Happy Wednesday & Happy Surrera Countdown Day! Just 29 more days til our favorite couple is back on our screens. Here's a fluffy little OS for all of you holding out hope that Surrera will get happiness in S5! XO, Reddixon
"Babe," Andy said as she watched her husband check the stroller for the third time since they arrived at the Farmer's Market. "I think she's warm enough."
Robert looked up at Andy and gave one last lingering glance at his daughter tucked snuggly in the carseat/stroller combo before continuing to walk side by side with his wife. "It's chilly. Maybe it was too cold to come out..." Robert mused aloud, noting the fall temps.
When Andy laughed, she caught Robert's annoyed glare. "It's the upper fifties, I think we're good." She was obviously amused by his behavior.
They continued their slow gate through the Magnolia Farmers Market. It was a crisp fall day in late October and a sea of vendors lined the closed off road of the Seattle suburb. Dressed warmly, Robert and Andy pushed the stroller of their daughter, Ariana, while she rested comfortably. The leaves on the trees had changed colors at this point, the sky was unusually sunny and not the grey color as was typical for this time of year.
"If she gets a cold," Robert said, "It'll be your fault." His face said he was serious, but his eyes were all play.
Nudging her husband slightly, Andy couldn't hold back the chuckle. "Okay, dad." She shook her head a little and made a face at her handsome husband. "You do realize if you're this way at six months, she's gonna have you wrapped around her finger in no time?" Andy said with a small smirk.
"I guess she'll join her mother then." Robert said with a shameless grin on his face. He lived for his girls and that was no secret.
"Did you just..." Andy questioned, her eyes wide with pretend surprise.
"Oh, please... don't act like you don't get almost anything you want from me." Robert countered and tilted his head to the side as he caught his wife's gaze.
Andy didn't even try to hide the smile that crept on her face at his words. He was right. She knew that there was nothing Robert wouldn't give her if it was within his power...and sometimes even when it wasn't. "I mean..."
Robert laughed out loud as his wife shrugged, wrapped a muscular arm around Andy's petite frame and pulled her into him. He first brushed a soft, loving kiss on her forehead and when she looked up he whispered. "Just don't tell anyone my secret." Their lips met in the sweetest exchange. He deepened their kiss, bending her backwards just enough to where she had to grab a hold of his biceps to stay upright. One hand on the stroller, one hand securely wrapped around the woman he loved. He was sure he had everything he could ever want in this world. Eventually, he righted her and Andy stood, loosening her grip on his arms. Pulling away slowly, the dazed look on her face said Robert's mission had been accomplished.
Breathless, Andy grinned and shook her head slightly. "Don't start something you can't finish, husband." She leaned back just slightly and looked up at her husband, thinking to herself about just how irresistible he was. It still amazed her that even after all this time, she still swooned looking at him.
Robert gave her a mischievous grin that said he definitely intended to finish what they'd started. "Oh, I could finish it."
Andy leaned intimately into his neck and smiled. "Tell me, how am I supposed to focus on our fun family outing when you're trying to undo me?"
Robert looked down at his wife, her eyes were twinkling. "I can't be held responsible for what you do to me. You make me crazy." They both shared a chuckle. Giving Andy one last chaste kiss on lips, they pulled away. "Let's keep walking." Just as they turned a woman's voice stopped them.
"Do my eyes deceive me or did Robert Sullivan finally pull his head out of his ass and settle down." The woman's voice spoke with more than a little sass.
As Robert turned he knew exactly the woman he'd find standing in front of him. "Natasha?" He said with a slight question mark, despite knowing who it was.
"In the flesh," Natasha replied back with a toothy grin. Her eyes were bright with a look Robert couldn't quite recognize, but made him uncomfortable.
Standing in front of him was a stunningly gorgeous woman with bronze skin and long dark hair. She had hazel eyes, and lashes that couldn't have all been hers. She was dressed stylishly, in dark jeans, boots, a pea coat and matching infinity scarf. She was gazing at Robert with a look that said, "I've seen you naked" and Andy didn't like it. Meanwhile, Natasha seemed rather amused by the whole thing.
Feeling suddenly protective, Robert pulled his wife instinctively closer and asked. "What are you doing in Seattle?"
"I'm working on a case," Natasha answered quickly. Looking at Andy she added, "So are you going to introduce us?"
Robert looked down at Andy briefly and caught her eyes. "Natasha this is my wife," he placed more emphasis there than he needed to and Andy smiled inwardly, "Andy."
Andy reached a hand across the top of the stroller, "Good to meet you." She offered her a sugary sweet smile and shook the other woman's hand. Robert stood by watching the exchange a bit unsure how to interject and before he knew it Natasha was making her way towards the stroller.
"She's asleep," Robert and Andy both said in unison.
"I'll just take a quick peak." Natasha replied, pretending not to notice the clear agitation from them both. Taking a quick look under the pink and grey blanket covering the stroller, she added. "Robert, she looks just like you."
Andy smirked at this exchange and Robert rolled his eyes. They both knew she was lying, Ariana looked almost nothing like her dad until she opened her eyes. "Pretty sure you're the first person to ever tell us that..." Robert said with tight lips, "I think she looks like her mom." He added with a certain smile.
For a brief moment, Andy politely ignored the woman and smiled up at her husband. "But her eyes are all you." As if on cue, Ariana started to whine a little bit. No doubt because she'd noticed she was no longer moving in the stroller. Looking down, "I'm gonna keep walking and see if she'll settle back down," Andy said silently thanking the Gods that her daughter had given her an easy out. It was clear the two of them had things to discuss that she didn't really want to be privy to. Robert purposely leaned down and gave his wife a chaste kiss on the lips before she led the stroller away.
"So much for not settling down," Natasha said, trying to sound casual, but making it clear that she was slightly bothered. "How long..." She asked.
He didn't want to feel so guarded, he could see the hurt in her eyes, despite how she was trying to hide it... but he couldn't help feeling the need to be. "A while." Taking in the woman in front of him.
"C'mon, Robert. No need to be like that. I always just wanted you to be happy. Silly me for thinking that might actually be with me." Natasha's comment was flippant as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ears.
Robert's jaw was set hard. Looking at her now after all these years, he felt like he was seeing her through different eyes. "What do you want me to say?" Natasha was silent. Not really knowing what she wanted him to say. She had moved on. She was in a happy healthy relationship. Someone she was excited to be with and build a life with, but couldn't help the twinge of jealousy that reared its ugly head as she saw a man she thought would be her future strolling through a Saturday Farmer's Market with a woman and a baby. Robert looked down. " Look, you know I cared about you, but..."
"Cared about me?" Natasha's eyes went wide at his sentiment and she scoffed a bit. She didn't know why she felt surprised. He'd never said I love you even though she had. Finishing his statement for him. "We never would have worked. Not long term anyway." She nodded knowingly.
"Yeah. Something like that." The conversation reached an uncomfortable pause, neither was sure where to go from here. "Are you doing well?" Robert finally asked as he took a quick glance up the vendor lined road to catch a glimpse of his wife.
"I am," Natasha said with a small smile. "Name on the wall. Seeing a great guy. I'm happy."
"I'm glad." Anxious to wrap things up, Robert said, "I really do have to get going. It was good seeing you."
"You too, Robert," Natasha said with a bit of exasperation in her voice. She didn't know why she regretted approaching him now, but she did.
Without a second thought Robert moved quickly in the direction of Andy, his long legs making quick work of the distance between them. He found her paying a local farmer for two different types of jam and his hand unconsciously made its way to the small of her back.
"Hey," Andy said easily. She shot a quick glance in his direction. "You good?"
"Great," Robert said, clearly distracted. He maneuvered the stroller and they walked further through the market.
Finally Andy spoke and in a light airy tone said, "She's pretty." Hearing his wife, Robert laughed a full on belly laugh which caused Andy to laugh too. The humor of the whole ordeal wiped away any awkwardness that could have possibly come up.
Several hours later Andy and Robert sat in the den of their traditional style single family home. Each with a glass of Cabernet in hand, enjoying the warmth of the gas fireplace and the comfort of their large sectional. They'd finished up at the market, ran a couple weekend errands, had dinner, bath time and bed. Luckily for them, Ariana had become a fairly sound sleepier in the past month. Once down she usually lasted somewhere between six and eight hours a night which had been a godsend after a bumpy first few months.
Relaxed, Robert sat leaning back into the sofa and Andy was sitting a bit sideways with her arm propping her head up. The rest of the day had gone by with no mention of the exchange earlier that day, but Robert could tell there was something still on Andy's mind. "What do you want to know?" He asked without looking over.
"Nothing?" Andy said after taking a breath. They both knew she was lying. While she felt absolutely zero jealousy, she was dying of curiosity.
Robert chuckled a little, "Andrea Herrera-Sullivan...I know you. Your wheels are spinning. Ask me?" He knew his wife and no matter what she was saying right now, he figured her curiosity would get the better of her.
"Ugh," Andy said, shaking her head and feigning annoyance. "You're so annoying sometimes." She nudged him gently.
"She's an attorney." Robert finally said. "Corporate law. We dated for 6 months. Mostly casually, we both worked a lot. When she wanted more, I didn't. I told her I was pretty sure I'd never settle down."
Andy nodded, took a sip of her wine and considered the information Robert gave her. "Hmmm..." She said drawing the lines between Natasha's behavior and Robert's explanation.
"What?" Robert said, taking his own sip of wine before sitting his glass down on the coffee table in front of them.
"Just curious I guess..." Andy said. "I mean obviously I know how much you love me and us... but I guess I just wonder what changed? Why was I different?" She wasn't fishing for compliments or looking for validation. She was genuinely interested in knowing what had shifted for her husband to make him change his mind on something he was so clear about.
Robert sat up a bit as he thought about how to answer. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean... I don't think there was a conscious moment where I decided... you just... met me where I was. You were someone I could trust and be honest with. You saw my scars, my flaws... the things that made being in relationship with me hard and still accepted me. Long before we ever said I love you, you showed me that you cared. I guess that made opening up worth the risk and once I did... I pretty much knew I couldn't not have you in my life. So, maybe it was timing? Maybe it was fate? Whatever it was, I'm just grateful. I wouldn't trade the life we have for anything."
"You sure do have a way with words, Mr. Sullivan." Andy teased lovingly. The way he made her feel was unmatched, his certainty about their love and the life they'd built together...She never imagined her life could be this full.
Sitting her wine glass down, she reached over, stroked the side of his cheek lightly and held his gaze before saying. "And I love you too." With that, Andy pulled Robert into a kiss. Opening to him, she reveled in the slow, languid movements of their tongues. Before too long, she found herself straddling her husband, denim covered knees planted on either side of his thighs. Robert's fingertips made their way beneath the hem of Andy's light sweater before his palm pressed into her skin. She moaned into their kiss, as their lips met in a heated frenzy. Raising her arms as Robert lifted her top over her head, she cupped his cheeks and pressed into him further, feeling him harden beneath her. As was normal for couples with new babies, their typically active sex life had taken a hit after Ariana was born, but with her sleeping better, they were finding more time to connect.
Just as Andy began making quick work of the buttons on Robert's shirt, she heard the chime of her phone. It was the baby monitor. Her hands stopped and she did her best to catch her breath as she reached for the phone and clicked on the app. Thanks to wifi and HD cameras, they had a perfect view of what was going on. Ariana was clearly awake and upset about something.
Robert ran a hand down Andy's back and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'll go up. We'll finish this later."
A few moments later Andy watched Robert's large form appear on the video screen. She saw him reach into the crib and pick up their daughter. He really was an amazing father. Patient, attentive and taking diaper duty like a champ. He'd been hilarious when she was pregnant, reading every book he could get his hands on. Robert snuggled Ariana close into the crook of his neck, pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and sat down in the glider in the nursery. Though it felt a little like eavesdropping, Andy couldn't help but turn on the audio as Robert worked to soothe their little girl. He was singing her, his favorite German lullaby. The one he'd grown up with his dad and Opa singing to him.
La-le-lu
nur der Mann im Mond schaut zu
wenn die kleinen Babies schlafen
drum schlaf' auch du
La-le-lu
vor dem Bettchen steh'n zwei Schuh'
die sind genauso müde
geh'n jetzt zur Ruh'
dann kommt auch der Sandmann
leis' tritt er ins Haus
sucht aus seinen Träumen
dir den schönsten aus
La-le-lu
nur der Mann im Mond schaut zu
wenn die kleinen Babies schlafen
drum schlaf' auch du.
Andy closed the app with a small wistful smile on her face as Robert rocked their little girl back to sleep. Never in a million years did she think this would be her life, but she was damn grateful that it was. Standing up, sticking her phone in her back pocket, she flipped off the fireplace, turned out the lights and after grabbing their glasses of wine headed up stairs. Silently she slipped past the nursery and deposited the glasses onto one of the bedside tables.
Making her way back down the hall, she stood in the doorway of her baby girl's nursery, her handsome, amazing husband rocking her daughter to sleep, Andy couldn't help but fall deeper in love. With her husband, her daughter and her life.
Robert's voice pulled her from her thoughts, "What are you thinking?" He asked softly as he laid Ariana back in her crib.
Andy walked towards Robert and he wrapped an arm around her as they both peered into the crib below. Both parents completely enamored by the small child in front of them. "That I never dreamed about this, didn't think I'd get married or have kids... but this life...me, you, Ariana... I can't imagine it being any other way."
Nodding his head just slightly as he listened to his wife's words, Robert replied simply. "Feels like...it was always meant to be."