Chapter 17: Whole Hearted

Almost two weeks had passed and Sharon and Andy talked on the phone nearly every night.

Tonight, Andy was coming over with Nicole and Brandon so that he and Sharon could tell all the kids about their relationship.

Sharon was in the kitchen putting the baked ziti in the oven when the doorbell rang.

"Emily, Ricky, the Flynn's are here," Sharon yelled up the stairs before going to answer the door.

As Sharon opened the door, she smiled at Andy for a moment before she said excitedly, "Hey guys!"

"Hi, Sharon," said Nicole as she gave Sharon a hug.

"Hey, Sharon," said Brandon.

"Come in. Have a seat on the couch," Sharon told them as she shut and locked the door.

"Ricky, Emily, come sit on the couch with Nicole and Brandon. Andy and I have something we need to talk to all of you about," Sharon told her children.

The kids obeyed and sat on the couch while Andy stood next to Sharon in front of the kids.

"What is it? Did somebody die?" asked Nicole.

"No. Nothing like that, sweetie. Thank goodness," replied Sharon as she made the sign of the cross across her chest.

"Then, what is it?" asked Brandon.

"Well, how would you guys feel if Andy and I were together?" began Sharon.

"Like married?" asked Brandon.

"No, son not married. Maybe eventually though," replied Andy as he looked at Sharon.

"Would we all live in one house?" Nicole asked.

"Not right away. Maybe in the future though," answered Sharon.

Suddenly, Emily got up and ran off towards the stairs and towards her room.

"Emily," Sharon tried to coax her back to no avail.

"I'll go talk to her. She'll tell me what's wrong," Nicole told Sharon.

"Okay. I'll be up in a couple minutes," Sharon told Nicole.

As Nicole went upstairs, Sharon and Andy focused their attention on the boys.

"Do you guys have any questions?" asked Andy as he grabbed Sharon's hand for support.

"Are Brandon and I gonna be brothers?" asked Ricky.

"Maybe eventually. We'll be living in separate houses for now though," Sharon explained.

"Cool," said Brandon.

"Awesome!" said Ricky.

"So, you're okay with Sharon and I being together?" Andy asked them.

"Yeah, it doesn't bother me," said Brandon.

"Me either. I think it's cool," said Ricky.

"Okay. You two can go play now," Sharon told them.

The boys headed upstairs to play while Sharon and Andy turned towards each other.

"I should go check on Emily," Sharon told Andy.

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Andy.

"No. I think it's best if I go alone this time. You understand, right?" Sharon asked him.

"Yeah, totally. Just thought I'd offer," replied Andy.

Sharon gently squeezed Andy's hand before heading upstairs to check on Emily.

As she made her way towards Emily's room, she heard Nicole talking to her.

"It would be so cool for you to have my dad as your dad and your mom as my mom. We could be like sisters." Nicole told Emily.

"Yeah, but I miss my Daddy," said Emily.

It was at that point that Sharon decided to step into the room.

"Nicole, sweetie, would you mind giving Emily and I a minute to talk?" asked Sharon.

"No, I don't mind. I'll go see what the boys are up to," said Nicole as she ran off to check on the boys.

"So, I hear you miss your daddy," said Sharon.

"Yeah," replied Emily.

"It's okay to miss him, you know," said Sharon.

"I know. It just stinks that he's not here," said Emily.

"I agree. It does stink. I wish he was here for you and Ricky too," admitted Sharon.

"But not for you?" asked Emily.

"No. That's why we got divorced, honey," said Sharon.

"Because he's an alcoholic?" asked Emily.

"That was certainly a big part of it," replied Sharon honestly.

"But Andy's an alcoholic too," replied Emily.

"Yes, honey, but he's what they call a recovering alcoholic. Which means he doesn't drink alcohol anymore and hasn't for five years," explained Sharon.

"So, what's the difference besides that he doesn't drink alcohol?" asked Emily.

"Well, for one, he treats you and your brother right. Two, he treats me really good and I like that a lot. Plus, I trust him with you two and my heart, which are kind of the same thing," said Sharon.

"You trust him with your whole heart?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, I do. It took me a while to do that though. So, I'll understand if it takes you a while to warm up to the idea of Andy and I being together," Sharon told Emily.

"I like Andy just fine. Do I have to call him daddy though?" asked Emily.

"Not if you don't want to. You can just call him, Andy," replied Sharon.

"Okay," said Emily, seemingly satisfied with Sharon's answers.

"Why don't you go find Nicole while I go talk to Andy?" suggested Sharon.

"Okay," replied Emily as she went off to find Nicole.

Meanwhile, Sharon headed back downstairs and found Andy watching a basketball game.

"Hey, you," said Sharon as she gently squeezed Andy's shoulder from behind the couch.

"Hey. How's Emily?" asked Andy concernedly as he turned the game off.

"She's better. She misses Jack and thinks it stinks that he's not here. I agree, at least for their benefit," replied Sharon.

"It does stink that he's not here for them," said Andy.

"Yeah. She was also concerned about you being an alcoholic and I had to explain to her the differences between you and Jack and how you treat me and the kids much better than Jack ever did and that I trust you with my whole heart," explained Sharon.

"Really? You trust me with your whole heart?" asked Andy teasingly, but still on a serious note.

"Completely and without question. It's the main reason I was able to rationalize us being together in the first place," admitted Sharon.

"That's nice to know. Thank you for your trust. I can't promise you that I won't test that trust, but I can promise to be the best man I can be for you and the best father I can be to those kids. It doesn't mean I'll always be perfect though," Andy told her earnestly.

"I know that. Life has many challenges and not all of them we can anticipate. I have faith that we can get through them together though," Sharon told him.

"Together sounds kind of nice," replied Andy.

"Yeah, it does," said Sharon before she kissed Andy.

A chorus of "Ewww's" came from the staircase and they barely broke apart before kissing again to another round of "Ewww's" from the children.

What a sweet life this was and would continue to be in the future.

It may take a village, but their village was the most beautiful one of all.

The End