Obsidian

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox. I just enjoy playing in it.

A/N: A round of applause for NarcissaNerea, the awesome sassy beta who keeps me in line!

Chapter 22

In the end, they decided that September was the perfect time for a small wedding. They spent the long, hot weeks of summer remodeling and moving. There wasn't much that truly needed to be done at the new house, but the walls were painted in all of the rooms. While anyone else might have wanted to get the move over with, Sharon and Andy took their time. They picked out paint colors, rugs, and matching drapery… or rather, Sharon had picked it, once she got Andy to give her his opinions on the wall colors.

He didn't particularly care about interior design, especially while he was settling in to his new job responsibilities; not that it was all that dissimilar to his previous work. He had more paperwork now, and there were actually people that he was responsible for, but ultimately he still reported to Sharon. That sense of the familiar made it a lot easier to wrap his head around.

Where the house was concerned, Andy told Sharon to do what she wanted. If she was happy, he would be happy. That didn't mean that he would allow her to paint he walls apricot and had, quite sternly, vetoed the very idea when she proposed it. He was still hoping she was only joking, but she got his attention with it, and he paid a little more attention when she brought him paint chips and fabric swaths.

After they painted, choosing a dusky, light green for the downstairs, except for the kitchen and laundry room, which had both been painted a pale, cheerful yellow; Sharon decided she wanted new furniture. The dining set that she already had would look lovely in the formal dining room, although the chairs clashed with the walls. Sharon called the walls light sage; Andy thought they looked like very pale Easter eggs. She was happy, so he decided that he didn't mind the color, and it wasn't apricot. It wasn't desert sand either, which to him had looked like some form of dirty, burnt orange, and he was convinced when Sharon showed it to him that she was yanking his chain, but as she decided she had to have new furniture in the living room and kitchen, he was beginning to wonder why he hadn't just told her to paint all the walls white.

Nicole told him that all of his grumbling was the reason that he had been single for so long. Andy wasn't convinced she was entirely correct, but he decided to shut his mouth and let the women in his life have their way. At some point, his daughter had gotten involved with the redecorating. Then Emily had come out for a week to visit her mother, and Andy was convinced the three of them were just trying to torture him. Dean and Charlie attempted to assure him that they were just being women, bonding and what not. That statement had gotten them all in trouble when Rusty repeated it to his mother, and a few thousand dollars later, they had a new beautiful butcher block table and matching chairs in the kitchen, made of pale California pine.

There was a new sofa and chairs in the living room; the den had been decorated around Sharon's desk with new bookshelves and chairs, looking much more like a library than an office. That was something that she particularly enjoyed. Sharon much preferred sitting there to do her paperwork, when working at home was required, without feeling as though she was still closed up in her office at the PAB. It was why she had always preferred having her desk in the open at the condo. She spent all day in an office, she didn't want to spend her time at home in one too. Andy had come to enjoy the den too. They had spent a few evenings there, wrapped in a blanket, sharing the sofa while both of them spent the night reading.

When Sharon finally got around to furnishing the dining room… well, her entire set was given to Nicole and Dean. His son-in-law was doing penance for his transgression by going to antique shops and design stores with Nicole while she indulged her need to redecorate a couple of rooms in their home. Sharon had found a set that matched what was in the kitchen, and had fallen absolutely in love with it. Andy thought he might have another heart attack after seeing the bill for all of it, but she was happy, and he was out of the doghouse. They had even driven up the coast over a weekend, just to browse antique stores until they found a set of candleholders that would go well in the room. They had hosted their first dinner almost immediately after moving in, and while it was only Patrice and Provenza, it was a good evening. Sharon was happy, glowing in their new home. They both were.

Rusty had chosen the downstairs bedroom the first time that he walked through the house. He liked the built-in shelving, but preferred the fact that it was off the back hall, near the side door. He would be able to come and go without disturbing his mother and Andy, if he happened to be coming in late… or with a guest. The only guest that he would have would be Gus, and they didn't anticipate those visits being very often with the current status of his and Rusty's long distance relationship, but that was what he wanted, and Andy reminded Sharon that she had a twenty-one year old living at home. While Rusty had never been a little boy, at least for her, he wasn't a kid anymore. He had chosen to keep all of his old furniture, and painted his walls dark blue. When Andy compared it to the Murder Room, Rusty just quipped that he liked it there.

The upstairs hall was painted in the same green as the downstairs rooms, but each bedroom had been done in a different color. The guest room was off white with neutral bedding and dark furniture, while the master bedroom had been painted in earth tones, tan walls with darker trim. It was peaceful and comforting, and it suited them both. The bathroom tile and walls were a mix of sand, grey, and black.

It was the master bathroom that had the most work done to it. The room was already modern and well appointed, with a separate bath and glass-encased shower, but Andy had the round garden tub ripped out and replaced with a large, antique claw-foot tub. He said it reminded him too much of the condo, and so in that room alone, he had taken over and while he used the colors that his wife had chosen, he brought in a contractor to gut half of it and remake it in a way that both of them could live with. He knew her too well, that was what Sharon told him. Having the bathroom redecorated helped ease what remained of her tension when she was in that room. She found that she was comfortable in the claw foot tub, and it was just wide enough to seat both of them. They wouldn't be able to indulge often, not at their ages, but they had fully explored its addition to the master suite and found it quite suitable. It was one of the many ways that he took care of her, without being overly intrusive.

Then, with the exception of the end tables, which had come from Sharon's grandmother, they replaced their bedroom furniture. Andy's bedroom set, which had been in storage after the sale of his home, fit the room nicely. They found an antique armoire that matched it during their trip up the coast, and completed the room. They gave the old furniture to charity. Completely refurnishing their room wasn't a decision that either of them made ahead of time. Andy simply said that he would rather have his bed; her mattress was hard on his back. Since their room was going to be big enough for the king-size bed, they decided the furniture should match. There was no reason to completely replace everything they both had, and they had enjoyed that bed on the occasions they spent their evenings at Andy's house, before it sold.

When they were done, and the room was furnished, Sharon realized that she felt a lot more comfortable. She couldn't say how she would feel having her furniture in their new home, considering all that happened in their bedroom at the condo, but now she would never have to know. She could put those thoughts aside and enjoy the changes they made.

If either of them thought that it might feel awkward, living in that house after they finally moved in, they quickly learned that wasn't true. They had managed to create, together, a place that felt warm. It felt like home. It wasn't his place or hers. This belonged to both of them, and it was reflective of the life they built together, and would continue building as they moved forward.

They spent a few weeks going through storage, giving away or donating what they wouldn't be keeping while moving in to the house. Sharon's old living room set was given to Charlie, who said he liked the bold colors and modern look. Ricky had claimed Andy's leather sectional for himself, along with the large entertainment center that went with it, much to Dean's dismay. The rest, pieces that Andy caught Rusty admiring, would remain in storage. He figured the young man wouldn't live with them forever, so they could hold on to some stuff for when he did eventually move out, shelving units, a desk, dishes and the like.

By the time summer was over, they had managed to get moved in, and had also condensed his and Sharon's storage units to a single location. They talked about having a housewarming party, but a few busy cases had put that off indefinitely. Eventually, they decided the wedding would serve both purposes.

It would be small, of that they were both agreed. They needed only their kids, and their closest friends and family. They picked a date in September, and decided the moderate early fall temperatures would be perfect for an outdoor event. They had the backyard decorated in twinkling lights and glowing lanterns, and rented a few small tables that were draped in white cloths. They used the same caterer that Ricky had hired for their first, canceled party, although the wedding was much smaller, and met with their priest to finalize details for the ceremony.

Sharon's parents made the trip, but it was decided that they would see her siblings and the rest of the family during the holidays. Andy was still petrified of her father, something that Sharon found incredibly amusing. He was a sixty-two year old man, and her dad had him pacing the floor and unable to sleep the night before he met him. While her parents were incredibly important to her, Sharon was hardly of an age where she still required their blessing. She knew that she was lucky to still have them both, although their health had not been as steady the past few years, but she would not have weighed her decision to marry Andy on their opinion of him. She loved that man with everything that she was, more than she imagined loving anyone at this stage in her life. Even when he annoyed the crap out of her, there was no one else that she would choose to spend the rest of her life with, no one else with whom she would want to watch their grandchildren grow, and probably no other man that would worry himself to a sleepless night over meeting her father.

Somehow that worked its way into her vows. Father Thomas had gone a traditional route, but they had also decided to write their own vows. She knew that Andy had spoken from his heart, and she also knew that he spent weeks agonizing over what he would say. He spoke of love, and the lifetime they would have together, and the joy that he found in being with her. He thought the opportunity for love had passed him by, but there she was, and he knew that he was lucky to have found her.

In a thick, and slightly hitching voice, with her eyes moist and bright, and her skin glowing in the late afternoon sun, Sharon repeated those thoughts to him. Gone were the words she had so carefully written and memorized. When she looked up at him, smiling down at her, looking for all the world like he still couldn't believe that she was joining her life to his, the words had simply gone out of her head. She clasped his hands in hers and chuckled quietly. That seemed to bemuse him, he gave her that half grin that always filled her with warmth, and no matter what else she was feeling in the moment, it always put her at peace.

"When this began I wasn't sure which of us was crazier, you or I." She heard a muttered response from his partner, but couldn't quite tell what he said. There was laughter from those closest to him, and a glance showed her that his wife was nudging him to silence. "I was sure that we had both lost our minds, because this couldn't possibly work. You are the single most infuriating man that I have ever met," her lips trembled with barely contained laughter when he rolled his eyes at her, looking both amused and curious at where she was going with her speech, "and I know that I drive you to distraction." His brow arched, and his head tilted slightly, but Sharon went on. "We have definitely had our moments; our disagreements… a few shouting matches in an old office at Parker Center come to mind." Sharon scraped her teeth across her bottom lip when he snorted a quiet laugh, "When we stopped yelling at each other and started working together, I finally saw you. The arrogant, annoying, pain in my neck became this… thoughtful, goofy," her voice trembled around a soft laugh. Andy rolled his eyes at her again, but she powered through, "helpful colleague, who eventually became a friend. Someone who helped me step outside of a difficult situation when I needed it most," her smile softened as she thought back to those weeks and months that Rusty spent receiving letters and walking around with a security detail,"someone that wasn't afraid to bridge a gap and offer a shoulder, even when I was rude to him, or dismissive. I saw a man that was willing to wait until hours after his shift ended just to walk me to my car," because it had been Rusty's safety that she was concerned with, and not her own. She hadn't considered that she could be in danger, but Andy had cared enough, even then, to look out for her.

"You can make me laugh when everything seems impossible. You've let me cry, and yell, and rant, and talk about my deepest fears and darkest nightmares, and never faltered or complained, even when I called you in the middle of the night. You let me sleep on your couch when I couldn't go home to an empty apartment, and you never told anyone that you watched me break. You've been strong when I couldn't be, and you became the friend that I didn't know I needed. From the outside looking in, we had every reason to fail. Our own children have asked how I can reconcile myself to our similar histories, but my past made it possible for me to see your present. You bring chaos to a world that I built out of order, and at a time when I needed that most. You love me, even when I know that I am being impossible. You waited, when anyone else would have walked away. You still annoy the crap out of me at times," they both laughed, "but there is no one else that I would be here with now. Your grandsons are sitting ten feet away, and you spent the night tossing and turning because you thought my father might not approve of you. That is the most ridiculous and endearing thing that I have ever seen, and I'm sorry dad," she glanced at her father, but then smiled a little tearfully at the man standing directly in front of her, "but it wouldn't matter to me if he didn't. I couldn't love you more if I tried. There is no one else that I would go through the rest of this life with."

A few hours after speaking those words, Sharon was still riding a cloud of warmth and happiness. Most of their guests had left as the hour grew later. Ricky and Emily had taken their grandparents back to the hotel, where all of them were staying during this visit. Rusty had gone with Gus, the two of them off to Palm Springs for the weekend. Nicole and Dean had taken the boys home not long after Sharon's parents called it a night, and now only Charlie remained. He was outside with the caterers, overseeing the breakdown of the party while she and Andy saw the last of their guests out.

As her husband and his best friend stood talking for a few more minutes, Sharon excused herself and made her way back through the house toward the kitchen. She felt guilty leaving the cleanup supervision to Charlie, while all of their other kids had retired for more interesting locations.

She found him standing at the open patio doors, a hand in his pocket while he watched the servers and catering staff stack chairs and gather what remained of the cutlery and dishes. In his other hand he held a cup of coffee. Sharon smiled when she noticed the half-empty carafe on the counter with two cups beside it. "Bless you." She poured herself a cup and held it in both hands, allowing them to warm as she joined him at the door. The evening had turned cool, but that was true of most of their nights. "You don't have to stay, Charlie. Your dad and I already paid the caterer. They'll leave when they've finished."

"Nah, it's cool." He glanced over at her and grinned. "It was your party. You don't get to clean up, in a manner of speaking." He turned so that he was facing her, and his back was leaning against the open door frame. "It was a really nice wedding." He understood now why she wanted to do it, even if she and his dad were already married. It meant something, having the priest there. Or maybe it just meant something that they got to see it all, watch them promise to love each other. Charlie wasn't exactly sure.

"It was." Sharon's smile grew. She leaned against the doorframe with a contented sigh. "It was a very good day." Her smile was only obscured when she lifted her cup to take a sip.

"Okay, don't go getting all emotional on me. That's not how we do things." Charlie pushed away from the door with a grin. "It'll ruin your evil stepmother image." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, palm sized box. "I got you something, though." He shrugged as he held it out. The box was pretty simple, white with a blue blow. He wasn't all that great at wrapping gifts, so he didn't even try.

"Charlie." A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "We told you kids not to get us gifts." Sharon reached for the box. Her eyes sparkled up at him. "We meant it."

"It's no big deal," he shrugged at her, "it was actually going to be a house warming gift, but we all got busy, and then I just forgot… so I thought I'd give it to you tonight." Charlie leaned back again while she opened it. "It's probably a little bit corny, actually."

"I find that very hard to believe." He had given his father a very nice pen for Father's Day, along with tickets to see the Dodger's. Charlie insisted the tickets, dugout seats, were for his dad to take a friend, or even her, but Andy had taken his son instead. They'd had a good time. Andy had beamed about that for days. Sharon smiled about that while she tugged the ribbon off the box and opened it. There was a small object nestled inside, wrapped carefully in soft cotton.

The little glass figure that she lifted was only a couple of inches tall, no bigger than her thumb. It was made of smooth glass, beautifully sculpted, but the glass was like nothing that she had seen before. It was dark, smoke colored with hints of brown and green. There were swirls of black throughout. Sharon held it in her hand, turned in the overhead lights and watched the colors reflect. "It's beautiful," she said softly.

Charlie only shrugged again. He shifted where he stood, feeling a little odd and out of place. "I heard from Nicole that you like angels," he explained. "She said that dad mentioned it a few years ago, I guess he wanted her help looking for the perfect one to get you for Christmas or something." He gestured toward her with his coffee cup, "Christmas is a long time off, but I saw it, and I didn't really want to wait. You can consider it the house warming gift it was supposed to be, or a wedding present…" He trailed off with a grin. "Actually, let's go with that. You're a full on Flynn now, so you might need that angel."

"Hm." Sharon didn't know what to say. She gave him a gentle smile before her attention was drawn back to the figurine in her hand. It was unlike any of the other angels that she had in her collection, and it was not only the glass that it was made out of that caused it to stand out. Unlike her others, this one's arms were not folded in prayer, but raised from her body, as though in acceptance. The wings were lifted, in flight or defense, Sharon could not tell. It was beautiful, certainly, but something about it had a calming effect on her too. "It really is lovely," she told him. "Where did you find it? I've never seen anything like it before."

"A little shop down in San Diego. I was down to visit some friends a while back, and it was just in this little hole in the wall right off the beach. I thought it looked a little weird at first, but the more I stared at it, I don't know. I thought you should have it." He looked down, scuffed his shoe against the floor tiles. "The stuff that it's made out of, they call it obsidian. When the salesgirl told me about it, it reminded me of you. When volcanoes erupt, if the conditions are right, the lava cools and it turns to glass. It's all hard, but not completely impervious, you know? Obsidian won't shatter, but it can break, and when it does, they say that the edges are sharp… like a blade. Almost like it's protecting itself."

Tears filled her eyes. Sharon studied him closely, fidgeting like a boy, and looking at her as though he was worried he might upset her. He was so like his father. She wondered sometimes what it would have been like to really know Andy back then, when he was Charlie's age, before his mistakes hardened him. "I…" She was left a little speechless. Sharon shook her head. Her throat ached with emotion. When she could finally speak, the words were thick, her voice breaking slightly. "There is nothing extraordinary about me, Charlie, except the people who were here to keep me from shattering." She looked down again. Her thumb swept over the serene face of the small angel. "I had faith in all of you, that was my strength."

"Whatever it was, it worked. It got you through that night, and all the ones that came after." He straightened with a sigh. His brows knit together in a frown. "Look, Sharon, you're not my mom. You're not going to be my mom. I wish that she was here every damn day, but I'm glad you made it. I'm glad that my dad has you, because if he didn't, Nikki and I, we'd have lost them both, and I don't think we could've handled that. I guess what I'm saying is… Welcome to the family."

She reached out and grasped his arm. If he were one of her sons, or even Dean, she might have hugged him, but she and Charlie had not quite reached that point yet. He still felt his mother's loss keenly, and as he said, she was not there to take that place. Sharon would never attempt it. She was more touched by his gift and his words than he could know. "Thank you," she whispered, and found that she was unable to say anything else.

Charlie glanced behind her. He drew away, feeling awkward, and jerked his head toward the yard. "I'm going to help these guys finish up and then I'm out of here. Have a good weekend, and at least pretend it's a honeymoon, even if you're not going anywhere."

"We will," she assured him. They planned to take a real trip later in the year, but were going to spend this weekend alone, for the most part. Sharon wanted to visit with her parents while they were in town, but most of their time would be spent together, as a couple. Sharon watched him place his coffee cup on the counter before he stepped outside. She felt a hand touch her shoulder a second later. She hummed as she leaned back into her husband's embrace. "I'm beginning to think that he might like me," she murmured.

"You might be right." He heard most of the exchange before entering the kitchen. "It's hard to believe sometimes. He's been around a lot more, and I guess that happens… when there's a loss like that, but I thought without his mom around he'd take off. She was pushing him to be around the last couple of years." Andy shook his head. He was bewildered by all of it; proud of Charlie and the man he was becoming, but surprised just the same. When she turned in his arms, Andy shrugged at her. "The Sharon Effect strikes again."

"No." She laid her hand against his chest. "Andy, that was all you. Your son loves you," she told him. "The two of you are going to argue and be at odds, but it's just the nature of who you both are. You're both stubborn, passionate men." He didn't seem to believe her. Sharon traced the line of his jaw when he looked down, tipped his face back up. "Andy you didn't pursue me because you thought it would look great for your kids. Our relationship became what it was because you realized that you wanted more than meaningless sex and brief flings. Being with me just allowed your children to see the changes that you already made in your life. I am able to trust you because of the man you are. It helped them to stop and see you too. It wasn't me at all. They love you for the same reason that I do. Because of the man you are."

"Sometimes," he said thickly, "I think the biggest con of my life was convincing you to love me. I still don't know how I did that. I thank God every day that you do, but I never let myself believe it would happen. Then it did. You can say I did this, but Sharon, I tried for years to get my kids to give me half a chance. They didn't try until you came along. Everything that I have right now, that started with you. All of it. The kids, the job, hell just actually being alive."

She wished that he could see himself as she did. Her thumb stroked his chin. "Andy, I didn't get you a promotion. I didn't change the way you approach your job. You've always been headstrong and impetuous, but age and experience have had an effect. You still have a temper, but these days you think before you swing. Your health put you in a position to approach what you already do a little differently, to take what you know and use it more wisely." She let her hand fall to his chest again, stroked the length of his tie before allowing it to rest above his heart. "If you and I work well together," she continued, "and if that taught you something, then good. I still didn't do anything. It's just who we are. Others have seen that. You didn't need me to continue learning and adapting. You caught Mason's attention all on your own and while I was unavailable. Your son may think that I am the strong one, but you are stronger than you know, Andy Flynn, and I see it every day. I don't need to lean on you; I am very good at standing on my own two feet. The difference is that I know that if I ever have to, I can." Sharon placed the gift from Charlie aside and laid her other hand against his chest too. She leaned up to kiss him, a soft, lingering caress of lips. "You're here when I need you," she said softly, "and I know that you want to protect me, and you want to take care of me, but you hold yourself back because you know that I need to be able to take care of myself... and that is the strength that carries me." Her smile softened, while her eyes brightened. She looked at him with joy, while peace and warmth settled through her. "You loving me, even when I know that it's hard, that gives me more strength than you can imagine. You're a good man," she said. "You're a good partner. You're a good cop. Never doubt that you are also a good father. You are exactly what we all need. Even if we don't say it enough."

"You amaze me," he said. "Everything that you've been through this year, and it's me that you worry about." Andy took her hands and lifted them to his lips. "You're the one that keeps us all together, you know that right?"

"Because I have you." She leaned into him. Her face tipped back, lips curving when he kissed her. "We," she corrected. "Everything that we have been through. I'm a packaged deal, Flynn. I come with a partner." She always wondered what people really meant, or what they felt, when they said that someone was their other half. Now she knew. Where he was chaos and trouble, she was order and rules. They fit together, and she knew they were both stronger for it.

Sharon took a step back and looked into the yard. His son and the catering staff had gone. The decorative lights were off, and when she tilted her head to look, she saw that the side gate, which was open during the party, had been closed. Her gaze lifted; there was an impish curve to her lips and a devious gleam in her eyes. "How would you like to lock up the house and join me in the pool?"

Andy pulled her against him with a grin. "Already done." He watched her smile grow, and in a move that he knew his back would hate him for later, he scooped her into his arms. "I've had the pool heater going all day, just hoping…"

She threw her head back and loud, joyful laughter rang across the night as he carried her toward the pool. Sharon wrapped her arms around his neck. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Oh, I'm about to tell you… there's even going to be a demonstration."

His grin promised nothing but trouble. Sharon laughed again as she was placed on her feet near the pool. He was, at times, utterly ridiculous. There were other moments when she couldn't imagine that anyone could be more endearing. Tonight he was simply hers, just as she was his. Like the angel, nestled in it's soft wrapping, their arms were lifted and they were prepared to step into the future, together.

-THE END-

Thank you to everyone for all of the lovely reviews, favs and follows. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I'm glad that you seemed to enjoy it too! You are all rockstars!