THE OTHER WOMAN

by Miss Shannon

A/N: I wasn't sure whether I was even going to write this, but the idea has been going around in my head for a while. I blame all the babyfics that have been posted lately (you know who you are). As usual, of course, you'll have to suspend your disbelief and you should probably stay away if you don't like the genre... Thank you to everyone on tumblr who has been encouraging me. (This is your fault.)

Summary: All is going well for Andy Flynn and his new relationship. Until everything changes.

Sharon's hands were buried deeply in her pockets, the paper cup of tea in front of her still untouched. The golden light of a late afternoon sun filtered in through the window, drawing crazy patterns on the small round table they were rather awkwardly perched at. Andy was staring at the familiar green logo on their napkins; they were at Starbucks, of all places. The air was heavy with the smell of coffee, permeated by the whirring sound of beans being ground. The silence between them had been lasting for too long, Andy realized, as he looked up into her patient eyes. Her gaze conveyed absolutely nothing. Up until this moment, he had never believed that a human being could actually prevent their emotions from showing so thoroughly.

He knew that he was a cliché, but he asked anyway: "Are you sure?"

She nodded, her eyes darting to the window, a move that he knew was meant to disguise an emotion in them. Her hand was trembling a little as she reached for her tea and then stopped short of actually taking it.

"Yes," she said, her voice modulated and neutral. "It's been three months, Andy."

"Sure." He suddenly felt stupid, his right arm aching slightly as he reached for his coffee, as if to remind him of all the events that had transpired in the meantime.

The silence returned and he tilted his head slightly to watch the pedestrians rushing by outside. Everyone was in a hurry while time seemed to have stopped at their table. A part of him was waiting for her to apologize for not telling him earlier, for struggling to explain how on earth this was even possible or to try and coax any reaction other than silence out of him. Instead she placed her hand on the table and released her fingers around the napkin he hadn't realized she had been clutching.

"I just wanted you to know."

She wasn't asking for anything. Not commitment, not approval, not even any kind of statement. Still, he felt as if he had to give her something, but his mind was blank, his hands shaking as he took another gulp of his coffee, hoping that its bitter taste would somehow kick his brain back into working.

She reached for her handbag that was sitting on the empty third chair at their table and the movement did the trick. She was about to leave, but he was not ready to let her go just yet. He could not possibly be alone with his thoughts right now. Andy opened his mouth to say something, not knowing what it would be until he heard himself say the words.

"You must know that this is insane, Sharon."

For the first time she lost some of the control over her features, allowing them to reveal a tiny bit of emotion. Hurt, he realized with a pang of guilt. Sharon placed the handbag back down and moved on her chair to find a more comfortable position. She was pale.

He wanted to rationalize the whole thing, put it all in perspective. Help her see his point of view, keep her from making a mistake that he was sure she would live to regret.

"You're fifty-three-"

"Fifty-two," she corrected, her voice low but decisive. They both knew it didn't make a difference and yet she felt it necessary to let him know.

"I had no idea this could even happen in the first place, but thinking this through..." He ran an exasperated hand through his hair. Salt and pepper, giving away his age. A number that was far too high to be having this conversation. He usually didn't like to think about how close he was to sixty, but today it seemed oddly comforting. As if this had to be a fluke. A misunderstanding. "Think this through, you must know that it is not feasible."

Not feasible, he thought, even while he was saying it, what a way to put it! And he sounded patronizing to boot.

She opened her mouth to say something, but he didn't let her. Talking felt good after being quiet for so long. Talking helped him regain some semblance of control over the situation. It always had. He just couldn't get angry at her, he reminded himself. She didn't deserve that, at least.

"How are you going to do it, Sharon? It might have worked in FID, but you are back on active duty now! Single parenting doesn't get any easier with age, you know. You have two grown kids and a foster child already. Isn't it all... too much?"

He was making sense; Andy could see it in the look in her eyes. Of course he was making sense, he reminded himself. This was, after all, completely crazy. That notion made him feel a little lighter, as if talking could actually change something. So he continued.

"This can't be good for your health either. And then midnight feedings, chasing down a toddler, doing the whole thing again- don't you think you're a little old for that?" Her mask was slipping more and more and he hurried to assure her: "I don't mean this in a rude way, Sharon. You look fantastic, much younger than you are, really, but you know what I mean, don't you?"

For the first time it occurred to him that she might want to say something as well.

"I am well aware of every single one of those concerns," she finally said, words chosen carefully, voice low and constructive. "But what do you expect me to do about it?"

He sat back in his chair, staring at her. The coffee makers in the background went quiet for a minute, a little kid was begging his mother for a cookie somewhere, the noise muffled. There was only one way to make all this go away and he could not ask her to do it. From the way she buried her hands back in her pockets he could tell that his reasoning, leading up to only one possible conclusion, basically added up to the same thing.

Before he could apologize, she gave him a sad smile, more of a grimace. "Exactly. And I won't do that."

Andy deflated. For a moment there, he had been feeling slightly better about the whole thing. Now he could tell that it had all been an illusion. There was nothing he could change about the situation. Not for him and not for her.

Still a part of him was protesting, urging him to say something, to make this go away somehow, because it was just not fair.

"What about Caroline?" he finally blurted out. "She doesn't deserve this."

As soon as he had said it, he wished that he could take it back. It was a tactless, almost cruel thing to say, even though he meant every word of it. Sweet, lovely Caroline didn't deserve a boyfriend who was going to have a child with another woman. A woman whom he had spent a single night with just before he had met her. A woman who was his boss and whom he would see on a daily basis.

Her composure slipped for good now and for a moment he could see a flash of pain and anger in her eyes. A second later it was gone and she rose from her chair.

"I just wanted you to know," she said again, voice a little too firm because she was forcing it not to break.

"Sharon, I'm sorry," he scrambled. "I know I sounded like an asshole just now. Please don't go, let's talk about it some more, okay?"

She adjusted her handbag on her shoulder and pulled at her jacket. No more dresses and pencil skirts but blouses and slacks, it randomly occurred to him. He hadn't given it a lot of thought before, but then now he knew that she had something to hide.

"I don't really want to talk about it anymore right now," she said, suddenly looking very professional again. The only thing that was giving her away was the pitch of her voice. Too low. Too quiet. "If you want to think about it some more, you are welcome to take the rest of the day off. We can deal with the paperwork without you."

"Thank you," he said and yet it came out sounding all wrong. He wanted to go after her when she walked over to the door, her tea untouched and abandoned on the table. It bothered him, that lonely paper cup. Without it, he might have been able to write the whole thing off as a hallucination or a ridiculous dream. But it was there, reminding him that Sharon had been here just seconds ago.

He looked out the window and saw her passing by without acknowledging him. Her head was slightly bowed, her hand closed firmly around the strap of her handbag. Her phone was in her other hand, angled just so that he could catch a glimpse of the caller ID. Gavin Baker.

And with that, she disappeared from his sight, leaving him with the echo of her words bouncing off the insides of his head. Back and forth. Back and forth.

I know you will have a hard time believing it, Andy. So had I, but it doesn't change the outcome. I am pregnant.

Back and forth.