The Pregnancy Ship

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.

Chapter 32: Good News

Sharon and Andy looked at each other and smiled, thinking they were about to see travel pictures from when Nicole, Dean and the boys went to Europe. Instead the screen showed the unmistakable movements of a fetus in the womb, and they heard its heartbeat. Sharon squealed and Madison protested. Sharon soothed her as she happily asked, "Does this mean what I think it means? You're pregnant?"

Nicole, who had not taken her eyes off her father's stunned face, nodded smiling. "Yeah Gramma and Grampa, we're having a baby too!" piped in Devlin.

"That's wonderful boys," Sharon and Andy exclaimed together.

"Grampa Andy, Gramma Sharon we're going to be big brothers!" Said Ian proudly.

"Yes, we know! Do you want a sister or a brother?" asked Sharon smiling at their excitement.

The boys looked at each other, then back at their grandparents. "A sister," they both said as if it should be obvious that they each already had a brother so they needed a sister.

"This is wonderful news Nicole, Dean and boys. I... we couldn't be happier for you," said Andy, his voice filled with emotion was barely above a whisper.

Sharon who was delighted asked, "How far along are you? Do you know what you're having?"

"Well, I'm two months along and we won't find out of course until I'm sixteen weeks. If it's a boy we'll name him Charles Michael and if it's a girl, her name will be Charlotte Mia."

"Oh, I love those names! What will you use as a nickname?" Sharon asked curiously.

"Charlie, for either one."

"That's cute. It's popular now too."

"Yes, I have resigned myself to the fact that no matter what I pick, it will be popular. I thought of naming them something more unusual but I really like Charlotte and Charles so that's what it's going to be." Nicole explained matter-a-factly.

Sharon asked, "When is the baby due?"

"Right around Christmas," Nicole said.

Andy said happily, "wouldn't it be neat if your baby was born on the girls first birthday. Wouldn't that be something?"

"Or it could be born on Christmas day what a Christmas gift that would be," said Sharon warmly.

"It would be nice but I hope not," Nicole said. "I want the baby, whatever it is to have his or hers own special day. Actually, the doctor said I would probably need to have a cesarean, since my hips are pretty narrow. So, that means I can pick the day if I want. We're thinking the 21st of December would be good."

"Sounds great to me, Honey," Andy said and reached for her to give her a kiss. Nicole beamed and bent down to kiss her dad and Sharon.

"I guess helping us with the girls off and on these last four months has been good practice," Sharon said with a smirk.

"More like a trial by fire." Said Dean almost under his breath remembering how frazzled Nicole had been when she couldn't get the girls to drink from a bottle when the twins had stayed with them during Sharon's surgery. She had finally asked the twins pediatrician for advice on how to get them to take the bottles when she had had to take them in for their first check up.

Nicole slapped her husband on the arm. "If you'll remember when I became involved with Dean the boys were toddlers. Devlin was two and Ian had just turned ten months, but he was starting to pull himself up and trying to walk already. When we got married they were three and eighteen months. Before you had Natalie and Madison, I hadn't even held a baby that tiny, much less took care of them. I never babysat as a teenager and all my friends that have kids live out of town," Nicole shrugged, self deprecatingly. Then wanting to give Sharon and her father a clear visual picture of just how inept she had been back then, she asked, "Do you remember that movie where Diane Keaton inherited her cousin's baby girl?" Sharon and Andy laughed and nodded. It was one of their favorite movies to watch. "Well that was me with Ian and Devlin at first."

"You weren't that bad Nic," Dean said.

Nicole smiled up at him and continued, "oh yes I was." She reached up and gave him a kiss. Then she turned back to her father and Sharon. "I was lucky, I had Dean to show me what to do, and he was wonderfully patient and kind. Now I'm a pro at it, but even then it wasn't like I was completely clueless. Like poor JC Wyatt I knew which end the diaper went on and which end to feed. I just wasn't sure of the mechanics of it with a baby like Ian who was constantly on the move," Nicole said jokingly.

Sharon's face flamed with embarrassment. "Oh, Nicole forgive me. I didn't mean to imply that you weren't capable of caring for the girls, or your own baby."

"Relax Sharon, you didn't. I'm just messing with you." Nicole smiled at her then added seriously, "you're actually right. Tiny baby girls like Nat and Maddie are a different experience than ten-month-old baby boys. I need all the practice I can get."

"I'm sure you'll be as wonderful a mother for Charlie as you are for Devlin and Ian, Sharon stated then looked to her left, "Right boys?" Both of them nodded and smiled at Nicole and then their gramma.

Nicole reached out and squeezed her step-mom's hand as a thank you. "Well, Sharon and Dad are you ready to start your weekend together, sans twins?" Nicole asked ready to out the attention away from her.

Sharon's stomach twisted again and all the feelings of anxiety that she thought she had overcome came crashing back. She closed her eyes and tried to remind herself of how important this time alone was for her and Andy. They hadn't made love since before the babies were born, and they were eager to be intimate again, but yet the idea of letting go was so difficult. She wondered why. She trusted Nicole. After all, it was Nicole who had watched the girls when they were six weeks old.

Sharon thought back to that day. She had woke up two weeks after the weekend they watched Mikey for the Provenza's. Her stomach was cramping, and she was bleeding heavily but not hemorrhaging. Andy had been able to see by the pain written all over her face that something was wrong and was on the phone to Janet in a flash. Then he had called Nicole and asked her to come over and keep the twins. They weren't able to give her very many instructions, due to the fact that they needed to get to the doctor, quickly.

Emily, Rusty and Ricky had just left for New York to pack up her household and move it back to California. Her parents were away on a cruise to New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii so they weren't available to help either. Luckily, there were plenty of bottles of expressed milk for the girls since she had been storing them up for a planned D&C and tubal ligation scheduled for ironically two days later than the partial hysterectomy ended up happening.

The babies did not like bottles so it had been a difficult time for them and for Nicole. However they had all survived and in spite of Nicole's self-deprecating jokes about how inept she had been, she was very good with the girls. She had been smart and asked for help from the girl's pediatrician and the crises had been solved. After it was all over and Sharon was home and nursing the girls once again. Nicole had told her how hard it had been when at first the twins had been reluctant to drink their bottles, but that once the girls pediatrician suggested following Sharon's routines, her way of holding them when she nursed and putting a blanket that smelled like her near them. These suggestions and hunger had helped make feeding time much easier. Of course, she'd had to call her father for information about those things and describing them for her had helped him through the difficulty of waiting for Sharon to get out of surgery.

When they were at the doctor's office that was adjacent to the hospital, it was decided that Sharon would have a partial hysterectomy, instead of the D&C and tubal ligation that had been planned. Sharon had been reluctant at first, worried that losing her uterus would have all kinds of ramifications, not the least of which was that it would interfere with her ability to nurse. Once assured that not having a uterus would not affect her ability to lactate and nurse, she had agreed. It had been done laparoscopically so her recovery time would be shorter and her need for pain medication would be less. As was usually the case, Sharon had bounced back more quickly than her doctor had expected her to. She was nursing the twins the evening of the day after the surgery, refusing pain meds to do it. Really the pain she had experienced had been negligible compared to the pain of childbirth or receiving a gunshot wound to her shoulder in the early days of her career. She had always had a high threshold for pain, at least in most cases. She was also stubborn about the importance of nursing the babies, it had been and still was very beneficial for the babies, so she was determined not to let very much get in the way of it as long as she was producing milk and the babies were thriving from it.

This was the main reason she decided, that she was struggling to separate from the girls, besides not wanting to miss any important milestones. She had missed a lot of them with Emily and Ricky, having to raise them on her own. Being responsible for putting food on the table and a roof over their heads had forced her to miss those precious milestones because she had to work, and leave them in daycare. This time around, she was enjoying more of her babies early milestones such as their first smiles, their first belly laughs and first time rolling over.

Coming back to the present, Sharon felt Natalie disconnect and knew she needed to burp so she put her over her shoulder for Andy to take and burp her. Then Madison disconnected too and she sat her on her lap and patted her on her back, eliciting a loud burp from her. Everybody chuckled at how loud it was. As Sharon and Andy finished burping the girls after they finished nursing they held each one of them close, inhaling their soft baby scents and kissing them.

Nicole allowed them that moment and then reached for Natalie, while Dean took Madison. Sharon put her hands to her lips trying to hold back a sob. Andy stroked her back to comfort her but he was struggling too. Nicole said, "Call me and I'll send Dean over for more expressed milk bottles as you make them. Now relax and have a wonderful weekend together, okay? We'll see you later if you decide to come over for their late afternoon feeding."

Sharon nodded, barely holding back tears as she watched Nicole and Dean strapping the girls into their twin stroller, picking up the two very large diaper bags, blowing them kisses then leaving. The boys were the last ones out. Ian saw Sharon's barely held back tears, and ran to her to give her a hug. He stood between her legs and held her face in his little hands. "Gramma Sharon, don't cry. Maddie and Nat will be fine! We're not going to keep them. We're going to have our own baby so we'll be just be practicin' on 'em. Devlin and I will make sure Mommy and Daddy don't drop 'em! I promise!" He gave her a big sloppy kiss on the cheek, and then he did the same for Andy. "You too Grampa! Have a good weekend together," he said and waved as he ran to join his family.

Sharon let out a snort laugh and a sob at the same time. She turned into Andy who also had tears in his eyes. He held her and rocked her for a moment. When he had made the plans for this weekend, he had never dreamed it would be this hard for them to separate from the girls. While Sharon's unexpected trip to the doctor and her subsequent need for surgery had given them no time to grieve the separation, somehow the fact that this was planned made it harder. It didn't even seem to help that they would be seeing the girls later that day and the next even if it were for just a little while.

"Okay, we wanted this. We wanted to be free to be together without interruptions. It's not like they won't be back on Sunday. We'll see them later on today and maybe for a little bit tomorrow, so… why are we crying?" Andy asked in consternation.

Sharon didn't answer for a moment. She wiped her tears away and sniffed. "Gosh, I guess I don't know. Maybe we're just as strung out as the pediatrician said we were." After moments more of consideration Sharon put her head in her hands. "Good grief Andy, I'm pathetic," Sharon said shaking her head.

"I wouldn't say that exactly," said Andy, trying to console her.

"Well, what would you call a mature adult crying because her oldest daughter took her babies for the weekend so her wonderful husband and her could have quality time together?" Sharon asked. Her eyebrow raised, her head was cocked to the side.

Andy shrugged. "I'd call her a loving dedicated mommy who is sleep deprived and maybe a little strung out," he said playfully.

"You really do understand don't you?"

"Yes, I do because I'm feeling it too. Not quite like you but yeah I'm feeling it. Another thing I'm feeling is sex deprived and I think you are too." With a smirk Andy said, "soo let's take care of that hmmm?" Sharon looked stricken with guilt at his words, and he hurried to reassure her. "I'm not blaming you Sharon. It took both of us to make those two beautiful girls, and we needed to wait for them and you to be safe. I understand the reason behind the need for abstaining, but you're cleared and there is nothing holding us back now. That's all I was saying, I'm eager to end this... let's call it this long hiatus." She smiled and nodded as she looked into his eyes, their lips met in a kiss. "I believe there is a bed with our name on it. Race you to it?" and Andy quirked his own eyebrow at her.

Sharon blew out a tired sigh. "I'm afraid my racing days are over Andy, at least at the moment. I'm saving my energy for more pleasurable, pursuits," she said with a huskiness to her voice. "Besides, I'm starving. Why don't we fix breakfast together first, then go back to bed?"

"Sounds like a plan, my love," he said and gave her another kiss.

"I love you!" she said rubbing noses with him.

"I love you more," he said softly stroking the spot right under her lip and looking deeply into her green eyes. They were a deep smoky jade, albeit slightly red from the effort to hold back tears.

They helped each other up. Sharon stood on her tiptoes and gave him yet another kiss. Then made their way to the kitchen. They were both pleasantly surprised to find a breakfast casserole in the refrigerator for them along with a note… 'Dear Dad and Sharon, here is something for you to eat. I thought you probably wouldn't want to waste valuable time cooking something, but you have to eat. So I made a stuffed French toast casserole. Enjoy, and have fun, love Nicole.'

"I knew there was a reason I adore your daughter," Sharon said with a laugh.

"Yes, she's something special, alright," he said rubbing his hands together. Sharon heated the casserole up then she and Andy ate some. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher and the leftovers in the fridge they made their way back to their room.

Once there they helped each other out of their clothes, her robe, her bra and panties, his t-shirt, jeans and boxers. Quickly Andy's lips covered hers, one of his hands tangled into her masses of hair, the other squeezed her bottom. They lowered onto the bed and Sharon straddled him. Her one hand found his length and she began to slide her hand back and forth on it. She ran her fingernails ever so lightly between his balls and up to the tip of his member, then back again. As she did so she watched his face. His was a study in ecstasy. She scooted back on his thighs a little and slid her mouth over the tip, slowly let more of his length into her mouth and licked around. She heard him groan and she smiled around his member. Sharon continued this way for a few minutes and then he tugged on her. She slid up Andy's body and covered his lips with hers; he could taste himself in her kiss. She reveled in the feel of the skin-to-skin contact between them.

He turned them so that she was under him and he kissed his way down her body, paying special attention to her breasts. Andy's lips and tongue covered her nipples and sucked gently on each and then made its way to her belly button, running his tongue along the inside. He heard Sharon's soft giggle, it was a very sensitive tickle spot, and then he was between her legs. His lips, tongue and teeth made love to her center, sliding up and down her folds, nibbling on her nub of pleasure. When he had brought her to a very satisfying orgasm, which had her moaning and crying out in ecstasy, he moved up her body and entered her swiftly. Andy's movements were slow and loving. His hands found hers and they intertwined their fingers. They moved together, alternating between soft and slow, gentle and hard then soft and slow again. His lips captured hers in a kiss.

When Andy felt himself about to come, he let go of her hands just long enough to lift her legs so that they were vertically resting on his shoulders, for deeper penetration. Then he held onto one of Sharon's hands while the other one started stimulating her nub of pleasure. He put concentrated pressure on it moving in circles alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise, albeit slightly uncoordinatedly until he could tell that she was coming with him. Once they had reached their orgasm together, they lay in each other's arms, still connected, languid and thoroughly sated.

His arm slid beneath her neck, took her hand in his and entwined their fingers together.

"Hmmm, that was wonderful!" Sharon said softly Her eyes were closed, her face buried into Andy's neck.

He looked down at her, "It was, wasn't it? We've still got it. We haven't lost it?"

She snorted, "don't sound so surprised. Of course it was wonderful, Andy and no we haven't lost it, if by "it" you mean chemistry, sparks, what have you. Were you afraid we had?" she asked worried.

Andy thought about then said, "Hmm, I'm not sure, I can explain without getting in trouble, but with everything that's happened. The babies coming unexpectedly, your surgery, feeling tired and not getting enough sleep, having to nurse almost nonstop. I guess I was afraid it would be either painful for you or that you would no longer. I don't know, have the energy or the desire, much less be able to… ummm enjoy it as much as you seemed to."

Sharon was a bit shocked at Andy's reasoning. She wanted him to understand exactly what he did to her. "Of course I enjoyed it, you make me feel loved Andy, desired. You take time to make sure I...well you know...umm have an orgasm before you…you have yours. Andy, all those things you thought about me not having energy, it being painful or not having the desire, actually happened to me the first time around, when I had Emily and Ricky, but it was mostly because my emotional connection to Jack was already waning. Between his drinking and gambling away our money, his verbal abuse, his abandonment, it all came together to make me the frigid bitch he always accused me of being," she said and looked away.

Andy put his finger under her chin and made her turn to face him. "Sharon, you are not a frigid bitch, and after what we just experienced, I can't believe he ever had the audacity to call you that. You are a hot sexy mama and I love you to distraction."

She smiled at him and could see how much he cared for her reflected in his deep brown eyes. "I know that Andy, you show me every day. That's why my weariness fell away the moment you kissed me. With a woman, well at least this woman, successful lovemaking is at least 60 percent emotional connection and 40 percent physical. Feeling loved and desired, makes all the difference in the world to me and you are good at making me feel loved and desired, Andy."

"I hope I always do, Sharon." Andy's voice turned serious as he told her, "I can promise you this. I will always try to make you feel loved and desired because you are! Every moment of every day! Don't ever forget it."

Sharon leaned up to kiss him. "You are loved and desired too, Andy!" They lay in each other's arms and started to drift off. "By the way, what's my surprise?" Sharon asked suspiciously.

"You, my love will find out when you are supposed to." Andy laughed at her slight pout.

She got out a few of her question by asking, "But when am I supposed to find out? I mean how am I supposed to pack for it or dress for it if I don't know where we are going and what we are going to be doing?"

Andy gave her a shrug as he said, "Don't worry about packing, I've already packed for you and your bag is already in the car, along with mine. They are ready to go. So all we have to do is take a little snooze, shower and get dressed then we can hop in the car stop by Nicole and Deans then we'll be off to our weekend getaway."

They lay quiet another few moments and she tried again. "Hmmm, did you pack my bathing suit?" She asked trying to get some clue on what Andy had planned.

"Everything you need is your suitcase, Sweetheart. Now please go to sleep." Andy said firmly but with smile.

Sharon blew out a breath and tried to relax, but she couldn't, she was so tired, but she couldn't go to sleep. She was too keyed up from everything including the spectacular lovemaking they'd had. She would never tell Andy, but she had been worried too. She'd worried that her body would betray her and not respond like it had before the unexpected pregnancy and everything that had followed. Yet that had not happened. Perhaps it had been not having to worry about getting pregnant again or being interrupted by crying babies that had helped.

Andy lifted his head and saw her staring up at the ceiling, "turn over on your stomach." Sharon's eyebrows went up as she looked at him. "Turn over," he repeated. Shrugging, she did what she was told. Sharon felt him run the tips of his fingers up and down her back, across her shoulders, down her back again, over the curve of her backside and then back up to her shoulders and down again. After a while the rhythmic pattern of touches served to relax her so that she could drift into slumber. When Andy saw that Sharon's eyes were closed and her breathing had changed he went to sleep too.

An hour later, Andy woke up to the sound of the phone ringing in the other room. He groaned, pulled on his other robe and went out to the family room to answer it. When he picked up the phone he saw it was Provenza. "Hey, Buddy, what's up?" Andy asked.

"Hey Flynn, I didn't interrupt anything did I?"

"No, other than sleep, that is. If you'd called an hour ago however…." Andy replied smugly

Louie shook his head as he held his phone, "Flynn… ye gods, spare me the details… geez sorry I asked!"

Andy chuckled, enjoying teasing his pal, but then he got serious. "What do you need? Is everything alright with Kayla?"

Provenza voice lighten as he talked about his daughter. "Everything is great, Flynn! Listen, I sent a video of Mikey and Kayla to you on messenger, open it up."

"Okay hold on a minute, I gotta find my iPad." Andy looked around and realized he'd packed it for the trip. "I just remembered my iPad is packed already. I'll have to look at it later."

"You packed your iPad? I thought this was supposed to be a romantic getaway."

"It is, but…" he walked out into the garage and closed the door. "Part of Sharon's present for her birthday is a full body massage and a full facial, nails and everything. Done by a professional in the area where we're going. While I'm waiting for her to get done I thought I'd use my notes app to check all the details for this weekend. I've had to keep my iPad hidden so Miss Nosy doesn't find out stuff I don't want her to know. By the way, don't forget to be there at 6:00pm. I'll be bringing her back to the place around 7:00. Oh and park down the street and around the corner from the house or she'll see your car and know something's up."

Louie nodded even though Andy couldn't see him. "Okay, sure I'll let the team know."

"They already know. They are helping me with the arrangements and it's on the beach in back of the house. So use the path beside the house it will take you right there."

"Listen is it okay that we have to bring the babies?"

Andy kept his voice low, "Of course, it's okay Louie. Didn't Patrice tell you that this is not only a birthday party, we're renewing our vows and the babies will be christened too? Patrice said she wouldn't mind having your babies christened at the same time if we didn't mind. I told her I didn't mind and I'm sure Sharon wouldn't either."

"No, I don't remember her saying that, but a lot has happened. You know Flynn, as I've said before I've never really been too sure about God, but when Kayla was so sick, I was so desperate for her to make it, I prayed and it seemed to work. Maybe there is something to it. So I wont get in the way of the Christening. It can't hurt and I know it will make Patrice happy. Kayla is getting so much better every day, she's catching up to her brother in milestones." Louie swallowed the lump building in his throat before he could continue, "that's what the video is about by the way. She and her brother were rolling on the floor together and laughing. It was so cute! Funny, I don't remember watching my first children doing this and finding it so delightfully entertaining "

Andy frowned at the memories of years ago. "That's because we were busy catching bad guys or drinking. We were young and stupid and we had no idea what was really important in life."

"That's true. So, she has no idea?" Provenza asked surprised Flynn had been able to keep a secret from a detective like Captain Raydor.

"I hope not." Andy heard the door to the garage open. Sharon stood there in her robe. She was looking at him with a questioning look on her face. Andy put a finger up to stall her and said, "listen Louie, maybe next weekend we can get everybody that was on the pregnancy ship together to compare notes, hmmm. Like a barbecue or a potluck get together, here at our house. We'll take pictures and everything! Okay?"

"O..k..a..y. Let me guess, she's there?"

Andy knew his partner would get why he changed of subject. "You betcha! See ya Louie; give my best to Patrice and the babies. Sharon and I will watch your video soon, bye."

"That was Louie?" she asked.

Walking over to his wife, Andy nodded, "yes, he sent a video of Mikey and Kayla he wanted us to see."

Sharon smiled, but a confused frown came over her face. "Why are you here in the garage?"

"Oh...well, I didn't want to disturb your sleep, plus I was double checking to make sure I didn't forget anything." Sharon's eyebrows rose and she stared at him for a moment, cocking her head to the side. Andy stared back at her making sure to maintain eye contact. He raised his eyebrows. "What?" he asked.

"You're up to something."

Andy closed the distance between them, and put his hands under her robe. She was naked underneath as he was. "Of course, I'm up to something, I'm always up to something when I'm looking at you in that robe with those magnificent legs…hmm. Wanna see just what I'm up to?" He showed her his fully erect member standing at attention. "One more for the road, hmmm?" He kissed her; his tongue explored her mouth while his fingers explored her center.

Sharon looked at him incredulously. "Andy!" She laughed, backing away "you can't be serious! We just finished an hour ago! Can you really be ready for another round so soon?"

"Honey, after all this time, I've been saving up, believe me. I could go several rounds...with you," he wiggled his eyebrows and managed to look cheesily lecherous, but in an adorable Andy way.

She bent over laughing delightedly at his antics. He laughed too and started advancing again. Sharon turned and ran for the bedroom, having newfound energy.

He followed but when he caught up, he steered her towards the bathroom. "We need to start getting ready but I believe we have enough time for a sexy shower. After all I'm very good at multitasking," he said as he turned on the water while he kissed her.

Sharon's arms came around his neck and intertwined with each other. She pressed her body against his and she sighed contentedly. "Yes, you are Andrew Flynn. Yes, you are."

Please feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter or any of the other previous chapters as well.

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