Amy lay on her bed in a deep sleep, exhaustion taking over three hours after John had woken her up at three in the morning. She'd cradled, coddled, fed, and changed his diaper, and he was finally, thankfully, mercifully asleep.
There was a knock on her door, and she stirred but didn't waken. The knock had cut off, as if they person wishing entrance hadn't noticed Amy's sleeping state until that moment. Outside of her window, the sky was still dark, and the figure moved silently across the room, casting his shadow on the walls. It's Ricky. He looked at Amy with a look of exposed tenderness and worry in his eyes and set of his mouth. Ricky then turned to the crib, gazing at their son, the miracle that had somehow come, partly, from him. He wasn't sure if he should attempt to lift John- what if he began to cry and woke his mother? He decided to risk it; after all, they had school in half an hour anyway; Amy had to get up eventually.
Ricky gently lifted John from his crib, murmuring soothing words to keep him quiet as he awoke. "Hi, John. Daddy's here, little guy." He held his son's hand carefully, rubbing small circles on the back of it to keep him calm. He kissed his head just as the girl in the bed made a sound; she was waking up. Ricky sat on the edge of Amy's bed, sitting John in his lap. "Look, John, mommy's awake. Say hi." John didn't speak of course, but he smiled and, as Amy wiped her eyes, she smiled tiredly, relieved to see her baby calm.
"Hey, Ricky. What're you doing here?" she inquired. "Just came to check up on my two favorite people," he replied, again kissing John. Amy's smile widened and she laughed, breathy from sleep. "You're cute. Here, give him?" Ricky obliged, being careful as he handed John to Amy. She held him, kissing first his nose then his cheeks. "Hi, baby. Daddy came to see you, huh?"
"Both of you," he reminded Amy, grinning. He leaned forward and kisses her lips lightly, pulling away with a smile. Her own smile was content, and he loved that his presence relaxed her, and John. He loved them so much he thought his heart would burst.
Amy jumped in her bed, breathing hard and feeling utterly confused. What. The Hell.
At the breakfast table Amy sat poking at her cold cereal, cheek propped on her fist in thought. The dream from the night before wouldn't leave her mind, and she felt like stabbing something. Ashley didn't knock before entering the kitchen, simply walked in and said, "Hey," before sitting herself down at the table. "Dad said to hurry up and get over there unless you plan on being late to school."
Amy didn't respond, but after a moment looked at her sister. "Ashley, I had a really strange dream last night." Ashley raised an eyebrow. "A sex dream about Ben?" she guessed. "No, don't be gross!" Amy said, disgusted. "Okay then; did you kill someone?" Amy glared at her. "No, but I'm about ready to."
"Wow, okay, chill. What was it about?" Amy chewed the inside of her cheek and stared back down at her cereal. "Amy, no. No. Not a dream about the baby daddy."
"Yeah, actually. It was." Ashley opened her mouth, surely about to express her disgust, but Amy snapped, "Not a sex dream, genius!"
"Oh. Okay. Then, what?" Amy sighed and pushed her bowl away, folding her arms on the table. "Just… I was sleeping in my room, John was in his crib, and Ricky showed up. When he did I saw what he was seeing, me in bed, then I saw everything, my whole room, and he picked up John." Ashley rolled her wrists in a gesture meant to hurry the story along. "And he sat on my bed, which he never does. I woke up and he handed John to me, and I could hear his thoughts almost, like I knew he loved me, and then he kissed me like it was a normal thing! Like we were dating or something."
"Wow. You just aren't okay with one guy are you?" Amy's eyes turned to the ceiling and she began, "Ashley-"
"Okay, okay. Kidding. Sort of. So what, you think it means something? Are you in love with Ricky?" Amy quickly shook her head. "No, of course not; it was just a dream. I'm in love with Ben! Ben, not Ricky!" She sounded too defensive and Ashley stood from the chair, walking towards the door. "Who're you trying to convince of that? Me, yourself, or Ben?"
"I don't have to convince anyone of anything, Ashley! This isn't even a thing; it was just a dream," Amy repeated. "Fine, forget it then. I just think that if you thought you could brush it off as nothing you wouldn't have had to tell me about it," Ashley said, giving her sister one last long look before opening the door and heading back out.