While You're Making Other Plans
by Glistening Sun and Miss Shannon
19
Sharon had always known that it was just a matter of time until it would happen, but somehow she hadn't been prepared for the actual event to occur any time soon anyway. They were standing in the Murder Room when it happened. She was in her now accustomed spot leaning against Provenza's desk talking strategy on an upcoming interview with Provenza and Andy when Sykes and Julio returned with their suspect, the guy's lawyer following suit.
Sharon heard the creaking of Provenza's chair as he sat up straight at the sight of Jack Raydor. If his insistence that she was not pregnant was not an elaborate show, he certainly had a heart for strangely overweight women with big bellies, because he had become quite protective of her lately. Sharon tried her best to appear nonchalant, shooting Andy a look of warning when he rose from his desk at the sight of her ex-husband. She could tell from the way he carried himself, tension conveyed by every tiny movement, that he was expecting trouble. When Andy noticed her watching him, he stopped and made a show of burying his hands in his pockets.
Sharon stayed in her position against Provenza's desk not only because it soothed her sore back, but also because she didn't want Jack to think that his arrival put them all on edge. It did, of course, but Jack was better off not knowing that. The baby shifted inside her and gave a lazy kick against the hand she hadn't realized she had put on her belly.
Jack stopped in their midst as his client was hauled away to interview one and opened his mouth to threaten another law suit due to police cruelty, no doubt, but the words got stuck in his throat. For a moment his face became slack with surprise as his eyes dropped to Sharon's belly.
There was a moment of complete silence during which only the faint, far away swears of the suspect could be heard until Sykes told him to cut it out.
Sharon felt pretty safe in the assumption that nobody had thought to tell Jack about her circumstances. She had seen no reason to inform him and had just assumed to that her children would let him know at some point. Not having seen Jack since their divorce, he had not been on the forefront of her mind with everything else that was happening.
Jack's eyes were wide and glassy when he stared at her baby bump and then scrutinized her face. She could tell that he was taking in her appearance, looking for the signs that he knew so well. He had always claimed that she had a particular look in her eyes when she was with child and he seemed to be finding it again now, because his eyebrows shot up in recognition. He stepped closer, ignoring Provenza's little growl of warning.
"Sharon," he said, his voice low. "You're expecting a baby!"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Andy snarled from the other side of the room and pouted when Sharon shot him another dangerous look. She turned to Jack, not bothering to soften her expression.
"I am," she said simply, silently reminding herself that Jack had no claim over her and no right to be informed of the events that had transpired in her life lately. The expression in his eyes was beyond troubled when he finally managed to draw his gaze away from the curve of her belly. He leaned in slightly. Jack was probably trying not to be overheard, but his voice had always been louder than intended when he was upset, so the words rang out clear as day.
"You know, I can't possibly pay you any child support with the way things are now."
That had come as a surprise. Sharon could see Andy locking eyes with Provenza behind her, looking both completely confused and a little amused.
She shook her head. "Why would you?"
Jack's shoulders sank in relief and he put his hands in his pockets, giving her the same lopsided grin that she had come to hate as it meant that he knew that she had once again let him off the hook.
"Geez, I'm glad, Sharon. The job is going well, but... you know how it is. So much stuff to buy, so many things to finance."
She snorted. The one thing Jack spent money on was his gambling and maybe drinks. She could tell from his complexion and the faintly sour smell on his breath that he was drinking again. She had spent so many years looking for the signs that it came naturally to her. Maybe he wasn't drunk right now, but he had definitely been drinking the previous evening. And when an alcoholic went back to drinking, it was never just a glass of wine as he had so often claimed.
"Jack, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I am glad that we agree that you have no connection to this baby whatsoever."
For a moment, Jack looked pleased. Then his expression changed and he looked as if his pride had been hurt.
"Well, there is one connection for sure," he said, puffing out his chest a little. "I must have been really drunk if I don't remember showing up at your place and getting into bed with you, but I think it's quite an accomplishment that I managed to get it up and knock you up in the process when you're a little long in the tooth for this kind of thing, to be honest."
Behind her, Provenza made a sound that sounded like a dying rhinoceros.
Sharon was torn between slapping him and breaking into a fit of giggles. All of a sudden, his behavior was making perfect sense. Jack Raydor honestly believed that he had shown up at Sharon's condo roughly six months ago, had convinced her to have sex with him and had left her with another child on the way. She couldn't believe that man! The possibility that she could have been with someone else didn't even occur to him! Instead, he was more ready to believe that he had just forgotten that he had had sex with her - which also spoke volumes on the state of this drinking.
"Jack!" She rolled her eyes. "You can't seriously think that-"
"You know, Sharon, if you wanted anything from me, you should have told me earlier. I mean, it is kind of awkward to walk in here and find you like this! Baby Daddy being the last to know... that just isn't you, Sharon."
Sharon could see that Andy was slowly gravitating closer to them, a thunder storm brewing on his forehead. The only reason why he hadn't decked Jack yet, she suspected, was the utter ridiculousness of the other man's line of thinking.
"Jack, the baby isn't yours," she told him firmly, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "We did not have sex in a very long time and I, for one, am very grateful for that."
Jack frowned and she could tell that this possibility had indeed never even once occurred to him. At first he looked relieved that he wasn't stuck with another child to abandon, but then a different expression appeared in his eyes. Sharon knew it only too well as she had always dreaded its appearance: Jack Raydor's pride was hurt and when that happened, they always ended up in scenarios that were nothing short of bizarre.
"Who was it then?" he asked her almost a little aggressively. Sharon wasn't afraid of Jack even when he was raising his voice, had never been. Jack was an idiot, but he would never physically harm her. Especially not in her pregnant state, for Jack had always believed that pregnant women were to be wrapped in cotton and put away at home. He wasn't so different from Andy in that respect, but he hadn't been as receptive to her attempts to convince him otherwise.
Before she had a chance to answer, his eyes widened. "Oh God, Sharon!" He reached out and laid his hand against her hip. "Were you raped?"
Now Sharon couldn't help herself and planted her palm firmly on her face. Unfortunately, Jack took that as a sign that he was right.
"Oh my God, my poor Sharon!" He said, pulling her against his chest and making her lose her balance in the process. Upon being squashed to his chest, Sharon reevaluated her earlier assessment. He was probably drunk now or had at least had a few.
For once she was glad that And was being his protective self, because he approached them and pried Jack's arms open for her to step away from him.
"For God's sake, Jack, get a grip!" he barked at him. "She wasn't raped. The little one is mine. We're engaged. See?"
He lifted Sharon's hand up for Jack to inspect the diamond ring she was wearing with so much pride. Jack was draining her, Sharon realized. All she wanted to do was lean back into Andy's embrace and let him calm down their kicking child. For a second, she imagined a toddler with Andy's temper and almost groaned. If the force of the kicks was anything to go by, she was in for quite a ride.
When she looked back up at Jack, his face had turned into a grimace of fury. "You bastard knocked up my wife?!" he yelled, his voice too loud for the confines of the murder room. Tao jumped and Provenza groaned. At the corner of the room, Taylor's nosy assistant appeared and stuck her head in to catch some of the gossip. Sharon didn't like her anymore since she had found out that she was the one behind the rumor that Sharon was carrying a baby that had been conceived with Andy's sperm and the ova of a stripper using IVF. (How she had come up with that scenario was completely beyond Sharon and she had decided to forget about it for the sake of her own sanity.)
During the short moment she had wasted to dwell on her disapproval of the woman, Jack had needed to decide what the appropriate course of action would be and, as usual, he had come to the wrong conclusion.
"I'll teach you fucking my wife behind my back!" he yelled.
Andy's face was a dangerous shade of red now, too. "Ex-wife, if you please!" he yelled back.
The air was charged and Sharon stepped back towards Provenza's desk, not caring to end up between them should one of them decide to land the first punch. She threw a helpless look over her shoulder towards Provenza, well-aware that she had no chance to stop them now even if she started yelling. Muttering under his breath, the old man got to his feet, probably intending to talk some sense into Jack, but it was already too late.
With a blood-curdling scream, Jack grabbed Andy by the shoulders and lunged at him, knocking him backwards. Sharon knew instinctively that all she could do now was to watch it unfurl. There was no way of getting between them without risking for the baby to get hurt, so she just leaned back against the desk and watched.
Andy quickly recovered from being thrown into a desk and landed a punch under Jack's chin. Jack gave a growl and grabbed Andy's hair, pulling his head back. All the while, Julio, Tao and Provenza were dancing around them, trying to grab one of them without risking to get hurt themselves. If she hadn't been that embarrassed, Sharon would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation unfolding in front of her.
Andy had managed to free himself of Jack's grasp and was trying to manhandle him. She was with the right one of them, Sharon decided, because as angry as he was, Andy was clearly trying to end the fight by backing Jack into a corner. She was grateful for that since it would look so much better in the lawsuit Jack was sure to bring against them because of this mess.
"You are such an asshole!" Jack panted, trying to land his fist squarely on Andy's nose but failing because the other man's reactions were much quicker than his in his semi-drunken state. "Sharon and I, we could have gotten back together if you hadn't knocked her up. Damn you, Flynn! You've always wanted what I have!"
Sharon was slightly uncomfortable thinking that she had once been married to the man who was spewing such idiotic things at Andy.
"Snap out of it, Jack!" Andy shook his head in disbelief. "You two were over twenty years ago and our baby has nothing to do with it. You have no business believing that a woman like Sharon would even consider getting back with you. She is carrying my child and she is engaged to me. Give it up already!"
Sharon couldn't help herself; she found it a little sexy to hear Andy talk like this. It was a feeling that was not unfamiliar at all. In the second trimester of her other pregnancies, she had had a hard time keeping her hands off Jack, too. (Even that seemed horrific in retrospect.)
"It's enough!" she yelled at them, but wasn't warranted with a response. Sharon was not surprised, though. They were in their own little world. That very moment, though, Tao managed to get close enough to grab the back of Jack's jacket and pull him back. Jack whirled around and tried to land a punch, but Tao ducked under it, making Jack stumble into Julio who quickly wrestled his hands onto his back, effectively immobilizing him.
Panting with the exertion, all four men turned towards her for instructions. When she was sure that Jack wouldn't resist any longer - and as much was clear from the death grip Julio had on him - Sharon came a little closer.
"Jack, know that Andy is right. You have no claim over me whatsoever. We haven't been together for twenty years. You need to become sober again. To aid you with that..." she turned towards Julio. "... Detective Sanchez is going to deliver you to our very own drunk tank. You'll stay there t think about what you did."
Before Jack had a chance to hurl an insult at her, Sanchez wrestled him away and caused him to release a string of expletives as he was marched down the hallway.
"Lieutenant Flynn," Sharon said and nodded towards her office. "A word?"
Andy's shoulders sank and he hung his head. He was obviously expecting a lecture.
"Go easy on him, Captain!" Provenza called after them. "He was just defending your honor. Over a fictional baby, no less! You should consider dieting and exercise."
She glared at him over her shoulder then walked into her office and closed the door behind her and Andy.
"Sharon, you were there!" Andy began defending himself immediately. "I didn't pick this fight. I just-"
"I know," she said softly, planting both hands on his chest to pull him to her level. "I liked how you conducted yourself out there." She ran her hand down his chest and playfully tugged at his tie. "You didn't let your anger get the best of you." Andy's eyes widened now that she was almost purring. "And yet you were so very sexy when you told Jack off."
Now Andy couldn't hold in a chuckle. "So you asked me in here because I made you hot out there?"
"Umm..." Sharon was suddenly shying away from her own bravado. She tended to blush when it came to talking about sex. It was just not her thing, but today she was letting herself be carried away by the surge of hormones.
"And now you're embarrassed," Andy told her with a wide, cocky grin. He ran his hand through her hair and cupped her cheek, leaning in to kiss her. He let his lips brush hers, making her yearn for more but when she tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled back slightly. "You're very sexy when you're flustered, Captain."
She hummed impatiently and was rewarded with a deep, sensual kiss and a hand that went a lot further down her back than was decent even behind closed doors in an office shielded by drawn blinds.
She had to remind herself that she was six months pregnant and that her back wasn't in good shape as it was or she would have asked Andy to take her then and there (not without being extremely embarrassed by it afterwards, of course). He wrapped both arms around her waist and kissed her hard only to be interrupted by an angry shout from the door.
"Oh ye Gods! Not again!"