The morning is breezy, and Ricardo exhales as he stands on the back step, watching the sky slowly bleed through oranges and pinks as the sun rises. He buries his hands in his pockets and rocks back and forth on his feet, biting his lip. It's hard, he hasn't trained anyone in ages, and even though he's limited his match bookings since his health issues, he feels that old itch under his skin that only training had ever eased even a little. "Damn," he breathes.

The time off had made his body heal, and have time to rest and sit idle, and now he just kinda wants to compete again. Run around the indys and see what kind of talent is out there, how his moves match up to them now. His eyes shift to rest on the house for a minute and he exhales. It's the worst possible time for such things, with Alicia pregnant and the pandemic, but he can't help the way he feels, or the things he desires.

Once the sun has risen fully, and the sky is once more a crystal blue, he turns and walks back inside, immediately struck with the smell of breakfast. His stomach reacts immediately and Sofia chuckles as he walks into the kitchen, leaning close to the stove to look. She swats playfully at him and flips the eggs before turning to pay him her full attention. "Good morning, mi hijo."

"Good morning," he says softly. "Alicia still asleep?"

"Si." Sofia twists her towel quickly before moving to chop some fruit at the counter. "Have you talked with her about things?" she asks suddenly. "I mean, her pregnancy is progressing fairly quickly, and soon enough, she'll be giving birth, and these are not normal times..."

"Yeah," Ricardo whispers. "Not really, we've mentioned it here and there, I... I guess I'll just drop her off and have to wait in the parking lot." He feels strange about that, guilty and frustrated. They stand quietly for awhile, Sofia's fingers nimbly working through berries and bananas and other fruit that Alicia likes the best, but Ricardo's emotions are welling up and it's only a matter of time before he bursts out, "I feel like I'm abandoning her."

Sofia immediately freezes and puts the knife down, wiping her hands off to turn to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"I should be with her," he whispers. "Holding her hand, comforting her, helping her to breathe and encouraging her to push, being the first to look at our child, and everything with the umbilical cord and whatever. But now because some people can't even be bothered to care about their fellow man, I won't even be in the hospital. I hate it. I hate it so much."

Sofia clucks and walks up to him, hugging him. "I'm so sorry, Ricardo. But she knows- you'd do everything you could for her. It won't be the same, but your baby's going to be born strong and healthy and you will be the one whose touch will sooth and comfort them as soon as it's possible." She strokes his cheek. "It'll be alright, mi hijo. I swear to you." She rests her forehead against his and smiles sadly.

"What if something goes wrong and I'm not there?" he asks quietly, and she stares at him, grip growing a bit more firm on his chin. "Sofia..."

"Don't think like that," she chides him gently. "Alicia is a fighter, and she'll make it through this. You'll see. Everything will go fine when that day comes and your wife and your child will be back in this house, being doted on and spoiled by both of us, before you know it."

Ricardo exhales, tears filling his eyes. "Thank you," he exhales, resting his head on her shoulder when Sofia hugs him tightly once more.

Alicia scrubs her hands down her face, peeking into the kitchen once more before turning and quietly padding down the hall back to the bedroom. Settling on the bed, she smooths her hand over her stomach, feeling the soft fluttering and faint kicks of the baby growing inside of her. "Daddy has a lot of concerns I didn't even guess at," she whispers to their child. "Poor guy." She sits quietly for a few moments, enjoying the relative silence of the house around her, lost in thought. "Well, it's ok. I don't think Daddy will have anything to worry about." She smiles down, eyes glinting.

"I have a plan."