Ricky and Amy's house/ California - Day

"Ricky, you know you don't have to do this… you don't have to go meet him" Amy said, her stomach bellowing with intense anxiety.

"No I have to do this Amy. I need to see what he wants, and then I need to make myself clear, that I don't want him anywhere around my family", Ricky quickly slipped his leather jacket on, "I'm serious Amy, I'm so tired of him showing up out of nowhere… I'm putting an end to it, today"

Ricky was determined, and there was no reasoning with him. Amy knew he wasn't going to listen; he was too fed up with his fathers' actions. He wasn't just a child or a teenager anymore, and Bob couldn't just show up whenever he felt like, just to try and scare him. He was an adult now, and had a family he needed to protect, and he was finished being scared, he was finished worrying.

"I wish you would at least take someone with you, like my dad, or Shakur… someone" Amy said with a worried tone as she rocked RJ back and forth in her arms, "I worry about you going there alone"

"Amy I'll be fine" Ricky said as he kissed her softly on her forehead, and then RJ's as well, "It's broad daylight, there will be plenty of people around just in case, and either way, I can take care of myself. Trust me, I know who I'm dealing with"

Amy took a deep breath and bit her lip as she slowly nodded at him. She didn't like it, but what more could she say?

"Be careful okay?" Amy said softly, "I love you"

Ricky smiled and leaned in once more to kiss Amy on the lips, "I will, and I love you too. I'll call you right after"

"Okay" Amy said as she watched Ricky walk out the front door. Her stomach felt like it was going to bottom out completely. The worry was honestly making her sick. She didn't like this one bit.

XxxxX

Ruben and Cindy's Home/ California - Day

Adrian made her way out of bed and down the stairs, into the kitchen, following the massive smell of waffles as it crept through the entire house. When she reached the bottom, she found Ruben cooking waffles, just as expected and her stomach growled as the scent intensified.

"Morning Sweetie" Ruben said as he scooped a finished waffle onto an empty plate, "hungry?"

"Very" Adrian answered as she took a seat on one of the chairs and Ruben placed the plate in front of her, "Where's mom?"

"Oh, she ran out to the supermarket. She figured she'd pick up some of your favorite foods, and stock the fridge a bit while you're here with us"

"Oh" Adrian said, taking a spoonful of her waffle.

"So how did you sleep? Being that it was your first night, not having to get up to take care of Mercedes?"

"Um, I slept well I guess. It's the latest I've slept in a long time, so that was a plus; but I missed her. I called Ben as soon as I woke up, and he's on his way here with her now"

"Well I figured you'd definitely miss her; but I'm sure you needed the undisturbed rest also. You've been through a lot in the past couple of weeks"

"Yeah, I know" Adrian said as a wave of sadness began pouring over her, but she gritted through it; something she'd gotten better at doing.

"Well, I for one am glad your home for a while" Ruben said as he flipped another waffle in the pan, "I've missed having you around"

"I've missed being here too" Adrian said with a small smile, "I miss California in general… I mean New York is nice and all; but nothing beats being here"

"You could always come back you know" Ruben said cautiously, "It's not like your gone forever"

Adrian didn't answer. Just the thought alone was petrifying to her. She knew that if something didn't help her marriage soon, than that could very well end up being her decision. However, despite the hurt and the pain of all she was going through with Omar, she had to admit that the thought of being back in California for good, with her family and her friends, was really comforting. She'd missed it all the years she'd been in New York; but she seemed to just sweep her feelings about it under the rug, and tried not to think about it. But, it was always there… the yearning of returning back home.

"Who knows" Adrian shrugged, "Maybe I will"

Ruben was about to reply; but a knocking on the door interrupted their conversation, and Adrian shot up from the table and ran towards the door. She immediately spotted Ben and Mercedes through the small square window and couldn't wait to hold her daughter in her arms.

"Hey baby!" Adrian squealed as she immediately scooped Mercedes up; it was only a night; but it felt as if she hadn't seen her in weeks, "I missed you so much babygirl"

Ben smiled at Adrian's reaction, also letting out a chuckle in response to her happiness.

"Geez Mercedes, I don't think Momma's nearly excited enough to see you" Ben joked, and Adrian gave him a 'Haha' face, "Did you get a good night's sleep?" Ben asked as he followed Adrian inside and shut the door behind him.

"Mhm" Adrian barely answered, too focused on making cooing faces at Mercedes.

Ben just laughed and then looked over towards Ruben, "Good morning"

"Morning Ben" Ruben nodded, "How was handling Mercedes on your own for the night?"

"It was great actually. My family and I, we all had a great time doing it. And Mercedes was an angel the entire time"

"Well that's good, I'm sure Camille and Chloe were overjoyed to finally meet her"

"Oh, they were. Chloe was holding her for hours, she didn't want to let go of her" Ben laughed at the thought.

"That's great, do you want some waffles?" Ruben asked, trying not to be rude.

"No, no" Ben waved his hands, "I'm actually going to grab breakfast with my dad and Camille now; but I actually wanted to ask if you and Cindy would mind keeping an eye on Mercedes tonight for Adrian and I?" Adrian immediately looked up with raised eyebrows and a confused face and Ben continued, "I actually need to talk to you about some stuff Adrian, and of course, as long as you don't mind, I was hoping maybe we could get dinner or something?"

Adrian was extremely confused, and so was Ruben; however, Ruben immediately answered, "Not a problem, you should two should have some time out without the baby, you both deserve it"

"Thanks" Ben said to Ruben; but still waiting on Adrian to answer.

"I- uh, sure I guess so; but nothing too fancy alright? I'm really not in the mood to have to dress up or anything" she said, still really puzzled by what Ben had to talk to her about.

"Got it" Ben said with an assuring nod, "We could just go to Poppy's Tacos'"

"Okay" Adrian agreed, "I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, I'll get you at 5" Ben said as he nodded to Ruben, kissed Mercedes, and made his way towards the door.

Once he left the house, Adrian looked up at her father with a puzzled face, "What the hell would he want to talk to me about over dinner?"

Ruben shrugged and then turned back towards the stove to finish cooking. He secretly let a smile creep across his face, but didn't let Adrian notice. He was happy the two of them were going to dinner, and he had his reasons.

XxxxX

Supermarket/ California - Day

Cindy finally made her way towards the checkout area, and with a full shopping cart, she picked the shortest line she could possibly find. Standing in front of her was a dark haired woman, very petite, wearing a formal business suit, and she was talking on the phone almost so obnoxiously that the entire store could hear her conversation.

"I told you, the paperwork is inside the top drawer of my desk Cynthia" the woman shouted, as if she was annoyed by whoever was on the other end. "No! It is close to twenty five pages… Nixon is the last name"

Cindy's face grew curious as she heard the woman say Omar and Adrian's last name. However, it could have been anyone, she thought to herself, but it was a weird coincidence.

"For Christ's sake Cynthia… it's right in the top drawer! It should say petition for divorce, Omar and Adrian Nixon!"

Cindy face shot straight up and she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Who the hell was this woman and why was she talking about her daughter and Omar!?

Cindy knew it was no coincidence now… there was no way that there was another Adrian and Omar Nixon apparently petitioning for 'divorce'.

A million thoughts ran through her mind. She wanted to ask the woman who she was, but she also wanted to find out more of what she was speaking about before she went haywire on the lady also.

Once the woman abruptly hung up the phone, shaking her head at her apparently not to wise assistant or something, Cindy tapped her on the shoulder. The woman swung around and smiled at Cindy, unsure of how to react.

"Hi" Cindy said nervously, making a mental image of the woman in her mind, "I- uh I'm sorry, I overheard you on the phone and I was just wondering if you were a lawyer or something?"

"Oh. I'm sorry about that… sometimes my staff gets me livid" she said with a smile and then extended a hand out to Cindy, "Yes I'm a family lawyer. Jessica Soniclair. Let me give you my card" she said as she reached into her purse and handed Cindy her business card.

"Thanks" Cindy said as she examined the card, "I've uh- I've been looking for a lawyer recently, that's why I asked"

"Oh really?" Jessica said and then made an understanding face, "Are you looking to get a divorce?"

Cindy wasn't sure where she was going with this lie; but all she knew was that she needed to find out more, "Um, yeah. I am actually. It's a real sticky one though… see my husband and I, we're in different states"

Jessica chuckled and then waved her hands, "Oh, trust me- that's not a big deal hun. I'm currently dealing with a case where the husband is here, the wife is in New York, just had a baby by someone else… trust me, I've seen it all… I'm sure I could help you if you want to call the office and make an appointment. I'd be glad to sit down with you and discuss your situation"

Cindy nodded, but it honestly felt as if her voice was screaming inside of her. "Yeah… uh- th- that'll be great" Cindy said, faking a smile.

"Great, I'll see you then" Jessica said with a big grin and then turned to face the cashier who told her the total of her groceries.

"Okay… great" Cindy said simply, trying not to let the ginormous lump inside her throat show.

The woman said nothing more; and Cindy tried not to stare at her any longer but she almost couldn't help herself. She couldn't believe what she'd heard, and she knew for sure that Omar must have filed for divorce. Adrian was going to be devastated, and for Omar to not even pick up a phone and talk to Adrian about anything at all prior to making this decision was making her blood boil. She could kill him in that moment.

She had no idea how to even go about any of this, how to tell her daughter, how she'd react. All she knew was it was going to be a difficult next couple of weeks, that's for sure.

XxxxX

Batting Cages/ California - Day

Ricky immediately recognized the dark muscle car sitting in the lot as he pulled into a parking space. His body stiffened at the thought of having to even come face to face with his father again. He'd never hated someone so much in his life, and it was going to take everything inside of him not to bash his teeth in right then and there.

Ricky watched as Bob got out of his car and walked to the front of it, leaning up against the hood. His lip curled at just the sight of the man, the last thing he wanted to do was give him any time of the day at all. Bob stared straight ahead, never once looking towards Ricky's car, and Ricky wasn't sure whether or not that pissed him off even more.

Ricky reluctantly got out of his car, slamming the door behind him and walked towards Bob. His face was cold, and his body language was extremely rigid. He walked till he was about two feet next to him, and crossed his arms as he gave Bob one of the most hateful looks he'd ever seen.

"I'm surprised you showed" Bob said quietly, his eyes focused towards the ground.

"Yeah, well- I'm sure it's not for the reasons you want" Ricky assured with a prideful and stern tone, "The only reason I'm here is to tell you to back the fuck off, and to warn you that if I ever see your face around my home, or my family, I-"

"Whoa, slow down alright" Bob interrupted, raising his hand slightly to stop Ricky from talking, "I get it alright… you don't want me around, you don't want me just showing up… I get it. Listen, I'm not suddenly showing up to bring chaos in your life alright? There's a reason I asked you to meet with me, and it's not because I want to sell your kid or something, okay?" Bob attempted to end with a joke; but Ricky's face stiffened even more. "Okay, that wasn't funny – you're right" Bob said as he mentally scolded himself for thinking it would be.

"What do you want from me then huh?" Ricky gritted, "What makes you think you can follow my wife around town and sneak up on her and my son when they least expect it huh? And then… then you have the audacity to threaten her if she didn't tell me to meet you!" Ricky's voice grew louder as his anger continued building.

"I didn't mean it" Bob shook his head, a small smirk cracking through his lips, "I wasn't really threatening her… I guess it's just force of habit… I could tell she was nervous". Ricky's eyes narrowed at him, what did he think this was all some kind of joke? That it was amusing in some way? "Listen, I'm sorry" Bob finally let the smirk go, he could see the tension building in Ricky's face, "Really, I am"

Ricky didn't budge, he didn't really care what the guy was apologizing for; he knew it was bullshit, "What do you want then? Why are you circling around town for me?" he said, his voice extremely irritated at this point.

"Aright, here's the thing Ricky" Bob looked down towards the floor, he seemed almost scared to look towards Ricky, "listen, I know I wasn't a good dad alright? I know that. I know I did some really bad things and I ain't proud of them okay? But the reason I wanted to talk to you is because it's obvious that I'm getting older right? And well… things happen as you get older… you wake up one day and realize that you've made every mistake you could possibly make… you've lost anyone and everyone you've ever had in your life… you're alone, you have no one. I know it's no surprise to you how heavy I was into drugs…"

"Was?" Ricky said with a hint of sarcasm, as if Bob was trying to actually say he wasn't a drug addict any longer.

But surprisingly Bob shook his head yes and Ricky's face turned skeptical, "That's right… was" Bob assured, "I just woke up one day, about a month ago and said 'what the hell am I doing to myself?' and well, I went to visit my probation officer that morning, told her that I wanted to get help, which she nearly almost had a heart attack from, and we ended up talking about my options. I started seeing a therapist, bringing to light all the things in my life that I'd kept hidden for so long, started facing my demons head on, which wasn't easy to say the least; but I'm getting there, one day at a time. And now, well… I've decided to head to Florida" Ricky's face became a little less tense and a bit more curious of what Bob was telling him. Could this actually be the truth? It almost seemed impossible and he couldn't even begin to process the words as Bob continued speaking, "I decided that I need to get out of here, out of California all together, remove myself from my comfort zone if I really want to get past this. So after deciding with my probation officer, and then getting the courts' approval, I decided to check myself into an intensive in-patient rehabilitation center there, the program is for about a year; but according to my probation officer, it's one of the best treatment facilities in the country, so… I'm heading out at the end of this week"

Ricky was baffled by Bob's revelation, and as shocked as he was to hear him say it all, he still had his reservations about believing any of it, "So, this is why you wanted to meet with me? To tell me this?" Ricky asked with a puzzled face. Even if that was the case, why would he tell Ricky? As if Ricky would even be trying to find out where his dad even was? As if he'd ever really known where he was.

Bob chuckled a little, "No, it's not that I wanted to tell you that I was leaving. It's just that during my therapy, one of the things we've discussed is trying to make amends with those we've hurt in our past. I know I can't say or do anything to you that will ever make you forgive me for anything I've ever put you through, trust me I know that; but I figured I'd at least get it off my chest and tell you that I am sorry Ricky. Even if you don't want to hear it or you don't accept it, I just need to say it… for myself, for my own healing"

Ricky was completely speechless, and even though Bob was right in saying that Ricky wouldn't accept his apology, he still couldn't help but feel as if this was all a dream. Never in a million years would he have thought that he'd hear those words even come out of Bob's mouth.

"Well, to be honest" Ricky started, trying to figure out a way to put his thoughts into words, "I'm glad that you've decided to get yourself some help, I am; but, I honestly don't see myself ever having a relationship with you, if that's what you are looking to get out of it all. That's just not something I will ever be willing to do, I'm sorry"

Bob shook his head in agreement, "I know, and I don't expect you to. I understand Ricky, I do. I just had to tell you how I felt, I didn't expect anything from it"

"Well, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you stay clean and sober, I do; but, this is where I'm going to walk away, because honestly… I'm not really sure what else to say to you" Ricky said bluntly, he wasn't trying to be mean; but his stomach almost felt like it was in knots, and he wasn't sure what his next reaction would turn out to be. He wasn't prepared for something like this.

"I understand" Bob said with a slightly pained tone, "But, one more thing… can you do me a favor and give this to Nora?" he handed Ricky a white envelope, and Ricky skeptically peeked inside of it, more or less wanting to make sure it wasn't some kind of paraphernalia or something.

Ricky caught a glimpse of money inside the envelope… and a really large amount.

"What is this?" Ricky asked, his voice intimidating and confused at the same time.

"It's uh-"Bob almost looked ashamed of himself to answer, "It's the ten thousand she gave me a while back, to sign over my rights to your sister"

Ricky couldn't even fathom what was happening. It just couldn't be real. It wasn't happening.

"And you're giving it back to her?" Ricky asked, completely flabbergasted.

"Yeah" Bob said, again looking ashamed, "Another wrong I'm trying to correct. I should have never tried to bribe her into something, especially something involving an innocent kid. Not a proud moment; but I just want her to have it back… and let her know that I am sorry… for this, for the past… for everything"

Ricky nodded; he was at a complete loss for words. There was literally nothing he could say in that moment.

"Aright, well- I know you said you wanted to leave, and that's really all I wanted to say, so I'll let you go"

"Yeah… I, uh" Ricky still could barely speak, "I gotta' go"

"Good luck with everything, and with… life I guess" Bob said with a sincere tone; a tone Ricky never heard from his mouth ever.

"Yeah… you too" Ricky replied, his voice almost shaky as he turned around to walk back towards his car.

Bob did the same, eventually starting up his engine and driving away without looking back. Ricky didn't start the car at all though; he just sat in the driver's seat staring down at the white envelope and trying to process all that had just happened. Nothing could have prepared him for that… nothing at all. It was the last thing he'd ever expected to happen, and it just felt completely unreal.

After a few minutes of silence and staring at the envelope in his hands, he slid his phone out of his pocket and began sending a text…

To: Lauren

From: Ricky

Hey Lauren, I'm sorry to just text you out of nowhere; but has your dad made the move to LA already? I'm just wondering because I really need to talk with him… it's really important, so if you could let me know asap, I'd appreciate it.

Ricky placed his phone on the passenger seat and stared at it. He hoped Lauren would text him back right away, in fact he prayed she would; because he seriously felt as if he was having an extreme anxiety attack trying to cope with what had happened, and he needed to talk to Dr. Fields right away.

FADE OUT

A/N: There you have it, the big 'meet up'… were you guys shocked? Do you think it's real? Could Bob really be having an epiphany, finally after all he'd done?

Also, Cindy's discovery in the supermarket! Uh-oh! What do you guys think of Omar filling for divorce? And his mistress is actually the divorce attorney!? Do you think he was planning on divorcing Adrian prior to even finding out about the baby?

Let me know all of your thoughts! & until next chapter… xo