Author's note: Yes yes yes YES! I'm loving your reviews everyone! Keep 'em coming PWEEEEASE!

Sorry for the delay between chapters... been busier (can you even say that? busier? English isn't my first language... Anyway you know what I mean...) lately, and I can't seem to find the time to sit and write... SORRY!

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Chapter 11

The next weekend, both Andy and Sam had Saturday off, so they'd decided to spend some time together. Sam had spent most of his free time at her place in the last week, wanting to be with Matty and her as much as possible.

Sam couldn't get enough of that baby. In a matter of seconds, Matty'd had him wrapped around his little tiny finger. There was no better feeling than when he was able to put a smile on his baby's face. He couldn't explain how just making him laugh filled him with pride. He found that it was the same pride he felt when he made Andy smile.

The relationship between him and Andy hadn't really changed, except for the fact that she seemed a lot more relaxed around him. She talked more, laughed more. He almost felt like he'd gotten the same Andy he'd fallen for a few years ago, but still different. She was different, had matured, which only made her more endearing.

When he'd said he'd do anything to be with her, he'd told her the truth. Even if it meant doing things he hated. Like shopping. He hated going shopping with a passion. But somehow, the things he hated doing didn't seem that bad when he did them with Andy and Matty.

He leaned back against the wall and pushed the stroller around as he waited for Andy to come out of the ladies room. She'd taken Matty inside for a diaper change, what, 10 minutes ago? How long did change a diaper take?

Almost on cue, Andy came out of the ladies room, Matty on one arm and the diaper bag hanging from the other. She gave Matty over to him, groaning. "This baby gets heavier everyday…" She mumbled, shoving the diaper bag under the stroller. "Sorry it took so long, your son decided to wait for a clean diaper before going for a number two."

Sam smiled, something he always did when he heard her say the words 'your son'. He chuckled and lifted the baby over his head. "Making mommy work over time, buddy?"

The baby giggled, reaching out to grab his nose with his chubby hands.

Sam puffed and grimaced as his nose got covered with drool. He sat the baby back in his stroller, strapped him in and then wiped his face with his hand.

Andy, who'd been watching the scene, chuckled in amusement at Sam's disgusted look. "I'm sure you didn't sign up for a drool mask and crappy diaper changes when you chose to spend time with us."

"Oh, I did. And F.Y.I, I'm loving every single second, Andy."

She nodded her head, smiling. "Let's go, there's still some things I want to get before we go back home." She told him, already walking away.

Sam grinned and shook his head, following her with the stroller. He'd had no idea Andy was such a shopping maniac before today.

However, when they finally walked back inside her house two hours later, he thought she'd graduated from maniac to complete freak. 'I'm never doing this again.' He thought, groaning as he followed her in the house, his arms filled with more bags than he could count. He'd watched helplessly as she'd gotten tons of new clothes and toys for Matty, which he'd made sure he paid for, to her dislike. Spending money hadn't been the problem. What he hadn't enjoyed was the part where Matty had decided to fall asleep and leave him alone in almost every single store she'd brought him to.

With a long sigh, he dropped everything on the floor and let himself fall on the couch, feeling completely exhausted. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, only to open them again when he heard a low chuckle coming from the doorway.

"Is it just me or you're not used to shopping this much?"

"I try avoiding that activity as much as I can. Last time I spent a day like this one was with Sara… three years ago."

Andy wrinkled her nose and sat next to him after sitting Matty on his floor mat. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok, I wanted to go with you." He told her, giving her a soft smile which she returned instantly.

They both sighed and watched the baby play with a few toys quietly.

"Have you told your sister about Matty?" She asked him, breaking the silence.

"I have." His smile stretched as he remembered his sister's reaction. "She's ecstatic. She can't wait to see him. And she can't wait to meet you."

Andy wrinkled her brow. "Does she know the whole story?"

"She knows I just found out a few weeks ago." He told her, watching her face intently.

She sighed and looked down at her hands, something he'd noticed she did a lot when she felt bad about something. "She must hate me." She muttered.

"No, not at all. I told her it was my fault."

She shook her head and looked up at him again, giving him a pained look. "Sam…"

"No, no, it's okay, Andy." He let out a long sigh. "I don't blame you for keeping the truth from me. I'm not proud of what I did. I'm just happy you want me in Matty's life. And, I'm hoping, in yours."

Andy looked at Matty and smiled, blushing slightly.

He'd also noticed she'd been blushing a lot lately and hoped it meant he was doing something right. "So? Do you want me to help you unpack all this?" he asked her, pointing at the mountain on plastic bags he'd dropped beside the couch on his way in.

She shook her head, giving him a knowing look. "Nah, I'll do it. You can keep Matty entertained." She patted his thigh and stood up, grabbing as many bags as she could carry upstairs. Sam watched her walk out of the room and then sat down on the mat next to the baby.

When Andy finally finished unpacking everything, she got to work on preparing dinner, with Sam's help. They sat the baby in his highchair and, like he'd done almost every day this week, he fed Matty while she cooked. They took their time eating dinner together, chatting and playing with the baby. Then, while Sam cleaned up the kitchen, Andy went up to give Matty his bath and put him down for the night.

As Sam filled the dishwasher, he couldn't keep his imagination from running free. Images of Andy and him playing house together filled his mind. He smiled, imagining two or three kids running around the house. They weren't there yet, but he really hoped it would happen some day.

Who would've thought Sam Swarek, eternal bachelor, would ever be having these thoughts? Hell, just a few months ago, he would never even have LET himself think this could be his life.

"NOW who's thinking too much."

Sam jumped slightly and looked over his shoulder. "I think you're rubbing off on me." He told her in a teasing tone.

"I think I might have to agree with you on this one. You're even starting to wear my things." She giggled, lifting her chin towards the pink apron he was wearing.

He looked down at himself and chuckled, realizing how stupid he must look. "Didn't want to get my clothes wet." He explained, unable to keep from laughing with her. He took it off, closed the dishwasher shut and turned around to face her.

"No, no, you can keep it. I think it looks better on you than it does on me." She told him, grinning.

He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. "You better not tell anyone about this. Especially Shaw."

She raised her eyebrows, curious. "Or what?"

"I'll tell everyone you like eating baby food."

She snorted at him. "I don't care. I think it tastes awesome."

Sam let out a mock sigh and nodded his head slowly. "It does." He chuckled along with her and held his hand out to her, which she took with no hesitation. Still grinning, he pulled her to him, stopping her before their closeness could make her uncomfortable. "I had a great day today." He told her, enjoying the huge smile he got in return.

Andy nodded her head. "Me too."

He looked down at their hands, enjoying the feel of her skin against his, even if it were just from her fingers. Looking up at her face again, he couldn't help noticing the way her eyes sparkled. Her smile, her eyes… everything about her took his breath away. He took a deep breath and looked away, letting go of her hand before he did something he'd regret. "I think I'm gonna get going. I still have to stop by the grocery store and if I leave now, I should have just enough time before it closes."

With a slightly confused frown, Andy took a step back and nodded her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sure, no prob. I was just going to sit and watch some TV before I go to bed."

She followed him to the front door, her arms still tightly wrapped around herself as she watched him open the door.

He took a couple of steps on the porch and then turned towards her, remembering something. "Are you off tomorrow?"

She stood in the doorway, the playfulness he'd seen in her eyes just a few minutes ago completely gone. "No, I already told you. I'm working the afternoon shift."

"Oh! And is your dad babysitting?"

She nodded her head in agreement.

"I was thinking… could I have Matt, for the afternoon?" He asked her. "I'd like to spend some more time with him. If… if it's okay with you, of course." He added, sounding a little nervous.

Andy raised her eyebrows, a little taken aback by his demand. "Oh! Okay, sure." She told him quickly. Up to now they'd always been the three of them together, but she knew it was only normal for him to want some time alone with his son. "I'm gonna call my dad and let him know you'll be with Matty."

He nodded his head, smiling. "That'd be great! So I'll see you tomorrow around lunch?"

She gave him a tight grin. "Perfect."

Sam watched her for a few seconds, and then couldn't keep himself from taking a small step towards her and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. He let his lips linger a little longer than necessary on her hot skin and then pulled back, giving her a soft smile. "Bye."

"Bye." She breathed out.

She watched him get in his truck and waved one last time before disappearing inside the house.

RBRBRBRBRBRBR

"Trace, I would TOTALLY have let him kiss me."

Andy groaned in frustration. For once, she was glad she wasn't the one driving the squad car. She'd been having a hard time concentrating on anything since that very morning when Sam had arrived at her place for his father\son day.

She'd been feeling nervous since the second she'd woken up that morning. She'd kept replaying the evening's events over and over in her head, trying to see what had gone wrong. They'd had a great day and an even better evening.

She was sure he'd been about to kiss her. He'd had that look in his eyes, almost the same look she's seen so long ago. But then, he'd gone from three seconds away from kissing her to needing to leave as soon as possible.

And then there had been that kiss. It had been a simple, platonic kiss on the cheek. That's it.

But it hadn't been just THAT for her.

As much as she'd told him she wanted, no NEEDED time, at that exact moment, all she'd wanted had been to forget about everything and jump his sexy bones. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the start of a headache creeping in.

"Ok… what happened to "I need time"?" Traci asked her, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I don't know!" She shrieked out. "I spent all the time he was under feeling angry and sad about everything. It's like I never really envisioned him coming back and telling me he has feelings for me. So now it's like the feelings I pushed away and tried to ignore are coming back in… in… TIDAL waves."

Traci snorted. "Too much info, Andy." She told her, unable to hide her amusement.

"Don't laugh at me, Trace!" Andy groaned and covered her face with her hands. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm not laughing AT you! I just find this whole situation amusing… it's like you can't avoid drama. You're life should be played out on "Days of our Lives"."

She let out a long frustrated sigh, shaking her head. "I still don't know what to do with this."

"You're saying he kissed you on the cheek?"

She grimaced. "Yep. And then he went grocery shopping."

Traci gave her a small grin. "You know what I think? I think Sam Swarek is trying to act like the perfect gentleman." She glanced at her friend's face and kept going. "You told Sam you wanted time and he's simply trying to respect your wishes. Maybe the reason you think he wants to kiss you one minute and leaves the next is because he's having a hard time keeping his hands to himself."

"You think so?"

"Yep. And I also think that if you want things to start moving further, you'll have to take the first steps."

Andy nodded her head slowly, understanding what her friend was saying. It made sense.

Traci chuckled and raised her eyebrows at her. "And if you ask me, don't wait too long. You look like you're about to combust from the inside."

Andy sent her a sideways glare and smirked. "Nice. Thanks Trace. That really makes me feel better."

"Just sayin'."

SO? So? I know I know... it's too short. I'll try to make the next chapter longer! :)

Don't forget to let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Tanya