Here's chapter 31! I hope you like it! Please R&R! I do not own anything from The Secret Life Of The American Teenager! Thank you! I really appreciate everyone's reviews! :)
Italics=Grace
Bold=Ricky
Plain=Other characters
Meanwhile in New York...
Amy was driving on the highway towards Niagara Falls with Ben in the passenger seat.
"Oh...You're finally awake..." Amy said a little irritated.
"Yeah...You want to tell me what your problem was at McDonald's?" Ben said as he wiped his eyes.
"My problem? What about yours? You were flirting with Maria, weren't you?" Amy said seriously.
"What? No I wasn't! I was just being nice to her and she wished you a happy birthday. Why did you have to say that you don't care about Adrian being pregnant?" Ben said shocked.
"Ugh...Because...she called me a band geek who got knocked up by a guy who will never love me..." Amy said annoyed.
"I should have known...It always goes back to Ricky...What did you say to her?" Ben asked concerned.
"I...I called her a slut...and I tried to apologize to her but...she didn't accept it...And Ricky has nothing to do with this." Amy said honestly.
"For crying out loud Amy! When are you two going to stop fighting with each other? I swear both of you act like children more than John does." Ben said stubbornly.
"What the hell are you saying Ben? That I'm not good enough for you because I can't stand your ex wife who has hated my guts for years? I've tried to be nice to her but nothing works! Plus she made me upset after she saw me kiss Jimmy." Amy said angrily as she slowed down her speed.
"Why would you think that? You are good enough for me Amy...it's just...I don't know if I know who you are anymore..." Ben said calmly as he rolled eyes and crossed his arms.
"God...This is not how I wanted to spend my birthday by arguing with you...I am so sorry Ben...The truth is...I may have overreacted after Adrian saw me and Jimmy...I know I shouldn't have kissed him...I want to thank you for being so forgiving and putting up with me...I know I don't deserve you." Amy said sincerely.
"You're welcome Amy and I'm sorry for yelling at you...You do deserve me...because you've been through a lot and so have I...And I promise I'm not going to hurt you...Can you make me that same promise?" Ben said nicely.
"Heh...All right...What are you hiding? You did something that you don't want me to know about...Didn't you?" Amy said nicely as she smiled slowly.
"Uh...I may have done a little something that's going to knock your socks off when we get to Niagara Falls...Other than that, it's all good." Ben said happily.
"Aww Ben! I'm so excited to get there now! How many more miles do we have?" Amy said sweetly.
"About eighty five...We're getting closer...About that promise?" Ben said seriously.
"I do promise to never hurt you again. I love you." Amy said kindly.
"I love you too." Ben said smiling and he gave Amy a quick kiss on the cheek.
Meanwhile in California...
Ricky and Ethan were still working in the butcher shop when Leo walked in.
"Good afternoon Mr. Boykevich, sir." Ethan said nicely.
"Hello Ethan, Ricky...Is Betty here?" Leo said as he walked over to the counter.
"She should be here by now...I told her an hour." Ricky said seriously.
"I'm right here." Betty said as she walked in the butcher shop.
"Betty! How are you?" Leo said happily as he gave Betty a hug.
"How does he know Betty?" Ethan said quietly to Ricky.
"They were married for a short time...You should get back to work..." Rick whispered to Ethan.
"So what brings you here Betty?" Leo asked nicely.
"I wanted to know if I could get a job here? I love the meat business and...I think I would do really well here. I finally got a degree in business." Betty said happily.
"Oh wow! That's great! How would you like to be my new secretary?" Leo asked excited.
"I would love to Leo! Thank you so much!" Betty said sweetly as she hugged Leo.
"Congrats Betty!" Ricky said excited as he walked over to them.
"Thank you Ricky! This is going to be so much fun! When do I start?" Betty asked intrigued.
"You can come in on Monday at nine am sharp. Don't be late." Leo said smiling.
"Sounds great! I won't! How's Camille doing?" Betty said excited.
"She's doing all right...It's nice to finally have the house to ourselves." Leo said kindly.
"Oh I bet...Ben used to drive you up the wall sometimes..." Betty said seriously.
"Yeah...He still does sometimes...Unfortunately, he overdosed on pills not too long ago..." Leo said sadly.
"Oh my...I'm sorry to hear that!" Betty said seriously.
"What? Ben overdosed on pills?!" Ricky said shocked.
"Yes he did...But he's fine now. You need to get back to work Ricky...I have some paperwork for you Betty." Leo said calmly as he looked at Ricky and then Betty.
"All right...I can fill it out right now." Betty said sweetly as she followed Leo to his office.
Meanwhile at Jeff's...
"I'm glad you agreed to have lunch with me Grace..." Jeff said nicely as he wiped his mouth.
"It's not like I had much of a choice...You paid for my lunch so it's not like I could say no. I guess I can eat this other stuff in the bag for dinner." Grace said a little annoyed.
"You're welcome...It's the least I could do..." Jeff said awkwardly.
"You mean it's the least you could do for ruining my family? Right when I started to like you, you go off and leave for your stupid job." Grace said stubbornly as she rolled her eyes.
"Ha ha...I thought you liked me long before I left...Well...Tom did anyway...My job is very important Grace. I loved working in Africa but I am ready to work here again...I know I hurt your mother by leaving but...I did what I wanted to do." Jeff said seriously.
"Tom doesn't like anyone...He hardly likes me...He's just very good at pretending he likes someone...That's how he got his job...You not only hurt my mother by leaving, but you also hurt me. You also confused me about sex." Grace said honestly.
"Heh...I think you might be right about Tom...Ah...So this is about Jack?" Jeff asked intrigued.
"No...This is about you...You told me that it was fine to have protected sex...The truth is...that did more harm than good for me..." Grace said a little irritated.
"And how is that my fault? Just because someone give you advice...specifically about sex, doesn't mean you have to take it. I'm really sorry that you've had problems because of sex...But you're still young...You have plenty of time to enjoy it for the right reasons...That's probably what I should have told you before..." Jeff said sincerely.
"Thanks Jeff...You're right...I'm sorry for blaming you...But...were you ever truly in love with my mother or did you just use her for sex?" Grace said concerned.
"Of course I was in love with your mother! I have never slept with a woman that I wasn't in love with. I know the timing of our relationship wasn't the best since it was only six months after your father died...but I loved your mom from the minute I met her. And if it wasn't for my job, I would probably still be married to her." Jeff said honestly.
"Really? Why didn't you just work here? You didn't have to go to Africa." Grace said seriously.
"I wanted to take you, Tom, and your mom with me to Africa but she didn't want to do that. I loved working there. You remember what it's like, right?" Jeff said kindly.
"How could I forget? It really is amazing. The people there are so nice and the weather is beautiful but a little humid...Heh...I just wish that I didn't cheat on Grant when I was there..." Grace said sadly.
"That's true...The thing about being a doctor is, you never know where you'll end up working. There are a lot of people in poorer countries that need good doctors. Again...it was your own fault for cheating on Grant...I hope you learned you lesson." Jeff said seriously.
"Hopefully I can get a job working here...I still have a lot of schooling to get through first...I defiantly learned my lesson..." Grace said sweetly.
"I bet you'll do fine throughout college and medical school. You're a smart kid. And everyone makes mistakes so don't be too hard on yourself." Jeff said nicely.
"Thanks Jeff...There's no way I could ever do anything to hurt Ricky...I love him so much." Grace said as she smiled slowly.
"Love huh? He's the guy who got that...one girl pregnant..." Jeff said confused.
"Yeah...Amy...She's my step sister now...George remarried my Mom last spring." Grace said awkwardly.
"Oh wow...That's pretty interesting...Sounds like your family just keeps growing huh? I don't know if I'll ever get married again." Jeff said honestly.
"I guess my family does keep growing...And I just have to deal with it. Why don't you want to get married again?" Grace said nicely.
"I don't know how it would work...I love my job so much...It's hard to have a wife and family when you have to work a lot." Jeff said seriously.
"That makes sense...Just because your first marriage didn't work out, doesn't mean your second one will not work...My Mom's been married four times. Hopefully George will be her last husband." Grace said sincerely.
"You do make a good point, Grace...Maybe I'll find another doctor someday...Heh...I actually need to get going to see that house..." Jeff said as he stood up from the table.
"Yeah...maybe you will...I have some homework to do...Thank you for everything and I'm sorry for being upset with you." Grace said kindly as she stood up from her seat.
"It's all right...If I was you, I probably would have felt the same way. And you're welcome...Tell your mom I said hi." Jeff said happily.
"I will...I'm sure she wouldn't mind having dinner sometime with you and George. You should give her a call." Grace said nicely.
"Heh...I don't know...I guess I could do that. You don't think George will mind?" Jeff asked concerned.
"Maybe he will...That's why you should call first. I'm sure my Mom would love to hear from you. It was nice seeing you again, Jeff. Bye." Grace said happily and she left the restaurant.
"I guess we'll see about that...Bye Grace!" Jeff smirked to himself as he left the restaurant.
Meanwhile in New York...
Adrian was watching TV when Omar walked in from the kitchen.
"Hey babe...So I just got off the phone with Dante and I invited him and his friends over for dinner." Omar said sweetly as he sat on the couch.
"Really? I thought we were going out for dinner and then to an indoor pool to swim." Adrian said a little irritated.
"I know but I thought it would be nice to have them over since they're in town. I don't get to my brother that often Adrian." Omar said nicely.
"All right...I guess we can go out some other time. Plus we just went out last night. What should I make?" Adrian said as she turned the TV off.
"Don't worry about it. I'll cook my speciality which is my Mom's chicken, rice, and vegetables." Omar smiled as he hugged Adrian.
"Aww Omar! I love you! What time are they coming over?" Adrian said happily as she let go of Omar.
"In a couple hours. The food shoud just take me an hour to make so I should get started." Omar said as he stood up from the couch.
"All righty. I'm gonna grab a shower and get ready. Thank you for making dinner." Adrian said sweetly as she stood up.
"No problem. Enjoy your shower." Omar smirked and he gave Adrian a short kiss.
"Mmm...I will." Adrian said seductively.
Omar went into the kitchen and Adrian went into her room to get clean clothes when her phone rang.
"Hello?" Adrian asked when she picked up her phone.
"Hey Adrian. It's Ben. I just wanted to say congrats on your pregnancy! I'm really happy for you and Omar. Amy and I finally made it to our hotel." Ben said nicely.
"Thank you Ben! I was gonna tell you...We're really excited! How is...Amy?" Adrian said kindly and then nervously.
"Grace told me yesterday. Amy's doing all right. I think she's still a little upset with you about the whole Jimmy thing...She told me about you two's fight..." Ben said sadly.
"So she was cheating on you?" Adrian asked intrigued.
"Excuse me? She was just confused about who she wanted to be with. I kissed Maria on the cheek so...We kind of cheated on each other I guess you could say..." Ben said honestly.
"Who's Maria? I just hope you two are happy together...And a kiss on the cheek isn't as bad as one on the lips but...it's still a kiss. You forgave each other?" Adrian said seriously.
"Maria's that girl I met in Italy. She goes to Hudson. We did forgive each other and we're going to have a great time in Niagara Falls." Ben said happily.
"Oh...I hope you two do have a great time. We're having Omar's brother over for dinner and his friends. He's also dating Lauren." Adrian said nicely.
"That's nice. We ran into them this morning at McDonald's actually. I hope you have fun!" Ben said sweetly.
"Wow. I guess they're going all over the place. We danced with them at a club last night. Thanks Benny. I gotta go so I'll talk to you later." Adrian said kindly.
"You're welcome Adrian...Bye." Ben said sincerely and he hung up.
Where is Ben going to take Amy? Will they keep their promises to each other? How well is Betty going to do working for Leo? What's Ricky going to do now that he finally knows about Ben overdosing on pills? Is Jeff going to see Kathleen and George? Is Grace having second thoughts about sex? What's going to happen when Dante and his friends come over to Adrian's and Omar's house for dinner? Will Adrian apologize to Amy? Stay tuned to find out! Let me know what you think! Thank you! :)