While You're Making Other Plans
by Glistening Sun and Miss Shannon
13
It was a mother's worst nightmare to be startled awake by her child's desperate screams of horror. Instantly awakened from what had been a surprisingly sound sleep, Sharon tried to sit up in bed, but failed miserably. Holding her down were her back protesting the sudden movement, her baby kicking her furiously at the interruption of its own slumber and, most of all, Andy's arm that was draped over her in sleep. She looked around for what she was sure had to be a terrible threat, instinctively wondering how to reach her gun that she kept in the drawer of her bedside table nowadays. Only when she found the room empty, the flakes of dust peacefully glittering in the early morning sun that was streaming in through the half-drawn blinds, she thought to look at the bed next to her and, at once, she knew exactly what Rusty was screaming his head off about.
Blinking sleepily at the sound, Andy was slowly coming awake behind her, nose buried in the pillow, his arm protectively tightening around her body. It would have been a perfectly normal way for him to sleep, if only his fingers weren't firmly intertwined with Rusty's. Her son was trying to get his hand out of Andy's iron grip, all the while shrieking like a mad man.
"Rusty," Sharon said said calmly. "I am sure this was an accident."
"Having to sleep in your bed with you was, like, the worst idea, like, ever!" Rusty told her, his voice still high in volume, his arms flailing helplessly. "I can't believe I ended up holding hands with my mother's boyfriend!"
He tried to free his hand from Andy's grasp, urgently, yet ever careful not to accidentally punch Sharon in the stomach as she was laying between them.
"What is this commotion about early in the morning?" Andy grumbled from behind Sharon. "Go back to sleep, kid."
"I would even go back to my own room if you could just let go of my hand! In fact, right now I am very much considering going to India!" Rusty was almost shouting in frustration.
Andy sat up with a start, quickly withdrawing his hand. "Damn," he said, running it through his hair. "Gee, kid, I'm sorry. I guess I thought yours was Sharon's hand."
Rusty turned to Sharon. "Sharon, look, I appreciate your concern for me. I know how much you love me and that is great. I love you, too. But, seriously...! I am eighteen years old. I don't care how hormonal you are or that you have some weird nesting instincts that make you want to have me close, from now on I will sleep in my own bed and you will deal with it!"
He was panting a little now, having stood up to her like this and Sharon was filled with a sudden sense of pride that was a little unexpected given the fact that her son was pretty much putting her in her place.
"Can I put a baby monitor up in your room?" she asked him in a small voice, then held up a hand when he drew in a sharp breath before he could have another go at her. "It's okay, Rusty. I was only kidding. You're perfectly right. I was a little out of control last night." She nudged his cheek affectionately. "Go back to your room, okay?"
"I don't care how right you are, Rusty," came Flynn's voice from the other side of her, sounding stern. "You are not allowed to yell at your pregnant mother like that. She's very fragile."
Sharon discreetly elbowed Andy in the chest, knocking the air out of him. She didn't need him to fight her battles. Least of all the ones she was losing for a reason. Rusty rolled his eyes and shuffled out, closing the door behind him with a firm thud.
Before Sharon could say anything, Andy began to chuckle, the sound soon turning into a deep, rumbling laugh.
"Oh my God, how embarrassing. I was holding hands with your barely-of-age, gay son!"
Sharon turned around and snuggled into his chest, joining Andy in his fit of laughter, resting comfortably against his vibrating chest.
"Do I need to be jealous?" she asked him between snorts of laughter.
"Not at all, sweetheart." Andy was grinning mischievously. "Even though he is a lot younger and arguably slimmer."
Sharon snuggled against his chest, breathing in his scent. "And just for the record, I don't have weird nesting instincts!" she pouted, drawing yet another chuckle from Andy who then pointedly looked at the pile of new pillows and blankets she had bought for the bed.
"You have a problem, Sweetheart," he teased her, gently pulling her back against him as she scooted away, offended.
/
Ever since its existence had been revealed to the people in its parents' lives, the baby seemed intent to make its presence known to the outside world. The kicks became stronger and within the scope of two weeks, there was no way of hiding Sharon's bump anymore. Gone were the times when she had been able to hide it with loose dresses and blouses and somehow that gave her a curious kind of relief. And that despite the fact that the whole department was on fire with gossip about their family. Having spent most of her career in FID, Sharon was no stranger to mean things being said about her behind her back and so it was Andy who was most affected by it. Once he almost got into a physical fight about it and Sharon needed to put up her Darth Raydor persona to pull him out of it. The cocky young Detective who had started it had left with his proverbial tail between his legs, frightened off by the combined scariness of the new parents to be.
That week, Saturday night found Sharon and Andy on Provenza's doorstep each with a bottle of wine in hand. It seemed ridiculous that they were the ones supplying alcohol of all people when they were the only ones who wouldn't have any, but that was how it had come about. Andy looked down at Sharon who was wearing a flowing light-green top and her favorite cashmere cardigan along with a pair of jeans that made him want to check her out every few minutes just because he was allowed to.
"You okay, Sweetheart?" he asked, hand already poised to ring the doorbell.
"Oh, yes." She smiled at him, looking down at where her hand was rubbing her belly. "I am just being a punching bag right now."
Andy indulged her with a smile even though he knew what was really bothering her. The party Patrice had organized at Provenza's - and now her - home was meant to celebrate the new living arrangements as much as to take the teams' minds off Stroh and the looming danger he posed. Security measures had been keyed down after that first night. While there were still people around watching, there was no danger immediate enough to justify the excessive costs of providing Sharon's condo with around-the-clock surveillance. Sharon was anxious, he could tell, even though she was trying to hide it, masking it with a wry sense of humor. He was hoping that the party would distract her from all that. He knew how much she loved parties, after all.
He leaned over and kissed the top of Sharon's head. She had given up her high heels for the most part, thereby creating a new difference of height between them that he was not yet used to. He had told her the previous week that she was really quite a bit shorter than she had always seemed and she had laughed because it was really such a weird thing to say.
Sharon smiled up at him, sensing his concern. "Honey, I'm okay. A bit worried and flustered, but I am fine."
Andy rubbed his thumb over her palm. "Just tell me when you need your bed."
She smiled, a little amused herself by her sudden bouts of complete exhaustion that made her cranky and had seen her chase Andy home with vigor from one moment to the next a few times lately.
Upon his knock, Patrice opened the door, her form illuminated by the warm lights of the house from behind. The place looked open and inviting and not for the first time, Andy found himself thinking about whether he should suggest looking for a house for their family to live in. Right now, however, the condo seemed to provide less of a security risk than a house that was easily accessible from the ground floor.
Patrice's eyes widened and she clasped her hands in front of her when she saw Sharon. "Oh my God, Sharon! How very wonderful!"
Confused by the outburst, Sharon eyed the bottle of white Bordeaux in her hand. It was a fine wine, but it did not warrant such an enthusiastic response. Much less by a woman who was very outspoken about preferring gin and bitter lemon over wine any day. Andy chuckled, half-amused, half-annoyed by the fact that, apparently, Provenza had neglected to tell his live-in girlfriend about his best friend's child. He discreetly took the bottle from Sharon so Patrice could pull her into the hall by the hand to look at her in the light.
"Sharon, a baby! And at this point! How very, very exciting!" she enthused.
"Lieutenant Provenza didn't tell you?" Sharon was blinking owlishly, completely taken aback by the other woman's reaction. Andy had to admit that he was surprised, too. He had taken Provenza's complete refusal to accept the fact that Sharon and Andy were going to be parents together as a reaction directed at them to show them how ridiculous they were, not as genuine denial. In their absence, he had believed so far, he would have surely discussed the matter with Patrice. Apparently, he had been wrong.
Uneasy with all the attention on her expanded middle, Sharon placed her hand over her baby.
"If I had known that you were unaware, I would have told you in advance," she said to Patrice, an apologetic smile on her lips. Andy felt himself growing angry with Provenza. He had been trying to indulge him, as their situation was far from normal and not quite easy to accept, but now he had allowed Sharon to walk right into this awkward situation.
How Louie Provenza had ever managed to make such a classy woman look twice at him, Andy did not know, but Patrice saved the situation with her easy grace.
"I'll talk to him about it, but only after you have told me absolutely everything about that baby!" she said, drawing an arm around Sharon's shoulders. "Come with me, I don't know what kind of cravings you have, but I am sure our range of cakes will satisfy them."
Andy trailed behind them for a moment and watched them from the entrance to the kitchen, momentarily ignoring his squad members who were already scattered around the room, sipping drinks. Sharon was answering Patrice's questions with a happy glow on her face. Patrice's genuine excitement was so different from the looks they received at work which ranged from sensationalist and prying to disapproving and sometimes even slightly disgusted. Under all the fears and worries, Sharon was so happy, he once against realized. No matter how difficult and unusual it was, what counted for Sharon was that she was going to be a mother again and she couldn't hide the fact that she was absolutely thrilled by the prospect.
Julio appeared next to him and followed his gaze over to the kitchen where the two women were talking excitedly and oblivious to anyone around them.
"Don't worry, Sir, I picked up one of those peach cakes she loves so much on my way here. She'll be fine." His eyes glittered with mischief as he sipped his beer.
"Provenza didn't even tell Patrice about Sharon's pregnancy." Andy shook his head. "I really don't know how to convince him that it's real."
Julio snorted. "Believe me, Sir, deep down he knows."
His statement was somewhat belied by Provenza's sauntering into the kitchen, ignoring Flynn, and handing Sharon a chilled glass of wine. She rolled her eyes and Patrice chastised her partner immediately.
"Louie, really! Just look at her!"
"And what?" Provenza set the wine glass down on the counter when it became apparent that Sharon would not accept it. "People eat, people gain weight."
"Louie!" Patrice barked at him. "Get a grip on yourself, will you?"
Andy watched the bickering in the kitchen with grim amusement when his concentration was broken by Julio again.
"Are you going to propose to her anytime soon?"
He almost dropped the glass of cranberry and soda he had poured himself while watching Provenza get what was coming to him in the kitchen and taking it with his usual ill grace. Sanchez was not usually that straightforward. He looked at the detective and was met with a level stare.
"She's catholic." He shrugged. "Plus I heard her with her mother on the phone the other day."
"Yeah?" That was news to Andy. Sharon had gently insinuated that her parents were not exactly over the moon by her news, but she had said it with a snort of laughter, so he had paid no particular mind to it.
"She seemed a little defensive." Julio was grinning now. "I think she said something along the lines of 'Mom, get a grip, we are living in the 21st century and being married didn't improve things the last time around'. Boy, did she sound like Rusty there."
Having never seen Sharon with her parents, Andy couldn't imagine Sharon talking like that at all and he found that he was kind of interested in seeing how Sharon interacted with her father and mother.
"I've been meaning to ask her," he admitted. "but I don't want it to look like I'm just doing it because I knocked her up."
"Uh, Sir, really. Could you try not to put images in my head?" Julio begged in an uncharacteristic outburst of awkwardness. Andy grumbled.
"It's a figure of speech," he defended himself.
Julio rolled his eyes and walked off. Things always seemed so easy in his mind. Love the girl, marry her. He didn't think too much about all of the consequences. Were married officers even allowed to work in the same division? What would the kids have to say about it? Did Sharon even want to get married again? Andy gulped down a generous swallow of his drink to calm himself as he watched his girlfriend. She was letting Patrice feel the baby's movements, cheeks flushed with something that he immediately recognized as her special blend of embarrassment and joy. He knew her so well and he really did want to marry her. He just wondered whether he would have the courage to ask her.
Especially with Provenza hovering and looking morose. Right now, the old man was staring at Andy with narrowed eyes just before he pointed at his own eyes with two fingers and then pointed them back at Andy.
Rusty came up next to him and smirked at him. They had fortunately moved on from the accidental handholding incident even though sometimes Rusty still joked that he would need additional sessions with Dr. Joe.
"Sharon looks happy," the boy said. The little pause that followed his statement warned Andy that there was something important on his mind. "Look, don't tell her yet, but I found a dorm room."
Andy's heart sank. He had expected that plan to have gone out the window the moment Stroh had reared his ugly head again. Apparently he had been wrong. Rusty didn't seem to realize his discomfort.
"I mean, she's been looking at baby things online all the time lately. She wants to set up a nursery for the baby, I can tell."
Andy didn't have the heart to tell him that while Sharon took great joy in looking at things, she refused to order even a single item before her eighth month when the chances of the baby surviving even if it was going to be born premature would be a bit better. Even though she never said it, he knew that her greatest fear was to find herself forced to decide what to do with all the things they had bought for their baby because something had gone wrong and they didn't need them anymore.
"Rusty, Stroh is on the loose and he is closing in on us. Are you sure it would be a good idea to move out just now?"
He realized that he had spoken too loudly when he heard a gasp next to him. There stood Sharon, the color rapidly draining from her face, eyes wide and alert.
"You're moving out?"