Months later…

Must be the summer fever, but Sam had an idea. And once he thought of it, he couldn't let it go.

He decided to talk to Traci, her being Andy's best friend, to get her input.

"Hey, Nash, can I speak to you for a minute," Sam asked. He eyeballed Jerry who was sitting close to her. "Privately?"

"Oh, sure," she said, confused. What could she have possibly done to irritate Swarek? She shot Jerry a look, hoping maybe he had some clue, but she got nothing.

Traci got up and followed Sam down a hallway.

"So, you know Andy pretty well, right?" he asked casually.

Traci started, surprised at this line of questioning. "Yeah, I'd certainly say so."

"Well, I've kind of been thinking of something…but you have to promise not to say anything to her," Sam said.

"Okay…" Now Traci was really confused, but she listened.

"So, I've been thinking," Sam started again, but decided he didn't really know what to say. "I want to ask Andy to marry me," he blurted out.

It took Traci a minute to process those words, but when she did, she practically spit out her coffee. "What? Seriously?"

"Yeah," Sam said, suddenly nervous. "Do you think it's a bad idea?"

Traci thought about this for a moment. "Now, I'm not going to answer for her. But she's crazy about you; anyone with eyes can see that. It won't be easy but I say that if anyone can make it work, it would be you two," Traci offered, hoping she wasn't saying the wrong thing for her friend.

"Thanks, Nash," Sam said, returning back to his regular sarcastic self. "Back to work," he ordered, but he grinned at her over his shoulder as he walked away.

She sighed. She hoped he knew what he was getting in to.

Neither of them noticed Luke, who was skulking around the corner, listening to every word.

Sam arrived home a little late from work. He had gone to the jewelers to pick out a ring.

It was nestled safely in his pocket, and he just needed to get it inside and hide it someplace where Andy wouldn't find it, which could prove to be difficult.

He pushed open the door and found Andy sitting on the floor of the living room, playing with Leo, Traci's kid.

"Hey, buddy," Sam said, giving Leo's hair a rumple. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Leo said, shyly.

Andy got up, dusting off the seat of her pants. "Traci asked me to watch him while she went out with Jerry," Andy explained. "I didn't have the heart to say no."

"No problem," Sam agreed easily. He kissed Andy on the forehead, wondering if this had anything to do with his and Nash's previous conversation, but he refused to see how the two linked.

"Hey, Leo, whatcha got there?" Sam asked, laying on his stomach on the floor beside the little toddler. "Do you know what kind of car this is?" Sam asked, and when Leo shook his head, he started spewing out names that Andy didn't even know existed.

Andy looked on from the doorway as Sam interacted with Leo. He would make a great father, she thought to herself as she looked on.

Her own thoughts shocked her, so she was happy when the doorbell rang.

It was Traci and Jerry, back a little early from their date.

"Back so soon?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, we decided to skip dinner," Traci said, her cheeks flushed. Andy raised her eyebrows knowingly.

Traci poked her head in the living room, finding Sam and Leo racing their cars off the edge of the coffee table.

"Such a great game Uncle Sammy is teaching you, huh, little man?" Traci asked, smiling when Leo let out a little peal of laughter. "Well, let's get going."

Leo allowed his mom and Jerry to lead him out to the car. Andy and Sam stood in the doorway, watching them leave. They could hear Leo spurting out car names to Jerry as he buckled him into his car seat.

When they finally drove away, Sam shut the door and turned to Andy.

Taking her hand, they went upstairs. It wasn't until Andy was striping off his clothes that he remembered the ring in his pocket.

Once his jeans ended up on the floor, he kicked them under the bed, hoping she wouldn't see it until after he got a chance to move it.

When they were lying there later, basking in each other's presence, Andy said, "You were great with Leo today."

"Nah," Sam said. "He's a great kid," he told her, brushing it off. "I could say the same for you. Who knew kids liked you so much?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" she said, swatting at his shoulder and he feigned hurt.

"Nothing, nothing at all," he told her.

Soon after, Andy fell asleep, not having nightmares anymore since she started staying in Sam's bed overnight.

Sam kept himself awake a little longer, thinking about the family that he and Andy could have together.

I know, I know...it's short. But I think it served its purpose ;)