Notes: Glad people got a kick out of Sharon and Andy's conversation! Please continue to read and review. Enjoy! :)
They managed to keep the pregnancy from the kids for another two weeks. Up until that point the kids had been on board with Sharon having a stomach bug being why she had been eating a special diet and spent most of her time green around the gills. But the big reveal was all simply a matter of forgetting to make a list when they last went to the grocery store and the usual hectic life of having four kids that sometimes didn't know patience.
"Mom!" Emily yells out as she stands on a step stool in the kitchen, shuffling through the cabinet next to the fridge, "Charlie ate the last vitamin!"
"I did not," Charlie protests as he sets the table for breakfast.
"You did too. There isn't another bottle!" Emily grumbles, "And it was a blue one too…"
"Just take one of your mom's," Charlie says.
"Mom!" Emily yells out again, "Can I have one of your vitamins?"
"Why are you yelling?" Sharon asks as she comes into the kitchen, still bundled in her robe.
"Charlie ate the last vitamin, can I have one of yours?" Emily asks. She reaches out and grabs the larger white bottle, starting to unscrew the cap.
"No," Sharon says taking the bottle from Emily and screwing the lid back on, before reaching up to put it back in the cupboard.
"Why?"
"Because those are specifically for adults," Sharon tells her daughter as she lifts her down from the stool and shuts the cupboard door, "Charlie, what do you want for breakfast this morning?"
"Pancakes," Charlie requests as he sets the last plate down. Sharon starts to get the stuff out to make breakfast for the family, side stepping Ricky as he chases Lily out into the back yard. She reaches up to grab a bowl to mix the batter in as Nicole comes in.
"But there's a baby on the bottle," Emily says, "Why would they put a baby on the bottle if they're for adults?"
"Can we have chocolate chips?" Charlie asks.
"Of course, will you get them out?"
"Sharon, do you know where my blue polka dot shirt is?" Nicole asks, shoving Charlie as he walks by her to get the chocolate chips out of the pantry.
"Don't shove your brother. It's…"
"Mom! Why can't I have one of the vitamins?" Emily whines.
"Emily!" Sharon snaps, "You are not going to wither away if you don't take a vitamin this morning. Nicole, your shirt is in…"
"Mommmmmmmm," Emily whines, stomping her foot.
"Momma!" Ricky exclaims as he runs into the house, holding up a soccer ball at Sharon.
"Hang on honey," Sharon says as she takes the ball, "Laundry, the shirt is in the laundry. Emily Eileen, I swear…"
"Momma, Lily peed on my ball," Ricky says, tugging on Sharon's robe, "I need you to wash it."
Sharon's face pales and she drops the ball to the floor before turning to the sink and throwing up. The kids all look at each other before yelling out at the same time.
"DAD!" Andy's heavy footfall makes its way towards the kitchen at a brisk pace. He turns the corner and rolls his eyes as he sees all four of the kids standing in a circle around Sharon as she brings her stomach contents up again.
"What is going on here?" Andy asks.
"We're out of vitamins."
"I got chocolate chips."
"I was looking for my shirt."
"Lily peed on my ball," Ricky says. Andy snaps his hands back from picking up the ball and sighs, rubbing his hand over his face.
"Take that back outside, and wash your hands," Andy tells Ricky, "I will take the chocolate chips. Your shirt is in the laundry. And you aren't going to wither away without a vitamin today. Go watch tv or something until breakfast is ready."
"What's wrong with Mom?" Emily asks
"We've told you she's got a stomach thing…" Andy stops when he feels Sharon's hand on his arm. He turns and watches as she rinses her mouth out before rinsing the sink and washing her hands. She sighs as she turns around and leans against the counter top, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her robe.
"Let's just tell them," Sharon says.
"You sure?"
"Tell us what?" Charlie pipes up.
"I'm pregnant," Sharon tells the kids, "That's why I've been getting sick lately."
"What does that mean?" Nicole asks, looking up at her father and stepmother in confusion.
"It means that in a few months you guys are going to have a baby brother or sister…," Sharon says, looking over at Andy before looking at the kids, an apprehensive smile on her face, "Well two actually."
Both of the boys wince as the girls let out high pitched squeals, excited about the news of their impending siblings. Sharon laughs softly after cringing slightly herself. She looks over at Andy and smiles at him with a wink. After a moment of celebrating the potential of getting the baby sister she had always wanted, Emily's face screws up in disgust and she backs away from the group.
"Ewwwwww! You and Dad had sex?!" She exclaims.
"Oh my god," Sharon groans, covering her face with her hands before turning around, "Will you get them out of here please? We have gone so far beyond what I can handle on a Saturday morning without coffee."
"Come on guys, let's go play Nintendo while Mom makes breakfast," Andy says, straightening up with a grin and starting to herd the kids out of the kitchen.
"But I didn't get my shirt," Nicole says.
"You can wear something else," Andy tells her.
"What's sex?" Ricky asks as they round the corner to the living room. Sharon muffles a laugh at Andy's groan as she resumes her task of making breakfast for the family. She puts together a stack of pancakes as well as scrambled eggs and bacon, setting everything on the table before getting juice and water out. She steps towards the living room, surprised to hear Andy talking to the kids instead of the blips of the Nintendo.
"So…I suppose those are the basics…" He trails off.
"That's gross," Charlie and Ricky say in unison. Sharon laughs softly and steps into the room, rapping her knuckles softly against the entryway.
"I hate to break up what I am sure is a rousing discussion about the human anatomy, but breakfast is ready."
"Ooh pancakes!" The kids exclaim, scrambling into the kitchen. Andy pushes up off of the couch and rolls his eyes as he stands in front of his wife.
"I spend 30 minutes talking about talking about boy parts and girl parts and you swoop in with pancakes," He complains.
"I can see why you like being the good guy," Sharon smiles and wraps her arms around him, "I will remind you that I have thrown up twice this morning and touched a dog pee soccer ball. You having to explain to the kids that Mommy and Daddy aren't really wrestling late at night pales in comparison at the moment."
"Witch," Andy grumbles before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. Sharon hums and kisses him back for a moment before pulling away and pushing him towards the kitchen. They get the kids fed and ready for the day before heading out. Charlie had a swim meet late that morning, and no one else had any activities so they were all going to watch.
Once they get to the pool for Charlie's meet Sharon takes the kids to get seats in the stands as Andy takes Charlie down to the deck to drop him off with his swim team. He ruffles the boy's hair and sets his bag down next to the bench, pointing to where they were sitting.
"Mom and Dan are coming right?"
"Yep," Andy nods, "Sharon even saved a seat for them."
"Good," Charlie smiles.
"Swim fast," Andy tells him, squeezing his shoulder before making his way towards the stands to join the rest of the family. He stops when he hears his ex-wife call out his name before he begins to climb the stairs, "Hey."
"Hey," Vicky smiles as she and Dan catch up to him, "Have you been here long?"
"No, we just got here," Andy says, glancing up at the kids and Sharon before looking back at Vicky, "You have a second before we sit down?"
"Should I be worried?" Vicky teases, stepping back from the stair she had climbed on. She points Dan in Sharon's direction and tells him she'll be up in a moment before stepping out of the pool area with Andy. They walk part of the way down the quiet hall before Andy points to a bench.
"Let's sit."
"Okay now you really have me worried. You never want to sit," Vicky says as she sits down, setting her purse on the floor next to her.
"It's nothing," Andy waves her off as he sits next to her, "I kind of had to have a talk with the kids this morning…the talk."
"The talk…what are you…oh!"
"Yeah," Andy rubs the back of his neck with a sigh, "I know we haven't talked about how we wanted to approach that…but there were some…extraneous circumstances that forced my hand."
"Extraneous circumstances? You sound like a lawyer."
"Gavin and Andrea have been hanging around a bit lately," Andy laughs. His foot taps against the ground a few times as he takes a deep breath and lets it out, "Um, Sharon's pregnant."
"Sharon's…really?"
"Yeah," Andy nods with a small smile, "We kind of had a breakdown this morning and told the kids, which brought up some questions after Emily's excitement was clouded by her disgust that we had sex. She, uh, got the talk earlier than the rest of them…"
"Ah," Vicky laughs and shakes her head, "I thought she made you go under the knife."
"She did…I didn't go to the follow up appointment."
"Andy!" Vicky chastises.
"I know, I know, I know," Andy says, "You can save it, it's all I've heard about the last two weeks. And probably all I'm going to hear about for the next eight months."
"Things a little tense?"
"No, no," Andy shakes his head and takes a deep breath, "We're happy, excited. It's just…a surprise and Sharon's got this severe morning sickness stuff, so she feels terrible most of the time. And we're already worrying about where we're going to put them and if we're going to need a new car…it's been a whirlwind couple weeks."
"Sounds like it," Vicky sympathizes. If anyone had told her seven years ago this is where the two of them were going to be instead of only seeing each other on the other side of the court room, she would have thought them clinically insane. She was glad to see Andy doing well, and glad that her kids got to grow up with their father in their life.
"What are you going to do?" Andy shrugs with a smile before getting up from the bench and offering her a hand. They start to make their way back towards the pool area when Vicky stops him.
"Wait a second, them?"
"Mmm," Andy nods, holding up two fingers. Vicky barks out a laugh as she resumes their walk.
"You won't need to get that vasectomy touched up. She's going to castrate you at some point in the next eight months."
"Probably," Andy agrees, a slight tone of acceptance to his voice as they open the door to the pool.
[TBC]