Sharon was surprised Ricky held off any further questions until later in the evening. Relieved, but surprised. Seeing Andy after all those years had certainly thrown her for a loop. She honestly never expected to see him again, and she certainly didn't think she'd ever run into him in LA at her son's baseball game. As she and Ricky drove home, she was glad he was focused on the game and not on her run-in with Andy. She and Ricky stopped for pizza, his choice, and they chatted about school and work. It was almost as if he knew she needed space and time to process things. Once the two arrived at home, Ricky went to his room to shower and start his homework. Sharon went to her room to shower and find something more comfortable to wear. She had brought work home with her and figured she would be signing reports for at least an hour or two during the evening. After her shower, she let her hair air dry while she started to dig through her closet. She'd had more time during her shower to think, and before she started in on her work for the evening, she had decided to take a trip down memory lane.

It didn't take Sharon long to find what she was looking for in her closet. Her mom had sent it to her a few years ago when her parents had downsized their home and cleaned out the last of the kids' rooms. It was a simple memory box, and she remembered very well what memories were inside it. She sat down on her bed and very quickly got lost in the moment, scanning through the box of pictures.

"Who was that guy tonight at the game, the guy you said you knew in college?" Ricky asked, startling Sharon. She looked up from her bed and dropped the picture she had in her hand. Her hair was still damp, and she'd removed all her makeup. She also had put on legging and a long sweater. As she glanced to her son, she noticed he'd taken a similar casual approach to the evening. He had on an old t-shirt and gym shorts, his standard evening look.

Sharon cleared her throat, knowing deep in her mind, that this conversation had to happen sometime, "His name is Andy Flynn," she stated, wishing, but knowing Ricky wouldn't leave it at that.

Ricky moved further into Sharon's room and leaned against her dresser to get more of an answer. Sharon knew that move well, and Ricky wasn't budging until he heard more.

"You went to college with him?" Ricky asked.

"It's complicated, Ricky," Sharon sighed. "I suppose I should have had this conversation with you and Emily before now. I just really didn't want to get into the mistakes of my past. Yes, I knew him in college. I was married to him; he's my ex-husband."

Ricky's eyes grew wide as he tried to process the information, "Wait, what? I figured he was some boyfriend maybe, but you were married before Dad? How did we not know this? Did Dad know?" he started to ramble, obviously shocked by the information.

Sharon just nodded quietly, "I'll do my best to answer some of your questions, but I'm not going to go through every detail. Yes, of course, your dad knew," she offered a small smile to Ricky. "He definitely knew. Your grandparents did, too, obviously, but we've all tried to not dredge up the past for many reasons. I made a lot of stupid mistakes in my past. Getting married so young was one of them."

"I can't believe after all these years, I'm just hearing this now. How did it never come up?" Ricky asked. "Does Emily know?"

"No," she shook her head and continued, "Emily does not know. I need to tell her now, I suppose. Honestly, Ricky, I never imagined I would run into Andy again, especially not out here. He's from the East Coast. I guess I thought with 3,000 miles separating us, I wouldn't see him."

"When did this all happen? You married Dad right after college," Ricky pointed out as he started to think about the timeline. "I'm totally floored," he told her.

"I'm sure you are," Sharon said as she folded her hands and shifted on the bed. "I met Andy when I was 17. He was 20. I was visiting college campuses, and he was doing some work-study program where he basically gave tours to prospective students in the criminal justice department. I had planned to become a lawyer, and as you know, I majored in criminal justice. I met him, and we hit it off," she shrugged. "We started talking on the phone, because of course, back then, we didn't text or have social media," she smiled to her son. "It's a very long and complicated story. I don't want to deal with it now. He and I decided to get married not long after that, when I was 18. I've warned you to think about the girls you date, to take your time, as you get older. This is why. I realize I do need to sit down and explain everything to you at some point, but please, I beg you, not tonight," she sighed as she shook her head.

Ricky stood there, dumbfounded, as he tried to process everything. He gestured with his hands, "So you were married in college? How did I not know this? Mom, that's like huge information," he told her.

"I realize that," Sharon nodded to him. "As I said, I will explain it. I just don't want to do that now."

Ricky glanced to her box on the bed and gestured again, "So, what's that?" he asked, noting she had some pictures on her bed.

She glanced down to it, even though, she knew what it was, "Memories, old ones," she specified. "I'd left all this behind at your grandparents' house when your dad and I got married and moved out here. I really thought she would have thrown all this away, but if you recall, they downsized their house over five years ago, and she sent me this box then. Honestly, at the time," Sharon took a deep breath, "I almost threw it out. I didn't even go through it then. I simply put it in the back of my closet, and this is the first I've opened it in over 20 years."

"Wow, really?" Ricky asked as he took two steps forward to stand next to Sharon's bed. His curiosity had him glancing over the pictures. He could see there were a lot of them, along with other random memorabilia. He gestured to one, as if asking permission, and Sharon nodded. He picked up the photo to study it. "You were so young," he grinned. "I can't believe you had long hair like this. Emily looks a little like you."

"Hmmm," Sharon nodded, "she does. I was thinking that today, that you look like your Uncle Pete. I still think Emily looks more like Jack, but people always say they think she looks like me. You don't look much like Jack, but you do have a few of his mannerisms," she smiled. "Every now and then, I see Jack in you."

"I don't want to be like Dad," he grumbled as he handed the photo back to Sharon. "He's been a totally crappy dad."

"I won't disagree," Sharon nodded. "Again, let me caution you that I made many mistakes in my youth, but if I hadn't met your dad, I wouldn't have you or Emily. Now that," she paused and smiled brightly to Ricky, "is worth everything else alone. I wouldn't trade either of you for anything."

Ricky nodded; Sharon could tell he was still trying to process everything. It couldn't be easy to realize your mom had kept such a secret all these years. She knew he idolized her, and while she wasn't proud she'd been married before, it was a fact she couldn't deny.

"You didn't like have any kids with him, did you? There's no secret family, right?" he asked, drawing her from her thoughts.

"What?" No," she shook her head as she offered a small smile. "You could probably define things as a teenage romance where I believed I knew more than my parents," she sighed. "There's no hidden family, Ricky," she chuckled. "You sound like you've watched too many sappy movies with Emily."

Ricky scrunched up his face, "Believe me when I say that I probably have. I miss having her around, but I don't miss her sob fests on the weekends when she would sit and watch movie after movie with her box of tissues next to her."

Sharon smiled at the memory of Emily, and she looked to Ricky, "I can't ask you to keep this from your sister, but I do hope you both understand that I don't want to discuss this now. I'll discuss it with you both at some point, maybe even when she's home from school, but not now."

"Fine," Ricky sighed in defeat, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get more information from his mom. He took another glance at the pictures she had on her bed, "Are you going to stay in here and go through that?" he gestured.

Sharon looked down, collected what was on the bed, put it away, and closed the box. She stood and walked to her closet again, "No, I'm not going to get into that now. I want the past to stay the past. I'm finally learning from it," she sighed as she followed Ricky to the living room where she planned to focus on work all evening.