AWESOME

On August 18, 1986, Lucy and Jonathan officially became parents when their son was brought into the world. She was only seventeen at the time and didn't have much in the way of money, and she knew it would be too difficult to keep her new baby boy taken care of. His father died a few weeks before he was born in an accident that claimed his life.

Lucy made the decision to put him up for adoption, and requested they keep the name she'd chosen for him, Andrew Jonathan, after his dad. It killed her to part ways from him but she knew it was in his best interest and it would be his best chance at having a bright future. It took a few weeks, but he was adopted by the couple he would grow up knowing as 'mom' and 'dad.'

Charlotte and Richard Kostner tried for some years to have a baby of their own but nothing was working. They spent years and money on procedures and tests, but still no child to call their own. Adoption was their next step after giving up and even though Andrew seemed to cry a lot and disturb the rest of the kids trying to sleep, they thought he was perfect. They saw a baby who needed the love and support he wasn't being provided with and gave him just that while raising him as their own and the money to help.

AJ didn't want for much when he was growing up. He was given everything he not only needed, but also the things he wanted. Around the age of thirteen was when his parents finally decided he was old enough to know he was adopted, but he didn't take the news as well as they'd hoped for. He started acting out and had a need to be the center of attention in high school. AJ liked having all eyes on him and even if it was negative attention it was still all good to him. He didn't care about the future and didn't bother to worry about preparing for college, something he regretted once he was finally there.

After finding out about his parents, he didn't want to find them right away. He was stubborn about it and never wanted to actually meet them. They gave him up and in his eyes they didn't deserve to meet him. That fire burned beneath him for years and after high school seemed like his chance. He found his birth mother and her new family living in Boston. She told him how his father, who was a cop at the time of his death, had died in a fire while trying to help save a victim in the chaos. The tale only sparked the idea to become one himself. He enrolled in a community college in Boston to complete an undergraduate education in criminal justice and law enforcement. And AJ also found out more about the family his parents came from while he spent time with Lucy. She was originally from Kentucky and had a sister who died years ago from cancer.

He moved briefly to New York for a period of time before finally transferring to California. Although he reconnected with his birth mother, nothing could replace the parents who raised him and he still keeps in contact with them. He's sarcastic and sometimes crude and not the greatest when it comes to women, but the passing of his father inspired him to become a better man than he'd been before, and he found his way into the Huntington Beach Police Department after some additional training classes that were specific to California he made the transfer complete.