Sadly, this is the last chapter. It takes a radical time jump, but it felt right.

Hope you enjoy, and leave your last review when you're done?

Thanks to everyone & kelly2727 for this awesome journey!

Chapter 42- In The End.

Sam had never seen Andy look more beautiful than she did today; her face dusted lightly with makeup, and her grey hair hanging loose around her shoulders. The pale blue dress she had on suited her, and fitted perfectly.

Her lips were curved up slightly in the feint traces of a smile, her face carrying a look of utter bliss.

"Dad?". A voice whispered in his ear as a hand rested lightly on his shoulder.

Sam hugged the pale skin of the delicate hand between his shoulder and ear like he had done a million times over. It was just always something he had done when that hand rested on his shoulder.

His eyes were transfixed on Andy, they couldn't be pulled away unless he closed them to block her from view.

His mind flashed back to the night that he had first watched her sleep, handcuffed too his bed. That was a long, long time ago.

The memory spilled into a smile as it tugged his lips up.

Following that were a lifetime of memories, timid smiles; feisty words and the heartfelt moments that had made it all worth it.

Sam's hands moved too his tie, fiddling with it even though he knew that it was still perfect.

Sarah, his daughter made sure of that.

Sarah, her name was enough too break his heart.

Sarah his sister was long gone, but never forgotten.

"Sir?". Lars' voice sounded a little behind him making him remember that he wasn't alone.

Lars; the kid had become a good man, and had raised his family right. He had three kids, the youngest daughter named Samantha. The oldest was Alicia, and wasn't his, but somehow over the years, that's how they thought of her. The middle child was a little terrorist, um, boy named Michael, he too had just joined the academy recently.

Sam turned to smile at his daughter, she really looked just like Andy. She too was all grown up and married now. She met and married a good guy from the fire department when he sat with her for three hours while they tried to cut her out of her totaled car after she crashed into a stationery vehicle in the rain when she didn't see it in the dark after the driver abandoned it with no hazard lights on

Maurice had been off duty at the time, but his natural instincts had made him stop and stay with Sarah every step of the way to the hospital.

Yup, Sam's son in law was a hosemonkey, something Oliver constantly took pride in mocking.

Sarah had two kids of her own, two boys named Peter and Andre.

"Dad?" A second voice said in his ear, it was his youngest calling him.

"Yeah?" Sam said facing his son.

"You're drooling" Timothy joked at Sam's total and utter desertion of all logical thought. It was something that his children had become accostomed to seeing over the years.

"It's your mothers fault" Sam chuckled, Andy letting out a boisterous giggle as she stepped towards Sam.

"Ready?" She said as she held her hand out for Sam to take.

"Nope" Sam said. He really wasn't ready to let go.

Tonight was his retirement party, and he just hated parties, and being the centre of attention.

But most of all, he was going to miss being a cop even after he had spent a fair amount of time wanting to give his badge up to protect his family.

He had spent another thirty years on the force after he nearly lost Andy and Sarah, and it felt like he was losing a piece of his legacy.

"You're not regretting staying are you?". Andy asked thinking back to the conversation they had had years ago, the one that made him stay a cop.

"No, it's just time to do this" Sam's hand let go of Andy's as he opened her car door.

She had only grown more beautiful over the years, she had aged with grace.

"I have no regrets, not even one" Sam reassured her as she climbed into the car.

The kids were scattering to their cars, each of them having arrived at Sam and Andy's house to drive together.

They had stayed in Sam's old house and built on, extending the house over the years.

The house that Sarah had given them was too riddled with bad memories to live in.

They had decided to talk to Lars about it and asked him if he wanted to take it, but he too had declined.

So they were stuck with a house that no one wanted, a huge property wasted.

Well they were until Sam got a case involving a foster care centre that used the kids housed there to run drugs because they could claim no knowledge of it. When he closed the case, he also ended up closing the home leaving eighteen kids homeless, six staff members jobless and a gaping hole in his heart.

He had called the new ADA and told him that he wasn't happy with the justice system but that he had something for the kids- a solution.

He gave the state the house with Lars' blessing to turn into a privately owned foster care centre. That meant that they could use the house to foster the kids and Sam and Lars were still in ownership. Just as Sarah would have wanted.

It was perfect.

The house was named the Sarah Swarek Home but it soon became know as Sarah's. It was also the pet project of Fifteen and Sam's coworkers at Guns and Gangs when it became funded through the cops at both divisions as well as their private fund-raising charity of choice.

Five years after the home was started, they faced having it closed when the state cut funding and pulled out of their agreement with Sam and Lars. Andy had come to the rescue when she handed Sam a cheque for her entire inheritance. Tommy McNally had passed on to a better world three months before and Andy wasn't about to let the home crash and burn.

They had twenty-three kids living in the house and the barn than had been built into a second house.

Sam had gone to seek assistance from the state again, because he had no idea what to do, the only thing he was sure of is that these kids needed a home. Many had been abused and turned to drugs, they wouldn't survive if they were kicked back to the streets.

Andy had come with him to Child services that day, and they had been given the right to keep the home open because they had enough to see it through for a while.

Some of the adult carers that stayed in the home had even refused to take a paycheck when they knew that the state had cut funding.

Andy had also handed child services a list of names that she had gathered over what must have taken weeks. Each name on the list was of a person or a local business that pledged a monthly donation either in cash, or in clothes or food for the kids.

Sam was stunned.

Legal aid had stepped in again and made a deal with the state to meet what they needed by supplying the shortfall that they needed to keep going, and so the house was kept open.

Over the years many faces had come and gone through that house, some returning to give back in the form of an update about how their lives had turned out, or a donation to help the other kids that were currently in the home. Two of them had even come back as full time volunteers, one the house cook, who had a chef's degree, the other as a registered nurse. They both lived on the premises full time.

When Sarah was eighteen she made an astonishing statement at the dinner table one night.

"I don't want to be a cop".

Sam had burst out laughing and Andy had dropped her fork. It just came out of the blue, something only a McNally woman would do.

"So you want to do...?" Andy had asked after clearing her throat.

"I want to study child phsycology and financial management" Sarah had said.

That was a lot to take on.

"I want to work at Aunt Sarah's"

Sam and Andy and their kids had spent time at the home over the years, Sam doing minor repairs and his children having play dates. Andy would volunteer her time so that the care givers could have a break.

Mrs Wippet had recently passed away, she had been running the home for the last fifteen years and now they were waiting for the state to appoint a new head to the home.

"Sarah, that's a lot of responsibility" Sam had said trying to make her see reason.

"I know Dad, that's why I want to do this. Is like our legacy you know, and besides Timmy is too... You know, not like us, to do it". Timothy had kicked her shin under the table for that statement.

Sarah went to college in the fall and did exactly what she said she wanted too.

Sam built her a house of her own on the property the year after that with the promise that if she wanted it, the house would be standing there ready and waiting for her.

It had been a struggle to get her involved in the management of the house because she was an heir to the Swarek name, but Alicia had come up with the solution to that problem.

Technically they now owned shares in the property as stated in Sarah's will, so she had approached child services with a new deal- they'd pool their shares to Sarah, give them to her in return for her agreeing that they would be split between the Halloways and the Swareks should she die, and that the property may never be sold or the home closed down.

Child services was hesitant at first but agreed when Sarah signed the contract stating that she had to work there for a minimum of five years.

That seemed to convince them that she was in it for the long haul.

Over the years their children grew up, each of them showing signs of some McNally determination, and courage and some moments where they were just like a Swarek when they were stubborn or headstrong. Even with thheir grandkids their bloodlines were clearly visible. And it was a reminder everytime Sam looked at Peter or Andre of just how much they had to get through to get to now.

Pulled back to the present Sam climbed into the car and started the ignition, life was so different from how he had envisioned it, but he wouldn't want anything to be different.

"You sure about this?" Andy asked stabbing her finger into his ribs.

"Totally". Sam replied.

It was Oliver's idea that they give Sam a retirement part, just like Sam and Jerry had done for him when he retired three years ago.

Sam had applied for a position at Fifteen the day after his talk to Andy about giving his badge up, and Frank was all to happy to find one for him.

He took leave until Andy's maternity leave was done and then drove her to work that day. He parked the truck and she had said goodbye before leaving him sitting in the parking lot.

When he thought that he had given her enough time to get into the locker room to change, Sam slipped inside and waited in Frank's office until parade stared.

Frank had welcomed Andy back by saying "As a welcome back gift, we got you something".

Sam was standing in the doorway right on cue when she looked around the room and frowned. "What did you get me Sir?" She had asked a little confused.

"We got your Swarek back" Frank said nodding towards the doorway.

Sam had never seen her blush as much as she did in that moment, having to hear him referred to as 'Her Swarek'.

"Thank you Sir!" Andy had giggled out before sauntering over to Sam and whispering "Hey Partner" in his ear.

"Hi" had been his subtle reply.

She was so happy in that moment.

Looking over at her now, Sam saw the familiar signs of her happiness wash out over her face. She still felt the same, and he still wouldn't change it for the world.

The End.

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Jelly Bean Jenna©