She knew it was too good to be true. Why was she having such vivid dreams? Man, they felt real. Here she sat, alone, on her couch, and now she could add stiff from sleeping on said couch. She sighed, as she sat up. The babies were crying. 5:20-well, they had slept through the night, so that was at least good. She stretched as she sat up. Such a good dream-if only it had been real. She felt like she really had talked to Andy last night, that he really had held her until she fell asleep. Dreams. If only they came true. She sighed again, getting up so that she could start her day-change the babies, feed them, let them have some tummy time, and then shower while they napped. That would get her until maybe 9:00, and then she'd have to figure out what to do on, what was shaping up to be, a depressing Thanksgiving weekend. Lucky duck she was for having it off, but now, it just reminded her she was alone again.
"Incoming," she heard as, startled, she looked down the hall to see Tom "flying" toward her. She almost cried; it wasn't a dream. Andy really had come over last night to talk, and they really had fallen asleep on the couch. Bless him; here he was, awake before she was, and he'd already changed Tom. She'd have to remember to address the whole "Flying Baby" issue at another time, but now, she almost couldn't believe he was really standing in the condo.
What's wrong?" he asked, stopping quickly with Tom, bouncing him slightly to get him to stop crying. One thing-both babies had a set of lungs on them in the morning when they were hungry.
"Nothing," Sharon shook her head, eyes glistening, "Nothing at all. I just, well, I woke up, you weren't here, and I thought it was all some dream. I guess I slept better than I thought."
He smiled, "Me too, but first thing's first-this guy and his little sister are hungry."
Sharon nodded, "I'll get the bottles ready," she said as she started moving to the kitchen. Andy put Tom down in the swing for a few minutes.
"I'll get Faith. She wasn't as feisty as Tom this morning. Big guy must have known I was here and was anxious to see me," Andy smiled as he winked and turned to go back and get Faith.
Sharon made up the bottles and picked up Tom, settling on the couch to start feeding him. Andy came out with Faith a few minutes later, grabbed a bottle, and flopped down on the couch to do the same.
Sharon glanced over at Andy, so content, sitting there, feeding Faith, "You have no idea how much I like the fact that you are comfortable taking care of them. It's amazing to me. You just jump in and do whatever," she smiled.
He turned to look at her, "You have no idea how much I enjoy watching you be their mom. It's a side of you I haven't seen as much. With Rusty, you didn't have to do this kind of care with him; it was different, still is, but I just can't get enough of watching you be their mom," he squeezed her hand that was supporting Tom's head.
The settled into silence for a few minutes, listening to the two drink their bottles and smiling at the happy babies. Sharon broke the silence, "Does it still bother you?" she looked over to him.
He looked over to her. Her mind had obviously gone somewhere, but he hadn't caught up to it yet, "Bother me?"
Sharon shook her head, "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts. Does it still bother you to look at Faith? You told me that it was almost too hard."
Andy looked down at Faith, whose bright eyes were looking back at Andy. He smiled at her before he turned to Sharon, "No, not in the least. When I look at her, yes, I see you, but now, Sharon, I see you in her and think to myself that she and Tom are the most amazing things ever."
Sharon was definitely not prepared for that response, and quickly found herself overly emotional again, tears running down her face.
"I didn't mean to make you cry," he smiled slightly, squeezing her hand again.
"You didn't," she waved him off, "You made me incredibly happy."
Once the twins were fed and settled into their swings, Andy pulled Sharon into his side, "Now, go on back there and get a shower, freshen up. I'm going to make us some breakfast. Then, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to our conversation before I head home. I'd really love a shower myself, but my gym bag is at home, so I don't have any extra clothes. I'll just shower when I go home later."
Sharon looked up at him innocently, "There may still be some of your things here from when you had the blood clot," she shrugged.
Andy nodded, pursed lips, "I see. Well, if they happen to surface, and say, surface in the bathroom with a towel, then I will shower after you are done."
Sharon nodded, "You know," she shook her finger, "you are always saying Faith is the ringleader. I'd probably ask her about your clothes. I'm sure she could find them. Likes to hide stuff. You know how she is with hiding that pacifier. Although, could be Tom. The quiet ones are always sneaky."
Andy threw up his hands, "Definitely not Tom. My boy there, Tom, he's got my back."
Sharon smiled as she walked off, "I'll have a Mother-Daughter chat with Faith-tell her if she wants to keep the guy around who is really interested in her, she'd better come clean on the clothing," and winked as she went into the bathroom.
Before the door shut, Andy yelled down the hall, "That's right. Get your pretty little self all decked out. Yeah, you heard me-just like I said those first days you were home from the hospital. Andy chuckled as he smiled, looking at both babies. They were fed; now it was time for the adults to eat.
Once the whole household was fed, showered, and dressed, Sharon and Andy fed the babies again before putting them down for their morning nap.
"How long do we have?" Andy smiled as Sharon walked out from the nursery. She was dressed in lounging, comfortable clothes, while Andy had "happened" to find an LAPD shirt that fit him and some running pants that he'd mysteriously not been able to find for some time.
"They normally nap for about two and a half hours now. They've gotten on a good schedule," she said.
Andy patted the cushion next to him, "Sit, get comfy. Let's talk."
"So," Andy jumped right in, "the team."
Sharon, who was leaning against his side, sat up and turned, "You want to start a discussion about us with the team?"
"Yup, I do," he said, "sit back. Remember, you're not the boss at home," he grinned. She swatted at him.
"So, as much as I don't want to lie to the team, I want everyone, and I mean everyone, out of this," he indicated the two of them, "well, everyone but the ducks back there. They can be part of us. I don't think they'll talk and give us up."
Sharon chuckled, "Okay, why does that bother you so much right now?"
"Well," Andy shifted, "I feel like at work we are under a microscope. I get it if you need to talk to Pope. You don't report to anyone else, and he doesn't care. I can deal with him if he wants to give me some "disappointed in you" looks, but he can't say anything, and he won't say anything. He'd have to deal with Darth Raydor," he grinned at Sharon. Sharon rolled her eyes.
"So, what are you suggesting? They are detectives after all," she asked.
He nodded, "I know, but I want us just to be us for awhile. You don't work five feet from me right now, so that has to help keep the watchful eye off us. I just feel like there's always this pressure from the team to know everything. I'm just wanting you to myself right now, no team allowed. I hate not saying anything to Provenza, but let's face it-how long did he hide Patrice? I can deal with him. He's been a great friend, but even he's tired of hearing about the mess we've had. I promise I can keep it ultra-professional at work if you can. It won't be forever, but maybe just until we get our footing again?"
Sharon nodded, listening and thinking as he spoke, "Andy, I know it was always a bit hard on you when we were dating before. I know the team gave you a hard time, and if you need this, then I will most definitely give that to you. Yes, I'll speak to Pope, but as you said, he won't care. He is terrified of me most of the time," she chuckled. "He told me once he couldn't afford to lose me again because I'm still the only one who can keep you and your best friend in line."
"Hey! We couldn't help the two murder scenes we stumbled into while you were away at that job we will not discuss," he added.
Sharon just chuckled, "I'm not going to comment," as she settled in against him again. He started playing with her hair. "But seriously, Andy, you've accepted more than I could ever ask with everything. I'm fine with that for now, but at some point, they will figure it out."
"Okay," Andy nodded, "I'm just going to jump into this one because it's awkward again for both of us. Kissing and anything else. Sharon, I know we had been progressing along prior to everything, but I-well, I can't believe I'm saying this," he chuckled, "I need to start over, and I need to go slowly, tread lightly. Anything else is too much. I really, really, really don't want to have to go into detail about it being too much, but I hope you are okay with starting over."
Sharon turned, leaned in, placed both hands on the sides of his face, and kissed him sweetly on the lips, nothing lingering but just sweet and tender, "Is that okay?" she whispered.
Andy smiled at her, which was hard for her to see. Her face was still close to his, "Most definitely. Perfect. Everything I've wanted for over 400 days.
Sharon pulled back, quite surprised; you read my letters?"
Andy laced his fingers with hers, "Every single word of every single letter, multiple times," he sighed. "I wasn't going to read them. That first Friday night you showed up at my place, I almost threw you out. I might have if you hadn't been pregnant and looking so tired. When you left that letter, I just about threw it away, but I didn't even want to touch it. Then, every week, it just became a thorn in my side-too painful to even address. I couldn't read them. You know when I read them-the night I saw you at the hospital. After I sat with Faith and then I sat with Tom, well, I knew I couldn't walk away, so I started with all of your letters."
Sharon nodded, "I've kept a count of the number of days since I ruined everything, and as you know, I noted the day number in every letter, along with all of the other ramblings I wrote. It seemed to get more and more depressing when I hit, '100 days since I last kissed you and ruined everything,' '200 days since I last kissed you and ruined everything,' '300 days since I last kissed you and ruined everything,' and even '400 days since I last kissed you and ruined everything,' she shook her head.
Andy pulled her in and kissed her sweetly again, "And, the counting is over, for good."
Sharon smiled into that, "Agreed."
"But I have one request, related to all that," he commented.
Sharon looked at him puzzled.
"Please, please, please keep sending me any picture of them. I created a folder at work with their pictures, and aside from the few I take when I see them at day care, it hasn't been updated in a very long time," he nodded.
"You created a picture folder of them?" she asked.
"Of course. It gets me through every single day. I even code named it so wandering eyes don't see it," he grinned.
Sharon's eyes narrowed, "What is it called?"
"Ducks," Andy shrugged, "Easy," to which Sharon started laughing and finally settled against his chest again.
"So, I have one request," Sharon sat up to look at him. Andy looked back at her with a questioning gaze, "The kids-I mean the big kids. The other five kids who are adults-can we treat them like the team? That should be even easier because only Rusty and Nicole live here. Just for now?"
Andy nodded, "I think that's a good idea. No need to get their opinions on the matter, which we both know they have a lot of opinions. None of them are very happy with things, so let's just keep them away from us right now. However, you need to make sure your little ringleader back there doesn't out us."
Andy's phone interrupted their conversation. Groaning as he moved to find it, "It has better not be a murder," he sighed as he looked, "Provenza," he frowned back at her. Sharon just laughed.
"I have that same expression when Provenza calls me," she chuckled.
"What!" he barked into the phone, "Please tell me we don't have a murder."
"No, Flynn! Don't jinx us! No, I called to make sure you hadn't crawled into a bottle or something. Haven't talked to you. What are you doing? Want to hit the bar with me tonight to watch me drink? Patrice is doing Christmas shopping, and she told me if I didn't have plans, I was coming with her," he said.
"Well, lace up your shoes because you're going shopping," he barked into the phone again.
Sharon raised her eyebrows at the weird comment and then covered her mouth to keep from chuckling. Andy swatted toward her to keep her mouth shut. She turned and laughed into the pillow.
"What? What could possibly be important? I know you've been moping around here about HER, so that's not it," Provenza said.
"No, I'm not just hanging out with Sharon. I'm busy. Doing my own shopping this weekend. Saw Nicole yesterday and probably more today. We'll see. No, I'm just not spending tonight out with you, tomorrow night either, for that matter," he added.
"Come over on Sunday, and we'll watch some of the NFL games on," Provenza told Andy.
"Oh, no," Andy shook his head, "I've told you I'm not watching the NFL ever again," to which Sharon sat up and gave him a sad smile. He just patted her leg.
"Yeah, yeah, now only into college football. I hate that she ruined the NFL for you," Provenza said. "So, you are coming over sometime this weekend. Tell me when or I'll come sit at your place all weekend."
"Fine!" Andy barked. "I'll stop by tomorrow. It's Friday night, and I'm not hauling myself over there. Too many crazies out on the road. I'll just sit here when I am, thank you very much."
"I'll keep calling you tomorrow until you come, Flynn, and I'll somehow make you pay for making me go out shopping with Patrice tonight," he scolded Andy.
"Whatever. Don't get into some fight tonight for some kitchen appliance on sale, you cheap goat," and he hung up.
"So, you are planning to, 'Just sit here where I am,' as you quote?" Sharon asked once she stopped laughing.
"Well, maybe not anymore after you almost outed yourself on Day 1 here with Provenza," he huffed at her.
"I'm sorry," she laughed, "Listening to you two-it's always entertaining, and I never thought I'd say it, but I missed it very much," she smiled.
Andy leaned back against the back of the couch, pulling Sharon back to nestle into his side, "Well, with that excuse, yeah, I think I'll just sit here where I am for today if that's okay with you. Oh, and I didn't lie to Provenza when I said I wasn't just hanging out with you; I'm not. I'm hanging out with the other two back there as well," he grinned. "I could sit here all weekend, and I think we're in luck; I think the Ducks have one final game this weekend," he winked.
A/N-Up Next-Ducks' First Christmas!