The Juergens arrived minutes before Margaret and Shakur. Amy led her parents to the counselor's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," came a voice from inside. Mark looked up when the Juergens' entered his office and Amy froze in her tracks when she saw that Ricky was already there. Anne noticed and gently guided Amy into the office towards the vacant seat next to Ricky, keeping her hands on her daughter's shoulders the whole time. Mark stood to greet them. "The Juergens' I presume?" he asked, extending his hand. George nodded and shook his hand. He scowled at Ricky before joining Anne and standing behind Amy. Minutes later Margaret knocked on the doorframe, Shakur right behind her, and Mark motioned them inside and gestured for them to close the door.
"Hello," Shakur said politely to the Juergens'. Anne and George nodded in greeting but didn't speak; George glared at the people standing before him. Mark took one look at George's face and decided to jump right in.
"So. Mrs. Juergens called me a little while ago and said that Amy has a problem that involves Ricky but she didn't want to discuss it with me over the phone. Mrs. Juergens," he said while turning towards Anne, "would you like to explain why we're all here." Amy squeaked and shifted as far away from Ricky in her chair as she could. Her actions caused Ricky to glance at her and raise an eyebrow curiously. His nonchalance about why Amy wanted to get away from him made George lose his cool.
"What did you and my daughter do at band camp that you shouldn't have?" George asked Ricky fiercely.
"George!" Anne scolded.
"Well!?" he pressed Ricky.
"Mr. Juergens," Mark interjected, "this will go smoother if we all remain calm and rational."
"Yeah, hold that thought. Answer the question you little punk!"
"George!" Anne exclaimed.
"That was uncalled for Mr. Juergens!" Margaret exclaimed.
"Says you!" George shot back. He swiveled back to Ricky. "Got nothin' to say? Let me help you out there, Romeo. You robbed my daughter of her virginity." Amy squeaked again and crossed her legs, trying to block out the memory of the pain between her legs as a tear ran down her cheek. She reached up to squeeze her mother's hand, seeking a little bit of comfort. Anne took her daughter's hand and used her other to soothingly rub Amy's shoulder while she scowled at her husband.
"Honestly, George, there's no reason to be so crass about it."
"Well that's what he did, according to the memory of what happened that's seared in our little girl's brain," George told his wife hotly. Amy crossed her legs even tighter and Ricky looked at her with utter confusion, which only made George even angrier. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to reach out and strangle the boy. "Now answer me this hotshot: Did you bother to use a condom?" Ricky turned his confused look in George's direction and got a scowl for his trouble. "Figure out where this is going yet?" Ricky didn't know where this was going for sure but he knew he didn't like it, and he was still trying to figure out why Amy was trying to get away from him and not cry at the same time. "Got nothin' to say? Then let me spell it out for you, Casanova. Thanks to you my little girl's now six weeks pregnant!" Now that George had a face to put to the monster who'd hurt his baby girl, and it was obvious that Ricky was completely clueless about just how much he'd hurt Amy, George let loose the rant that had been building since last night.
"What kind of heartless, moral less, jackass takes advantage of an innocent, fifteen year old girl! And don't try to tell me you didn't because you weren't there when Amy saw the positive result on that pregnancy test last night! You didn't hear her sobbing uncontrollably because she was scared out of her mind! You didn't sit there last night and listen to her recount how some guy was making out with her one minute then had taken her by surprise when he started touching her too and then didn't give her time to process what was going on before all she could focus on was the sudden pain between her legs before in the blink of an eye it was just over!" Hearing her father recount what she'd told her family last night and reliving the actually memory because of it was too much for Amy and she stood to bury her face in her mother's shirt. Anne wrapped her daughter in a tight hug as Amy began crying all over again. The sound of her tears only continued to fan the flames of George's anger and he continued tearing into Ricky, who was now wearing a shocked expression.
"You've been going to school and marching in the same band together for over a month and you didn't have the decency to speak to her not even once!? I don't know what kinda reality you're living in kid but decent people don't use other people like toys and then discard them! You used my daughter and then pretended she was invisible! What kind of heartless monster does that to a sweet, kindhearted, trusting young girl!? Answer me you little punk!" Anne understood George's need to rant; if he hadn't lit into Ricky already she would have. However, she also knew that raging at Ricky wasn't going to change or fix anything. Hearing George finally pause to take a breath, she spoke up.
"Alright, George, you've got it off your chest and had your say. Lecturing the boy won't change anything." Amy was now only sniffling and George finally turned to look at his daughter. Seeing that she was shaking slightly as she drew in ragged breaths of air, he moved to block her from Ricky's view, suddenly feeling the need to protect her from him at all costs. Anne looked at Mark. "As my husband stated, Ricky has avoided our daughter as though she were invisible since that night at band camp and since he obviously wants nothing more to do with her, she wants nothing more to do with him. While she's at school, we want it made clear that he is not to harass her in any way, shape or form, except for what interactions might be unavoidable in the band area." She turned to look at Ricky's parents, who were slightly dumbstruck by George's rant but also saddened by their son's treatment of the young lady before them. "Our daughter has also decided she legally wants nothing more to do with your son as well." Anne motioned to George to retrieve Amy's purse. Understanding the intent behind the gesture, he retrieved the form from Amy's purse, unfolded it, and placed it in front of Ricky, who read over it questioningly.
"Relinquish my parental rights?" Ricky said out loud hesitantly. "Huh?" He looked at his parents for an explanation but they already understood the implications of Ricky signing that document.
"Now hold on just a minute," Shakur said. "I understand this is an emotionally charged situation but shouldn't Amy and Ricky have time to think about this before they make any rash decisions?"
"Are you calling my daughter rash?" George fired back.
"No, I'm just saying that asking Ricky to sever all ties to the unborn child he just found out about without having some time to think about it is rather unfair."
"Ha!" George bit back bitterly. "He had six weeks to decide to treat my daughter like a decent human being and chose not to. It's pretty clear my daughter doesn't mean anything to him so why would the child he unexpectedly conceived be any different?"
"That's rather unfair, George," Margaret told him.
"That's Mr. Juergens to you." Mark had been silent this whole time trying to process what was unfolding in his office. A teenage pregnancy was going to make things complicated around here.
"Mr. Juergens," he said calmly, succeeding in getting George to look at him and stop scowling at Ricky and his parents. "I don't know your daughter very well or Ricky for that matter. What I do know is that it takes two people to conceive a child and those two people are going to forever be affected by whatever happens to that child. Now, I agree that the decision to relinquish one's parental rights shouldn't be taken lightly and Ricky should take some time and seriously consider the ramifications of signing or not signing this document." George narrowed his eyes at Mark but Anne, sensing another outburst, chimed in.
"George, they know where we stand and how we feel about the situation. The ball's in their court now and it's getting close to lunchtime; Amy needs to eat," she added as an afterthought, knowing George would be willing to leave if he believed it was for Amy's sake. He nodded and Anne turned to look at Mr. Molina. "Amy will need to be transferred out of the marching band." Mark nodded.
"I'll get her transferred to the concert band as soon as possible."
"Thank you." Anne looked at George and he made his way over to the door, opening it for his wife and daughter before following them into the hallway to make their way to their car and then home. The office was silent for several moments before Margaret spoke up.
"Mr. Molina, I'd like to take Ricky home for the rest of the day. We have a lot to discuss." Ricky rose and followed his parents out of the office, the form in his hands. Once they reached the parking lot, Shakur turned to look at Ricky.
"We'll see you at home." Ricky nodded numbly as he made his way to his car. He unlocked it, climbed in and just sat there, starring at the form in his hands for several more moments. With a sigh he tossed it onto the passenger seat, buckled himself in and started the car. A baby? With Amy? It was just so unreal.