A/N: In April 2019 I went on a trip to Ireland. It may sound stupid, but I thought about Sharon a lot during that trip and even back then, I knew that I will write a chapter where Sharon and Andy go to Ireland for their honeymoon. For everyone who waited and wanted this, I dedicate this chapter to you. The next chapter will be the last one, and I promise that it will be special in its own way. But for now, I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter.
As always, I thank blossom-of-snow for editing this story.
Sharon pumped the brakes for the third time in less than five minutes, and the car stopped only inches away from an ancient stone wall. In the passenger seat, Andy rolled his eyes, a reaction that did not escape Sharon.
Sharon looked at him, lips pursed and eyebrow arched. "What?"
"Maybe you should let me drive," he said.
"I have been driving since I was seventeen. I can handle this," Sharon said.
"Not on the right side of the road."
"You mean the wrong side of the road," she muttered. "Seriously, give me a few seconds, and I'll get the hang of it."
"Hopefully, that happens before you run over a herd of sheep or something."
Andy's frustration with her insistence on driving through the narrow Irish country roads did not deter her from persevering. Since he had visited the UK several times, he had more experience driving on the right side of the road than she did. That did not mean that Sharon shouldn't give it a try.
Determined, Sharon backed the car away from the stone wall and back onto the road. They were surrounded by vast, green farmlands where brown cows and fluffy sheep grazed. If not for the dark silos and barns dotting the land, Sharon and Andy would have thought they were the only humans around.
When the skies clouded and big raindrops landed on the green-washed fields, Sharon finally relented and let Andy drive the rest of the way to the small countryside cottage where they were going to spend the night.
The sun had set behind the clouds when the newlyweds arrived at the cottage a couple of hours later. The owner invited them into the cottage, and after showing them around, she left them to settle in. They were only staying here for one night on their way from Galway to the Dingle Peninsula, where they planned to visit Slea Head before heading back to Dublin.
After they showered and ate the dinner the owner left for them, Sharon and Andy flattened the roadmap on the big wooden table in the kitchen and planned their routes and stops for the next day. Despite having a GPS, they found maps more reliable in Ireland.
When they finished, Andy took her hand in his. "Babe?"
Sharon studied her husband. His eyes shone with excitement, so she knew he was planning something. "Yeah?"
"I got you a little gift in Galway today," Andy said. With his free hand, he reached into his jacket pocket. He produced a dark green jewel box and opened it with his thumb before presenting it to her, exposing a delicate gold ring with two arms holding a crowned heart.
Sharon bit her trembling bottom lip. "A Claddagh ring." Her voice shook. A silver Claddagh ring had been passed down over several generations of women in her family. However, Sharon's grandmother refused to pass it on to Sharon's mother upon her engagement after getting pregnant out of wedlock. After Sharon's grandmother died, the ring disappeared.
"The hands symbolize friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty," Andy explained as he removed the ring from the box. He took Sharon's left hand and slid it down her ring finger with the heart tip facing towards Sharon's wrist, indicating her marital status.
Tears filled Sharon's eyes, and the lump that formed in her throat rendered her speechless.
"A few months ago, I heard you and Lisa talking about her Claddagh ring and noticed you got a bit emotional. I know it doesn't carry your family history, but I hope you still like it," Andy said
"With my family history, maybe it was better that I never got the original ring," Sharon said and wiped her tears. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Andy's lips. "You will always have my friendship, my love, and my loyalty."
"And so will you," Andy said and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.
Since they had a long drive the next day, they decided to turn in early. Within mere seconds, Sharon drifted off, the palm of her left hand resting protectively over Andy's heart. She stirred a short while later when he tried to untangle his feet from hers.
"What's going on, babe?" she asked groggily.
"It's nothing, honey. Go back to sleep."
But his confused tone was enough to clear the fog of sleep. She sat up in bed and studied her husband's silhouette in the darkness until she could make out his expression. "It doesn't sound like nothing."
"It's just a thought I've had. Nothing serious."
"Maybe if you share it with me, it will help you fall asleep," Sharon suggested.
Andy sighed deeply as if the burden of the world was on his shoulders. "I've been turning an idea in my head for a while now. But I waited for us to get married first, and I don't know if this is the right time for it."
"Tell me, and if now isn't the right time, we'll find a better time for it."
"Okay," Andy said. "I know we've only been married for less than two weeks, but I think about our family a lot and how much I want to make things a bit more official."
"Does it get more official than getting married?" Sharon asked, only half-joking.
"It does, in our case."
"I'm curious." Sharon offered him an encouraging smile.
"I want, with your blessing, to legally adopt Rainie," Andy said.
Sharon did not expect that. She turned on the bedside lamp before crossing her legs in front of her to feel more centered.
"While you were struggling, Rainie and I bonded. She was scared of putting more pressure on you, and I was happy to be there for her. We spoke about her childhood, her feelings about everything you were going through, her hopes and dream, and everything in between. Eventually, I realized that I feel for her the same way I feel about my kids."
Sharon knew that feeling. She remembered the day when she knew that Rainie had taken residence in the corner of her heart.
Sharon smiled. "It's hard not to fall in love with her, huh?"
"It's practically impossible."
"Have you spoken to Rainie about this?"
"Not yet. I wanted to make sure you were okay with it. Are you?" For the first time, he sounded genuinely unsure, but Sharon couldn't be surer.
This man wanted to co-parent with her. She'd never had a man who wanted to share her responsibilities instead of running away from them. But with Andy, she came to expect his partnership and his loyalty to everyone she loved. At the altar, he promised to support her through the good and bad, and now he wanted to make that promise to Rainie.
"Sweetheart." She entwined her fingers with his. She was overcome with emotion as she struggled to find the words to tell him how much she appreciated his utter totality and commitment to her. "Of course I'm okay with it. Oh, my God."
"Do you think she'll want it as much as I do?" Andy asked.
"With Rainie, it's always hard to tell. I know she loves you very much, but even if she decides that it's not what she wants right now, we are still a family."
"We are," Andy said. "I won't love her any less, no matter what she decides."
Sharon cupped Andy's face in her palms and looked into his eyes. On the wrong side of sixty, she never thought she would ever add another child to her family, climb in the ranks, and find another person whose heart beat in sync with hers. Life gave her a second chance at happiness and success in all the places where she'd failed before. With things finally falling into place, Sharon was eager to find out what the future held.
"And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew. Just go right along, you'll start happening too!" ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
-TBC-