A Series of Unfortunate Events

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

Chapter 30

Sharon turned her head towards Louie and Patrice. "Thank you both for being here for us. I can't begin to tell you how much it meant to have you here. You Louie, for helping to support Andy, Rusty, and Olivia. Also, Patrice thank you for all you did to keep me alive." Then she ducked her head and blushed. "I'm sorry I took some of my frustrations out on you and didn't always cooperate."

"Honey, you were fine. I understood where you were coming from. Believe me, I've had worse patients." She tilted her head towards Louie and Andy, rolling her eyes. "These two being prime examples."

Sharon chuckled. "Yes, while I can't speak about Louie as a patient,Andy was definitely a challenge. All macho and definitely not at all cooperative."

"Hey! I'm right here. Don't be talking about me to my face," Andy said with mock indignation. He was perfectly aware of his failings as a patient. He'd been told multiple times by both Sharon and Patrice, not to mention his ex-wife. He didn't mind the ribbing though, really. He was just thankful Sharon was here with him to tease him.

"Oh, would you rather I talked about you behind your back?" Sharon asked fluttering her eyelashes at him, a smirk on her face.

Andy thought about it. "I suppose, not at all isn't an option?"

Sharon laughed. "No, not an option. Not at all," she said still smirking.

Ten minutes later, after Rusty had helped Patrice carry out the bags and the Provenza's drove away, they had the suite to themselves. Rusty took the sleeping Olivia into Sharon and Andy's room where he had moved the crib, at their suggestion. Then Andy said, "it's 11:30. Why don't I get a sandwich for you and after you eat, you can go in and take a nap with Olivia. I'll wake you up at about 1:30?"

"I just ate breakfast, Andy." Sharon said, annoyed, "and if you'll recall, I just woke up from four days worth of sleeping. What makes you think I need a nap already?"

Andy rubbed the back of his neck to relieve the tension. He had to tread carefully, because if Sharon felt like she was being treated like a child, she'd push back. "Maybe the fact that you've been yawning non-stop for the last ten minutes clued me in, or the fact that Patrice said you should get as much natural rest as possible. In spite of all the drugged sleep you've had and to catch naps when Olivia sleeps so that when she's awake you can enjoy her more.

Sharon sighed. She didn't want to concede and yet saw his point. She couldn't afford to get sick again and compromise her health anymore than it already was. "Oh okay, that makes sense. I am running out of steam but would you cuddle with me, while I'm going to sleep?" she asked feeling vulnerable. She was prone to nightmares after everything she'd been through and liked to be close to him, when she slept.

Andy nodded as he took a hold of her hand. "I can for a little while, Honey, but I need to start packing if we are going back home tomorrow. Also, I need to get ready, we have a meeting at two."

"A meeting? You scheduled a meeting? With whom, pray tell? When we're you going to tell me about this meeting?" She looked over her glasses at him sternly.

"The meeting I scheduled, is with the realtor. He is coming here with the papers to close on the house and… I just told you," Andy said patiently. "Don't worry, I've got a power-suit for you from the condo. Rusty went to get it for me, from Emily. They met halfway between here and home. She included everything you'd need from the inside out, even pumps and a red hairclip, to match the red sweater." He let go of her hand to tuck a few loose strands of her silky hair behind her ear. "I was thinking we'd put your hair in a French twist and put the red clip in to keep it in. What do you think?"

Sharon leaned into his touch then nodded absentmindedly. She shook her head trying to wrap her mind around the speed in which things were happening. "Why so quick? What about the inspection?" she asked suspiciously.

Ready for her questions Andy explained, "the people who are selling us their house were shipped out of the country sooner than expected. They've signed their papers and we need to sign ours. Then we can move in. Tao offered to be there for that. He took Julio and Buzz. It's all taken care of. No black mold or mold of any kind whatsoever, no structural damage. It's turnkey ready."

"That's what Jason said about the other house, before he dropped the bomb about the black mold," she said sarcastically.

Andy moved to help her stand, then he encircled her in his arms and got her to look at him. "We're you not listening when I said, there is no black mold?" He knew what was behind her crankiness. Besides feeling weak and easily tired, she was pushing back against the lack of control she had, over her life at present. Sharon Raydor liked to be in control of the things going on around her. She liked to have a say about what was happening and when. The last month, things had been happening, arrangements made, without her prior knowledge or say so. Some of those situations had led her into her current circumstances. She was tired of it, but Andy knew how to soothe her ruffled feathers. Be blunt and truthful.

"I heard you, and I know that we picked out the house together. It's just that I wanted to be part of the process more. Jack picked our first house and "surprised" me with it. Not only did he freeze me out of the process he bought a house without getting it properly inspected beforehand." Sharon rocked her head back and forth as she said with disgust. "He knew a guy that knew a guy. At first, I was charmed by his desire to surprise me and I was hugely pregnant with Emily. I just wanted a place to live that wasn't a studio apartment on the 4th floor. I was young and what did I know? Hmmm and outwardly, it was a beautiful old Victorian, but a couple of months down the road we realized we had termites. Then we had a broken septic system, then it was something else, then something else and something else after that. It was a damn money pit."

"Oooohhh such language!" Andy teased.

"Hmmphh get over it," she said with a smirk. "Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, when Emily was three and I was pregnant with Ricky, Jack left for the second time, my father helped me sell the house to a developer who wanted to tear it down and build a shopping center. I was so glad that Jack had put the house in my name, because he didn't have the greatest credit." She grinned, "I got a whole lot more than it was worth and then some, which allowed me to buy a place across town, outright. A blue stucco rancher. We were in that until I sold it to pay for the kid's college tuition." She shrugged and sighed.

Once again Andy felt angry at Jackson Raydor. He let out a frustrated breath before saying, "Sharon, I'm not Jack. I wouldn't do that to you if it wasn't absolutely necessary. We picked out the house together and I arranged for this meeting here because I wanted you to be a part of the process as much as possible. I did have Tao, Julio and Buzz stand in for us during the inspection but, that was for expediency sake. I made sure that the guys would document the whole inspection process on video so you could see it. I left you out of that process because, number one… you were being weaned from the drugs they pumped you with. Two... you weren't going to be ready to be involved in the whole process for weeks yet, which would have been fine if we hadn't suddenly become parents again to an infant. The condo is just too small for the two of us, Rusty and Olivia. Not to mention visiting family. I want us to be able to go home to the house rather than the condo. It will be more comfortable for you, for me, and for everybody else. Everything has been moved into the house rather than the condo. If you don't agree with the way they've placed things, you can change them, but they placed the furniture in the house where it was in the condo."

Sharon blinked back tears. Happy tears as well as sad tears. The happy tears were because Andy was not Jack. He knew her and knew her wishes would be to be completely involved with the whole process and had tried his best to make it possible where he could. The sad tears were for her beloved condo. Her home for the last ten years, since Emily and Ricky had gone to college, moved away and moved on. "They moved the furniture out of the condo?"

"Yes, and the condo has been cleaned as well as the furniture." He knew that her home had lots of memories and that she was sentimental about it, especially with Rusty basically growing up there. "I will leave the arrangements to sell the condo in your hands. It was yours, and not mine to sell."

Sharon stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. "Andy, thank you for everything you've done. I'm sorry I was so cranky earlier."

"It's okay. I knew you would be." She pulled back and glared at him. Andy put his hands up defensively. "Hey, I know you, Raydor. I knew how you think. I know you want to be involved, I want you to be involved. This is our life together and as much as I am able, given the circumstances, I will keep you in the loop. Okay?"

She nodded in agreement. Nobody knew her like Andy Flynn. "Thank you, I love you."

Andy stepped closer to Sharon and slipped his hands on her hips as he said, "and I love you. Are you ready to rest now?"

Sharon ran her tongue along her bottom lip. "Hmmm, if you will join me. You need rest too, Andy"

Knowing she was too tired for anything but sleep, he still wouldn't pass up the chance to have her in his arms. Andy turned her towards the bedroom as he whispered, "now that's an offer I can't refuse."

TBC...

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