Andy was glad Sharon had followed up on his offer to get the kids together and have a pizza night. In fact, he was really looking forward to it, hanging out at Sharon's house, a place that had been home to him for a few months. Between their work schedules and the kids' schedules, it took almost another month to get together. He'd seen Sharon at work a couple times during all of that, and they'd talked on the phone about their plans, but still, it wasn't the same as sitting down and catching up with her. As he drove to the house, he made a mental note to try and set a somewhat regular schedule of getting together with her, over lunch or coffee even, because he was realizing just how much he missed talking through things with her, just being around her.
Andy barely had the car in park before the kids were trying to get unbuckled and out of the car to run up to the house. He had to chuckle. They were excited, even with the age difference. He called over to them as he stepped out of the car.
"Don't bang on that doorbell. Stop pushing it! They will answer," he said in a scolding tone. Both kids looked over to him with sheepish looks on their faces. Nicole took her hand off the doorbell, and before he could say anything more, the door opened. Both kids scurried inside, and Andy, as he walked up to the door, could see Sharon holding it open for the kids. His eyes met hers as he stepped up onto the small porch steps.
"Hey," he grinned at her and held up a box in his hand. "I brought dessert."
"Hi," she smiled warmly back at him and nodded to the dessert. "You didn't have to bring anything."
"I know," he shrugged, walking inside as she gestured for him to do so. "Thanks for having us over, and I tried to offer to pay for the pizza, even split the cost."
"No need," Sharon waved him off and nodded at him, "but thank you for dessert. What did you bring?"
Andy started to chuckle and pointed a finger at her, "I remember you having a sweet tooth. I stopped at this bakery near my new apartment. I don't know how I'd never heard of this place, or rather, how Provenza has never heard of it. Best bakery in L.A.," he nodded to her. "I might have tried a few of their things over the last few weeks. I got an assortment," he said lifting the lid of the bakery box as he explained. "Brownies, and wow," he put his hand to his chest, "are they good. Cookies, mainly for the kids," he winked, "and also cannoli."
Sharon's eyes darted around the box. Andy watched her, and she smiled at him, "That all looks delicious. I didn't realize I'd have such a big decision to make tonight."
Andy chuckled and glanced toward the kitchen and hallway where he could hear noise coming from the kids. As he did, his eyes widened, and he pointed to the living room, "Oh, wow, you painted?"
"I did," Sharon nodded, somewhat bashfully. "I decided to brighten up this room. You painting the master bedroom made a world of difference. Now that I'm back in that room, I am really noticing what a difference paint makes, so I decided to start working on the house. I did this not long ago, just before the kids and I had to fly to Florida when my dad broke his hip. In fact, when we got home, I had to air out the house a little. It still had that fresh paint smell, but I think it turned out pretty well."
"Sharon, pretty well?" Andy gave her an odd look. "You did a great job. Nice color, very calming." Sharon had chosen almost a dark sea gray for the walls. It was dark, but with all the light coming into the room, it lightened up the place quite well. Sharon just shrugged at him.
"Small improvements, just one thing that feels like this place is mine, not something I shared with Jack. My paint in my house," she stated.
"Good point," Andy nodded to her, and he gestured with the box. "So-"
"Right," she said, shaking her head. "Where are my manners?"
"Ahh, should we check on the kids?" Andy asked, nodding down the hall.
"Be my guest," Sharon nodded to him. "Emily and Ricky were in her room playing. She's sweet with him most of the time. He likes to hold her dolls, and she honestly almost treats him like one. With your kids here, I'm surprised it's still manageable back there. It sounds like they are playing nicely."
"I'll check," Andy said with a quick nod.
"I'll put the dessert in the kitchen. Something to drink?" Sharon asked.
"Ahh," Andy said, looking back over his shoulder at her.
"I have iced tea," she offered.
"Perfect," he said and continued down the hall. She started to quietly laugh as she heard Andy talking and playing with the kids.
Andy was back with the kids for several minutes, and during that time, Sharon got things ready for dinner. She'd made a salad to go with the pizza that was due to arrive at any moment, and pairing that with Andy's dessert, they had a fun dinner prepared. He walked back into the kitchen, almost out of breath from playing with the kids, when the doorbell rang again with the pizza. She waved him off as he offered to get it, and she grabbed her wallet to pay for everything.
Dinner went smoothly and was fun even, as much fun as it is with the chaos of small kids. Sharon spent a lot of it cutting up Ricky's pieces into tiny, manageable bites. The toddler loved the cheese and tried to pull it off the crust. It was comical and had both Sharon and Andy laughing. Emily and Nicole couldn't stop talking to each other during dinner; they almost didn't notice anyone else around them, and while Nate was almost on his own, he continually made faces at Ricky and made the toddler laugh. It was chaotic; it was messy. Milk was spilled. Pizza was dropped on the floor, but in the end, the kids had a great time, and they flew out of the kitchen like a tornado, leaving Andy and Sharon at opposite ends of the table, wondering what had just happened.
"Did that just happen?" Andy gestured with his hand toward the hallway and then back at the table. Sharon sat back in her chair and started to laugh, finally covering her mouth.
"It was a whirlwind of chaos for about 10 minutes," she finally said, still laughing.
"10 minutes might be too generous," he chuckled. "Sorry about the mess. I'll help clean it, even mop the floor, whatever you need me to do."
"No, I can get it," she waved him off. "I suppose we should both eat, though, right?"
"Right," he said glancing to his plate. "You made this nice salad and all. I haven't even had a bite."
"Me either," she told him and nodded, "nice to have someone to eat with tonight. This was a good idea."
"Thanks for the pizza and all," he told her. "Catch me up on things."
The two spent the next 15 minutes talking, sometimes interrupted by the kids running back into the room to show them toys or tell them something. Sharon and Andy continued to eat, finally finishing their cold pizza. Both sat back in their chairs to relax and enjoy the momentary calm.
"Plans for your weekend?" Andy asked after the kids had run out of the room again.
Sharon bit her lip slightly as she thought about things, and then, she answered, "Emily has a dance recital next weekend. Tomorrow, they are practicing. She's still too young for an official dress rehearsal, but it's about the same thing, just minus the outfit."
"Oh," Andy grinned, "dance still going well? I know she was enjoying it when I was staying here."
"She is," Sharon smiled. "Talk about chaos," she chuckled. "It's entertaining to watch a group of almost five-year-old girls try to spin around. I'm not sure how good they are or if she will even want to keep going to her class, but yes, she's enjoying it very much."
"That's right," Andy snapped his fingers. "Her birthday is this month. Five, huh?"
"Yes," Sharon happily nodded. "Her birthday is in two weeks. I can't believe it."
"No party plans?" Andy asked.
"Mommy, Nicole said there were cookies for dessert," Emily said quickly as she ran into the room. The house had been quiet for a couple of minutes, and Emily running into the room almost made her jump, which was odd since the kids had been doing that all evening."
"Cookies, right," Sharon said and quickly moved to stand up. Andy started to stand, and she waved him off.
If dinner had gone by quickly, dessert flew by, as the kids raced to the table to eat their cookies. Sharon and Andy barely got them back in their seats before they finished their cookies and wanted to get back to playing. Sharon stood there, watching Ricky toddle away, after getting him out of his booster seat, and she just shook her head.
"I'm exhausted watching them with so much energy," she admitted.
"You and me both," Andy said slowly and deliberately. Sharon glanced over to him.
"So?" she asked.
"So?" Andy repeated, not sure the question.
"You and I have a big decision," Sharon stated and nodded. Andy raised an eyebrow to her.
"I didn't know there was something to decide," he chuckled lightly. Sharon walked toward the kitchen counter again and looked over her shoulder.
"Brownie or cannoli?" Sharon teased. Andy laughed again.
"Surprise me," he told her. "Both are delicious."
Sharon returned to the table, and Andy eyed her plate. She had two desserts on each plate, and he shook his head as he chuckled, "Both?"
"No, not necessarily," she said as she gave him a plate. She eyed the chair adjacent to his. Both were at the ends of the table prior to this, and she was going to sit in what had been Nicole's seat. She looked over to Andy as she sat, "I had to make sure I was sitting in marinara sauce or cheese."
"Good point," Andy said, accepting the plate. "I think I will go for the brownie, even though that cannoli is amazing too."
"I was thinking the same," Sharon told him. "Your kids can enjoy the cannoli at home tomorrow."
"No, no," Andy shook his head. "Those are for you, keep here, please enjoy."
They chatted for the next few minutes while they enjoyed their dessert. The kids continued to run in and out of the room. Ricky started to wander around, rubbing his eyes, and as they were there, brownies eaten, and talking, Sharon nodded to Ricky.
"I hate to call the evening short, but I need to get him to bed," she explained.
"Sure, sure," Andy nodded. "I need to get the kids back to my place." Sharon started to stand and collect dishes. Andy stacked his plates and continued to speak, "You know, maybe we can do this again?"
Sharon glanced at him and chuckled, "Chaos and pizza? Sure, that would be nice again."
"Sharon," Andy said as he gently put his hand on hers there, stilling it before she could move the pile of plates. She gave him an odd look as she looked over at him. "Dinner again with the kids would be great. They had a great time. I've had a good time. It's not what I was saying. I was asking if I could take you to dinner sometime. Soon," he added with a nod.
"Oh," Sharon said, her face flushing. Andy stood and offered to take the stack of dishes from her, his eyes still meeting hers. He gave her another small shrug.
"I enjoy your company and think you are a great person. If you would like, I'd like to take you to dinner," he explained further.
Sharon was quiet for a moment, which felt like an eternity to Andy. She opened her mouth, and finally, she spoke, "Well, I-"
"Look," he interrupted as he tried to plead his case, "if I crossed a line, I'm sorry, but we seem to enjoy being around each other. I miss talking to you, seeing you each day. You helped me so much this last year, and I've really seen what a wonderful person you are. I had a goal to be sober a year before any dating. I mean," he sighed, shaking his head, "let's not talk about my mess at Provenza's wedding, which is something I want to forget, but in doing so, brought up right here as I'm trying to talk to you about taking you to dinner, but-"
"Andy," she said quietly, her eyes scanning his. She frowned, "Please, I-"
"And, after seeing what Jack has done to you over and over-" Andy sighed.
"Andy, you caught me off guard," Sharon said in a breathless tone. "I'm not sure-"
"Sharon?" Andy asked, interrupting her again.
She frowned and waited for him to make eye contact with her, and when he did, he frowned too, realizing he'd been cutting her off constantly, his nervous habit.
"What I was trying to say as I gathered my thoughts," Sharon said in slow, stated tone. The kids came running into the room again, the two still looking at each other. Both were distracted as the kids pulled away their attention. Andy told his kids to get their shoes. Sharon told Emily to pick up her toys and gathered Ricky in her arms, where he put his head on her shoulder. She looked over to Andy for the few brief moments she knew they barely had, "I wanted to say that I'm a little surprised by your offer to take me to dinner. I'm not sure how I feel, if I'm being honest."
"Okay," Andy said slowly as she said that. He gave her a single nod.
"Dinner, though, sounds nice, even as just friends," she admitted.
Andy tried to mask his disappointment, but he gestured toward her to at least clarify, "So, you do want to go to dinner, as friends? If this is about work, our status at work, look, I don't want to cause you any issues."
"No," she shook her head. "This isn't about work, and as far as dinner," she said as she stood there, rubbing Ricky's back, "I'm not sure-I mean, I am sure about going to dinner with you. Thank you for that," she said with a small smile. "It would be nice to have a kid-free evening. My normal sitter can watch the kids, but as far as what dinner is, I'm just not sure. Is that okay?"
"Ahh, yeah," Andy said, still somewhat disappointed at her response. Truthfully, he hadn't expected that. He'd expected a solid yes, even a solid no, but he hadn't prepared for any sort of "gray area" in a question about a dinner date. He tried to keep his expressions at bay.
"Any dinner with you, Sharon, is a treat," he said with a warm smile. "I hope it's okay I asked."
"It is," she said in a low, but warm and kind tone. "Thank you for the invitation."
"I'll get the kids and be on the way, then," he told her. "So, I guess I will call you about an evening that works for dinner?"
"Looking forward to it," Sharon said kindly again. Andy patted Ricky on the back as he moved by Sharon to collect the kids. Both Andy and Sharon were quiet the next few minutes as he got the kids ready to go home, and Sharon, still with Ricky on her shoulder, walked them to the door. Andy turned as she stood there with her arm on the door.
"Thanks again for having us. I hope I didn't make things awkward between us," he told her.
"You didn't," Sharon said, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder. "I haven't been to dinner with anyone in any capacity in quite some time."
"I'll be in touch then," he said quietly as the kids were pulling on his hands. "Night."
"Night," she said in a low, hushed tone. She gave him a small wave as she closed the door and sunk back against it with Ricky still on her shoulder. Their low-key pizza dinner had taken a turn she hadn't expected.