On Board Conduct Unbecoming

Chapter 16 [Sharing Is Caring Bro!]

All parties eventually retired for the rest of the night, but not before Emily issued a stern warning to her mother.
"Ok.. here's the rules MOM... You like RULES right?" Emily began as she stood in front of her mother and Andy. "Whoever goes into the bathroom, IMMEDIATELY locks the other door. This will prevent unnecessary damage to my already delicate psyche, and probably to Andy's too." "Sounds fair" Andy answered her, while Sharon simply pursed her lips trying not to laugh.
Now that the initial shock had started to wear off, Emily decided that she needed, desperately, to traumatise Ricky. It wasn't fair that she had walked into a circus of horrors, while he went to some ridiculous meeting. But first, she decided, she needed a photo of her mother and Andy together. It would be more traumatic for Ricky if it wasn't just a 'happy snap' so she started to think about how she would achieve that.
Still standing in her mother's doorway, she had an idea.
"Mom" she said, getting her phone out. "Can I get a photo of the two of you?"
Sharon's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What for Emily?" she wanted to know.
"Well Mom, now that I'm over the shock, it's nice to see you so happy" she shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I'd just like a photo to remember that happiness once I go home to New York."
"Fine." her mother told her "BUT... nobody in L.A. is aware of anything, and for now we'd prefer it remained that way, so when I tell you that any photos you take are not for distribution, I mean it Emily." she said sternly.
"Yes Mom. I AM an adult you know... as your father continues to point out to me. Ok, ready? Think you could kiss that handsome man for me?" She asked.
Sharon and Andy complied, and Emily snapped several photos so that she could choose the best one for her purpose.
"Thanks" she beamed at them, an impish glint in her eye.
"I don't suppose there's any point in asking you not to discuss this with your brother?" Sharon asked.
"Not a chance in Hell Mom! That sucker should have been here with me to share the damage. You can't take that away from me" she squealed and literally skipped back to her own room.

Text Exchange:
Emily: Hey! DORK! What's doing?
Ricky: Ugh! Sleeping. What the hell Em?
Emily: I'm in Park City.
Ricky: Oh yeah right. (He sat up in bed a little panicked) Is Mom ok Em? What's wrong?
Emily: Depends on how you define OK Rick.
Ricky: What? What's wrong? I'm still half asleep Em don't be cryptic.
Emily: Photo INCOMING! (She sent her choice of the photos she'd snapped of her mother and Andy lip-locked).
Ricky: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK EMILY?
Emily: Language Richard. Don't forget I'm older than you.
Ricky: WHO THE FUCK IS THAT GUY? AND WHAT IS MOM DOING?
Ricky: Where was that photo taken? Is that Mom's BEDROOM Emily?
Emily: Ricky... calm down man! Far out. Emily: That, Ricky, is Lieutenant Andy Flynn of the LAPD.
Ricky: I'm so confused.
Emily: You want to know about confused? I'll tell you about confused Richard.
Emily: Grandpa lured me up here under completely false pretenses, at almost midnight, knowing everyone was in bed.
Emily: The child he is, he sent me up to bed with no explanation of ANYTHING.
Emily: Let's just say, I have now seen more of our mother than I EVER wanted to see. YOU should have been with me.
Ricky: What? What are you telling me Em? WHAT on Earth did you see? Do I even want to know?
Emily: No you don't, but I am stuck with the images in my head, so you should suffer too.
Ricky: Wait... is he SLEEPING in there with Mom?
Emily: Yes and no Rick.
Ricky: Emily you're annoying me now. Either he is or he isn't.
Emily: If my walking in there to him in Mom's bed, naked...
Emily: And Mom straddling him, also naked, is sleeping in there, then I guess the answer is yes Richard.
Emily: You are SO DENSE sometimes.
Ricky: No. No no no no Emily this isn't funny. Don't bullshit me about that kind of crap. Oh my eyes my eyes Em.
Emily: I swear that I am not lying to you. (Emily sent through several more photos)
Ricky: Mom is SLEEPING with the guy?
Emily: Ricky if there was any DOUBT...the images in my head confirm it.
Ricky: We'll talk more in the morning Ems. I'm going to go rock in the corner for a while.
Emily: Seeya DORK! Oh, and by the way, YOU'RE WELCOME! SHARING IS CARING BRO!

With a satisfied smile, Emily pulled the covers up over her and tried to sleep. It was going to be a very long night.

Sharon and Andy were, likewise trying to get some much needed sleep. Curled up against each other, weary after the Bob & Emily show, they were starting to drift off when Sharon's phone buzzed.

Text Exchange:
Ricky: SHARON STELLA O'DWYER. This is your son Richard speaking.
Sharon sighed, sharing the screen with Andy.
Sharon: Yes Richard? It's 2am. How may I help you?
Ricky: I notice you didn't tell me you were sleeping.
Sharon: Well I was almost asleep Ricky.
Ricky: Mom, Emily is hurting my brain. Tell me she is just being bratty because I'm not there with her.
Sharon: Ricky, what is it that you want to know? (Insert exasperated huff here)
Ricky: Lieutenant Andy Flynn.
Sharon: Yes? (Andy is audibly laughing beside her at this point)
Ricky: MOM! Come ON. Is what Emily told me true or not?
Sharon: I'll call you, since you're clearly not asleep Richard.

Exasperated by her children being childish, Sharon decided to just call Ricky.
"Andy... Can I just facetime him? It'll save a lot of time." she asked with wide innocent eyes pleading.
"Seriously? Now? From here? What have I gotten myself into here?" he asked.
A pout was all it took to get him to agree.
"Richard!" she said as his face appeared on the screen. "Ok can we just be adults for the purpose of this conversation please?" She asked him sternly.
"Mom... Emily said some truly scary things to me, and I'm traumatised. I don't want to adult at the moment Mommy please." Both Sharon and Andy burst out laughing at his comment, and it was then that Ricky realised his mother was not alone.
"Ricky this is Andy Flynn" she told him, turning the phone so that Andy could wave (and turn several shades of red).
"Lieutenant Flynn, is that right? Emily said you were with the LAPD."
"Yes, yes, your mother outranks me... Laugh it up while you can young man" Andy told him.
"So, um, from the looks of things, Emily wasn't exaggerating Mom? You and Andy are a 'thing'?"
"Yes Ricky, Andy and I are a 'thing' as you say. Of course, we would have preferred to have had the option to tell you ourselves, and Emily too, but your grandfather is in his most competitive prankster mode, and removed the option for us."
"As long as you're happy, and safe Mom, that's what matters." he told her.
"Thank you Ricky" she said with a warm smile.
"I will work on erasing the images Emily created in my mind for the rest of the year, and hopefully see you soon! You too Andy!"
Bidding Ricky farewell, Sharon was already trying to decide what her father's punishment would be. This was going to take some thought.