Okay, after all the "heavy" chapters, here's a much lighter one. I think you'll get a chuckle out of this one. I've had this playing out in my head, so I hope you enjoy!

"Rusty, I'm back here in the nursery," Sharon called out when she heard him come in. She was currently changing Faith, and Thomas was up next. She was still trying not to carry both babies at the same time. She knew she'd have to do that, but she was pretty sore still, especially after antics last night-sleeping on the couch, running around the condo like a crazy person thinking her five-day-old was crawling around-so yes, she was trying not to overdo it by carrying both babies. It was now Saturday morning, and once again, she still hadn't had a shower. Oh, bless Rusty for coming so she could shower and catch a break. She'd have to find out why he didn't come over last night, but she wasn't complaining. She still had the sight of Andy sleeping with Faith on his chest, and that was one she never wanted to forget. "Rusty, could you bring Thomas back here when you come? He's in the swing, and now that he's fed, I need to change him."

Thomas appeared in the doorway, almost like an offering from The Lion King or something. Sharon actually jumped back to see him there like that and opened her mouth to scold Rusty for holding him like that when she saw that clearly, those weren't Rusty's hands gripping Thomas. Sharon let out a small smile as Andy stepped into the doorway with Thomas, and for the first time in a long time, his eyes met hers. Gorgeous Andy-jeans, casual shirt, with the sleeves partly rolled up, loafers-her Andy, except he wasn't.

Oh, she had so many things to say-so many wonderful things to thank him for. The help, the nursery, well, just being Andy. She almost didn't know what to say, but she looked at him and said, "I need a shower."

Andy just moved out of the doorway, still holding Thomas, but now almost like a football, and waved her out. Not a word, he just waved her out, so in her semi-haze, she walked out and into the bathroom, hearing Andy move into the nursery and take over. She closed the bathroom door and leaned up against it, replaying the scene that had just happened, "I need a shower?" she thought to herself? That's the best she could do for this wonderful man who had come by again, now Saturday morning after he'd been there the evening prior? It was true, she was beyond needing a shower. She was a mess, so she pushed off the door and resolved to shower and bring herself back to the land of the living. Andy was here, and she could at least do that much.

30 minutes later, Sharon reappeared, hoping that Andy wasn't on his way out the door. She felt badly for taking 30 minutes, when in reality, she had rushed even through that. The great part was she felt like a new person and vowed to not let the shower thing happen again. She would shower each day, even if she had to put the bouncy seats on the floor of the bathroom. Sharon was done being pregnant and was now trying to navigate to her new normal. Dressing herself, some makeup, hair-it was all happening. She didn't have a lot of goals right now, but that was at the top of the list. It was sad that as the Assistant Chief of Police for Los Angeles, her new daily goal was to get a shower.

She'd tried to squeeze into her normal leggings, and with a frustrated sigh, she gave up. They were just too tight still, so she found some of her maternity ones and put those on with a regular oversized sweater. It was tighter than she wanted, but it still felt wonderful to wear something normal. She took a few minutes to dry and style her hair and put on a touch of makeup. Yes, she felt like a new person, and if it just happened to be because one of her six favorite people-yes, she had six favorite people, if one of her six favorite people, okay three of her six favorite people were in the next room over, well, so she was trying to look nice for half of her favorite people, even if two of the three still didn't have the best vision yet.

Sharon walked out of her room to the sounds of the swing-no crying, just the swings. Bless him. He had both babies quiet, but was he still here? Sharon quickly found her answer, as he was situated on the floor with the parts to the stroller all around him. Each baby was in its swing, sleeping, and he was sitting there trying to put her stroller together. It was wonderful. It was domestic. It was everything she'd ever imagine wanting, but she'd messed it up.

"Thank you," she nodded to him, partially indicating the stroller and partially indicating everything else. Things were tense with them, and she didn't know whether to expect the silent treatment or a fight. Hopefully, something in between. He nodded.

"Figured it was pretty crappy for the team to get you a stroller and then expect you to put it together," he said softly as he stared at the directions. Sharon just nodded and decided to get him something to drink. She could at least attempt to be a decent hostess for the man who'd done wonders for her the last few days.

When she returned with his cranberry juice, she set it down on the table. The nice thing about them, was that as awkward as it was right now, they knew each other's thoughts, likes, and dislikes. There wasn't much that needed to be asked. Andy was almost done now with the stroller, and the twins were swinging away in a blissful slumber. It was almost nice. It was almost normal.

"Andy, not that I'm glad you are here; I'm really glad, actually, but why are you here? I know you have things you'd rather do than be around me?" Sharon asked as she sat down on the edge of the coffee table right next to where Andy was sitting on the floor.

"You need some help," he shrugged and went back to working. It was clear he wasn't going to say more. Sharon fought back the tears-she really was working on NOT crying today, and she stood smiling. She leaned over and hugged Andy.

"Thank you," she said in a whisper, taking in his cologne as she hugged him.

Andy pulled back, "Sharon, please don't," he raised his arms. "Look, it's hard enough to come here, see you, see them," he pointed towards the babies, "I'm doing my best. I can barely speak to you right now, but please, I can't hold you."

Sharon sighed; he was right, so she nodded, "Thank you," she repeated and stood, walking back toward her mess on her kitchen table. She had mail to sort, bills to pay, basically a week's worth of stuff to catch up on.

"There's soup and salad in there. Sharon, you need to eat. I know you are tired and didn't eat the dinner I brought last night. The leftovers are still in the fridge. You aren't going to be of any use to them if you are hungry and tired. Knowing you, you're probably trying to starve yourself to get your beautiful little self back into shape, back into all of your normal clothes, but you need to eat," he said as he spoke while focusing on tightening the last bolt.

Sharon's hand froze on the piece of mail she was looking at while listening to Andy. He'd clearly just realized what he'd said too, and he scurried up from the floor, gathering his tools, and without looking at her said, "I'll be right back. Need to run down to the car for something."

Before she could utter a sound, he was out the door. Sharon just stood there, staring into the living room, staring at the stroller where he'd just said that, and listened to the silence as his words repeated through her head.

When Andy returned several minutes later, Sharon had set lunch out for the two of them. It felt so normal-their plates were at their normal place settings. If only she could rewind a year. She glanced over to her living room, the swings still rocking, and she sighed. She loved those babies, but oh, she'd caused some damage. She was getting the last of lunch on the table when Andy returned. He didn't comment on what he'd said earlier, and as she suspected, the "something" he had to get was nowhere to be seen.

Sharon sat at the table, and Andy, seeing she was actually going to eat, came and sat down too. They began eating in silence. He was here, and for that she was grateful.

"I can't thank you enough for-well, for everything," she motioned around the house. "You're a good man, Andy."

Andy huffed, "I certainly don't feel like it. I feel like a poor excuse for a human being-like some dirt bag myself, and I still am beating myself up for giving into the bottle again when I did," he shook his head as he took a bite of his soup.

Instead of getting into things again, Sharon just said, "Andy, you're the best man I know. I'm forever grateful to know you."

The two resumed their silence and enjoyed it while it lasted because a couple minutes later, Thomas started to fuss. Sharon moved to get up, and Andy waved her off, "You sit and eat. I've got him. They are like vultures waiting on prey; as soon as you are off your game for just a minute to eat-they strike," earning the first chuckle from Sharon in awhile. Andy, he always could make her laugh. His analogy was correct too; they were waiting until she was "off her game" to strike. She was trying to eat-not just standing and waiting on them, and of course, now they were hungry too. Andy walked over toward Thomas, and Sharon watched. She was surprised when he didn't pick him up, but instead, picked up the tv remote and walked back over to her.

"Here," he said, smacking it down on the table. "Listen, I can never watch NFL football again; it's ruined. Sundays are ruined, so even though I've never been as into college football, find something to watch. I have to find a new team or a few new teams-I don't care. I'm going to change him, and then you had better have found a team to watch, some new favorite team."

Sharon looked up at him, digesting what he had said. Ahh, football, yes. One of their favorite things to do. Fall-football, spring-baseball. In the fall, they always watched football, well, they had. Sunday afternoons after Mass, they always watched football, and that would go on into the evening. They usually never got to watch Monday night football because of work, but Sunday, that had been their football day. They loved football. Even when they had just started hanging out as friends, they found football to be a nice, common topic to discuss. That was one of the reasons the NFL job had been such a great opportunity for Sharon. Andy had been excited, initially, too with the idea of traveling around, visiting Sharon, and going to games in all sorts of cities. It really did sound like a great job, but well, that was, as he said, now ruined. So, Sharon sat there, looking up at him, as he looked back at her, the remote now next to her. There weren't any words to express anything, so she just nodded, her eyes meeting his.

Andy nodded back, and turned, "Come on Tom. Let's get your changed," he said to himself out loud as he walked over and picked up the tiny baby. Sharon almost chuckled at the sight; Andy was so big, and Thomas was so small. She might have chuckled if she hadn't been caught off guard by his calling him Tom. She'd named him Thomas in the thought she wouldn't shorten it. The kids have even asked if she was going to call him Tommy or something because she already had Emily, Ricky, and Rusty. She said that no, she liked Thomas. So, hearing Andy be so casual to call him Tom, well, she crossed her arms and gave him a glare as he turned around, Thomas, on his shoulder, a shoulder that held a burp cloth on it too.

"What?" he asked, looking totally confused. Years ago, it was common he found himself on the receiving end of the death glare, but in recent years, it had not been a look he'd seen much. He was used to seeing Sharon look at him so lovingly-even ogle him at times, so now, as he stood there holding the baby, he wondered why the glare? He thought back over what might have precipitated it, "Oh, Sharon, you seriously aren't going to call him Thomas all the time are you? Really? He's a boy. Come on. I'd probably have beat up a kid in New York when I was little if they walked up to me saying they wanted to be called Thomas."

"What's wrong with Thomas?" she asked, now getting irritated, giving him a look.

Andy just rolled his eyes, looking at the baby, "Tom, do you want to be called Thomas?" almost baiting the baby because as he said that, Thomas, or Tom, let out a wail, a clear indication he was hungry, but Andy was obviously using it to his advantage. "Exactly," he waved with his other hand, now looking at Sharon. She just sat there, no words to reply to that, and Andy walked off with Tom, now apparently that discussion over.

Sharon cleaned up lunch while Andy was changing Tom, and when he came back, she had both bottles ready for the next feeding. She'd also found a football game to watch. Sharon was at the swings; she'd had to turn off Tom's swing again because Andy seemed to have a habit of letting it run, and now she was getting Faith out of her swing. The bottles were on the coffee table, and she'd done the one thing Andy had asked-she'd found a college football game to watch. Neither were against college football, but neither had gone to large football schools, so they just didn't have "teams" to cheer for like they'd formed with the NFL.

"It looks like the Oregon Ducks are playing right now," she commented, picking up Faith. She turned to Andy, now, each holding a baby, to gauge his reaction.

He nodded, grabbed a bottle, and flopped down on the couch, "The Oregon Ducks. Sounds like a perfect favorite team for two newborns-the Ducks. Okay, Tom," he said, getting the baby situated so he could feed him, "Let's watch the Ducks, and I'll tell you all about football."

Well, it appeared she was doing the two things Andy had asked-he'd asked her to find a college football team to enjoy after she'd ruined any chance of ever watching the NFL again, and he'd also asked her, no this he'd told her, to change Thomas' name to Tom. Considering everything he'd done for her, she could concede.

A/N-As I wrote this chapter, I could almost hear the conversation about "Tom" playing out. I hope I conveyed the annoyance Andy had with calling him Thomas. Also, I love college football, and when I was thinking about Sharon finding new teams to watch, I thought through many of the different college football mascots to find just the right one for Tom and Andy to enjoy :)