The Pregnancy Ship

Chapter 25: "Someday This Will Be Funny!"

This is an A/U story

Disclaimer: These are not my characters they are fully James Duffs. I just love them so much and love to play with them.

Andy looked at the clock for what seemed like the ninetieth time. He was finishing up financials for the case major crimes had caught at 4 that morning. He was alone. Holding down the fort while the rest of the team investigated the latest murder. He kept looking at the clock wondering where Sharon was. She said she'd be in the office by 9:00, for a dry run. She would start officially next week, but she had wanted to try it today, to see how hard it would be to get everyone ready. It was now 9:45a.m.

It was 10a.m when Sharon and her mother and Rusty finally walked into the P.A.B carrying the twins in their carriers, their diaper bags, and other baby paraphernalia. Sharon looked tired and a bit frazzled. Her wet hair was twisted into a French twist with a barrette that matched her suit, black skirt and jacket with a turquoise shell. When she turned slightly to speak to her mother Andy could see the baby spit up that he was sure she'd be mortified to know was there. She had no lipstick; she had been rubbing her lips together in an effort to not scream. Her eyes were slightly red from the effort it took not to fall apart. He knew immediately that the morning spent getting ready to come had not gone well. He stood up and went to Sharon. "Hey," he said simply.

"Hey," she said back, her voice a little shaky.

"I was waiting for you. I was worried," he said tenderly caressing her cheek.

"Yeah well, things didn't go as planned," she said. Pressing her lips together.

Andy whispered in her ear, "Do you need a moment?" She swallowed and nodded, looking down at the floor. "Rusty do you have enough time to help your grandmother set things up for the babies in Sharon's office?"

"Sure Andy. Come on, Grandma. Come little squirts let me show you Mom's office."

Andy took Sharon's hand and led her out of the murder room and into the executive bathroom across from her office. As soon as the door was closed she buried her face into Andy's shoulder, and breathed in his aftershave. He put his arms around her, rubbing his hand up and down her back while rocking back and forth. Her shoulders shook as she let out the sobs she'd been holding back for hours. Sharon took deep breaths, breathing in his scent. The feel of his arms around her, the smell of his aftershave helped to calm her frazzled nerves. After a few moments he asked, "You want to talk about it?"

Pulling away from him she nodded and wiped tears away from her face. "I'm sorry, Andy it's just…I don't remember it being this hard to get ready in the morning when my older children were little like Natalie and Madison. I don't remember feeling this frantic or being so stressed. I didn't have help either. Jack was always gone, I did it all by myself, but I don't remember it being like this and I had help this morning! Mom and Rusty did everything they could to help!"

"How old are Ricky and Emily?" he asked gently.

With a sniffle she answered, "twenty-five and twenty-eight."

Andy nodded then questioned, "So they weren't twins?"

"No, of course not! You know they weren't. What's your point?" she said slapping his chest.

"How old were you when you had them?" again his voice was gentle.

She was till wondering where Andy was going with this but Sharon answered him, "With Emily Twenty-four and with Ricky twenty-seven."

"How old are you now?"

"Fifty-two going on fifty-three. You know all this! What's your point?" she said rolling her eyes.

"My point is, not only are you twenty-seven and twenty-four years older than you were when your children were babies, you don't have just one baby, you have twins with double everything to deal with. Plus you've been helping out with Michael, for Provenza and Patrice. Give yourself a break, Sweetheart."

She gazed at him with a 'where have you been all my life' look on her face. "Jack would have said, well you wanted the brats now stop bellyaching to me about how hard it is to take care of them!"

"Come," Andy, said pulling her into his lap as he sat down on the couch in the bathroom. Sharon sat on his legs sideways.

Slipping her feet out of her heels she rested them next to Andy's hip and rested her head on his shoulder, as she began telling him what had happened that morning. "After you left, I nursed the twins and they fell back to sleep, but I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up even though it was really early. I ate my breakfast had tea, and got my shower put on a robe and then, Mom came over and we got the babies up. I fed them again and then we bathed them and got them dressed. After I got dressed we gathered all our stuff and as we were buckling them into the car both babies, not just one mind you, both babies had blowouts. I don't mean just in their diapers. I'm talking all the way up their backs, in their hair, e..v..e..r..ywhere!" She emphasized and gestured with her hands. "And... all over everything, their clothes the seat cover, everything. Rusty ran to his bathroom and threw up it was so bad. We had to take them back into the house and give them baths again and we had to throw everything in the washing machine after hosing it down outside. By that time it was time to feed the girls again, as I was feeding Madison, she spit up all over herself and me. I changed us both, and then Natalie spit up on me as I was placing her in the car seat. By then it was getting late so I spot cleaned the jacket and just as we were coming down the hall of the PAB Mom informed me I'd missed a spot."

Sharon closed her eyes and shook her head. She'd been too stressed to think about causes before, but now that she was calmer it occurred to her that what had happened that morning had never happened before to any of her children. There was a reason for it and it wasn't that the little dickens were conspiring against her. "Maybe I should have taken them to their doctor. It's not like them to do this. I can't imagine what I could have eaten to cause this."

"What did you eat for breakfast?" he asked musingly.

Sharon cocked her head thinking, "um...cereal."

"With regular milk or almond milk?"

"Al...oh...um...Oh No, regular milk. I had already poured the cereal when I realized we were out of almond milk. The only thing left was regular milk. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Nicole and Nathan were lactose intolerant. Very much so. Valerie and I had many mornings like the one you just described before we figured it out. I guess the girls share that." Andy informed her.

"Jack was lactose intolerant, but my older children were not affected by it so I guess I didn't think about it with regards to the twins." She said sheepishly.

Andy smiled saying, "now we know they can't tolerate regular milk. So you'll have to stay away from it for a little while as long as you are nursing them, that is. I'll pick up more almond milk tonight on the way home."

"Thank you, Andy. Could you get the kind with the coconut in it? It needs to say original. That's my favorite." Sharon was more relaxed now that they had hopefully figured out the problem.

"Sure, original coconut almond milk. No problem! Feeling better?" Though Andy could tell she was just from the way she sounded.

"Yes. Just being in your arms calms me. Smelling your aftershave too! Do me a favor and never stop using it," she said, giggling and snuggling up against him.

"I'll buy stock in it if you promise to never stop using this perfume," he said and nuzzled her neck.

She sat up and looked at him incredulously, "What? Eau De baby spit up?" she asked jokingly. And they laughed together. After their laughter died down Sharon thought about the fact that her emotions were still overwhelming her, even a month after the babies had been born. She shook her head and mused aloud to him, "What are you doing to me, Andy Flynn?" as she played with his tie.

"What do you mean?" he asked, amused but a little confused.

"For so many years I was known around the squad as Darth Raydor or the Wicked Witch, but since we've been together and since I got pregnant with the twins I seem to have traded them in for Laura Petrie. "Ohhhhh Rooooobbbbbb," she said sounding just like Mary Tyler Moore.

"You did that imitation perfectly and you did Brenda a couple of months ago perfectly too. You know you may have missed your calling, you could do stand up comedy and do impressions." He quipped laughing as she smacked him playfully.

She snort laughed, "Yeah, well I have had plenty of practice over the last several months, but I guess what I'm trying to say is. Since the first time Jack left I've prided myself on my independence, not needing anybody. I did everything on my own. I had to, Jack was never there and now, well that's all shot to hell, because..." She looked into his eyes, and held his face between her hands, stroking his cheeks, "I need you. I need to see your smile, feel your arms around me, and smell your aftershave. I need to, hear your voice to feel better when I'm...well... Rusty says, when I'm freaked out like I was this morning. Sometimes, it's the only thing that can calm me." Embarrassed by her confession, Sharon looked down at his tie, smoothing it. In the early days of their relationship playing with his tie had been her way of showing him her affection without being obvious about it. It had also served to help her calm down when she was stressed.

Andy stroked the side of her face, he put his finger under her chin and tilted her face so she was looking into his eyes and told her, "needing someone or admitting you need someone does not mean you are weak Sharon. It just means you are human that's all and we're in the same boat, because I need you too. When I got hurt last year it was focusing on your smile, your voice, your arms around me, the smell of your perfume, my feelings for you that kept me from freaking out about having surgery."

"I seem to remember, it didn't stop you from going all macho on me," She laughed and poked him in the chest.

"Yeah well, I guess I did give you a bit of a problem about staying at your place. I just didn't want to be a burden to you that's all."

"You weren't a burden, Andy. I loved caring for you and well I think that we wouldn't be here, together like this, married with a new family, if that hadn't happened. We'd still be taking it s..l..o..w!" she said and winked at him. "But I know how that feels, not wanting to be a burden, after the last several months," she said ironically.

"You aren't a burden either, Sharon. I was happy to take care of you, it's what you do when you love someone."

Sharon leaned closer to his face, "I know you love me Andy, you show me in a million different ways and I definitely love you. Thank you for loving me enough to listen to my rants and allowing me to cry on your shoulder it means more than I could ever say."

"I'm guessing Jack didn't, listen to you or hold you when you cried?"

Sharon buried her face in his shoulder embarrassed that she'd again brought Jack's failures into their conversation, albeit inadvertently. "No, he didn't I'm sorry Andy, I shouldn't always compare you to Jack. I guess it's just a knee jerk reaction. I was married to him for a very long time and the two of you, although you had similar addictions in the past, the two of you are so completely different in how you handled yourself and how….you treat me."

"I will always strive to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. With love, respect, and kindness. It's natural Sharon, to make comparisons I do it too. I compare you to Valerie all the time. Every time I mess something up and you treat me with love, tenderness and understanding instead of bitterness and anger, you are head and shoulders above her. I don't care if you compare me to Jack as long I am always the one that comes out on top," he said winking back at her.

"Oh, you do and what's more, you always will," she kissed him.

They were still kissing when Rusty knocked, then stuck his head in the door. He looked down at the floor, embarrassed to find them making out…again. You'd think he'd get used to the PDA, but he never did. "Mom, the babies are fussing. They won't take a bottle, Grandma and I tried, sorry and I'll be needing to leave for class soon."

"It's okay Rusty, I'll nurse them. Put the bottles back in their coolers for me, please." Sharon turned to Andy, "I'm pretty sure the milk is out of my system. I ate it at 5:00am. It's now 11. Then I think I'll take them home. I'm exhausted, it's a good thing this was a dry run," she said slipping on her shoes.

"It should get better now that we are pretty sure what caused the blow outs," Andy reassured her. He waited for her while she took care of personal business in the bathroom stall. She came out when she was finished, washed her hands and asked Andy to quickly wipe off the spit up off her jacket. Then they walked across the hallway to her office. Andy's eyes got big as he looked around and saw all the baby paraphernalia. "It uh….seems like you brought a lot of stuff for just an hour," he said with a laugh.

A few days after coming home from the hospital last month there had been a shower held for them, plus many of Sharon's colleagues had sent her gifts for the babies. There had been doubles of several of the bigger gifts. "Actually, this is just the stuff we got double of. Twin swings, twin fold-up play pens, and strollers. I figured instead of taking them back we could use them here. They'll stay in my closet folded up till we need them." She said, as she got comfortable. She had decided to nurse them in tandem before they got too upset, and started screaming. Andy helped her by putting sofa pillows in place. Sharon's mother held Madison while Rusty held Natalie. Once she was ready they handed her a baby and she got them latched on.

In the month since they had been home they had gained 2lbs each. They were now the size of regular newborns, Natalie weighed 7lbs 3oz and Madison 7lbs 6oz. Their initial hair had been schluffed off but as it grew back their red fuzz had become a head of red silky curls. Madison's was bright red and Natalie's was coppery. Their complexions were a pale creme with a touch of peach, like Sharon's. The jury was out as to whether or not they would have freckles and their eyes hadn't changed yet.

Andy got behind Sharon so she could lean on him. It was by far their favorite nursing position. When she was especially tired, Andy would let her sleep and help her by burping the babies when they needed it or making sure they didn't choke if the milk let down too fast. Since the babies were latched on and nursing happily each in the football position, she rested her back against Andy's chest and closed her eyes. She felt her mother cover her chest with a light blanket. She opened her eyes and noted that her mother looked as tired as she felt. "Thank you Mom, for all you did to help this morning. I would have torn my hair out if you hadn't been there. You too Rusty, thank you for all you do."

"Hey, no problem. Listen gotta run, my class is in 45 minutes. Love you!" he said waving and ran out.

"Love you. Love you too, Mom. Is Dad picking you up?"

"Yes dear, as long as you don't need me." Eileen looked conflicted. She wanted to be there for Sharon, but she was exhausted too.

Remembering Andy telling her admitting you needed someone was not a weakness. Sharon took her mother's hand and smiled at her. She squeezed her hand and said with a voice full of emotion, "I'll always need you, Mom but second shift is coming in the form of Emily. She's at a job interview and then she'll swing back here to pick us up."

Sharon wouldn't be cleared for driving for another two weeks. Her doctor was in Sharon's opinion, overly cautious but because of her age and the fact that she had given birth to twins she complied at least about the driving. She was still bleeding a tad bit although the nursing had helped with that. Sharon was the only woman her age that had given birth to twins without in vitro fertilization, that Dr. Janet had ever had as a patient. She was consistently amazed at her ability to sail through the process with virtually no trouble if you didn't count being blind for three months.

She kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and she would restrict Sharon's activities citing different scenarios that could happen. Janet had been very vocal about her opinion of Sharon going back to work so soon after giving birth. She'd hoped that telling Sharon she couldn't drive would keep her home, but Sharon was stubborn and part of her was eager to get back to work after so much time away. The fact that Provenza couldn't be there to cover for her was a factor as well. It left the squad terribly short handed.

Eileen smiled at her daughter and kissed her cheek. Then she kissed Andy's forehead. "Well, at least for today, it's good that Emily will take over. I'm not too proud to admit that I'm worn out. I don't remember my twins being quite so challenging, but then I'm older now and time has a habit of erasing those kind of memories or softening them. Just think, Darling someday this mornings' fiasco will be funny." Sharon looked at her mother in disbelief, her eyebrows raised as if to say. 'Funny? Really, you've got to be kidding?' Eileen looked back at her and back peddled a little, "probably not anytime soon?" Sharon shook her head. "Well, I'd better get downstairs I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye Sharon, bye Andy."

Once her mother left, Sharon leaned against Andy and closed her eyes again. She immediately started to drift into a restful sleep when Andy's phone buzzed, indicating he'd received a text. "Is the team on their way back?" Sharon asked sleepily.

"Well yeah eventually, but that wasn't them it was Provenza. The doctors have decided Kayla is strong enough to withstand surgery so they've scheduled her for tomorrow morning."

"Hmmm, you'll be there for them right? Louie will be devastated if she doesn't make it. He's so attached to her. He'll need his best friend."

"Well, I'll certainly try, if we manage to solve this case or don't have a new case. I think

that Patrice has taken my place as Louie's best friend. Just like you have taken his. If we were in the same situation I'd hope we'd turn to each other for comfort," he said stroking her hair.

Sharon nodded but the idea that Andy thought he'd have to give up his best friend disturbed her, so she said, "Who are you kidding? The two of you will always be ProFlynnza, a force to be reckoned with," she said and looked up at him.

"ProFlynnza?" he repeated amused. Andy looked down at her she was smiling at him.

"Yes and apparently, we're Shandy," she said gesturing between the two of them.

"Really, I like that. Shandy, it's cute and how did that come about?"

"When the kids were planning our baby shower. We were coming in the house from the garage and I distinctly heard Gus say Shandy at 1o'clock, to warn his co-conspirators they were about to be discovered. I didn't put it together until later when the shower actually happened and… um I asked Rusty"

"And what about ProFlynnza?"

"Patrice and I coined that last year right after we discovered we were pregnant. We had them over to the house for lunch that Sunday. Remember it was the Sunday a week before I fell at the office? You guys were across the room from us watching a game and arguing like you do over who won the pennant some year. Patrice and I were having tea at the dining room table and we got to talking about the two of you. The dynamic of your friendship and how much you reminded us of Abbott and Costello, Then we got on the subject of how kids like to combine names. So we coined yours. ProFlynnza fits you." Thinking about Patrice and Louie reminded Sharon of the original subject of the conversation. Kayla's surgery and then she remembered Mikey. "Andy, ask Louie if they need us to watch Mikey for them."

Andy said concerned, "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Sharon. Won't that be too much after what happened this morning? I mean you're exhausted and were completely freaked out with the twins. How are you going to handle Mikey too?"

"As you said yourself what happened this morning was unusual, Andy. I mean, I can see now that what happened was a direct result of them reacting to the regular milk I used in my cereal. I've been using almond milk up till this morning and now that I know they can't tolerate regular milk I'll stay away from it for now on. They've never had blowouts like that before. It freaked me out because I didn't understand why it happened I was focused on getting us all to the PAB on time, and my emotions are still all over the place. There's no reason to believe it will keep happening if I learn from my mistakes and stay away from milk products. Besides Mikey's no trouble really. He's sweet and undemanding, a lot like Natalie."

"Hey, what about Madison? She's sweet!" Andy said jokingly defending his other daughter.

"Yes, of course she's sweet, Honey but you could never call her undemanding." Sharon quipped sardonically.

"Anyway, Mikey's like one of my own, it's not like I haven't cared for him and the girls together before. Besides I won't be doing it alone. Tomorrow is Saturday so everybody will be at our place. Mom will be there, dad too. Rusty, Gus, Emily and Ricky."

"Yeah well I wouldn't assume everybody will be there just because it's Saturday. We thought you were covered the day you gave birth too and you know how that worked out. Everybody scattered when the rubber hit the road." Andy shuddered as memories of Sharon alone, blind and in labor flashed a crossed his mind.

Sharon remembered too, but the terror of that day was replaced by the joy of her sight returning at just the right moment, when Natalie was born Then seeing Natalie help her sister to start breathing by reaching out and touching her. Giving birth at home with Andy there delivering their twins, although unplanned and a bit scary was a much sweeter memory than having a caesarian in the hospital. The bad parts of that day had all but faded for her and she chose to remember only the joy, not the terror. She patted Andy's leg comfortingly, "that was a fluke Andy and anyway it's over. Everything's fine, our babies are fine, but Kayla is not also Patrice and Louie need our support. Caring for Mikey is my way of supporting them. "If it makes you feel better I'll ask for help from Julio."

Andy looked into her tired but still beautiful green eyes and knew she was serious. "Okay, Sweetheart if you think you can handle all three of them." He shrugged and texted the question to Provenza. Louie answered back quickly. "He says Patrice thinks it would be a good idea, if you don't mind. She'd love to have him with her but if things go south, it wouldn't be good for him to be there. She's afraid he might get overlooked or worse."

"Okay. I'll make sure I ask Julio if he wants to help," she said sinking back against Andy's chest.

"I'm sure he'll jump at the chance to spend time with Maddie and Natalie and I'll get him cleared for time off. That is if this latest case is solved by then."

Thank you for reading my story and a special thank you if you have taken the time to leave a review.