Before Sharon could get past the table, both Emily and Ricky, who had locked eyes on each other, jumped from the table to get ahead of Sharon.
"Mom, we've got this," Ricky nodded, scurrying to the door. Sharon continued to follow behind, feeling like she was already waddling each step of the way. Something told her that Jack wasn't going to go away.
"Mama, go?" Rusty asked, "Ricky, Emmy go?" he asked. "Where Daddy?"
Sharon heard Rusty, but at the moment, her attention was focused elsewhere. She hated that because she really wanted to enjoy this nice meal with her family. Jack had long since abandoned that title of being any part of her family.
"Ahh, who are you? Wait, we've met before, haven't we?" Sharon heard as she got closer to the door.
"Dad?" Emily asked, walking up next to Andy. Andy had one hand on the door, blocking Jack from entering. He lowered his arm when both Ricky and Emily walked up next to him.
"What are you doing here, Dad?" Ricky asked. He glanced at Andy, who was now standing there, arms crossed.
"What is going on here?" Jack exclaimed, and they could all pinpoint the moment he saw Sharon come into view as his eyes grew wide and jaw dropped open.
"Sharon-you're pregnant? What is going on?" he exclaimed again.
"Can he come in a sec?" Ricky looked to Andy, and Andy nodded, stepping aside. Sharon stood back from them, arms crossed, once again accentuating her rounding stomach.
Jack stepped into the house, "Jack, what are you doing here? We haven't seen you or heard a word from you since Emily turned 18."
Jack's brow showed he was thinking, "Oh, well, how old are you now? I didn't think it had been that long. Ricky are you graduating soon?"
Ricky rolled his eyes, "Dad, I'm in college. Emily is too. You've been gone awhile."
"Obviously," he threw his arms in the air, pointing to Sharon. "I see you have been busy," and he turned to Andy, "and, you must be the baby daddy?"
Andy rolled his eyes, "Andy Flynn, but we met on Emily's 18th birthday. Sharon and I are married. This is our house now-our baby, our family."
Jack looked to Sharon, total shock on his face, "Sharon, what has gotten into you? You divorce me to marry this guy and play Mommy and Daddy all over again, or wait, was it the other way around-you were a little adventurous and had to marry this guy because of that?" as he gestured to her stomach.
"That's enough, Jack," she said. "How dare you come here to our home and make accussations. You showed up at our home, unannounced, and then you have the nerve to criticize us. You've disappeared for quite awhile again, and then show up here. What do you want?"
By now, Nathan and Nicole had appeared as well, standing behind Sharon. Jack glanced to them, "They are?"
Sharon didn't have to look to know who was behind her, "Our family. Nicole and Nathan Flynn, Andy's kids, our family, as I said" she repeated.
"Mama!" they all heard the scream exclaimed as they stood there. Apparently, Rusty was feeling abandoned.
"I'll get him, Sharon," Nicole tapped her shoulder and disappeared. Soon, Rusty had run up and had his arms around Sharon's leg.
"Mama!" he giggled, unaware of the family drama taking place.
"Who is this? Good grief, Sharon. What have you been doing here?" Jack exclaimed again.
"Dad, why are you here?" Ricky asked. "We have phones. You could have called. In fact, you could have called at any point, and you don't. Emily and I gave up calling you long ago because you never answered or returned our calls."
"I came by to see my family," Jack stated. "In town for the weekend so wanted to stop by."
"Jack, we are divorced. The kids are adults," she explained. "If you want to see them, call, but don't just pop in and out of our house."
Jack ran his hand through his hair, "I was thinking Ricky was still at home," he sighed. "You're not?" he turned to Ricky.
"No, Dad. It's sad you don't know that I'm a freshman at Stanford."
"Stanford? Wow, good school. Huh," he nodded.
"It is," Ricky stated. "Mom AND Andy are paying for it, like a family does. "You've been gone again for years. What do you want?"
"Oh, well, hoping to catch up with my family," he stated.
"Jack, if you would like to see the kids, talk to them. We are eating our Easter meal right now, but they might be available later," Sharon explained.
"Mom," Emily turned to Sharon, "can Dad come back here later?" she pleaded. Sharon could tell that Emily didn't really want to go anywhere with Jack. She understood; the kids felt safe here. Sharon looked to Andy who just gave her a slight nod.
"That's fine," she told him.
"Dad, how about you come back here around 6:00?" Ricky asked. "Would that work?"
"Ahh, yeah, I'll be back, and I want to know the story of all this," he waved his hand toward the entire family. Without another word, Jack turned and walked out, leaving them all a bit stunned.
"So, that was your dad," Nicole nodded, "awesome."
"Wow, he really is a deadbeat if he didn't even know you two had gotten married," Nathan shook his head. "That was over a year ago, now. Then, to not even know how old your own kids are or where they are in college," he sighed.
Andy turned to them, "See guys, I'm not that bad," he frowned to his kids.
"Dad, we know you've been doing well the last few years. We wouldn't be here if we had doubts about that," Nicole explained.
"Okay, everyone, as usual, Jack has attempted to ruin another thing, "Sharon said. "Let's get back to our meal and prepare ourselves for his return."
Jack returned, but it was almost 7:30 before he did. Nicole and Nathan stayed, at the request of Emily and Ricky. The four of them were watching a movie when Jack finally resurfaced. The kids had taken bets on when Jack would return. Ricky had guessed he wouldn't; Emily had said 7:00; Nathan had said 6:30, and Nicole had said 8:30. It appeared none of them had a lot of confidence in Jack. Sharon and Andy had Rusty in the tub back in their bathroom. With the kids visiting, they were a bit tight on space, but it was working.
"Hi Dad," Ricky greeted him when he returned. Jack nodded as he entered.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you before, but wow, you've gotten tall," Jack told Ricky. Ricky just nodded. They entered the living room, and Jack continued, "Oh, I was hoping just you and Emily would be here."
Emily looked to Jack, "Dad, this is their house too. Whatever we say, they can be here. You're welcome to sit and join us. We'll pause the movie."
Jack sat, feeling a bit awkward. He looked around, nothing the house looked quite different than the last time he'd come by, "So, what's the story with your mom?"
Emily sighed, "Dad, we're not going to sit here and gossip about mom. I'll give you the basics since you disappeared for a couple of years. She and Andy got married over a year ago. They are happy; leave things alone."
"What's up with the kid? She had a kid and is pregnant again?" he asked. "Should have known. Sharon always wanted a big family, nagging me to be involved," he grunted.
"The kid, Dad," Emily started with irritation in her voice, "is Rusty. He's two, and they are adopting him. It's final on Monday. His parents were murdered. Andy's division caught the case, and well, here we are. Dad, don't start on them. Look, Andy's a good guy. He makes Mom happy. They are doing a good thing for Rusty."
"Speak of the devil," Jack muttered, as Rusty came running into the room, clad in his pajamas. Andy and Sharon hadn't heard Jack come in; they assumed he might be standing up the kids and were surprised as they followed Rusty to see him there.
"Night, night," Rusty giggled, running through the room. "Ricky, I go to bed," he explained.
Ricky picked up Rusty and gave him a hug, "Night, Dude. We can play with your firetruck more tomorrow, okay?"
Rusty jumped up and down, "Rusty love fire trucks!" he giggled. "Night, Nate, Night Nic-o, Night Emmy," he recited to all of them. He got to Jack, stopped, and pointed, "Who dat?"
Ricky, sitting closest to Rusty leaned in and said, "Rusty, that's my dad. Can you say hi?"
Rusty looked confused as he looked to Ricky, "Daddy is your dad!" he exclaimed.
Ricky shook his head, "No, sorry, munchkin, but he's not. This is my dad. His name is Jack. Can you say hi?"
Rusty, who was normally very outgoing, put his head into Ricky's side and his fingers into his mouth, "Hiya, Jack," he whispered. The family all giggled. Sharon and Andy hung back, not wanting to get into a talk with Jack.
"Rusty, time for bed," Sharon called to him, her hand out. Jack turned at the sound of her voice.
"Just the happy little family, huh, but I guess not so little. So, baby makes, what six?" he badgered them.
"Jack," Sharon sighed, as she shook her head. Jack's eyes grew wide seeing this new guy, Andy Flynn, apparently, put his hand on Sharon's shoulder and squeeze her closer to him.
"Let's go, Rusty" Andy said. "Time for bed. You said goodnight to your brothers and sisters. Time to go," he waved to him.
"What's the little bundle of joy? You know, Sharon?" he asked.
"It's a boy, Jack. We're going to get Rusty to bed," she nodded, and turned to follow Rusty who had run by them as they stood talking to Jack.
"Unbelievable," Jack muttered, watching the two walk down the hall.
"Dad! Stop. So, they are having a kid together. So, it's another kid. They've done a good job with Rusty so far, leave it. We're all out of the house. Yeah, it was a bit weird, but whatever. You took off, and you have less than any right to criticize them," Ricky stated. "Now, are we going to keep talking about your ex-wife, or did you want to actually talk to your own kids?"