I was excited to hear from a few of you that I hadn't heard from in a while, and also from a couple of you for the first time, so thanks for the added motivation to post more quickly! And I always appreciate the regular reviewers and everyone who is reading, whether I've heard from you or not :)

The next morning, Sharon poured a mug of coffee and made breakfast for herself, singing softly as she moved around the kitchen. After watching Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again after midnight the night before, she'd woken up with those damn songs in her head.

"Friday night and the lights are low

Looking out for a place to go

Where they play the right music

Getting in the swing

You come to look for a king

Anybody could be that guy..."

"Oh, really?" Andy came in and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Sharon leaned into his embrace for a few moments before walking over to the stove. "I'm making some eggs, you want some?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Sharon got an egg from the open carton on the counter and continued singing as she cracked it against a bowl and emptied its contents into the dish. "You're a teaser, you turn 'em on, leave'em burning and then you're gone..."

"I know all about that," Andy's muffled voice came from inside of the refrigerator, where he was getting out some fresh fruit.

"Ugh, whine about it." Sharon wasn't a prude, by any means, but sleeping with Andy hadn't been like any of the men she'd been with before. Working together every day had been enough of a reason to take it slowly, not to mention that she had been his boss. She remembered being at work after they'd finally slept together the first time and feeling like everyone somehow knew that Andy knew what she looked like naked now, and she hadn't been able to look anyone in the eye all day. She'd felt like she had "I had sex with Andy" written across her face for about three days after the fact.

Sharon heard a crying baby and footsteps that were heavier than Emily's coming down the hall, so she got a bottle out of the refrigerator and put a cup of water in the microwave, knowing Emmett was probably going to give Marie a bottle and let Emily sleep. "Hold on, baby girl, I'm sorry I'm not Mommy." Emmett appeared in the kitchen, looking groggy and disheveled. He was oblivious to Sharon's and Andy's presence in the room. "I can't just whip out a tit and be done, I have to heat up a bottle first." He about jumped out of his skin when the microwave beeped, and Sharon and Andy were doubled over with laughter.

Sharon got the cup out of the microwave and put the bottle in it to warm up. There was a bottle-warmer somewhere, but no one had taken the time to dig through the baby things for it yet. "I'm on it."

Emmett's cheeks flushed, and he looked at the clock on the stove. "It's so dreary outside, I thought it was too early for anyone else to be awake. Uhhh—"

Sharon patted his arm. "You nailed one of the advantages of nursing pretty well. Don't worry about it." Marie wasn't quite so understanding, and she was clearly pissed off about having to wait to eat. Sharon took the bottle out a couple of minutes later and shook a little bit of milk on the inside of her wrist. "All right, sweet girl, it's ready." Marie's screaming immediately died down once Emmett placed the bottle in her mouth. Sharon leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "At least she takes bottles pretty easily. Emily didn't discriminate, either, but Ricky was a nightmare. I thought I was going to have to nurse him until he went to college."

Emmett started walking toward the living room with Marie in his arms. "That's pretty funny. And not that surprising, come to think of it. I wish I'd known that when he was here this weekend, I would've given him hell."

"I'm going to go look at that gray Lexus again today. I think I'll go ahead and get it," Sharon commented as she cracked another egg. She'd been thinking about getting a new car and looking at them for a couple of months, now. She added a couple more eggs to the bowl in case Emmett wanted some and got the milk and butter out of the refrigerator.

Andy nodded. "We've been slow this week, I might be able to take a long lunch and go with you."

"Why? We've already talked about a price range."

"I know, but, uh—" Andy sputtered.

"But what? Think I can't make a deal?"

"No! Of course I know you can, but a lot of those car salespeople think women don't know anything about cars and might try to highball you."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I've been buying my own cars for years, Andy, I know how to handle those types."

"I know you can handle it, I just—"

"I know." Sharon got the eggs prepared and poured them into a skillet before standing on her tiptoes to kiss Andy. "I just like to watch you put your foot in your mouth."

"You're cruel, you know that?"

A couple of weeks later, Sharon and Andy had a long weekend at her parents' timeshare in Park City planned with Sharon's brother, sister, and their spouses. Well, the men would be there for a long weekend, and Sharon, her sister, and her sister-in-law were staying through the following weekend. Andy was working a half-day that Thursday, and their flight was leaving at 3:30. Sharon woke up right before dawn on Thursday morning and couldn't go back to sleep. She finally gave up and went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee and start her day. She heard Marie starting to get cranked up, so she slipped back to Emily's and Emmett's room and got her before they woke up. She liked mornings she got up early enough to get her and let Emily and Emmett sleep a little longer. Once Marie's bottle was ready, Sharon got her coffee, a diaper, and a pack of wet wipes and went out to the back porch. About this time last year, she was about to hear bad news about her health, and she thanked God that she was still here and healthy, as well as for the happy changes she had been through in the last year. Marie grunted softly as she took her bottle, and she couldn't help but laugh at that. The birds were starting to chirp, and the sky had hues of purple, blue, and a little orange as the sun started to rise. If holding her tiny granddaughter on her porch in the peacefulness of daybreak didn't make her feel close to God, then she didn't know what did.

Andy got home at lunchtime, and they ate a quick lunch before they put their things in the car. Sharon was loving her new car, and Rusty had been happy with his upgrade when he got her old car. Emily had offered to take them to the airport, but Emmett was out of town for work, and Marie wasn't too fond of car rides. Sharon kissed the top of Marie's head. "Awww, I don't want to leave my baby girl."

"I know, Mom, but you'll see me in a little over a week," Emily joked.

"Ha, ha. Bye, honey. Love you." Sharon gave Emily a hug and kissed her cheek.

"Bye, you guys. Have a safe trip. No making out on the plane."

"I can't make any promises." Andy hugged Emily and followed Sharon out the door.

"I hope this plane trip is less eventful than the last time we were in this airport," Andy commented as they were waiting to board. "The trip's a lot shorter, too."

"Of course, the one time in my life I forgot to put extra clothes in my carry-on was the only time in my life my luggage got lost," Sharon agreed.

"Well, I must say, you looked damn good in my boxers and undershirt." Andy looked around. "Maybe I should go back and tip one of those TSA agents and ask them to lose your bag again."

"You couldn't have put a couple of t-shirts in your carry-on, but thank god the four pairs of suspenders you brought were safe," Sharon huffed. "And I have plenty of fleece pajama pants and sweatshirts with me, so that wouldn't do any good."

Ireland, April 2018

Sharon's heart sank as the conveyor belt slowly emptied, without either of their bags in sight. She'd had a glass of wine on the plane, and half of it had spilled on her during some turbulence. She'd hoped to be able to duck into a bathroom and change her top before they left the airport, but that was clearly no longer a possibility. "I'll go get the keys for the rental car, and you can go find out what's going on," Andy suggested.

They parted ways, and Andy headed to the rentals. As he walked back in the direction where Sharon would be, he heard raised voices, so he picked up his pace before Sharon got herself on a no-fly list. They were both exhausted from the long flight and had no idea what time it was or what time their bodies even thought it was, and he just prayed that Sharon was still on the proper side of the counter. He managed to talk her down and lead her to the rental lot. They'd planned their flight to land in the evening, local time, so they'd have time to eat dinner if they were hungry before undoubtedly falling into bed.

"It is 2018, why is it so hard to get luggage to the proper place?" Sharon moaned.

"I'm not any happier about it than you are, but there's nothing anyone can do at the moment," Andy sensibly pointed out, which earned him a death glare from Sharon. "You have some extra clothes in your carry-on, right?"

"No, I forgot. This has never happened before, but of course it would happen the one time I forget."

"I've got a few things in mine, we'll just have to make do with that until they find it."

When they got to the hotel, Andy ordered room service while Sharon looked through his carry-on for something to wear. She was hoping to find a t-shirt, but there wasn't much to choose from. "Really, Andy?! Four pairs of suspenders, but not a single t-shirt?"

"Would you rather stay in what you have on until we get our luggage back?" Andy shot back.

"Whatever. I need a shower." By the time Sharon got out, she felt a little better, but she was still pissed off. The hotel's soap and shampoo smelled pretty good, so missing her own wasn't a problem. She dried herself off, brushed her wet hair out, and got dressed, but she couldn't bring herself to put her panties back on, and her bra definitely wasn't happening, so she went back into the room in just boxers and an undershirt. Andy was coming in the door from the hall with a small bag in his hand. He'd gone down to the gift shop for toothbrushes and toothpaste while she was in the shower. "Not exactly what I'd planned to wear the first night," Sharon grumbled.

A small grin played at Andy's lips as his gaze swept over her. "Hey, I'm not complaining. I'll never look at those boxers the same way again." Sharon being pissed off obviously worked in his favor, and after that night, Andy was pretty sure that bed was never going to be the same again, either.

Back to Present

Sharon and Andy arrived at her parents' timeshare in Park City soon before dinner time. As soon as Sharon got out of the car, she could smell steaks cooking from the grill on the porch upstairs and hear the loud chatter of her brother, sister, and in-laws. Her sister had texted her before they boarded with dinner plans, so Sharon knew there was also fish for Andy. They got their bags and started for the stairs up to the porch, but Andy grabbed Sharon's hand and led her to the hammock in the yard. "Andy, they probably heard our doors slamming, they know we're here," Sharon protested.

"Just for a minute," Andy pleaded. "It's usually too hot or too cold to enjoy it when we're here." He dropped into the hammock and pulled Sharon down with him. It had been a long time since she'd experienced true Fall weather, and the slight chill in the air and the brilliant color of the leaves did make the hammock appealing. Sharon lay on Andy's shoulder and gazed up at the trees, loving the smell of leaves and the charcoal from the grill. Andy put his hand on her cheek and kissed her, and before long they had gotten too carried away to notice Sharon's brother standing over them.

"I found them!" William yelled up to the porch. "My god, you two are like a couple of teenagers."

Sharon jumped and pulled away from Andy before hastily getting out of the hammock. "Well, hello to you, too, little brother." She pulled him into a hug and picked up her bag.

"Where were you guys?" Kate, Sharon's sister, asked once they'd all greeted each other. "We heard the car doors slam, but then you guys never came up."

Sharon's face flushed. "We were, uh—"

"Coupling in the hammock," William supplied.

Sharon rolled her eyes. "We were not."

William raised his eyebrows. "It was getting there."

Later that evening, all of the men had gone to bed, leaving Sharon, Kate, and Beth on the porch with their second bottle of wine. They chatted for a while before turning in, themselves. Sharon slipped quietly into her and Andy's room and got ready for bed. In the darkness, she didn't notice the open window that she'd forgotten about opening when they arrived, and she climbed in beside Andy and went to sleep.

Sharon shivered slightly as she tried to hold on to sleep the next morning, but the feeling of not knowing where she was caused her mind to drift more toward wakefulness. Andy was beside her, but this wasn't their bed. Their bed at home was bigger than this. And not so damn cold. As she spooned her legs against Andy's, snuggled into his back, and tightened the covers around her, she remembered that they were in Park City. She was also just now remembering opening a window and not closing it before she went to bed the night before.

Andy was starting to stir, and he slowly rolled over and pulled Sharon into his chest. Without opening her eyes, she tilted her face up for a kiss. From the way Andy kissed her eye before he fumbled around for her lips, she figured that he either hadn't opened his eyes yet, either, or he had the blurry half-slitted eyes that made him walk into walls and furniture for the first couple of minutes after waking up. "Why is it colder than a penguin's ballsack in here?" He muttered against her lips.

"Guess we forgot to close the window," Sharon mumbled. She pulled away from Andy's kiss and shivered again as she entwined her legs with his and pressed herself closer to him. Sleep had left her, though, and the cold, crisp air of the early morning and the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen was enough to lure her out of bed. After pulling on a pair of flannel pajama pants under her nightgown and slipping on a sweatshirt over it, she stepped into the hall. She looked ridiculous, but she was freezing her ass off. Taking her nightgown off in the frigidity of their bedroom wasn't happening.

It was notably warmer in the hall, but Sharon hurried to the living room to turn the gas logs on. It was 7:30 according to the clock on the mantle, so she probably wouldn't have slept much longer, anyway, but being woken up on account of freezing to death wasn't the best way she could think of to start the day. As long as windows weren't left open overnight, it wasn't cold enough to turn the heat on or hot enough during the day to turn the air on. The weather was perfect. Sharon sat as close to the gas logs as she could get without actually being in them, and Andy brought her a cup of coffee and snuggled beside her.

"What's with you guys?" Beth asked.

Sharon looked over at her sister-in-law, who was sipping a mug of coffee on the couch and watching the news. "We left our window open last night, so we woke up freezing. Have you guys been up long?"

Beth rolled her eyes. "You know William. He was up at dawn, and he thinks that if he's awake, the rest of the house has to be awake. How are you guys just waking up? He's been making a racket with breakfast."

"I learned to tune him out years ago. He's just like Dad. I think my body just naturally tunes them out by now when they're on their 'I have to wake up the rest of the house at 6:00 in the damn morning' missions." Sharon accepted her coffee from Andy and took a long sip. "Thanks, honey." The coffee warmed her up, and the heat from the gas logs on her back would be uncomfortable in a couple of minutes, but the warmth felt nice for the time being. The shadows in the living room were different than they'd been when they were here just a couple of months ago, and the sunlight wasn't quite as bright. Autumn was definitely underway with the promise of Winter soon behind it. With the fall-scented candles in the house, the brightly-colored leaves outside, and the fog drifting across the mountains and the lake, the mid-October Friday morning made for a cozy scene. Sharon couldn't wait to eat breakfast and take her coffee and a blanket to the porch to enjoy the morning, and she was excited about the fun week ahead of her.