Hey everybody! I'm temporarily coming back with a new story for the Fuck You Sharon Raydor Is Alive Fanwork Fest! It's not one of my best works, I'll admit, but I wanted to post something this year too. Comments are always appreciated.

Also, yeah, this isn't how the witness protection program works... Poetic licence?

Friendly reminder to be nice, even if you don't like the story!

WARNING: Mentioned character death (Not Sharon or Andy) and mention of violence in a paragraph.

The house was fully decorated. Christmas music was playing softly in the background and angels were placed on every available surface.

Andy groaned as he rose from the floor, where he'd finished placing the gifts, and looked around, with a sad smile on his sat down on the couch, grabbing the blanket he and Sharon used to share when they'd cuddle on the couch.

"You would have loved this" he said aloud, in the empty apartment "It's hard without you, you know"

It was a couple weeks before Christmas, and the house looked festive but it felt was Sharon's holiday. Her favourite time of the year, where she could stay with her friends and family, enjoy their company and tease Andy about his lack of sense of occasion.

Ricky and Emily had called him a few days before, asking if they could spend Christmas with him and he had almost burst into 'd kept in contact with Sharon's kids after what had happened, and, as he had grown closer to his them, they'd started calling him dad. It was something that Emily had started by accident a few months before and thinking about it still made him smile.

The living room was filled with the intermittent coloured lights coming from the Christmas tree, and the music was still playing in the let his mind wander, as he looked at all the angels, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

His eyes fell on the small table near the tree where two photos were taking most of the space. One was a photo of Sharon the day of the wedding, and the other was Rusty, the day he had graduated. Four angles had been placed there too, twice on each side of the photos.

"They did this for you babe. For you and Rusty. They miss you. They miss their little brother. I miss you" he said, his voice trembling. When the tears finally came, he let everything out until he had no more to shed, and he fell asleep on the couch holding the blanket.

The door opened slowly half an hour after he'd fallen asleep and in the shadow, a person walked into the figure stood, mostly hidden, looking at the place, beautiful and quiet, until a strangled cry coming from the couch broke the quiet.

"Oh god…"

Andy was thrashing and mumbling nonsense, his face looked as if he was in pain. Even in his sleep, a few tears managed to escape his movements slowed down until they almost stopped when a hand started brushing through his hair, slowly massaging his scalp.

"Andy? Andy… wake up"

His eyes opened slowly and he blinked a couple times to focus on the person crouching in front of the couch.

"Em? You guys home already?" He asked, while his eyes were still adjusting. When he didn't receive an answer he turn to get a better look at the person.

"Sharon?!" He exclaimed, sitting up on the couch. "Sharon?! Oh my god, is this a dream?" He said, his tears filling with tears "babe? Is it really you?"

She moved to sit down on the couch next to him and nodded.

"Merry Christmas Andy" she whispered, her voice shaky as she started crying too.

As if a magnet was pulling them together, in a moment they were all over each other, kissing wildly, their hands travelling all over the other's body. Andy effortlessly pulled her on his lap so that she was straddling him and deepened the kiss, putting his hands on her back to hold her as close to him as physically possible.

They broke the kiss after what seemed like an eternity, and held each other in a soft embrace.

"What happened? We thought you were dead" He asked breathless. Sharon stiffened for a moment, but then looked at him, wanting to explain.

"I… I… after Stroh… After he killed Rusty" she tried to explain through the tears "The LAPD and the FBI put me in the witness protection program. They wouldn't let me say goodbye to you. They wanted me out of LA as soon as possible."

At the mention of Rusty's death, Andy tightened the grip on his wife.

Back in January Rusty was ambushed on his way to Gus's place. Stroh kidnapped him and tortured him for a week, and when he was done, he slit his throat to let him to bleed out and dumped his body in Griffith body had been found the next day.

Almost a year later, Andy could still hear the scream Sharon had let out when Robbery/Homicide had informed her they'd found her son. She would have passed out and hit her head on the desk if Andy hadn't been there to catch her. The next day, she had disappeared.

He gave her a squeeze to encourage her to go on.

"I couldn't even come to the funeral, Andy. They wouldn't even let me say goodbye to my son. My son. My boy" she broke down in his arms.

After months of crying herself to sleep, the feeling of Andy's arms engulfing her made her feel safe. She wiped the tears and mustered up the strength to finish telling him the story.

"I spent these past year in a small town in Pennsylvania, near where I grew up. Then yesterday I got the call that Stroh had been captured and killed in Mexico and I could come home" she finished "They wouldn't let me say goodbye to you. I wanted to see you one last time and they didn't let me" she whispered.

They kissed again, slowly and passionately, enjoying the sensation of having the other close. Sharon broke the kiss and placed her forehead gently against his. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily.

"Honey, why did you think I was Emily?" She asked out of the blue.

Andy gave her a peck on the lips and smiled. "Because she's here, in LA" he said.

Sharon jumped from his lap, exited "She's here? My baby is here?" She exclaimed.

He nodded. He grabbed the phone to check the time and said "She is. She should be here in about an hour. She went to pick up Ricky from the airport. They're going to stay here until New Year's day. We were planning on spending the holidays together, as a family" Sharon was crying again, and she peppered his face with kisses.

They spent the next hour holding each other and cuddling on the couch, as Sharon admired the way Andy had decorated the place, when her gaze fell on the small table next to the tree.

She untangled her legs from her husband's and walked closer.

"What is this?" She asked.

Andy wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

"After the funeral and after you were gone, I put the photos there. Then last Sunday came the angels. Em, Nic and Ricky were here to help me set up the place and it seemed like we all had the same idea without realising it. Each one of us had bought a new angel to add to your collection. In the end, we decided to put them here, with you and Rusty."

He pointed at each of the statues, telling her who'd bought it. Sharon was lost, looking at the angles and the picture of her son that she didn't notice Andy's phone buzzing until he started taking to her again.

"I just got a text from Ricky. They're 10 minutes away, they are picking up Nic. I didn't tell them you're here and I thought maybe we could surprise them" Andy told her.

They'd agreed on a little plan, and when the front door opened, Andy left Sharon in the bedroom, with a kiss and he went to welcome the kids.

When her children's voices reached her ears, Sharon started to tear up. She had missed them so much and hearing their voices again made her so happy. The door was left ajar so she could listen to what Andy was saying, waiting for her cue.

"Hey guys, before we order dinner, I have something to tell you"

Silence fell over the living room. The three children looked at each other, afraid to hear that Sharon's body had been found somewhere. They didn't want to lose hope just yet.

"She's not coming back, is she?" Ricky asked, with a sigh.

Andy noticed their worried faces and gave them a reassuring smile "It's not bad, I promise. It's a surprise. A little Christmas miracle, if you will. Close your eyes. And no peeking" he instructed. When the kids had their eyes closed, he signaled to Sharon to walk in the living room. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and grabbed her hand, before saying "you can open your eyes now"

A chorus of "mum!" And "Sharon!" erupted, and the former police commander found herself engulfed by three pairs of arms.

The family was sniffing and crying, as they hugged her and told her they'd miss her.

It took a while before they were able to let her go, the three needing reassurance that she was really there. She gave a kiss on the forehead to her children and step daughter, and leaned back in Andy's arms. He immediately turned her head slightly to give her a kiss, and he held her tight.

The family of five sat on the couch and armchairs, ready to exchange stories and wanting to catch up. Sharon smiled and closes her eyes briefly, letting her head rest on Andy's shoulder. She turned in his arms to kiss him and whispered "This is truly a Christmas miracle. I'm glad to be back. I love you."

"I love you too, my angel"

Hope you liked it! If you did, let me know. See you next year with another fic for FUSRIA, hopefully. I doubt I'll be posting anything else in the meantime

Happy holidays!