Amy waddled along behind her mother as they browsed for a few more clothes and baby items at JC Penny. Amy was due to deliver in two more weeks and her mother insisted on buying just a few more things for her grandson's nursery. She had dragged Amy along in order to get her opinion on the things she picked out. Ricky was in another area of JC Penny looking at jeans. He had had a clumsy week and managed to snag one back pocket on two different pairs of jeans on the edge of things around his apartment so he'd come to buy two new pairs; he'd chosen JC Penny because they were on sale. Back in the baby department Anne was still browsing and Amy was getting bored, plus she was starting to get hungry again.

"Mom, I'm hungry." Anne tore her eyes away from a display of baby blankets to look at her.

"I'm just about done, sweetie." Amy rolled her eyes.

"Mom, I can make it to the food court without an escort." Anne gave her a loving, motherly expression.

"I know, Amy. I'd just feel more comfortable if I were with you, to help you if you need it. You're really close to your due date and I know it can be pretty difficult to maneuver and move around too quickly at this point in a pregnancy." Amy's annoyed expression softened at her mother's concern.

"I get that, mom, but we both know you're not ready to go just yet," she told her mother with a knowing smile, a smile Anne returned. Anne had gotten very excited about the prospect of being a grandmother over the past couple of weeks and she couldn't help buying something baby-related every time she went out. Anne caved.

"Alright. I'll meet you in the food court but you text me if you need or want my help for any reason, okay?" Anne told her, a hint of nervousness and concern creeping into her voice. Amy gave her mom a smile and nodded before making her way to the elevator to head downstairs and towards the food court. When the elevator arrived there was a woman inside already. Amy stepped in and chose to stand as far away from the woman as possible. She watched the floor numbers descend from five to three before the elevator stopped. The doors opened to reveal none other than the father of her baby. He stepped inside and chose to stand in between Amy and the other woman. The doors closed and Amy watched the floor number change to two when there was a loud noise and the elevator shook violently. Amy attempted to brace herself against one side of the elevator but had trouble getting her footing. She fell sideways into Ricky and he dropped his shopping bag to grab onto her and make sure she didn't fall, doing his best to slowly lower them both the floor. The elevator stopped moving, the lights went out, and the emergency lights kicked on. Amy looked up at Ricky with terror in her eyes and she saw her fear reflected in his. Amy heard her phone vibrating and searched in her purse for it. Her mom was calling her.

"Mom! What happened!?" Amy asked, terror still very evident in her voice.

"Amy!" her mom said with relief. "Are you okay!? Where are you!?" Even though Anne was relieved her daughter was okay enough to answer her phone she didn't know whether Amy was completely uninjured or not.

"I'm stuck in the elevator at the second floor. What happened!?"

"There was an earthquake, a big one." Just as Anne finished her sentence the elevator began to shake and Amy heard something crashing to the floor on her mother's end of the call; they were experiencing an aftershock.

"Mom! Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, Amy. A display of toys fell over somewhere nearby. Are you okay? Are you hurt at all? You didn't fall when the quake hit did you?" Anne asked worriedly.

"No. I lost my balance when the elevator started shaking but Ricky caught me and I'm fine."

"Ricky?"

"He got in the elevator on the third floor," she explained. The woman on the elevator had pressed the emergency button and a voice came through the intercom just then.

"Hello. Is everything alright?"

"Yes and no," the woman replied. "I'm stuck on or possibly just below the second floor along with two teenagers, one of whom is very pregnant." She turned to Amy with a comforting smile.

"Who was that?" Anne asked, having heard the woman's voice.

"There's a woman stuck in the elevator with us. She was talking to…whoever answers when you push that emergency button in an elevator."

"Okay. Try to stay calm and relaxed and I'll try to find whoever's in charge of helping to get you out. Okay?"

"Okay, mom."

"Okay. I love you, sweetie, and I'll call as soon as I know something." Anne hung up and Amy put her phone back in her purse.

"We'll send firefighters to get you all out but it may be a while. The earthquake did some structural damage to some floors and we'll need to make sure the damage is stabilized before we can get you folks out," the voice over the intercom told them. "The quake also knocked out several power transformers near the elevator and we're waiting for several electricians to check and make sure all the circuits are still grounded. I need you folks to sit tight for a while."

"We'll do our best," the woman informed him. She sat down and turned to face Amy and Ricky. "So. It looks like we're gonna be here for a while," she told them with a smile.