Part 3:

The evening didn't turn out as bad as Amy had feared it to be. The seven of them sat at the dinner table and simply enjoyed the meal that Anne had prepared, a ham with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a few other dishes as well. Mr. and Mrs. Roebuck even made conversation with Amy which helped to put her mind at ease. Yes, she and Ricky had made a mistake but nothing could be done about it.

After dinner, they all went to the living room where George got the fireplace going. Anne brought in a tray of hot chocolate. As the adults were talking, Ricky looked over at Amy and saw her place her hand on her stomach. Ricky couldn't help but smile. It didn't take long before Amy to notice him staring. Part of her wanted to still pretend that this situation didn't exist but she knew better.

"Do you want to feel?" she asked him.

"It's moving?"

Amy nodded so Ricky got up from his seat on the floor and walked over to the couch Amy was sitting on. He placed his hand on Amy's abdomen and could feel the little one move beneath. It felt so alien to him but there was a sense of comfort in it as well. Another life depended on him and Ricky promised himself that he would not let his kid down and most importantly he would not let Amy down. She didn't deserve this and he didn't either but the past could not be rewritten and so they would do the best they could to make up for it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was starting to get late and Mr. and Mrs. Roebuck had decided to call it a night. They all had a pleasant evening. Ricky's foster parents walked ahead of him and so they were outside waiting near the car while Ricky took his time inside with Amy.

"Promise you'll stop avoiding me," Ricky said to her.

"I can't promise but I will try."

"That's a start," Ricky said with a smile, "I know we messed up but I just don't want our kid paying the price for our mistake."

"Yeah, me neither. The baby is the innocent one in all of this. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that."

Ricky looked to the car where his foster parents were waiting near the car still talking to George and then he looked back at Amy.

"Well," he said in a softer tone, "Goodnight, Amy."

"Good night, Ricky."

Before Ricky was about to leave, Ashley caught them.

"Aren't you forgetting something pops?" she said to Ricky.

The two of them looked at Ashley and she smiled pointing up. Ricky and Amy followed her gaze upward. Amy's cheeks reddened. She had completely forgotten about the mistletoe that her mother had placed above the doorway. The adults had been able to get away with it but it was clear Ashley wasn't going to let it go.

Amy looked away, afraid to look into Ricky's eyes, "We, we don't- we don't have to," she said to herself silently blaming herself for the stuttering.

Ricky knew that Amy had just given him the chance to run away from this but he was done running. Right now the only thing that mattered to him aside from his child was the young woman standing in front of him.

Ricky gently took Amy's chin so she could look at him. "I want to," he said silently to her but enough to where Ashley could hear.

Amy was a little hesitant but just as Ricky gently caressed his lips with hers Amy couldn't help but give into it. She had forgotten what it was like to kiss Ricky. Their kiss ended up lasting longer than either of them had expected. Long enough for Anne to come up and stand next to Ashley who had wanted Amy to give her a hand with the dishes.

"I don't think she wants to be bothered right now," Ashley said with a huge smile on her face. Anne looked on as her daughter continued to kiss Ricky beneath the mistletoe. Outside Ricky's foster parents and Amy's father watched the two of them much to George's discomfort. There was a time when George had wanted Ricky to stay away from his daughter and his…gulp…grandchild but now, the fact that his daughter wasn't backing away and the fact that Ricky had been more than civil gave him a glimmer of hope that maybe Ricky wasn't such a bad guy after all.

Time seemed to have just stopped between Amy and Ricky as they continued kissing and as life outside of their little world continued with the first snow beginning to make its descent.

Ashley and Anne made their way to the window to get a better view of the snow.

"Would you look at that," Anne said to Ashley.

"Yeah," replied Ashley. "It's perfect: Mistletoe and holiday snow."

Anne looked down and smiled at her youngest daughter. And the two of them continued to look out the window. Ricky and Amy finally came up for air. Ricky smiled at her and she smiled back at him.

"Well," Ricky said to Amy, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Amy said to him.

Ricky smiled one last time before making his way to the car.

"'Night Mr. Juergen's," Ricky said to him.

George nodded, "Night Ricky."

Amy watched as Ricky and his foster parents drove away. George walked up to Amy and placed his arm around her. "So was this just a onetime thing or can I expect the two of you making out on the couch any time soon?"

"Of course not, dad, we'll be in my room."

George looked at his daughter a little shocked.

"Kidding," Amy said retaliating, sort of.

"He's a good kid, Amy, now that I've gotten to know him better."

"But you still hate him for getting me pregnant don't you?"

George smiled, "Oh I'll always hate him for that." Amy smiled at her dad. She couldn't blame him for that could she? "Come on, let's go inside."

"Okay," Amy said.

And the two of them walked in the house with George closing the door behind him.

END