone over it with you and helped you understand what problems you got wrong," Sharon continued as Andy just stood there with his arms crossed.
"Is that why I found the last page of your adoption papers in your room?" Andy asked him and Matthew broke from his mother's embrace. "Yes," he mumbled. "I made a copy of it," he added as he sat there. "Yours was easier to copy than mom's signature," he mumbled answering Andy's next question that he had without even asking.
Sharon turned Matthew so that he was facing her. "Matthew, that was totally wrong to do and I hope you realize that now," she told him. "I do," Matthew looked at his mom. "There will be consequences for your actions in doing this," she said as she wiped a tear from his eye with her finger. "I know," he mumbled as he sniffled once again.
"How long ago did you do this?" Andy asked him, wondering how long their son had been hiding this from them. "Two weeks ago," Matthew sniffled as Andy knelt down in front of him. "Is this why you've been acting so moody lately? Because of this?" he asked and Matthew nodded.
"You are going to have to tell your teacher about this, and we will need to schedule a meeting with her," Sharon said and caught Matthew off guard. "Wait, what?!" Matthew looked at her. "But I told you everything that I did, why do I have to tell my teacher?" he asked. "Because you handed that test back into her, correct?" Sharon stated and Matthew nodded.
"So you handed in the test with a signature that you copied, is that correct?" she wanted to clarify and maybe Matthew would understand why they had to meet with his teacher. "Yes," he muttered and his shoulders sank down as he continued to sit there and listen to them.
"We'll meet with your teacher Monday morning when we drop you off at school," Sharon said which caused Andy to give her a look. "I'm sorry mom, dad," he turned to both of them and saw the disappointment in their eyes.
Andy placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder as he sat there, shoulders slumped. "Hey buddy, we're not mad at you. Your mother and I hope that you've learned your lesson from this and don't do it again," Andy gave him a concerned look. Matthew looked at his father and nodded his head in agreement. He then gave him a hug and then turned to Sharon and gave her a gentle hug.
Sharon stood up with Andy's help and she turned to Matthew who was still sitting on his bed. "I want you to think about what you did," she said and immediately had a flashback to when Ricky was younger and she had caught him in the same thing. "No TV for a week," she told him and Matthew went to object but decided not to and just agreed.
Matthew sat there and watched his parents walk out of his room. Moxie jumped onto his bed and licked Matthew's face to cheer him up.
Andy followed Sharon into their bedroom. Sharon sat down on the chair and couldn't believe what their youngest son just told them. "I can't believe he did that! Our son, he copied your signature onto his test!" she was mad and Andy knew that. Trying to reason with her to get her to calm down due to her needing to relax was pointless at the moment.
"Sharon, calm down a minute here," Andy pleaded with her as she looked at him. "First of all, the kid admitted to doing it, he was tired of covering it up, that has to allow for something," Andy started and Sharon was going to interrupt him but he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Second, I'm the one who should be mad at him, he used my signature, and don't get me wrong, I am mad at him!" he told her as he went through the list.
"Third, you are staying at home Monday and resting, not taking Matthew to school or anywhere else," he stated and took the Darth Raydor glare from her to mean that the pain killer she had taken at dinner was probably making her feel better.
"No, he is our son, and we are going to the school together. You can then drop me off back home before you go to work," Sharon informed him. Andy shook his head and knew that her stubbornness was only going to get worse as the two weeks went by.
She then stood up from the chair rather quickly and Andy was right by her side holding her. "I'm okay," she whispered and stood in place for a few seconds before walking into the bathroom to change her clothes. Andy watched her walk away and ran his hand over the back of his neck.
He waited for her to come out of the bathroom, and when she did, she was wearing her pajamas and her robe. She looked at him and smiled. "You didn't have to wait for me," she told him as she walked up to him. "I wanted to make sure you were okay," he caressed her face with his hand. "I'm more than okay," she told him and touched his face with her hand. He leaned in and kissed her. She then walked towards their bed and propped up the pillows on her side.
"I think I'm going to just lie here and read a little bit," she told him as she sat down and swung her legs up onto the bed. She reached for her book she was in the middle of reading and settled into the pillows. "I'll go check on everyone else, including our little forger," he smiled and waited for her to return the smile before he left their room.
Andy walked down the hall and stopped outside Matthew's room. He was still sitting on his bed, looking lost like the day they had found him hiding in the closet of his old house. Andy sighed and then walked back into Matthew's room. He stood there for a second, not knowing what to say to him. Matthew looked up and saw him standing there.
He then got off of his bed and ran into his arms and hugged him. "I'm sorry Dad, I am," he cried. "It's okay, really. There are more important things to worry about like getting your mom better," he told him as he hugged him back. "I promise I won't do that again," Matthew mumbled into Andy's shirt. He pulled away to look at the boy. He then pulled out a hanker chief from his pocket and wiped Matthew's tears from his face.
"Is mom still mad at me?" he asked him as they stood there in his bedroom. Andy sighed. "I wouldn't say she's mad at you, she's had a lot thrown at her the past couple of days," he told him and ruffled Matthew's hair with his hand. Matthew nodded. "Do you think she'll let me cuddle with her for a little bit?" he asked innocently. Andy smiled. "I'm sure she would like that very much," he said. "But, remember, be very gentle as she's still healing," he reminded Matthew and then Matthew left his room.
Andy then went back downstairs as Matthew knocked on their bedroom door. It was quiet enough but Sharon heard him as she looked up from the book she was reading. She placed it on her lap. "Yes?" she said, wondering what Matthew was going to say to her.
"Can I come in?" he asked as he stood there. She couldn't stay mad at the boy. She had hoped that their earlier talk had been instilled in his mind never to do that again. "Sure sweetie," Sharon adjusted her lying on the bed as Matthew walked in and stood in front of her. "I'm sorry Mom," he told her and she looked at him.
"Come here," she said and patted the area next to her with her hand. Matthew climbed up onto their bed and lay down next to her. "You know that your dad and I want you to do your best in everything that you do, from school to sports to being kind and safe," she started telling him and he nodded.
"So then why would you do what you did?" she asked him as she stroked his hair. "I didn't want you to be disappointed," he mumbled and Sharon just shook her head. "You went over everything before the test with me and I had failed it, I didn't want you or Daddy to think I was stupid," he finally said. "Oh honey, your dad and I would never think for once that you are stupid, at all," Sharon told him.
"Sometimes, we study so hard for something and when we get the test in front of us, we don't do as well as we should have, it happens," she stopped stroking his hair as he moved to look at her. "Did that ever happen to you or Daddy?" he asked her and she thought about it.
"There were some times when I was in college that I had studied for a test and had not gotten a good grade on it. Your dad, well you'd have to ask him that, but I will say that no matter what your dad or I did, we always told the truth or something that led to the truth," she sighed and Matthew snuggled into her side a little more.
She winced and took a deep breath when he did that. "Sorry," he pulled away to look at her. "It's okay, I'm okay," she assured him as he lay back down next to her.
Andy was downstairs and found the three other kids in the kitchen. "So is Matthew still alive? We didn't hear any screaming," Ricky joked and Emily swatted her hand against his shoulder. "What?" Ricky looked at Emily and then at Andy. "Too soon?" he asked. "Yeah, too soon Ricky," Andy shook his head as he leaned against the counter.
"I'm going to head upstairs," Emily said to everyone and she left. "I should probably get back to my place and go over some more things that I found at the library," Rusty said as he gathered the books that he had brought home with him. "Good night everyone," he waved and then walked out the back door.
Ricky looked at Andy in the awkward silence that came when everyone else left. "So, Ricky, I wanted to ask you if you knew about what Matthew did," Andy said as he stood there facing him. "Oh, well, yeah, I mean he did tell me on the way home from picking him up at the baseball camp, but I told him that he should tell you and mom and that if he did, he would feel better," Ricky stated as he leaned his elbows on the island.
"And you didn't tell your mom or me about this because?" Andy wondered as he asked him. "I promised the little squirt I wouldn't, besides I told him that you were the best police detective and would probably figure it out sooner rather than later and to just come clean with it," Ricky looked at Andy, hoping that the inquiry from his step-father would soon end.
"Look, Andy, if Matthew was in danger and he told me about it, I would tell you guys right away. When he told me about this, I figured it was a minor thing and that he should be the one to tell you. I encouraged him to do so," Ricky stood up from the island and Andy nodded. "Ok," Andy simply said and then tidied up the remainder of the items in the kitchen.
Once Emily was upstairs, she went into her mother's bedroom and found Matthew cuddled up next to her mom. Sharon looked up again from the book she was reading and greeted her daughter. "Come in," she smiled and whispered to her. Emily did and walked over to the bed. "Everything okay with him?" Emily asked her. "I think so," Sharon smiled as Emily scooted herself on the bed and joined them.
"So, tell me, what's going on with you?" Sharon asked her and she told her mom everything that had been going on in New York with the ballet company and trying to find another part.
Ricky had retreated into the family room to watch a movie and Andy made his way into the den. As he sat down on the chair in there, memories flooded back to him. His mind flashed to the apartment building, rushing over to Sharon's side and seeing that her arm was bleeding. He sat there and pinched his nose, closing his eyes, willing those images to go away.
Instead, more memories came rushing to him. Them running out of the building, bullets being shot at them from up above. Getting her into the car and driving to the hospital. He was in the waiting room, alone, needing to see Sharon. He couldn't breathe; he couldn't focus on anything else. He saw Provenza walk in and sit down next to him. His mind then shifted to Sharon in the hospital room, she was okay but then alarms started going off and nurses rushed into her room. They moved him out of the way as he watched his wife cling to life.
He startled himself and opened his eyes, trying to catch his breath. When he was able to focus, he was still sitting in the den but this time the house was eerily quiet. Moxie was lying on the floor next to his chair. He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was past 11 at night. He rubbed his forehead and sat there for a second.
He stood up and shuffled his way through the house, making sure that all of the doors were locked before heading upstairs with the dog. He passed Matthew's room, noticing that the light was still on but Matthew wasn't inside. Andy then walked over to their bedroom and saw the lamp was still on by the nightstand on Sharon's side of the bed.
He saw Matthew curled up on Sharon's left side and Emily sleeping on Sharon's right side. The sight almost brought him to tears right there. He didn't have the heart to wake up Matthew and Emily so he got himself ready for bed and closed the bathroom door. He looked at himself in the mirror as he splashed some water on his face. After brushing his teeth, he stepped out of the bathroom and saw Sharon was awake.
"Sorry the bed was overtaken by these two," she whispered to him as he walked closer to the side of the bed. "Don't worry about it," he shrugged it off as he stood there. "How are you doing?" he asked as he made sure she had her pain meds and a glass of water by her side. She smiled at him. "I'm doing okay. What time is it?" she asked.
"A little after 11 at night. Go back to sleep, honey," he leaned down and kissed her lips. She smiled as she watched him pull away. He stood there and watched her close her eyes before he retreated into Matthew's room. He figured he would sleep in there since his bed was occupied. Moxie followed him there and jumped on the bed as he settled down and pulled the covers over him.
He lay on his side and was staring at Matthew's Batman figurine. He remembered what Sharon told him a couple of months ago when they had to release Croelick. "Even super heroes have their evil nemesis. Yours is Croelick," she had said to him then. He laid there staring at the figure and eventually closed his eyes and fell asleep.
TBC