Like a lot of my stories recently, this one, too, was inspired by escapewithstories. I think she's a great mom (although I'm pretty sure I actually like her son more than her, because, seriously, that kid is criminally CUTE), and decided to surprise her a little with this story for Mother's Day.

The surprise pulled off, being the great beta that she is, she gave everything a proper proofread so that I could share it with you guys as well.

So, here's me wishing all moms a slightly belated happy Mother's Day and hoping you'll all have fun reading this. I know I had a blast writing it. :D

MOTHER'S DAY

"Oh, hello," Sharon said a bit awkwardly as she and Andy went to step off the elevator once the doors opened, only to almost run into their neighbor that had the opposite intention in mind.

He flashed them both a polite smile. "Hi, you two," he said, moving to the side to let them pass. "Caught an early day for once, huh?" he added, a smirk that said he was familiar with their busy police schedules on his face.

Andy chuckled, slipping an arm around Sharon. "We can't quite believe it ourselves."

"But yes," Sharon added, sharing Andy's amusement in the form of a relaxed smile. "An entire weekend off if you would believe it."

"Well," the neighbor laughed, stepping on the elevator, "enjoy it, and," he pressed a button on the panel, then eyed Sharon, "I wish you an early happy Mother's Day."

"Ah," Sharon's eyes widened, surprised, "thank you."

The neighbor merely flashed her a smile and waved at them as the doors closed.

As they turned to head down the hallway to their condo, Andy drummed his fingers across her hip. "Don't tell me you, Commander 'Sense of Occasion', forgot about Mother's Day."

Despite his arm around her, in light admonishment, Sharon bumped her shoulder into his side, or rather just underneath his armpit. "Not really," she said pointedly. "I simply don't expect random men to remember it, and I expect it even less for them to mention it to me."

"Ah," Andy let out knowingly, fishing his keys out of a pocket to unlock their front door, "so you expect it from not so random men."

She slipped into the condo when he pushed the door open for her, a teasing smile on her lips and an eyebrow lifted very purposefully. "I do."

Walking inside, he closed the door, and let out a "Phew!" even wiping imaginary sweat off his brow. "Good thing I still got an entire day to think of something then."

Sharon perched her purse on the little table, then turned around, a narrow-eyed expression on her face. "Yes, very good," she said, a half-hearted threat veiled in the slight upward curl a corner of her lip took.

Grinning goofily, Andy took his jacket off, hanging it before helping Sharon slip out of her own. "I will think of something," he told her confidently.

She gave him a long appraising look as he turned around to hang up her jacket as well. He had already planned something. He was acting almost as mysteriously as he did before proposing to her, abuzz with some strange, both excited and nervous, energy the entire week. To say that he had piqued her curiosity and definitely tickled her sense of occasion would be an understatement, but she was not going to let on as much. "You had better," she said, mock sternly, before heading into their bedroom. The laugh that followed only made her more certain that he had already come up with something.

It was a little while later, after they had both washed off the day's work in their respective showers, had eaten dinner and were curled up on the couch that the topic came up again.

"Anything special you wanna do on Sunday?" Andy asked, when an ad interrupted the show they were watching.

She lifted her head off the inside of his shoulder, a bit surprised by the question. Her earlier certainty about his plans suddenly wavered. When he shrugged at her questioning expression, she answered jokingly. "Does not wanting to get called out on a case count as special?"

He chuckled, not disagreeing, but sobered quickly. "I'm serious." He pulled out his arm that had been wrapped around her, and turned slightly to fully face her, his undivided attention on her and nothing else. "Describe your perfect Mother's Day to me."

For a moment, Sharon only blinked at him, but seeing the honest curiosity in his eyes, she smiled, and finally said, "Okay," already lost in thought as she tried to think of a response.

Eager now, Andy quickly reached for the remote to mute the TV, then said, "I'm all ears."

She let out a light laugh at his sudden excitement, but curled back into his side, taking his hand and wrapping his arm back around her. A low amused sound rumbled in his throat as he allowed her to rearrange him around herself to her heart's content. Once comfortable, she finally started talking. "I don't have a perfect Mother's Day fantasy, but I do have a fond memory of one that felt rather perfect at the time."

When she paused, Andy prompted, "Back when Jack was still around?"

She sighed, a bit ruefully. "I wish."

Instinctively, Andy's arm tightened around her. "So what made it so perfect then?"

"My kids," she replied immediately. When she felt his smile, because yes, he knew that would be her obvious answer, she reached for his hand, the one not resting on her arm, and started fiddling with the gold band on his pinky, lost in memory as she started to recount it. "It had been a hellish couple of months. Jack," she sighed again, "well, Jack was Jack. I had no idea where he was, all he left me was a lousy excuse of a letter and a pile of debt to dig my way out of. Needing the money, but also because I firmly believed I deserved it, I was gunning for this big promotion, but naturally," she rolled her eyes, "I had to put in double the work my male counterparts had to. More overtime, and more thorough paperwork, because one wrong thing and I'd be either accused of bias, unprofessionalism or pure incompetence." She waved a hand through the air, her tone matter-of-fact as she added, "You know how it was."

He did, and smiled guiltily knowing that, not only did he use to be one of the misogynistic assholes the department was still riddled with, but he also used to be one of the guys who enjoyed putting up as many obstacles as possible on the path of her intradepartmental investigations. He liked to think that he had evolved since, perhaps not having completely eradicated a sexist thought here and there, but certainly having learned to at least recognize when they occured. His filter wasn't the best yet either, but he's grown to rely on Sharon's uncanny ability to help him remove the foot from his mouth when his tongue got the better of him.

"Anyway," she did not wait for his response, "between work, the kids and drowning in debt, I was running on fumes for longer than I care to admit." She tilted her head up to look at Andy, finding him watching and listening to her intently. "You know that my parents helped out, of course, just to keep us afloat, and to this day I don't think I will ever be able to repay Father Stan for all the help he and the Church provided. But," she pressed her cheek back against his chest and refocused on his sobriety ring, "I could only rely on them for so long, and in those two months a chance presented itself to allow me to finally pick myself up a little, find my footing again. Anyway," she took a breath, clearing her head of those hardships and to focus on the answer Andy was waiting on, "I remember coming home one Saturday evening, bone tired after a 48-hour rotation." She scoffed self-deprecatingly. "I don't think I even checked on Ricky and Emily. I dismissed the babysitter, I remember that, but then I simply fell into bed, probably asleep before I even hit the pillow." She suddenly sat up a little, Andy's hold on her loosening a bit, and she shook her head disbelievingly. "And then those two little angels," she smiled wistfully, "they just…"

Her hair being disturbed pulled Sharon out of her slumber. On instinct she stiffened, before realizing where she was, and what, or rather who was touching her hair. Groggily, she turned her head, seeking out the owner of the intruding hand, and smiled when she found Ricky giving her a grin. Her smile only widened when her gaze fell on the one missing tooth he had lost only two mornings ago. "Momma," he patted her head then, sounding a little sleepy himself, "get up."

She clasped his little wrist, stilling the now incessant patting, then turned. Before he could even process what was happening, she had her hands underneath his armpits, pulling him into bed as she rolled over onto her back.

"Mooom!" he let out on a startled little yelp, but quickly dissolved into giggles, when she started tickling him.

Her seven-year-old knew how to fight back though. Even as he wiggled and giggled, he attacked her side in retaliation. Although ticklish herself, she exaggerated her tortured laugh, then ceased her onslaught only to wrap her arms around him and to tuck him snugly into her embrace. "Oh," she let out as she inhaled the scent that was purely her son, "I've missed you."

He snuggled into her, going completely limp against her as he relaxed now that she had stopped her tormenting tickling, a content little sigh leaving his lips. "Me, too." He huffed suddenly, and added, "Babysitters suck."

She chuckled at his begrudging tone, but agreed wholeheartedly, squeezing him just a little more tightly. "They really do, honey."

Their cuddling continued for a few more blissful moments, until the door creaking open had Ricky lift his head to look at the source.

"You were supposed to get her out of bed," Emily said the second their eyes met, sounding very displeased, "not join her!" As if to highlight her annoyance, she threw her arms out, huffing and puffing all exasperated and giving the heavens a dramatic look.

Ricky stiffened, as if caught doing something awfully bad, but his attention was abruptly returned to Sharon when a snort bubbled out of her, observing her children's antics. "Mom?" he asked, warily.

That only renewed Sharon's laughter, but she managed to reach a hand out in Emily's direction and say, "Why don't you join us?"

"But..." Emily glared at her brother, clearly he was to be blamed for this unacceptable bump in her plans.

Sharon shifted Ricky onto her side, eliciting a surprised 'Umph' sound from him, then wiggled her fingers invitingly at Emily. "I know you want to," she told her, bobbing an eyebrow up and down at her knowingly.

Still riled up, Emily shot her brother a withering look, then sighed, giving into her mother's plea, a seemingly grave sacrifice. "Oh, fine."

The moment she was in reach, Sharon grabbed Emily's hand, then pulled her into bed, tucking her safely into her other side. "See, not so bad after all, huh?" Sharon asked, gently brushing away the hair that had fallen into Emily's face in the process.

There was a quick flash of defiance in her daughter's eyes before she flopped her head down onto her mother's chest and snuggled into her.

Sharon smiled widely. "Thought so," she muttered, placing a kiss to the top of Emily's head.

Her daughter harrumphed, but relaxed into Sharon's hold nonetheless.

"You smell funny," Ricky suddenly said, his voice muffled against Sharon.

Emily lifted her head to glare at him again. "You smell funny!"

"Not you, dummy." Ricky lifted his head, then looked at his mother. "You, Mom."

A confused crease appeared on Emily's brow, then she ducked her head to inhale her mother's scent. "Oh, you really do, Mom," she confirmed, surprised.

Sharon laughed. "That would be because I haven't had a shower since," she paused, needing a second to remember, "the evening before yesterday."

"Yikes," Ricky said, grimacing and only prompting more laughter out of Sharon.

"But you," Sharon said, as her laugh ebbed away, and she squeezed them both close to her, "smell divine."

Emily propped her chin just right of Sharon's sternum. "Divine?" she asked, not understanding, but the pleased smile on her face indicating she was sure it meant something good.

"Heavenly," Sharon explained, pecking her quickly on the nose.

"Oh," Emily let out, finally getting it.

"We took a bath last night," Ricky informed her helpfully.

Sharon smiled, squeezing his side a little and making him squirm. "I can tell."

He giggled.

"By the way, my sweet boy," Sharon started, then continued when he looked at her with interest, "you have rather funny hair."

On a little surprised 'Oh' his eyes darted upwards and he instinctively tilted his head back as if he could get a look at all of the hair on his head. Realizing it was a futile attempt, and feeling a little silly, he laughed at himself, then reached up a hand, curiously and blindly tapping the top of his head until he found the culprit—a stubborn tuft of hair that sprang up each time he tried flattening it down.

When he gave up on a resigned huff, Sharon reached a hand up herself, but only to lovingly swirl a finger around the unruly strand. "Don't worry, I think it's cute."

He frowned, the information of little consolation to him.

To Sharon's surprise, Emily came to her brother's rescue. "Mom's hair's a real mess though," she said with slight exaggeration.

The boy's eyes scanned Sharon's head, then agreeing with his sister, he laughed. He tried slipping his fingers into his mother's hair, and while in that he succeeded, it was a bit harder to untangle them from it. "Oh, it's gonna hurt when you comb that," he said, a little too gleefully, but Sharon laughed anyway.

Emily giggled, even though her own hair was still sleep tousled, and being even longer than Sharon's, running a comb through it would be an even bigger adventure.

"So what is it," Sharon conversationally addressed her eldest child once she stopped laughing, "that makes my getting out of bed so important?"

Emily's eyes widened, having been distracted enough to momentarily forget her earlier impatience. "We have a surprise for you!"

That answer Sharon was not expecting. Her tone taking on an intrigued lilt, and going just slightly higher in pitch, she asked, "Is that so?"

"Mhm." Ricky nodded, his chin a bit painfully digging into Sharon's chest with each nod, but he seemed far too pleased with himself for her to complain.

"Is it a good surprise though?" Sharon asked, feigning a look of dread, and her tone exaggeratedly worried.

This time, Emily giggled, too. "Good, I promise."

"Well, then," Sharon wiggled, letting them know she was finally ready to get out of bed as ordered, "let me see." She was now truly curious about what her children were up to. When neither one moved, she wiggled again, jostling their little bodies. "Hello?" she asked on a laugh, when they just kept their cheeks pressed against her chest, holding her tightly.

"In a minute, Mom," Emily mumbled, burrowing, if possible, even more into Sharon.

Not being one to throw away the precious few free moments to indulge in just them and nothing else, Sharon acquiesced on a hum and wrapped her arms around them, dropping a kiss onto each of their heads. "I'll give you all the minutes in the world," she mumbled, only wishing she could indeed promise that.

Finally, Emily slid off Sharon and tugged on her hand, urging her to get up as well. When Ricky seemed a little less inclined to part with his mother, she huffed in renewed exasperation, but Sharon quickly found a workaround by scooping him into her arms, and following her now very eager daughter out of her bedroom with Ricky on her hip.

When they finally reached their destination, Sharon was brought to a halt on a gasp. The table was set for breakfast. Plates, cutlery, glasses and even a mug for her coffee, albeit empty, all set neatly in their places. It wasn't a cooked breakfast, unsurprisingly so considering a ten and seven-year-old weren't exactly chefs, but they had set out bread, toast, cereal, milk, butter, and slices of cheese. They had even thought of dessert and had prepared a bowl full of sliced up fruit. To drink, beside a jug of water, there was also juice. Truthfully, even on those rare days when Sharon had ample time to make a big breakfast, the table didn't look quite as rich as it did at that moment.

"You don't like it?" Ricky asked worriedly.

Sharon blinked before looking at him, speechless. "I love it!" she exclaimed, bringing a hand to his cheek, and pulling his face closer to kiss his forehead.

He shook his head free of her overwhelmed display of affection, and grinned happily at her. When she tried stealing another kiss, he clasped her cheeks, and as sternly as a boy his age could, said, "Enough!" making her giggle and plop a kiss onto his face anyway.

When she looked down at Emily, she found the girl swaying on her toes. She probably did not believe she was too obvious about it, but the movement all but screamed of want for similar attentions, so Sharon crouched down, Ricky thankfully dropping to his feet without protest, and swooped Emily into a bone-crushing hug.

"What ever did I do to deserve this?" she asked, ignoring Emily's exaggerated, "Mom, I can't breathe!"

Ricky tapped a single digit against her shoulder, and when she looked his way, he shrugged and said, "It's Mother's Day."

At that Sharon's hold on Emily slackened, and the girl took advantage to chip in on the conversation. "Annie helped."

Sharon had assumed as much. No way would she allow, nor would Emily dare take a knife to prepare all of this without supervision. The absolutely perfect and touching resulting display also had her make a mental note to thank their babysitter the first chance she got.

"Last night," Ricky added importantly, as if that part needed clarification.

"We had to put everything back into the fridge," Emily was now talking quickly, excited to share the more intricate details of their seemingly elaborate plan, "and then we worried you'd come home and be hungry." She giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand, as she added, "I couldn't sleep, I was so excited. And I heard you when you came home last night. I held my breath the whooole time," she lowered her hand and puffed out her cheeks as she inhaled quickly to demonstrate, then went on as she released the trapped air, "but then I just heard your bedroom door and…" she trailed off on a victorious smile, pumping her fist in a little 'hell yeah' gesture.

A merry sigh on her lips, Sharon crouched down fully to her knees and just wrapped the little girl in her arms again. "Thank you," she mumbled into her ear, then kissed her cheek with a loud smack she knew would make her squirm and giggle. Humming entirely too happily, she swayed Emily back and forth a little, then emotion practically bursting out of her, added, "I love you so, so much!"

"There's more, Mom," Ricky said, prying her hand off Emily's back to pull on it excitedly.

"You are spoiling me!" Sharon faux complained, almost getting thrown off balance when her son eagerly tugged on her hand to get her back up on her feet.

Emily looked at her, dead seriously. "We have to. It's Mother's Day rules." She dragged the last word out over a slight dip in her tone that all in itself spoke of its importance.

Ricky led her to her spot at the table, then with a flourish, waved a hand at her plate. "Open it!"

Sharon tucked him into her side, but did as ordered, grabbing the envelope that stood in the middle of the plate. She flipped it around and found her name written on it, partially in Ricky's messy, partially in Emily's slightly neater handwriting.

She let go of Ricky as she hooked a nail into the envelope and slowly cut it open. Before revealing its content her attention was shortly drawn to Emily perching herself on her chair up on her knees and leaning excitedly over the table. At Sharon's pause, Emily flicked a hand at her impatiently. "Today, Mom."

Sharon laughed. "Yes, Miss Raydor!" With that, she finally retrieved the papers inside.

Her features softened considerably as she took in the drawings her children had created. Ricky's was, understandably, a little less detailed than Emily's, but both were undoubtedly drawings of them, Sharon in the middle, Ricky on her left, Emily on her right side, both holding onto one of her hands. Emily had chosen a bright pink color to write 'Happy Mother's Day' above them, whereas Ricky had opted for the stereotypically boyish blue, his version missing the little apostrophe in 'Mother's'. The coloring of their clothes was slightly more disciplined in Emily's drawings, although she was yet to remember to keep all her strokes even and following one direction. Ricky, however, didn't bother with neither direction nor keeping the colors within their boundaries. Both had taken a great deal of care in depicting hearts, Ricky going as far as drawing one in the middle of Sharon's chest, while Emily decided to take a slightly more subdued approach, adorning only her title with hearts. Sharon rather thought the imperfections made the drawings all the more perfect, but with a sudden pang of both pain and guilt, she discovered one glaring hole in both of their drawings.

Jack was missing.

Her eyes filled with tears just as quickly as the realization shot through her, and the initial pang slowly spread across her chest and entire body until it left her with a painful, tingling sensation in all her limbs.

When did her children decide that only the three of them made up their family? When had Jack disappeared from even their imagination? And worst of all, was it her fault that he did?

A small hand brushing against hers pulled Sharon out of her agony, and she looked up to see Emily watching her with wide, worried eyes. "Mom?" she questioned, the 'what's wrong?' going unvoiced.

She blinked away the tears, then smiled feebly but genuinely. "These are absolutely beautiful." Retrieving some of her earlier cheer, she abruptly turned around toward the fridge and reached for two magnets. "These go here," she stuck the drawings to the door, "for all world to see!"

Both of them smiled proudly.

"Thank you," she told them, giving each of them a gentle, grateful kiss, "this is perfect."

Emily ducked her head, all of a sudden rather bashful. Stealing a piece of fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table, she said, "Happy Mother's Day."

"We dug into that breakfast afterwards," Sharon was wrapping up her recounting, Andy having taken up to repetitively curling a strand of her hair around his finger and releasing it as he listened, "and after I finally took a much needed shower, changed and combed my hair," Andy chuckled, "we spent the rest of the day blissfully doing everything and nothing. And," she suddenly laughed, "I made sure to ring my mom and apologize profusely for completely forgetting what day it was, although I believe," a pleased little smile appeared on her face, "I did make up for it by letting Ricky and Emily talk her ear off for a few minutes." She caught Andy's hand just as he prepared to wrap her hair around his finger yet again, and growing a tad more serious, pushed herself up to a more seated position to look at him. "Mind you, I was still absolutely exhausted that day," she let out a groan as if she might still feel both the physical and mental aches of the moment, "but those two sweet little souls, ah…" she trailed off on a happy sigh, her gaze becoming unfocused as she dropped it to his chest, no doubt reliving the memory once more.

"Nothing's quite as invigorating as one's kids," Andy said, a soft smile on his lips.

She squeezed his hand that was still in her grasp. "They were the ones that kept me going anyway," she said, very much in agreement with his statement, "and you have no idea how many evenings after a long day I would spend just watching them sleep. But that Sunday…" she shook her head in slight disbelief, "it was as if they knew I had stretched myself thinner than usual, so they just swooped in," the next words left her on a little incredulous laugh, "and saved me."

Despite her lighthearted tone, Andy's expression grew rather somber, and the smile on his face faltered.

Surprised by his sudden shift in mood, Sharon brushed a hand against his cheek. "What?"

He put his hand over hers and leaned into her touch, the brief smile crossing his face equal to a shrug in answer. "I forget sometimes how hard raising your kids alone must have been." It wasn't difficult to draw parallels between himself and her ex-husband either, only they both knew that even in his ruining his marriage and drowning in a bottle, he made sure to provide for his children at least financially if and when he wasn't able or allowed to do so in other ways. He turned his head to place a kiss into the middle of her palm. "It breaks my heart that you were put in a situation where you even thought you needed saving," he interrupted himself by placing another kiss into her palm, "much less actually needed it." Letting her return her hand to his cheek, he added, "I wouldn't have wished it on you even back when I drew witch figures of you."

Rather touched by his retrograde protectiveness, Sharon smiled softly, but chuckled a bit at his last words as well. "It's in the past now," she eventually said, downplaying that last part in particular with a dismissive brush of her thumb against his cheek before retracting her hand altogether. He may have been a short-tempered, angry man, but even at his worst she never knew him to be that cruel. On a shrug she added, "It led me to a pretty amazing present, didn't it?"

He smiled. Both their pasts were riddled with plenty of regrets, as was anyone else's really. Lingering on those, however, wouldn't allow him to enjoy the now, and intent on enjoying it as much as possible just then, he leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss.

She momentarily smiled before responding, and slipped her fingers into his hair, letting their kiss go on for a few lazy moments. When they eventually pulled apart, their noses still touching, she seemed lost in thought, her fingers drawing random patterns against the back of his head, but it didn't take long for her to share the thought out loud. "I do have one regret." She drew back a little more, releasing his hair to put up a finger, and Andy chuckled a little at her knack for reading his mind, but quickly encouraged her to continue with a questioning hum. "Had I known Ricky and Emily would fly the nest the first chance they got," her tone was more humorous than truly begrudging, "I'd have cherished all those little moments and Mother's Days a hell of a lot more."

A corner of Andy's mouth quirked upward, forming a cheeky half-grin. "A helluva lot more, huh?"

She clasped his face and smiled brightly. "Yes, a helluva," she confirmed, mimicking his low, grumbling tone, then kissed him quickly once more.

He was grinning from ear to ear, and didn't let her pull back completely, but snaked his arms around her, pulling her closer until she was actually forced to lift her feet off the side of the couch and tuck them in between them. He was just about to close what little distance remained between them, when the front door swung open, the jingling of keys and Rusty's voice reaching their ears.

On a disgruntled grunt, Andy quickly glanced at his watch, then dropped his forehead onto Sharon's shoulder. "Right on time," he mumbled, his tone not sounding satisfied at all, but very much displeased instead.

Sharon's laughter over his reaction died when she suddenly made out, and more importantly, recognized two more voices besides Rusty's. Her head snapped up, and she turned her body toward the door so abruptly Andy's head flopped off her shoulder, making his teeth clack as his chin clashed with his own chest.

Digging her fingers excitedly and a tad painfully into Andy's thigh, she then hurriedly pushed herself onto her feet, Andy suddenly forgotten as he indignantly, and more for show than anything else, rubbed a hand against both his chin and thigh. "Ricky!" she practically squealed. "Emily!"

"You owe me five bucks," Rusty told Ricky smugly, as Sharon practically skipped across the room to pull first Emily into a hug, an excited "I can't believe you guys are here!" on her lips.

"No, I don't," Ricky disagreed with Rusty, wrapping his mother in an embrace when she let go of his sister. "Hi, Mom," he told Sharon, then grinning goofily, singsonged, "Surprise!"

"Five bucks?" Sharon questioned in response, letting go of him to look suspiciously between her two sons.

"Yeah," Rusty confirmed on a shrug, slipping out of his jacket. "I won a bet," he added smugly as he draped the jacket over his arm, then struck a hand out in Ricky's direction, wiggling his fingers in a 'pay up' motion.

"The hell you did," Ricky smacked his hand away, then proceeded to shed his own jacket.

Ignoring the combative frown on Rusty's face, and realizing she was not going to get any information out of that bickering duo, Sharon turned to Emily with a quizzical look.

Her daughter just rolled her eyes, and wrapped her hands around her mother's arm, tugging on her and leading her into the living room. "Apparently you and Andy here," she eyed the man who had at last stood to greet the newcomers as well, and flashed him a smile in lieu of a proper hello, "have a knack for being caught in compromising positions."

Offended, Sharon slapped her with a sharp look. "We do not," she said resolutely, then whirled around on Andy when she heard him chuckling behind her. "What?" When he just lifted a single shoulder and looked pointedly at the couch, she huffed in annoyance. "Kissing does not constitute as compromising," she threw a glare at her sons whose attention she finally managed to recapture, "anything."

"Aha!" Rusty suddenly let out victoriously. "You heard it straight from the horse's mouth. They were kissing! Now," he wiggled his hand in much the same manner as a few moments ago, "give it up!"

Ricky huffed, but reached into his pocket, digging out a five dollar bill, then mumbled to himself, but still loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Not only are you five bucks richer," he thrust the bill into Rusty's waiting hand with particular vigor, "you also get away with calling our mom a horse like it's nothing." He shook his head, adding a muttered, "Unbelievable."

Realizing exactly what he'd said, Rusty shot Sharon a horrified look at which she promptly dissolved into snorts.

"Ha," Ricky slapped Rusty across the shoulder, "gotcha!"

When Emily and Andy joined Sharon's laughter, Rusty briefly sought out the ceiling, then stomped into the living room, aiming for the chair behind Andy. "And to think I gladly helped to organize this..." he muttered to himself.

At that, Sharon seemed to remember that she had only expected one of her children to make an appearance that evening. She looked at Emily, then Ricky, shaking her head as an elated smile slowly crept across her features. "You two…" she said accusatory, narrowing her eyes at them even as she continued to smile.

"Happy Mother's Day," Emily said on a self-satisfied smirk, even spreading her arms out at her sides as if presenting herself as a gift.

Andy took a step to stand just behind Sharon, gently clasping her arms before he slowly trailed his hands up to her shoulders, then leaned forward, right next to her ear, so only she could hear him. "You don't need saving this time, but…" he finished his thought by giving her shoulders a little squeeze.

She instantly smiled again, reaching for one of his hands on her shoulders to squeeze it back appreciatively. Leaning into him a bit, she turned her head and kissed his cheek gratefully, but instead of 'thank you' she said, "I knew you were up to something."

"Yeah," Andy said, unconcerned, flashing her a crooked grin, "but you didn't know what now, did you?"

She shoved his smartass self away playfully, rolling her eyes in half-hearted exasperation when he feigned falling onto the couch from the force of it, then turned to Emily again just as she took a seat in the chair behind her, chuckling at their antics. "How long are you staying?"

Ricky answered, shuffling into the living room. "Leaving Monday morning."

"Oh," Sharon nearly squealed again and pressed her hands excitedly against her mouth, "Monday!" she said dreamily.

Ricky dropped onto the couch with a slight bounce, then casually offered his fist for Andy to bump in greeting, making Sharon only smile a little more. "Well," he finally said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "we can't exactly leave on Mother's Day."

"Yeah, Mom," Emily reached for Sharon's hand, her tone just as obvious as Ricky's, "we figured it'd be better to make you cry over our leaving the next day." Her wisecrack off her lips, she laughed at her apparent wittiness.

Sharon withdrew her hand from Emily's hold, unimpressed, and suddenly looked at Andy who had made himself comfortable on the couch, his foot resting on the opposite knee and an arm thrown over the backrest. "They were a lot more adorable twenty years ago."

Andy burst out laughing. "You want me to send them back?"

"Hey!" Ricky let out, offended, then when Rusty laughed, too, seemingly more than on board with that idea, leveled him with a scalding glare.

"On second thought," Rusty quickly backtracked, although not for the reasons that put a smirk on Ricky's face, "you should stay." He pinched each end of the bill Ricky handed him earlier between his fingers and pointedly flattened it in front of his face, creating a loud snapping noise in the process. "I'm making money off your visit."

Ricky hurled a throw pillow at Emily when she snorted at Rusty's jab, but it only set off her laughter even more.

The shake of her head poorly disguised her amusement, but Sharon actually answered Andy's question. "If they keep this up," she flicked her finger between all three of her children, "you just might have to."

"You wouldn't," Ricky said, sounding awfully confident and ignoring Andy's renewed chuckles and "Yes, dear."

Sharon quirked an eyebrow at him, propping her hands on her hips as well. "Try me."

Having her side turned to Emily, she only barely registered the younger woman getting to her feet. By the time a hand appeared in front of her middle and Emily said, "Sure," it was too late for her to react.

On a laugh, she was wrapped up in her daughter's arms. Her own arms getting trapped in the process, Sharon could only squeeze Emily's hand in response, but she eyed Andy. "They might be a bit too cheeky for my taste, but," she missed the conspiratorial look that passed between Ricky and Rusty, and the rest of her sentence was briefly interrupted when they suddenly jumped to their feet and got in on the hug, very nearly throwing both her and Emily off balance, "they do make up for it by still being awfully cuddly," she finally finished, laughing merrily.

"So we can stay?" Emily, as well as Ricky and Rusty, loosened her grip enough to pull back and look at Sharon with an expression that said she already very much knew the answer.

Sharon sighed, as if making that decision took immense effort and deliberation. She briefly met Andy's mirthful eyes, who seemed all but challenging her to tease her children further.

However, when her gaze swept over the three young adults surrounding her, not much of her teasing intent remained. She lingered just a tad longer on Rusty and his unexpected, but no less welcome display of affection, then finally said, mock strictly, "Only till Monday."

THE END

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