Thanks for the reviews! I was reading through them just before posting this, and someone commented on the Dodger/Giant issue Ricky has. I actually address that here. I'm a huge sports fan myself, so I get team favorites and the inability to like certain teams. This sort of explains Sharon's football passion too...hope it makes sense. Thanks again!
Sharon, Emily, and Sue had a great time getting their nails done. Sue had originally said she wasn't going to go, but she'd been persuaded to join the ladies. They had such an enjoyable morning, they ended up getting lunch out, chatting about a lot of different things. Sharon may a very conscious effort to not allow the conversation to steer toward Andy nor her relationship with Jack, and she was pleasantly surprised that neither her mom nor Emily tried to pry too much about Andy; that was a welcome relief. Emily brought Jack up a couple of times, which was fine; Emily was complaining, but Sharon wouldn't let the conversation steer anywhere toward her personal life. That was off limits; they had a lot of things to chat about between the three of them, and when they returned home mid-afternoon, they found Bob alone watching college football.
"Well, there are my beautiful ladies, "he smiled as they all walked into the living room. "I can guess by those smiles that you had a good time."
"We did, Dad," Sharon smiled. "Where are the guys?"
"Ricky and Andy have come and gone; they came in for lunch, and they were having such a great time, they went back out together. That was maybe an hour ago. Emily, Ricky asked for you to text him when you got back, and he'd meet up with you out there. I think Andy was going to be ready to swap out with Emily for the afternoon," Bob replied.
"Ok, cool," Emily replied. "Thanks for telling me, Grandpa. I'm going to change and head out there. I'll text Ricky as soon as I'm ready. I had a great time, Mom, Gram," she grinned and disappeared.
"Shar Bear, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Bob asked.
"Well, I thought I would hang out here with you. I never get to spend much time with you," she added.
"That would be lovely, Sharon, but you don't have to do that. I'm sure you and Andy could find something to do," Sue told her.
"No!" Sharon said quickly, "We'd love to hang out with you, both of us. In fact, we'll make dinner tonight so you don't have to do that."
"Well, that does sound like a nice evening, a good dinner before the kids get going tomorrow," Sue smiled.
The three settled into watching the game, Sharon in one of the arm chair so her parents could watch from the couch. They heard Emily leave, and they resumed watching. There were two games on at the same time, so they were switching back and forth. Sharon didn't hear Andy come up behind her, and he scared her, taking her by surprise.
"Oh!" she said as she jumped out of her seat. "Why are your hands so cold?" Bob and Sue started to laugh. Andy had walked up behind Sharon and put his hands on her cheeks; they were bitter cold from being outside.
Andy started laughing too, and Sharon turned around glaring at him.
"Shar Bear, I think he got you," Bob laughed.
Andy shrugged and threw one of his grins her way, "I might have gotten into a snowball fight with your kids outside."
Sharon rolled her eyes, "I should have known. If we lived in snow, I could see you and Provenza doing that to each other all the time. I thought you were old."
He grinned again, "Apparently not too old for a snowball fight. Want to feel my hands again?' he grinned, and Sue couldn't stop laughing.
"No! Andy, your hands are freezing. Go warm them up," she shooed him off.
"Here I was thinking you might take pity on me and make me some hot chocolate," he gave her a sad look with his puppy dog eyes.
"Sharon, go take care of him. He's a guest, after all," Sue scolded her.
Sharon's eyes met Andy's, and he started to chuckle. She rolled her eyes before nudging him toward the kitchen, "Come on; let's get you warmed up," and her parents kept laughing as the two left the room.
Once they were far enough from the living room, Andy spun Sharon around and kissed her, making sure his cold hands weren't on her face, "That's the spot, right there," he grinned, stuffing his hands around her back, into her cardigan. Sharon chuckled into his kiss.
"Are your hands warm enough now?" she teased.
"Not yet, but I can't really put them where I'd like to," he smirked. Sharon pulled back and swatted at his arm.
"You're terrible. Now, sit while I make both of us some hot chocolate and tell me about your day with my son. After that, I've signed us up for dinner duty," she explained.
"We had a great time today; Ricky is a wonderful kid, Sharon," Andy said sweetly to her as they sipped on their hot chocolate. Bob and Sue had both fallen asleep in the living room, so the house was quiet, except for the two talking.
"Thank you," Sharon grinned. "I'm kind of partial to him myself. He grew up pretty well without having a father around," she said sadly.
Andy nodded, "He did, but he had an amazing mom raise him, and obviously, he's had some great people here in his grandparents to help. You should be really proud of him." Andy reached to hold Sharon's hand in his before he began again, "We talked a lot about, well, a lot of things," he smiled. "He told me about Jack, more than I think he ever planned. He sort of opened up, and well, the floodgates opened. He's pretty angry with him, isn't he?"
Sharon nodded, sadly, "He is," she sighed, "and I can't blame him. Jack has been lousy. Ricky barely remembers anything decent about Jack; he was so little when Jack left the first time, but you know little boys-they always want their daddy to be this perfect person."
Andy nodded, "I know. I see it with Charlie. He did have a stepfather around, which is another whole issue, but I do know what you mean. Charlie has a lot more anger toward me than I sense with Ricky toward Jack. He seems much more disappointed, that his favorite person, so to speak, let him down. So, I kind of got that when we were talking baseball earlier. We started talking again, just you know, about the season coming up, and he mentioned that Jack has always been a big Dodger fan.
Sharon nodded, "Yes, he was. Ricky knew that and became obsessed with them, partly, thinking that if he liked something his dad did that well, his dad would come back for him maybe? Ricky thought that if he loved the Dodgers, Jack would love him, which is so stupid, but a little boy doesn't get that."
Andy nodded, "Yeah, I kind of wondered that, and he told me that's why he's now a Giants fan," Andy rolled his eyes. "He went to the dark side."
Sharon chuckled, as she played with Andy's hand in hers, "After all that time, I think that was why it was easier for me to migrate more toward football. I love sports, but Jack sort of tainted baseball, even though I do enjoy it. Ricky's quitting as a teenager, I told you that he had some anger about not having a dad around when others did. Well, that's also when he started to realize that idolizing something Jack liked wasn't going to bring Jack back."
"Well, with all that, I told Ricky he could be a Giants fan," Andy grinned. "I did tell him, however, that I would have to take him to a Dodger game sometime when he visits. He needs to be brought back to the right side, Sharon. "
Sharon smiled brightly as she tightened her grip on Andy's hand, "I think he would enjoy that. He's never been to a game with a guy, just me," she shrugged. "I've only been with the kids."
"Yeah, we'll work on you too," he nodded. "We need to restore your faith in humanity, your faith in the Dodgers. Can't have you just liking football," he winked.
"Thank you, Andy, for spending the day with him. Really. He's not had any male role models in his life, aside from my dad. He's grown now, as we know, and I think it's starting to hit him harder, to sink in, just how bad Jack has been with him. So, this day means the world to me, to him. You might think of it as a nice, fun day, but Ricky will cherish it, and he'll respect you more than you can imagine for wanting to spend the day with him, wanting to get to know him," Sharon professed.
"Happy to do it, and I didn't do it to make any grand impression. I like you, Sharon. I like your family. You do things for people you like," he squeezed her hand again.
Before long, it was dinner. Andy and Sharon had opted to make his vegetable lasagna this year, Andy having brought most of the ingredients with him again. The kids returned from skiing, and before long, everyone was sitting around the table, relaxing, after they had finished a nice meal.
"Once again, Andy, awesome job on dinner," Emily grinned. "You're always welcome to come cook for us in Park City."
"Emily! That's not why he came," Sharon scolded her.
"Then, what is the reason, Mom?" Ricky grinned, and Sharon rolled her eyes.
"Couldn't wait to do some great skiing with you, Ricky," Andy winked at Sharon as he answered. Soon, the group found themselves cleaning up dinner.
"Emily, Ricky, go ahead and work on packing. We'll clean up. Mom, Dad, go, relax. We've got this," Sharon moved everyone out of the kitchen. No one commented on Sharon's now constant use of "we" in regards to Andy; he was becoming a normal fixture at the condo, and no one seemed to mind. With things to do, Emily and Ricky left the area, while Sharon's parents retired to the living room. That only lasted a brief time before they announced they were going to bed.
Sharon and Andy worked easily to clean up the kitchen, and they were almost done when Ricky and Emily shuffled in, dressed in their pajamas, with a board game.
"Game night?" Emily asked.
"I'm up for it," Andy grinned, putting down the dish towel and making his way to the table.
"Andy, you've got to take Mom on your team; we don't want her. She's too competitive," Ricky explained. Everyone laughed, except Sharon, but after an hour, Andy had to agree.
"We could have won, Andy!" Sharon said irritated. Ricky and Emily were grinning at their conquest.
Andy reached over and patted Sharon on her hand, "It's okay, Captain. Sometimes, the bad guys win," he winked to the kids, and they chuckled.
Sharon scoffed at him, and she looked toward her kids, "Well, no matter what, I've had an amazing time here with the two of you," she smiled. "I'm going to miss you both so much."
"Same here, Mom," Emily smiled and stood to hug Sharon. "I'm going to miss you so much, and I hope we can see each other soon. I do need to go to bed; Ricky is making me get up at 5:00 to be on the road by 6:00."
Emily shuffled off, with a goodnight to the group, and Ricky stood to do the same, "Mom, it's been so great to be here, and Andy, I've really enjoyed spending time with you again. Thanks for skiing with me all day. You're skiing skills have really improved,"
"Ricky," Andy said shaking his hand, "the pleasure was all mine, and I have really enjoyed getting to know you more. Hope to see you again, soon," he told him.
"Me too," Ricky smiled, looking to his mom, "Take care of this one, and if she shoots anymore suspects with anything, let me know, please. We'll talk baseball in a couple months."
Andy chuckled with a wave of his hand, "Will do; I promise."
"Oh, I love you my sweet boy," Sharon said to him, as Ricky rolled his eyes. "I know; you're all grown up, but I can still call you that. Be safe tomorrow with Emily. You two are my world."
"We will, Mom, but I know I'll see you in the morning. It's not like you won't get up to see us off. Night you two," he waved.
Sharon sighed as she watched Ricky climb the stairs. With the house quiet again, Andy moved up behind Sharon and wound his arms around her, "You raised an amazing family, Sharon. I like you even more after spending time with your kids. They are wonderful, and that comes from you," he kissed her head.
Sharon tightened the grip he had on her waist, "Your kids will come around, Andy. I know it's hard to be around mine, knowing yours are almost the same age, but they will come around. I have faith."
Andy sighed, as they stood there, Andy holding Sharon, both thinking about their mistakes. He could feel the tension in the room with thoughts of their pasts, so he decided to lighten it, "Captain, I'm going to have a very difficult time going back to work in a few days after I've skied this much," and he could feel Sharon's tension let go as she started to relax in his arms, "I'm also going to have a very difficult time knowing that when a beautiful captain walks through my place of work, I can't just kiss her passionately, right there," he grinned into her hair. He felt that she had started to smile too. "So, I need some help tonight. I'm hoping you can recommend someone to rub my back, rub the soreness out from skiing. It's pretty brutal, and I'm also going to need to kiss you a bit more to store that up for all the times at work I won't be able to do that," he grinned into the side of her face before kissing her ear.
Sharon nodded as he spoke, "That does sound like a personal problem, and it would best not be noted as why you are unable to work. So, in the interest of the LAPD, I'll help you out, for work of course," she smiled brightly, eyes shining as she turned in his arms and brought her hands to his face to kiss him. "Come on," she tugged at his arm, as she switched off the kitchen light, heading toward the stairs.
Just before they reached the stairs, Andy said, "Oh, and I'm not redeeming a coupon. I didn't have to evacuate for snoring, and I'll make my way to my own bed later because someone's offspring are leaving here before daybreak. Just so you know. That means that I still have one left to use," he winked.
