"I'm full of surprises," he said with a beaming smile on his face. She was not able to control the smile that spread across her face; it was a reaction that became increasingly common whenever she was in the same room with him in the recent couple of weeks. She used to be capable of maintaining a cool façade in the past, but something in Andy's behavior somehow managed to crack through her pretenses, to break down her walls and bring her to a state of utter lack of restraint. How he managed to do that was a matter she was yet to figure out. The baby in his arms curled his fingers around Andy's pinky and Sharon felt her insides turning to mush.
"Aww," she drawled, her eyes shining with excitement and adoration; towards Andy, but also towards the baby.
"Do you wanna hold him?" Andy asked and stood up, not even moving the bottle of formula from the baby's mouth. The baby eagerly sucked on the tit of the bottle, making soft sighs of contentment. Sharon's knees turned to jelly at his suggestion. She loved babies but it's been at least fifteen years since the last time she held a baby in her arms. It was something she didn't think she'd get to do until she'd have grandchildren of her own.
"Sure," she was barely able to pronounce the word. Andy was still smiling at her as he walked closer to her, gently placing the baby in her arms, once again without taking his bottle. That was a skill that Sharon, despite having raised two children, did not possess. She couldn't recall a single time she managed to transfer a feeding baby from her arms to someone else's without having to put down the bottle. Andy must have been a great father when his children were babies, she thought. She already knew he was a good father, from seeing him with Nicole but there was a difference seeing him with a grown daughter and seeing him taking care of a tiny baby. Just the thought of it made her heart beat faster.
"You okay?" Andy's fingers brushed down her arm that was holding the bottle as he released his hold of the baby. She seemed like she was about to cry.
"Yes, I'm… I just… really love babies," Sharon replied. And men who are good with babies, she thought. Andy grinned at her.
"Can't wait for the day Nicole has one of her own. I'm gonna spoil that child rotten," he said and his eyes shone at the thought.
"I can identify with that feeling," Sharon replied with a smile.
"Well, until then, we have this little guy here," Andy winked and pulled the chair for her to seat down and then sat down in front of her, watching the way she fed the baby as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.