Okay so this is the latest update in the entire world…I'm so sorry! I could give you all thousands of excuses for why I haven't been updating, but there is no good excuse for abandoning a story. I personally hate it when a story I really like just cuts off at a dead end and ceases to be updated. It kills me! I hope this chapter makes up for my late update. And thanks again for all the reviews and alerts! They are actually the main thing that eventually reminded me to write! As always constructive criticism is much appreciated, and I always love to hear your opinions! Just don't attack me…well I hope you enjoy! Also I do not own Secret Life of the American Teenager

Chapter 10

Amy folded each clothing item with care, placing them softly into her laundry basket, as best as she could with one arm. It felt so weird to be at her old house. Especially with her parents away at Mimsi's and Ashley still In Florida. She glanced around the kitchen. Everything looked as it had before. The cupboards were slightly ajar, due to her father's sloppy habit of forgetting to close things. The mugs still hung beside the stove, all waiting for her mother's cinnamon hot coco.

But, despite the warmth of familiarity this house still filled her with, she felt as though she were a guest. She wasn't the last one to use the microwave. She wasn't the one who made her mother coffee in the morning when she found herself awake before everyone else. All of those simple tasks laid at the hands of someone else. Someone who wasn't her. All of those opportunities would soon be completely washed away from her once the evening had finished. It didn't take her long to finally understand what John was hinting at that morning.

He repeated the word "ring" so many times the past few days, that Amy would be shocked if Ricky didn't plan on proposing. And once engaged to the father of her child, and soon to be children, she didn't see returning to this house any time in her future. All they needed was a washing machine of their own, and she would have no reason to visit. Except of course, for holidays and family dinners.

She wasn't sad though. She wasn't upset in the slightest. If everything she heard from John was correct, and Ricky was intending to propose, then she would officially never be alone again. It was odd. Different. But, at the same time she couldn't envision herself wanting it any other way. Ricky wouldn't leave her. She wished silently to herself. And she wouldn't have to raise another child all by her lonesome. But, she couldn't help but feel that now familiar pang of guilt once again. Would he really want to marry her if he knew she was carrying another child? Did she deserve a loving husband if she had been lying to him this whole time about being pregnant?

Amy sighed, and lifted her basket of freshly washed linens. She was about to exit the kitchen when her eyes caught sight of something in the neighbors yard. She set the basket down once again and moved closer to the window for a better view. When her eyes caught sight of what was occurring she nearly burst through the back door.

Ricky paced the apartment furiously. John was observing him with the most curious look on his face. Ricky scribbled something down on his note sheet only to scratch it out moments later. He turned to his son and began to give his valedictorian speech to his son once again. John would smile and occasionally slap his hands together when he caught onto the amount of effort his dad was putting into each word. Towards the end, Ricky lifted up one of John's toy rings, all different colors and sizes meant to be placed in a certain order. He picked up the smallest blue one and bent down on one knee before his son, rehearsing the ending with a wide smile. "Ring!" John would shout joyfully each time.

After several more times of practice, Ricky finally put down his set of notes. "What am I going to do without the real ring, Buddy?"

As John shrugged his tiny little shoulders, the doorbell rang. Ricky opened the door to reveal a very cross Grace. Her eyes narrowed, like needles penetrating his very being. "What?"

"Do you have any idea what Amy just put me through?"

Ricky tilted his head in thought, not quite sure where she was headed with this.

"Don't play stupid with me Ricky Underwood!"Grace spat at him, pushing her way past him and into the apartment, and dramatically crashing into the sofa with a sigh, causing John to giggle from his play pen. "Amy claimed that I had written her a letter of dos and don'ts. And you have no idea how many lies I had to spin to get her off your scent." Ricky raised an eyebrow, a curious amusement set in the curve of his lips. "She now thinks I have short term memory, and I am an incompetent researcher. I am so done lying for you."

This caught Ricky's attention and his smirk vanished. With a dramatic flourish he knelt in front of her, pressing his hands together in mock prayer. "Please Grace, just for a few more days. I don't want her to know I know, I want her to tell me. And I know I can break her! Just give me a few more days of your unbelievable secret keeping."

Grace scoffed at that and muttered something under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked, looking up at her, his brown eyes larger than normal with hope.

"I'm done keeping your secret! I'm done keeping everyone's secrets! You're telling her you know today!" Grace, shouted at him, her face a raging red.

Ricky rose to his feet and took a step closer to her. "Secrets? What other secrets are you keeping, Grace?"

Grace immediately shrank back, realizing her slip up. "I just meant yours and Amy's. When I told you, I thought it was going to be over, but apparently you and Amy have way too much in common."

Ricky gave her an unbelieving look, but didn't push it any further. "Can you give me at least one more day. I have a new plan to break her."

"Break her?" Grace scoffed, "are you even listening to yourself? If you really love her you'll make it easy on her Ricky. Not hard. I know you didn't like that she kept this from you and that you want to even things out, but can't you see this is killing her?"

Ricky's face paled and he looked to the floor, but his words were still skeptical, "if it was bothering her that much she would have told me by now."

"She's not telling you, because she's afraid," Grace explained, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Ricky pulled back from her instantly. His eyes defensive and burning. "Afraid of what? I would never leave her!"

"She's afraid you're only staying because she's pregnant, Ricky," Grace explained, trying to deflate his anger with the truth. "It's scary to have to raise a kid alone, scarier to raise two. But, it's even more terrifying to watch the one you love give up everything for you. Amy's afraid that she'll be holding you back."

"But, she's not holding me back! I love her and my kids, and I don't want to be anywhere else but by their side!" Ricky exclaimed, as though the louder he said it the more Grace would get it.

"I know that. And you know that. But, does Amy know that?"