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.

A/N: Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews on this story! There will be one or two more chapters after this one, but I am already working on the next continuation when this one ends.

Chapter 17

After dinner was finished, the Flynn household was all gathered in the family room. Sharon and Andy were sitting on the couch with Matthew, while Emily and Rusty were sitting on the two chairs and Ricky was sitting on the floor, with Moxie lying next to him. They all gathered around the coffee table and were playing the board game Clue.

They were playing on teams. It was Andy and Matthew, Sharon and Ricky, and Emily and Rusty. It was Ricky's turn to roll the dice and he rolled a 12. Sharon moved their person 12 spots and headed from the Kitchen to the Dining Room on the board. Her and Ricky then looked at their scorecard to decide who they were going to call out next.

"Hmm, I think we should say this," Sharon whispered to Ricky as she pointed to the scorecard. Andy watched her and chuckled. "Don't be sneaky now," he called to her and she looked up at him and smiled. Ricky agreed with his mom's decision and nodded for her to say it out loud. "Mrs. Peacock, with the Knife, in the Dining Room!" Sharon declared and Andy looked at their scorecard, hoping to see one of those listed but he hung his head and shook it.

Sharon smiled and then looked over at Rusty and Emily who were looking at their scorecard as well but they also shook their heads, not having anything that Sharon had called out. Ricky was excited that they were about to win the game. He picked up the envelope and pulled out the following cards: Mrs. Peacock, the knife, and the dining room, and laid them all out on the board. "Woo hoo everyone!" he called out.

Sharon clapped her hands in excitement from winning the game as she looked at everyone else. "Yeah, yeah, you won Ricky because you had the best detective on your team!" Rusty stated to him and Andy shot him a look. "Hey!" he called out in protest to Rusty's remark. "No offense Andy, you're pretty good too, but she's mom and she outranks you," Rusty stated.

"No offense taken kid, she is the best," Andy said and gave Sharon a wink which made Sharon blush. "Should we play another round?" asked Emily as she gathered all of the cards together and started to separate them into three piles. "Sure, but this time I get your mother on my team," Andy declared as he passed out scorecards to everyone.

"How's that fair?" Ricky replied. "Yeah, two detectives from the Major Crimes division against everyone else?" Rusty stated as he looked at the two of them. "Fine, how about me, Matthew, and Andy versus the three of you?" Sharon chimed in as she looked at her children. Ricky, Rusty, and Emily all sat there looking at their mom. They felt that they could beat them at this game so they all agreed. "Okay, you're on!" Emily answered for them, not giving it another thought.

Sharon scooted closer to Matthew and Andy and as Emily dealt the cards to each team, Andy handed them to Sharon who marked the ones they had on the scorecard. Matthew kept smiling at the other three across the coffee table as they took down the cards that they had received. "What's the deal?" Rusty asked as he watched Matthew. Matthew just shrugged his shoulders and kept smiling. Ricky gave him a look like he was up to no good.

"He thinks that by being on Mom and Andy's team, he's going to win this round," Emily stated as she glanced at Matthew. "Matthew, be nice to your brothers and sister, even though they are going to lose," Andy snickered at them, all in good fun of course. Sharon flashed her Darth Raydor glare at all of them and Andy cleared his throat. "Okay, who rolls first?" he asked. "We do!" Rusty said as he picked up the dice and the game began again.

Each team took their turns and gave their guesses. Sharon marked down what she thought was the correct weapon of choice and showed it to Andy and Matthew. Andy nodded in agreement and Matthew gave a thumbs up. Emily watched her mother point to something on the scorecard but she couldn't tell what she was alluding to. Both Sharon and Andy threw them off course as they doubled guessed on two of their turns and then threw in one of the cards that they already had.

Emily, Ricky, and Rusty then conferred with each other over their next guess and decided on the direction of the room they were going towards. Ricky rolled a 7 and Rusty moved their piece from the Ball Room to the Billiard Room. Emily announced their guess. "Miss Scarlet, with the Pipe, in the Billiard Room," she stated as she looked at her mom, Andy, and Matthew.

Sharon paused a moment, which led them to believe that their answer might be the correct one. She then glanced at Andy and he nodded to her. She then pulled out one of the two cards that they had not shown yet. It was the Pipe. Emily gave a confused look as she saw the card. "But you guessed Miss Scarlet and the Pipe a couple of times before," Rusty stated. "Of course they did, Rusty! They want to throw us all off!" Ricky claimed as he shook his head at his mom.

Andy, Sharon, and Matthew's piece was currently located in the Library. Her children were right with the room guess, just not with the other two guesses. Matthew rolled the dice and 5 came up. Andy moved their piece from the Library to the Billiard Room. "Here it comes," Ricky mumbled under his breath as he knew they were about to lose the game.

Sharon conferred with Andy and Matthew one more time and they were all in agreement. "Okay, we're going to say Professor Plum, with the Rope, in the Billiard Room!" Matthew smiled at his siblings as they all shook their heads. Sharon reached over and pulled the three cards from the envelope which revealed Professor Plum, the Rope, and the Billiard Room. She laid them all out on the board. "Nice game guys," Andy said as he leaned over and kissed Sharon.

Sharon leaned back against the couch and watched her children clean up the game. "We should have known better than to let two detectives team up together," Rusty shook his head as he helped Emily clear the coffee table. "This was a lot of fun, guys, I'm glad you suggested it, Emily," Sharon smiled at her daughter as she placed the game box back on the shelf with the other games.

"Says the person who won twice tonight!" Emily stated back to her as she came around and sat down on the couch. "How are you feeling, Mom?" she asked as she placed her arm on the back of the couch. "I'm fine, better than the last couple of days," Sharon answered her, knowing that she was concerned. "I know that you're going to watch me like a hawk the next week or so, but please remember I can take care of myself," she smiled at her daughter.

"We all know that Mom, we just wants what's best for you and for you to get better," Emily stated as Ricky and Rusty were also still there. "Yeah Mom, we don't want you to overdo it," Ricky chimed in and Sharon looked at her children.

"I'm going to head up to my place now," Rusty said to Sharon and gave her a kiss goodnight. "Tomorrow morning, I am going with Andy to drop Matthew off at school. We have a meeting with his teacher before classes start," Sharon reminded him if he stopped over tomorrow morning before he went to work and didn't see her. "Right, I'll check in on the both of you in the afternoon then" he replied and headed out the door.

Andy had taken Moxie outside in the backyard and had told Matthew to go upstairs and put his pajamas on. He also told him to get everything ready for school tomorrow as they were going to meet with his teacher in the morning. Matthew was dreading that but he knew that's what had to happen. He came back downstairs in his Batman pajamas and walked to the mud room where he checked his back pack and made sure everything he needed was inside.

Andy then came back inside the house with Moxie and saw Matthew checking his back pack. "You got everything buddy?" he asked him as he closed the back door and locked it for the night. "Yes," Matthew mumbled and zipped up his back pack and hung it back on the hook. Matthew then took off with Moxie and went to the front of the house. "Your mother and I will be up in a bit to tuck you in!" Andy called out to him as he saw Matthew run up the stairs and Moxie following him.

Andy then walked into the kitchen and saw Ricky standing by the counter looking at Sharon's pills. "Mom says she needs her pain medication," he told Andy as he opened the correct bottle and took out one pill. He already had a glass of water for her poured as Andy watched him. "Ricky, I just want to say that I appreciated you coming down here," Andy said as he scratched the back of his head.

"She's my mother," he shrugged his shoulders acting like it was no big deal for him to come down as he looked at Andy. "I know you think that your mother and I have dangerous jobs, we do, but it's not an everyday occurrence that she gets shot at," Andy took a deep breath as he spoke to him. Ricky chuckled. "Did she tell you that I asked her that when you were at your meeting?" he asked him.

"She did mention something to me along those lines. I just want to reassure you, and everyone for that matter, that I'm looking out for your mother and I will do my damndest to protect her no matter what," Andy told him, looking him straight in the eye. "I know you will, Andy," Ricky smiled at his step-father and placed his hand on his shoulder. He then turned around and brought his mother her medication she needed.

Andy then followed Ricky back to the family room and noticed Emily and Sharon talking. Sharon glanced up as Ricky brought her the pain medication and a glass of water. "Thank you," she smiled as she took them from him. She quickly took her pill and then placed the glass of water on the coffee table. Andy stood behind the couch. "I told Matthew we would be up in a bit to tuck him in," he leaned down and Sharon nodded.

"It's getting late and you guys have an early morning," Emily stood up from the couch. "Yes, we may have an early morning, but your mother will be taking it easy the rest of the day," Andy pointed out, reminding Sharon. Sharon nodded and dismissed his worry as she stood up from the couch slowly. "I'll make sure she does Andy, and Mom, don't overdo it talking to the kid's teacher!" Emily stated as she watched her mom and Andy head upstairs.

"So, what time are you leaving tomorrow?" Emily asked Ricky as they cleaned up the family room. "Uh, well I was going to leave early tomorrow morning, but I may wait until traffic dies down before heading back North," Ricky stated as he brought a dish to the kitchen and followed Emily upstairs. "Okay, good night," Emily told him and then went into the guest room she was staying in.

Ricky waved at her and then glanced at Matthew's room and saw them tucking him in for the night. Watching that brought back some childhood memories for him. He envied Matthew, and how he was the lucky one to have found two loving parents. He smiled and headed towards the other guest room and closed the door.

"You're all set for school tomorrow?" Sharon asked Matthew as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "Yes," he mumbled as he laid there, wondering how tomorrow morning was going to go for him. "Mom? Do I have to be there when you meet with my teacher?" he asked, knowing the answer but hoping for a change. Sharon smiled at him and ran her right hand through his hair. "I'm afraid so, sweetie," she told him as Andy watched them both.

"I promise you'll feel better once you tell her the truth," she added as she stood up from the bed and held onto Andy's arm for a second. "Good night sweetie," Sharon bent down and kissed his cheek. "Night Mom, night Dad," Matthew said to both of them and Andy nodded to him. "Night buddy," Andy said and then followed Sharon out of his room and closed the door behind them.

"Alright, my dear, let's get you ready for bed," Andy stated as the two of them walked into their room. Sharon yawned as she walked into their bathroom, and looked around to see that her pajamas were already laid out on the sink. Also waiting there was new gauze, tape, and some cream for her wounds. Andy then stepped in to join her and she was overcome emotionally.

"Hey, what is it?" he whispered to her as he saw her starting to cry. "I'm sorry but you are so good to me, taking care of me, I just," she got choked up. "Shhh, I think we both have done enough crying today for the rest of the year, don't you agree?" he told her as he soothed her back and pulled her into his chest. "Yes," she muffled as he held her.

He then helped her take her current clothes off, and helped her into her pajama pants. He then took off the old dressing and gauze on her wounds and cleaned them, placing a new dressing and gauze over both of them. He then helped her with her pajama shirt. He looked at her and gave her a smile, kissing her lips before stepping out of the bathroom and getting ready himself.

Once she was finished, she exited the bathroom and saw that Andy had turned down their bed and he was sitting at the foot of their bed. She gently sat down on her side and he helped her get into bed, pulling the covers up to her waist. He then went into their bathroom and brushed his teeth and finished getting himself ready.

He shut the bathroom lights off and turned out the main overhead light, leaving the soft glow coming from the lamp on Sharon's nightstand. He slipped into their bed and pulled the covers up. Turning on his side, he reached for Sharon's hand as he gently nuzzled himself next to her. He kissed her good night, placing soft kisses along her neck as she smiled. "Good night my love," he whispered to her and she hummed in response. "Good night," she whispered and closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep.

Andy could hear Sharon's breathing even out as he laid there next to her. He was glad that he told her what he was feeling after he came home from his meeting this afternoon. He was hoping that now, it would calm his mind so that he could get some sleep.

The next morning, Andy woke up to an empty bed and he started to panic. He jolted out of the bed and looked around the room to see if she was sitting on the chair or in the bathroom. That's when he heard movement in the hallway. He noticed that the hallway light was on and as he opened the door, he saw Sharon walking towards him. "Where were you?" he asked her in a ragged breath. "I went downstairs for something," she held up her pill bottle as she stepped inside their room.

Andy ran his hand over his face as she passed him. "Jesus Sharon, why didn't you wake me up? I could have gotten that for you," he whispered to her as she settled on his side of their bed. "I didn't want to bother you, besides you were sleeping and you didn't get much sleep the night before," she told him, assuring him that she was fine.

He shook his head and walked back to bed as she took her pain medication. He went on her side of the bed and quickly glanced at the clock. It was 3:23 in the morning. He watched her sit on his side and wondered about her.

"How long have you been up?" he asked her as she laid back down next to him. She took a deep breath. "Maybe an hour or so," she sighed. She had some mild discomfort on her left side before and that's what had woken her up. "I had some pain that woke me up, it was discomforting at first but then I thought I should just take a pill instead of waiting it out," she told him. "I'm sorry," he said as he laid there with her.

She then curled up on her right side and laid her head on his shoulder. "Is this better for you?" he whispered, wondering if sleeping on his usual side of the bed was better for her. "For you to hold me, yes," she told him and smiled as she closed her eyes once again. He laid there holding her close to him, careful not to put pressure on her left side.

Andy hoped that she would be able to stay home these next two weeks and obey her doctor's orders without putting up a fight with him. He was glad that Emily was staying to make sure she did exactly that. He closed his eyes and eventually, fell asleep.

TBC