Lies We Told Ourselves

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: Not my sandbox. I just love playing in it.

Chapter 22

Two months. That was how long it took to close on the house in Coldwater Canyon. It seemed as if there had been miles of red tape to sift through, and there had been the meetings with the banks and the mortgage company, the insurance, and the city manager's office. There had been some question as to who was actually buying the house. Andy didn't know why the hell it had mattered, in the twenty-first century, why two people who were not married wanted to buy a house together. Being engaged didn't seem to constitute a legal reason to put both of them on the mortgage or to guarantee with the insurance company that one of them wasn't going to back out. The tax office, now that had been an entirely new nightmare. Sharon wondered why he preferred to rent. Now he remembered. Bureaucrats and all their god-awful damned paperwork, that was why.

They got married in Nicole's backyard on a sunny, Saturday afternoon. It wasn't what they had planned. Actually they hadn't planned anything yet, and were waiting until they got moved to even think about how they wanted to facilitate that next step. The house buying process had forced their hand a little. They told Rusty they were going to run by city hall and get it taken care of. He had called Nicole. She was in Sharon's office within an hour of having heard that bit of news and told them in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't allow them to have a meaningless, quickie wedding just because some idiots were being stupid. She could give them quick, but after everything that they had been through, and everything that the family had been through with them, they all deserved better.

Things weren't perfect. It was confusing and awkward sometimes, blending a family that had more connections than they realized. Ricky didn't live nearby, so doing things together and getting to know one another was difficult. He had only managed to get back to Los Angeles once in all those weeks, and that was to sit down with Charlie and Nicole so that the three of them could talk things out together. The rest of the time they communicated via email or text message.

They didn't always get along or agree, but they were adults and they were working it out. If nothing else, they were trying to be friends. That had been Doctor Walker's advice. The rest, if it were meant to happen, would come. Right now they were grown people whose parents were getting married, so they were finding a common ground in that.

Nicole put everything together for them. All they had to do was show up with a marriage license and someone to do the deed. Emily and Ricky had flown in for the weekend. It was simple, and it was small. It was just their children. Sharon's parents didn't travel anymore, and the rest of Andy's family was back east. They would make trips to see them soon. They had dinner with their team the night before, and while the wedding was impromptu, they had both agreed that they wanted just their kids for that occasion. It wasn't that they wanted to shut anyone out, but they had been through a lot recently, together and with their children, and it was important to them that the day be for them as a family since they were finally bridging that gap. Thankfully, their friends understood.

The house was theirs two weeks later. The day after they had the keys and the final paperwork, Andy had written a strongly worded letter to the city telling them where they could shove all their bureaucracy. Sharon had torn it up and put him to work with packing. God he loved that woman, but she had some funny ideas about how to distract him from being pissed off. He had simply distracted her from packing instead.

They were still putting crap into boxes when the movers showed up. Somehow, he didn't really care.

Moving wasn't that difficult. There hadn't been much to take with them after they went through which furniture of his they wanted to keep. Rusty and Sharon had very little to their names after the fire at the condo. Both had held off on replacing too much while waiting to get settled in at the new place. They took most of his living room furniture, and all of his dining set. They donated much of the rest. They furnished the remainder of the house together. They were finished with it in time for another reason to celebrate.

Taylor had held up his end of the bargain. The promotion was official. With it came the announcement that Sharon would be leaving Major Crimes at the end of the year. There was no question as to where she was going now that the Chief's office had announced Taylor's move into the role of Chief of Staff. The transition had officially begun, and Provenza was complaining about all of the paperwork. Sharon had threatened a few times to replace herself with Sergeant Staples, but that hadn't curbed the Lieutenant's own brand of enthusiasm.

Andy was taking a great deal of pleasure in reminding his partner that while she was leaving their division, she was still going to be their boss. Provenza was never getting rid of her. Of course, his partner had to remind him that they were never getting rid of her anyway; he'd gone and done the idiotic thing by marrying the woman. His response of "Why would an old man like me get rid of a hellcat like her? Besides, it was about time I married her. I got her pregnant. We're going to hell, but at least we're going to hell together," had almost ended him up on the couch, but it had been worth it to watch Provenza turn red and stalk off.

They put together a party to celebrate. It was a housewarming, but they had rolled the promotion into it. Ricky was back for it, but Emily couldn't make it. The kids had already given their mother her wedding present in the form of the keepsakes that she thought were lost, and the pictures they'd had reprinted for her. For the housewarming, Ricky had another gift put together for them. It was in a wide, flat box that he wasn't allowing either to have a peek at.

As they got ready for the party to get underway, he carried a tray of appetizers out onto the patio. Ricky sat them on the covered, glass top patio table and placed a six-pack of ale beside them. "Rusty has the quiche things," he told his mother.

"Thank you, honey." She was arranging a buffet of finger foods along one side of the patio. As Andy walked by and reached for a cheese cube, she smacked his hand. "Stop it! Go make sure we have ice."

He pouted at her. "We have ice. I bought it this afternoon. I'm hungry."

"The kitchen is right over there," she told him, but smacked his hand again when he reached for another. "Andrew William!"

"Sharon Diane."

Charlie rolled his eyes at them as he brought out a tray of small cheesecake bites. He placed it on the table and averted his gaze from the pair that were now attempting to look like they were not going to start making out on the patio. "What's that?" He jerked his head toward the six-pack.

Ricky arched a brow at it. "Beer." He tilted his head at the older man. "Problem?" Charlie had that tone that he had come to recognize as a tantrum brewing. It made him wonder what their father had been like when he was younger, because his temper wasn't nearly as quick these days.

His brows drew together in a frown. "Yeah." Charlie hooked a thumb at his father and stepmother. "The old man is an alcoholic. We can't serve that."

"No!" Ricky's eyes widened. He feigned a sharp gasp. "Really? I thought all those AA meetings he was going to were short for AARP."

"Hey!" Andy looked up from where he was trying to distract his wife. He glared at the two boys. "What the hell? AARP?"

Sharon snorted a quiet laugh. "Well, you did qualif—"

"Yeah okay." He set her away from him. He wasn't going to play if she was going to be mean. "Just for the record, so did you."

She whirled toward him, mouth agape. "Andy!"

"Sorry sweetheart." She was holding a cheese knife so he took a large step back and held up his hands. "If the Mark Harmon covered magazine fits, and by the way, it had your name on it and not mine."

She fluttered her lashes at him. "Oh, but that was the only magazine I needed."

His eyes narrowed. Andy pointed a finger at her. "You are evil, and we will talk about this later," he promised.

"Yes we will," she drawled. Sharon turned back to her buffet prep, but she was wearing a smirk.

"See," Ricky told his brother, "the most disturbing thing going on around here today is the mating rituals of the very old. So what's the big deal?"

"I'm starting to see your point," Charlie said. "They do get that someone could break a hip right? Did we install life alert when they moved in? We should look into that."

"Sharon." Andy shot an aggrieved look at her. "Do something with them."

"Oh no." She shook her head. "They are your sons. I am out of it." That attitude was all Flynn and she had her hands full with just the one. She wasn't getting in the middle of three of them.

"You know, you're responsible for one of them," Andy reminded her. "I think that puts you pretty much into it."

"Hm." She hummed thoughtfully. Sharon flashed a pretty smile at him and shrugged. "I suppose so, but if that's the case, then I think that guest room is looking very comfortable, isn't it?"

"Right." He nodded once. Andy dropped into one of the loungers and crossed his feet at the ankles. He leaned back and got comfortable. "Hey Rusty," he called into the kitchen, "do something with your brothers."

He came out of the kitchen carrying the cooler with the ice and other drinks. Rusty set it near the buffet. "Just because you married my mother," he pointed out, "doesn't mean that I'm stuck with both of them." Rusty walked over and picked up the ale. "This is how it works," he told the older two boys. He put it in the cooler with the other drinks. "Andy, don't drink the beer. Everyone happy now? Good. I'll be over here by the pool indulging in the fact that I am way cooler than all of you."

Andy's head inclined. He watched the kid get himself settled on a pool float. "And that is what happens when Darth Raydor and Provenza get entirely too friendly," deadpanned. "I'm going to call him Darth Provenza."

Charlie barked a loud laugh. "Hey dad, how comfortable is that lounger?"

"Not bad, actually." He smirked.

"Good," Sharon walked past him. She shot a glare in his direction. "You're going to be sleeping in it tonight."

"Aw dammit." He pushed out of the chair and followed her.

Nicole appeared a moment later. She was wearing a smile and shaking her head. "What did he do?"

"It must have been bad," Dean said. He sent the boys toward the pool and put the desserts they'd brought on the buffet.

"You don't want to know." Charlie laughed.

"Yeah." Ricky shuddered. "That's an image that's not going away anytime soon."

"I see." Nicole rolled her eyes. "One day he's going to learn." She folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Do we help him out?"

"Probably not a bad idea," Charlie shrugged. "The poor old guy is clueless. What can we do?"

"It's okay. My gift is probably going to get him out of the doghouse, or off the patio rather." Ricky walked toward the house. "I want to give it to them before everyone else gets here anyway, so…"

They stepped into the kitchen and found Andy trying to reason with her. Sharon wasn't having any of it. She was ignoring him and his hole was getting deeper. Nicole laughed. Sharon was enjoying watching his hole get deeper. "Oh dad," she shook her head at him. "Just stop. You're making it worse."

"He really has no idea," Sharon sing-songed. It was cute how he groveled, though.

"Okay, stop begging. It's just sad." Ricky picked up the flat gift box and held it out to them. "Just open this. She'll get all emotional and it will be fine."

"Wow." Nicole stared at him.

"Hm." Sharon hummed.

Ricky shrugged at them. "What?"

Sharon took the box from him. "You are your father's son."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ricky looked at Charlie. "What is she talking about?"

"How the hell should I know?" He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "I thought it was fine."

Behind them all, Dean chuckled. "Welcome to my world," he told her.

Nicole elbowed him. "Hey."

"I'm sorry baby." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. Over the top of her head he mouthed at Sharon, They are crazy.

She was only too aware of that. Sharon chuckled quietly and set the box on the counter. "What is it?"

"Housewarming." Ricky shrugged. "Just open it, you'll understand it then." He found it quite by accident. "It's from Emily and me. You're to call her later and tell her everything." His sister was in the middle of a show and couldn't get away this time.

Sharon looked up at Andy when he joined her. She used the edge of her thumbnail to separate the sides of the box and moved her hands aside so he could lift the top and place it out of their way. Nestled inside, wrapped in layers of white tissue paper, there was a long, glass frame. From its size, she realized that it must have been custom mounted. It was twice the length of any normal portrait, but not quite poster size. It was edged in sterling silver, but made of gleaming glass front and back. Sharon lifted it carefully and turned it over. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized what it was. "Ricky…"

"I found it when I was looking through the pictures that Nicole took the day of the wedding. It was a total accident. When I saw it, I showed it to Emily. She agreed that we should get them both blown up and mounted." He walked over and leaned against the counter on its other side. "I don't know how you managed it, but it was a pretty damned close recreation."

"Yes." She was staring at the pictures, mounted side by side. The older of the two had obviously been touched up and enlarged, as she knew that the original had been very small. They must have found it in the box of keepsakes, she realized. She shook her head. Her lips parted but there was no sound forthcoming. The second picture was very nearly an exact duplicate. It was hard to believe that it hadn't been posed, but she knew that it was a coincidence. She and Andy were standing together and just as before, she was turned into him. She was laughing, and from the look on Ricky's face, she realized it must have been something that he said. He was standing with Rusty beside her, and the look on her youngest son's face seemed to indicate that Ricky was indeed the culprit in that moment. Andy had an arm wrapped around her, and his face was turned into her hair while he tried not to laugh. Beside him, Emily was leaning into his side. Her hand was gripping his arm as she bent forward, laughing at whatever had prompted the moment of hilarity.

They were twenty-five years apart, but two very similar moments caught and frozen in time. She couldn't say what was happening in either moment, but the emotion was preserved. Sharon's fingers hovered over the older depiction. She remembered staring at that picture a number of times over the years, before she had finally hidden it away. She had forgotten about it until that moment. Staring at it now, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth.

Ricky was correct. As she leaned into her husband she forgot that she was pretending to be irritated with him. She looked up at him. Her eyes were lit with emotion. "You were right," She said thickly, finally uttering the words he wanted her to say about the house, but that she playfully withheld. At his confused look she placed her hand against his chest and drew a thin breath. "We probably would have been okay."

They couldn't know for sure, because they couldn't go back. They buried the past and called it moving on. In the end, the only ones that they had lied to were themselves. They had simply been too hurt and lost to see it. Now it was looking back at them, and there was no denying it. They had loved, but they had been too scared to try. The past was gone, but by some odd twist of fate, they still had the present, and they had the future. It was a truth they couldn't hide from.

They could divide yesterday by today, and still they would get tomorrow, it was the only answer they would be provided, because it was the only direction in which to go. There was hope in that. There was hope for them. This time they were going to make it.

-THE END-

A/N: Thank you all for reading. Your comments, favorites, and follows have been wonderful; they were so greatly appreciated.

Special thank you's to: kate04us, deenikn8, Most Bossy Robin, OldFashionedGrl for listening to my rambling, the freak-outs, and helping with the grammar.