Thanks again for the reviews and comments about this story! I've been out of town the past week, but the ducks are back...
The day had finally arrived. Sharon chuckled as she continued to cut up fruit for the twins to eat as part of their breakfast; so far, it seemed like any ordinary day. It didn't seem like her wedding day-yet. Well, it was slightly different than it had been recently. Andy wasn't there, and since she and the ducks had moved everything, Andy had always been there. Not today. No, with all the problems they had gone through, Sharon had told him she wanted to stick with tradition and not see him until they got married. He'd protested quite a bit, even trying to justify helping her with the twins, but she assured him she'd done okay with them on her own before, and she could manage them alone this morning. Well, she wasn't alone, per say. Of course, her little ducks were here, and they were eating away. Rusty had offered to stay with her, but she'd told him to stay in the dorms; she'd manage just fine. He was now on his way to the airport to collect Ricky for a few days' stay. Ricky had planned to arrive the night prior, his flight scheduled after work, but heavy fog in the Bay Area had cancelled everything. He'd been on the first flight of the morning, and soon, her boys would be here. She smiled thinking about it, and then she shook her head, sighing, thinking that Emily wouldn't. She'd have four of her five kids here, but her grown daughter, the one whom she'd through would stand beside her wouldn't be here. She sighed, knowing Emily had made her own choices in life, and like everyone else, sometimes those choices affected loved ones. This was affecting Sharon, but she wasn't about to let it ruin the day.
"Mama, nana," Tom banged his tray, wanting more food. He'd recently discovered he loved bananas, and now, he couldn't get enough of them. Sharon grimaced as she turned toward Tom. Andy. Andy had introduced bananas to Tom, saying they were a nice, easy thing to eat. Easy. Yeah, easy if you weren't the one CLEANING the mess afterwards. Bananas. Their own absolute mess. Tom was covered in bananas and would definitely need a bath to get them out of his hair, face, eyes-everywhere. His highchair, and the floor around it-all covered. As a special treat, Tom had covered Faith's hand in bananas, and as Sharon glanced to her, she grimaced again. Andy again. She shook her head at the discussion, "Sharon," Andy had said, "I bet the twins would love blueberries too. They are easy to eat. What could be easier than giving them blueberries?" Sharon scowled now. Faith was a blueberry mess-covered in them. If the twins wanted to coat themselves in food, why did it have to be sticky bananas and staining blueberries. Sharon sighed. Oh, where was Andy now while these two ducks munched on their food? Oh, he was probably enjoying a nice, leisurely morning, but she'd told him she could handle things. She needed to get this mess cleaned up before the boys arrived from the airport.
Once the twins seemed to satisfy their appetite for at least the next 20 minutes, Sharon plopped them into the tub to get them cleaned up. She figured that she could have them ready to go, well, except for putting on their dress clothes, so that when the boys got there, they could be on twin duty while she got ready. Andy and Sharon had opted for an 11:30 wedding, early yes, but they really wanted the twins to be at their best. They knew mid-afternoon would cause major meltdowns with naptime, and this, after all, was about joining as a family, so the twins were a big part of the time consideration.
They had opted to get married at a resort on the ocean, not far from where they lived. With Gus working in a fancy restaurant, he mentioned the owner of his restaurant owned several places around LA. They found a beautiful spot, overlooking the bluffs, that would cater a nice lunch afterward. It was going to be a small affair, the family, the team, and a few extra friends. Judge Grove had heard Sharon had gotten engaged and personally called her to tell her he'd be happy to marry her. They'd been friends a long time, so he was going to perform the wedding. Sharon had spoken to him at length about Andy officially adopting Faith and Tom, and with Steve having surrendered his parental rights, that hurdle was an easy one to cross. The judge was able to get all that paperwork together, and they hoped to sign it as well. It was a big day for the Flynn family-all of them.
Sharon smiled at the twins as they played in the bathtub. Her life had changed so much, and now, looking back, she couldn't believe she'd gotten to this point. She and Andy were finally moving forward as a family.
"Mom! We're home," Rusty called out from the living room.
"I'm in the bathroom giving your brother and sister a bath," she called back, "Ricky, I'm so glad you made it."
"No need to yell," Ricky chuckled, as he stepped inside the bathroom door. Sharon stood up and gave him a hug and kiss, "Hi Mom. I'm glad I made it too. I was about to just drive my car down here after they cancelled my flight last night, but they assured me I'd get here this morning. Wow," he said glancing to the twins, "they have gotten big. Man!"
Sharon smiled back at them as she bent down again.
"Mama!" Faith grinned as she waved her arms to splash water all over Tom. Tom giggled. Both babies looked toward Sharon and even up to Ricky.
Sharon pointed to Ricky as she spoke to the twins, "Ricky," she pointed. "He's your brother," she told them again, expecting they didn't remember him.
"Icky" Tom repeated, although not quite getting it. Faith giggled, another inside joke, and she repeated it too, "Icky!"
"Great," Ricky chuckled, "never had to deal with younger siblings learning to talk. Now, I'm 'Icky.' Awesome."
Sharon chuckled too as Rusty walked in, "What's so funny?"
"Usty!" both babies squealed when they saw him. Since Rusty still lived in the area, the twins saw him quite a bit.
Ricky hooked his hand toward the tub, as he turned to Rusty, "So, you're 'Usty?' Hmm, lucky you. I'm 'Icky."
Rusty looked at the smiling babies, and all three adults started laughing, "If you two don't mind getting them dried off and dressed in some play clothes right now, I'm going to get ready. I'll put them in their dress clothes right before we leave. I'm not going to let those get dirty."
The two nodded, as they moved into the bathroom to let Sharon out.
Rusty turned to Ricky, "Which squirmy beast do you want?"
"Rusty!" Sharon admonished him. "Don't talk about your brother and sister like that."
Ricky and Rusty looked at each other and grinned, "Ahh, Mom, she'll never let us tease them, will she?" Ricky asked toward Rusty.
"Be nice!" Sharon pointed her finger at both boys and disappeared.
Two hours later, Sharon was ready. Nicole had called her countless times, asking if she needed help, but Sharon had told her she was just fine. Nicole was going to be her Matron of Honor since Emily had said she wasn't coming. Andy was going to have Provenza stand up for him, while all the sons watched the babies. It was sure to be comical-three grown men, well, four, if you included Gus, watching over two toddlers. Sharon was secretly chuckling at the thought the twins would overpower four men.
"Wow, Mom, you look really beautiful," Ricky smiled at her, "and really, really happy." She had just walked into the living room where the twins were now awake again from their morning nap. They were late in transitioning to one nap; Sharon and Andy attributed that to their really early work hours, so the twins' normal schedule included a morning and a late afternoon nap still. It worked, and best of all, the twins were happy.
"Thank you," she smiled warmly at Ricky and Rusty playing with the twins. Oh, how she still wished Emily was here, but she was desperately trying not to agonize over decisions one of her children had made.
"Wow, Sharon," Rusty said, still going back and forth between calling her Mom and Sharon, "you really do look amazing."
"Well, you two clean up very well yourselves," she nodded, noting their new gray suits. Andy and opted for a gray suit with an early wedding, and he was going to wear a new purple tie Sharon had gotten him. Nicole had a matching purple dress, and the boys had coordinating purple and green ties. They would all look really nice in their grays and purples. Sharon had found a simple, beautiful, straight ivory dress with a flowing bottom edge to it. It fit her well, and it had a light lace pattern on it, with matching heels to finish off her outfit. She'd kept her hair down in soft waves, just how Andy liked it. She was opting for the less is more approach and had on light makeup to go with everything. She looked beautiful.
"We'll dress these two," Rusty added, "You don't need to get dirty or snag your dress. Where are their clothes?"
"I'll get them," Sharon smiled, "Andy hasn't seen their outfits yet either. I told him all three of us would be a surprise," as she walked down the hall and returned with the clothing.
Faith's dress matched the purple in Andy's tie, and it was darling on her. Sharon just fell in love with the purple, and she had the dress specially made for Faith. She'd never tell Andy Faith's dress cost almost as much as her own, but it was a very special day. She'd found purple suspenders for Tom, so he'd look like Andy, and she'd found a small little purple bow tie for him. Andy would melt at the sight of them.
"Ahh, I'm not even a baby person, really, and they look adorable," Ricky grinned. "Good work, Mom, but no surprise. You have great fashion sense. Faith looks so pretty, and those suspenders are hilarious for Tom."
Sharon smiled, "Thank you. Yes, I searched long and hard for all that, but totally worth it. Now, are we all ready?"
"Just one second," Rusty stood up and dug something out of his pocket, "Andy asked me to give you this," he smiled proudly.
Sharon took it, a puzzled look on her face and opened it. Inside, she found a beautiful set of earrings, matching the bracelet Andy had gotten her last Christmas. There was a small note folded inside, "Sharon-I love you more than words can express, more than you can imagine. You've made me so happy. I love our large family, and I'm especially excited we get to raise the two ducks together. So, these are from them today-Faith and Tom wanted you to have these beautiful earrings-two earrings for two beautiful children. Thank you for them; I happily consider them mine; you gave me two wonderful kids. I can't wait to see you-see our family today. Love-A."
Sharon teared up as the boys watched on. She heard them chuckling, "Stop," she waved them off, as she walked to the mirror to put the earrings in. Once she did that, she turned, "There, I'm ready," she smiled. "Now, do we need to go over everything for the twins for the next few days again?"
"Mom!" Rusty said, "We've got it. You've put notes everywhere. You've talked about this with us for weeks. We know their schedules and all. We'll be fine. Ricky already put your luggage in the car, and we'll move it to Andy's car later. We've got this. You get a few days off to relax with your husband. Now, lets' go," he waved her on. She turned to Ricky.
"Little brother is right, Mom," he nodded. "We'll keep our siblings safe. We promise. No parties, no joyrides without car seats…" he grinned. "Just go, enjoy yourself with Faith, Tom, and Rusty's dad," he chuckled.
"Oh my-!" Rusty sighed, "Really? So, he's my dad now too?"
"He's helped raise you, right? Seems as if memory serves, he's always checking on you, taking you to dinner, hmmm, you have a room to sleep in here when school isn't in session, he comes to your chess tournaments-yeah," he shrugged, "consider yourself lucky. You got a good dad."
Sharon smiled, thinking that yes, Andy was a very, very good dad, and she was delighted he was going to be her husband.
"Okay!" Sharon held up her hand, "Stop! Andy loves all of you; you know that. Now, I know you'll be fine, but call us anytime if you need anything for Faith or Tom. I just worry about all of you; I'm allowed-I'm your mother. Now, if you two don't mind, let's get them in their car seats and go so I can get married!" she smiled brightly.