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The days ticked by. Sharon and the twins were getting stronger, and by Thursday, the trio was ready to go home. Sharon had been able to get a bit of rest, and she took advantage of that. She knew once she got home there would be no help, so she used the nursery there at the hospital when she could. She was up and moving, albeit slowly. Right now, she was irritated with her weight; she knew it was too soon to be worrying about that, but still. She hated to be in this weird weight stage of just delivered a baby but need to get back into shape. It didn't matter, she knew. No one would be noticing anyway, but it was still an annoyance. She hated every item of clothing she had. On some level, she wanted to return to her "normal" life, well, normal in at least the clothing aspect. Thinking about it, she was seeking some sort of control where she didn't have any. She didn't have control over the babies' schedule right now-there was no schedule. They were newborns. She didn't have control over her body and weight yet, and she definitely didn't have control over her emotions and feelings for Andy.
He'd not stopped by the whole week she'd been at the hospital-well, except for the mysterious flowers that had shown up, but she never knew if he sent those or came by; that hurt, but she couldn't blame him. Why would he want to see the result of her massive screw up? Gus and Rusty had been by everyday, both together, and sometimes alone. Emily and Ricky had checked in on her by phone. Patrice had come, lovely Patrice. Sharon had broken down with her, an easy thing to do with such a wonderful woman. Patrice ended up staying several hours one afternoon, even giving Sharon some tips on caring for twins from her nursing days. Sharon was grateful for a friend like Patrice; she wasn't judging her, but she was being there for her when she needed someone. Patrice promised to come by after Sharon got back home. Sharon told Patrice how much she missed them-double dates and times with Patrice, Provenza, and Andy. She told her about how badly she messed up her life with Andy; Patrice knew. She knew the love story and saw it fall apart before her eyes. She remembered back to the happy Captain and Lieutenant at her wedding. It was a mess indeed.
Sharon and the twins were discharged late Thursday evening, which was perfect for Rusty. He could get to class and over to help with Sharon. Rusty drove Sharon's car home with all her precious cargo. Gus followed with Rusty's car. The drive was a bit overwhelming. Sharon looked back, seeing her two beautiful babies situated in their car seats, safe and sound. Andy. He'd helped with those, and just as the babies were a sad reminder to him, the car seats were one of the few good memories she had of him currently.
There was a lot to get inside, and Rusty and Gus helped by carrying the babies-each taking one. Sharon took her small bag, and the boys promised to come back for the rest of the things. Rusty had offered to go by the condo during the week to get anything Sharon needed, but she'd packed what she needed. Everything else could wait, but she'd asked the boys to at least get the bassinets setup tonight. She'd start on the rest tomorrow. Tomorrow, the day her life-now as she knew it-was beginning. Home, twins, alone.
"Sharon, we'll put the babies over here in the living room in their car seats and go back down for the other stuff, if that's okay?" Rusty asked. Sharon hummed in agreement. She put her bag down and deposited the takeout the guys had picked up on the way. Sharon spotted the new stroller sitting in the living room in the box. Rusty must have put it there when it arrived.
"That's fine, guys. I'll just freshen up a bit. I'd love a shower, so I'll start moving in that direction. I'd better get one while you two are here this evening, and then I'll let you get going," she said.
"Sharon, we can stay as long as you need. Wait till we get back up here for your shower so we can watch the babies, and then take your time. We'll be right back," Rusty said, and the boys disappeared.
The twins were sleeping, so it was eerily quiet in the condo. Sharon walked down the hall to use the bathroom. She was so desperate to take a shower in her own house and start the process of feeling human again. On her way, she stopped in her room to find some clothing that would fit. She found some old sweatpants that wouldn't be tight, as well as an old LAPD t-shirt that seemed awfully big for her. It would work. It would be the first time since her meltdown in the Tampa bathroom that she wore any normal clothing, and she knew it would be like a new beginning-a new beginning in old, almost tattered clothing. She needed it.
Sharon walked down to the bathroom to drop off her clothes before checking on the babies again. She gasped as she covered her mouth. Rusty's room was no longer Rusty's room. What had he and Gus done? They'd moved his bed out for her. It must be in storage; they' talked about doing that. She had a storage area downstairs, and they had talked about putting his bed and mattress there. What brought her to tears was the room. It was setup, well, sort of, but it was. Not at all done, but definitely setup. The bassinets were already in place, together, next to each other in the middle of the room, but that was only because there was a crib on each side of the room. Sharon walked to the doorway and started crying again. Crying, these hormones. It had to stop. When had Rusty and Gus done this? Setting up a crib was a huge job, and they'd done two. Not to mention, Sharon hadn't even ordered a crib, and here stood two, dark wood, beautiful dark wood cribs. It was perfect, exactly what she would have picked out. It matched the other furniture in the condo-her bedroom set, the dining room-perfect. Those boys, she shook her head, wiping away the tears. The bedding had even been setup, and Sharon walked over to see it. That sweet bedding. It was even cuter than it had looked in the packaging, and it smelled of the baby detergent she'd used just on Sunday to wash the first of the clothing. Andy always had a sense of style; she didn't know it extended to the bedding he'd put in her cart now weeks ago. The room was filled with more surprises-a chest of drawers and matching rocking chair. Obviously, it was a set. Whatever Rusty had charged on her credit card, it was well worth it.
"Sharon?" she heard from the hallway. "Back here," Sharon said, making sure it wasn't too loud to wake the babies. She turned to them with a bright smile, the first in a long time, "Rusty, this is amazing," she said.
Rusty was carrying a load of stuff, so Sharon moved out of the way, "What?" he said as he looked around in the room, obvious surprise on his face.
Gus followed him in with diapers and other things, "Whoa, this room looks different."
"Wait, you two did this?" Sharon pointed her finger at them, trying to figure out the joke.
The guys looked at each other and at Sharon, "Sharon, I wish I could take credit for this based on your smile. You haven't smiled like that in forever, but no, what's going on? Who did this?"
Sharon was still putting everything together in her head. She was sleep deprived and so sure the boys had surprised her, "You didn't do this? Rusty, what?"
"Sharon, we haven't been here all week. I thought you said you still needed to order all this stuff?" he asked.
The realization sinking in, Sharon sat down in the rocking chair, which by the way, she sunk into-it was so comfortable, "Ahh, it's okay, Rusty," she waved off.
Rusty and Gus looked at each other, "Sharon, are you okay?" Gus asked.
Rusty looked around, "This is nice, Sharon. Wait!" his eyes grew huge, and he looked first to Gus and then to Sharon. Sharon nodded. Rusty had figured it out too.
Later that night, when Sharon was finally alone-well, as alone as you could get with four-day-old twins, she sat in the silence of the room. Rusty had gone down to the storage unit, and to no surprise, all Rusty's furniture had been put there. This room. It was lovely, and she couldn't believe it. How did you repay someone for something like that? How did you even say thank-you to the one person you'd trampled on and destroyed? The twins were in their bassinets, sleeping for the moment. Thank goodness they were still in the "baby coma" stage of almost all sleep and eat. There wasn't much crying yet, but Sharon knew that luck could run out any minute. She sat there in her sweats, feeling a bit more human, trying to think of a way to say thank-you. Was there any way possible? She'd start by paying him back. That was easy; this wasn't cheap. She'd looked at sets similar to this one, but this was nicer than anything she'd seen. All of the sets had also been priced with just one crib, and obviously, she had two. Paying him back-she'd start there. So, she got her phone, and after deleting text after text, she said, "I know the check I'm putting in the mail will cover the cost, but there's no way I can pay you for your time and effort, all the labor you put into assembling this room. So, for now, I'll start with the check. It will be in the mail tomorrow. If it's not enough, let me know. If it's more, well, consider that payment for some of your labor. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Sharon put the phone down, and leaned her head back, sighing. The babies were sleeping. She could hear their sweet noises as they snored softly. She was too tired to move; she'd just sleep here for now, close to them, close to her sweet, innocent babies. The flowers from the hospital, the lilies that were almost dead, but she couldn't bear to throw them away, were on the dresser.
A minute later, she was surprised to read, "Don't bother. I won't cash it."
