A few things before you start reading this long chapter.

Firstly, I don't know what I loved more about the last add-on, your thoughts on it or your opinions on Andy and his apparent obliviousness. Your response was amazing.

Secondly, this chapter deals with those punishments I mentioned in my previous chapter. I played a bit with the format. Present moments vs. flashbacks. It's generally a rather silly add-on, and I hope you'll have fun reading it even if it dissolves into ridiculousness.

And lastly, but no less importantly, a huge thank you to MajorCFan! I had a bit of trouble with this chapter and she was a great help in motivating me and nudging me in this or that direction. So if you end up enjoying this chapter, you should definitely thank her because I nearly just scrapped this thing and gave up on it completely. XD

Anyways, as always, give it a read and do tell me what you think. :)

"'Captain' does not do you justice, my dear," Andy said, walking out of the bathroom in a plain t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms, a happy grin on his face as he approached the bed.

Sharon stood in her nightgown at the foot of their bed, rubbing lotion into her hands as she watched him sprawl deliberately across the middle of their bed. "Oh," she hummed happily, "I think 'Lieutenant' might be selling you short, too," she quipped, rounding the bed to join him on her side.

He lifted his head from between the pillows where he had let it flop down on, and looked at her, an expression of both amusement and concern on his face now. "You think they learned their lesson?"

She pushed his arm gently to his side. "Scoot," she ordered playfully. When he did, she pulled her side of the covers up and threw them over him. Ignoring his ensuing grunt, she finally answered. "They'll stop butting in, I think, yes."

He rolled off the bed, taking her hint to uncover his side of the bed as well and, joining her under the covers, shrugged over a thoughtful hum before mumbling, "You mean they'll try to stop."

She laughed in response. "And when they don't, you can always keep them fit in punishment."

They had spent the rest of their car ride home earlier figuring out how to get back at the boys for sticking their noses in other people's business. They settled on just one simple, easy approach. However, another little revenge opportunity unexpectedly presented itself entirely on its own.

They had lost Ricky in traffic along the way and Rusty was running behind anyway since he was set to pick up dinner. So when Andy and Sharon arrived at the condo complex, they made their way inside alone. As they stepped into the building, they ran into the building manager.

Andy ushered Sharon toward the elevators by giving her back a gentle push, but eyed the man standing near the doors. "Go ahead, I'll be right with you," he told her, already on his way over to him.

She shot him an inquisitive look, but seeing his excited mannerisms, knew better than to ask, or stop him from whatever he was up to. So she heeded his request and waited for him by the elevator watching him exchange a few hushed words with the manager. She raised a slightly unimpressed eyebrow when she saw Andy slip the man a few bills before patting him on the shoulder in apparent thanks and making his way back to her.

It was still raised when he joined her and they walked into the elevator.

He smiled smugly and, in response to her unvoiced question, said, "Hopefully, you'll find out in a few minutes."

She pursed her lips, displeased, but prodded no more.

A good fifteen minutes later, the door to the condo opened. Andy and Sharon had already made themselves comfortable on the couch. Sharon had slipped into some more casual clothes and Andy had discarded his jacket, loosened his tie and bunched up his sleeves.

"Phew," Ricky said, panting slightly. Behind him, bags of take out in hands, Rusty entered, out of breath as well; they must have caught up with each other in the garage. "Did you guys survive the stairs?" he asked, slipping off his jacket.

Sharon shot Andy a wide-eyed look as realization hit her, and, briefly, she had to hide her face in his arm for fear of breaking out into full laughter. He merely shrugged, managing to keep a straight face without any difficulty. "Stairs?" he asked, feigning confusion. "The elevator down?" he added, shooting Sharon an apparently surprised look. "It was working fine when we got here."

Rusty walked through the living room in a huff. "Apparently," he muttered. "Manager was down, told us to take the stairs."

Ricky shrugged, and flopped into the closest chair next to the couch. "I offered to take a look at it, I mean, there were no warning lights or anything, but," he shrugged again.

He was still out of breath a bit, and in slight concern, Sharon leaned over to tap his knee. "You okay, honey?" When Andy behind her coughed quietly, she had to fight to keep a straight face, even if she was a bit worried about her heavily breathing son.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Ricky waved her off. "I should probably hit the gym more often though," he added on a chuckle.

Rusty walked back into the room and catching Ricky's words, he shot Andy an amused look. "Maybe the stairs would be good exercise for you," he told him teasingly. "By the way," he hooked a thumb behind him before Andy could answer, "food's that way."

Ricky grinned at his brother's jab, but getting to his feet and holding a hand out for Sharon to get up as well, Andy shot Rusty a pointed look.

"I can handle a few flights of stairs just fine," he told him, then made his point by throwing Sharon a sideways smirk and mumbling, "if you know what I mean."

Both Rusty and Sharon shot him horrified looks, for completely different reasons though, but Ricky just laughed, and walking past his future step-father and mother, patted the older man over the back of his shoulder and said, "Gross, Andy," he feigned a shudder, "but good to know you've recovered nicely."

At that Rusty just straight out groaned and promptly turned around and headed toward their food, letting Ricky trail behind him.

Sharon took the brief quiet moment to tug on Andy's hand to get them moving along. "I'll have to thank the manager," she said, amused, "but about that," she poked a finger into the side of his arm, making him grunt, "we'll talk later," she warned.

Andy just smirked and gladly followed her renewed tug.

Andy grinned and sank deeper into the pillows. "Best spent 20 bucks in a while," he said, self-satisfied.

She chuckled and snuggled into his side. "How did you know nobody else would be using the elevator? Or be coming out of it just then?"

He shrugged. "I didn't. For 20 bucks, I couldn't exactly get the manager to shut the entire elevator down." She attempted to lift her head, possibly to offer him an unimpressed glare, but he wrapped his arms around her and held her still while quickly adding, "Besides, I guessed my fiancée wouldn't be too thrilled by me pranking the whole building." He snickered. "So I just settled on using him as a live 'traffic diversion' sign."

"And hoped for the best?" she added, laughing quietly.

"Yup," he quipped.

She let out a sound that verged on a giggle and, amused, he looked at the top of her head that was nestled in the crook of his shoulder. "What?"

"I'm marrying an adult-sized child," she mumbled mirthfully.

He wiggled his shoulder until she lifted her head and then he shifted to give her an unimpressed look. "As opposed to whom I'm marrying?"

She smiled almost deviously, but blandly said, "You," she paused, "are marrying a mother."

He flopped his head back into his pillow and burst out laughing. "A meddling one."

"So, Rusty," Sharon, seated at the head of the dining table with Andy to her right, said once they started on dinner, "how is Gus?" Her tone of voice was melodic and, had Andy not known the real agenda behind her line of inquiry, he would have thought she was only making small talk.

"Uh," Rusty gave her a surprised look, "he's good." He shrugged. "Working."

"Mhm," she said, taking a moment to chew on her mouthful of food. "How are you and Gus?" she then asked. At this question, Andy hid a smirk behind a mouthful of his own food.

Rusty shot Ricky, who was sitting to his right, left of his mother, a quick look, not exactly comfortable with the question being asked in front of him. "Good, I guess," he finally said, a faint crease forming between his brows as he momentarily met his mother's gaze.

"He still okay with you not moving in with him?" Andy chipped in. With the way he posed the question, he might as well have been asking about the current weather.

Ricky perked up at that particular information and raised an eyebrow at his adopted brother. Apparently, Rusty had so far discussed this only with Gus, Sharon and Andy.

Sharon hid an amused smile behind a sip of water when Rusty stammered, glancing over at Ricky again, "Um, yes, yeah," he shrugged, "he's okay with it."

"Mhm," Sharon hummed. "Are you sure?" she asked in apparent concern. "I can talk to him, you know," she offered.

Before Rusty could do much more than drop his jaw at her uncharacteristic suggestion, Ricky interjected.

"Gus?" he looked in between his mother and brother. "As in Gus – your boyfriend?" It was a rhetorical question. "He asked you to move in with him?"

Rusty still stared at Sharon in shock, but reluctantly nodded at Ricky's question.

Ricky gave his mother a wide-eyed look, but she offered no response. "And you said no?" he asked Rusty.

Only Andy noticed Sharon wince, fractionally though. While she was more than willing to make Rusty squirm a bit, he knew she wasn't aiming to completely put him out like this. However, she did not intervene either, so he guessed that maybe for now she was willing to see how this would play out.

Again, reluctantly, Rusty nodded in answer to his brother's question.

Ricky's look turned devious and Andy nearly choked on his water when he realized just how reminiscent of Sharon the expression was. Rusty must have seen the similarity as well, for that seemed to snap him out of his earlier shock and he quite literally braced himself for whatever Ricky would say next by gripping the edge of the table.

"Oh," Ricky nudged Rusty's shoulder, "baby brother's afraid to leave our mom's comfy nest." He smirked at his mother. "You spoiled him," he deadpanned.

Sharon had clearly not expected that conclusion and let out a bark of laughter before she could catch herself. Andy did, too.

"What?" Offended, Rusty shot both Andy and Sharon an indignant look, but then properly turned his attention to the man to his right and added, "I'm not afraid of anything! I jus-" He shook his head suddenly, and Andy knew even before he spoke again, that he would now go on the offensive. "What's it to you? Care to tell us about your girlfriend?" In mocking imitation, he nudged Ricky's shoulder and added, "Unless you don't even have one?"

Sharon was glad the boys were focused on each other or else they would have noticed her amused smile when Ricky suddenly seemed flustered. He recovered quickly though and said, "So you admit it that you're spoiled?"

Rusty scoffed and didn't even dignify that with an answer. Not that he would have had the chance, for Sharon suddenly realized this was the perfect opportunity to make her other son squirm as well and interjected.

She had to bite her inner cheek to keep from laughing as she said, "Rusty has a point, honey." She smiled sweetly. "We haven't talked about your love life in a while. Do tell."

Ricky frowned, looking between Andy and Rusty. The younger of the two was now openly smirking, and, satisfied with getting the heat off his back, returned to his food. Andy just gave Ricky an expectant look.

"I can catch you up later, mom," he finally said, shooting her a pointed look that added, "in private."

Only Sharon wasn't in the mood for private. Not after the evening's earlier developments. "No need," she said, then waved a hand at their company. "We would all love to hear if you had any news."

"Well, there is no news," Ricky said curtly, dropping his gaze to his plate.

Rusty, basking in the opportunity to get back at his brother, said, "That sounds like you have some news, Ricky."

Ricky shot him an angry look, but Andy chipped in with a quip of his own first. "Rather serious news." When Sharon raised an amused eyebrow at him, he had to look down at his plate to refrain from grinning at her.

"Oh, nothing's wrong, is it?" Sharon suddenly asked, feigning concern.

"What?" Ricky frowned. "No, mom," he shook his head, "there's nothing wrong."

"You know, if it's something really bad," Andy started jokingly, "we can help hide the bodies."

Sharon snorted and Rusty started laughing, but Ricky suddenly glared at them suspiciously. "What's with the third degree, guys?" He pinned his mother with an incredulous look. "You know I'd tell you if something was up, mom."

Sharon smiled, because, yes, he would. However, somewhat pointedly she simply said, "As would I."

"Or I," Andy added just as pointedly.

That only put a confused frown on her son's face.

"Oh, my God," Rusty suddenly let out, groaning. He pinned Andy with a wide-eyed look. "You know!" His tone of voice was nothing if not accusatory.

Both Sharon and Andy finally dropped their acts. Andy also dropped his fork, to his plate.

"Well, of course I know," he grumbled. More agitated, he added, "I'm a detective, aren't I?"

Ricky apparently caught up with what was really going on as well and shot his mother a glare. "So you decided to put us through an interrogation?"

Sharon smirked, then shrugged. "I'm a detective, too," she said simply.

"Besides," Andy said, suddenly calm as he went back to his dinner, "this was a demonstration."

"Of what?" Ricky asked, stabbing his fork into his food in annoyance. "Trying to meddle?" he suggested sarcastically.

"Exactly," Sharon said pointedly, letting go of her cutlery to fold her hands neatly on top of the table.

Ricky gave her an indignant look, but both Andy and Sharon waited patiently for him to say something. Actually, the look she was meeting her son's with said he had better start talking, or he had another thing coming for him.

"We were not trying to meddle," he finally said defensively. "We were trying to help," he added resolutely.

Sharon narrowed her eyes at him. "You were not meddling?" she asked, the words dripping with sarcasm. "Let me see," she looked at Andy who propped his chin on a hand and just nodded in support, "you've discussed this with Emily," she told Ricky, and he just shrugged, not bugged by that at all. "You've already involved your father in this," Sharon went on, and now he actually nodded proudly. "And you've roped Rusty into it," she offered her other son a cursory glance.

At that, the two boys looked at each other.

"And," Andy pointedly said, finally adding to the list himself, "you've discussed this with my daughter," he all but glowered at the two young men seated in front of him, "who in turn involved my ex-wife in this."

They were both surprised when it was Rusty who suddenly went on the defensive. "What's the big deal, mom?" He waved a hand at her and her fiancé. "You both want this, don't you?"

"Well, while we are happy with how things turned out," Sharon said, throwing Andy a quick smile, "your help," she put air quotation marks around the last word and looked pointedly at Ricky, "still essentially qualifies as meddling."

"Something that, from what I've heard," Andy looked at Sharon, "your mother all but ordered you not to do."

Ricky gave up on his dinner and shot Sharon a bland look. "So this," he waved a hand around the table, "is your idea of punishment? Meddling yourself now?"

Sharon shrugged, amused. "What's the big deal?" she asked mockingly, her gaze on Rusty.

Andy couldn't help but snicker.

Rusty frowned. "Your brand of meddling just wanted to have a talk with my boyfriend. I think that's a pretty big deal, mom."

She hummed and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes," she agreed slowly, "that does sound," she exchanged an amused look with Andy, who smirked, "like a big deal, doesn't it?"

Ricky huffed. "Fine, we meddled," he finally admitted, rolling his eyes. "And what you're saying is," he was speaking slowly and reluctantly, "that if we don't want you to meddle, too, we better stop as well."

Andy nodded and Sharon grinned, saying, "That is precisely what I'm saying."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You do know that's not fair, right?"

Both Andy and Sharon looked surprised, and she even raised an eyebrow before asking, "How so?"

He groaned and gave her an incredulous look. "Mom, you always meddle!" Andy started chuckling, but Sharon shot him a look that quickly shut him up. Ricky however, turned his attention to Rusty, clearly seeking support. "Tell me, is there one," he held up a single digit, "thing mom doesn't know about you?"

Sharon shifted in her chair and patiently waited for Rusty to come up with an answer.

Finally, not meeting her eyes, he said, "Not really." He sounded rather surprised.

"See!" Ricky immediately pounced.

Sharon pursed her lips and pushed her hair back. "Okay," she acknowledged his argument. "Now, you tell me," she addressed the both of them, "when was the last time I told you what to do? Or," she raised an eyebrow and Andy chuckled again, but this time she did not try to shut him up, "did something that concerned you," she paused for effect, "behind your back?"

Ricky and Rusty exchanged a look. After a brief, silent deliberation, Ricky let out a defeated, "Oh."

Rusty elaborated on his brother's eloquent answer though. "We still usually end up doing what you want," he said on an eye roll, and Sharon smiled, "but yeah, you usually also let us make our own decisions."

"And?" she prodded.

Ricky rolled his eyes again. "And that's exactly what we did not let you do today," he said, looking at Andy.

Sharon gave Andy a self-satisfied smile and went back to her dinner. Before bringing her fork to her mouth though, she asked, "So do you see what point I'm," she waved her free hand at Andy and corrected herself, "we are trying to make here?"

Andy tilted his head. "Or do we have to spell it out for you?"

Ricky, despite seeing the point only too well now, just glared at them defiantly, but, while he did so begrudgingly, Rusty at least muttered, "Advice, yes. Meddling, no."

Both Andy and Sharon chuckled at that, but nodded. That really was the gist of it.

They were about to fall back into a quiet dinner when Ricky suddenly spoke up, bringing up the topic again.

"You should know though, mom," his voice went suspiciously high, "that this was all my brother's idea."

Rusty's eyes went wide and he pinned him with an incredulous look. "Really?" He waved a hand at him. "You're the one who wanted to just barge in there today and order Andy to get an annulment!"

Ricky promptly shut his mouth and then both him and Rusty looked over at Sharon and Andy when they burst out laughing.

"Order? Me?" Andy managed, unimpressed.

Sharon however scolded her oldest son. "You will not lay the blame on Rusty, mister!"

With that they started laughing again.

Rusty and Ricky exchanged frowns.

"You live with them," Ricky said quietly. "What is this?" he asked, waving a hand at the laughing duo.

Rusty groaned. "Just ignore it." He leaned in toward Ricky conspiratorially. "We're being let off the hook, I think."

"I heard that," Sharon said, finally sobering somewhat.

Andy grew more serious as well. "But," he shot Sharon an amused look, "I guess you are."

Both Ricky and Rusty grinned, but wiped the grins off their faces fairly quickly when their mother shot them a look that said, "As long as this doesn't happen again."

"Besides," Andy smirked, "we can't really be mad at you, when I'll, hopefully, soon be able to do this," he leaned to the left and surprised Sharon by planting his lips on hers, "without the devil hanging over our heads," he finished when he pulled back.

Initially all of them, sans Andy, looked horrified, but then Sharon promptly dissolved into snorts, Ricky started laughing with a "Still gross," on his lips, while Rusty just hid his face in his palms and shook his head.

"Metaphorically speaking of course," Andy added and grinned when Rusty shot him a disgusted look and said, "Really, Lieutenant?"

Sharon smacked a napkin over Andy's arm.

"What?" he said defensively. "You thought I'd only have them climb a few stairs?"

Both Rusty and Ricky instantly pulled themselves together. "You what?" they asked in shocked unison.

"Did you really have to gross them out like that though?" Sharon asked, her head still up as she looked at him.

Andy played dumb. "What? I only kissed you once. I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?" And to prove his point he lifted his head to do just that.

She tried to purse her lips in displeasure, but a smile got the better of her. "I was talking about the commentary," she said pointedly, not that it needed pointing out.

Andy grinned and, unconcerned, let his head fall back on his pillow. "They're big boys, they know what happens behind these doors."

Sharon dropped her head and snorted a laugh into his chest. "Now that grosses me out," she mumbled, although her voice shook with laughter.

Andy wiggled out from underneath her weight and waited for her to prop herself up on an elbow like him before shooting her an offended look. "I gross you out?" he asked. He tried his best to keep a straight face, but he barely reached the middle of his sentence when a grin spread over it.

She chuckled. "You, I adore." She pecked him on the lips, a hand patting his cheek, too, only to add in amusement, "Although, right now, I can't think of a reason w-"

Andy interrupted by kissing her again, longer this time. "Ha-ha," he said sarcastically when he pulled back.

She smiled and rolled over onto her back. She fell silent, but her smile turned almost blissful while Andy, equally silent, just watched her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he finally said.

She turned her head towards him, her smile bursting with pride. "Those big boys are brothers," she said dreamily.

A wide smile spread over his own face now. He knew how rocky a start that brotherly relationship had. "And we get to enjoy all the perks that come with it," he said in feigned exasperation. Soft laughter joined her smile as he started listing off, "Teasing," he sighed, "bickering," he rolled his eyes, "conspiring," he shook his head, "throwing each other under the bus."

"Yes," she said when he was done, her face lighting up even more. "Ricky can be a bit intense though," she added, her look returning to the ceiling. "I worried he might start asking questions Rusty's not too comfortable answering."

"Yeah, I noticed," Andy said.

"But," she looked back at him, "it didn't really matter." She smiled proudly again. "Rusty can hold his own."

Andy grinned. "He sure can." Raising an eyebrow he added, "Made your earlier job easier, too, huh?"

"Oh, he set me up perfectly, didn't he?" Sharon said merrily.

He laughed.

"So," Sharon turned back to her side suddenly, "that means two are down, one more to go."

"Hmm," Andy thought about that. "What about Emily? She pulled Jack into this as well, didn't she?"

Sharon chuckled and waved his question off. "Don't worry, I'm sure Ricky already warned her not to pull any stunts like these again."

Andy pouted. "Shame. It would've been fun making her take the stairs, too."

"She's a ballerina, Andy." Sharon smacked a few fingers over the side of his arm as if to tell him what she was about to say was obvious. "She's in tip-top shape." On a chuckle she added, "She'd probably have thanked you for the warm-up."

"Chain her to a couch then?" Andy suggested only half-jokingly.

"We are not chaining anybody to anything," Sharon said firmly, her voice slightly shaking with laughter though.

"Well," Andy let out dejectedly and turned around briefly to locate his phone on the nightstand next to the bed, "that leaves Nicole then."

They both sat up against the headboard when he found it.

"Hopefully, Rusty kept his word," Sharon said, watching with interest as Andy typed out a message to his daughter. Rusty had, of course, already let Nicole know about the annulment news, but after dinner he was instructed not to contact her until they had a little fun on her account.

Andy shrugged. "Hopefully, she's still up," he countered.

Sharon only hummed and leaned into his arm to look at his phone.

He typed out, "Nice try, Nicole. Engagement's off though." and hit send.

"How detailed," Sharon said, chuckling.

Andy just shrugged and dropped his phone into his lap. "Now we wait."

Sharon only hummed, her gaze on his phone.

After barely a minute Andy said, "I know how we can pass the time, you know." He sounded positively mischievous.

Sharon smiled and lifted her head, propping her chin against his shoulder to look at him. "Mhm, I'm sure you do."

He grinned and was just about to press his lips to hers when they heard shuffling in front of the door, quickly followed by a knock. "Mom?" It was Rusty.

Sharon offered Andy a surprised look, but said, "It's open."

"Yeah, yeah, calm down," they heard Rusty say as he pushed the door open.

"What's go-"

"Here," Rusty interrupted Andy's question, holding out his phone in front of him. A female voice emanated from it, but he quickly covered it and, shaking his head, said, "She called like 10 times within a minute."

Andy frowned, but took the phone from him. "We told you not to talk to her."

Rusty just shot the both of them a bland look, then promptly turned around to walk out of the room again. "You can keep my phone till morning," he added on his way.

When the door closed, Andy looked at Sharon in question.

"Speaker," Sharon mouthed and then scooted slightly to the side, as if worried Nicole might see her over a simple phone call.

He did as suggested. "Hey, Nicole," Andy said, doing his best to sound defeated.

He did a fairly good job, for Sharon had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

They heard Nicole groan. When she muttered, "I called Rusty for a reason," they guessed she was speaking more to herself than them, but she quickly went on. "Dad, you're still at the condo?" her voice was softer now, too.

Sharon's eyebrows went up, clearly she had no idea how to explain that, but Andy quickly thought of something. "Well, it's late and she's not a monster." He winked at Sharon who just pursed her lips. "She's letting me crash for the night. I'll figure the rest out tomorrow."

"Oh, God," Nicole let out. "You sold your house." She sounded genuinely shocked as that realization sank in. "You're welcome to stay with us, dad."

Andy had to smile at his daughter's genuine offer. "Yeah, well, I'll get back to you on that tomorrow then," he said, shrugging at Sharon.

"What happened, dad?" Nicole said in a quiet voice.

Andy threw Sharon a sideways glance. "You guys happened," he said, sounding gruff suddenly. "That's what," he added, grinning at Sharon now.

Nicole ignored his accusation and said, "But Rusty texted me earlier that it was all fine." There was hint of accusation in her own voice when she added, "You agreed to the annulment, didn't you?"

Andy let out an exaggerated sigh. "Well, I did. But Sharon wasn't too thrilled with the idea of me agreeing to it just because your mom asked." He pulled a face at Sharon when she shook her head at his blatant lie.

They heard Nicole gasp. "Wait, so what? She thinks you're pining over mom or something?" She didn't sound too impressed by that.

Andy smirked and, putting an effort into sounding dejected, said, "Can you blame her?"

"Yes, I can!" Andy was glad he wasn't holding his phone to his ear, for that sounded really loud and he grimaced. Sharon, though perked up at his daughter's words. "Jeez, dad," Sharon suppressed a chuckle at the entirely too Andy-like exclamation, "she's blind if she doesn't see she's it for you!" Andy shot Sharon a dopey smile, unintentionally confirming his daughter's next words before they even left her. "You're all dopey smiles and grins around her." Sharon, reached a hand out and ran it affectionately over Andy's arm. The smile on her face said she was clearly touched and that she shared the sentiment as well. "I worried you'd have another heart attack when you called and told me you proposed and she said yes. That's how excited you were!"

Andy sighed loudly and held up a finger for Sharon as if to say, "Watch this." and said, "Well, I might as well have one now. It's over and done, I guess."

Sharon definitely had something to see, or well, hear. Nicole's voice turned frantic. "Oh, my God, dad! Are you feeling okay? Do you need a doctor?"

She went on growing increasingly panicky so Sharon shot Andy a look that said he should calm her down. He rolled his eyes and did as ordered.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He smirked at Sharon over his next words. "I guess I just never saw this coming. And to think I actually considered annulment myself," he trailed off, fighting a laugh now.

"You did?" Nicole sounded genuinely surprised for just a moment, before she suddenly groaned. "I can't believe we messed this up for you. Dad," her voice turned pleading, "we really didn't mean for this to happen."

"I know," Andy replied. "It is what it is. I guess it was nice while it lasted."

Sharon dropped her head into her head at how convincingly broken Andy sounded.

Nicole sounded on the verge of tears. "Is it really over? Completely?" She rambled on before Andy could answer. "Come on, it's just a stupid annulment, how can she end things over a damn annulment? I mean, you'll love her the same in and out of Church, won't you?"

"I don't know, Nicole," he said to the phone although he tilted his head toward Sharon as if to say his daughter wasn't wrong about that last part. It put another smile on her face.

"Do you want me to try to talk to her?" Nicole then offered.

Sharon had to put her hand over her mouth again to keep from laughing when Andy, looking and sounding genuinely agitated now, said, "God, no! You meddling got me into this mess in the first place!"

Nicole groaned. "Oh, I can't believe this. And over an annulment." She didn't sound as if she was really talking to Andy. Suddenly, a long, strangled, frustrated noise came out of the phone followed by Nicole saying, "That woman!"

Andy gave his phone a wide-eyed look, not believing his ears. Thankfully, he managed not to burst out laughing.

Unfortunately, Sharon failed and not only did she laugh, but she dissolved into loud giggles.

"Sharon?" Nicole's shocked voice instantly said.

Andy rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. He couldn't really blame Sharon. It's been a while since anybody used that particularly inflected word to refer to her.

"Dad, was that Sharon?" Nicole added.

When Sharon just continued laughing, Nicole exclaimed, "Dad, that's Sharon! What's going on?"

"Hi, Nicole," Sharon finally said, her voice still shaking with laughter.

There was a pause on the other line during which Andy shot Sharon a wary look. Within another moment, the call disconnected.

Andy blinked a few times at the phone. "Huh," he let out, puzzled, "I did not see that coming."

"Oh," Sharon let out on a long sigh, leaning closer to Andy again to hide her face in his bicep. "We are awful, awful people," she mumbled into it.

Before Andy could respond, the phone went off again. "It's Nicole," he said, as surprised as Sharon when she eyed the phone.

The moment he picked up, Nicole, sounding embarrassed, said, "God, I forgot we were talking on Rusty's phone."

Andy rubbed a finger over his forehead and chuckled. "Yeah, we were."

"I was gonna ask him if you were kidding me," Nicole then said. "That was Sharon, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was." It was Sharon herself who answered.

"Uh... So..." Nicole cleared her throat then and finally said, "Okay, can somebody explain to me what is going on? She sounded happy!" That last sentence left her in a tone of utter disbelief.

"You know what?" Andy said, smiling mischievously at Sharon. "I'll have Rusty fill you in on the details." She promptly laughed. That was another fitting punishment. "But suffice it to say, no, we did not break up. And this was just us paying you back for meddling."

There was a pause on the line again and Sharon gave Andy a worried look, expecting Nicole to end the call again, but then she finally said, "Us? As in you and Sharon? Payback?" Judging by the jumbled up words and sentences, she had difficulty settling on just one confusing topic.

On a laugh Andy confirmed, "Yes, payback. Sharon and me."

They heard her gasp. "It goes both ways," she said, the words barely above a whisper.

"What does?" Sharon asked, more curious than confused.

Nicole's next words weren't exactly a direct answer to her question, but upon hearing them, Sharon and Andy burst out laughing. "The Andy effect," Nicole had said.

In admonishment, she even added, "You're an awful influence, dad." There was another brief pause, but they assumed she just shook her head or something because she quickly went on to say, "I don't believe it. You lied to me just to teach me not to meddle? Unbelievable!"

"Well, she's a much quicker study than those two," Sharon muttered to Andy, tilting her head toward the bedroom door.

He laughed, but addressed Nicole. "Sorry, honey, but we couldn't just let it slide."

Nicole suddenly laughed. "So I can still look forward to a wedding?"

"Yes, Nicole," Sharon said, smiling, "you can."

Nicole laughed again, sounding relieved this time. "Well, point taken, I guess. I will keep out of your business in the future, I promise."

She sounded genuine enough so Sharon and Andy silently decided not to push the matter further. "Thank you," Sharon told her.

"Oh, my God, Sharon!" Nicole suddenly exclaimed and Sharon gave Andy a wide-eyed look. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean what I said, I just-"

Sharon waved a hand at the phone, not that Nicole could see it. "It's alright, Nicole," she interrupted her. "And don't worry," she smiled at Andy, "your dad's it for me as well."

That seemed to calm the woman down again. "Good, I'm happy for you both," she told them.

"Thanks, Nicole," Andy said, pressing a kiss to Sharon's cheek.

"Can I now talk to Rusty?" Nicole asked. "I'd like to bite his head off if you don't mind."

Sharon laughed, but Andy immediately got out of the bed. "Sure, just a second," he said on his way out of the room.

Sharon wasn't laughing anymore when he got back, but she was wearing an amused smile.

"The Andy effect," Andy said smugly as he crawled into bed next to her. She was still sitting, so he sat back against the headboard again as well.

"She's right," Sharon said, shaking her head. "You're a terrible influence. I can't believe I agreed to this."

"Admit it." Andy smirked. "You loved every second of it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Never."

Andy chuckled, then indicated at Rusty in the next room with the tilt of his head. "This couldn't have played out better."

Sharon just nodded in amusement. He wrapped an arm around her and together they continued basking in their little accomplishment in silence. Neither one of them made a move to actually lie down and try to sleep now.

"That woman," Sharon suddenly repeated, starting to laugh again.

Andy joined her in her laughter. "I happen to be marrying that woman," he said happily.

"Mhm." Sharon leaned into his side. "That woman still feels a bit guilty over what just happened."

Andy shifted so he could face her. "She'll get over it," he quipped and kissed her.

Although she initially responded to the kiss, suddenly she pulled back, a mischievous smile on her lips when Andy frowned.

"There is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you."

His frown became puzzled. "What on earth is there left to discuss?"

Sharon quirked an eyebrow at him. "It involves you climbing stairs."

"Oh, that," he said on a laugh.

"Yes that," she confirmed, poking a finger into the middle of his chest.

He looked at it when she kept pointing it at him. "Well, I'm not sure how I feel about discussing that," he said, slowly looking up, one of his own eyebrows raised now. "But I'm all for demonstrating it."

She tried to keep a straight face. She really did. But her serious façade, along with her earlier resolve, crumbled the moment Andy offered her a crooked smile so she grabbed him by his t-shirt and pulled him to her. She only muttered, "Terrible influence," before more than eagerly starting Andy's offered demonstration.