"Ohh, the police man delivers pizza, Mommy!" Evie clapped her hands when Sharon opened the door for Andy Sunday evening. She crossed her arms over her sweater as the blast of cold air hit her, silently wondering why she'd spent over an hour trying to pick out her simple, casual outfit for the evening only to be standing there huddled tightly as he stepped inside and tried to shake the snow off.

"Evie, this is Andy. That's his name," she reminded her. "You can call him that."

"Mr. Police Man," she giggled and made a face at Andy. He grinned back at her and crouched down to Evie's level.

"Hi, Evie. I have this cheese pizza here, and I wondered if you knew of any little girls who like cheese pizza?"

"Me!" Evie jumped up and down, and Sharon tried to move Evie out of the entryway so Andy could hand over the pizzas and take off his snow-covered coat.

"Okay, Evie, before any pizza, please wash your hands. When you are done, go sit at the table, okay?" Evie was off running before Sharon finished, and she, laughing at Evie's spunk, turned back to Andy who now had put the pizza boxes on top of the chest Sharon had by the door.

"Hi," she smiled brightly. "Thanks for coming. I know the roads are getting pretty rough."

"No trouble," he shook his head at the same time he shook out the hood of his coat. They both laughed at the amount of snow that came out of his coat, and he gestured to it, "It really is snowing a lot."

Sharon took his coat and then hooked her hand over her shoulder to the kitchen, "So, if we don't get out there immediately, she's going to all of this over again, the running in circles and giggling. I'd really like her to settle down and not get wound up again. She grinned at him, and he nodded.

"Understood, and I don't really like cold pizza," he winked.

Dinner was a mix of Evie being silly, a lot of giggling from her, some laughing from both Sharon and Andy, and then, Evie pouting at being forced to finish her pizza. She flew from the table the moment Sharon excused her, and that left the two of them there, trying to sort through the tornado that had just blown through the dinner table.

"Wow, she does have a lot of energy," Andy chuckled, dropping his head. Sharon raised her eyebrows and nodded, standing to grab the other pizza box the two had been sharing.

"Now, maybe we can actually eat in peace," she gestured. "Another slice?"

"Absolutely," he told her, smiling as he took a piece. She added one to her plate as well, and Andy gestured, "Nice that we could share a pizza with the toppings. Pop likes green pepper and ham," he made a face. "Really glad you were okay with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms."

"Of course," she grinned. "I eat way too much cheese with Evie. I was excited we both liked those toppings. By the way, you are really great with Evie, and thank you for that. I know she's a lot."

He wiped his mouth, "Of course. She's a ball of energy, but I love being around kids. That's one of the reasons I like being at the school." The two settled into easy conversation, finishing their pizza and both sitting back to just relax and talk. The conversation flowed easily with both laughing and doing plenty of storytelling about each of their lives.

"So," she sat forward and crossed her arms, "making a face, one that looked like she was going to ask him something she was embarrassed to ask, "I hope you don't mind my asking, but you don't have kids?"

He inhaled and put his napkin down on the table, his eyes meeting hers, "Ahh, no," he paused and then added as he almost nervously gestured, "I was married, long time ago, 19 years ago now. My wife was pregnant, and she and my daughter died in an emergency situation very early childbirth. She bled out," he said, and Sharon's eyes widened in total shock. Andy gave her a sympathetic nod, "Yes, that's not something I lead off with when I meet someone. Sorry for that."

Her eyes portrayed total shock, and she finally snapped herself out of it. They'd been having such a light conversation, enjoying the evening, and now this, with just a question trying to get to know him better.

"I'm, I'm," she stumbled over her words and shook her head, "I'm so very sorry for everything, for asking, for what happened to your family. Please forgive me. I had no idea, and you have absolutely nothing to be apologizing for."

He gave her a sad shrug, "Just hard to explain, but it is part of my story."

She shook her head, "I really had no idea."

"I know," he told her. "So, I live with my pop, who is well," he rolled his eyes, "the perfect cross between a child and a nagging spouse," he added with a small smile. Sharon could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. Her mind wandered, and she snapped back when he kept talking, "One thing you never want to have in common with your parent is losing a spouse too early, but I realize you've lost your entire family, so yeah, we're both pretty sad cases."

She bit her lip and gave him a sympathetic nod.

"Ahh," he glanced to his watch and looked outside. "I really should be going. I need to go by work and make sure everything is running smoothly with all of this snow."

"Oh, sure," Sharon stood, trying to hold back tears. She wasn't even sure what had brought them on, but something about listening to Andy, even with the few things he said, she really felt for him and knew that even if he did need to check on work, this was a distraction he needed right now.

"I really appreciate the pizza," she smiled. "Sorry my prying took such a dark turn for the evening."

He put his arm on her forearm, "It wasn't prying. It's hard to bring up, but I'm glad you asked."

She nodded and trying to create her own distraction, hooked her hand over her shoulder, "Umm, Evie is awfully quiet, so I do need to check on her too. Let me walk you to the door." She moved around him to get his coat, and he took it, just putting it over his arm instead of putting it on.

"It was really nice sitting and chatting with you tonight, Sharon," he paused at the door and nodded to her.

"I enjoyed it too," she gave him a soft smile. "Nice to not just talk to Evie all the time."

"I'll talk to you soon, if that's okay?" Andy asked her, searching her eyes.

She leaned up and gave him a sweet, soft kiss, hoping it conveyed that she appreciated all he'd shared and enjoyed his company, "I'll look forward to it."