After a hopelessly long and depressing drive, Amy pulled into her parents' long gravel driveway. She stared at the doublewide trailer in front of her. It looked exactly the same. As if she had never left. She took a deep breath, and reached into the backseat to shake John gently.

"John. Wake up, baby. We're here."

He rubbed his eyes, and looked out the window. "We're at grandma and grandpa's house!", he exclaimed excitedly, no longer the least bit sleepy. Then again, he shouldn't have been sleepy at all considering he had slept the majority of the trip.

He opened the car door, and bolted toward his grandparents' front porch. "John!", she called after him. Then, she decided to just let him go. There was simply no containing her son when he was as riled up as he was about visiting his grandma and grandpa. She watched as he passed through the doorway, not even bothering to knock. With a sigh, she pulled their two suitcases out of the trunk, and made her way to the house.

A tired smile crossed Amy's face as she walked into the living room to see John grinning ear to ear as he received hugs and kisses from his grandma. Anne looked up when she noticed Amy. She embraced her daughter next. "Oh, Amy. It's so good to see you, baby!"

"You too, mama."

"I can't believe you're here!", Anne breathed. "I have missed you like crazy, young lady. I haven't seen you in...goodness, two or three years?"

"It's been awhile, I know", Amy said sadly. She really did miss her family, and she hated that she hadn't had the time to come visit them.

Anne looked from Amy to John. "I have got to text your daddy and Ashley. They are going to be so happy to see you two. How long are you gonna be here?", she asked as she grabbed her phone.

"Oh, just a few days. I can't stay too long", Amy said quickly, watching her mother's fingers move quickly across the surface of her phone.

Her mother placed her phone on the table, and nodded in an understanding manner. "Well, I'm just glad my baby and my grandbaby are here. I'll take whatever time I can get", she smiled as she wrapped her arms around John.

"Are grandma and grandpa coming to the wedding?", John asked hopefully, his eyes staring directly at Amy.

A confused look crept onto Anne's face. "What wedding?"

Amy held out her hand to her mother, revealing the ring. "Mine. That's what I came here to tell you. Me and Ben are getting married."

Her mother's eyes widened, and she grabbed Amy's hand. "It is huge!", she exclaimed before looking her daughter in the eyes. "My baby's really getting married?"

Amy nodded, as they heard a barking noise coming from the backyard. "Is that Dewey?", John wondered.

"It is", Anne answered. "Do you want to go play with him?"

"Yeah!", he exclaimed, scampering out the back door to find his favorite dog.

"Stay close to the house!", Amy called after him. She looked back to her mother. "So, what do you really think? Now, that John can't hear us?"

"I think that if this boy makes you happy, then I'm happy." She looked at the ring again. "And I'll bet he treats you like a queen, doesn't he?"

Amy laughed. "Oh, yeah."

"Now, your daddy might be a different story. You know how much he always wanted you and Ricky to make it."

"Well, there was a time that I wanted Ricky and me to make it too", she admitted. "But he's my past. Ben and John are my future."

"You sound awfully sure of yourself", Anne noted.

"I am", Amy uttered, turning towards the door as it creaked open to reveal her little sister. Who wasn't so little anymore. Ashley was about to finish college now. It was crazy how fast time had passed since she left.

"Ashley!", she exclaimed happily, rushing to embrace her sister. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Yeah, yeah", Ashley said, allowing a smile on her face as Amy let go of her. "I guess I'm happy to see you too."

"Amy has something to tell you, Ashley", Anne prompted with an excited expression on her face. "Tell her, Amy!"

Amy rolled her eyes. She didn't get two seconds to enjoy her reunion with her sister before her mother started pressing her about the engagement. Reluctantly, she held her hand up to show Ashley the ring. "Ben and I are getting married."

Ashley's eyes grew large. "You're getting married", she repeated, as more of a statement than a question. "Well, I guess daddy was wrong after all."

"Wrong about what?"

"About how you and Ricky would eventually stop being so stubborn, and get back together. Honestly, that's what I was expecting to happen too."

Anne scoffed. "And I was the lone member of this family who knew you would eventually see that you deserved better than Ricky Underwood. I'm so glad you managed to get out when you did, Amy. If you had hung around here, you would have never had the amazing career or life that you have now."

"But her kid would have had a father", Ashley muttered aloud, instantly regretting the statement. "I'm sorry, Amy. I didn't mean it like that."

Amy didn't respond. Instead, she turned to her mother. "I'm just going to go put my things in my room", she said, pulling the two suitcases down the hall. Soon, she was enclosed in her old room. She delicately traced her fingers across the pink quilt that was still on her bed after all these years. Her room looked almost untouched. All of her old stuffed animals were still there. The room looked like it belonged to an innocent little girl. That hadn't been her in such a long time.

Her eyes moved to the oak desk in the corner of the room. Also still untouched from when she was fifteen. It was adorned with pins that held up snapshots. There was one of her and Ashley at her fifteenth birthday party. One was of her, Madison, and Lauren at the river. She couldn't remember ever looking that good in a bikini. Certainly not since John was born. Then, her eyes moved to the picture of her and Ricky. She picked it up to take a better look at it. They were so young. They looked it too. She remembered when this picture was taken at the school dance. She had thought Ricky looked so handsome in his tuxedo. She wore a long, flowing white dress. How could she forget that night? It was the night she lost her virginity. The night she got pregnant. She put the picture back on the desk, placing it backwards where the picture wasn't visible.

"Amy?", Ashley said softly as she opened the wooden door. She closed it behind her. "I'm sorry about what I said. I hope that it didn't hurt your feelings. Because I didn't mean it. Not really."

"It's okay, Ashley", she said, sitting down on the bed. "It's kind of true. If I had stayed here, John would have had a father." She paused for a moment, before looking up at her sister. "What has Ricky been up to? Is he still...around?"

Ashley nodded, sitting down beside her. "Yeah. You know, he's just been being...Ricky. He kind of reverted back to his former self when you left. Still doing the back and forth dance with Adrian."

Amy's eyes widened in surprise. "Adrian is still hanging around? She always hated this town."

Ashley shrugged. "Ricky's here. And Adrian is still as into him as ever, so it stands to reason that she would stay too. Besides, the last thing Adrian Lee is going to do is leave the only place where she can get free child care."

She felt a pang of jealousy and sadness pass through her. Ricky and Adrian had kids. It shouldn't have been that unexpected. She had been gone for almost eight years, after all. "How many kids do they have?", she asked quietly.

"Oh, no. Ricky's not the father of Adrian's baby. I don't know who the father is, but he and Adrian were completely separated when she got pregnant. Actually, I've heard it was some guy in New York that she had an affair with a few summers ago. But Ricky has kind of been the only man in her daughter's life so..."

"He might as well be", Amy finished for her. But he wasn't. For some reason, it made her feel better knowing that Ricky didn't have a biological child with Adrian. And what if he did? What difference would it make? They were over anyway.

"Do you think it's time to tell Ricky about John? And John about Ricky?", Ashley questioned.

She shook her head. "That would just complicate things even more. But part of the reason that I'm here does have to do with Ricky. We're kind of still legally married."

Her sister's jaw dropped. "What? I thought that you divorced Ricky before John was born."

"I tried to! I've sent him the papers, and he keeps sending them back unsigned. And I've got to get his signature on those papers before I can marry Ben."

A faint smile crept onto Ashley's face. "Amy and Ricky to meet again. Who would've thought it? So, when are you going to go confront your husband?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow. It will all be over tomorrow."


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