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 16

"Hey Mom, Andy, um Nicole just called and she wanted to know if I'd like to go to the mall with her and the boys. She said I could bring Matthew with and they could hang out together," Emily walked in not knowing that she had clearly interrupted something between the two.

Andy moved to the side of Sharon as she sat there listening to her daughter. "I know you grounded Matthew, but I figured this could give you more time to relax. Although, Ricky would be here because he doesn't want to go, but Rusty said he would," Emily rambled and Sharon looked at Andy.

She knew he was on the verge of telling her something before Emily came into their room, maybe by them being out of the house, it would give them a chance to connect. "That's fine, as long as Andy doesn't object to Matthew going with you," she turned to him and he shrugged his shoulders. "That's fine," he mumbled and Emily then walked out of their room and headed downstairs.

Sharon leaned forward on the chair and ran her hand through Andy's hair. It was still damp from the shower. He turned to face her. "What were you going to tell me?" she asked him as his eyes looked lost. He took a deep breath. "I was going to catch a meeting this afternoon," he told her instead. "And I wasn't sure if anyone was going to stay here but now that Ricky isn't going," he trailed off and she sighed, knowing that wasn't what he was going to say to her earlier.

She was surprised that he even broke down in front of her in the hospital those nights ago since he always seemed to keep things bottled up until she pushed him. She thought that maybe once he returned home from his meeting this afternoon, he would be able to tell her what he wanted to say without her pushing him.

She watched him stand up and held his hand out for her to take. They made their way back downstairs where the kids were sitting and waiting around for Nicole to stop by. Ricky was in the kitchen working on his computer when Andy came in the room. "Hey, I understand that you're staying home instead of going with everyone to the mall," Andy spoke as he found a glass and poured some water for Sharon.

"Yeah, I didn't feel like going to a mall today, plus, I have some things I need to get done on my laptop before I head back home tomorrow," Ricky said without looking up from his laptop computer. "Do you think you can watch your mom while I hit a meeting this afternoon?" Andy asked. "Not that she needs watching or anything like that, but," he added. "It's okay Andy, go to your meeting, I got mom," Ricky stated as he looked at his step-father. "Thanks," he muttered and went to find Sharon.

Nicole rang the front door bell just as Andy was walking towards the family room. He turned around and went to the door. "I got it!" he called out as he opened the door and saw his daughter on the other side. "Hey sweetheart!" he smiled as she gave her father a hug. "Hi Dad," she said and noticed he was carrying a glass of water. "Come in for a second, everyone is in the family room," Andy told her and as he turned he was immediately bombarded with Emily, Rusty, and Matthew coming towards him.

He then saw Sharon slowly walking towards him and he went to help her. "I'm fine Andy," she told him and then walked over to greet Nicole. "Hi Nicole!" she said and gave her step-daughter a hug. Nicole gently hugged her back. "How are you feeling?" she asked her. "Oh, a little better," Sharon said as she gave a smile to her. "Is Dad driving you crazy yet?" Nicole asked and Sharon looked at Andy but didn't answer her, instead she shrugged her shoulders and hummed.

Andy let that pass as the kids piled out of the house and into Nicole's minivan. He closed the door behind them and locked it. Turning around to face Sharon, he was still holding her glass of water. "So, am I driving you crazy?" he said as he walked with her back to the family room. "No, of course not," she said as she sat down on the couch and he placed the glass of water on the coffee table in front of her. He then placed a blanket over her and handed her the remote control for the TV.

He leaned down and gave her a kiss, which she held him close to her and kissed him more. "Maybe just a little bit," she said as she released him. He bowed his head. "Sorry," he muttered. She lifted his chin with her fingers. "I'm not going to break," she whispered and he knew she was right, but somewhere deep down inside him, he was afraid of losing her. They both have had their run-ins with their jobs, but this time, it had hit Andy with full force.

"I'll be back," he told her as he pulled away from her and straightened up. "Take your time," she smiled and watched him walk away from her, disappearing towards the kitchen. She sat there for a moment and closed her eyes. It wasn't until Moxie nudged her hand did she open them back up to see the dog by her side, wagging his tail.

"I'm going to head out now," he told Ricky as he grabbed his keys on the counter and looked at him. He was still engrossed in his computer. "What are you working on?" he asked him before he left. "A new project proposal for a defense company," Ricky answered him. "Wow, that's great," Andy sounded proud and Ricky looked up at his step-father and gave him a smile. He closed his laptop and turned towards Andy. "I got Mom, don't worry," he told him and Andy nodded. He then walked out the back door and headed towards his car. He got in, started it, and pulled out of the driveway and headed to his meeting.

Ricky walked into the family room with his laptop and saw his mom sitting on the couch watching some program on the TV. "Hey, so what are you watching?" he asked as he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "Oh, some made for TV movie, I think it just started," she told him as she pulled the blanket closer to her.

"Tell me, what's new with you?" she asked him and he sighed. "Well, I'm working on a project proposal for a defense company right now," Ricky told her as he watched the TV. "Oh really? That's fascinating," she muted the TV to hear more about this. He grumbled when she muted the television and turned to face her. "I can't really tell you more about it because you need a security clearance," Ricky pointed out to her.

Sharon was shocked at that statement. "I'm your mother, I think you could tell me a little bit without having to break national security secrets!" she told him. Ricky sighed. "Well, all I can say is we are working on possible encryption software, that's it," he wouldn't budge with any more information. "Well, I am very proud of you, Ricky!" she smiled, using his full first name. "Thanks Mom," he returned her smile.

"How are you doing, really?" he decided to ask her at this moment, knowing it was just one on one with nobody else to distract her. "I'm getting better, I think. The pain medication is helping and hopefully these next two weeks off can help me heal properly so that I can return to work," she told him, feeling optimistic.

"So, you still plan on working after getting shot and going through all of this?" Ricky asked as he was genuinely concerned. "Yes, Ricky, I do," she stated and then thought of how to approach that subject. "Andy and I already discussed retirement a couple of months ago, and we both want to continue working as long as we can till we are ready to retire," she added, hoping that he would understand.

"Mom, it's just, you got shot, it's not like you're in charge of IA and sitting behind a desk most of the time when we were growing up, you go out into the field and bad guys don't like you," Ricky stated and Sharon had to laugh. "Oh honey," she chuckled and Ricky gave her a look. "I'm being serious here," he told her. "I know, I'm sorry," she continued to chuckle and then took a deep breath.

"Do you guys even have a plan if something happens to one or both of you on the job?" Ricky asked her and she cleared her throat. "Yes, we do, that's all I'm discussing now on this topic," she told him and he got the hint. She decided to change the subject. "So, are you dating anyone?" she asked him and he rolled his eyes.

Andy arrived at the church hall and stepped inside, finding an empty seat towards the middle. There were only a few other people sitting down and he waited for the meeting to start. He glanced at his watch. "Okay, we're going to get started now," a guy stood in front of the gathering at the microphone. "Hi everyone, I'm John, and I'm an alcoholic," the guy said over the microphone. "Hi John," everyone said in unison as Andy sat there, arms on his thighs as he listened to John's story.

Andy heard these stories a million times over as he sat there and listened to everyone speak their say. He pondered on whether or not to share what happened since he last attended a meeting. "Okay, now we are going to pass the mic around since there are only a few of us today. If you want to talk, great, if not, just pass the mic to the next person," John said to them and he handed the microphone to a woman in the front row.

"Hi, I'm Patty and I'm an alcoholic," Patty said as she sat there and faced everyone. Andy listened to her story about how she was married to the love of her life until a tragic day 5 years ago when he was taken from her too soon. She had fallen into the bottle and drowned her sorrows in vodka. Andy closed his eyes for a brief second before opening them again.

The microphone got passed along and a discussion followed until the microphone was passed to Andy. He took the microphone from the gentleman who had just finished speaking and raised it up to speak. "My name's Andy, and I am an alcoholic," he started and waited for everyone's response before continuing. "I've been sober for 20 years now and had some challenges along the way but I've always maintained my sobriety," he stated and everyone clapped.

"I'm a detective and last week, my wife, who's also a detective, we got into a shoot-out with two bad guys, long story short," Andy said as he scratched his head before continuing. "She got hurt, badly, and was just released from the hospital yesterday. Her kids are in town to help her while she recovers for the next two weeks because the doctor doesn't want her doing anything that could injure her more," he stated and took a deep breath.

"It's not that I want a drink, I don't. But I can't stop seeing the scene play over and over in my head. Every time I close my eyes, I see her get shot, or I'm waiting in the hospital for her to wake up, or doctor's rushing to her in her room," he took another deep breath and looked at John. "I thought talking about it here would help me," he smiled and shook his head. "And did it?" John asked him. "I don't know," Andy shrugged his shoulders and handed the mic to the next person.

Andy sat there as the meeting finished up and they all said the serenity prayer together. John came over to where Andy was standing and offered him a handshake. Andy accepted it. "I'm retired LAFD, was a Captain over in the Rampart district," John told him. "Lieutenant with the Major Crimes division of the LAPD," Andy stated. "Have you spoken to your sponsor yet?" he asked him. "Briefly but he's out of town," he told him.

"Doesn't the LAPD have registered psychologists or therapists to help you guys through these issues?" John asked him as he started to walk with Andy towards the door. "I really don't want to see a shrink," Andy laughed as he rubbed his neck out of nervous habit. "I'm not telling you what to do, but as a Captain, I saw a lot of my men and women affected by fires and it helps to talk to a professional about these things, especially if you can't sleep at night," John offered him his advice and left it at that. Andy nodded and then left the meeting.

He walked to his car and sat inside for a while before placing the key in the ignition and driving home.

Meanwhile, Ricky and Sharon were still watching the movie on TV. The movie was a real sappy one where nothing was realistic and the boy fell in love with the girl. He couldn't believe he was watching this but that's what his mom had on when he came to sit with her. He shot a glance over at her and saw that she had fallen asleep.

He decided to carefully get up off the couch without disturbing her and lowered the volume on the TV. He glanced up and looked out the windows just as Andy was pulling the car into the driveway. Ricky walked back into the kitchen and put his laptop away in its bag. He then heard Andy open the back door.

"Hey," Ricky greeted him as Andy entered the kitchen. "Hey," Andy tossed his keys onto the counter. Ricky thought that perhaps the meeting wasn't a good one judging by the way Andy entered the house. "How is she?" Andy asked him as he stood there. "She fell asleep watching a movie in the family room," Ricky started. "Is everything okay?" he added, wondering about his step-father.

Andy huffed. "Just tired," he muttered and then patted Ricky's shoulder. "Thank you for staying with her," he added as he continued to walk towards the family room. "Sure," Ricky answered but realized Andy was too far away to hear his response. Ricky then texted Emily to find out when they were coming back.

Andy stepped into the family room and saw Sharon asleep on the couch. He sat down next to her and watched her sleep, not in some creepy way, but in a loving you with all my heart way. His eyes started to well up with tears and he choked back a sob. He closed his eyes and a tear started to fall down his face. He reached for Sharon's hands underneath the blanket and held them in his.

He took a deep breath but kept his eyes closed as he tried to regain his composure. Ricky watched his step-father with his mother from the hallway and saw him breakdown. He knew then and there that Andy would have done anything for his mom and felt bad when he accused him otherwise at the hospital. He turned around and went back into the kitchen.

Sharon opened her eyes and saw Andy with tears coming down his face as he sat next to her, holding onto her hands. "Andy," she whispered and that got his attention. He quickly wiped his eyes with his hand and looked at her. She sat up further and pulled him into her arms and held him as he sobbed into her chest. "Shhh, let it out honey, it's okay," she soothingly told him.

Minutes passed by as Sharon still held Andy to her. "I'm crushing you," he finally stated as he tried to pull away from her embrace. "You're fine," she reassured him and reluctantly released her grip on him. He sat up and looked at her. "I'm going to have to swear you to secrecy now," he chuckled and she smiled. She reached out with her hand and ran her fingers through his hair. "Do you want to tell me what's really going on?" she asked as he looked at her.

"You were fine at the hospital," she started to tell him as she ran her hand from his hair down his neck. "In fact, you were the one who kept telling me that we were going to take it one day at a time," she added and he let out a small laugh. "You've been so strong for me, for our family, this past year, Andy, please tell me what's going on with you," she said, almost pleading with him.

He sat there and listened to her, watching her closely as she ran her hand through his hair and down his neck. "Every time I close my eyes, I see you getting shot, you bleeding, you in the hospital," he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her hand went to his back and she rubbed it. "Andy, I know what you're going through. It happened to me when you were shot this year," Sharon told him.

"And when I was held hostage at that bank, after you got me out, all I kept seeing when I closed my eyes were the bank robbers and everything that happened," she told him, trying to refresh his memory so that he would know he wasn't alone in feeling that way. "I know, that was another time I couldn't close my eyes without seeing you with a gun to your head," Andy nodded.

"We worked through all of that, and we'll work through this too," Sharon smiled as she caressed his cheek. Andy shook his head. "This is different somehow because I felt like I really could have lost you, and you're still not a 100 percent out of the woods yet," he swallowed as he looked into her eyes. "I know," she simply said to him.

"I feel like I failed you and the kids, by not protecting you," he mumbled a few seconds later. "What? You didn't fail me, Andy, or the children," she whispered. "You protected me, got us both out of that building, under fire from those men. That wasn't easy to do, but you managed to do it, getting me to the hospital," she trailed off as she got lost in his eyes. He looked broken and she held him till the rest of the family came home.

TBC