A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chapter 10

Sharon's calm voice of reason cut through his frustration. She decided not to take him to task over his language. "Andy, if you had shot him, an unarmed man, you would have lost your job. A job you love and you might even have ended up in jail as well! I wouldn't have been able to save you from that. Andy, the bomb going off is not on you! That was solely on the shoulders of Christian Ortiz for planting the bombs, and detonating them and it's on Liezette, his wife for framing him for Euley's death in the first place. You are a hero! Andrew Michael Flynn, and I never thought I'd say this but, I'm so very a grateful to you for breaking protocol and doing what you did and saving all our lives. That nightmare you keep having is just that, a nightmare. It's based on the fear of losing me and your best friend. It's also from misplaced guilt for the bomb going off. It has nothing to do with how I really feel or how the LAPD feels or your friends. We're all proud of you." She kissed him all over his face and he kissed her back.

He could tell she was being truthful about her feelings which made him feel better, but he could also tell there was something she was holding back and that she was still very tired. "I'm sorry, I woke you."

Sharon ducked her head and admitted, "you didn't wake me, I wasn't asleep. I was in the bathroom." Andy looked at her giving her a look of waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Okay, I woke up from my own nightmare and had to go to the bathroom."

"You should have woken me, Sharon. What was yours about?"

"You were sleeping and I didn't want to disturb you, but like you, it's the same as it always is. I woke up in the hospital. I felt like I couldn't breathe and you weren't there. I kept asking for you and everybody kept lying to me. They kept telling me you were out getting coffee or you were getting a shower or resting, but their faces were sad. Then Rusty said that it was time to tell me the truth. That you had struggled with Ortiz and had another heart attack and died trying to save us," her voice trembling with grief as she spoke. She knew it was silly to be this upset about a nightmare, but the nightmare embodied all her fears about losing Andy.

He kissed her, rubbed her back and reiterated what she had told him. "Sharon, you know that didn't happen. It was just a bad dream. I'm alive and I'm right here," he said comfortingly, but then he realized what she had said about not being able to breathe. "Honey, you said you couldn't breathe, was that part of the dream? Or reality?"

Sharon grimaced. "Both, my chest was a bit tight when I woke up. I guess the nightmare upset me and brought on a small case of anxiety induced asthma. I used the Symbicort and the rescue inhaler. I also choked up some phlegm while I was in the bathroom."

"I hope that means the palpation I'm doing, is doing its job."

"I do too! I really hate that feeling of breathlessness,it's beyond frightening, and I really tired of being sick. I'm also sick of these nightmares. I just wish they'd go away!" She said adamantly. Sharon closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. "Even though I know it's just a nightmare, they still keep happening."

"What do you think causes them?" Andy asked, though he knew the answer. He wanted her to process it in her mind so the nightmares would eventually go away. He knew it would help him too.

"I don't know, really. I do know that I was really scared at first when I realized what you were doing over at the courthouse. I worried that you'd have another heart attack and I'd lose you! But you came through for us, Andy! You may have broken protocol, because you were on desk duty, but you were right, you were the only one of us Ortiz didn't know! You were the only one of us that could have done what you did! Thank you and thank God, we all survived! So why I keep having these nightmares is beyond me," she said mirroring Andy's exasperation.

Andy said "I think you're still worried that losing me to a heart attack could still happen and I wish I could say it absolutely won't. Unfortunately it could, even though I feel good, I'm eating better thanks to you, I'm exercising more. I'm taking vitamins. If it's going to happen, though , it'll happen, but hopefully it won't happen anytime soon and we'll have many more years together. We can only take one day at a time, though and hope for the best."

"Taking one day at a time sounds like a good idea. Now let's get some more sleep before the baby wakes up." Sharon closed her eyes, but then, realizing what she just said, opened them again. "Now, that's a sentence I never thought I'd hear myself say ever again!" She said with a deer in headlights kind of look on her face. Her voice was gravely as she asked, "Oh, Andy, are we making a mistake?" I'll be in my seventies when she's only twenty! You are two years older than me! Are we too old to raise a baby? Are we being selfish? Should we be letting a younger couple raise her?"

"Sharon, grandparents are raising their grandchildren all over the United States. Well, she's not our grandchild, but we could be her grandparents. What I mean to say is that people our age are raising children all the time. Granted it's a situation that's fraught with pros and cons on both sides. I never thought I'd be raising a kid again at my age and I'm sure you didn't either, but, I kind of like the idea of having the chance to do things differently than I did the first time around. On the pro side, I think that our combined experience with children will balance the scales for us. Of course, I wasn't the best father to my kids the first time around, but I've been working hard to change things and you've been helping me. You were always a fantastic mother. Emily, Ricky and Rusty are a testament to that, not to mention the fact that we both love her. That's got to count for something! There are lots of things to consider, but in the end, I think we have to realize that all this happened for a reason. Um that reminds me, how do you feel about raising another kid of Sharon Becks?"

Sharon was quiet a moment and Andy thought she'd fallen asleep, but then she spoke. "Andy, I hate to speak ill of the dead, but I'll admit, Sharon Beck is not my favorite person. I had some real concerns when she told me she was pregnant with any child, let alone with Gary's child! I was worried how it would affect Rusty. I was worried about the baby and how Sharon Beck's choices would affect her, but it's not as if she abandoned Bella like she did when she abandoned Rusty. I could see she was really trying with Bella. Granted, from the sound of it she was missing a lot of signals her daughter was trying to give her, but she was trying. It's not her fault that Gary got out of prison and murdered her and the Lewises." Sharon said in Rusty's biological mother's defense.

"Well, yeah, but we both know that if you hang out with criminals, you'll either be a witness a suspect or a victim," Andy reminded her.

"That is certainly true and I think I remember mentioning that to Rusty earlier this evening, but Andy, she was trying to move on and do better. It's so sad to think that she'll never get a chance to see Bella grow up. It would have been interesting to see if she would have been able to raise another child without succumbing to drugs again." She was quiet for a moment as she tried to imagine Sharon Beck raising Bella instead of her and Andy. Not being able to , she said "You know, I think you were right. All this happened for a reason. I feel like we're meant to be the ones to raise her. In spite of my momentary panic attack!" she said self-deprecatingly. "I'd hate for her to end up in the system or for Rusty and Bella to lose contact with each other, because she was adopted by someone else. Besides, I love her so much already!"

Andy hugged Sharon, to show his support and said, "I know and I love her too! How could we not? She's so tiny and defenseless."

Sharon closed her eyes then slowly opened them. "Andy, just know that I love you and will never stop loving you, even if I have to give Bella more attention sometimes. Please let me know if you're feeling neglected… in a nice way."

Andy frowned at this statement wondering what she meant. Then a light went on and he realized where all this was coming from. "Was Jack jealous of the kids?"

Sharon nodded, "He'd get really mad if we were... in the middle of something and the kids needed me or if the kids were sick and he wanted me to go to a professional function. He expected me to leave them with a babysitter anyway. If I refused, which I did by the way, every time, he would say that I loved the kids more than him."

Andy took her hand as he said, "Sharon, you were being a good mother. Taking care of your children, and as their father, Jack should have been proud of you, instead of acting like a spoiled brat. We're in this together. You me and Rusty. We're Bella's family now. We'll help with her, but you need to let us know if we miss the signs that you need a break."

"Thank you, Andy, right now I can tell you that I need to sleep," Sharon said, her eyes closed and her cheek lay on his chest.

"Okay, let's grab some more zzzz's," Andy said, kissing the top of her head.

Three and a half hours later, they woke up to Rusty knocking on their door. "Mom, Andy, it's almost ten o'clock I thought you'd like to get a shower before we went to brunch with Grace and her family."

"Oh, yes! Thanks, Rusty we'll be out in a bit. Do you need any help with Bella?" Sharon asked.

"No, she's fine. She's changed, fed and dressed at least for the time being. Right now, she's in the swing, Grace provided."

"Alright, we'll be out before long," she called out.

"Okay!" Rusty shook his head as he walked away. He know they wouldn't be in a hurry.

Sharon and Andy decided to take a shower together. They lathered each other up, rinsed and then Andy had Sharon sit on the bench in the shower stall while he washed her hair. She moaned as his hands massaged her scalp. When it came time for Sharon to do Andy's hair, they switched places. She stood with her legs on either side of his knees and started to wash his hair, massaging his scalp, like he had done for her. This position placed her breasts in close proximity to his face and he could not help but take advantage.

She moaned again when his mouth closed over her nipple. "I love that sound you make. It's soo sexy!" Andy told her. She smiled down at him as he lathered the other breast with his tongue, and could feel his member twitching with desire. "Before this gets too hot and heavy, what did the doctor say yesterday? Are you cleared for this?"

With another moan, she questioned, "Am I cleared for what? Sex in general or a sexy shower?"

"Sex, in general," he said as his hand slid along her sides.

"Well, basically I'm cleared for old people sex," she said rolling her eyes.

Andy laughed out loud, "old people sex? Sharon did he really say that?"

"He may as well have! He did say, with a straight face mind you, no sex hanging from chandeliers so no swinging with my arms above my head and, no shower sex if it involves standing up while we're joined. I'm only allowed the missionary position because it won't strain as many muscles or the spooning position. So, no me on top," she pouted.

He looked up at her, "what did you say to him?"

As Sharon answered his question, her voice got high and then low as she described her reaction. Her hands got involved as well. "Oh, that I've never had chandelier sex, but it sounded like fun! What do you think, Andy? My face turned eighteen shades of red, I just mumbled thanks and got out of there as quickly as I could. Patrice laughed all the way to the car! I was mortified!" she covered her face with her hands.

"Patrice was there?" he asked a little too innocently.

"Andy, you know she was there! You asked her to come with me since you and the rest of the team caught a murder. By the way, how did you solve it so quickly?"

"Well, it was pretty basic stuff. Boy meets girl in a bar, takes her home gives her a little too much of the date rape drug. She dies and he tries to stash the body in a public pond chained to a concrete block and was caught red handed by some people taking a walk and enter Major Crimes. Nothing too taxing, but we needed to get the interview done, a warrant to search the guys residence, yada yada yada. You know the drill, the thing is I was needed because we're short a few people, and so I called Patrice to see if she could go with you. She jumped at the chance, Louie is apparently driving her nuts." Andy laughed, "Luckily his granddaughter came to visit. She had something important to talk to him about and you're still not supposed to drive. Or at least you weren't cleared for that this morning. Has that changed?"

"Yes, I can drive... with limitations. Only with someone in the car who also drives, and only short distances. The doctor mentioned that, at the end of the Kama Sutra no no list," she said rolling her eyes yet again.

Andy tried to picture the scene, but was soon helpless with laughter. The very idea of his Sharon, who by the way, blushed at the mere mention of sex in the murder room, being told which positions she was allowed to have sex in was enough to send him into gales of laughter. Then add to that, trying to picture the look on her face when the doctor told her no chandelier or shower sex if it involved swinging with her arms above her head or standing up during coitus. As if that was a regular way for Sharon Raydor to have sex and he was trying to imagine the doctor saying this with a straight face. It wasn't too awfully hard, because if he remembered correctly the doctor she saw that day, Dr. Cottle looked like the strait laced older gentlemen doctor, but he had a layer of snark and sarcasm under that straight face. Tears ran down his face as he laughed.

Sharon pouted and slapped his chest. "Andy, if you keep laughing, we won't be having any sex much less shower or missionary sex for a very long time!" The sting of this statement was ruined by the fact that Sharon was having a very hard time keeping a straight face, herself. Finally, she lost it and sank onto his lap. Snort laughing into his shoulder.

Andy put his arms around her, running his hands up and down her back. "You know if we keep this up we'll be breaking the no shower sex rule."

"Uh huh," Sharon said poking him in the chest with her finger. "He said no shower sex if it involves standing up, we're not standing up."

"Hmm, I like your thinking. What about the rule about you not being on top?"

"Well, technically I'm not on top I'm in your lap." She shifted and guided him into her.

Through a pleasuring groan he managed to say, "I really do like how you think, but for someone who loves the rules as much as you do you sure like to break them."

"Ah ah ah, I haven't broken any rules. I just know how to maneuver around them," she emphasized her words with a wiggle of her hips. She leaned against him and kissed him thoroughly.

When they came up for air Andy said, "I suppose, it's just one of the perks of being a rule-maker. I do like the way you work around the loopholes." His had ran from her being entangled in her wet hair to gripping her hips to keep up with her motions.

"Ohhh yeah, I do! I really do," she said lowly. Kissing her way from his earlobe to his collarbone and scratched his chest.

"Well, my love I really love this particular loophole," he breathlessly told her as he covered her mouth with his. His hands massaging her bottom.

Sharon pulled back a little and said in a moan, "me too, very much. Now make love to me, Andy. I want me a sexy shower, and to hell with that Kama Sutra no no list."

TBC...

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