I took a few liberties with Andy's past here. Hope you don't mind. ;)

Chapter 17 - Ready to Go?

They were awoken by the sound of Sharon's phone buzzing.

"Ricky," she mumbled into the phone in greeting when she reached it.

At the name, Andy lifted his head from the pillow he had stuffed his face in when the phone went off.

"Oh," Sharon said, sadly, turning Andy's curious look into one filled with worry.

"Okay, honey, text me when you land," were Sharon's next words.

"Land?" Andy mouthed the question at her, but she just shook her head slightly.

"I know, me, too. Bye!" And with that she hung up the phone and put it back on the nightstand.

"Land?" Andy now asked out loud.

Sharon slumped into the pillows, lying back down flatly on the bed. "He had to take an earlier flight," she said on a sad note. "Work," she added, waving a hand through the air.

"Wow, that sucks," Andy said, propping his head on his elbows to look at her.

"It does," she confirmed, disappointed.

Ricky was supposed to go with them to the airport that afternoon, since their respective flights took off within half an hour of each other. Emily was going to sneak out of work earlier to pick up them and their stuff and have lunch with them. She was also their ride to the airport. Those plans would now happen without Ricky.

"We at least had-"

Sharon's phone went off again, with a text this time, but it was enough to interrupt Andy's attempt to cheer her up, as he promptly shut his mouth at the sound of it.

She let out a surprised "Oh," when she reached her phone, then turned it around to show it to Andy.

He scanned the text. "Hell yeah!" he let out.

She laughed, putting her phone back. "I wonder who Ben heard that from," she said sarcastically, lying down on the bed again.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Andy told her impassively. He then abruptly lifted himself up to position himself above her. "We can finally move in!" he exclaimed on a happy grin and kissed her.

It was a text from their realtor, letting them know the house was cleared and ready for them to take over.

"Which means we can start planning our wedding, too," she told him when they pulled apart. She was smiling at him as happily as he was at her.

Andy's face lit up. They haven't talked much about the wedding yet. He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Got anything in mind?"

"Next month?" she asked hopefully.

He rolled over and lay down on the bed on his back this time. "Can't wait," he mumbled, looking dreamily at the ceiling.

She turned to her side and leaned against a hand to give him a look. "So that sounds good?"

He turned his head to look back at her. "I'd marry you right now, Sharon, so, yes," he highlighted his words with a firm nod of his head, "that sounds good."

"Well, you can't right now," she told him on a smile, "we want our kids there, remember?"

"Yup, I know, I want them there, too," he confirmed.

"Got any special wishes?" she asked, the far away sound of her voice telling him she was already in her head, coming up with God knows what.

"Not really," he told her honestly. "You already know I don't want a repeat of Nicole's wedding ordeal. Everything else," he shrugged, "I'll survive."

"Wow," she said, sounding mildly affronted, "so romantic of you."

He turned his attention to the ceiling again. "I don't know," his voice went suspiciously high, "I think it pretty much is."

"Really?" she inquired, now starting to run a hand over his chest.

He turned his head to look at her again, a positively smug grin on his face. "Well, yeah, I let my girlf-," he interrupted himself with a surprised raise of his eyebrows to correct the word, "my future wife go crazy with her sense of occasion. That's incredibly romantic, I think."

"I do not go crazy with my sense of occasion," she argued, but leaned above his face to drop off a kiss after adding, "but thank you."

"You do," he disagreed against her lips. When she pulled back to look at him blandly, he added, "But don't worry, you're welcome."

"And just for that," she said, giving him a smile that looked positively intimidating, "I'll ask Nicole for advice here or there."

"Don't play with my blood pressure," he pleaded, feigning worry.

She shot him a glare. "That is not funny, Andy," she told him seriously, but leaned down to kiss him quickly anyway. "By the way, sorry for falling asleep on you last night," she said leaning back on her hand again.

"You do wonders for my ego, Sharon," he replied sarcastically.

"Well," she let her hand start on a downward path over his chest, "I could try making it up to you," she said on a coy smile.

He looked at her hand, smirking at it, obviously finding the idea tempting, but then caught it with his. "You know, you don't have to," he told her quite seriously.

She only laughed at him. "Of course, I know that," she gave him a warm smile, clearly appreciating the thought anyway. "I want to," she assured him, leaning down to kiss him again.

...

Since Andy had actually grown up in New York, Sharon was eager to see the city through his eyes. When she mentioned that desire over breakfast Andy's response was surprisingly enthusiastic.

They spent most of the morning in Harlem, where he had possibly shown her every known nook and cranny.

"I had my first kiss here," he told her on one particular corner.

At her prodding he added that he had been 12 at the time, and at the receiving end of a joke of a clique of girls his age. Apparently, the girl that kissed him had lost a bet and he was her punishment.

The fit of laughter his story sent Sharon into did not amuse him much though. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, doing her best to pull herself together. "You poor thing," she told him on a high note, running a hand, gently down his cheek in sympathy.

"Funny," Andy told her sarcastically, although he was starting to smile at her giggling self. It was a rare sight to behold.

She propped herself on her toes and quickly kissed him then. When she pulled back, finally no longer laughing, she asked, "How's that for a kiss? Not a fi-"

He interrupted her by planting his lips on hers again, the kiss escalating somewhat. "Excellent," he told her when they pulled apart, grinning at the fact that she was rather flustered by the suddenly rather passionate exchange in the middle of a busy street. He knew she'd have not given into it it had she really minded, and that only made him grin more happily.

"Alright, moving on then," she told him, pointedly changing the topic while pulling on his arm to get them moving again.

...

He showed her some of the places he first worked in, places where he liked to stir up trouble and places where he liked to just look for a bit of peace.

That's how they ended up near the Hudson river, perched on a bench in a surprisingly quiet corner of a little park. It was rather windy and they were practically wrapped in each other's arms, enjoying the warmth their embrace offered, while Andy took her down memory lane.

"I'm glad you decided to join this side of the law," she told him, smiling, when he told her about his and his brother's joyride and how he ended up joining the academy.

"Me, too, trust me," he told her on a chuckle. "I get into enough trouble when I'm on the right side of it," he added, his chuckle turning into a laugh now.

"True," she agreed on a laugh of her own, "you'd not have made it far on the wrong side, that much is certain."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he told her sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her.

"You're welcome," she quipped, pressing a quick kiss into his cheek.

He only shook his head in response.

...

Lunch with Emily had put somewhat of a damper on Sharon's otherwise great mood.

"Mom, you know, you could cheer up at the sight of me, too," Emily told her sarcastically, when, in between courses, Sharon grew rather melancholy. At least if the way she gazed into her glass of wine was anything to go by.

"I'm sorry, honey," Sharon looked up at her. "I was really looking forward to a final lunch with both of you."

"There'll be more lunches, mom," Emily told her, rolling her eyes, then shooting Andy, seated next to her mother, a look, too.

"Ah-uh," Andy raised his palms up in surrender, "don't look at me. I'm siding with your mother on this," he told her seriously. "Getting hold of all you kids is close to a miracle sometimes. We take what we can get and hold on to it for as long as we can." He punctuated his words with the nod of his head.

"Exactly," Sharon said in support.

Emily just rolled her eyes again. "You're such," she paused, giving them a puzzled look, trying to come up with a word worthy of what they were, "parents." She settled on the word with resignation, knowing exactly what her mother would say.

"We are parents." It was Andy who said it and Emily gave him a wide-eyed look, while Sharon barely held back a snort.

"Oh, God," Emily shook her head. "There's two of them now," she told no one in particular.

While Andy only laughed, Sharon, having suddenly been rather painfully reminded of him, said, "Speaking of your father," both Emily and Andy sobered at the words, even tensed up, "have you told him about Ethan?"

Andy instantly relaxed but Emily sighed, clearly not wanting to talk about it, but knowing there would be no avoiding the topic with her mother, answered, "Yeah, he said," she looked at Andy before adding, "and I quote here," Sharon frowned, clearly recognizing it could not have been anything good, "'Good luck, cops are fun.'"

Emily did not sound sad or disappointed, but rather resigned to the fact that that was simply something her oh-so supportive father would say, but Andy saw the sad shadow cross Sharon's features, and before she could offer a response he said, lightly, "That we are."

When Sharon snorted a laugh at his stupid joke, he quirked a knowing eyebrow over the table at Emily, who offered him a grateful smile in return.

"Oh, finally," Emily let out, when suddenly she noticed the waitress walking over with the rest of their food. Once they were served, she eagerly used the opportunity to switch to a lighter topic, one she had not really had the chance to grill her mother about during her visit these past few days.

"Have you started planning your wedding yet?" she asked both Sharon and Andy.

She smiled when Sharon gladly answered, clearly letting Emily drop the subject of Jackson Raydor. "We have actually," she told her, giving Andy a quick happy look.

"Well, if you call settling on a month," Andy gave Sharon an amused look, "planning."

Emily laughed. "Oh, with mom," she pinned Andy with a serious look, "it is, believe me."

Ignoring the little fun they were having at her expense, Sharon, more seriously, asked, "Will you be able to take any time off in February?"

"Mom," Emily waved a fork through the air, "I'll be there no matter what, don't worry." She gave her an amused look, before adding, "Your favorite child will, too."

Not missing a beat, Sharon retorted, "Oh, I know Rusty will be there." She focused on her plate now, and absentmindedly added, "I'll have to check with Ricky though."

"Neither one of them is here, you know," Emily told her blandly, giving her a pointed look, too.

When Andy burst out laughing, Sharon shot him a glare. "I love all of you equally," she told her daughter in a dangerously low tone of voice, but Emily only smiled smugly for having gotten one over her mother, a rare occasion indeed, making Andy laugh some more.

...

They spent the remainder of their lunch discussing Sharon and Andy's upcoming wedding, mainly throwing around ideas regarding the small gathering Sharon wanted afterwards. After splitting the bill (with no objections on any of their parts, surprisingly so) they made their way back to the car.

"Oh," Emily let out excitedly at the sight of Ethan leaning against her car. She quickened her pace to greet him and by the time a rather amused looking Sharon and Andy caught up with her, she explained before they could even voice their questions. "He didn't know if he'd make it, so I just didn't mention anything."

"Hi," Ethan said, shaking their hands. "Made it," he told them on a nonchalant shrug.

"You shouldn't have," Sharon told him on a warm smile that said she clearly appreciated the young man's gesture anyway. "Not if it was any trouble for you."

"Yeah," Andy chipped in, "we know how crazy work can get."

"Oh, no," Ethan waved them off. "I'm off the clock now, but on call and well," he shrugged again, "you never know then."

Andy rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it."

Ethan only chuckled. "So you all set?" he aimed the question at Emily.

"Yeah," she sighed somewhat sadly, "better get going, you never know with traffic."

...

When they arrived at the airport, while getting their suitcase, (they insisted on doing it themselves) Sharon quietly asked Andy to give her a moment with Emily. Although surprised by the request he obliged and pulled Ethan into shop talk he knew would keep them occupied for a while. Sharon would fill him in later when he asked about it, he knew.

Sharon had wrapped an arm around her daughter's and purposefully slowed her gait until Andy and Ethan were walking ahead of them. Deciding to just cut to the chase, she started talking the moment she was sure their little bubble was private enough.

"You said the other day," she was talking at a deliberate pace, a sure sign for Emily that whatever her mother had to say was quite serious, and that put a worried frown on her face, "that you thought he might be the one."

Emily's face instantly lit up and she gave Ethan's back a warm look. "I did," she confirmed, although her tone went up as if in askance.

"I like him," Sharon told her, giving her daughter a warm smile.

Emily knew what she liked about him; that he was kind, responsible, respectful, that he loved her, all things Sharon always told her she wished for her. "Me, too," she agreed teasingly, trying to lighten the suddenly quite heavy mood.

Sharon tightened her hold on Emily's arm. "I'm not trying to meddle," she started, and the soft, rather quiet voice her mother said that in, had Emily believe her, "but he's a police officer."

Emily gave her a puzzled look. "So?" she couldn't help the slight defensiveness that entered her voice.

Sharon shook her head at her, trying to placate her, "I only want to remind you of what that line of work entails. I wouldn't try talking you out of it, even if I wanted to but-"

Catching on to her train of thought Emily interrupted her, "But it's a risky job, huh?"

"Exactly," Sharon confirmed on a brief smile.

"I know, but-"

"But you love him," Sharon finished for her, her smile longer and warmer this time.

"He asked me to move in with him," Emily suddenly blurted out.

Sharon gave her a surprised look. "And?" she gently prodded.

"I said yes." The excitement that her words held was somewhat dimmed with the sudden worry about what her mother might think of that.

Sharon only pulled her closer to herself, slowing them down somewhat but smiling again. "Which means I have all the more reason to say what's been on my mind," she told her.

Emily pulled back to give her a look, getting them to a halt altogether. "And what's that?" she sounded genuinely curious.

"Come here," Sharon tugged on her hand now, and led them to a nearby set of chairs. They had enough time for a bit of a detour.

When they sat down she said, "When Andy had his little dust up with the car," she put air quotation marks around the words and said them on a faint eye roll, "and he had to get surgery," she continued more seriously, "there were certain decisions to be made." She gave Emily a long look. "I trust Lieutenant Provenza with both my life and Andy's and I was always kept in the loop," she looked away before regretfully adding, "But I was still kind of on the outside, you know." She looked at Emily again, to see whether she understood where she was going with this.

"Oh," Emily let out, looking away now, too as she considered her mother's words. "We've not really talked about that," she admitted. "Never really occurred to me, either," she added, looking back at Sharon again and shrugging.

"Neither had we," Sharon told her. "Although we were nowhere close to discussing matters like those at the time," she added. "But Ethan said he only had his grandmother for family and I have no idea about his partner at work or other friends... Still, if this is as serious as it looks, and," she smiled lovingly at her daughter, "it sure looks that way, I wanted you to keep that in mind." She shrugged and added ruefully, "I wish I had."

"When Andy had his heart attack, did you have his medical power of attorney then?" Emily asked.

"Yes," Sharon confirmed. "And although I was still scared to death, still am, I think," she admitted on the shake of her head, "at least, when I had questions then, I could go look for them myself and not through my second in command."

"Hmm," was all Emily could say to that.

"Come on," Sharon said suddenly. She tugged on Emily's hand again, and tilting her head in the direction of Andy and Ethan as she got to her feet, added, "They're waiting for us."

When Emily looked up, Ethan and Andy were indeed watching them from in front of the security check line, but neither one approached to interrupt them. "Okay," she said, rather distractedly, getting to her feet, too.

"I didn't mean to worry you," Sharon told her before they could start rejoining their partners.

"No, mom, you didn't," Emily assured her. "Just gave me food for thought. I'll have to ask Ethan about it."

"I only wanted you to be aware, honey," Sharon explained anyway. "In case, God forbid, something happened. I don't think I'd have said anything before, but after what happened with Andy-" she trailed off, waving a hand through the air.

"It put you on alert a bit more?" Emily tried, knowing just how worried her mother had been during both of Andy's health crises.

Sharon offered her a sad smile,. "You could say that," she admitted.

"How is he doing now, anyway?" Emily asked as they finally started walking towards both Andy and Ethan.

"He's doing well, cleared for work fully, too," Sharon told her, giving Andy a long look. He was back to talking with Ethan and did not notice her. "But-"

"You worry, I know." Emily wrapped her hands around her arm, to pull her closer to herself, as if to ease some of those worries.

"I do," Sharon confirmed, not feeling the need to explain that at all.

"I'm glad he's okay," Emily told her quietly, giving Andy a look, too.

Sharon patted Emily's hand in response. "Me, too," she told her on a warmer smile now.

"And I know you're not trying to meddle, mom," Emily told her, squeezing her arm, as if to make her believe her.

"Good, because I really am trying not to," Sharon said on a shrug.

"I'm kind of grateful you do worry actually," Emily admitted. "Because I really had not thought about this," Emily told her, leaning into her arm again.

"Thought about what?" Ethan asked, the words reaching him just as Sharon and Emily reached him and Andy.

Their easy embrace obviously deceived him into believing their topic was a light one, so Emily just waved him off. "I'll tell you later," she said, exchanging a quick knowing look with her mother.

Ethan only shrugged in response.

"Ready to go?" Andy asked, tilting his head toward the check line.

Sharon gave him a quick nod, but wrapped Emily in a tight hug. "I love you, Emily," she whispered into her daughter's ear.

"Love you, too, mom," Emily whispered back.

They pulled apart but Sharon kept her hands on the side of Emily's arms. "Be kind, be-"

"Safe," Emily playfully rolled her eyes. "I know."

"Remember," Sharon turned her attention to Ethan after squeezing her daughter one more time, a lighter note in her voice now, "I'm a police Captain."

At Ethan's chuckle as Sharon pulled him into a hug, too, Andy muttered. "She's a mean shot, don't you laugh at her."

"Don't worry," Ethan offered a hand to Andy in goodbye, when Sharon let go of him, "if I mess up," he shot Emily a quick look, "you can both shoot me."

"Good," Andy told him on a smug smile, shaking his offered hand.

He then ignored Sharon's amused shake of her head and turned to hug a now chuckling Emily. "It's not my place to say so, I know, but if he does, I will shoot him, we both will," he told her quietly.

Emily just laughed softly at him as he let go of her. She shot Ethan an amused look. "It's a deal, Andy," she told him seriously, but laughed again at the puzzled looks that crossed both her boyfriend's and mother's face.

"See you at the wedding then?" Andy asked, holding back a smirk at Sharon's obvious curiosity. He'd admit to his little indiscretion later anyway.

"Of course," Emily instantly replied, while Ethan nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for a wonderful few days," Sharon told her daughter, giving her another quick hug.

"It was nothing, mom, but you're welcome," Emily replied on a smile as they pulled apart.

With that Sharon and Andy made their way past the security checkpoint and went in search of their gate.

THE END

That's it, guys. My short approximately 6-chapter story turned into a 17-chapter monster. Whoops!

To all of you who'd like to read about the wedding, I actually have an idea about that. I'm thinking about doing a less fluffy and more angsty/dramatic story (haven't done anything like that yet), and it would probably be much shorter than this one. Don't know yet, but if I really end up writing something, expect it to be posted under a new title. And do tell me if you'd even be interested in that. Your thoughts can be quite the motivator (or de-motivator haha)!

Anyways, whether I write more in relation to this particular story or not, let me just thank you for being so wonderful. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you liked the ending. :)