"Good morning," he smiled as he snuggled her closer, "Today's the day," he smiled as he whispered into her ear.
"I can't believe they are one!" she said a little too excited for this early in the morning. Andy chuckled as he kissed her neck, "It's been quite the ride this year," he added.
"Mmmm, that it has," she smiled, "So, we made it to their one-year mark," she grinned, turning to face him.
"We did," he grinned at her, "I'm not sure if I'm more excited for the party or whatever else," he eluded.
"Well, I know both will be wonderful, but I have to admit your idea of waiting until they turned one for anything more between us," she eyed him, "was hard to hear, but you were right-a good goal," she smiled.
"So, you're saying I was right?" he whispered again, kissing her neck. "Well, it is technically their birthday today," he implied.
Sharon stalled his movements, "It is, but we also have a household of guests coming today. This," she indicated between herself and Andy, "as much as it pains me to say it, will have to wait. We've waited this long, so we can at least get through the party," she grinned.
"Is it wrong if I wrap the party up in an hour or less?" he smirked at her, as she got up and stretched.
"You will do no such thing. Those two, whom I might add, are probably about to wake up at any moment, deserve a nice party. We deserve a nice evening, and neither of those things will be rushed," she said firmly, grinning at him.
"Well, I guess we can wait a few more hours," as he was interrupted by the two babbling down the hall. "I think they're ready for their big day. I'll go get them up."
Sharon smiled as Andy moved quickly down the hall to get the kids. The past few months had truly been amazing. They'd gotten back on solid footing, and they had moved forward in their relationship on a much deeper emotional level. Since Andy had told Sharon he wanted to start staying with her and the kids at the condo, he'd spent about half his nights there, and they'd kept things at bay, deciding that they wanted to set a goal of the twins' birthday before they progressed any further with their physical relationship. Both agreed that they would assess things as it got closer to the twins' birthday, and that if either wasn't ready, they wouldn't move forward. Just the other night, Andy had told Sharon he'd finally gotten past the thoughts in his head.
"When I see you, I see the one woman I love more than anything. I don't see any of the hurt anymore. When I look at the twins, I see my kids-our kids-the kids we are raising together. Sharon, I know that it's been a long road, but I feel like I'm ready," he had admitted.
"Andy, I so want to be with you. Through everything, I am ready too. I've been overthinking things, and I'm done doing that. You're the only man I want. You are their dad, and I am sure that I want you," she had smiled, and the two had kissed as they sat talking on the couch a few nights prior. Now, here they were, August again, and it was time for a big birthday party.
The summer had passed quickly, which was good because it was hot in LA, very hot. Rusty had finished the year at school, still needing one more semester to graduate to fulfill all his pre-law classes. He had an internship starting with Andrea, and hopefully, in another year, he would be heading off to law school. After vacating his dorm room for the semester, Andy had offered him a place to stay at his house. Andy was rarely there anymore, and when he was, it was nice to be with Rusty. Rusty had jumped on the offer; if he couldn't stay with Sharon due to lack of space, Andy was easily the next best thing, the person who knew him almost as well as Sharon.
The twins had continued to grow, and now, one of Sharon and Andy's favorite activities with them was the crawling races they had setup. Each one would grab a baby and let the babies race down the condo hallway. It was hilarious to watch, especially when one or both would stop to look at their hands or do just about anything else. Faith had been the first to crawl; Tom still was first in language, but Faith had the first in everything else so far. Sharon and Andy were betting Faith would be the first to walk as well. Neither baby was yet, but they weren't far from it. They were currently able to stand and hold onto the coffee table, as they cruised around it. Walking would be yet another major change in the household. So far, breakable and such hadn't had to be moved. They'd only had to move anything at floor level due to the crawling, but Sharon and Andy felt the condo was about to change in appearance.
"I just can't tell you how excited I am about everything today," she smiled at Andy, as he stood in the doorway again. He was holding Tom, but Faith had kicked her way down to crawl around. She was currently standing at the end of the bed, moving along it, holding onto the furniture for support. Tom, the chill kid he was, was just enjoying hanging out with Andy. "I mean, Emily is coming today too! You have no idea how much it means to me she's coming for their birthday. I think it will mend fences quite a bit. I want her in her brother and sister's lives very much, as I do Ricky. I'm so glad he came down here last night."
Andy smiled and hugged Sharon as she walked toward him, kissing her head, "I know that things haven't been easy with them, but today, you get all five kids in the same house for a party. Amazing day, that's for sure," he winked.
"I'm glad the kids could stay at your place. Thank you for letting them stay there. I know Rusty has been there all summer, but it will be good for the three of them to be there together tonight," she smiled.
"Em's plane gets in at 1:00, right?" Andy asked.
Sharon nodded, "Yes, the boys are getting her and then heading over for the party. I just can't wait, Andy!" she squealed.
The morning continued as Sharon and Andy got things ready for the party. It was shaping up to be a nice family gathering, well, with much of the family. Nicole wasn't ready to see Sharon yet in this capacity. Instead, Sharon and Andy were going to take the twins to her house next week for a barbeque-progress, even if it was painfully slow. The team was coming, and since they'd found out about Sharon and Andy, they had mostly stayed out of it, knowing the two were on somewhat fragile ground working things out. Today would be the first day the team would be there, watching the family in action.
Provenza was the first to arrive, no surprise. The old guy loved the twins, as did Patrice. They'd watched them now for Sharon and Andy on a couple of occasions, both times initiated by Provenza.
"Flynn!" he had said a few weeks ago, "Listen, if Patrice and I don't find something to do this Saturday night, I think we're going to be forced to spend time with her family, so you'd better bring those babies over so we can watch them. You know, we need some excuse," he said, as he slyly smiled.
"Okay," Andy had nodded, "well, I don't want you to have to spend time with Patrice's family, so if it helps you out…" he had always finished.
That tactic had now been used a few times, and here today, it was no surprise that Uncle Provenza and Aunt Patrice came bearing gifts, a lot of gifts.
When the party had been discussed, it had taken almost no time to decide on the theme-1st Birthday with…ducks. Oh yes, the little ducks were turning one, and a full-fledged yellow duckling party was almost ready to start.
The guests continued to filter in, and soon, they were just waiting for Rusty, Ricky and Emily to arrive. Everyone was enjoying their time with the babies, chuckling at the two as they laughed at each other and followed each other around as they inched their way around the coffee table.
Soon, Sharon's eyes were drawn to the door, where Rusty entered. She almost ran over, excited to see Emily after so long. She hugged Rusty, and Ricky, before they both stopped her.
"So, Emily has a surprise," they nodded to Sharon.
"What? Where is she?" she asked, looking in the hall.
"She'll be right up," the nodded, moving into the house to alert Andy to Emily and her surprise.
Andy walked over, both twins in his hands, as they'd knocked head and cried it out a minute. They were currently happy now that he was playing with them.
"The boys said there's some surprise?" he asked.
Sharon shrugged, "Apparently. They said she'd on her way up. No idea why she didn't come up with them."
As they were talking, they missed hearing the elevator, and soon Emily was there, "Mom! Andy!" she grinned. "Oh, it's so good to see you. Look at these guys! Wow!" she smiled brightly. "Mom, Andy, I brought a surprise with me," she smiled again.
Sharon and Andy glanced at each other, no surprise in sight, "Emily, what's going on?"
"My boyfriend came with me," she admitted, eyes sparkling. "I know, I know. I haven't told you anything about him, but he's amazing. We've been dating about three months now, and well, this seemed like the perfect surprise. I wanted to tell you sooner, but well, I wanted to wait to see if it was getting serious. He's just so loving, and I can't wait. So, he came today," she clapped her hands, obviously very happy.
Sharon and Andy exchanged glances again, "Emily, that's wonderful!" Sharon exclaimed. "Where is he? We can't wait to meet him."
"Well, that's the crazy thing-hold on, let me get him and you'll see," she said as she walked back around the corner pulling him with her, "Mom, Andy, this is my boyfriend, Steve, but Mom, he said you two already knew each other because you'd worked together before."
A/N-Sorry about the trouble at the duck pond, but you knew this couldn't just be fluffy from here forward...I've been trying to get to this chapter forever. I have had this idea for quite a long time!