Thank you again for all the amazing feedback! I'e had this chapter idea for quite a long time. Enjoy!
Sharon could tell she was drifting off into a blissful slumber, and she didn't care. She maybe should have; she hadn't showered since the night before, which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but she was covered in baby everything. Her hair was a train wreck, possibly to never be untangled again. She felt gross, but the couch felt wonderful. She'd flopped onto the couch finally after quieting both babies. Their little "sleep coma"-yeah, it was over. She knew that would end. Instead, they'd spent the last two hours wailing, and now that it was silent; well, she had never liked silence so much. Both babies were fed, bathed, changed, and currently swinging. They were asleep, best of all, and she figured she had about two hours before it started all over again. Oh, this was the part that she'd chosen to forget-the selective memory part of newborns. This time, though, she was 25 years plus older than the last time. She figured she'd shower later when Rusty came by, but for now, she was going to sleep. She'd been home now 24 hours, and she'd maybe gotten four hours of sleep, if that, and that wasn't even all at once. Ahh, sleep. Shower later; sleep now.
Sharon flew up on the couch, and then she remembered she'd had a C-section. That hurt, but she'd jumped up because she'd been asleep again, and she hadn't heard the babies. Thomas was starting to whimper. How long had she been out? Oh, sitting up that fast; it hurt. She'd have to watch that. She was healing well, but that wasn't a good idea. Man, she felt like crud-like literally cruddy. She wanted a shower and was regretting not getting one. What time was it? Where was Rusty? It was dark, so he should be here soon. She took her time standing, noting that she was stiff from falling asleep on her couch. She really must have slept hard; she felt like she had. She was groggy, and that couch-oh, it was uncomfortable, but it had allowed her to sleep for three hours. She'd had her one leg sprawled up on the top of the cushion. She was paying for it now; it was still asleep. Her hair was disgusting; it was matted to her head, and her arm was stiff because she'd apparently slept with it on her forehead. That was odd too-she was TIRED. Tired was the only way to describe how she'd fallen asleep. A shower would be great, but not yet. Now, Thomas. He was starting to squirm, and she knew he was probably getting hungry. Her phone alerted her she'd slept three hours-wow, three hours. The babies had gone longer than she thought, but here, he was definitely hungry. She scooped him up, cuddling him, as she prepared to change him and feed him. She shushed him, speaking softly to him as she started to sway with him. She turned to look over at Faith-she'd put the swings on opposite sides of the room in an attempt they wouldn't wake each other. Oh, that was already such a blessing. Yes, in her daze of discovering the completed nursery, she'd failed to discover the other additions. Those, she found this morning when she tackled her gear. Mysteriously, if not coincidently, she had now two swings and two bouncy seats-all matching. It was like the second swing and second bouncy were bought with the knowledge of the first ones. Coincidence? Anyone she worked with knew how she felt about coincidences. Anyway, she'd put the swings on the opposite sides of the room to try and keep them from waking each other. She didn't know if it would work, but she was trying it. Twin mom-she'd try whatever she could. For now, it was at least helping her identify the cries. She knew the cry had come from Thomas, which she considered a win. Right now, their cries sounded alike, and she wanted to pat herself on the back for knowing which child of hers was crying.
So, with Thomas in her arms, she sweetly cuddled him and stopped to check on Faith before going back to change Thomas. Sharon was smiling; babies always did that to her. She was now trying to accept her life, the things she had done. The babies were here to stay, and she was going to try and enjoy them. Who couldn't enjoy sweet, sweet babies?
Oh, sweet Faith. She was a beautiful baby; they both were. Sharon smiled as she walked up to check on Faith. The swing was going, but no Faith. Where was Faith? Sharon panicked, dropping to her feet, while holding Thomas, which was no easy feat, to look for her, as if a newborn would be crawling around. She was careful since she was holding Thomas, but where was Faith? Why was the swing going with no baby? Sharon panicked, jumped up, cradled Thomas, and flew down the hall. Maybe Rusty was rocking her.
Thomas let out a wail, and suddenly, in her frantic state, she came to an abrupt stop. Faith. Sharon let out a whimper as she covered her mouth with her hand, some of the whimper from moving too quickly with a healing incision. The other part of the whimper was at the sight in front of her. She swayed with Thomas to quiet him. Faith was fine. Faith was better than fine, and Sharon couldn't believe the sight. Here it was, Friday night, and Sharon had lost track of all days and time. Faith was passed out asleep on Sharon's bed. What was even more of a shock and had Sharon crying again was that Faith was asleep on Sharon's bed on Andy. He was stretched, calm, peaceful, legs crossed, stretched out with Faith cuddled on his chest. She'd drawn her feet up under her, bottom up in the air, and he had just the right grip on her so she wouldn't move; he had her, and she was safe. Sharon wanted to lean against her door and just watch the two of them forever, but she had a crying Thomas, and the very last thing she wanted to do was to wake the two people in her bedroom. She could even hear the little noises Faith was making, and Andy looked like he was out for awhile; he looked exhausted. Sharon crept away, carrying Thomas, trying to decide if she was in a dream, or if this was a reality.
Sharon went through the motions of changing Thomas, thinking of the beautiful sight in the other room. When had Andy come over? Friday night, she thought. Oh, through all her weeks of going there, even sitting there week after week in total silence, he'd come. He'd come because she couldn't go to his place. He missed her, missed Friday nights, even if he couldn't voice it. This was something she'd wanted since she'd trashed their lives. She'd wanted Friday nights back, and while she was a long way from getting them, Andy had come to her condo on a Friday night. He'd come, and he currently was cuddled up with Faith on her bed. He might be in the mood to say much, for fear of going off on Sharon-rightly so, but his actions were speaking volumes.
It disturbed her she hadn't heard Andy come in. She knew she was tired, but still. Nothing. She hadn't moved, and he'd even gotten Faith at some point. Why? Was she crying? He'd never come to see her at the hospital, but here he was in her home, on a Friday night, sleeping with Faith. Sharon smiled down at Thomas, as he was getting himself worked up to start crying. She quickly moved down the hall to the kitchen, when really, she just wanted to stare at Andy and Faith. She really needed to find her phone. Even if Andy never came over again, she wanted to remember this moment. Quickly, she made up Thomas' bottle, found his bib and burp cloth, and she found her phone. Wait? There was food. She walked backwards toward the kitchen, not realizing she'd missed the takeout cartons on the counter. They'd been opened, so not only had Andy come over, entered the condo without waking her, he'd brought food, eaten, and somehow during all this, he'd moved Faith. She shook her head. She was totally sleep deprived, and now, she was embarrassed Andy had to see her looking like a crud; she really needed a shower. The old LAPD shirt and sweats were terrible she realized. Not only had he come over and done all of that, he'd seen Sharon completely passed out on the couch. Great, just great. Oh, the swing-it was still moving. She silently chuckled; she should have realized it was Andy. That was a very Andy thing to do-take care of all things baby, but leave the swing still in motion. She stopped the swing and tip-toed back to her bedroom. While she juggled holding the bottle under her chin for him, she used her somewhat free hand to snap her picture. At least she'd have that memory.
Once Sharon got her picture, she focused once again on feeding Thomas. He was a beautiful boy, and his hair looked darker than Faith's hair so far. Time would tell, but he looked like he was going to have hair like Ricky and Emily. Faith's was lighter, more like Sharon's so far. Sharon, holding Thomas as she was feeding him, looked around, trying to figure out what she wanted to do. She glanced in the room, and she knew what she wanted to do. She walked in, holding Thomas and gingerly sat down on her side of the bed-yes, her side was unoccupied, and she settled in feeding Thomas. She felt herself drifting off to sleep as he finished eating, and she secured him next to her, in her arm, not how she wanted to sleep on a regular basis, but she wasn't giving this up for the world right now. Oh, this was her dream, and if only it could have been the reality. Still, she'd take what she could get, and if it was just this one evening, a couple hours on a Friday night cuddled up with her babies and Andy, she'd take it. Thomas settled in, scrunching up on her chest too, and soon, he looked like Faith.
Sharon woke a couple hours later to both babies crying. At least she heard them this time, and she sat up, realizing neither baby was in the room with her. She looked around, and while she wondered if all of that was a dream, she realized it wasn't. She was in her bedroom; there was an empty bottle on her nightstand-well two-there was one on each nightstand, confirming Faith had been in here too, but her room was empty. Somehow, she'd been so tired, she'd allowed a sleeping baby to be pried from her arms. That disturbed her, but she was trying to accept that she currently was at a new low for being tired. Sharon walked out, noting the sound was coming from the nursery. She walked in and found both babies, swaddled and in their bassinets. After a quick check, she found Andy was gone. The food had been put up, and the babies had been put in their beds, but Andy had left. Sharon sighed as she leaned up against the doorframe. Progress. At least it was progress. At least he'd come, and she hoped he'd come back next week.