We've reached the end. Thank you for reading this story! I hope to start a new one soon.

Christmas. It was almost Christmas, and things had been going well for Andy and Sharon. Their pathway back to a solid relationship was on track. Sure, they'd had their disagreements, butted heads on a few occasions, but they considered that healthy progress. They were spending most of their time together outside of work, and that was now making it awkward at work. They still hadn't told the team about their relationship. Of course, Provenza knew, and Pope had been informed. Sharon got an earful from him about dating such "an idiot like Flynn," but she'd just shrugged it off, her personal feelings for her "Idiot of a Boss Pope," kept to herself. While they were seeing a lot of each other outside of work, Sharon and Andy were finding themselves spending a great deal of time together during work as well. Cases were putting Sharon in the Major Crimes office more and more. That is how, a week before Christmas, she found herself in the middle of a discussion.

"We need to draw names for the Secret Santa," Buzz whined. "It's not Christmas here if we don't have a Secret Santa."

"Buzz! Fine, for everyone's sanity, please go ahead. Do your drawing, and let's get this over. I don't want to participate," Provenza grumbled.

"Sir, you have to participate. The whole office is," Julio said turning toward Sharon who was perched over a desk signing paperwork. "I guess the captain should be in our Secret Santa too."

"What, what?" Sharon said, hearing her name, but not paying attention to the topic at hand.

"You're being included in the office Secret Santa, Captain," Andy filled her in. He smirked, "I'm not sure to bet on you giving someone a lump of coal or someone giving it to you."

Sharon rolled her eyes at Andy and turned back to the group, "I don't need to be included in your office party. I'm just here now working. Just ignore me like you usually do and do your Secret Santa thing."

"Julio's right," Gabriel jumped in, "Captain, you should be included."

"That's the spirt!" Buzz smiled, as he wrote out everyone's names. The group grumbled as he came around, and everyone drew a name out of the bowl. "Now, did anyone draw their own name?"

"That's an option?" Provenza perked up. "Well, I'd like to do that. I'll be happy to buy myself a gift. I'll by myself a great big steak dinner at the buffet down the street, Early Bird Special so as to not pay too much."

"Lieutenant, that's not spreading Christmas cheer," Buzz pouted. "Now, everyone, we are doing nice gifts. Yes, they can be funny, but nice gifts in the $30 range, as we've done before. Everyone okay with that?"

"Can we get gift ideas from others?" Julio asked.

"No," Buzz shook his head. "No sharing. That's part of the Secret Santa. Only you know the person for whom you are buying. Don't share, and we'll do the gifts next week."

Groans were heard throughout the room as everyone agreed to Buzz's set rules for the game.

"But, the gift is for that person, correct? It's not a trade around game, is it?" Julio asked.

"No," Buzz spoke up again, "Secret Santa is for that person. You're thinking of White Elephant, which that would be a lot of fun too!"

"Buzz!" Andy exclaimed, shaking his head. "Just stop. We're not doing two gift exchanges. You got us with this Secret Santa thing, and that's enough. Wait, you didn't include Chief."

Buzz frowned, "No, I didn't. She's out of town now, visiting her parents, and she'll still be out of town when we have the party. We just need to figure out when to setup the party here."

"You mean to tell me we can't even have a beer at this Christmas party? It's going to be here, at work? Well, if you aren't Scrooge," Provenza grumbled.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, but with Chief Johnson and Agent Howard away for the holidays, she can't host the party at her house as she's done before, so we'll have to have the party here. I'm just glad that I'm setting this up. You people have no Christmas spirit!" Buzz exclaimed.

"Buzz," Andy held up his hand, glancing to Provenza, "in the spirit of Christmas," he smirked as he caught Sharon's eye and tried not to smile at her too, "we can have the party at my house. I can't stand hearing Provenza complain during the whole thing about not having something to drink. So, if you want to have the party at my place, we could do it Saturday evening. We aren't on call, and in fact, since we finish call Friday, that should be a good time to do it."

"Well, that would be a Christmas miracle, Lieutenant!" Buzz exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. The rest of the team started to chuckle at his excitement. "Everyone?"

"I can make it," Gabriel nodded. "Thanks, Lieutenant."

"I'll bring Provenza's beer," Julio grinned. "Sir," he turned to Provenza, "consider it your Christmas present, even though I'm not your Secret Santa."

"Hey! You aren't supposed to tell that," Buzz exclaimed, frowning at Julio's information. "What about the rest of you? Can you come to Lieutenant Flynn's house for the party? Lieutenant Tao?"

"Ahh, just checking with my wife. She has plans already set with her best friend that night to see a play, but yeah, I can come," he nodded.

"Well, if there's beer and food-Flynn, none of that healthy stuff," Provenza grumbled, "I'll be there. I'd most likely be on Flynn's couch anyway watching sports on tv, so that's fine with me. Just have real food, good food," he grumbled.

"Excellent!" Buzz said excitedly. "Captain?"

"Oh," Sharon looked up again from her paperwork, a bit startled. "You don't have to include me in your office Christmas party, really."

"Captain, I believe you already drew a Secret Santa," Andy smirked. "You can't resist a good party. We know how you are about Christmas."

"Fine," she offered a small smile to the group. "I'll be there. I'm sure I'll figure out some food to bring," she nodded to Andy. He noted the team had turned back to Buzz, so he winked and smiled at her. She shook her head and went back to her paperwork.

The party wasn't mentioned anymore that day, but by the end of the week, the team was starting to get excited at the idea of a Christmas party at Andy's house.

"Hey," Andy knocked on Sharon's office door which was open. The rest of her division had gone home for the day. It was now almost 7:00 on Friday evening. "Just came off call," he smiled. "No dead bodies ruined the evening. You about ready to go? I've got all that shopping to do for the party."

Sharon smiled up at him, "Yes," she shuffled some papers, while Andy walked in and sat in one of the chairs. "I'm ready to go, but you don't have much shopping to do."

He raised an eyebrow, 'Umm, in case you have forgotten, the whole team is coming for the party tomorrow."

"I know," she smiled as she stood. "I shopped for the food last night. It's all at the condo, and I'll bring it over tomorrow. You were working, and I wasn't, so it's done," she offered a small shrug. "No big deal."

He grinned at her, "You really are amazing, you know that? Sharon, you didn't have to do all the shopping. Here," he shifted and pulled out his wallet, "how much for the food?"

Sharon rolled her eyes, "Andy, put that away. It's fine," she waved off. "I bought the food. It's not a big deal, and I'm not taking your money."

He sighed, "Fine, I'll just put it toward your Christmas presents. More money for me to spend on gifts."

She stopped and turned, "You'll do no such thing! I don't expect you to shower me with Christmas gifts, Andy. Honestly, I'm just excited we get to spend our first Christmas together in decades."

"Well," his eyes followed her around her office as she got ready to leave, "I'm just sorry we can't be in New York on Christmas. I know you would love to see Emily, but with work then for both of us, I'm sorry we can't go. I'm excited we get to go after New Year, and I'm definitely putting the money I would have spent on this food toward the trip."

Sharon rolled her eyes and shook her head, "It's not necessary."

"It is," he winked. "If you don't want me to spend the money on you, I'll spend it on your parents. You know they were thrilled when they heard we were coming to visit them after the holidays while we're in New York."

She nodded, "Yes, it will be a nice trip, which is why we really need to tell your team now, tomorrow, that we're dating. It's going to be very awkward if they figure out we are both on vacation, and we haven't told them about us. Andy, it's been over six months. It's time."

He nodded, "Yeah, I know. We can tell them tomorrow. I'm just not sure how."

She shrugged, "We'll figure it out. Now, let's get out of here. Coming to the condo?"

He nodded, "Of course," he smiled, "you promised dinner."

She rolled her eyes again, "Yes, I did. Leftovers okay? I made a huge salad yesterday, and I have that with some fruit. I figure we'll be eating a lot of party foods tomorrow, so something healthy tonight sounded good."

"Perfect," Andy nodded, as he stood. He really wanted to kiss her, but they'd been good about not doing that in the office, even if it was empty. Instead, he squeezed her hand, something she had agreed was okay if others weren't milling around.

"My house is pretty clean too. I cleaned it two days ago when I was between cases. I'll do a final tidy tomorrow morning, but that should about do it. What do we need to do tonight?"

"I figured we could spice things up," she flirted with him. Andy's grin grew, and he tilted his head, shaking it at her.

"Captain, didn't know you had it in you," he winked.

"Oh, well, you know," she shrugged, "I know I'm not the best cook, but we should be able to follow a few recipes."

Andy hung his head, shaking it. He started to chuckle, and he met her gaze. Her eyes were sparkling, "You are talking about cooking, aren't you?"

"Of course," she shrugged, flirting again. "Spice up the food-is that okay? I figure you can help me. You volunteered to host this party, and as your mystery girlfriend, I am expected to help. So, we're spending the evening cooking." She opened her office door and started out, turning to find a chuckling Andy still there, smiling. "You coming? The sooner we cook, well, the sooner-" she let it hang for Andy to finish.

"The sooner we can do the dishes," he winked as he clasped her hand in his as they left the office.

By the next afternoon, Sharon and Andy had relocated from the condo to Andy's house. They had discussed ways to tell the team, but they hadn't come up with a solid plan. They had decided to let things go, and they'd tell them sometime during the party.

"Do you need me to wrap your Secret Santa gift?" Sharon asked, as she finished up taping her gift.

"You don't mind?" he asked. "I drew Mike for this. I had no idea what to get him. I asked Gabriel for an idea, and he sent me to that store, Brookstone. I found some tech device thing I think Mike will love."

"It's no trouble," Sharon smiled, extending her hand. "Here, I'll wrap it now."

"Who did you end up drawing?" he asked.

"It's a secret," she teased.

"Oh, come on. Really, Sharon?" he rolled his eyes.

She laughed, "No, I'm just teasing. I drew Buzz. Of all of you, probably best I drew his name. Provenza would have gotten him a lump of coal," she laughed.

"Well, what did you get him?" he asked, now walking over to the table. He had been straightening up the living room, and she had just started working on wrapping the gift Andy had bought.

"I got him two things," she nodded to her gift. "Don't worry," she smiled. "It stayed within the budget he suggested. I know how much he obsesses over and adores his car, so I wanted to get him something for that. I got him a car cleaning and detail kit. You and I both know he's in love with his Prius."

Andy chuckled, nodding, "Yeah, don't remind me. After that time Provenza and I were involved in that case with the dead body falling on Buzz's car, he's reminded us over and over just how much he loves his car. I'm sure he'll love that."

Sharon hummed, nodding, "Yes, well, I know he's mentioned how he enjoys washing it, so I thought he'd enjoy this. I asked about the best one to get him. The other thing is another new ugly Christmas sweater. You know he loves them," she smiled. Andy chuckled again, nodding. "That should be a big hit."

"I'm here! Where's the beer?" they heard Provenza yell out as he walked through the front door. Sharon finished wrapping the gift as Andy went over to greet Provenza.

"Oh, you made it. My Christmas wish didn't come true," he grumbled.

"Beer?" Provenza asked again, this time a bit impatient.

Andy rolled his eyes, "Not here yet. Like I'm going to have beer just sitting in the house. There's wine for Sharon, if you want that, but no beer."

"I'll wait for beer," he mumbled, shoving a present at Andy. "Here."

"What's this? Something for me?" Andy asked, a surprised look on his face.

"No, you idiot," he rolled his eyes. "Is that your name there?" he pointed to the gift tag where it said, 'Julio' on it. Maybe I should have gotten you some glasses."

"He already has glasses," Sharon added to the conversation as she started putting the food out for everyone. "Nice to see you, Lieutenant," she smiled at him.

"Sharon!" Andy exclaimed, irritated his secret about his glasses had gotten out. "I don't need him knowing about my glasses!"

Sharon shrugged, "Glasses aren't that bad, Andy," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe not on you. They are sexy as anything," he grinned, with a groan from Provenza being heard loud and clear, "but Provenza and I don't wear glasses."

Sharon turned to Provenza, "Lieutenant, he wears glasses and hates wearing them anywhere but at home. He needs them to read." She turned back to Andy, "Yes," she nodded, "you're right, they are very sexy." She winked at him as she walked back to the kitchen for more food.

"Can you two keep this lovey dovey stuff to yourself?" Provenza gestured. "I don't want to hear this! It's Christmas! It's the time to hate being around your family, not the time for this love stuff!"

Andy shook his head at Provenza, "Do you realize how insane that sounds? Plus, you're in my home. If I want to tell her how much I love her and how sexy she is," he grinned, "I will."

"Speaking of, when are you two idiots finally planning to tell the team? I've been good about not being all gossip girl, but come on! You two have been dating for months!"

Sharon put down another plate of food, and she turned back to the men, "Lieutenant, we agree and plan to tell everyone at the party."

"Hello," they heard Gabriel say as he walked in. The rest of the team appeared to be behind him. Andy helped Sharon with the last of the food, while the team got situated. Provenza had already flopped down in Andy's favorite recliner.

"Lieutenant, Merry Christmas," Julio grinned, handing Provenza a six pack of beer. Provenza cracked a smile, taking the beer, while the team moved into the house to drop their presents in the pile.

"The food looks great, Sir," Julio smiled. "Didn't know you were such the cook."

"Yeah, well, I love cooking. I did do a few things, but she," he nodded to Sharon, "did the rest."

"It was nothing," Sharon waved off. "I love cooking for Christmas parties."

"I knew there was a reason we wanted you hear, Ma'am," Julio grinned and walked to the table to dig in.

The team started to mingle and pile up their plates. Once everyone had food, they gathered around in the living room to sit and visit.

"Should we start Secret Santa?" Buzz asked.

"You're like a kid on Christmas!" Provenza complained. "Did you put cookies out for Santa?"

"No, that's not for two days," Buzz added, very intent on keeping the traditions of Christmas.

"Buzz," Andy asked, with a surprised look, "what do you do when your cookies are still there on Christmas morning?"

"What do you mean, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked. "They have always been eaten," he shook his head. "You shouldn't doubt the magic of Christmas."

"Let's start the presents!" Julio rubbed his hands together. "I guess we should let Buzz go first since he is dying to give his gift."

"I have Buzz's gift!" Sharon said happily and passed the two presents to him.

"Captain," Provenza pointed out, irritated, "you didn't have to go all crazy on us and get more than one gift."

"I stuck to the price range, Lieutenant," she nodded. Buzz opened the gifts.

"Ma'am, the sweater is perfect. I will wear it for Christmas. Thank you, and I'm really excited you got something for the Prius."

"You're welcome, Buzz," she smiled.

"Well, thank you," he nodded again. "Lieutenant, this is for you," he handed a gift to Andy.

"Thanks, Buzz," Andy said as he opened it. "Oh, wow, thanks for the new tie." Buzz had found Andy a very nice red and black striped tie. Sharon smiled at Andy when she caught his gaze; she agreed it was a very nice gift.

"I guess then, I go next?" Andy asked. Buzz nodded, and Andy handed the gift to Mike. "Here, Mike. I hope you like this. If you don't, I have the receipt."

"Very nice," Mike grinned as he opened it. "I was telling my sons about something similar to this. I have been researching them. Thanks, Andy."

Mike gave his gift to Gabriel, and Gabriel shook his head as he opened it, "Thanks, Lieutenant," he chuckled. "He got me the 'Idiots Guide to Dating,' along with a month subscription to a dating website. How did you know, Lieutenant?"

Mike shrugged, "Honestly, I heard you and Julio talking about it the other day, and I figured if I drew either of you, I'd get you this gift. Hope you like it. You never know with those online dating services."

"You might end up our next case," Provenza grumbled. "Just don't be stupid with that, Gabriel."

"I'll see how it goes, Lieutenants. Thank you," he nodded to Mike.

"Ahh, I guess here is my gift to you, Lieutenant," Gabriel handed Provenza a gift bag. Provenza glanced inside, inspected the gift without taking it out, and he nodded to Gabriel. "Thank you. You have redeemed yourself from anytime you might have irritated me."

"What did you get, Sir?" Julio asked. The rest of the team looked on, wondering why Provenza hadn't pulled out the gift.

"A gift," he offered a small smile.

"Oh, come on, Provneza," Andy encouraged.

"Fine," Provneza said gruffly. "It's this," he produced the gift. "Gabriel made one stop, the grocery store. There's a six pack of beer and a huge rib eye steak, my favorite," he shrugged.

"You went to the grocery store?" Buzz asked horrified.

"Look at the guy," Gabriel offered his hand toward Provenza. "Obviously, he's perfectly happy with his gift."

"I can't believe you got him raw meat," Buzz shook his head.

"Well, Buzz, if you don't like it, you can change your rules for next year. I thought the captain was the one obsessed with the rules, but she's not complaining. I'm going to enjoy my steak tomorrow for dinner."

"Sir, whose gift do you have?" Julio asked.

"Oh, here," Provenza passed an envelope to Julio.

"You got him a gift certificate?" Andy asked, now irritated.

"No, why would I go to that trouble?" Provenza grumbled.

Julio chuckled, "Thanks, Sir, I think."

"What is it, Julio?" Mike asked.

"It's $30 with a note that says this should cover Lieutenant Provenza's food order the next three times I get food," he chuckled. "Thanks, Sir."

"That's not a gift if you are basically paying ahead for your food, Provenza!" Andy said, irritated. He turned to Julio, "Do not get his food anytime soon. He's pre-paid for food, and that's not the deal."

"Oh, look who is sticking to rules now," Provenza pointed out. "Flynn, as someone already said, he's perfectly happy with the gift," he gestured to Julio who held up the $20 bill."

"Okay, so Detective Sanchez, do you have the last gift?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," he smiled. "Captain, I drew you." Julio's odd smile had everyone perplexed. Sharon gave a quick shrug to Andy as she caught his eye. She opened it, turning a bit red as she did.

"So, I remembered you like flannel, Ma'am," he grinned. "Thought you would enjoy a flannel blanket." Sharon nodded, closing her eyes, as she chuckled. "Oh, there's also a gift card in there for pizza. I heard you love pizza."

Sharon tried to hide her confusion, "Thank you, detective," she nodded. Andy burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you got that after the undercover op," he shook his head.

"What are we missing?" Gabriel asked. Julio turned to Gabriel, smiling.

"That op was a mess for Chief, but it was pretty fun for me. Those two were forced to be in the same room with each other for days, and well, there was a lot of laughter about flannel," he shrugged. "Hope I wasn't too off base with the gift, Ma'am," he grinned.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I do get cold, so the blanket is appreciated."

"Yeah, that was an interesting operation, Mike chuckled. "Julio, you managed to win the bet on that. Captain, Andy, we bet you two would kill each other before it was over," he chuckled. "Julio was the holdout that you would survive."

Provenza groaned and mumbled under his breath. Andy shook his head at him, as the team turned to him.

"What's that, Lieutenant?" Julio asked.

"Nothing, just that operation was quite eye opening," he shook his head. "Keeps coming back to haunt me."

"How's that, Sir?" Gabriel asked Provenza.

Andy met Sharon's eyes, and the two both offered a quick shrug to each other. She nodded to Andy to break the news to the team.

"Umm, guys," he stood, scratching his neck. "So, umm, well," and he was interrupted by a phone ringing.

"Oh, it's Chief Johnson!" Gabriel exclaimed, as he connected the call. Andy's announcement was put on hold with Brenda's call.

"Hello, everyone," she smiled. "Sorry I'm missing the party. Daddy and Momma wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

The team spent a few minutes talking to Brenda, but soon, they were getting restless. Some got up for more food, and some started to use the restroom and refill their drinks.

"Ahh, Andy?" Mike stood at Andy's bookcase and turned to the group, a question obviously on his mind. Gabriel was still talking to Brenda, but he was finishing too.

"What's up, Mike?" Andy asked, as he was collecting trash from the table. He looked over to Mike and gestured, "You're welcome to take anything home to read. I've read everything up there."

"Oh, no, it's not that," Mike chuckled as he turned back to the group. He had a photo in hand, "If I'm not mistaken, these two look familiar."

Andy stepped over to Mike, while the group looked up to see what was going on. Sharon let out a slight gasp and a sigh, as she stood. She knew the picture.

"Oh," Andy paused, nodding. "Ahh, well."

"If I'm not mistaken," Mike grinned, "and, I'm pretty sure I'm not, that looks like a very young Officer Flynn with a certain lady we all know."

The rest of the group lifted their heads higher as if that would allow them to see the picture. Andy just chuckled and scratched his head.

"Yeah, well, what can I say?" Andy shrugged. Mike's eyes grew wide at the realization. Provenza could be heard saying, 'Idiots,' as the rest of the team wondered.

"What is it, Tao?" Julio asked. Mike grabbed the photo from Andy, and he smiled to the group as he produced it like show and tell.

"Looks like our very own captain and Andy," he nodded to the two individuals. "I'm guessing Andy's graduation from the academy, and Captain," he turned to Sharon, "you aren't in uniform, so I'm guessing you weren't at the academy yet."

Sharon, who was now standing, took a step closer to the photo. Andy walked up behind Mike too, so both were now looking at it in the frame. She offered a small shrug.

"No," she smiled. "I wasn't in that academy class. I was 19 still," she smiled.

Andy chuckled, looking at the photo and back to Sharon. He spoke to her like she was the only person in the room, "I think you might be more beautiful now than you were then."

Sharon blushed and looked down, smiling.

"Eeew, what is going on?" Gabriel asked.

"Guys, let's just say that undercover stint was pretty great for some of us. After 30 years, we got back together," Andy smiled brightly, holding out his hand to Sharon. He moved closer to her, planting a huge kiss on her lips. The team all stood in shock, as Sharon returned the kiss. She turned to the group.

"Gentlemen, I thought you were better detectives than that," she winked to Andy, moving to his side. The two continued to smile at each other as the team stood, still in shock.

"Julio," Andy grinned, "thanks for the flannel blanket. Sharon always likes a blanket when we curl up on the couch."