Notes: Glad you all enjoyed the comedy break the last chapter provided. This is a little more serious of a chapter based off of a conversation with Kadi219 (who also helped talk through the last chapter #lateshoutout) and a Guest review left recently. I agree with the part of the review about things being a little heavier logistics wise than they seem and that Andy was kind of blasé during their conversation. Keep dropping me reviews and letting me know what you guys think :D
Andy sighs as he steps out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, rubbing a smaller one over the top of his head to dry his hair. They had spent most of the day at the pool for Charlie's meet and picked up pizza for dinner on the way home. The kids had begged to eat outside before talking Andy into getting into the pool with them after they finished. The latter part of the evening was spent swimming around with the kids well beyond when the sun had dipped below the horizon as Sharon watched on from a lawn chair perched next to the pool.
When the clock struck 10 they dragged the kids out of the pool and inside to go to bed, making sure everyone was tucked in before retreating to the bedroom. Andy had headed for the shower after Sharon had waved off his offer for her to go first, intending to change into her pajamas and climb into bed, leaving her shower for the morning. Yet, it seemed that not all the little monkeys that had been put to bed had stayed in bed. Ricky was curled up at Sharon's side playing with the bracelet circling her wrist.
"Everything okay?" Andy asks as he drapes the towel in his hand over the foot of the bed. Sharon pulls her lips away from the top of Ricky's head and looks up at her husband, nodding as she offers him a small and slightly sad smile.
"Yeah, we're doing fine," Sharon tells him. Andy hesitates before she shakes her head, indicating that he shouldn't press any further at the moment. He watches as the boy takes a big shuddering breath before sniffling. He lifts his hand and rubs at his eyes and nose, not letting go of his mother as he does. Andy grabs clothes out of the dresser before heading back into the bathroom to get dressed and finish his nightly routine.
He comes back out a few minutes later dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt, turning the light in the bathroom off with a quick flick of the wrist. Walking around to his side of the bed he kneels on the mattress, sitting back on his heel as he looks at Sharon and Ricky. The little boy doesn't spare him a second glance as he sits down, keeping his hold on Sharon as her hand trails up and down his back.
"You okay, bub?"
"Ah huh," Ricky mumbles as he nods.
"I think he's going to hang out with us tonight," Sharon says.
"Sure," Andy nods, reaching out to squeeze the boy's leg before shifting so he can lay down. Sharon pulls her arm from around Ricky and encourages him to lay down as she shifts into more of a laying position herself. He shuffles around a bit before stretching out more and snuggling into Sharon's side, wrapping his arm around her middle as he closes his eyes. She continues to rub his back until he's asleep, slipping her hand under his arm to loosen his grip slightly, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Sharon admits in a quiet voice, taking care not to wake the boy, "He was out when we put him down for bed but by the time I got changed he came in in tears sobbing about how he was supposed to be the baby."
"Ah," Andy sighs and reaches out, rubbing Ricky's back.
"I finally got him to calm down and tell me what was wrong," Sharon continues, "And he said that I always told him he was my baby and how was he going to be my baby with new babies coming. I explained to him that he was always going to be my baby whether or not he was the youngest…"
"He's been the baby for six years…I'd expect it to be difficult," Andy comments with a small shrug, "My mom used to tell me that Katherine hated me until I was three. I thought we'd have a bit though…"
"Andy," Sharon sighs and rolls her head to look at her husband, "I don't want them to feel put out or like we're trying to replace them…we're not."
"No we're not," Andy agrees, "And we'll make sure the know that."
"Promise?"
"I promise," Andy says lifting his hand from Ricky's back and reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. He leans over and presses a kiss to her forehead before settling back down on his side of the bed. Sharon sighs as she looks down at Ricky, watching the boy sleep for a few moments before reaching over to turn the light on her bedside table off. She turns onto her side facing Ricky and Andy and shuffles a little further up on her pillows so her body was more elevated. Ricky hums and snuggles into her more, letting out a soft sigh as her arm wraps around him.
In the morning Sharon wakes up to Ricky's grinning face only a couple inches from her own. She offers the boy a sleepy smile and runs her fingers through his hair, trying to get the stray locks to lay flat. It was a gesture she'd perfected in the years since he was a baby. His hair had an innate need to stick up on end any time it was mussed out of it's original form.
"Sleep well?" Sharon murmurs.
"Mmhm," Ricky nods.
"Good," She smiles, stroking her hand over his cheek, "I love you."
"I love you too, Momma," Ricky smiles.
"Do you want to feel the babies?" Sharon offers.
"Feel them?" Ricky says, tilting his head in question. Sharon nods and shifts her position, sitting up more against the headboard. She lifts up the sweatshirt that she had fallen asleep in the night before and holds her hand out in front of her son. He holds his smaller hand out and puts it in hers. Sharon flips it over so it was palm side down and puts it against the bulge of her lower stomach. Between there being two of them and the weight loss from being sick, there was a definite curve to her abdomen. Luckily, it was still easy for her to hide it behind looser blouses and dresses at work and home. Ricky gives her an incredulous look as he holds his hand against her stomach, "Momma you're silly, there's no babies in there."
"They're in there," Sharon smiles, tucking her arm behind her head. She holds up her free hand and holds her fingers about an inch apart from each other, "They're just really, really little right now."
"They are?"
"Mmhm," She nods, moving her hand to rest above Ricky's, "They won't be here for about seven months, and they're going to grow lots and lots before then."
"Are they gonna like me?" Ricky asks.
"Of course," Sharon nods again with an encouraging smile on her face, "They're going to love you so much, and I know you're going to be a great big brother to them."
"I'm gonna be even better than Charlie," Ricky says as he sits up straighter and puffs his chest out.
"I believe it," Sharon tells him, lifting her hand to ruffle his hair, "And you are always going to be my baby. Always."
"Good," Ricky grins.
"Why don't you go see if the others are up, hmm? I'll be down in a second to make some breakfast before church," Sharon suggests.
"Okay," Ricky agrees. He leans down and presses a kiss to her stomach, "Be good babies, stop making Momma sick!"
Sharon laughs and watches as he hops down from the bed and runs out of the room. She sighs softly and reaches out to rest her hand on Andy's back. She had noticed the change in his breathing part way through her exchange with Ricky.
"He's gonna be okay," Andy comments as he turns his head to look at her.
"I know," She nods and looks over at him, "I worry though. He's going to be the epitome of a middle child…the older kids all have each other, the twins will have each other…"
"Ricky is a chameleon," Andy tells her, "He does well with the his older siblings, but he also does well with younger kids. He's an empathetic kid."
"Where did you learn the word empathetic?" Sharon says with an arched eyebrow and a small smile playing on her lips.
"I sometimes pay attention at those sensitivity seminars," Andy grins as Sharon laughs and shakes her head. He reaches over and rubs his hand over her stomach, "He's right though, you two need to stop making your mom so sick."
"It'd be nice," Sharon agrees. She covers Andy's hand and squeezes gently before slipping out of her side of the bed. She straightens her sweatshirt and pulls on a pair of shorts before heading down to the kitchen to make the kids breakfast. Andy stretches out with a grunt before getting up and following her, "Are you coming with to mass this morning?"
"Yeah," Andy nods as he grabs some fruit out of the fridge, putting it on the cutting board before reaching around Sharon for a knife, "Have you talked to Father Espinoza at all about this?"
"About what?" Sharon asks as she looks up from cracking eggs into the mixing bowl.
"The twins, all of this stuff…" Andy says, waving the knife in the air a bit.
"Oh, yeah a little bit," She says, resuming her task. After scraping the shells into the trash she grabs a whisk and begins to beat the contents of the bowl, "Just a little last week in passing."
"You doing okay?" Andy asks as he starts cutting up fruit. They had had a busy week and telling other people was a big step. He was never usually so blatant about checking in on her, that wasn't how they operated. They were easy to read to the other, but there were topics that neither of them could gauge emotional wellbeing on. This was one that Andy always had problems understanding where she was.
"I am," Sharon says as she pours the scrambled eggs into the waiting hot pan. She rinses out the bowl she'd used and sets it in the sink before grabbing a spatula and beginning to mix the eggs as they cook. She sets it down after a moment and leans a hip against the stove as she looks at her husband, "It's hard…not to be afraid sometimes. And sometimes it's hard not to be upset…upset really isn't the right word…"
"Agitated?"
"Yeah, I suppose that's better," Sharon says with a shrug as her arms cross, "I'm not mad at you, and I want these babies, it's just…it has the ability to be agitating. We're in a lot different place than we were when Emily and Ricky were born, we're a lot farther along in our careers, we thought we were done…"
"That has you worried," Andy offers with an arched eyebrow.
"It does. I assumed once we got married that this was the house we were going to raise our family in. That it would be the perfect size for when we retired and had grandkids coming over…" Sharon explains, "And now we need something else, something bigger. We're growing…I just thought we weren't anymore."
"I think we both did," Andy sympathizes. He finishes cutting fruit and puts the knife down, walking around to the other side of the counter. He slips his arms around her waist and his hands under her sweatshirt, putting them on her stomach, "Things are going to change, they are changing. But we always work this stuff out…don't we?"
"We do," Sharon nods, "It's just a hump to get over."
"I'm here for you," Andy reminds her, "Whatever you want to talk about."
"I know," Sharon says as she stirs the eggs. She turns her head and captures his lips, offering him a small smile, "I love you."
[TBC]