The Bookmine

By Kadi

Rated K+

Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox, but I do love playing in it!

A/N: This concludes our trip into the alternate universe. Thank you again to everyone who followed along. You rock!

Chapter 6

This was not how it was meant to happen. Andy realized that once he and Sharon began getting serious about one another that they would eventually need to meet each other's families. More specifically, they would be meeting each other's kids. He and Rusty were on their way to having an okay relationship, and Sharon had met Nicole when he was hurt. His daughter was already fond of his girlfriend. They had gone out to dinner with Nicole and her family a handful of times during the intervening months.

Charlie was his eldest. His son had moved north for a few years, and had lived in Sacramento until the previous winter when he had come home to be closer to the family. Andy couldn't be prouder of the man that he had become, but his relationship with his son wasn't as close as the one that he shared with Nicole. Charlie was older, he remembered more. He knew all of the good and unfortunately, he also knew all of the bad. Both of his kids had witnessed the fights with their mother, the stumbling drunkenness, or the number of times that he missed a family occasion because he was on the road or out with the guys. Nicole was a few years younger than Charlie, though, and her memories were more vague. It was easier for her to forgive and move forward. Charlie just couldn't forget, even if he had managed to forgive his father for those early years, those memories were always in the back of his mind. It made him more wary of the relationship that he had with the man. He tried, they both did, but they were also a pair of stubborn, hot-blooded men. Charlie was his father's son, a fact that he had no problem admitting.

His son had even played ball in school. Charlie was a pitcher. In Andy's opinion he had one of the best arms in the state. It had taken him all the way to a scholarship at Berkeley. Andy still thought that Charlie could have gone deep in the Major League. It wasn't a dream that his son had, though. Charlie had enjoyed pitching in college, but he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. He had gotten a degree in Architecture instead. Charlie liked working with his hands; he had an affinity for building, and even more of one for designing the structures that he built. Andy was proud as hell of him, and so with his current situation, Charlie was the first person that he thought of.

Sharon had come to him a few weeks ago. Some of the businesses in the retail district where her store was located were getting together to sponsor a charity event for a Youth Shelter located on Sunset. The shelter was especially important to Sharon. It was where Rusty had gone when he was hungry, and couldn't find the means to feed himself. He had slept there when he needed to feel safe, and had nowhere else to crash. It was also where he had gone when he was sick, or hurt, and there was nowhere else in the world for him. Sharon was convinced that shelter had saved her son's life, and at the very least, sustained it until she had crossed his path and folded him into her family.

By the time that she had finished her story, Andy was already on board with helping out with whatever the charity might be. If she needed cash, or extra hands, or even someone to go out and make people donate, he was willing to help. When she mentioned that the charity event that was being sponsored was a baseball game, he felt even better about it. This was something that he knew about, and he was excited at the idea of being able to help out. When she had asked permission to use his name and his history as a professional player, to bill his stats and highlights from his career, he hadn't minded at all. She asked him to help coach the team, and he agreed.

That wasn't how things had gone down.

Once Sharon's fundraising committee had gotten a good look at his history and began building their team, they decided it would be an even better pull for bringing people out to the game if he was playing. Andy thought that was the worst damned idea he had ever heard. He hadn't played in almost twenty years. He coached players. He didn't suit up and go out on the field with them. His knees were starting to go south, his back had seen better days, and hell but just the idea of it made him feel old. Sharon was enthusiastic about the idea. The committee wanted it, and if it was good for the charity, then she was even more in favor of it. She encouraged him to give it a try. Andy decided pretty quickly that Sharon was out of her damned mind.

That was when he called Charlie. If Andy was going to do this damned thing, he wanted to put together a team of guys that he could read. He was damned if he was going to end up falling on his ass in front of a bunch of people that were paying to basically watch some washed up old dude make a fool of himself. At least, that was how Provenza had described it. Andy had roped him in to helping too. If he was going down, he wasn't going down by himself. Of course, Provenza refused. Andy expected that, it was why he asked him in front of his wife; the newest one, and the one that might just end up sticking it out with the old grump. Andy made for damned sure that Patrice was around when he told Provenza about the fundraiser. She was on board immediately, and although his old friend had originally turned him down, by the next day his tune had changed.

An experienced coach from a local college was a good find for the charity baseball team. Even if they weren't playing to win, it gave them an edge in their fundraising. The rest of the team, and their opposing team, was made up of locals, mainly the family and friends of the business owners that were sponsoring the events. Word spread pretty quickly and some of Andy's players had even signed on to both teams. Matt was one of them. He would be playing on Andy's team. He was doing a lot better than when Andy had first met Sharon. He had a ways to go yet, but his grades had improved. Matt had lowered his class load that spring semester, keeping only enough hours to be able to continue playing. He was taking a couple of classes during the summer to catch up, but it was worth it. Andy was proud of the progress that he made, and even prouder when he volunteered his time for the fundraiser. It felt good having guys around him that he knew, that he could read well.

They had put together a hell of a lineup. With Matt at second base and Charlie pitching, and a couple of his guys in the outfield, Andy didn't feel so bad about putting on his catcher gear and making an idiot out of himself. He kept telling himself that it was for a good cause. That was until Sharon mentioned that her eldest son, Ricky, wanted to help out too. She had mentioned the event to him, and he and his little brother were working on building a closer relationship. Ricky wanted to be part of it, and whether or not he actually volunteered or Sharon was letting him believe that he had after leading him to that conclusion, Andy didn't know. He wasn't going to comment on it either way, but now he had a third base guy, and apparently a pretty good one.

The thing was, Andy had never seen Ricky play. Sharon was excited at the idea, and the young man had gone to school on a scholarship much as his son had. Sharon had still paid for most of Ricky's education at Stanford, but his baseball scholarship had helped out. He hadn't played since, so he was a little out of practice. Andy expressed concerns that the rest of the team was local while Ricky lived just outside of San Francisco in Palo Alto, but Sharon had apparently taken care of that too. Ricky showed up a week after the team was organized and was staying with his mother for the duration. Apparently owning his own computer startup had the added advantages of his being able to work from Los Angeles.

It was an awkward as hell situation. He had his son and hers playing on the same team with him, and his good pal and colleague laughing at the whole damned thing. If that wasn't enough, Rusty had gotten in on the fun. He decided to do a story for his VLOG to cover the fundraiser and what it meant to homeless youths to keep shelters like the one on Sunset operating. He was going to use highlights from the game in the story, and had even gotten a professional cameraman to sign on to shoot the footage for him. Rusty's friend Buzz was going to be volunteering his time and equipment to help out with that aspect of the event.

So if it wasn't bad enough that a lot of people would be watching, it would end up being on film for god only knew how long to come. Andy made a vow that if Sharon ever came to him again, sporting a sweet smile and fluttering her lashes at him, he would run the other damned direction. God almighty he loved that woman, but she did have a way of wrapping him around her little finger before he realized that she had even done it. Besotted. That's what he was. That was what Provenza called it. He was a besotted fool.

Although, she did come up with some of the nicest ways of thanking him, so Andy decided that it couldn't be all that bad. Not that he really needed to be thinking about that when he should be focusing on the game, and definitely not when he was crouched down behind home plate in the middle of a field where dozens of people had shown up and shelled out for a good cause. He absolutely did not need to be thinking about it while he was trying to get it across to his stubborn son that he should lay off the curve balls and come at the kid batting with a changeup. He knew this kid, the player was one of his, he would swing at it, and they would get the out. Charlie was being his son though. He knew what he wanted to throw, and he intended to do it, his catcher's recommendations be damned. To make it even more interesting, his daughter was in the crowd with her husband and stepsons, so no, he definitely did not need to be thinking about all the ways in which Sharon would be making this up to him later.

Andy sighed as he shifted position to get ready for the pitch. His knees were aching, his back was throbbing; he was too damned old to be playing this game. His shoulders were tense and tight and that was only contributing to the pain in his back. His body stiffened as the pitch came. It was another damned curve ball. The kid at bat swung and he heard the sound of the bat connecting with the ball. The ball popped foul, however. Andy stood up, launching out of his position, faster than he probably should have but he ignored the popping of his knees as he shoved the helmet back on his head and tracked the position of the ball. He twisted and felt his back strain. Andy moved as quickly as he could as the ball moved up and overhead. It wasn't going to make it to the fence behind him. He jogged over to get under it as it came down; a thousand words went through his head, and none of them polite enough to be voiced in front of another human being, but he made the catch.

The ball landed in his glove and he was vaguely aware of the umpire calling the out, but they had another problem. The player on second was making a run for third. Andy twisted again, took the lead off, and grimaced at the pain in his shoulder when he pitched the ball to third. Oh yeah, Sharon was going to owe him, but that was only if he lived long enough to collect. He was still cursing up a storm inside his head as he watched Ricky catch the ball and move into position at the base. He stepped on the bag and tagged the player out as he slid in. Andy looked toward the scoreboard. Damn. They still had three innings to go. It was going to be a long day.

In the stands Sharon cheered loudly. She and her group, which had been comprised of Andy's daughter and son-in-law and their family, had managed to get a spot just behind home plate. They were able to see Andy's play firsthand. Sharon had not imagined that he could still play like that. She turned to Nicole as their team made their way back to the dugout to take their turn at bat. "When they asked him to play, I never expected your father to take me up on it."

Nicole started laughing. "Oh god, don't tell him that." She had heard her father's grumbling about the upcoming game. She had spoken to Charlie about it at length. The old man didn't get around on the ball field as well as he used to, but it was all for a good cause and all in good fun.

"Not a chance." Sharon shifted against her stadium cushion and crossed her legs. "This has actually been very good for him. I think he is enjoying it a lot more than he is letting on."

"Wow. He's moving really slow." Rusty appeared beside them. They were taking a break from filming while the teams changed field positions. "I guess that one really hurt."

Sharon's lips pursed. Her head turned slowly. She looked over the rims of her sunglasses at him. "Do you need something?" His flippant remarks were not going unrecognized, but she was choosing to not comment on it, and they both knew it.

"No. Just stopped to say hi." Rusty smiled widely. "Gus went to get us some drinks." His gaze turned back to the dugout. "He's, like, really moving slow right now. Sharon, this might have been a bad idea. Isn't throwing your back out at his age dangerous or something?"

She followed his gaze and yes, Andy was moving a little slowly at removing his catcher's gear. He didn't seem to be at all debilitated, however. It wasn't nearly as bad as Rusty was insisting upon making it. She rubbed her lips together and focused her attention on the man that was with him. Her smile curved widely. "Hello, Buzz. Thank you for helping out today."

"It really was not a problem," he told her, and not for the first time. "Rusty, be nice," he added. He gave the younger man a pointed look. He was determined to poke at his mother and her boyfriend and he was getting dangerously close to that place now where his mouth would get him in to trouble.

"What?" He tried to look innocent. "I am being nice!" Rusty waved a hand toward the dugout. "I'm worried about the old guy. What if he has a heat stroke or something?"

Beside Sharon, Nicole snorted a quiet laugh. The older woman ignored it. Her eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. "Rusty," there was a warning note in her tone. "Shouldn't you go and film something? I have an idea," she tilted her head at him. "What if you go and interview some of the players that have volunteered their time today." She paused for a moment and then added, quite pointedly, "on the opposing team."

"Better idea. I am going to go ask Andy." Rusty popped up from his seat. "Someone should check on him. You call yourself his girlfriend."

They watched him go. Buzz sighed as he stood up. He gestured with his camera. "I should go and..."

"Yes, I think that you should," Sharon agreed. He would need to film it, but he would be keeping Rusty out of trouble too.

Nicole watched them go. She laughed again. "Dad is going to eat that little smart aleck alive," she mused.

"Yes." A smile slowly curved Sharon's lips. "Yes, he is. I think a little lesson in humility will be very good for Rusty." Her brow arched and she slanted a look at Nicole. "As an added bonus, your brother and his will be right there to watch the entire exchange and I am sure that Ricky and Charlie will be glad to offer whatever assistance they can."

"I..." Nicole didn't know what to say to that. She stared at the other woman. She watched Sharon turn her attention back to the field. There was a smug smile on her face. She had set Rusty up and quite happily. Nicole was certain that the older boys would help, all right. They would provide the banana peel for Rusty to slip on after he finished digging his own hole. Sharon didn't have to take the bait that Rusty was tossing her way; Nicole knew that her father would and with a good deal of frustration and biting sarcasm too. Sharon could sit back and watch it all, stepping in only if it got out of hand. "This may just be more interesting than the game," Nicole decided.

Sharon only hummed. She watched Rusty make his way around the field to the dugout. What followed could only be described as pure enjoyment on her part.

Andy winced as he reached down to free the straps of his leg guards. He pulled them off and placed them on the bench beside him. He had already gotten rid of the chest guards and helmet. His back was definitely giving him hell, and from the look of their batting line up, he was going to be up this inning. He made a mental note to foul out because the idea of having to run the bases was making his knees throb even worse. He was really beginning to understand why Provenza always proclaimed, quite vehemently, that he did not run.

Speaking of his old pal, Andy gritted his teeth and resolved to try harder to ignore him. The incessant griping that he was doing wasn't helping his nerves a whole lot. Andy counted to ten and reminded himself that this was all for a really good cause.

"This is not the World Series," he groused. "It's not even the minor leagues. If you want to show off for your girlfriend, do it where the rest of us don't have to watch it." Provenza paced up and down the length of the dugout while he lectured. "Now we're all going to have to deal with your complaining, and if we're lucky, we won't have to carry you out of here when this is over with." He shook his finger at his old friend and colleague, "You know, a man your age should know better. You should be aware of your limitations. We should be sitting in the shade somewhere..."

Andy rolled his eyes and exhaled another slow breath. It was anything but calming. "We are sitting in the shade," he gritted out. He rolled his shoulders and reached for his batting gloves. "I don't know what you're complaining about. You stand by the base and you tell everyone what to do. You got the easy job."

Provenza stopped pacing and turned. He pushed his ball cap back on his head and pointed a finger at the other man. "Yes, I do. Do you know why I have the easy job? Because I am smart enough to know when to say no. It isn't a hard word, just two letters. N and O."

"Yeah?" Andy stood up and stretched the muscles in his back. That was a mistake. It was trying to seize up on him. He just hoped they made it through the game before he limped away to lick his wounds in peace. "Funny how you didn't have such an easy time saying no to this. Tell me again, why did you change your mind?"

Provenza's lips pulled back in a sneer. "Shut up. My wife thought it was a good cause, and she's not exactly wrong. Besides, all I'm doing is coaching. That is something that you should have been doing, but oh no. Mister Big-shot-major-league has to show off for the pretty lady."

Rusty chose that moment to slip into the dugout. "She is going to be mad," he said, tagging on to the end of the older man's tirade. "If she finds out that you did all of this out of some macho need to impress her..." Rusty winced. "You're in for it." His head inclined. "How are you anyway? You don't look so great. Should we, like, take you to a hospital or something?"

Ricky's brows climbed into his hairline. Little brother was laying it on really thick. He elbowed the man beside him. When Charlie looked up from tightening the laces on his baseball cleats, Ricky jerked his head toward the other end of the dugout. "Little brother wants to know if we should call an ambulance."

Charlie had his ball cap turned around backwards. He leaned forward and looked down the line of players at his dad. "You know, he has looked better. Maybe we should get a closer look."

"We really should," Ricky agreed. They both left their spots on the bench to move closer.

That little added bit of sarcasm was just the tipping point that he needed. Andy stood up and scowled at all of them. "I'm not that damned old. For the record, I'm doing this for you, not your mom," he snapped at Rusty. "So tell me something, funny guy, have you got a dance routine to go along with all that crap you're yapping?" He grabbed his bat and stepped out of the dugout to start loosening up for his turn at the plate.

"Smooth little brother, real smooth." Ricky dropped an arm around his shoulders. "I don't think he's in such a great mood anymore."

"Nope." Charlie leaned against the fence that separated them from the field. "He's kinda miffed. You know what that means. He's going to swing harder."

"He will probably even hit something," Ricky agreed.

"Then he will have to run." Provenza threw his hands up and walked away, shaking his head. "Love sick idiot."

"Good job, kid." Ricky ruffled his brother's hair with a smirk. He knew that bothered the hell out of him. "Hey, do us a favor, make sure to get it all on camera. I bet mom will want to play it over, and over..."

By the time that the game had ended, Andy wanted nothing more than a hot shower and to fall into a coma. He did not think that there was any part of his body that wasn't in pain. His team had won, however, even if that wasn't the point of their charity exhibition. He wasn't about to give any of the younger players the satisfaction of knowing just how badly he was hurting. Provenza was giving him a knowing look, but Andy had only bared his teeth at the other man and hissed at him as he walked by.

As he left the dugout, his bag with his gear thrown over his shoulder, he found Sharon waiting for him. She was leaning against the concrete wall, hands clasped in front of her. She had pushed her shades into her hair and when she spotted him, a smile curved her lips. He could see the sympathy in her gaze. Andy sighed wearily. He should have known that he wouldn't be able to hide it from her. "Hey." Andy stopped in front of her.

"Hey yourself." Sharon pushed away from the wall and took a step closer. He was sweaty and dirty, but she laid a hand against his side and leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. "Good game," she told him, and meant it. They had all played well, Andy included, even if he was paying for it now. "The turnout today was much higher than anyone expected." She knew that his presence, along with the several members of his college team, had a lot to do with that. There had been quite a lot of advertising done for them by word of mouth. "We are not going to know how much we raised today until sometime in the next week, but I think we did very good." There had been other donations too, placed directly to the shelter, by those who would not be able to attend the game. Sharon had a feeling that it was all going to add up to a very nice sum. "Thank you."

To see her smile like that and to know that her gratitude was real helped him to ignore pain and fatigue that he was feeling. "It was a good day," he told her. "I'm glad that everyone could enjoy it as much as we did." He shifted the strap of his sport bag against his shoulder. The boys stopped beside him and Andy glanced at them. "What do you have going on for the rest of the day," he asked Charlie.

"Well," he flashed a crooked grin. "Rumor has it that there's a game day tradition that has to be upheld." Charlie jerked his head toward Ricky. "Something about pizza and beer?"

Sharon's brows rose. "The tradition is pizza and ice cream," she cast a pointed look at her eldest son. "You can buy your own beer, if you insist on having it. Just remember, most of this team isn't legally old enough to partake." Her head tilted and her lips pursed. She thought about it for just a moment before nodding her head. "Tradition is tradition. Pizza it is. Go and ask the others if they would like to join us. We can meet up at Mariano's. Make sure that they know that it is my treat." It would be big enough to seat a crowd, especially if the majority of their team ended up joining them.

"First round is on you," Ricky nudged Charlie as they left to round up the rest of their team.

Andy shook his head as the boys took off. "Sharon, you don't have to do that." He grinned at her. Andy wondered how long it had been since she had met a group of boys this large. "The minute those guys hear the words free pizza it's going to be all over."

She laughed. "Probably. It has not been that long, Andy." Sharon moved alongside him and slipped her arm around his waist. "I will expense it to the store. It can be considered a charitable write-off." Not that she was worried about the money, not on a day like this one. "How bad is it?" She asked gently, quietly, so the others wouldn't hear.

A ragged sigh was her answer. "Not that bad," he lied. When she rolled her eyes toward him, Andy shrugged. "It will be okay. I may want to die later."

Sharon hummed sympathetically and rubbed his back. "Nicole is going to join us for dinner with Dean and the boys," it was obvious that she had already planned on taking everyone out for pizza. "I think they were as impressed today as I was."

"Oh yeah?" Andy dropped an arm around her shoulders. His brow arched, but his eyes were dancing with amusement. "How impressed were you?"

"Well, now that you mention it…" She began with a small smirk. "There is a bag in my car. I thought that I might follow you home this evening and show you."

Andy kissed the side of her head. "Best day ever," he decided, and his low chuckle joined hers as they made their way to the parking lot.

"That does not bode well for us," Sharon commented. Across the lot their sons, his and both of hers, had their heads together. "Did we think that they would get along this well?"

"I was kind of hoping." Andy played with the ends of her hair as they walked. "It's not a bad thing, though. Right?" He looked down at her, genuinely wondering. He had already decided that she was it for him, but it had only been a few months.

"No." She smiled gently up at him. "It really is not. I am actually pleased that they seem to like one another. If this keeps going, that will be important."

Andy stopped walking. He turned her toward him. His hand slipped down to hold hers. His eyes held a wealth of meaning as he held her gaze. "It will keep going," he said.

"How can you be so sure?" Sharon's question was built on a genuine curiosity. They could not predict the future. She knew what she wanted. The problem was that there were often forces outside of themselves. Life did not always agree. They both had pasts that had taught them that.

"Because it's what I want," he told her. "It's what you want. There's not a lot that you could do that would make me stop loving you and I'm going to do my best to make sure that I don't blow it all to hell either. I'm not going anywhere."

It was as close to a promise as either of them could make at this point in their lives. Some day that might change. They might be able to strengthen that commitment. For now, it just worked. She took a step forward and moved back into the crook of his arm. "Neither am I," she told him. "I want it too."

"Then let's have it." It was as simple as that, as far as he was concerned. The truth was that Andy knew it was also complicated as hell. They had their jobs, their kids, friends, and families that they would have to juggle and blend. It wasn't going to be easy. They were going to fight. They wouldn't always like each other. As long as they kept holding on, they could work out whatever got tossed into their path. No, they couldn't predict what would happen. That was a book that hadn't been written yet. Those pages remained empty, just waiting to be filled.

~FIN