Chapter 12: Hell of A Woman
A few weeks later found Sharon at Francesca's house helping to decorate the living room with the kids and getting food ready in the kitchen.
Tonight, Andy was getting his five year chip at AA for being five years sober and the women thought it would be a great idea to have a little party to celebrate that accomplishment.
The thing was Andy had no idea they were doing this.
Sharon had come over with the kids after Andy had dropped his kids off at Francesca's while he went to his meeting.
As Sharon continued decorating the living room with streamers, she had the boys scattering balloons all over the floor and the girls had been coloring a banner that said, "Happy Five Years Andy!" in bubble letters drawn by Sharon.
"Are you girls almost done coloring that banner? Andy's going to be here soon," Sharon reminded them.
"Yeah, we're on the last letter and the exclamation point," Nicole told her.
"Okay. I'm gonna go see if Francesca can take a minute to help us put it up," said Sharon as she walked towards the kitchen.
"How's it going in there?" Francesca asked Sharon as she walked into a kitchen.
"The boys have managed to scatter the balloons I blew up everywhere and the girls are just putting the finishing touches on the banner. Speaking of that, can you give me a hand putting it up real quick?" Sharon asked her.
"Sure, but first taste this Bolognese sauce," Francesca told Sharon as she held out a spoon with some sauce on it.
Sharon tasted the sauce and said, "That's really good."
"I made it tonight because it's Andy's favorite," said Francesca as she sat the spoon down on the counter and went to go help Sharon hang the banner in the living room.
A few minutes later found the banner hung up in the living room and the women admiring it.
"You girls did a wonderful job on this banner. It's beautiful!" exclaimed Francesca.
"Mommy did the letters. We just colored it," said Emily.
"Well, what a great team effort," Francesca congratulated them.
"And you boys did a great job scattering the balloons around for me," Sharon told them.
"Thanks," said Brandon.
"It was fun," piped up Ricky.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Quick, let's hide behind the couch so we can surprise Andy," Sharon told the kids while Francesca went to answer the door.
As Francesca answered the door, the first thing out of Andy's mouth was, "Ma, what's Sharon's car doing here? Does she have to go in? Cause if so, I can take the kids for you."
"Oh, Andrew. It's nothing like that. Why don't you come in and ask her yourself," suggested Francesca as she opened the door wider for him to enter.
Andy walked inside and as soon as the door closed behind him, Sharon and the kids jumped out from behind the couch and yelled, "Surprise!"
"Surprise? For me?" Andy asked the kids.
"Yeah!" they all chorused.
"For what?" asked Andy.
"For your fire chip," said Ricky.
Andy chuckled for a moment before he said, "I think you mean five year chip, bud."
"Oh," replied Ricky bashfully.
"What's a five year chip?" asked Emily.
"Uh…" Sharon trailed off in a bit of a panic.
"Do you mind?" asked Andy as he looked at Sharon.
"No. Go ahead," replied Sharon.
"It's this," replied Andy as he handed it to Emily for a moment.
"What's it for?" asked Emily.
"Do you know what alcohol is?" asked Andy.
"Isn't that like the wine Mommy drinks sometimes?" asked Emily.
"Well, it comes in many types, but yes it's like the wine your Mommy drinks sometimes. Well, some grownups have trouble with drinking too much alcohol and those people are called alcoholics," explained Andy.
"Like Daddy," Emily blurted out.
Andy looked to Sharon for a little help.
"Yeah, like daddy. Except Daddy doesn't have a five year chip like Andy does," explained Sharon.
"Why not?" asked Emily.
"Well, you get the chip you're holding by going to a place called AA or Alcoholics Anonymous. It's a place for grownups to go and talk about their troubles with alcohol and to help them stay sober, which means they don't drink alcohol. Today marks five years since the last time I drank alcohol. So, they gave me that chip," answered Andy.
"And Daddy doesn't have a chip like that because he doesn't go to AA like Andy does. That's why we're having this party for Andy. Because we're proud of him for not drinking," replied Sharon as she smiled at Andy.
"Oh. Okay," said Emily, seemingly satisfied with Sharon and Andy's answers.
"Come on, Emily. Let's go play in the playroom. The boys are already in there," said Nicole.
"Okay. Let's go!" exclaimed Emily.
"Wait a minute, dancing queen. Give Andy back his chip," Sharon encouraged her.
"Oh, right. Here, Andy. Bye!" exclaimed Emily.
"You two handled that beautifully," Francesca told them.
Sharon jumped with a start. Not knowing Francesca was standing there listening in the entire time.
"Thanks," replied Sharon bashfully.
"I've had some practice," explained Andy.
"Still. You two made a great team on that one," said Francesca.
"Thanks, Ma," replied Andy, a little embarrassed at the phrasing of her comment.
"So, how's the Bolognese coming?" Sharon asked Francesca in an effort to change the subject.
"Oh, it's done. I've just got to cook the pasta," answered Francesca.
After dinner, the kids played for a while before falling asleep.
Francesca made sure to enter the playroom quietly and cover each of them with blankets.
Meanwhile, Sharon and Andy were out in the backyard talking about various topics.
"You should be really proud of that chip, you know," said Sharon.
"Yeah. It's just the costs of my drinking that still get to me sometimes," admitted Andy.
"Like what?" asked Sharon curiously.
"Missing a lot of my kids firsts because I was out at the bar instead of home with them. Also, and probably most painfully, is Sandra's accident," said Andy.
"I don't know the whole story, but I know enough to know it wasn't your fault. It wasn't you driving that car that night that sent her into a traffic pole," Sharon told him.
"No, but it should have been me going out to get groceries that night. She only did it because I was working late," revealed Andy.
"Oh, Andy. I know it's hard, but you can't blame yourself for that. Things happened how they happened and unfortunately we can't change that," replied Sharon tenderly.
"Yeah, I know. It's just something that floats around in my mind this time of year. My sobriety date is so close to her death date that the two sometimes intertwine in my mind," explained Andy.
"Well, how about a change in subject then?" suggested Sharon.
"Please," said Andy.
"Jack finally signed the divorce papers. Gavin got them yesterday," Sharon told him.
"That's great!" exclaimed Andy.
"Yeah. At this point, I don't care what got him to sign. Just that he did. It means this nightmare is almost over," said Sharon.
"Well, if you're glad then I'm glad for you," said Andy.
"I'm still having some mixed feelings about it all. It's like I don't love him anymore, but I wish he was still around for the kids. You know?" asked Sharon.
"I get that. It's the least he could do at this point. The thing with that though is if he's still drinking, you probably don't want them around him much," said Andy.
"Yeah. I just wish things were different and I wasn't going through all of this," said Sharon as she began to cry.
"Hey. Come here," said Andy as he pulled her into his arms.
They sat there like that for a few minutes before Sharon lifted her head slightly until their lips were mere inches from each other's.
The feelings and the chemistry between them was palpable, but Sharon turned her head away from Andy.
"It's late. I should probably go," said Sharon awkwardly.
"Yeah. Me too," said Andy as he stood up and extended his hand out to help Sharon up off the back step.
"Thanks," said Sharon before she turned to go back inside the house with Andy following right behind her.
"So, the kids are all asleep in the playroom. You're both more than welcome to stay the night if you want.
"I think I'm just gonna head home with the kids. I've got work tomorrow and they've got school. It'll just be easier in the morning, but thank you for the offer," said Sharon.
"I'll help you get them in the car," offered Andy.
"Okay. Thanks," replied Sharon.
Sharon took Ricky while Andy grabbed Emily as they headed for Sharon's car. They got the kids strapped in the back seat before quietly shutting the doors.
"Goodnight, Andy," said Sharon.
"Goodnight, Sharon. Be careful," Andy told her.
"I will," Sharon smiled at him.
As Sharon pulled out of the driveway, Andy couldn't help but be confused by the mixed signals Sharon was giving him.
One minute she was pumping the brakes and the next she was smiling at him.
Andy figured most of that had to do with Jack and her mixed feelings surrounding the divorce though.
He'd give her all the time she needed.
That still didn't keep him from smiling like an idiot though whenever he thought of her, which was becoming more and more often and was beginning to be more than just platonically.
As he turned to go back into Francesca's house, he knew one thing for sure: Sharon Raydor was one hell of a woman.