First and foremost - Happy Ramy anniversary! It's been 13 years since Ricky proposed to Amy at graduation and made us fall more in love with this couple after every rewatch!

It's happening guys, we're digging into the last remaining chapters of this story and this chapter catapults the story's ending. You've been asking for Ricky to find out about what Ben did... you get your wish. Enjoy the fluff before the fireworks because boy oh boy are things about to get real.

Happy reading, y'all! ;)

"John get out of there - John!" She huffed from the other side of the kitchen counter, cramming her feet into the boots just as the door opened quickly and he stepped through, holding the request in his fingers and wincing at the chorus of noises. Blowing her hair out of her face, she zipped up her boot and shuffled over to him, taking the shoes into her grasp with a exasperated, "Oh, thank you - you're my hero -" Putting them on the counter, "He's been throwing a tantrum since 6 this morning!" She rubbed her temples at their daughter shrieking for human attention inside the playpen by the bed, and sighed, "And she isn't happy with anything today."

Craning his head back slightly, he blew a long breath from his cheeks, "Great..."

Since Amy had returned from the treatment center, she and Ricky decided to sit down and have a serious conversation about the state of their relationship, and what that looked like in terms of their children. They decided that Amy would remain at George and Kathleen's while she found a job and saved up some money, but she would also help contribute to John and Emma's needs to take some of the burden off of Ricky. She got a job working at Jeff's as a waitress four days a week, with George's help, to have more time with the kids while Ricky was working. She would pop by every morning for breakfast, and every night, she wasn't working, to help put them to bed since it was in everyone's best interest that they didn't live together again just yet. Ricky had classes three days a week, which also lined up with John's preschool schedule, so all they had to worry about was the off days when they didn't have daycare. That's where Margaret, Nora, and Kathleen stepped in, dividing up days and weekends to solidify that Ricky had childcare every day he wasn't working. Margaret and Nora split Saturdays, and Kathleen took them after school - if Amy wasn't working - on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They also agreed to split weeks - much to Amy's surprise - where she would take them two nights a week as long as she wasn't working, got John to school on time, and had at least one weekly session with her therapist over the computer. Just because their lives were busy and hectic, didn't mean she could just forget about taking care of herself. Ricky made that a stipulation so she wouldn't become overwhelmed and shut herself down again. He wanted her to have someone to talk to if she felt like she was taking on too much.

Now it was almost 8 am, the Friday before Halloween, and John's class had a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Going over to the bed, Amy picked Emma up, and handed her a toy, "Sure you don't wanna tag along with us?"

Ricky took a few steps forward, pursing his lips at the suggestion, "Hmm, I would, but hanging out with 20 preschoolers and their onslaught on judgemental parents, doesn't exactly fit into my idea of fun."

She bit her lip to hold back a little giggle, "Tell me about it, especially since I know a few of those judgmental parents..." holding out their combative infant for his rescue as her eyes fell to the floor to avoid his.

He caught it though and knew that by doing that, she was backing herself into a corner of feeling guilty for something - namely for not being there for John enough for those parents to judge her. Taking the baby with ease, he put his free hand on sorta-girlfriend's shoulder, and softly stated, "Just ignore them -" before being hit in the face by a purple teething ring clenched tightly in the squealing baby's palm. Amy's eyes widened at the action reaching her hand out to check the mark, but his annoyed eye-roll told her he was fine and that she didn't need to dote on him. Hiking the distressed child higher on his hip, he dodged the toy again, checked his watch, and grabbed her hand to wave it, "Gotta run - Tell mommy bye bye."

Emma's quick recoil and squeal at his ask made her mother giggle, grabbing her hand and kissing her fingers before turning on her heel and shouting, "John! Daddy and Emma are leaving!"

She heard the door click and a patter coming down the short hallway, his shaggy blonde locks falling into his eyes, "Is daddy jus com-in to the pwum-kin pw-atch too?"

He shook his head at the boy, removing her grabby hand from his lips, "Not this time, bud. I've got classes and work - but mommy is super excited to go with you!"

John's arms folded against his chest as he pouted, "I wan-t daddy and Em-ma go too!"

Sensing a meltdown was about to transpire from one, or both, of their kids, Ricky rose a brow and clicked his tongue, grabbing the door knob to leave, "That's our cue..." But turning on his heels slightly, he kissed Amy quickly, "See you tonight." Not noticing the curious eyes staring directly at them until a tiny gasp sounded, his eyes widened, knowing that little boy's brain was spinning with all kinds of questions just by the look on his face. She giggled at them, kissing him again, before he offered a wave, "Have fun, buddy!" And closed the door.

When they left, she turned to him, cocking a brow at the smirk on his face - his father's smirk - "What's that look about, hmm?"

John tilted his head a degree, putting his index finger to his cheek as if deep in thought, before squeakily asking, "Awre... awre you an daddy in love y-et?"

Taken aback by his blunt question, Amy opened her mouth to reply, but quickly closed it, unknowing how to respond. He saw them kissing. He knew they shared affection a little bit more as the days went on. It wasn't a secret to anyone that they were stepping back into a few of their old habits - mainly the PDA aspects of them.

But why would he ask that? They explained to him that alot had to be done before she and Ricky could be in love again, but given his age, he probably didn't grasp what that meant. He just saw his mommy and daddy doing what they used to do and his mind immediately went to they've fixed their issues and were in love again. But that wasn't the case... at least not yet anyway...

"I'm sure she'll settle down in a few minutes..." Amber tried to convince him, jostling the restless and combative baby as she continued to screech and thrash to be set free.

Fighting the urge to take her back into his arms and settle her enough to step out quietly, he blew out a long breath, and sighed, "It's fine," putting on a smile as he took her hand and and brushed it with his thumb, "I'll see you later, Monkey, alright?" Emma shook her hand away, releasing a loud howling cry and kicking her feet to be put down. He pursed his lips into a line, eyes widening at the rise in volume and all the eyes now directly on him because his child was losing her mind, "Yeah, okay, bye." Turning on his boot heel, he exited the daycare and bounded down the hallway, busy checking his phone for any messages from Amy regarding John's field trip, that he didn't see, and collided directly into someone. "Sorr-", His mouth opened to express his apology, before he saw who it was, and it snapped closed - unknowing how to respond.

"Hi... Ricky..." Clementine brushed the dirt off her pants and stood up, making sure to catch his gaze as she did.

Giving a small nod, he stepped to the side, "Hey."

She touched his arm gently, a look of concern in the features of her face, "How are you? How's Emma and John? I saw you coming in with Emma earlier..."

Moving away from her, Ricky pursed his lips, "Daycare. Amy's at a field trip with John and I -" Shaking his head to keep from disclosing anymore to her - knowing she was fishing for anything she could use against him, or his family, to state a point. "Nevermind, I'm sure you don't want to hear about this. I'm late for class anyway."

She looked down at her shoes before raising her eyes back to him, a hopeful plead in them, "See you around?" But he didn't say anything as he rounded the corner to the stairs and bounded up them, two at a time.

Taking a breather for a split second at the top of the stairwell, he yanked open the door and headed to his destination, hoping nobody would notice he was already 4 minutes late. To his surprise though, a medium-sized yellow note hung on the metal and read that classes were canceled until next week. Frowning, he quickly took off down the stairs to his next class - which was also canceled until next week due to his professor being ill. There was no reason to even try his third class, because that professor was out scouting collages with his high-school son who had received many baseball scholarships, and wouldn't be back until further notice. Checking his watch, he pulled out his phone, hoping that she hadn't left already.

"Hey, everything okay?" She answered on the third ring, removing herself from the circle of kids and parents listening to the teacher drone on about rules and expectations that none of those toddlers were listening to, let alone were going to follow.

"No." He stated hastily, "My classes got canceled, and I need you to take Emma for me."

Glancing around the room, Amy bit her lip, "Ricky, were about to leave - and I don't even know if baby's are allowed on the bus..."

She heard him blow a frustrated breath from his cheeks, his voice starting to echo a bit, "I'm out of options here - both my moms, dad, and your dad, are working. Kathleen has the church thing she's helping Jack's dad with... and I have to go to work -"

"Mommy!" John raced over to her, grabbing her pant leg and tugging it, "Ms. Bwook s-ed we jus go-in lwine up n-ow!"

Giving him a quick nod, "Okay, I'm talking to daddy right now, buddy. I'll be there in a minute." That seemed to suffice as he galloped back over to his friends on the carpet. "I mean, I can ask the teacher if she can come, but I don't think you'll make it in time."

Ricky blew another breath out of his mouth, this one slightly more aggressive. Their daughters whimpers cutting through what sounded like wind outside, making his line a little choppy. "I'm gonna call Bunny, see what's going on there and then I'll see if Kathleen can pick her up from me, I guess..." Hanging up, he jostled Emma and put her into her car seat, wincing at the screech in his ear as he clamped the buckles in place. Closing the door, he hopped into his seat and started dialing.

She answered on the second ring, her tone anything but pleasant, "Unless you called to tell me you know where the shipment is, I don't have time to talk."

His brow furrowed, "What shipment? We put everything away two days ago -"

"Not those!" Bunny snapped back, "the ones we were supposed to get today! Apparently they're having supply chain issues and a driver shortage!"

Rubbing his forehead with his hand, he sighed both at the mess with the deliveries, and his daughters screaming fit in the backseat, "So we have no inventory?"

"Not enough to make it through the weekend." She stated roughly, "Leo is taking control of it, but he said it could take a few hours - so for now, we're closed!" She hung up abruptly, leaving him staring out into the quickly filling-up parking lot. The unwarranted honk of a car behind him wanting his spot, jolted him out of his train of thought and aggrevated him more as he rechecked his watch and started the engine.

"Mommy why a-re we jus n-ot go-in ywet?" He asked, gripping the window sill while trying to look further out at the other buses behind them.

She gripped the back of his shirt, gently pulling him away from the window, "You gotta sit down, buddy." Pouting, he obeyed and slid down the seat, earning his mother's raised brow, "On your bottom, please." He continued pouting, making her giggle as her phone buzzed in her hand. Answering it, she plugged her other ear "Hey - did you get it figured out?"

Ricky sighed, frustrated, trying to speak over the screeching from the backseat, "Not really. Classes are canceled, Bunny is closing the shop, all of our babysitters are busy - and oh yeah - our daughter is having an absolute meltdown."

"So what are you going to do -"

John inserted himself into the conversation, suggesting quite loudly into the receiver by her head, "You jus n-eed c-om to the pwum-kin pw-atch, daddy!"

Wincing slightly from the screech of his voice directly into her ear, Amy pursed her lips, noting their son's tactic. "You know... your son has a point. You said you couldn't come because you had school and work. Now you don't, so..." Ricky stayed silent, only ushering loud sighs and blown out breaths of frustration. Her lip tipped up at the boy, poking at his stomach with her index finger while his father continued to protest on the other end of the phone. "Oh come on! You always say you want to take more outings with the kids - and it's free..."

"Yeah and it's also filled with a ton of whining toddlers and hay." He finally spoke, knowing her well enough to sigh because he knew she was making that same tight lipped expression, where her eyebrows raised just a hare, even though he couldn't see it. "I know your making that face at me, Amy..." She continued to do so, staying quiet on her end. "Fine..." He blew a breath out, "Fine, you win. I'll come. Text me the address."

She smiled at John, giving him a thumbs up and trying to hide the giddy squeal in her voice from him. "We'll see you soon."

Ricky grumbled as a response, making her giggle before hanging up. Ending the call on the screen, he switched his turn signal and guided onto the highway, letting the screeches of his distressed child fill the car with a deep sigh, "Yeah, I'm not thrilled about this either, Monkey."

"It was just in here!" He huffed in frustration, rifling through his entire trunk. Looking over, "You remember where it went? We went to the park with grandma the other day-" his eyes closed in realization that what he was looking for was in his mother's apartment. Emma growled and shoved a banana puff into her mouth, shifting to grab something a few inches from her feet. His eyes cut to what she was grabbing, clicking his tongue at the pouch Amy slung around her body now in his daughter's grasp, "I know what you're thinking - mommy wears that thing, not me." She raised her tiny brow at him - mimicking her mother to the tee - and shoved another puff into her mouth before grabbing it with her hands and shaking it aggressively. He chuckled at her antics, plucking her out of the trunk, still grasping the pouch, "You want to sit in this thing? Take it up with mommy. "

"I s-ee dem! I s-ee dem, mommy!" John cheered excitedly, pointing in the air and bouncing on the tips of his light up shoes. Amy nodded at him, lightly chuckling under her breath at both her son's enthusiasm and her boyfriend's disdain.

"Hi, John's daddy!" A sweet voice spoke, her curly blonde hair spilling out of the two tight pigtails at the base of her head, as she smiled a toothy grin and waved enthusiastically at her.

Ricky smiled back at his son's best friend - her eyes still the prettiest blue, noting she traded in her usual sundress for jeans, a purple butterfly t-shirt, and a red Minnie Mouse jacket - and happy that they had someone else who could occupy John's mind. Another, unfamiliar, voice piped up, causing him to turn his head and see two other children staring up at him. "What's all this?" He asked, handing her the pouch with a knowing look.

Putting it over her body, Amy buckled it in place, "Not enough parents volunteered, so we got a couple of bonus ones."

John was beaming, so proud to have both his parents with him, "Yeh! Th-at is Ev-an -" pointing to a smaller boy with red hair and freckles. "And th-is is J-ace!" The other child slightly larger than John, with a buzzed cut almost down to his scalp. They were staring off towards the rows of pumpkins further down the walkway, not even caring that John was playing host of introductions for everyone, "Th-is is jus my daddy and my Em-ma!" They shrugged at their friend, before the buzzed cut boy pushed on freckles' arm and took off into a game of tag. Causing Ricky to blow a breath from his cheeks and hand Emma over to her mother. The sheepish smile on her face saying it all - they were in for a long day.

One hour later

"We gotta catch those kids!" He shouted, slightly out of breath from participating in trying to curb the shenanigans before they got too out of hand.

She handed the baby another cracker from the small package in her purse, trying to starve off another tantrum "Maybe they'll wear each other out and crash?"

He sighed, "How does that help us now, though?"

She sighed back, "I don't know... can't you just like grab them or something?"

He scoffed, "Sure, I'll go grab somebody else's children, so then they can slap me with a lawsuit. That's a great idea!"

She rolled her eyes, handing Emma another cracker, "Fine. I'll get them." Taking her out of the pouch to give to him, "Here - go to daddy."

Taking her from Amy before she stormed down the pathway, Ricky felt a tug on his pant leg. "Daddy, c-an we go see the hors-eys?" John asked, impatiently grabbing at the denim of his jeans with one hand and his sister's sock covered foot with the other.

Tousling his hair, "Just a sec bud - we gotta wait for mom-" his eyes went wide at her return - both rowdy toddlers being carted by the waist under her arms on both sides of her body. Her eyes were wild and breath ragged. "You good?" He asked, taking a step back to give her room to wrangle the boys.

Lilly looked over at John, her lips slightly parting, "Uh oh. Ev-an and J-ace are jus in b-ig twouble." John nodded, knowing that look in his mommys eyes ment she was done playing around.

Putting both boys on their feet, Amy shot her hair out of face with a quick head jerk and gave him a smirk, "Yep, turns out having 10 months of trauma and pent up aggression, makes 4-year-olds complacent." Taking their hands into hers, her voice was stern, "Walk - now. Both of you."

Raising his brow, Ricky bit his lip seductively at seeing her like this. It was turning him on. He shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts. They were on a preschool field trip, he couldn't get horny. It was wildly inappropriate. Thankfully, Emma busted him out of the trance, by sending a swift, sock-covered-kick to his ribs. He winced slightly, cocking a brow at the cracker that had turned to mush in her palm. "Can I trust you to keep a secret?" She looked at him with that same look her mother often gave him before flailing her cracker covered hand in the air and starting in on another whining tantrum fit. He pursed his lips, craning his neck up to the sky and releasing an exhale, "Yep, okay, sure I'll just keep it to myself then."

One hour and 22 minutes later

"It so hwigh..." He trailed, his breath starting to quicken at seeing how high up he was off the ground.

She touched his leg to calm him, her voice gentle, "It's a camel, buddy. Remember the camels we saw at the zoo? How big they were?" He nodded hesitantly. "You liked those camels, right? You fed one."

He nodded again, but gulped and grabbed her arm in fear, on the verge of tears, "Deez - deez ones are jus too hwigh...I - I sc-ared, mommy..."

Catching him as he clambered off the animal, Amy held his shaking body, kissing his temple. "Okay, you're okay, buddy. You sure you don't want to ride it? You were really excited about riding one with Lilly." John shook his head vigorously, clutching onto her sweater for dear life.

Lilly touched his arm, reassuringly, "It o-k! We can rwide the hors-eys!" Amy put him on his feet to help her down, smiling at her immediate response to comfort him in a hug, "Cam-mels are stinky!" They both giggled at her comment, holding hands out of the gated entrance.

"No camels?" Ricky questioned, seeing them all exit and file out a few feet from where he stood, battling their combative baby who was determined to be as miserable as she could possibly be.

They had already been to the corn maze, the hay playground, the corn playground, the slide, the bouncy castle, and the hayride. Emma was having none of it: screeching and thrashing when she wasn't throwing things at people or just losing her mind in general, making all the other parents set their stares on him.

12 minutes later

"I rwide th-is hors-ey!" He beamed, pointing and bouncing excitedly in place before his dad lifted him with one hand and placed him on the animals back. His sister was next, making sure he was secured before settling her in front of him. John wrapped his arms tight around her small frame, "Deez hors-eys are jus nice!" He tried to reassure Emma, patting her hand soothingly when she started to whimper.

Amy stood on the other side of the chain link fence, waving her hand to get their attention, "Ok - hey look at mommy -" He jostled her pointing to their mother hoisting her phone into the air, with a cheeky grin, but she was having none of it; bucking and squirming as her whimpers turned to higher pitched whines. "Over here - yeah - look over here -" She coaxed, shooting Ricky a look that said what they were both thinking - it was time to go. Being proven by the siren-like wail that erupted as soon as the horses started moving around the very small space. He tried to comfort her, but it was no use. She was done.

Putting his hand up for the attendant to halt the activity, Amy saw Ricky pluck their daughter off quickly and pat John's leg reassuringly before practically sprinting to the other end of the fence, by her. "Well, that failed miserably" He blew a long breath from his cheeks, trying to console the distressed infant the best he could as her cries penetrated his ears, causing him to wince.

Tilting her phone, Amy sighed, "At least I got a cute picture... kind of..." furrowing her brow at the slightly blurry image on the screen, with a small chuckle. Putting her hand on the baby's back, she swiped her thumb across her tiny shoulders, "I think she's tapped out."

He nodded in agreement, resting his palm on the back of her head as she fought laying it on his shoulder by headbutting him several times and continuing to cry. He sighed, looking out at the rest of the vincity towards the parking lot, "I think we should go. She's already missed her nap. Maybe if she sleeps in the car she might be somewhat pleasant by dinner time."

About to agree with him, John came sprinting over, a wide grin plastered to his face. "Hey, bud - how was it?" Amy asked, raking his dirty blonde locks with the tips of her fingers.

He giggled at the tickle, "Soooooo f-un!" Enthused, he looked over at his best friend, who held the same grin he did. "Lil-lys hors-ey jus poop-ed!" They both erupted in giggles, "it jus poop-ed rweally rweally b-ig!"

She couldn't help the small chuckle that came from her mouth, even though what they were referring to was disgusting to her. She never did understand why boys found things like that funny, or fascinating enough to constantly talk about them. But they did. John being one of them, much to her dismay. "As interesting as that is..." She looked over at his father, "Emma isn't having fun, so daddy is going to go ahead and take her back home, okay?"

The smile on his face immediately shifted to a frown, his eyes lowering, "Why?"

Passing her to her, Ricky touched his shoulder gently, "She's already missed her nap, buddy, and it's past lunch time-"

"But - but we jus go see the pwum-kins!" John pouted, pointing up at his sister, "Em-ma h-as to g-et a big pwum-kin too!"

They gave each other a look, a tip of the lip smile coming to her face, "I do kinda want to get a picture of the kids together by them?"

Taking a beat to think, as tiny fingers were pulling on her face, Ricky relented, blowing a long breath from his cheeks, "Fine. We'll go find a pumpkin and take a few pictures - but after that, we're done. She's not going to hold out much longer on a catastrophic meltdown."

27 minutes later

"I told you." He muttered over the ear-piercing shrieking, plugging his left ear to try to hear himself speak.

She was trying her best to get one decent picture, "Emma, hey - hey, look at mama -" but it was getting harder and harder to even get a decent looking blurry one at that point. "No, over here - look at mama -" She coaxed, reaching out to touch her hand. Emma recoiled against it, shaking her head and flailing her arms and legs in a fit of sobs.

John bit his lip at his sister's tantrum, "She no go-in look, mommy..." keeping his hold around her waist so she wouldn't slide off and get hurt.

Amy sighed, giving her son a pleading look, "Just get her to look at you for a second, buddy. Make a face or something."

Doing so, he conjured up a variety of faces and sounds that he knew she liked. But to no surprise, she reacted in more, louder, cries, throwing her head back to aid in her meltdown. He caught her with a jolt, touching her small hand as he said, "Em-ma no wike it."

"She's done, Amy. She is not going to cooperate with anything." Ricky stated, walking the three steps over to where they were and picking her up. Swiping the hair from Emma's eyes, and pecking her cheek, "You're done, huh?"

Cocking his head, John crossed his arms in a pout, "I wan-t twake th-is pwum-kin in my rwoom!" They looked at each other and in unison shook their heads so there would be no chance of a rebuttal. Furrowing his brow, he huffed for a minute before leaping off the giant pumpkin, and crossing his legs, shaking his dad's pant leg, "Daddy... I gotta go potty..."

Looking down at the boy, "Would you -" and then glancing over to her, but feeling the tug on his pant leg get tighter, he sighed. Remembering that John had recently only wanted to use the boys bathroom, and given that Amy was a woman, it made her uncomfortable to be in there. "Where's the bathroom?" His eyes shifted around the place, searching for a sign to lead him towards the destination. The tot shrugged, releasing a small groan. Handing their combative child to her mother, Ricky took his hand and started taking steps, "Fine, let's go find it then, I guess."

She too felt a tug on her jeans, the curled pigtails bouncing as the toddler sweetly asked, "Amy... c-an I go fweed the ani-mals?"

Hiking the baby up further against her hip to help in situating her back into the pouch on her torso, Amy nodded, "That actually sounds kinda fun." Once secured, she craned her neck down and pecked the top of her head, "What about you, Emma? You wanna go feed some donkeys and horseys?" Emma calmed down a bit, her loud shrieking toning down to a long stretch of fussy whimper-whines, rubbing her fists into her eyes. "Yeh! C'mon!" Amy kissed her head again, pitching her voice to keep the child entertained.

17 minutes later

"There you two are, I was worried I was going to have to come rescue you." She stated casually, giggling as their daughter threw more pellets of food at the animals.

His lip tipped up slightly, amused, "We had a button emergency." Pointing to the tot who was standing by his best friend, "Apparently he's too aggressive with buttons and ripped his off his pants." Chuckling, "So we had to improvise."

Following his finger, she couldn't help but chuckle at the black shoe lace tied around their son's small waist, and the missing one from Ricky's left shoe. "That works too, I guess." Cocking her head, Amy motioned to the baby flailing in the pouch on her torso, before quickly removing Emma's hands from her mouth as she tried to eat the animal feed, "You can't eat that, Emma, that's yucky!" She scolded gently, using her hands to rid her tiny palms of it completely. Emma started to cry, upset and startled by the scold.

Amy sighed, as did Ricky, putting his hands out, "That's our cue, it's time to go." With a nod, she agreed, shifting to remove Emma from the pouch and into his hands. Once situated in his grasp, he did his best to hold her one handed as he tried to get his son's attention. "We're gonna head out now, buddy. We'll see you guys later, okay?"

With a slow nod, John put the remaining feed into Lillys palms and wrapped his legs in a hug, "Okay, daddy! Bye-bye, Em-ma!" Hearing her name, Emma looked down and kicked her foot in his direction, which he then caught and tickled with his fingers, making her whine.

"Bye, Em-ma! Bye, John's daddy!" Lilly piped sweetly, showing a toothy grin at him.

He smiled back at her, amused that even after 3 years, she still didn't know his name. Taking the baby's hand and waving it, he pitched his voice, "Bye-bye Lilly!" Before leaning over and pecking their mother's cheek, "Call me when you guys get home?"

Amy nodded, touching his hand with her fingers, "Think we could go get some supplies for John's project, and maybe pick out some costumes for them tonight?" He shrugged, brushing his lips against hers. The giggles floated up, the curious eyes locked on them showing affection as the girl with bouncing blonde curls coyly smiled at her pint-sized best friend who had his lips pursed inward and a goofy look on his face.

"This is ridiculous!" She fumed, tossing a box to the side of the room with a huff, not hearing the door chime. "Does anyone not want to work anymore? All they care about is those dumb little video games and -" a sharp cry interrupted her ramble, looking up to see them standing there.

"What's going on?" Ricky asked, slightly confused by her behavior.

Leo shrugged at his question, shuffling his hands into his pockets, "So how was the field trip?"

Rolling his eyes with irritation, both at the question and his daughters relentless wailing, "Preschool teachers are saints." He responded, shifting her to his other hip, "We only had three 4-year-olds at one time, plus John and Emma - they have 20 or more daily. Never again." He shook his head, jostling her, "If Amy wants to go, great. I'm done." Settling back against his shoulder, Emma swiped at her eyes before starting to suck her thumb. His lip tipped up just a hare, motioning towards the stairs with his head, "We're gonna grab something to eat, and a nap before we go with mommy and John later, huh?" Her response was a whimper and a swift tug of his shirt collar with her other hand. "See you guys later."

Leo nodded again offering a small wave before they disappeared behind the door, and he set his attention on the angry redhead again, "I'll talk to the team, see if they can hire someone tomorrow or shift one of our other drivers schedules." With a scowl, Bunny tossed another box, causing his eyes to widen.

"Do we really need glitter? Isn't that just a huge mess?" He asked, picking up the medium sized container with a grimace and putting it back in the cart.

She shrugged, handing Emma a toy, "We need something to catch people's attention -" eyes widening when she squealed loudly and threw it down.

Picking it up, "You don't think being the only child in the class born to teenage parents, doesn't catch their attention enough, Amy?" He gave it back to her grabby hands, looking around the space for the tot, "Where did he go?"

She pointed to the aisle next to them, "He's in the costumes. He wanted to pick one out on his own this year." Taking a few steps to glance over and shout, "John, you alright over there?"

"Uh-huh!" The boy replied back loudly, slapping his feet against the concrete with excitement in his voice, "Deez awre jus sooo cwool!"

Noting his closed off demeanor, Amy put her hand on his arm, "What's going on? You've been a little on-edge since we got here."

"Have I?" She nodded. Ricky sighed, "It's just this whole thing with work. First the deliveries are late, now the drivers are apparently striking." Pushing the cart further down the aisle, "Ethan hasn't been around as much, so Bunny asked me if I minded if she brought Ben back for a few shifts, and maybe the holiday season rush -" Hearing that name made her stiffen with a sudden wave of anxiety as her hand shook slightly.

"Boo!" John popped out from behind the shelf, making his mother audibly yelp in response. He beamed at that, adjusting the mask on his face that was starting to slide because it was too big, "I f-ow-ned a tos-tume, mommy!"

Almost immediately Ricky shook his head in disapproval, "Yeah, no. You're not getting that. Try again, buddy."

His shoulders slumped in a pout, coupled with a drawn out whine, "Whyyyy! It cwool and fun!" To prove his point, he walked up to his sister sitting in the cart, "Boo, Em-ma!" Which made the infant pucker her bottom lip and release a loud howl in terror.

Ricky continued shaking his head, taking the mask that had fake blood splattered across it and dark, black eyes, off of him, "And it scares your sister. No, you're not getting that one. Try something else."

John shot his mother a look, tiny brows furrowed in anger of not getting what he picked out. She walked over to them, taking the mask out of his dad's hands, "It's just a costume - what's the matter with letting him pick something he wants? You don't have to agree with it. He's choosing to express himself differently than how you do -"

"It doesn't matter. It's inappropriate, and gross. He's not getting it. He's three, not thirteen." He cut her off abruptly, frustration laced in his tone. She rolled her eyes, moving her mouth silently. He raised a brow, "You really want to start an argument about this? Because I have more say than you do, regardless if he has your last name and not mine!"

Taken aback, Amy's eyes widened, "Whoa. Whoa, backup here... since when does that bother you?" Ricky stayed silent, jaw starting to twitch as his eyes stayed down and wouldn't look at her. "You've never expressed anything to me about it - so why now?"

Taking in a deep inhale through his nose, his left hand clentched, "Because it does bother me, Amy! It always has! You just never bothered to ask me about it!" His voice was getting louder, catching the attention of a shopper entering the aisle, "I would have thought by now - as John's almost 4, and we've had another child together - that you would have changed his last name to mine..." Noting the woman eyeing him with judgement, he sighed and leaned closer to speak more quietly, "But I guess that was my mistake for thinking it would ever happen, when clearly you had no intentions of doing it." Shaking his head in aggravation, he scratched his eyebrow before plucking the baby out of the cart.

"Ricky -" Amy put her hand on the cart handle, grazing his wrist.

Ricky shook it off, fishing his wallet out of his front pocket one handed and giving her a 20 dollar bill, "I'm tired... just get the stuff and drop John off when you get done."

Grabbing the mask back during his parents exchange, John put his hands up to his head and scrunched his fingers, shouting, "Boo!"

She watched them storm off, confused and slightly irritated by his brash statement. Now unamused, she shook her head and crossed her arms, "Take the mask off, buddy. Go try to find something else."

But he wasn't budging, fixing it to his face with a more aggresive declaration, "Nooo, I wike th-is one!"

The next day (Saturday)

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" She countered, scoffing, "You really stomped off like a child throwing a tantrum, over a costume?"

He became defensive at her scoff, furrowing his brow, "It wasn't just the costume. I told you - It was her undermining my authority as his father and custodial caregiver."

Cocking her head with a matching brow, Bunny scoffed again, "In other words, you didn't get your way so you wanted to shove her not being around as much, back at her." He pursed his lips, tapping the counter. "Am I wrong?"

"Yes. That's not what I meant to do."

"Are you ever going to tell her the real reason why this bothers you so much?" Ricky stayed silent, looking up to the ceiling to avoid having to talk about his feelings. She let another scoff pass her lips, shaking her head in response to his aggravation, "You act like women can just read your mind. You'd think after everything that's happened this year - you'd get it through that thick skull of yours to communicate better."

He lowered his head, glaring at her before sighing, "I get it. You're right, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Smirking, she lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "I'm going to talk to her. I just needed a minute to cool off." Taking hold of the clipboard from the edge of the counter, he jotted down something just as the back door tugged open.

"What the hell is he doing here?" They both stated in unison, walking in from different ends of the store at the exact same time. Ethan was glaring, arms crossed tightly against his chest. Ben rolled his eyes, groaning with irritation as he grabbed an apron from the rack.

Bunny looked over at Ricky, raising her brow, "And so it begins..."

"I don't think it was out of line to get angry about it. John is his son too, and he's right - it's been almost 4 years-" Margaret grabbed the pot from the counter, pouring it into the two mugs to her right.

Nora raised a brow, "Why didn't she just give it to him when he was born?"

"That's the thing, in the beginning I understood Amy's reasons, but Ricky has more than shown her and everyone else that he's not going anywhere. So... maybe it's time to change it." Taking a seat at the table, she handed the orange mug over to her, and took a long sip.

Nora shrugged, taking a smaller sip, her voice low, "I don't know... maybe Amy's not crazy about her son having a monsters last name? I know I'm not." Her eyes shifted to meet hers, a look of confusion etched into her features. Putting the cup on the table, she sighed heavily, "Underwood carries alot of unnecessary weight - and forgive me if I don't want my grandson to have to atone for the sins of those who also carry that name!" Her voice pitched slightly, a rise of panic creeping in as her breathing became slightly labored and she clutched her chest with her palm.

Taking note of her distress, Margaret grabbed her wrist in her hand, "Okay. Okay, I see your point. Take a breath. Breathe, it's alright."

"No, its not!" Nora shouted, taking her arm out of Margaret's grasp and swiping her cheeks with her hand, "I hate that these sweet kids have to share DNA with that piece of -" hiccuping through a sob, "Especially now..."

"What does that mean?" Nora's eyes lowered to the floor, swallowing back the lump in her throat. "Bob isn't getting out anytime soon..." Margaret trailed nervously, gripping her coffee mug tighter.

Nora swallowed again, keeping her gaze on her shoes, "... I've been having these... feelings... nightmares, maybe..." Sniffling, she started to shake, a trail of tears streaking her cheeks as she choked, "He can't get out, Margaret. Not now, not ever. It'll destroy Ricky."

Opening her mouth to speak, Margaret quickly closed it, taking a beat to put her thoughts into words. Taking a sip followed by a long breath, "Let's just take a step back for now. Just because you had a nightmare, doesn't mean anything. So for now... we drop that and focus on the topic at hand." Her palm flattened against the wood, tapping once as she continued, "To your point, I see where you're coming from. I do. But, Emma has Ricky's name - shouldn't John have the same opportunity given that they are fully blood related siblings? It's not fair to him to always be questioned as being legitimate because his sister shares their father's name, and he doesn't - is it?"

Nora couldn't help but chuckle, "Who questions that? Ricky can't deny the kid - have you seen him? John is his spitting image!"

Margaret also let out a small chuckle, nodding with an amused smile on her face before she turned serious again, "Jokes aside... It's time for those two to sit down and have a serious conversation about this. No more tip-toeing around the topic. It's time."

The door opened suddenly, catching them by surprise, jolting in their seats at seeing her standing in the open entryway. Her smile was timid, lips parted just enough to show the tips of her bottom teeth. "Hey... sorry... I hope I wasn't interrupting anything..."

Her ex-mother-in-law shook her head quickly, "No, no you're fine honey. Come in."

Doing so, Amy took a few small steps into the kitchen, pausing at the counter, eyes on her shoes as she mumbled, "I take it from the looks on your faces, you were discussing me?"

"No!" Margaret answered immediately

"Yes..." Nora responded at the same time, twisting her fingers around her coffee mug.

Margaret gave her a sympathic look, tilting her hand to try to explain. Amy shook her head though, "It's okay. I actually wanted to talk to you about this whole mess." Raising her head to look at her ex-mother-in-laws', her eyes were glassy, "What do you think I should do?"

Pursing her lips, Margaret patted the seat next to her, waiting until she was staring at her face to face before taking her hand and continuing, "I think - and this is just my opinion - that you should consider changing John's last name. Not for Ricky, though. For John."

Amy sniffled, letting a lone tear roll down her cheek, "I honestly never knew this bothered him. Ricky never mentioned it to me. He could have said something at any time, but he didn't. So I guess I'm just confused as to why now?"

Nora's brow rose, a small chuckle bubbling up along with a playful scoff, "Ricky bottled something up for several years and expected you to read his mind? Shocker." They all couldn't help but share a laugh at her statement, knowing it was true. Ricky did have the tendency to bottle things up and expect her to know what he was stuffing down.

Amy nodded slowly, swiping her cheeks with the back of her sleeves, "I'll talk to him tonight." They nodded too, Margaret patting her hand lovingly, just as the clompy uneven footsteps trailed down the hallway followed by a loud squeal-scream.

They rushed into the kitchen, the walker the 10-month-old was strapped into hitting the side of the wall. "I g-ot you!" John cheered, using his fingers to tickle his sister into a fit of chortles that had her drooling all over herself.

Turning in her chair, Amy smiled at them, and rose to stand, "Hey bud, you ready to go?"

"Mhmm!" He nodded, racing over to the counter to grab a cookie from the jar by the sink, "We - we jus go-in tarve the b-ig pwum-kin, mommy?"

Dabbing the rag across her daughter's mouth, she lifted her out and placed her on her hip, "Uh-huh, but we gotta go to the store first and get that tool thing for daddy before, though, okay?" Grabbing the diaper bag from the other chair at the table, Amy smiled at the two women still sitting, drinking from their mugs, "Thanks for watching them." They smiled back, nodding. "Say bye-bye grandmas!" She lifted her hand to aid Emma, but she recoiled to shove it into her mouth.

John giggled, grabbing two more cookies before waving, "Byeeeee!"

They both chuckled with warm smiles and in unison shouted "Bye!" As they made their descent towards the door and heard the door slam shut behind them.

"I didn't miss this." Ben grumbled, taking hold of a box and walking out of the freezer.

Ethan followed, a scowl on his face, "Yeah, well you shouldn't even be here anyways. What happened - daddy stop paying for you to live it up in New York?"

Ben paused his footing, turning on his heels with a snarl, "Not that it's any of your business - but yeah, he did! So you wanna yell at someone for sending me back to this hell hole? Blame him!"

Before Ethan could counter, Ricky stepped out from the counter, brow raised and arms crossed against his chest, "What's the issue here?"

Rolling his eyes, Ben scoffed and clicked his tongue before setting the box on the counter a foot away and pivoting to the back door. Ethan shook his head, the scowl still on his lips, "Is he being here permanent? Because if so, please, fire me." Hearing himself, he blew a breath from his cheeks, "What am I saying? Of course it is. He's the bosses freaking son!" Throwing his apron over his head, he stomped across the shop, throwing the door open with a mumble of something he couldn't hear, and stomping down the sidewalk.

Ricky blinked a few times, trying to comprehend how both his employees just stormed out of work one hour before the shop closed for the night.

"It so squish-y!" He giggled with a grimace, sinking his fingers deeper into the string of guts inside the partially carved pumpkin on the table.

"You're not supposed to play in it." He shook his head, slightly disgusted by how much his son enjoyed all the slimy things he hated. Picking up the tool from the napkin, he handed it him, "Here - use the scooper." Ignoring his request, John grabbed another handful of the guts and squished them between his fingers, going over to his sister who wanted no part in it; shaking her head with a recoil and a loud whine that only made him more amused.

Amy blew a breath from her cheeks to get the hair out of her eyes, holding up the posterboard she'd just finished adding a boarder to for their approval, "Does this look alright? Or does it need something else?" Her question was met with silence, prompting her to shift on the sofa cushion and shout a louder, "Hello?"

Knowing he'd let this petty disagreement go on long enough, Ricky sighed and put the carving tool down, looking over at the tot, "Why don't we take a break and help mommy real quick?" Throwing a portion of the stringy mess back into the pumpkin, John shook his head vigorously and pouted. He turned to face him, his voice slightly more stern, "This is your project, so you gotta help too, John. C'mon - wash your hands." The boy huffed but did as he was told, washing all the disgusting things from his skin until the sink was covered in soapy suds. Wiping his own hands on the towel resting on the counter, Ricky popped the highchair tray off and brought their daughter out, placing her on the blanket spread out by the couch before taking a seat on the cushion opposite, "Okay, what are we looking at?"

Putting the project back on the coffee table to lay it flat, Amy tapped her chin with the tip of her finger, "Well, I was thinking maybe a few pictures on the edges, and then some kind of boarder? Just to give it some color."

"It's red, isn't that bright enough?" His reply getting her infamous brow rise, "Sorry. Sure, color sounds good." He pursed his lips at her small nod just as he came to sit in between them.

"Do you want to pick where the pictures go?" She asked their son, bringing out a sleeve of glossy 4x4 and 4x6 photos inside it. John nodded swaying and kicking his dangling feet against the bottom of the sofa. Handing him one of the images, she smiled, "Okay, where should this one go?"

"Th-at me!" He enthused, taking the picture of a then newborn him into his grasp, and studying it before pointing to it with a sad lilt in his voice, "Why daddy jus n-ot in th-is pwit-cher, mommy?"

The question caught her off guard, so he stepped in to answer. Leaning further into the space to look at the image himself, "Remember how I told you me and mommy were really young when you were born?" John nodded again, holding up the picture to study it more. Ricky swallowed, "Well... it was easier for mommy to have grandma and grandpa with her, than for me to be. We weren't together back then. We were friends though - or trying to be anyway..."

Noticing another image inside the sleeve, his brow furrowed as he grabbed it and whined, "But... but you jus in th-is pwit-cher..."

Now she spoke, glancing over at Ricky before running her fingers over the hair by their son's ears, "Alot had changed between this picture and that one, baby." Taking it in her fingers, she sighed, "We were young here, barely friends, and didn't really have a handle on what we wanted between each other." Putting it down on the posterboard and picking up the other one, "This one, me and daddy were together and married... and in love..." Her eyes shifted down, thankful her dark locks shielded her sorta-boyfriend from seeing the tears starting to gather in her eyes.

It got quite for a few seconds before he asked softly, "Awre you and daddy jus st-ill in lov a-gin?" Ricky's lips parted as a small gasp slipped past them, not really knowing what to say. He knew he couldn't say what he really felt, in fear of scaring Amy because it was too soon. She'd just came back - telling her the truth of what he was feeling would inevitably spook her... wouldn't it? He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't get to as the curly headed baby made her presence known.

"Hi!" Emma squeaked through a grin, holding onto the coffee table for dear life to keep her upright.

He heard her mother sniffle softly before she moved the hair from her eyes and gave her a smile, "Well, hello, peanut - what are you doing?"

Emma gurgled and grabbed one of the pictures from the posterboard quickly, "Mine!" Falling to her bottom and crawling away with it.

"Hey!" John huffed, getting up from the couch to chase after her, "G-ive th-at bwack!"

Getting halfway to the chair in the kitchen, Emma gripped the image of their dad holding a then newborn John in the hospital, in her tiny hands, crumpling the edges and flailing with a squeal, "Dadadada!"

Catching up to her, John stood and gave her a disapproving look, his lips forming a frown as he scolded his sister, "Em-ma... th-at is my pwit-cher!" He put his hand out for it, but she shook her head at him, grunting and putting her small hand out to prevent him from taking it. His frown grew, "th-at is jus mine, Em-ma! Th-at me an daddy's pwit-cher! G-iv it bwack!" He grabbed hold of it, expecting the loud, shrill shriek his sister fought back with, but he had to be careful not to hurt her or else he'd get in trouble.

So they played tug-of-war until he tugged too hard and she fell backward against the floor, and started to cry. Now he knew he was in trouble.

Putting the picture on the floor by his feet, John sighed and helped her sit back up, his voice soft, "I sworry you fall-ed down, Em-ma..." He patted her head and kissed it softly, "but - but you jus tak-ed my pwit-cher an th-at was n-ot nwice. It is mine, an you - you jus n-ot ask to sh-are." Wiping her cheeks with his palm, he kissed her hand, "I sworry..." Picking the crumpled image back up, he sat down next to her and pointed at his baby self, "See - th-at me! Daddy jus hwold-en me cuz I was jus a baby wike you!"

Taking hold of it again, Emma looked up at him with her green eyes wide. "Jon!" She squeaked a second later, gurgling at the image of her brother with a snort.

He could only audibly gasp, putting his hand to his mouth as he looked at his parents before shouting with pride, "... Em-ma jus say-ed my name!" His shout caused her lip to pucker in a whimper. "Uh-oh, sworry..." He quickly remedied the situation, wrapping his arms around her small frame to calm her down.

Amy blinked a few times to try to grasp what exactly was happening, "I'm confused, there was alot happening just now." Looking over to Ricky, he shrugged and blinked a few times as well.

John stood up, beaming, and pointing down at his sibling, "She say-ed my name, mommy! Em-ma jus say-ed John!" She mimicked his excitement, pumping her legs and clapping her hands. He nodded vigorously, giggling and clapping along, "Yeh! Good j-ob!"

Ricky chuckled, shifting in his seat to get closer to Amy, "Well that's adorable."

"Look at them!" Amy squealed in delight, grabbing her phone off the end table to snap a quick picture. Admiring it for a second, she caught his smile in the corner of her eye. "Can we talk?" She asked quietly, putting her hand on his knee. He nodded, shifting closer to meet her eyes as she spoke. "Why does it now bother you so much about John's last name? Has it always bothered you and you just didn't tell me?"

Pursing his lips, he replied, "No... I mean, maybe... kinda." Shrugging, "It didn't bother me so much when you did it - I understood why you did... but after Emma was born... I guess it started to dawn on me that one of my children had my name and one didn't." Expelling a heavy breath, he sighed, "... And then came the custody stuff, and -" swallowing back the lump forming in his throat, "And hearing Reuban tell me that I might have to submit a paternity test to a court because a judge could see a red flag in my son not sharing my last name, as his father... didn't sit well with me." His gaze shifted down, jaw beginning to clench, "And now some kid in John's class is asking him why he doesn't have the same last name as me, if I'm really his daddy - "

"I didn't know -" She interrupted, eyes wide and glassy as she took his hand, "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Ricky shook his head again, closing his eyes, with an edge to his voice, "I shouldn't have to be questioned if I'm my own child's biological father or not!" Swallowing, he sighed, "Not when I've been here for him every single day of his life, and everyone knows it." She sniffed as a response, letting a tear drip onto his hand. He sat in silence for a few seconds before giving her hand a gentle squeeze, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get angry at you. You were just doing what you thought was right at the time. I know that. But it's been almost 4 years, Amy. I think it's only right that we discuss this."

Amy sniffled again, swiping her cheeks with her hand, "I had no idea about any of that, Ricky. I swear if you'd have told me, I would have considered it sooner. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's okay. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you don't have to apologize, okay? You have all right to be upset with me. You're right, I should have talked to you about it. Maybe not back then, but at least asked how you felt after we had Emma. That's on me, and I'm really sorry." Shifting to cuddle more into his side, she ran her fingers through the hair by his ears like she did to John, "I don't want you to stuff things down like this, okay? I'm a big girl, I can handle it. If something is bothering you - I want to know about it." She rested her other hand on his shirt by his heart, "Isn't that what we've been working on? Honest and open communication?"

Threading his fingers through hers, he chuckled, "I deserve that." Blowing out a breath from his cheeks, "I shouldn't have made such a big deal about that costume. It was stupid. I'm sorry."

She scoffed, "I'm not. That thing had a bag of fake blood you were supposed to like squirt inside it. I'm glad you vetoed it."

"So you're saying I was right then?"

"Don't get cocky, sometimes you do have better instincts than I do." His eyebrows waggled at her statement, causing her to giggle, "Savor it, Underwood because it won't happen all the time!" He scoffed playfully, giving her a quirked brow. Lifting to slide her legs off the cushion, she pursed her lips and asked, "So should we figure out this whole name changing thing?"

Running his hand through his hair, he yawned, and leaned back against the cushions, "Maybe tomorrow. I'm still exhausted from that awful field trip."

Taking out a few more pictures from the sleeve, she started placing them around the posterboard, "That was nothing - wait until he gets to Kindergarten. Pretty sure they go to museums and science centers."

"You have fun at those."

Putting a Spiderman sticker on the corner, "You're just throwing in the towel on going with your son?"

He nodded, tilting his head back, "If it's anything like today, absolutely. That was awful." About to close his eyes, he jolted at the pressure being put on his lap; the tiny body being slammed against his lower half as the toddler fled down the hallway quickly. With a groan, Ricky shifted her weight and sat up, "Who needs field trips anyway? It's not like these toddlers actually care about what they're supposed to be caring about. One of them was literally trying to eat the corn in the play yard for crying out loud!"

Amy giggled at their baby's insistence of climbing his torso and poking his nose with a snort before putting her mouth on it. "What about Emma? Daddy can't deny his little princess..."

"Funny." He scoffed, rolling his eyes and removing their daughter from his head to cruise along the remainder of the sofa. "She doesn't need field trips - Emma will be content just staying home with dada, huh?" Grabbing hold of the cushion, Emma babbled aggressively and pointed her finger.

Amy giggled again, nodding along with the 10-month-olds gibberish, "You tell him!" Raising a brow at Emma, he swooped in and raised her above his head, blowing on her belly and tickling her sides as she chortled and drooled in delight. Grabbing the rag off the end table, they paused to let her mother wipe her off, before going back to their game. "You know you're only creating your own monster, right?"

He chuckled, sending ticklish kisses against her cheeks, "Jealous?"

Amy nodded, scrunching their daughters curls with her fingers, "A litte bit. Yeah."

Stopping their game, Ricky chuckled again, and leaned forward, scooping the baby up from his torso, "Here - I gotta pee anyway." Emma recoiled at the hand-off, bucking against his chest. "Go to mommy -" He jostled her, passing her to her mother which caused her to immediately screech and lunge into his legs. He sighed, picking her back up and putting her on the cushion between them, her green eyes staring up at him, "Daddy has to pee, you sat on my bladder"

"Now you know how I felt." Amy rebutted through a giggle.

"I'm serious." He deadpanned, scooting Emma's body closer towards Amy to no avail as she whined loudly and grabbed ahold of the denim of his jeans and climbed back into his lap, causing him to blow a breath of frustration.

Amy pursed her lips inward, giving him the 'I told you so' look, before blantly saying so, "I told you, you created your own monster, daddy." Not being able to keep her amusement at their back and forth of Ricky trying to put Emma on the cushion while she just kept grabbing hold of him and latching on, in, the laughter bubbled over when she raved in angry gibberish babble and raised her tiny palm to his face, slamming it over his lips as he tried to reason with her, and took a headbutt to the cheek in response, making Amy gasp, "Op!"

Halloween (4 days later)

"Wh-er is mommy, daddy?" He asked, sulking through the livingroom with an empty bag around his wrist.

Grabbing one of the many clunky spoons from the floor to give to the shrieking baby banging on the highchair she was placed in, he hopped over a discarded toy and went into the kitchen, "I told you, buddy, she's running late at work. She'll be here soon, okay? Chill out before you work yourself up."

"But - but I wanna g-et the can-nyyyy nowwww!" John whined, flinging himself across the couch cushions dramatically.

"There's plenty of it to go around, John. We will go when mommy gets here. She has your costumes in her car, remember?"

"I wannaaaa goooo nowwww!"

Turning his back, Ricky heard the tiny plastic spoon clatter to the floor accompanied by a fussy whine. He put his hands on his hips and raised a brow, "What are you upset about? You can't even eat candy!" Shaking his head, as the annoyance was starting to creep in from both his children's tantrums, he sighed and brought out his phone.

She answered on the second ring, slightly irritated, "I'm here! I'll be up in a minute!" About 45 seconds later, the door opened to the chorus of whines, making her wince at the noise level. "Sorry - I had to stop at the gas station -" Amy placed her jacket on the coat rack, pulling her hair from its high ponytail, "Costumes are in my car, you just wanna change them when we get to Kathleen's?"

Popping the highchair tray off, he unbuckled the infant, "Did you talk to your dad today?"

She shook her head absent-mindedly, rifling through her purse for something that probably wasn't in there, "No, he didn't come in. Mandy said something about a meeting or something, I didn't ask."

"Your mom didn't bring Robbie down, so your dad went to Palm Springs to get him. But he won't make it back in time. So it's just us tonight."

"Wait, what?" Her head snapped up, her lips forming an angry frown, "I thought the whole reason she moved back to Palm Springs was because of Robbie and my dad?" He shrugged at her frustration, grabbing the diaper bag off the bookshelf. She rolled her jaw, her eyes squinted, "Nothing she does should surprise me anymore, but that's just low - even for her."

"I agree. But, we need to go before a massive tantrum ensues. John's at the end of his patience on waiting and I don't know how long Emma will be pleasent for this outing." Emma looked up from her spot in the playpen, already getting rowdy and throwing things out of it with long drawn out whines.

Amy pursed her lips, "Point taken." And motioned for the boy sulking on the couch to come to her, "Okay, well, let's go then. We'll change them in the car, I guess."

Shooting up, John squealed, "Yayyyyy, can-nyyyyyy!" And ran past them, out the door.

"Mommy, th-is mas-k is jus itch-y..." He paused, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to dig his nails into his cheeks

Moving his hand down, "Move the string behind your hair, baby. It's gonna itch if it's rubbing against your cheeks." She took the flimsy plastic green mask off his face and adjusted the strap to rest underneath a chunk of his shaggy blonde locks, "There - better?" Nodding, he grabbed her hand excitedly and raced them towards the next house on the block.

They had been at it for over an hour and 45 minutes, rounding the corner to start on block 3 of their 6 block radius that was mapped out. Each house giving the rambunctious tot two or three treats that had him bouncing ferociously against the pavement while he held up his bag to show his parents his candy haul. His sister, Emma, on the other hand, was not beaming in a sugar crazed grin. She made it all of two blocks before the tiny rage tantrum ensued, and had to be carried by their dad who also got stuck pushing the stroller she refused to sit in.

Arriving at the long sloped driveway with various blowup yard decor, Ricky blew a breath from his cheeks and checked his watch, "You take this one, I'm tapped out for awhile." Looking up at the pathway to the front porch, Amy shrugged and accepted their restless infant from him, hiking her high on her hip while trying to grasp their son's hand he was determined to keep pulling away from.

Three hard knocks on the beige door sent it open and an elderly woman dressed as a witch stepped out from behind it, a smile plastering her thin lips, "Ooh, looky what we have here!"

"T-wick or Tw-eat!" John enthused, holding out his fairly full Scooby-Doo bag for more treats, his grin lifting behind the plastic shielding his face, "I is jus the Hul-k! Grrrr!"

The woman chuckled, grabbing a handful from the bowl and giving it to him, "Well aren't you cute! My grandson is Spiderman this year. He loves those superheros too." Scooping up another handful, she turned to the baby, clinging to her mother and beginning to whimper. She poked her costume covered arm gently, lowering her voice, "Look at you, you pretty little lion! Can you have candy?"

John shook his head, peering up at them and touched his sister's foot, "No, Em-ma jus a baby- wright, mommy?"

Amy giggled at him, swiping her hand over the furry mane that covered the majority of Emma's head, and holding up her little pumpkin shaped bucket, "Um, she can have something soft I guess. Nothing hard or crunchy though." The woman nodded and dug around the bowl for three Reeses peanut butter cups, and dropped them into the bucket. Emma squealed as they dropped, pumping her legs with delight at her treats.

Grasping his hand again, Amy shook it and smiled, "Say thank you to this nice lady, John."

Adjusting the bag on his wrist, he lifted his head up towards the sky, and vocalized his giddy, "Tank you for my cann-y!"

It was like that for the following 2 blocks as well. Only now, John was riding in the stroller because all the walking was "causing his feet to fall off" as he so blunty put it before throwing a fit that two pieces of candy had fallen out of his bag. Emma, on the other hand had completely given up; taking comfort slung across their dad's body and refusing to be removed or else she'd start screaming.

Clomping down the driveway of the last house on the end of the street they were on, Amy let go of their son's hand to sweep the hair out of the baby's eyes, sighing as she recoiled and batted her arm at the disturbance, "Can we be done now? His bag is almost full and I'm pretty sure that's like the 40th house we've been to." She looked down at the boy, plopping himself back down into the stroller with a yawn, which caused her to also yawn, "Hey, what time is it?"

Checking his watch, Ricky blinked a few times and shifted Emma's weight, knowing it was time to wrap things up. "Almost 8. Mind if we make one more stop? Leo texted me asking if we could bring them by before we head back home. He wants to give them something."

The gravel crunched under the tires, illuminating the car in a bright light coming from the overhead pole that was motion sensored. Staring out the window, she blew a frustrated breath from her cheeks, not the least bit enthused about being at her ex's house. He understood where she was coming from but didn't want to disappoint the man who had treated them like family since their son was born, so he put his hand on her knee and whispered, "It'll only take a few minutes, promise."

"I gonna g-et m-oreee cann-yyy! The toddler squealed, pulling on his buckles to try to free himself from his car seat that he was just about to grow out of. Navigating the buttons, he heard the click and tossed them aside, hopping to his feet and grabbing at the door handle until it sprung open.

Ricky's eyes widened, tossing his own buckle aside to hop out of the car, "John, wait for me!" With the excitment too much, the boy skipped around the car and past a bed of flowers as his dad's voice shouted behind him before he caught up and grabbed his hand with a stern scold, "You know better than that! You don't run away from mommy and daddy, understand?" Lowering his head, he nodded slowly and shuffled his feet the rest of the way up the walkway while his mom and sister trailed behind a few feet.

"Happy Halloween!" They both greeted from two lawn chairs set up in the middle of the driveway. Chloe had a gaint red bowl resting in her lap, while Leo sipped from a glass in his hand. "Hello, Amy." He waved, as she and the combative infant joined the rest of them. Amy gave a small smile and waved with two fingers, shifting the baby's weight to rest in the bend of her arms.

Breaking free from his dad's hand, John's eyes widened as big as saucers seeing the gaint red bowl, shrieking and pointing in excitement, "W-hoa! Daddy th-is hwouse jus has a-wot of cann-y!"

Chole smiled, leaning forward to give him a better look, "Yeah, we do. Go ahead and take what you want. Take it all if you want."

"Rweally?" His body jolted in surprise, twisting his fingers around his trick-or-treat bag.

Stilling him with his hand on his shoulder, "No, not really John, take a few pieces but that's it. You don't want to be impolite to Leo."

Waving it aside, Leo took another sip from his glass, "We hardly had any kids tonight, please take it."

"John..." Ricky raised a brow at him, watching as the boy grabbed two gaint handfuls before trying to scoop up more. Tilting the bowl away from his grabby hands, he gently pulled him towards his mom and replied, "Thank you, but no thank you. He's gonna be sugar crazed enough as it is with all the candy he got tonight, and Emma can't have it. Give it to the kids at school or something."

Shrugging, Chloe offered the bowl up to Amy, which she declined with a quick shake of her head, "Oh, no thank you." Avoiding eye contact at all costs, she could sense the tension in the air mounting, tugging on his jacket sleeve and whispering, "Can we go now?"

About to answer her, Ricky was cut off by a rather irritating voice. "Well, well, what do we have here?" His stride was short, stopping in front of the children with a sickening smile on his face, and taking a piece of candy from the bowl as he quipped at John, "Let me guess - you're the incredible Hulk, and you -" Ben rose to meet Emma's eyes, touching her costume covered arm with his fingers, "You must be the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz, huh?"

The action made Amys stomach drop; too frozen by the sound of his voice to even blink as a response let alone tell him to get away from her baby. Ricky caught the way her body language changed; her hardened demeanor now being flipped to a look of utter fear as her hand shook but she tried to hide it.

Ben's eyes met hers and her breathing began to quicken, stuttering to try to gain her voice, "S-She n-n-needs to - to b-be c-changed..." Without so much as a glance at Ricky, she bolted down the driveway and to his car. Ricky's eyes followed her, but decided to leave her be, she'd tell him what was wrong whenever they were alone. But what he didn't like was the fact that Ben also walked down the driveway and stopped by his car, causing everyone's eyebrows to raise right as they started arguing out of everyone's earshot. He flexed his fist against his jeans, trying to alleviate some of the tension as he asked, "So... when and why exactly did Ben come back here again?"

Pursing her lips, Chloe kept her eyes on them, watching with suspicion of what their conversation was about, "Right around the time he got kicked out of the dorms for partying too much... wait, when did Amy come back again?"

"Chole!" Leo snapped rather loudly, trying his best to avert the conversation away from where it was headed. But trying to brush it off, he chuckled lightly, "New York just wasn't for him. Care to come in for a drink?"

Ricky kept his eyes on them also, gripping John's shoulders with his hands to make it less obvious he was starting to become angry at the teens reaction to his ex-wife-sorta-now-girlfriend-again pointing towards the house with a mixture of anger and fear in her face. "Oh, no thank you, I've gotta get going. It's past these guys bedtime and they're starting to get restless -"

John shook his head, peering up at him, "I n-ot ti-red, daddy!"

Ignoring his son's rebuttal, his brow furrowed at seeing Ben storming up towards them with a scowl on his face. But wanting to keep the peace for Leo's sake, he tipped his lip up enough to be polite and turned him around, "Goodnight. Say thank you for the candy, John."

John waved at them, and ushered a rushed "Tank you!" Before being led away, reiterating with a whine, "But I n-ot ti-red, dadddyyyy!"

Bending so he was level with him, Ricky spoke quietly, "Well I am, and I need to talk to mommy about grown up stuff."

Waiting until they had made it back to their car, Chloe furrowed her brow and mumbled, "Did something happen between those two in New York?" Leo shrugged sheepishly, taking another sip from his glass - the answer without giving an answer. Her eyes widened, "Seriously?" Mouth becoming agape at this revelation before her head snapped sharply with a fearful look on her face, "Wait - does Ricky know?" He shrugged again, taking a larger gulp.

"You okay?" He questioned her after they made it through the door and John had bolted straight to the kitchen to see his candy haul.

The ride home was silent, even after he had asked her what happened over five times, Amy gave him nothing. Not even a nod or a blink. It was like she had been frozen and couldn't move. So he left it alone and waited until they got back to the apartment.

But it didn't get better from there.

Putting the baby in the playpen, she barely moved her feet and tripped on her foot, clipping her elbow on the edge of it with a gasp and a groan. Helping her regain balance, Ricky felt her hands shake and saw her lip start to wobble. "Are you -" but he didn't get to finish as she shifted away from his grasp, almost tripping again.

Swallowing a large gulp of air, Amy tried to compose herself enough to walk around the playpen, shielding her eyes behind the curtain of her hair, "I - um, I think I'm going to go home -"

She was in no condition to walk down the steps, let alone drive and thankfully he didn't have to tell her she wasn't leaving as John piped up from the table, "No, you c-ant go, mommy! You - you jus hav to read to me and Em-ma!"

She stilled by the bookshelf, trying to grab her purse and get her hands to stop shaking, "I'm sorry, baby, mommy's tired -"

"But - but you pwomised!" The boy raced over, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the couch with a whine.

Amy knew there was no use in arguing with him, so she just sighed and relented, "Okay, I'll stay and read." Happy with her answer, he bounced on the balls of his feet and went back to the table, eyeing all his treats again. She could feel Ricky's eyes boring into her back and his worry snaking around her, so she swallowed again and picked the baby back up; keeping a firm grasp on her body to stop her hands and legs from trembling so she wouldn't drop her. "I'll be in the room, getting her changed and ready for bed."

Ricky took a step forward to help her, but then took a step back to give her space, nodding instead with worry laced in his tone, "Do whatever you need, we'll be there in a few minutes."

Waiting until he heard the door close, he walked over to the boy tossing bite sized chocolate bars into the air with an exasperated gasp, followed by a giggle, "W-oah! Th-is can-ny is jus the good-est ev-er!" He nodded at him, wrapping him in a backwards bear hug. John threw his head back with another giggle, before asking quietly, "Is mommy, o-k?"

Giving him a tighter squeeze, Ricky pecked the side of his head, not wanting to give him any reason to worry about his mom if there wasn't one, "She's just tired, buddy. Eat the rest of your candy bar so we can brush your teeth and get you in bed, okay?"

"Please don't follow me!" She hissed, struggling to clamp the buckles of the infant's car seat with tembling fingers.

But he didn't budge, tapping a foot with his arms crossed against his chest, "What's your problem? You've been acting nuts around me ever since I got back."

Shuffling out of the back of the car, her cheeks flooded red with anger at the audacity of him. Her fists were balled up at her sides to prevent from punching him as she spoke with tears brimming her eyes, "It's not acting nuts when I have a reason to not want to be near you!"

Ben rolled his eyes at her dramatics, taking a step closer, "This again? Like I told you when you called me in San Diego, Amy - I'm sorry." He touched her arm, which she immediately recoiled against with a wince, making him scoff, "We had sex, yeah and it was bad, I know." Voice lowering, "But that doesn't change anything - you know I still love you, right?" She stayed silent, turning her back to him to try to hold herself together. She felt nauseous and lightheaded. The same way she felt just before it happened. His left foot made the gravel crunch under it as he put his hand on her shoulder by her neck, and whispered into her ear, "You don't have to be with Ricky again. It'll get better -"

Now she was having trouble regaining control; her lungs speeding up her breaths to combat the vomit rising in her throat. "Just stop!" Amy shouted rather loudly, knowing it got the attention of the crowd of eyes that had no doubt followed her since she bolted away. Ricky's eyes in particular, watching her every move because he didn't trust Ben. Turning on her heels, the tears ran down her cheeks; hot, angry tears that burned her skin as they slid down, her voice sharp and icy, "I don't love you. And you don't love me. I only called you in San Diego because I needed to make sense of what I was remembering." Shaking her head, she stepped up to meet his stance, standing her ground with angry eyes, and jagged breaths, "...What you did wasn't just bad sex, Ben. And you know it!" The anxiety of being so close to him was causing her to start to shake again, so she lowered her head to avoid his eyes. The eyes that once were so kind to her, now holding the darkness she saw that night. "Please - please leave me alone. Go on with your life and leave mine!" Folding her arms acrossed her chest, she sniffled at her baby who sat docile, staring at her with her piercing green eyes. He tried to put his hand on her back, but her hand slapped it away before he could, and her eyes turned to daggers slits, her warning cutting, "Touch me again, Ben, and I swear I will scream." She heard him sigh heavily, and another crunch under his shoe. He wasn't backing away, which only angered her more. What did she have to do to rid herself of his horrible man? Scream? Cry? Beat him senseless in his own driveway with one of her children's toys? Surely that would do it, right?

She heard him sigh again, before he shook his head with a growl, "Listen, you can believe whatever you want, but you and I both know the truth. And if you tell Ricky, be sure to deal with the fallout of that decision for yourself... You don't have to be ashamed, Amy. I'm not..."

The lilt in Ben's voice at the last part of his statement, made her heave before throwing up in her mouth. Her legs started shaking now, unable to hold back the well of pain and hurt that she refused to let him see; refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break. For just a second, she glanced over towards the house, and seeing him staring right back at her, broke something in her. Ricky knew something wasn't right, and the look on his face told her he wasn't going to let it go.

Taking a few more deep breaths, she heard her daughter start to whimper, and with a hard shove to his side, she shouted furiously, "Go!"

Rocking. That's all she could do; move her feet steadily up and down, back and forth in one fluid motion. It kept the baby in her arms calm, while also letting her know that she was still able to move a part of her body; that even though she was frozen everywhere else and couldn't even muster a blink - her legs still worked. She could feel the wet tears streaking her cheeks and hitting her arms as she tried to will the hazy memories away. But they weren't budging. Instead coming in rapid fire of clearer depictions that had her breath catching in her throat.

"B-Ben!" Were the last words that rolled off her lips before her vision became spotty and faded to black.

But this time, it wasn't static that filled her ears. It was a faint voice, but she heard it. Slurred by lust and alcohol, she heard her name, "Amy..." before everything went silent again. When she came to, Ben was on top of her, grunting and moaning, fisting her hair between his fingers with one hand and holding her wrists together above her head with the other. His pace increased with a labored pant, shifting his hand from her hair to cup her right breast, kneading it with a rushed breath, "Oh - yes - more." His image was still slightly obscured but the more she tried to remember, the clearer it started to become. Because she had looked into those eyes a hundred times during their time together, and not once did she ever see the lust pour over them to the point where they had turned black. He was taking what he wanted and enjoying it, regardless of her say, or unconsciousness lying underneath him. He might have been drunk too, but he was coherent enough to do this; to take her for himself without her permission. To take a piece of her that she had only ever shared with Ricky in moments of passion, and taint it to fit his own sick agenda.

She wanted to scream. To fight. To claw his eyes out as the little beads of sweat gathered across his forehead with each unwanted thrust inside her. But she couldn't. Couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Could barely even blink. She was on her back, barely conscious. Her head was propped up with a pillow, but her body was unable to move; paralyzed by the alcohol, or a drug of some kind, or maybe even fear. Head feeling like a bag of hammers was just dropped on her and the room was beginning to spin again.

He was going faster, his lips forming syllables she couldn't make out, before they formed a large O, and he dropped to her chest, trialing his lips along her neck and her shoulders. "Amy, that was -" She heard him pant, tracing the outline of her nipple with his thumb, "fucking incredible."

Everything went black again, but a dulled pain still lingered, and would continue to linger for several more hours before she found herself barely awake, with a sheet wrapped around her naked body, vomiting violently into her dorm rooms toilet.

The events of that night were once fuzzy and clouded, but not anymore. And whether it was from trauma, or repression, it became clear to her now that she wasn't crazy. Nor was she at fault for any of it, and knew what had to be done.

"Daddy! Sum-tin wong with mommy!" He shouted in a panic, shoving the door so hard it hit the wall. Seeing his mother whimpering and gasping like she was hurt, sent him into overdrive, immediately grabbing onto her arm and burying his head into her side with a sob.

Within seconds, Ricky sprinted into the room and knelt beside her, "Amy? Amy are you okay?" There was panic in his voice, reaching out to brush the hair away from her face with his hand, "Hey - Ames - Ames... it's okay... you're okay..."

"Wh-at wong with mommy, daddy?" John sniffled, gripping her even tighter in absolute fear

"I got this, buddy. It's okay." He lied, trying to keep calm in front of his son. He too was at a loss because he had never seen Amy like this before. Even all those nights in the hospital when she would shut down or lash out, she never responded like this.

Her eyes were wild and unblinking, but held so many tears within them, they were red and puffy. Her hands were shaking so badly poor Emma probably thought her back was a drum by how much continuous movement her fingers were doing. Her feet kept sliding back and forth with the tips of her shoes acting as an achor to propell her toes upward as she continued to rock them back and forth. He knew the only thing keeping their daughter in her grasp was the death grip her left arm held her in, otherwise she probably would have been on the floor. Her breathing was erratic; short breaths one beat, longer, more jagged, breaths another. And her mouth, although open enough to show the bottom of her teeth and a little bit of her tongue, was unmoving. She was paralyzed in some weird, invisible, trance where all she could do was whimper like a wounded animal as the tears ran down her face, and rock back and forth while she shook, unable to speak. And he didn't know how to snap her out out of it.

"Amy... I need you to say something... please..." He pleaded with her, grabbing her hand to bring her back to reality. She blinked as a response, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. Progress. Curling his fingers around hers, he whispered, "I watched you when we were at Leo's... you're not okay. You haven't been okay all night. So I need you to talk to me. Tell me what is going on. It's the only way I know how to help you." With a jagged breath, Amy finally moved her body; lifting her head to meet his eyes - a pleading so deep in them he didn't even have to ask her to tell him again. Because her eyes gave him the answer to his question and the name of the person who had her in this state - Ben.

"Is this about Ben?" His question was direct but gentle, knowing that if it was indeed about him, it could send her spiraling. But then Leo's words came rushing back, "They ran into each other a couple of times..." along with Chloe's, " Right around the time he got kicked out of the dorms for partying too much.."

Then it began to click. Something happened in New York. Something big. And whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Ricky's face fell with a frown, eyes hardening as he stood up and ran his hand over his face - he had to approach his next question very, very carefully. "Tell me the truth, Amy... did you sleep with Ben in New York?" It was as if she were a balloon that had just been pricked by a pin, and popped; her body immediately giving up the tension filling it and causing her to collapse under the weight. Her sobs now audible. Taking a seat on the tiny sliver of the mattress that wasn't occupied, he wrapped his arm around her and held her close, kissing her head, "Shhh - hey, it's okay. I promise I won't get upset if you just tell me the truth, okay?"

Gasping for air, Amy just started to shake her head repeatedly and managed to get a good breath in before being choked by her sobs again; revealing the dark truth she never wanted to even admit to herself. "... B-B-Ben... r-raped... meee..." Once the words left her lips, she gave up; letting her rigid body go slack. Her arms fell to her lap, causing the baby to slide off her torso with a jolt. Acting quickly, he caught Emma before she fell off her lap, shushing her whimpers that were now mixing in with Amy's deep, gutteral wails.

"W-w-what -" was the only word he could find to say. So many things were swirling around his head - including all the ways he would be killing Ben Boykewich.

Her head was in her hands now, screaming in sorrow at her feet, "I'm sorry! I'm so so so sorrrryyyyy!"

Without another word, he ushered both children out of the room with him, mindful to keep his voice even so he wouldn't scare them. "I need you to do me a favor and watch your sister while I talk to mommy, okay?" He instructed the boy, placing his whining sister chewing on her costume inside the playpen before sprinting back into the bedroom to be by her side. "Hey - its okay, I'm here. I'm right here. It's going to be okay." He tried to comfort, wrapping both arms around her trembling frame; the vibrations of her sobs rattling into his chest as he choked, "I want you to tell me everything, Amy - Don't leave anything out, understand?"

And so she did. Every detail she could physically remember. From them seeing each other in the doorway of her dorm, to her waking up wrapped in the sheet, and everything in between.

"So you're saying if you had been pregnant when you came back... it would have been -" Ricky's eyes were filled with tears having to hear the gory details of what had happened to her. What the man who he once called a friend, did to her. She had fallen apart again, too distraught to do much more than nod as a response to his question while hugging John's pillow tightly against her body. Standing, he swiped his cheeks with the back of his hand and seethed, "He can't get away with this!"

Storming bsck into the livingroom where his son was entertaining the tired baby, he grabbed his jacket and brushed the top of his head with his palm, "I need you to be a good boy and listen to mommy. I'll be back later."

Nodding slowly in understanding, John waited until the door closed before running back into his room, and burrowing into her side, whispering, "... mommy... awre you OK?" When Amy sniffled as a response, he put his head on her arm and kissed it softly, "I lov you..."

The tires screeched against the rocks, slinging gravel in multiple directions before the car came to a stop and he stomped out.

Bypassing every red light made it easier to get to where he needed to be. And gave him no time to truly come up with a plan to approach the situation. All he knew was that his vision was red; the images of what he was told plaguing his mind only amplifying the rage bubbling in his blood. Ben wasn't going to get away with what he had done, not as long as Ricky was still breathing to stop him.

Before he could register his surroundings, his hand was clentched into a fist, banging on the door.

There was a rustling before it opened and his face came into view, scowling, "Aren't you a little too old to be trick-or-treating?"

His words were muffled, not being able to focus on anything but his hands wrapped around his scrawny throat, "Outside - now!"

Ben rolled his eyes, trying to slam the door in his enemy's face, but Ricky was too quick, kicking it open with his boot tip to show he wasn't playing around. With crossed arms, Ben took the two steps out of the door and muttered, "What's this about? I have things to do, you know. Not all of us are tied down like y -" but he didn't get to finish as he was slammed against the brick siding.

"You're going to shut up, listen, and then answer my question - got it?" Ricky seethed, eyes daggered slits, "What happened in New York between you and Amy?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Ben scoffed

"Yeah -" Ricky slammed him harder into the brick, "Actually, I would - start talking."

Swallowing, he put his hands on his arms to try to get free, "Well then ask Amy, because it's none of your business and I'm not telling you."

That was unacceptable. "Oh you will. Because I already talked to Amy, and it is my business when the mother of my children gets assaulted while she's drunk and unconscious!" Another, harder, slam, his voice cutting, "You raped my wife, you worthless little piece of shit!"

Ben's eyes went wide, face going slack at the accusation, "Whoa! Hold up here - is that what she told you? Because it was consensual." Hands fighting harder to be released as he blurted, "Amy kissed me first! She came onto me and -"

"She was drunk, Ben!" Slam. "Too intoxicated to consent to anything!" Slam. "You got her drunk and then took advantage of her you son of a bitch!" Ricky's fists locked around the fabric of Ben's shirt and he threw him into the bush, trying to reign in the white hot rage taking over every cell in his body.

Scurrying to his feet, Ben brushed himself off and held the back of his head that surprisingly wasn't bleeding, "That's not what happened! She got drunk, yes, but she came onto me first! She kissed me first, and climbed into my lap -"

His footing was loud, stomping up to him with venom in his warning, "Speak very carefully with your next set of words unless you want your blood on this pavement..."

Ben's eyes were dark, but he raised them to Ricky's with his explanation of events, "Amy invited me in. We talked, and drank, and she kissed me. She led me to the bed and she kissed me. She initiated -"

"Watch it!"

"She initiated the sex. I just followed in her lead." His hands were raised in surrender as he came closer, crossing them over his face until he took a step back, "I don't know why she's making a big deal about this - the sex wasn't even good. I don't know why I wasted -"

Grabbing him again, Ricky growled and socked him in the stomach, "I told you to watch it!"

"What the hell, man!" Wincing, Ben groaned in pain, taking a step back to collect his thoughts. After a minute or so of intense breathing between the two as Ricky fought from killing him, and Ben tried not to be killed, he spoke angrily, "You know what - you can have her! I can't believe I wasted all those years fantasizing about being with her when all she ever was is a whor -"

A strong crunch to the jaw shut him up, as Ricky's fist connected to Ben's face and sent him reeling. "You raped her!" He yelled, landing another punch, "You saw an opportunity, and you took advantage of her!" Grabbing him by the collar while he was still dazed from the blow, he threw him on the ground, "You thought she wouldn't remember, and you'd be in the clear -" Punch. "You never loved her! You only loved the idea of her!" Another punch, slamming his scrawny body down further into the concrete, his voice thick and laced with rage, "But guess what, rich boy? Amy did remember, and she told me everything, and I swear I'm going to make you pay for what you did to her." Two more punches. "Because I actually love that woman, and I'll be damned if you ever come near her again!" Shaking his hand out to alleviate some of the pain starting to creep in, he stood up and wiped his brow with his forearm. "You better be thankful she wasn't pregnant with your baby, or you'd be dead by now because I would have killed you!" He spat, eyes wild with darkness as he fought the urge to start hitting him again, but instead turned on his boot heel.

Shaking his head to regain some movement, Ben struggled against his swollen cheek to stammer, "W-w-ait - w-was she - was she pregnant?"

Pausing, Ricky clentched his fists at his sides, turning his head ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of Ben's busted up face, lowering his tone, "... No. No she wasn't." Before turning completely around and starting to rage again, "But even if she was, you wouldn't be anywhere near her. I wouldn't allow you to be."

Ben struggled to sit up, groaning at the sharp ache in his abdomen, "That's not your call to make. If she were pregnant with MY baby, you couldn't stop us from being together!" Shaking his head again, he wiped the blood from his lip, and started to chuckle, "I wish she were pregnant... because it would bring me so much joy to see you smoldering with rage and jealousy as you watched your ex dote over my child, while you were stuck with the ones she didn't want!" Shifting his legs to stand up, he continued taunting him, "It would have been perfect. Me and Amy, together, raising our baby -" Catching Ricky by surprise by issuing a swift kick to his right shin, "But you had to ruin everything!" Another to his left that sent him to his knees with a grimace. "You have always ruined everything!" Not giving him a chance to attack him, he managed to land a weak punch across his jaw, jolting Ricky to the side as he sneered, "But you're right on one thing... I did get what I wanted." Ricky's head snapped up, vision distorting to red; fists balled up so tightly he feared he would break his own hand from the pressure. With each word that rolled from Ben's tongue, was another band of his self control being snapped, and he was about to feel the full ability of what he'd been holding back. "I had Amy clentching around me, and moaning while you slept in an empty bed because she didn't want you anymore..." He was smiling now: a sick, menacing smile. "She wanted me... screaming my name as I pounded into her -"

Lunging forward, Ricky's self control was gone, delivering four continuous and hard punches, he thought he heard something crack. Teeth cletched so tight his jaw was aching, "Last warning - you stay away from Amy. Don't think about her. Don't talk about her. Don't even picture what she looks like. Forget she ever existed... because if you don't... if you come near her again..." Another punch. "My next warning won't be so giving." Wiping the blood coating his knuckles, on his shirt, he rose to his feet and spit a few inches from where Ben's head was lolled to the side. "Enjoy your night you spoiled little prick!"

Unable to move from his spot, Ben managed a hoarse, "Fuck you!" From his overly swollen and bleeding lips.

Yawning, she ran her fingers through his hair, continuing to hum the song she'd been singing to him since they went into the livingroom together a half and hour ago. His head was in her lap, fighting his drooping eyelids from giving into the sleep his body craved. She was on her other side, gripping her arm as light snores escaped her pacified lips. They were both still in their costumes, too tired from the nights events to remove them. She could hear his boots coming up the stairs; their loud thuds transitioning to lighter steps as he got closer to the door. He probably figured they were all asleep and didn't want to wake them.

The door creaked slowly, showcasing his tall frame in shadows against the one lamp she had turned on on what used to be her side of the bed.

Taking a few steps closer, she couldn't help but audibly gasp at his appearance; his shirt was stained in spots of red that looked black against the fabric. The left side of his face held a purple bruise against his cheekbone, while his hands carried the weight of dried blood plastered to his skin.

What had he done.

Catching the look of terror in her eyes, Ricky quickly reiterated with a head shake, "I know what it looks like - but it's not all mine."

Amy's eyes grew wide, fearing what had happened that caused him to have someone else's blood on him, "What the hell did you do?"

Avoiding her eyes, he clentched his jaw and muttered, "What I should have done a long time ago." Removing his shirt, he wrapped it around his hand and bent forward to scoop their sleepy little lion up, "I'm going to put her to bed."

Not wanting to disturb John, whose eyes were now closed as he burrowed further into her thigh, she leaned back against the cushion and rubbed his back. But a rather forecful knock at the door sent her sitting back upright with a furrowed brow at who would be there that late. Another, harder, knock didn't give her time to think because whoever it was, wasn't keen on waiting it seemed. Shifting her weight to the side, she managed to slide out from under Johns head without disrupting his sleep, and quickly shuffled to the door. Her heart racing at who stood on the other side. "C-can I - I help y-you?" Amy stuttered through panic at seeing two uniformed officers standing on his doorstep.

A taller man with sandy blonde hair, that looked slightly older than Ricky, uncrossed his hands from his torso, and asked, "Does Richard Underwood live here, ma'am?"

She swallowed nervously, hiding her hand that started to shake as she shouted, "R-Ricky..."

There was an awkward pause of silence, waiting, before she heard him open the bedroom door and ask from the hallway, "Is someone at the doo-" Stopping in his tracks when he saw the officers now standing in his livingroom. Emma whimpered against his shoulder, fisting her left eye tiredly. Ricky swallowed and tightened his grip on her body, "Can I help you with something, officers?"

The other one, this one a man her dad's age with short black hair that held specks of gray, spoke, "Are you Richard Underwood?"

Shifting their daughter to his other arm and jostling her, he cut his eyes between the two of them, "Who's asking?"

The young officer took a step forward, putting one hand on his hip to retrieve something from his belt, "Sir, please put down the infant and put your hands behind your back."

Mouth falling agape in shock, seeing the object the officer was grabbing was a set of shiny silver handcuffs, Amy's breathing began to quicken, "Wait - what -"

Doing as he was told, Ricky nodded silently and passed the whimpering baby to her mother and shifted his arms to cross at his spine. Seeing the fear etched in Amy's features that she was trying to conceal, he nudged her shoulder with his and whispered, "It's okay, Amy -"

Cupping her hand over their daughters eyes to shield her from having to see her father in this predicament, her lip wobbled and a tear rolled down her cheek, "No, its not - what are they -"

"... Mommy...?" There was a rustling on the sofa, John's head barely lifting off the cushion before it dropped it again.

Waiting until he knew his son was down, Ricky shook his head at her, trying to stay as calm as he could for her, "Don't freak out. Just put them to bed and call Reuban, okay?"

The older officer, tightened the cuffs at his wrists, making him wince at the uncomfortable shift. Straightening his shoulders to keep him standing straight, he stated, "Richard Underwood you are under arrest for assult and battery. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say, can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be provided to you." Leading him across the floor, they paused in the doorway, the older man shifting the radio that was slung across his chest, "Do you understand these rights as I have explained them?"

With a nod, Ricky stared straight ahead into the dark hallway and replied, "Yes." He heard her sniffle behind him and turned just enough to meet her eyes with his; the fear now morphing to devastation at him being carted away like he was. He swallowed roughly, letting a tear cascade down his jaw because she had to witness all of this, "It's going to be okay, Amy. I promise." The officers gave a small nod to each other before the sandy blonde one shut the door behind them; their heavy booted footsteps causing the floor to rattle.

Rounding the corner to the back door, his stomach tightened at the figure who stood by the front enterance. The glow of the streetlights flooded the shop with enough light to see the dark purple and black bruises outlining the majority of his face.

"You -" Ricky raged, bucking against the handcuffs to free his hands to finish the job he left behind. But the officers hand stilled his movements. He knew he couldn't cause a scene because those men would have no issues pulling their guns on him if he so much as jerked the wrong way. There stood Ben, smirking at him, arms crossed over his chest. "You son of a bitch!" He spit through gritted teeth, being led away forcibly past him and out the door.

Standing at the window, Amy watched through the tears blurring her vision as they ushered Ricky into the back of the squad car; the light from the street light across the road, illuminating him enough to see the sadness in his eyes and the worry on his face.

"Is daddy bwack?" John mumbled sleepily, fisting his eyes and yawning, "I wan-t go night-night..."

The gravel crunched under the tires as it backed up and sped away, taking a piece of her heart with it.

Emma fidgeted against her chest, eyes closing and reopening in combat of allowing her body to sleep. She had a feeling that was going to be the gist of all their nights - little to no sleep. Brushing her forehead with the pad of her thumb, Amy closed the curtain and held out her hand to him, "Alright, baby - let's get you guys to bed."

I told you it was about to get real... Stay tuned friends... ;)