Chapter Text
She knew it the moment she stepped through the door and before she had even set her purse down. Jack’s keys were on the floor, his tie and jacket a few feet away. Sharon pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath as she scooped his items off the floor. She set his keys by her purse and carried his clothes further into the too-silent house with her. It was after 11 and she hoped that Ricky and Emily were asleep by now, even though she was desperate to see her kids.
Sighing, Sergeant Raydor slowly made her way into the kitchen and shook her head at the sight. She was going to outright strangle her husband when she found him. Assuming he stuck around long enough. She groaned and hugged his clothes close for a moment before she reached up and undid her bun, lightly shaking her hair free. The headache that had slowly been forming throughout the day was nearing unbearable now and she was ready for a pain reliever and bed. Not this.
Sharon dumped out the two half empty bottles of wine before she tossed them in the trash and turned the kitchen and hallway lights off. She made her way upstairs, pausing only to grab her husband’s shoes on the way up. She swallowed as she cracked Ricky’s door open, leaning in to look at her eight year old son. HE was sleeping peacefully on his stomach, the blankets shoved to the end of his bed. She smiled and shut his door to check on her daughter; Emily was curled up on her side with a book resting beside her. The sight made Sharon’s heart clench—she must have been waiting for Jack to read her a bedtime story and the damn man had probably been too drunk.
She shook her head and shut Emily’s door before she finally ventured into her bedroom. She was slightly surprised to see Jack had made it all the way to the bed where it looked like he had passed out midway through undressing. Deciding to leave him be, she tossed his clothes in the hamper and dropped his shoes in the closet.
Working as silently as possible, she changed into her pajamas and washed her face. Jack snored from the bedroom and was still sound asleep by the time she was ready for bed. She swallowed two pain pills and left two by the bed with a full glass of water for Jack in the morning. She watched him for a moment, wondering why the hell he had shown up today. She decided not to fret about it tonight. If he was gone come morning, so be it. Otherwise, she’d have time to find out. Slowly, the exhausted woman trudged back down the hall to the spare bedroom. She collapsed in the bed and barely managed to make it under the covers before fell asleep.
She made sure to wake early the next morning, unwilling to leave her children alone with their father any longer than necessary. She reluctantly pushed herself out of bed and fumbled on the nightstand for her glasses. She put them on and listened for the sound of anyone in the house moving. When she heard silence, her shoulders relaxed a little. She let out a long breath and made sure the three other Raydors were sleeping before she made her way downstairs and turned the coffeepot on. Yawning, she set about washing the dishes and mess that Jack had left the night before, feeling her anger build up with each wine spill or mess she could pinpoint on him. He was worse than a child!
By the time she had finished cleaning and downed her coffee and breakfast, it was time to get her kids up. She reluctantly made her way upstairs and gently shook Emily awake first by gently shaking her shoulder.
“Hey, sweetie. Time to wake up.” Emily groaned and shifted around in her small bed, stretching and yawning loudly. Sharon smiled as she watched her slowly come to, rubbing at her eyes before they blinked open.
“Morning, Mom,” the young girl mumbled as she sat up. Her braided hair was tousled from sleep, dark strands going every which way. Dark hair so much like her father.
“Good morning,” Sharon hummed as she stood up so Emily could get out of bed. “Don’t forget you have ballet after school, so make sure to take your stuff.” Emily nodded sleepily and Sharon watched her for a moment. “Get dressed and I’ll have breakfast for you when you’re done.”
“Thanks...” the eleven year old yawned.
Sharon left her daughter to get ready and moved into Ricky’s room where the young boy was snoring peaceful. She shook her head and smiled fondly as she roused him too, though it required more nudging and name-calling than Emily did.
Jack still wasn’t awake by the time Sharon ushered her kids onto the bus and returned to the house, glancing at the clock. She was grateful--in a way--to have the day off. As long as there were no major Internal Affairs issues, there was no reason she’d have to go into work. She took a deep breath and showered herself, deciding she couldn’t have this conversation in her pajamas.
She wasn’t as gentle with Jack as she had been with waking her kids. She pushed him onto his back using his shoulder and stared at him from her side of the bed, two sharp calls of his name finally bringing him too.
“S-Sharon?” he groaned, blinking against the bright light streaming through the blinds she had opened a few minutes prior. “Christ, my head hurts.”
“No wonder,” she huffed. “Had nearly a bottle of wine last night. God knows what you had before you came home. Speaking of,” She paused long enough to hand the medicine and water to him, “what made you decide to come home?”
“What?” He spluttered and set the water down, still blinking as he turned his back on the windows and looked up at her. “What do you mean? You’re my wife, our kids are here. Why wouldn’t I come home?”
Sharon laughed and rested her hands on her hips. “You’ve been gone for two weeks, Jack. You disappeared without a word. You left--” Her voice started shaking and she stopped to get it under control again. The emotions that had been building up for two weeks were finally surfacing. “You left Emily at her ballet studio and she wasn’t even surprised. She called and asked if you had left again. She’s eleven and all you’ve taught her is how undependable you are. Instead, I had to drop everything I was doing, again, so I could pick her up.”
“She’s your daughter too. You can help--”
“Don’t. You. Dare,” she hissed, effectively silencing her husband. “Don’t you dare tell me that I can help out more around here.” She wanted to ask what had happened last night, but she was afraid she didn’t want to know the answer. “How dare you come home drunk. How dare you abandon your daughter at ballet, abandon your children overall. How dare you, Jack.”
He cringed and she shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was livid and struggling to hold back her tears as she stared at Jack. She couldn’t hide the emotions that had done nothing but fester for two weeks. If she was honest, the feelings had been growing for longer than that. This certainly wasn’t the first time he had left and she was fed up with his unreliability. A part of her had hoped that he wouldn’t come back this time.
“I need help,” Jack finally said, his voice soft.
“Damn right about that.”
“No, I’ve... I got myself into trouble.” Sharon’s eyes widened a bit and her jaw clenched. “I owe some people some money and I need to pay up. I was hoping you could, you know. Spot me?”
Sharon clenched her hands until her nails dug into her palms as she felt her heart jump up into her throat. She didn’t know what to say, but she knew what she wanted to do.
“Did you come home... just to ask for money?” Her voice had calmed down, though she was anything but calm.
“Well, yeah... and to stay with you for a few days.”
“You... Oh, my god!” She dug her nails into her palm harder to stop herself from slapping her husband across the face. Her body was nearly vibrating with the anger contained and she was fighting to stay calm. “How dare you,” she finally whispered. “No, no. I’m done. Sort your own messes out.” She turned and started for the bedroom door with no idea of where she was going.
“Wait, Sharon! Sharon! My messes are your messes, remember! For better or for worse?” Jack yelled after her, but she did her best to tune him out.
She took the stairs two at a time and slipped into her tennis shoes by the door. She grabbed her phone and purse and hurried from the house. She noticed how her husband didn’t even bother to follow her. She climbed into her car and started the engine, tears streaming down her face before she had even pulled out of the driveway.
Somehow, she ended up in the parking garage of the LAPD. Her day off and she would rather be at work than at home. Sharon huffed and dried her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. She cleared her throat and glanced at herself in the mirror, silently cursing her husband in her head.
When she decided she was composed enough to go inside, she opened her door and swore when it nearly collided with a uniformed man. She quickly shut the door until she was sure he was out of the way and then slid out and shut the door again. She came face to face with Detective Andrew Flynn, someone she knew all too well from his IA file.
“Detective Flynn...” She swallowed, ashamed to see that her hands were still shaking.
“Shit, watch where you’re going!” He glared at her and her eyebrow shot up, all sense of her sympathy disappearing. Here was someone who had as much of a problem with alcohol as her husband did. She didn’t know much of his personal life, but she sensed it couldn’t be very spectacular.
“Do keep in mind that you’re talking to a superior officer, Detective,” she warned, her gaze hardening as she watched him. This was considerably easier than fretting over her failed marriage.
“Yeah, whatever.” Flynn turned and started for the elevator. Sharon remained where she was and leaned against her car as soon as he was out of sight. Her stomach rolled unpleasantly and she closed her eyes for a few moments.
Maybe work wasn’t the place Sharon wanted to be right now, but nothing else was coming to mind. She knew her boss would get upset about the overtime, but she could deal with that later. Sighing, she grabbed her purse and keys and opted to take the stairs into the LAPD office.
Jack stayed a grand total of four days. Long enough for him to sober up and for their kids to get used to his presence again. He left while Sharon was at work, once again abandoning their children. She returned home to find Emily sobbing in her bed, but Ricky was sound asleep. Cautiously, Sharon approached her daughter and sat on the edge of the bed. Her holster dug into her hip, but she ignored it as she leaned over and wrapped her eldest in a tight hug.
“Emily,” she whispered, gently stroking her daughter’s hair. “Hey. Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Daddy… Daddy left,” she sobbed, pressing her face into her mom’s shoulder.
“I know, honey, I know.” She swallowed and hugged Emily a little tighter, unable to form any other words of comfort. How could see tell her daughter that her father was coming back when she wasn’t sure if he would. When she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. “I’m sorry he left, Emily, but I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. I love you.” She kissed her forehead and angled them so they could lay down.
“I love you too,” Emily mumbled, wiping at her eyes before she curled up closer to her mother. Sharon sighed softly and swallowed, gently rocking her daughter until the girl’s sobs quieted down.
“Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight?” Emily nodded mutely and Sharon carefully stood up. She gathered her daughter in her arms and groaned softly at the weight. She carried her into the bedroom and lowered her into the bed, planting another kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
She was changed and in bed within minutes, making sure Emily was bundled up in the blankets and asleep before she managed to fall asleep herself.
The following morning, Sharon managed to negotiate her work hours so she could be home with her kids. Excluding officer-involved shootings, she wouldn’t have to worry about late hours again. Despite how recent her promotion to Sergeant was, she was relieved to already see some of its benefits.