A Little Twist

The Aftermath

Andy took one deep breath to try and calm her nerves, wishing that they would understand, that everything would turn out fine.

They all watched as Andy sat there, at the end of the table, her arms wrapped around the little girl who was silently eating her apple, resting her head against her mother's chest. As weird and unexpected as it was, the team still found it endearing. They could now see just how much the girl looked like her mom. She had the same nose, the same smile, the same hair, though much curlier, and even the shape of her face was pretty much like Andy's. However, she had also inherited some of her father's physical traits too. She had his skin complexion, maybe a little lighter, and she had his eyes, except their color was nothing like her parents'. They could all see that she did not get those frosty gray eyes from her mother or her father since they both had dark brown eyes. That left them with yet another question: who did she get those beautiful eyes from?

"You can stop staring now." Andy said after a few minutes, breaking the heavy silence.

"Sorry...We...Hmm..." Maya stuttered.

"I know you probably have a million questions right now." Andy stated.

"That's an understatement." Warren mumbled.

"Why did you never talk about them?" Jack asked. "Why are you Maya's roommate when clearly you have your own family? Why..."

"That's enough, Gibson." Sullivan finally spoke up, using his firm captain voice. Since he was sitting next to Andy, he could see her eyes starting to shine with unshed tears, and he could see her body tense up at Jack's questions. "I don't think that's the time or place to answer..."

"It damn well is!" Jack exclaimed, making Olivia jump on her mother's lap.

"Stop that Jack." Andy stated firmly, tightening her hold on her daughter as Sullivan reached out to rub Olivia's back. "Robert's right. I'll answer your questions, but not here."

"But..." Jack started but Herrera quickly cut him off.

"Not. Here. Not when my daughter can hear every word we say. She's been through enough today. I don't want her hearing things she's too young to understand." She explained.

"Could you at least try to explain a little? Just so we can focus on the rest of the shift, keep our heads on work and not on your secrets." Vic asked.

"Hughes..." Sullivan started.

"It's ok." Andy told him, placing a hand on top of the one he had resting on the table. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand, locking her eyes with him. She was silently telling him that she was fine with giving her friends a quick explanation. Robert stared deep into Andy's eyes until he could find an ounce of confidence in them, then nodded his agreement.

"I'm sorry I never told any of you about my family. Robert and I met a few years ago, we had Olivia, I came back to Seattle, and I didn't want to talk about it." She said in one breath.

"And?" Dean said.

"That's it." Andy answered.

"You won't give us anything more?" Vic said.

"Like, we're supposed to wait till the end of the shift to have the rest of the story. I'm sorry but that's nowhere near enough information for us to work that shift peacefully." Travis stated.

"I won't say more." Andy stated, looking at her friends. "Not here anyway."

"Maybe..." Sullivan said, making everyone snap their heads up at him. "Maybe we could have you all over at my place? We will explain everything there. As a captain, as a private person, I really don't want my personal life to be spread out in front of the whole station. Having my kid here is gossip enough." He risked a glance at Andy at the end of his sentence, hoping she would not be mad that he had decided to invite the team at their place without talking to her about it first.