DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters except Matthew and Moxie. The rest belongs to James Duff and the Major Crimes Franchise.

Chapter 3

Emily had met the rest of the family at their house as they were getting ready to go out to dinner. "So, Emily where do you want to go eat?" Andy asked her as the two of them stood in the kitchen waiting for Sharon and Matthew. She suggested going out for dinner tonight because she had a surprise, she wanted to tell her mom and Andy and thought since her mom loved occasions, what would be better than going out for dinner. But as soon as Andy asked her where she wanted to go eat, she couldn't find an answer. "Oh, well, um, I thought we could all go to Farfalla" she thought. "Oh, this is a fancy dinner then?" Andy asked and then heard Sharon coming down the hallway.

"Ok," Sharon smiled as she stepped into the room. "Wow Mom! You look great!" Emily told her as she walked over and gave her a hug. "Thanks sweetie" Sharon replied and looked at her daughter. "You are looking rather great as well" she complemented her daughter. Andy smiled at the both of them, watching the exchange. Sharon looked around in the kitchen. "Where's Matthew?" she asked Andy. "I thought he was with you upstairs" he answered, placing his wallet and keys in his pocket. "Matthew?" Sharon called for him. Matthew was in the family room watching TV when he heard his mom calling his name. He quickly turned the television off and made his way towards the kitchen. "I'm right here" he came walking in to join everyone.

They all got into the car and Andy drove towards the restaurant that Emily had told him. "So where are we going tonight?" Sharon asked Andy as he turned the car down Hillhurst Avenue. "Uh, your daughter wants to go to Farfalla tonight" he told her. "Oh" Sharon turned around in her seat to look at Emily. She wondered why Emily would choose that restaurant. Not that she didn't like it, but it was more of a fancier restaurant. "So, Emily, what's the occasion for tonight?" she asked. Emily smiled at her mother. "Oh mom, it will have to wait till we are at the restaurant" she told her. Sharon gave her daughter a look and then turned around in her seat to face the windshield. She wondered what her daughter was going to spring on them.

Andy pulled into the parking lot across the street from the restaurant and they all got out. Andy held out his hand for Sharon to take as they made their way towards Farfalla. Emily was walking with Matthew in front of them. Andy took this moment to lean over whisper into Sharon's ear. "You look amazing tonight" he kissed her cheek. Sharon blushed as they waited to cross the street. They made their way to the front of the restaurant and entered the building, Andy holding the door for everyone.

As they stepped inside, it wasn't that busy so they were able to sit at a table right away. As they sat down, settling in, Sharon took this opportunity to ask Emily her question again. "Okay Emily, we are seated at the restaurant now, so what's the occasion?" Sharon smiled as she looked across the table at Emily. Emily shook her head and smiled. "Ok Mom, well I was going to wait until after we ordered our food but I am going to play Odette in our upcoming production of Swan Lake!" Emily said excited to tell them. "Oh my gosh! Sweetheart! That is wonderful news!" Sharon was excited for her daughter and stood up, while motioning Emily to do the same, and they gave each other a hug. "I know I did the production in New York, but now, it's different, I'm back home" Emily shrugged her shoulders as she looked at her mom.

They both sat back down. "Well, Emily, that is great news and definitely worth celebrating tonight" Andy told her. "I'm very proud of you" he added. "Thanks Andy" Emily said as she looked at her mom. Sharon reached across the table and grabbed Emily's hand. "You're going to be the best Odette" she smiled at her. Emily rolled her eyes and squeezed her mom's hand in return. Matthew watched everyone. "So, what's Swan Lake?" he asked as he stared at the menu, looking for a kid's section but couldn't find one.

"Oh, well, it's a ballet about a princess and a prince, but the princess gets turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer" Emily explained to him. "Oh" Matthew said in response as he continued to look over the menu. Andy saw that Matthew had a look on his face that stated he was overwhelmed. It could have been that the menu was in Italian. "Matthew, what's the matter?" Andy whispered to him. "I don't know what this menu says" he confessed to his dad. "And there's no kids menu" Matthew added.

Andy looked over the menu. "How about a cheese pizza?" he suggested to Matthew. "Where did you see that?" Matthew asked and Andy pointed to Matthew's menu where it said 'Quattro Formaggi'. "Okay, I'll have that" Matthew told him. "Do you speak Italian Dad?" he asked. "I do" Andy simply answered as he looked over his menu. "What are you going to have?" Matthew wondered. "Well, I was going to have the salmon" he answered and then pointed to the one on the menu that Matthew was looking at.

He thought about asking his dad to say something in Italian but decided not to and then tried to listen to what his mom and Emily were talking about. "So, who's playing the role of the prince?" Sharon asked her. "Oh, well his name is Robert, and he is a wonderful dancer" Emily stated as her eyes beamed with delight. Matthew's eyes just rolled when she said that. He turned to his father and mentioned something about his little league game.

"Funny you should mention that Matthew, because, your mom and I are taking you to the Dodgers game tomorrow afternoon" Andy told him while Sharon and Emily were still discussing Swan Lake, after they had ordered their meals. His eyes lit up. "Really?" he asked him. "Yep, even Uncle Louie is joining us with Patrice" Andy added. Matthew reached across the table to high five his dad. Sharon saw this during her conversation with Emily and she turned to Andy. "Did I miss something?" she whispered to him. "No, sweetie, I just told Matthew that we are going to the Dodgers game tomorrow" he answered her and smiled. She smiled back at him and leaned in to kiss him on his lips. It was a quick kiss. When she turned to look back at Emily, she saw Emily was smiling at the two of them.

After they had ate dinner, they opted to skip dessert and have something back at their house. Emily walked out of the restaurant with Sharon who was carrying a take home container with the rest of Matthew's pizza. Andy was behind them with Matthew. "Can I get nachos tomorrow at the game?" Matthew asked. Andy chuckled because he knew Sharon wouldn't want him to have junk food at the game. "We'll see what your mother says" Andy told him as they crossed the street and headed to the car.

The drive home, Sharon leaned her head against the head rest and looked out her window. She held Andy's right hand as he left it resting on the console. She was so happy in this moment. She was happy and excited for Emily landing the lead role in the new production. A few weeks ago, she was happy for Rusty doing so well at his internship with Andrea. She's happy how far along Matthew has come since they adopted him and his interest in baseball. Ricky was doing well at his job. Yes, everything was going well as she turned her head and looked over at Andy. The car turned into their driveway and pulled into the garage. "Rusty's home" Andy told her as he saw his car parked on the side of the driveway when he pulled in.

Andy turned the car off and glanced over at Sharon, who was still holding his hand. He flashed her his smile and she smiled back. When neither one was getting out of the car, Emily sighed. "Come on Matthew, let's go and leave these two lovebirds out here" she opened her car door and Matthew opened his as well and stepped out of the car. "We'll make ourselves some hot fudge sundaes" she added to get their attention but nothing could break the look Sharon gave Andy.

"What are you thinking right now?" Andy asked in a low voice. Sharon hummed. "I'm thinking that I want to recreate our night last night" she coyly told him. She leaned over the console and kissed him. "I guess we have another opening night to attend soon" he said as they broke their kiss. "Yes" she whispered. "You'll look handsome in whatever you wear" she added as she played with his tie. "You'll look gorgeous as always" he said, flashing his grin as he leaned in and kissed her again.

Meanwhile, back inside the house, Matthew went to get the ice cream out of the freezer while Emily got the bowls and placed them on the island. She sent a text message to Rusty to see if he wanted to join them for ice cream. He had replied back to her that he would be there in a few minutes. When the back door opened, Emily thought it was her mom with Andy but Rusty walked into the kitchen instead. "Hey, how was dinner?" Rusty asked. "It was good" Emily told him. "Everything on the menu was in Italian" Matthew added. "Did you know Dad speaks Italian?" Matthew told his older siblings. They both looked at each other.

Sharon and Andy were still in the car, when Andy spoke. "I guess we should go into the house, before we get carried away here" he suggested. Sharon placed her hands along his jaw to caress him. "I love you" she whispered, looking deep into his eyes. "I love you too babe" he replied looking into her eyes. "I would never do anything to hurt you" he added as he held her hands now in his. He leaned in for one more kiss. "I will always protect you and the kids" he added after he broke their kiss and their foreheads were touching. "Come on, lets get you inside before I change my mind and we spend the night out here" he added and she chuckled. "Okay" she simply stated to him and then opened her door to step out.

They walked hand in hand up the walkway to the back of the house. "Matthew had a hard time with the menu tonight, he couldn't find anything he wanted until I found the cheese pizza. He then asked me if I spoke Italian" he stopped her about halfway and she turned around, looking at him. "I told him I did" he shrugged his shoulders. Sharon had known that he spoke Italian a long time ago. She always had loved it when he spoke Italian to her. "Ti amo" he told her, which meant 'I love you', as they got to the back door. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside, waiting for him to close the door behind them and then they walked into the kitchen together. The sight they saw made Sharon smile.

Matthew, Rusty, and Emily were all sitting around the kitchen table, eating ice cream. Matthew's dish was practically overflowing with chocolate sauce and cherries. They were all laughing when they heard their parents walk in. "They must be conspiring against us" Andy whispered to her and she swatted her hand on his arm as she walked towards her children.

She looked at Matthew who had chocolate sauce all over his face and just shook her head. "I'm glad you all are having your fun with the ice cream" she smiled to them as she leaned down and kissed the tops of their heads, making her way through the kitchen. Rusty watched her walk away from them and turned his attention to Andy who was still at the kitchen counter watching them.

Andy then took the gallon of ice cream that was sitting on the island and placed it back in the freezer. "You and mom don't want ice cream?" Emily asked as she turned around in her chair. "No, we ah," Andy scratched his head but before he could finish, Sharon walked back in to the kitchen. She removed her heals and grabbed her cardigan sweater from the hallway. Andy glanced at Sharon as she walked back in and smiled. Rusty rolled his eyes at the two of them and continued to eat his ice cream.

An hour later, Sharon and Emily were talking in the family room, just the two of them. Emily was telling her about the practices that she had been doing with the new production and when opening night was scheduled to take place. "Do you think you'll be able to attend?" she asked her. "Of course, dear, I'll put it on the calendar and hopefully, there won't be a case then, but Andy and I will definitely attend your opening night" Sharon smiled and was so happy for Emily.

Emily glanced at her watch, "Oh I didn't realize it was late" she said as she started to get up off the couch. "Why don't you just spend the night in the guest room?" Sharon suggested. "No, Mom, it's not that late and besides, I'm just ten minutes from here, I'll be fine" Emily told her and Sharon stood up to give her a hug. "Text me when you get home" Sharon told her. "I will" she said as she walked with her mom when they stopped at the den where Andy was sitting at the desk. "Emily's leaving to go back to her place" Sharon told him.

Andy stood up from the desk and walked out to the hallway. "I'll walk you out to your car" he told Emily and then he opened the front door. "Good night, Mom" Emily kissed Sharon on her cheek and Sharon did the same. She watched Andy walk Emily to her car in front of their house. "I told mom when opening night would be, I hope you two can make it" Emily said to him. "I'm sure your mother will clear the calendar for your opening night" Andy smiled. "Thanks for dinner" she told him and then gave him a hug.

"Drive carefully now" Andy told her as she made her way around to the driver's side. "Good night, Andy" Emily said then she got in her car and started it. Andy stood at the curb and watched her drive away. He then made his way back inside the house and was surprised Sharon was still standing at the front door. Andy smiled at her and she smiled back, welcoming him back inside. He pulled her in for a kiss after he closed and locked the front door.

He then pushed her up against the door and deepened the kiss, caressing her sides as they both stood there. When they broke apart, needed to breathe, Sharon looked at him and smiled again. "I hope you don't think your sleeping arrangements have changed since your little stunt this afternoon" she told him in a sultry voice, barely above a whisper. "Sei il mio cuore" he said to her, which meant 'you are my heart'. "Speaking in Italian is not going to change it either" she chuckled and shook her head looking into his eyes.

"I guess I'll be on the couch tonight then," Andy said, defeated in his attempts to change her mind. "I guess so" she said and then she made her way up the stairs to check on Matthew. Andy watched her walk away and then walked into the family room where he pulled out the extra blanket, turned on the TV, and plopped down on the couch. He had settled on watching one of those old movies with Cary Grant as nothing else was on.

Meanwhile, after checking in on Matthew and saw that he was already sleeping, and Moxie was in his room, she made her way to their bedroom and got herself ready for bed. She glanced at her phone and saw a text message from Emily saying she got home ok. She smiled and returned her message. She put her phone on the counter and got herself ready for bed. As she changed her clothes, she felt bad for Andy. They had a nice evening out with Emily and Matthew, dinner was good, Emily's surprise learning that she got the lead was great news, even their time in the car after they had gotten home was nice.

She made her way to their bed and pulled back the covers. She tried to settle in on the pillow but her mind was thinking about the one thing that was currently missing, Andy.

As she made her way down the stairs, she saw that the lights were mostly off except for the one lamp in the family room. She made her way inside the room and saw that the TV was on and the volume was on low. Andy was sprawled out on the couch. She thought he would still be awake but when she came around the couch, she saw that he fell asleep. She slowly lowered herself to the couch and snuggled into Andy. Andy stirred and placed his arms around her. "I thought I was being punished" he mumbled in a half sleepy voice.

"I found out that I miss you" she kissed his cheek and settled down. Her head was laying on his chest as she faced the TV. She noticed he had turned on an old Cary Grant movie. She snaked her hand underneath the t-shirt he was wearing and placed it over his heart. "You're my heart too" she whispered and they both fell asleep.

TBC