Everything We Are

by Kadi

Rated: M

Disclaimer: It's not my sandbox, I'm only visiting for a time.

A/N:Third in a small series of stories following: Everything She Does & Everything He Is. As stated when I began writing the first one, I completely agree that the likelihood of babyfic in this fandom is entirely unlikely. This was posed to me as a challenge, and I took it on to see if I could. Whatever our creative element, I believe that it is always important to try new things, to stretch ourselves to the very limit of what we are capable of and then see if we can keep going. So, to the ladies who have continued to challenge me, deenikn8, kate04us, and lontanissima thank you so much, and this one is for you!

I hope that others will enjoy this. For those who do not, my deepest apologies, and I hope you'll come back to my other works soon! :)

To deenikn8 as always, thank you so much for the beta! Any mistakes found are all mine!

For lontanissima thank you so much for being my sounding board while I was writing this. Much love!

Warning: Rating is for adult material found in later chapters, I did not fade to black this time.

"Runaway baby!"

The cry was rather familiar in the Flynn household. From the moment that he could crawl, Ian Flynn had demonstrated a singular propensity for escaping. It took only a second. One of his beloved adults could turn their attention for even a fraction of a heartbeat, and he was gone. The first time he did it, he terrified his father by crawling up the first two steps of the staircase. The next afternoon, Andy installed baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, and in practically every door and entryway which didn't have a door that could be closed.

When he began walking, it only became more of an adventure. Ian would toddle away from whomever was watching him, full of squeals and delighted laughter. Running away at bath time was of particular interest to him.

Never before his bath… always after.

The pitter-patter of Ian's damp, two-year-old feet could be heard down the hall. He squealed happily as he ran from the bathroom, completely naked. His dark hair was sticking up at all ends, but running the towel over his hair was as far as anyone had gotten before he made true his escape.

Upon spotting his favorite brother, Ian thrust his arms into the air and ran toward him. "Rutthy!"

He had moved out almost six months ago, but Rusty came by several times a week, and every Sunday. At twenty, he was just too old to be living at home any more. His parents were sad to see him go, and if there was one thing he missed most, it was the evening routine with Ian. He still saw him plenty, and babysat often. As they'd all promised when Rusty first broached the topic of moving into his own place on Campus… moving out hadn't changed anything, just his physical address.

Rusty caught Ian under his arms and lifted him like a football. He twisted him upside down, much to the boy's delight and arched a brow at Sharon who was coming down the hall after him. He flashed a crooked grin. It was Rusty who had given the usual warning that Ian was on the loose. "Looking for this?"

"Yes." Sharon heaved an exasperated sigh, that only just bordered on amusement. When she slipped on a damp spot in the hall, she caught herself and shook her head. It had been a long day and she was utterly exhausted. She held out the towel and waited for Rusty to place Ian in her arms. Her rambunctious toddler was engulfed completely in its fluffy softness. "You are," she told him, "your father's son." Sharon shook her head at him. He was grinning up at her with an expression that could only be described as a hundred percent Flynn. He was the very image of his father, in her opinion. Yes, he had her lighter complexion and his dark hair had more golden and red tones than brown, but he was Andy in every other way… especially the mischief. He had inherited his father's penchant for trouble.

Her hair was pulled up into a loose and messy ponytail. She wore a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve t-shirt. She looked tired, Rusty realized. "I can put him down, if you like," he offered. "I brought dinner, it's down in the kitchen."

"Rusty." Sharon turned an exaggerated, if affectionate look on him. "I told you not to stop for dinner. I was going to cook." She shifted Ian in her arms when he reached up to catch the dark tendrils of hair which were escaping her pony tail and play with them. She blew a lock of hair out of her face and peered down at her youngest child. "Cuteness will not save you, Mr. Flynn."

He recognized her tone all too well, and just like his father, he lay his head against her shoulder and fluttered his lashes at her. "Mama… no bed."

His lips turned down into an adorable little pout, but she would not be swayed. "Yes," she bent and kissed the top of his head. "You are most definitely going to bed."

"Come on," Rusty reached for him. "We'll do two stories, just because I'm cool like that." He lifted the toddler over his shoulder, much to the boy's squealing amusement. "I stopped for dinner because it's late, and you sounded tired." He bounced Ian on his shoulder, making him squeal and laugh again. "Where's Andy?"

"He had to go and pick Zack up and take him to a meeting," she sighed tiredly. She was so proud of her husband and his accomplishments in sobriety, but she never understood the commitment he was making in becoming a sponsor until it happened. Not that she would begrudge him that, or the young man who needed his help. They'd had a lot of late nights recently, and just when it looked like they might catch a break, they got another case instead. They were both tired, and perhaps, just lately, they were feeling their ages. Sharon ran a hand over her hair. "I'll tell you about it when you come downstairs. Ian." Rusty walked past her and then turned so that Ian was facing her. "Night baby."

"Night-night mama." He puckered his lips expectedly.

She laughed and captured his face in her hands, then peppered his face with kisses until he was giggling again. "Thank you, honey," she said to Rusty as he carried his brother away. She waited until they disappeared into Ian's room before she made her way back downstairs. Knowing her son as she did, she was sure to secure the gate at the top of the stairs. Sharon retrieved her phone as she strode through the living room toward the kitchen. The dinner that Rusty brought was still in two paper bags on the center island. She pulled down plates and took out silverware before sliding onto a stool at the island. She checked her phone first and a small smile curved her lips when she found a text from Andy.

"Going to be another hour. Don't wait up. Love you."

Tired though she was, her heart still filled with the thrill at seeing or hearing those words. Even now, after two years of marriage, it still had the ability to make her stomach flutter with anticipation. The time stamp on the text put it at half an hour ago, about the time she had started wrangling Ian toward his bath. Sharon smiled as she replied. "Rusty brought dinner. Of course I'm waiting up. Love you too." They'd had their share of petty, marital squabbles, but they always talked it out and made up in the end.

With the text sent, Sharon set about pulling dinner out of the bags Rusty brought. She found pasta and vegetables and a fragrant garlic bread that made her mouth water. There were three distinct containers and she spotted Andy's easily enough. Roast peppers, zucchini and pasta in in a pomodoro sauce, sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Sharon got up and placed it, and Rusty's dinner, in the oven to stay warm. Hers was very similar, only with shrimp. Sharon moved around the kitchen and retrieved two bottled waters. She also found that Rusty had gotten salads. There were only two of them, and she knew her boy. Neither of them were intended for him. She placed Andy's in the fridge and returned to her seat. Suddenly she was famished.

Ordinarily she would have waited for Rusty, but eating meals together as a family was a rare and precious commodity. Especially when she knew that it might take him a little while to get Ian down for the night. While she ate, Sharon broke one of her own rules. She opened her computer and began working. Time sheets were due again and there was an abysmal amount of overtime for her to fight for having paid.

She was still working, eating sparsely while she did, when Rusty came back downstairs. He shook his head as he walked past her toward the oven. "Busted." He took his dinner out and joined her at the island. "Mini-Flynn is asleep." Rambunctious and wild, but the moment he'd gotten still, he was out like a light.

"Thank you," she sighed with some relief and closed the laptop. She leaned her chin in her hand and watched him eat. "So, what's up?" It wasn't like him to come by so late during the week. Yes, he was in and out often, for which she was so thankful, but just to swing by wasn't something that he did at this time of night.

Rusty suppressed a smile. Sharon always knew everything. "Why does something have to be up? Maybe I just wanted to drop in and say hey?"

His eyes sparkled with mischief and she rolled her eyes at him. "Okay then," Sharon said, but her brow arched knowingly. "Hey."

He lowered his gaze to his plate and pushed his food around for a moment. "I was thinking of taking some time off school. Like, just the semester. I could go back in the spring. There's this job at the Mayor's office, and it's just through the election. My advisor said that I'd get credit for it."

"I see." She tilted her head at him. There was a part of him that was asking permission, but for the most part she knew that Rusty was only looking for a sounding board. It was something he wanted, but he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. Her lips pursed and she fought back the sudden sting of tears. There were just no words for how proud she was of him. The Rusty Beck of four years ago wouldn't have cared about school, jobs, or what anyone thought of his choices. He wouldn't have weighed the pros and cons of his actions. He would have acted first and thought about it later. They had worked very hard to suppress that instant Fight or Flight response of his. This was the result, her bright, beautiful, young man. The child of her heart. "What do you think?"

He made a face at her. Rusty hated it when she always went with that first. It was just so Sharon, though. "It's kind of awesome, yeah? I mean, it's sort of a big deal. I feel like if I don't do it, I'm going to regret it. But then I'm worried that I'll regret losing a semester of school."

"That's always the risk that we take," Sharon explained. "We have to weigh the good with the bad, but in the end, we need to do what is best for us with these kinds of choices. You'll lose a semester of school, but you're getting college credit for the job, at the same time, it is an amazing opportunity. If you get it."

"I did." Rusty looked at her through his lashes. "I interviewed twice already, and they called me this afternoon. It's mine, if I take it. I have to let them know by the end of the week. I applied to get extra credit for my Political Theory class, I didn't think they'd actually call me. I mean, come on… Sharon, really? With my past? Who in their right mind would ever consider asking me to be anywhere near a political campaign."

"Oh Rusty." Her heart ached for him sometimes. "Who wouldn't want you? Your past is full of some terrible and unfortunate things, but you were a child. Much of it is sealed, and it was sealed as your having been a juvenile witness. Rusty, think about what we're talking about. Think about all the things that you've accomplished over the last four years, and then ask yourself, isn't that someone you would hire? Doesn't that show the kind of determined and hard working individual that you would want to know?" Sharon reached across and touched his hand. It wasn't overt, just a faint brushing of her fingers over his before she withdrew it.

"You might be a little biased," he said, smiling crookedly at her. "What do you think I should do?"

"I can't tell you that." She smiled warmly at him. "This is a decision that only you can make. I think you need to follow your heart. You need to do what is best for you. If that's this job, then take it, Rusty. If it isn't, then don't. Either way, I will still be proud of you."

Rusty looked down at his plate. He felt the warmth flushing his face. It always felt unreal when she said these kinds of things to him. Even though he knew that she meant them, always. Sharon wasn't his mom, but she was still his mother. At the same time, it was something that he needed to hear. It made it a little easier to accept the choice he was leaning toward. "Okay," he said after a moment and nodded. "I'm… I'm going to take it," Rusty said. He exhaled and smiled. "Cause, you know, it turns out I couldn't actually be a witness for the rest of my life, and I need to do something when I finally grow up. This is going to look good on a resume."

"It is." Sharon smiled brightly at him. "For what it's worth, I think you're making the right choice. I wouldn't normally advocate leaving school, but I agree, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that you're getting college credit for it only makes it that much better. Congratulations, honey."

"Thanks." He let out a relieved breath and shook his head. "I think I already knew what I was going to do, I just kind of needed to hear all that."

"I understand," she said warmly. It was amazing to her, that of her four children, it was the child of her heart that was the most like her, rather than any of the children she had borne. Ian was still so young, it was hard to say who he was going to become. There was so much of Andy in him, however, that she could only hope to temper it some. Rusty didn't know what kind of career he wanted when he finished school, and at only twenty, that was just fine. He was interested in History and Social studies. Whatever he chose, she knew that he would be amazing. "Enjoy these years, Rusty. They won't come again. Explore, take chances - within reason, of course."

"Of course." He smirked at her. "I will, Sharon. I know how lucky I am. I just don't want to do the wrong thing because I'm trying so hard to do everything, you know?"

"I do," she said. "You can't be afraid to make mistakes, Rusty. It's how we learn."

"Right." He nodded. "Plus, you'll always be there to kick my butt back on track, yeah?"

"Absolutely." Sharon smiled brightly at him. "Now, eat your dinner, before it gets cold."

Rusty rolled his eyes at her but made a great show of shoveling a large bite into his mouth. "You too."

Her eyes narrowed but she pulled her plate closer. Sharon lifted her fork again but gave him a pointed look. Simple manners could not be ignored. When he grinned at her, and then laughed, Sharon gave up. Ultimately, she was outnumbered. She was surrounded by stubborn, strong-willed males.

They were still sitting there when Andy got home half an hour later. Their plates were pushed aside, and they were still chatting quietly. Sharon appeared to be working, more or less, in between conversing with Rusty. With her hair a mess and her glasses perched on the tip of her nose, she was utterly adorable, Andy thought.

"Hey babe." He loosened his tie as he walked into the kitchen. His jacket was already discarded across the back of the sofa in the living room. His back and neck ached with tension and fatigue, and there was a pain beginning behind his eyes that spoke of too little sleep. Still, Andy stopped beside his wife and cupped the back of her head. He bent and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Something smells good."

"Hm." She smiled against his mouth. "Rusty brought dinner from the bistro over on fifth. I put yours in the oven." Sharon curled a hand around his wrist. She tugged him down onto the stool beside her, even as she stood. "You look exhausted."

"Yeah." He resisted. Instead, Andy pressed her back into her seat. "Stay there, I'll get it." He kissed the top of her head as he moved past her. "Hey kid." Andy tapped his shoulder as he rounded the island and headed for the oven. He took his dinner out and retrieved a bottled water from the fridge before rejoining them at the island.

"How is Zack?" Sharon slipped her glasses off and closed the computer again, giving him her full attention.

"Trying to climb his way back out," Andy ran a hand over his face and into his hair before he set about pushing his food out of the tin container and onto his plate. The young man he was sponsoring was barely thirty-two, but trying hard to turn his life around. "It's a process. He's trying, that's all anyone can ask for at this point."

"I know." She rubbed his arm. Sharon did, all too well. She had lived that with Jack, and then to a certain extent, with Andy from her vantage point in FID. "He's lucky to have you," she said, and meant it. Sharon stood up and gathered her laptop and glasses. She carried them to the living room, to place next to her purse, and plugged her phone back into the charger. When she returned, Rusty was beginning to clean up while Andy ate. "Oh, Rusty leave that. I'll get it."

"No, it's okay." He carried their plates to the sink and began rinsing and loading the dishwasher. "I need to be getting out of here. It's late, and I think you could both stand to crash. You look like… not good," he smirked.

"Oh, thank you," Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "I can't tell you how much this means to us," she drawled sarcastically.

"That's me," Rusty chirped. "Always looking out for the old people in my life."

Andy rolled his eyes toward Sharon and gave her a bland look. "Do something with your son."

"Oh no," she pointed at him. "When he's sarcastic and full of crap he's all yours. My Rusty is the sweet and considerate one that makes good choices and doesn't give his parents crap about their much more advanced ages."

Her husband blinked at her. "Uh huh. For the record, lady, he gets it all from you."

"Okay," Rusty closed the dishwasher and dried his hands. "Before you two get too far into the foreplay, I'm getting out of here." He tossed the towel onto the counter and stopped beside Sharon. "Thanks. I'll call them tomorrow and make it official."

"See that you do," she smiled warmly at him. "Let me know when it's done so that I can begin sufficiently bragging."

"Yeah, whatever." Rusty rolled his eyes at her. Still not one for great bouts of affectionate display, he nudged her shoulder and walked toward the door. "Night, Sharon. Andy."

"Kid." Andy tilted his head at his wife, and shrugged when she just shook her head.

She waited until she heard the front door open and close again before reclaiming her seat at the island. "He's taking a job with the Major's office, working on the campaign. It's just through this next semester, and he gets credit for it. I think he was looking for approval, his mind was already made up."

Andy reached for his water and took a deep swig. "What did you tell him?" He asked after.

"That it was his decision, and either way, I would be proud of him." She smiled knowingly. "What did you think I'd tell him?"

"Keep his ass in school, and steer clear of the bureaucratic bull crap," Andy snarked. "You're really going to endorse that? You're letting him drop out of school?"

Sharon smiled serenely and stood up. "I am." She walked around the kitchen, straightening up, even though it was practically spotless. "It's only a single semester, and it's an excellent opportunity for him. It's going to look great on his resume, and if this is really something that he's interested in, he should explore it. Frankly," she smiled at him, entirely too sweetly, "I'm more concerned with why you have such an issue with it."

"You're kidding me right?" He flashed an incredulous look at her. "We're shelling out an arm and a leg for tuition and that campus apartment and he's going to blow off a semester to go hang out with the bozos at City Hall?"

She chose to ignore his grousing over what it was costing them to put Rusty through school, since it wasn't as if it was a hardship, and it had been Andy's idea that they pay for the apartment rather than allowing Rusty to get a job. He wanted him focused on his schoolwork. Because she knew that the underlying issue was that he wanted him to do well, she suppressed her own irritation at her husband and leaned against the counter across from him. "At the end of the day, does it really matter which decision he makes as long as it makes him happy? This is something he really wants to do, Andy. Would you rather he live a life with even more regrets?"

Andy scowled at her. She would play that card. "Of course not." He sighed. Andy ran a hand over his face. "I just don't want him to feel like he's been left behind again, by losing an entire semester."

"He won't." She walked around the counter and leaned in to him. When his arm curled around her waist she dropped a kiss to his mouth. "He's going to be okay. Rusty knows what he wants. He might still need a little help going after it, or realizing it, or even believing that he deserves it…. but he knows."

"You've got this parent thing down, don't you?" Andy grinned up at her.

Sharon laughed. She had her fair share of doubts and insecurities when it came to her parenting ability. "Hardly. They're all different. Take yours for example… Nicole is an absolute darling, but I never know from one minute to the next if Nathan is going to like me or not." His eldest son was a bit of a wildcard. He was coming around toward having something to do with his father, slowly. His stepmother and half-brother was another matter. Nathan seemed to have issues with his father starting over with a new family. They were talking now, at least. It had taken two years for him to even want to meet his father's new family. "At least he no longer believes I'm a highly rated and priced escort."

Andy snorted and began to laugh. "Yes, well, small favors and baby steps." His hand landed against her bottom in a playful swat. "I'd still pay for you," he teased.

"Thank you for that." She curled her arms around his shoulders. "I'm going to go up. Don't be too long."

"Are you kidding?" He winked at her. "I'm right behind you babe." Andy's arm dropped when she turned to leave the kitchen. "Which just happens to be my favorite place," he drawled. The look she shot him just made him grin that much wider. Andy cleared away the remaining dishes and followed at a more sedate pace. He turned off all the lights, checked all the doors, and armed the alarm before he made his way up the stairs. At the top of the second floor, he secured the baby gate and moved quietly down the hall. Ian's door was cracked open and he pressed it inward quietly to check on his son. The boy was laying in his toddler bed, knees drawn under him and bottom in the air. Andy shook his head and chuckled quietly. He walked in and picked the blankets which had been strewn half across the floor and draped them over him again. On the small bedside table, the nightlight turned slowly, casting the room in soft shades of blue and green, in the shapes of stars and planets. Andy dimmed it to its lowest setting before he bent over the two-year-old and smoothed dark hair back from his forehead. "Night buddy," He whispered quietly, and then withdrew silently from the room.

In the large bedroom across the hall, Sharon had already changed and was turning back the bed. Andy walked over to the closet and toed out of his shoes before stepping into the bathroom to do likewise. When he returned, he had his gun and badge in hand. He dropped the badge onto the dresser and the gun went into the lock box in the top of the closet, beside his wife's. In the past they'd have left them on the dresser, but Ian was far too mobile and inquisitive now. Locking them up might not be convenient, but it wasn't a hardship.

He turned and admired his wife for a moment. She sat on the edge of the bed, running a brush through her dark hair. Andy moved to join her and winced. "Son of a bitch!" He grabbed the frame of the closet and lifted his now stinging foot. He scowled at the offending item that lay in the floor and stooped to pick it up.

"What?" Sharon's brows lifted. When she saw the little matchbox police car in his hand, her lips pressed together. "Oh." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "It's his favorite toy," she reminded her irritated husband, while continuing to attempt to hold back a smile.

"Yeah?" He tossed it onto the night stand while rolling his eyes. "What kind of irony is it that his favorite toy would be something Taylor gave him?" He dropped onto the bed with a huff and leaned back.

The corners of her mouth twitched. Her head tilted. "He's simply fostering relations with the next generation of LAPD elite," she barely managed it before she began to giggle.

"I'm glad you think it's funny," Andy grumbled. He slanted a look at her and shook his head. "Russell Taylor is my son's favorite uncle, what the hell did I do to deserve that."

Sharon bent forward, laughing gleefully. "It was rather heinous I'm sure, the punishment must befit the crime."

Andy's eyes narrowed. "I'm glad you think it's so damned amusing." When it only made her laugh harder, he rolled his eyes. "Naturally, this would be my life. I married the head Witch from Internal Affairs, and Assistant Chief Snake has charmed my son. Forget past lives, I was naughty in this one." That drew a guffaw from her and Andy's lips pursed. "It's not that funny, but I know something that is…" He sat up and reached for her. Sharon was pulled to the middle of the bed and dropped onto her back. He loomed over her, one hand at her side, and the other behind her knee. Andy lowered his face to the crook of her neck and began his assault. He knew where every one of her soft spots lay, particularly those that had her writhing in helpless laughter within just seconds. Thank god, he thought, that their son slept like a log.

"Stop, stop, stop!" When she couldn't take anymore, she curled her legs around him and bucked. They rolled and Sharon landed atop him. She sat back and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. She was breathing heavily and planted a hand in the center of his chest to hold him on the bed when he attempted to sit up. "Uh uh," she shook her head and drew a deep breath. She craned her head, listening for Ian. He was a heavy sleeper, but they had been rather loud.

Andy watched her. With her face flushed and her eyes moist and still shining with laughter, she was absolutely breathtaking. He sat up a moment later and curled his arms around her. He drew her more solidly onto his lap and sought her lips, kissing her softly.

"Hm," she hummed against his mouth. "I thought you were tired."

"I'll never be too tired to love you." He twisted them on the bed and pressed her down onto her back beneath him. When she simply drew him to her, he smiled. It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd found a second burst of energy.