Summer was right around the corner. Everyone was busy it seemed. George had finally confessed to Anne that he never really went through with his vasectomy 10 years ago like he told her. This, of course, caused an uproar; (David was very upset with the news) but resulted in the two of them making up, as they were now expecting a third child together. George and Ashley sold their house and decided to move back in and live with Anne and Amy, to help with the new baby. With their house up for sale, Adrian's family snatched it up and were now, to George and Amy's dismay, living right beside the Juergens. Ricky was getting ready to move into an old apartment above the butcher shop and finally live on his own. Ben was getting ready for his trip to Bologna, and most importantly, Amy was finally facing the reality that her dream of going to Italy with Ben was out of the question.

It was the last day of school. Amy was sitting in band talking to a few girls. Ricky plopped down beside her. The girls stopped talking and threw Amy almost jealous-like looks at the two of them before going to sit someplace else.

"How's your last day as a freshman going?" Ricky asked her, taking out his drumsticks and lightly tapping them against a chair.

"Oh you know just great," Amy began sarcastically, "My boyfriend is leaving me for Italy tomorrow, I just found out I have to take summer classes, and everyone in here is talking up a storm about going off to Band Camp next week.. which I won't be going to either."

Ricky took his eyes off of his drumsticks to look at her.

"Oh," he told her gently, "I'm sorry you're having a bad day.." He paused. "So are you doing anything tonight?" he added.

"What!?" Amy asked him surprised, "Am-am- I doing anything?"

He laughed.

"Calm down, I just wanted to know if I could come over and see John."

"Oh," said Amy, embarrassed. "Oh yeah, sure."

"I don't know if you've got something planned with Ben, but I can take J-"

"I don't have anything planned with Ben. He'll probably be too busy packing or too busy reading up on all things Italian like he's been doing for the past few weeks to come see me." Said Amy, rolling her eyes.

Ricky smirked.

"Okay kids, now before the bell rings for dismissal I want to remind each of you that signed up to be here at 5:45 am sharp next Tuesday morning for camp. The buses pull out at 6:00, no ifs ands or buts! If you don't arrive on time and the buses leave without you it will be up to your parents or guardians to drive you 4 hours to meet us, is that clear? No excuses!" their band instructor said to the students.

Chatter erupted from the room as Amy looked down at her french horn case, sadly.

The bell rang for their next class.

Ricky leaned in toward Amy.

"Do you really think camp would be any fun this year without me?" he whispered.

Amy's mouth opened. She shook her head and laughed pushing him away from her playfully.

~*~*~Later~*~*~

It was around 8 at night, Amy was sitting on her couch in her living room feeding John a bottle, and attempting to watch tv. Her phone was right beside her, ready to answer in case Ben decided to call. She had already tried to call him 4 times, but as she suspected, he apparently was too busy getting ready for his trip to Italy that she would not be taking with him. She looked out the window for the 100th time and saw Ricky's car parked in Adrian's driveway. Like all the other times she had glanced over there, she felt a tinge of annoyance and jealousy. Why was he over there spending time with her when he could be over here spending time with her and their son?

Ashley came over and sat beside her.

"If you want him to come over so bad.. why don't you just call him and tell him to come over." She said to her.

"I tried," Amy sighed focusing her attention back onto John. "He wouldn't answer, he's too busy for me."

"'I'm not talking about Ben."

Amy looked up at her.

Ashley got up from the couch.

"It's pretty obvious Amy, you just happen to be sitting on the couch in the spot where you get a perfect view of Adrian's driveway."

As Ashley walked away, Amy cheeks burned pink.

She looked back down at John. His eyes were getting heavy, and he had stopped drinking his bottle.

With one last glance over at Adrian's, she took John up to her room.

She laid him in his playpen and sat on a nearby chair, watching him sleep. She got lost in a daydream of memories. She remembered looking at him for the first time after he was born. He was so tiny then. When she held him, she couldn't stop looking at him. She remembered how exhausted she was, and how much pain she was in, yet when she held him it was like something washed over her, she was lost in happiness. The moment she saw him she saw the resemblance of Ricky etched across his little face. She remembered looking up at her dad and saying, "Go get Ricky." She couldn't wait for Ricky to see him. She remembered her dad coming back into the room, followed by Ricky, who was looking a lot more paler than usual. She remembered him slowly making his way toward the edge of her bed. She remembered the look on his face when he laid eyes on John for the first time, she'd never forget it. He looked half-scared, half-amazed at the little blue bundle in her arms. She remembered him looking up at her, as she gave him a very tired, but proud smile. And she remembered the smile he gave back to her, it wasn't like his famous smirk he usually gave her and everyone else. It was a genuine smile, something she had only seen once before, the only time before that was at band c-

Her phone was ringing. She picked it up fast, trying not to wake John up. It was Ben.

"Hello?" she asked through the phone.

"Hi Amy," said Ben, "I'm sorry I didn't answer before I was busy-"

"Packing and getting ready for your extravagant vacation to Italy." Amy answered for him, annoyed,

"Well, yes." Said Ben quietly, "but I'm going there for work Amy, not just for vacation, you realize that right? I'm sorry you couldn't come along, I really wanted you to, I did."

Amy ignored him.

"So you can come over now if you want, John's asleep."

"Oh, okay.." Ben said slowly.

"What?" Amy asked.

"I can't come over tonight Amy." Ben said to her.

"What do you mean you can't come over tonight?" Amy asked him, her voice getting higher.

"My dad wants to spend some time with me before I leave." He told her.

"Yeah, and so do I!" Amy yelled.

"I'm sorry Amy, I'll come and see you tomorrow morning before I leave for the airport, I promise."

"Fine." Amy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I love you Amy. Goodnight." He told her, hanging up the phone.

Amy couldn't help herself; she began to cry. It seemed as though Ben had fallen in love with Italy and out of love with her. He didn't even make an effort to come and see her, which was so very un-Benish. Even with that aside, he was still going to Italy, without her. She thought maybe when she told him that it was really impossible for her to go with him that he'd back down from the offer and stay with her, at home. But alas, Ben was still going on his trip. Amy thought about his promise of coming to see her tomorrow before he left for the airport. Tomorrow morning she had to be at the school by 9 to start her summer classes, what if she never got to see him at all. She began to cry harder, when she heard her door creak open.

"What's wrong?" Ricky asked her coming over to her.

Amy wiped away her tears quickly, looking away from him.

"N-n-nothing." Amy gasped. She was embarrassed, she didn't want Ricky seeing her upset.

Ricky didn't push her for an answer, but watched her.

She looked up into his dark brown eyes and saw that he had a concerned expression on his face. She sighed.

"Ben decided not to come over tonight. He's too busy." Amy said.

Ricky nodded slowly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said to her.

She didn't know where it came from, but all of a sudden she felt angry.

"No your not. You don't care! How was your night with Adrian? Have a good time? You've been over there for hours." Amy said heatedly.

Ricky narrowed his eyes at her.

"Whoa, where is this coming from? I didn't do anything." Ricky told her. "I was being a good boyfriend, spending time with my girlfriend." He said heatedly right back.

Amy looked at him.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, "I.. I.. I'm stressed. It's none of my business what you're doing over there." She rested her chin in her hands, covering up her flushed cheeks. tears glazing her eyes once more.

He watched John and waited a few minutes, before speaking to her once more.

"Actually, Adrian and I got in a fight tonight. Her dad doesn't like me much." He paused, "And, I found out I can't stay in my apartment tonight like I had planned to.. something about security things Leo wanted to check over before I stayed there."

"Oh" said Amy.

He nodded.

"Sorry, about the fight." she said, even though she was feeling a tad bit happier at the news.

He nodded again.

"So.. where are you going to stay?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I'm sure Margaret won't mind if I stay one more night."

Amy nodded.

"So, I guess we both had a pretty bad day, huh." She said quietly, focusing back on to John, who was moving in his playpen.

"Yeah I guess," Ricky agreed. He too, watched Johns squiggling around. He looked at Amy.

"But you know, when everything else is bad in our lives, at least we've got him."

Amy looked up and him, he was smiling that genuine smile again. She smiled back. John, who was now fully awake again, was beginning to cry. Ricky instantly reached into the playpen to pick him up.

"Heyyyy lil guy." Ricky said, comforting him.

Amy yawned.

"Looks like I'll be up with him all night again." She said leaning back in her chair to watch the two of them.

He sat at the edge of her bed with John and looked over at her.

"I'll take him for a few nights out of the week when I get my apartment, to help you out so you can get your rest. I promise"

An idea came to her.

"Or.. you could help me out tonight.." she said to him slowly.

He looked at her confused.

"Um, sure.. I don't think Margaret would mind if I brought him over, but I'll call and ask to make sure."

"No, I don't mean Margaret's." Amy began to say, "I meant.. you could stay here, tonight, if you wanted to that is. I'm really tired, I could really use some sleep, and if you stayed and got up with him during the night that would be grea-"

"Yeah, I'll stay." He answered immediately.

She smiled.

Maybe today wouldn't turn out so bad after all.