I cranked this out in a 13 day writing frenzy, so if it sucks... sorry, but at least I got it out of my head!

"I understand this is very upsetting-"

"Do you?" She challenged with a crack in her voice, the tears gathering in the brim of her eyes, "Isn't there something you can do?"

"I've tried every avenue possible-"

"Well try again!"

"We talked about this - I warned you when you averaged your summer school grades that this could happen..." O'Malley unclasped her hands from atop the desk, opening a manila folder, "and then with you missing so much of the school year - to no fault of your own, of course -" sighing, "but my hands are tied with this."

"Couldn't you, um, call a parent teacher conference, or something? Have them meet with my dad to give me some extra assignments to help my grade? Or maybe ask for like more extensions -" Her lip wobbled, the frantic stutter peaking through as she tried to keep her emotions under control.

"I'm pretty sure you've maxed out your extensions, Amy." The pen in her hand circled around the document twice, "And honestly the extra course work wouldn't help you since the original course work isn't completed - if anything more work would hurt your grade, not help it."

O'Malley closed the folder, biting the tip of her bottom lip nervously, "The fact is without the work, there is no grade, and no grade means no credit, and no credit means -"

"No graduation..." Amy sniffled, closing her eyes and biting the tip of her thumb nail, choking back the lump in her throat as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"We're not trying to hurt you, Amy" Kaitlyn whispered sympathetically, handing the upset young teen a box of Kleenex, "The school understands your situation - they do, which is why you've been allowed extensions, medical absences, and leaving campus whenever you needed to."

She paused, closing her eyes for a brief second, "Your teachers understand, but they also can't give you special treatment and allow you to skirt by because you -"

Amy wiped her eyes with the tips of her ring fingers, "Because I chose to have a bab - babies, in high school..." sniffling again.

"Right..." She nodded slowly, allowing the teen to have her moment.

"So that's just it then? It's 2 weeks until graduation, and I'm just out of luck? I don't get to graduate with everyone?" She asked after a few minutes of crying, her voice hoarse, as she tried to reduce the puffiness of her eyes.

"I didn't say that." O'Malley paused, disappearing under her desk, "You're right though, it is 2 weeks until graduation... which is why I used my last trick in the hat to work something out for you-" popping back up, a black binder in her arm, "most of the students are studying for final exams, or scouting colleges. So there isn't really any new material being taught-"

"And?"

"And... your teachers have agreed to allow you to finish up some of the larger assignments you keep asking for extensions on." Tucking the binder under her arm, she grabbed a pen from the holder, "I'm going to be in and out in meetings most of the day, so you can stay in here and work - without distraction - and get those assignments completed."

Amy eye's went wide, taking the tip of her bottom lip between her teeth, "Enough to graduate?"

Gripping the binder, Kaitlyn's eyes lowered, "Enough to see where you stand... there is always summer school; you could walk in the ceremony and take courses to complete your credits - like Adrian did."

Seeing the grimacing look she gave to her statement, O'Malley took a seat next to her, "I know this is the last thing you wanted to hear - but now is the time to put everything aside and focus solely on your education priorities." She reached over, patting her shoulder lightly, "You can do this, Amy. You did it before, I believe in you that you can do it again."

Rounding the corner sharply, he pulled into a vacant spot, shutting off the engine quickly before getting out and pulling on the slender door handle. It took all of three seconds before he inhaled slowly out of frustration, "John..." upon seeing the crumbly remains of his son's breakfast littering a large portion of the seat.

"She did it!" John quickly pouted in protest, pointing directly to the baby slamming a rubber lion against her seat.

"Emma isn't even close to you" He rolled his eyes at his son's lying, shaking his head as he tried to remain patient, and taking in another deep inhale through his nose at the sight of a discarded juice box leaking on his floorboard. Brushing the crumbs away from the buckles, and unsnapping them, he picked the juice box up, discarding it in the trash can 3 feet away.

Teetering in the open door, John prepared to jump out before a distant sound caught his attention. "Lyssa!" He shouted loudly, pointing a chubby finger at the nursery entrance where a stout brunette was closing the main gate.

Following his son's shouts, Ricky too saw the woman starting to close the white panel, his brow creasing in confusion. "Hey, back in the seat, buddy - I'm going to go talk to Ms. Alyssa real quick, okay?" He wagged a finger at him sternly, "Don't move. I'll be right back." Closing the door promptly, he quickly clicked the remote lock button and jogged up the sidewalk, stopping directly in between the two tall white panels. "Good morning?"

The brunette flashed him a confused look before her eyes grew wide, "Oh no! I'm so sorry nobody called you before you drove over here." Adjusting her glasses on her nose, "I've been running around all morning -"

She paused, smoothing out a red sign that read closed, with her palm, "One of our toddlers came in early this morning ill - parent had a meeting so I don't know if they knew he was sick or not - anyway, the child has the chicken pox, and we've closed the facility down for the day to clean and sterilize it... Nobody called you?" Ricky shook his head. "I'm sorry. We've all been scrambling trying to get ahold of parents and caretakers while the child was held with a teacher in isolation: don't want anymore of the little ones to catch it. You have a good day now." And with that she closed the gate, popping the large metal guard over it.

He stood there a second, dumbfounded, before pulling out his phone and sprinting back towards the vehicle. Hey, it's me. It's me Amy! Leave a message! Two more attempts led to the same result.

Letting the back of his head hit the seat rest, as the annoying beep sounded from the receiver, and both children were in the middle of their serenade of mimic squeal-screams that John had so thoughtfully taught Emma earlier in the week, Ricky pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, and sighed. "Back in your seat buddy... looks like you and your sister are spending the day with me."

"I'm not going to ask you again - stop - or you're being put back in the cart!" He snapped through clenched teeth, Amy's voicemail blaring in his ear causing him to exhale angrily.

John shook his hand away, stomping a light-up shoe firmly against the concrete floor, "Nooo!"

Giving his arm a gentle tug away from the full shelves, "Then stop touching things."

He pouted, scrunching his face, and dragging his feet behind as his dad continued maneuvering around the aisle, gathering things and putting them in the cart around his little sister's car seat.

A chime sung out, causing him to drop a can of corn on the ground to free it from his pocket: his aggravation only growing when the number flashing on the screen wasn't his wife's, instead was one he didn't recognize, causing him to decline it immediately.

Picking up the can, and putting it back on the shelf, Ricky sighed again at the scene as John had swiped something from his sister, causing her to cry.

"Dos is jus mine!" The boy shouted at the baby, her cries getting the attention of their father, and the nearby shoppers. Seeing his dad's furrowed brow, he quickly clung to the package of off brand chocolate chip cookies; hugging them close to his chest. "Deez are mine!"

"Giving your wife a much needed break, huh?" A lady in her mid 50s across the aisle remarked, observing him gathering the distraught infant into his arms. Her eyes narrowed in on the small boy removing one hand away from the item in his grasp, to poke his fingers through the cart slots.

Ricky could feel her judgmental stares piercing him, as he adjusted the baby against his hip, "Something like that, yeah"

Pushing the cart with one hand, they continued slowly down the remainder of the aisle, until rounding the corner revealed a blue box reflecting off the overhead florescent light. "What is that?" Raising one of his eyebrows before reaching down to grab it. "You don't need all of these." He shook his head, gathering the 5 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese shaped like SpongeBob SquarePants, and putting them back on the shelf closest to them, "One box is enough"

"I want it!" John huffed, bouncing on his feet

Hiking the baby higher on his torso, and grimacing at his slobbered hoodie string she was busy chewing on, he left one box in his grasp, "You can have one box. You don't need 6."

Giving John one of the blue boxes with the image of Patrick on the front, Ricky clenched his jaw when he shook it away forcefully, raising his voice in pitch, "I want dat oneeee!"

"John" Stuck on the end of the aisle, he was trapped, patience becoming thinner and thinner as the stares, and the murmurs from the judgmental shoppers started.

But it was too late, the boy had already started in, slapping the side of the cart with his left hand while his right grasped the box; the tears streaking his red cheeks as his feet bounced atop the floor, "I-I-I wannntttt mommyyyyyy!"

His tantrum shot through the space with an ear piercing shriek. His sister flailing her small hand before also starting in, as the lady who he'd seen just moments ago rolled by and tisked at him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at his out of control children. "Me too..."

"Go - wipe your shoes on the rug please." Ricky instructed, allowing the boy who had insisted on stepping into every puddle leading up to the sidewalk, to get in front of him as he tugged the door open and the chime sounded: demonstrating the proper action to the child to mimic as he knew Bunny hated muddy prints on the tile flooring.

Lifting his head up a fraction, he saw her white apron coming towards him. Her eyes were curious, as she cocked her head and pushed her tongue into her cheek. "Kid at daycare came in with chicken pox, so they closed it for the day." He explained, glancing quickly around the almost empty shop.

"Uh huh" She mumbled, watching the boy attack a small dum-dum lollipop before her left brow slightly arose, "and the other one?"

In a moment of confusion, his eyes squinted before coming to the realization that he was, indeed, missing his youngest child. "Oh Shit!" Ricky cursed, dropping the bags of groceries to the ground in a panicked frenzy as he threw the door open and ran to his car as fast as he could.

Taking in a deep breath, he yanked the handle open forcefully, letting out the breath in relief at the sight of her.

Emma's eyes were squinted, having been awoken from her car nap by the rough startle; a single bead of sweat starting to collect on her forehead from the May heat.

"I'm so sorry" He apologized, stroking her cheek, and kissing her forehead repeatedly as she cried.

Twitching his nose, John cocked his head, giggling with the sucker still in his mouth at the way Smiley kept popping out of the freezer with boxes, each time with a new goofy expression on his face.

The chime sounded again as Ricky rushed back in, baby in tow, another momentary wave of panic hitting him when his son wasn't in the spot he'd left him in. Spotting him over by the freezers, as he put the car seat down and picked the groceries up, whistling loudly to get the boys attention. "Hey - upstairs" gesturing with his head to the red door.

"Daddy, I wana pway in d-air!" John pointed to the large freezer, the other lollipop locked tightly in the bend of his thumb, as he fisted them both.

Creasing his brow, Ricky shook his head, losing patience, "No, that's a freezer. You can't play there." The sound of his daughter's escalating whines, making him sigh. Hiking the brown bags as high as he could, he shuffled them enough to grab the handle of the carrier - until one bag slipped and sent two items to the floor.

Bunny stepped in, taking the car seat from him, "I got it. Go on."

Closing his eyes, Ricky contemplated having John stay on one single step as he stepped over him because as per usual that boy was going too painstakingly slow for his liking.

"Uh oh!" John stopped abruptly, almost causing Ricky to smack into the back of him, "daddy! I jus dwopped my can-ny!" His voice squeaked, on the verge of tears, as his dad put a hand out preventing him from going back for it, which in turn caused him to pout more.

There were only 16 steps, and somehow they'd managed to take the longest on the last 2 before getting to the hallway. Once there, his phone buzzed. Thinking it was Amy finally calling him back, he frowned at the number of the high school counselor on the screen. "Hello?" He answered, annoyed.

O'Malley's voice came through in a rush, "Ricky? Hi, have you seen Ethan?"

"Not since this morning. Why? Did something happen?"

"Well... he came to school, but then he left. I figured he was sick, but I can't get ahold of your foster mother. Is he there with you?"

Tucking the phone deeper into the spot between his cheek and shoulder, while pulling out his keys, "Why would he be here -" He paused, hearing what sounded like very faint voices coming from inside the apartment. "Hang on a sec", setting the grocery bags down quietly, he snapped his fingers, motioning to his son with a finger to his lips to keep quiet. Nodding when John reciprocated the gesture, Ricky carefully, but forcefully opened the old wooden door, unprepared for what he was about to walk into.

There, in the middle of his sofa, was a shirtless Ethan in a heavy make-out session, with his hands all over some girl in nothing but her bra and too short skirt.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, like a bull ready to strike. "I found him," seething through clenched teeth before hanging up abruptly.

The two teens stared, wide-eyed, at the interruption, Ethan's left hand falling to the cushion.

"Sh-hit!" A squeaky voice uttered from his spot by the open door, causing Ricky to blow out a breath.

"See the line here? That's how you know it's a prime cut" She exclaimed, holding up the thin piece of meat in her gloved hand before placing it inside the white paper and handing it to the customer. Emma's response a series of fussy whines and a swift swipe of the rubber lion to her eyes.

"Tough crowd" Bunny mumbled, just as he walked back down, raising a brow.

"Peekaboo wasn't working - why not start her on the business early?" Waving the gentleman, known as Mr. Peter's, a goodbye.

Stifling a chuckle, Ricky glanced at the infant, "Maybe after a nap, huh?" Taking the car seat handle a little roughly, prompting an eyebrow rise from the redhead.

"I heard slamming... everything okay up there?"

"No," Shaking his head, "No, It's not." Letting out a deep sigh, "Ethan and some random girl decided to cut school and sneak into the apartment."

"What for?" His annoyed look giving her her answer. "What are you going to do?"

"You mean other than try not to kill him?"

"Sh-hit!" John giggled, toying with his little sister's rubber teething toy, which in turn made her whines escalate.

Sighing again, Ricky dropped his head, "Amy picked a freaking great time to ignore my calls."

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life!" The girl hissed, throwing her shirt over her head in a frenzy, "You said we would be alone!"

"He wasn't supposed to be here!" He defended, tossing one of the pillows they'd knocked over, back onto the sofa, "Look I don't know why he's here. He and his wife have school and their kids were supposed to be at daycare." Before he could say another word, he felt the sharp thump to the back of his head, as his brother walked back in, setting the car seat on the coffee table - the infant whining loudly within it.

"You're not helping yourself." Opening the door further to gather up the once again discarded grocery bags, Ricky rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen, removing bags of frozen vegetables starting to thaw out, and throwing them inside the open freezer.

The two teens stared at each other, the blonde's foot starting to tap impatiently as she crossed her arms and moved away from the now crying baby.

"Sh-hit!" The little boy muttered again, having dropped one of his hot wheels on his sister's head, causing her to cry.

Slamming the freezer door shut, Ricky paused, taking in a deep breath, as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "I'm running on like 2 hours of sleep here, and now I have to contend with these two until Amy gets home. I've got a paper due in the morning, and have to somehow squeeze these two in a nap between going to the library, and dealing with you guys' mess." He flexed his right hand to relieve some of the tension, "I really don't have time to deal with this childish sh -" John's eyes looked up at him before he caught himself, -"crap. Not today at least"

"I can help, I'm awesome with kids." The girl piped up, taking a step forward

He shook his head, "I'm sure you are - but no - I've got it." Glancing between the two teens and the two children, he sighed, "Can you wait downstairs for a minute? I need to talk to my brother - alone."

Pursing her lips, she awkwardly glanced at him before squeezing past John who was crouched on the floor playing with one of his many toy fire trucks.

Waiting until the door closed, "You could be nicer, this wasn't even her idea, you know." Ethan scowled, a hint of anger laced into his tone.

Ricky's jaw clenched, "I don't care - you were going to have sex with some girl in MY apartment?" Right eye on the verge of twitching from the anger, "What is wrong with you!"

"Same thing that is wrong with every teenage guy, including you"

"Ethan, is it not enough to have an apartment full of baby things that belong to babies conceived by two high school students to remind you that sex makes babies - do you not get that?"

"We had condoms. You did not have condoms. If you did, you didn't know how to use one."

"Gosh, you are so lucky I got my temper under control, and I'm not wringing your neck..." he clicked his tongue, "I knew how to use one, I just didn't okay? And that could be you. You may use them, and you may not use them, or you may use them badly, or the condom might break, or a million other things" A loud cry breaking him of his thoughts.

"Like what, what million other things?"

Going over to the coffee table, he lifted the shrieking infant out, "I don't know alright, but things."

Ethan rolled his eyes, "You're not even making sen-" furrowing his brow as the infant was thrust into his arms, "hey!" Scrunching his nose in disgust at the drool running down Emma's mouth, and the odor wafting into his nostrils, making him gag and John cover his nose with his hand, he held the crying baby out away from his chest.

"Think of this as a reminder of how stupid you are for wanting to have sex with some random girl at 15 when you're not ready" Gathering all the necessary supplies from the diaper bag, Ricky took the saliva covered baby back into his grasp, carting her to the sofa.

"She's not some random chick off the street! Her name is Ariel, and she's a nice girl."

"Ethan..." He shook his head, keeping his eyes fixated on his daughter as he spoke, trying to keep his temper in check, "You just broke up with Kathy... how do you think she's going to feel about ever wanting to get back with you if you sleep with a bunch of random girls?"

"Pot meet kettle." Ethan muttered bitterly

"Zip it!" Ricky retorted loudly, causing John to jump back, and Emma to cry as he lifted her back into his arms a little rougher than he should have, "It's not the same!"

"Yes it is. That's all you used to do!"

"This isn't about me, it's about you!" Getting up from the sofa, and going to the kitchen, "you don't use your head: you're not old enough - let alone mature enough to have sex. And you sure as hell aren't old enough or mature enough to have a baby!" His tone was sharp, taking out a bottle from the top of the fridge, "because that's what sex does."

Shaking it forcefully, "And I'm sure that you don't want the mother of your child to just be some random girl you slept with to get back at your ex" Putting the nipple to his daughters lips, he watched her with admiration, and a just a hint of guilt while glancing at his foster brother, "I don't want this for you. I mean have you learned absolutely nothing from me?"

"Is that what happened with you and Amy?" Ethan mumbled, watching his niece try to grasp the bottle with her tiny hands, before his tone turned snarky again, and he rolled his eyes, "Because it seems to me like you're projecting... And besides that, that wouldn't happen. Unlike you I actually know how to use a condom."

"Until you don't, and you're freaking out about the repercussions of it." Rather than grab Ethan by the collar of his shirt, Ricky just shook his head, giving his full attention to the baby as she busily gulped down her lunch.

Ethan scowled at him again, "What are you even doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Kid at daycare came in sick so they closed." Pausing as the infant coughed to raise her up a little higher, "and Amy isn't answering my calls or texts..." Ricky put the almost empty bottle on the counter, wiping away the excess formula from Emma's mouth with the pad of his thumb, "So I have to be an adult today and miss my classes to take care of our kids."

"Would you like some advice?" Bunny watched the girl twiddle her thumbs in the middle of the shop, "Run."

The blonde raised her brow at the comment, trying hard not to scowl at the woman covered in meat blood.

"You're young, and you seem like a nice girl, so take my advice and run away as far as you can from this mess because the boy is still hung up on someone else."

Ariel crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed, as the door swung open and the energetic little boy from upstairs barreled through almost knocking into her.

"Are your parents home?" Ricky glanced at her, taking his keys out of his pocket

Ethan rolled his eyes again, embarrassed, "Dude -" which earned him another thump to the side of the head

"You're both suspended for two days - what else am I supposed to do?"

"We could just chill upstairs" Ariel pursed her lips, twirling a piece of hair around her index finger, as Ethan shoved a hand into his pocket

Shaking his head, and scoffing, "Don't think so. You're not being left in the same room, and I have things to do", Ricky clicked the side button on his key fob, pointing it towards the window, "Silver hybrid on the end of the sidewalk by the curb - go. I'll be there in a minute."

Bunny brushed her hands on her apron, taking her spot back behind the counter, "Got your hands full, huh?"

Trying to grasp his son's hand that he kept pulling away from, while also trying to keep his temperamental daughter from screeching, he popped his neck, "You have no idea"

The tires crunched over the gravel as it came to a stop, the array of noises ceasing for a brief second while the seat belt indicator dinged.

"I'll call you later?" Ethan sat up abruptly, putting his hand on Ariel's shoulder as she removed herself from the seat, nodding and giving him a very awkward little wave goodbye as she walked up her driveway.

His head dropped in embarrassment, "You do realize you just killed every ounce of whatever cool I had, right?"

Ricky shrugged, checking his mirrors, "Next time don't be stupid."

Not even caring about his dirty shoes, he hopped up into the passenger seat, waving off his brother's annoyance at the action, "You're not gonna tell Margaret and Shakur about this, are you?"

Taking a few seconds to respond as he dodged a small pothole, "No, I'm not"

"Ok, thanks"

"On the condition that you just... wait... at least wait until you can drive, and you have a safe private place to go, and you're out of high school."

"I'm not gonna promise you that I'm not gonna do it in high school - you can tell them because I'm not making that promise." Taking out his phone, Ethan tapped the screen, I'm not gonna waste my teenage years when sex should be the most fun - because it means nothing."

"You may not want it to mean anything, but Ethan it will mean something to you. And if not to you, to her. It will mean something to one of you and that's where it gets all messed up."

Slowing to a stop at the light, "It's the most intimate thing two people can do with each other", Ricky glanced briefly to the backseat where his son was flipping the pages of a book, and humming, while his daughter he could hear was tugging at the toys attached to her carrier handle, her little squeaky incoherent babbles making him tip his lip up.

"And one day, you are gonna meet that girl that you're going to fall in love with, and you're going to get in bed with her, and she's gonna ask you how many girls you've slept with - what do you want your answer to be?"

Ethan shrugged, tapping on his phone screen some more, "I don't know, like 100?"

"You think any girl out there is gonna want to be with you if you've been with 100 girls?" Ricky's tone was sharp, turning the wheel to the right to get onto the main road.

"Daddy!" John shouted, dropping the book about the yellow bumblebee to the floorboard

Ignoring his nephew, and swiping the hair from his eyes, "Is that the problem with Amy? Because you've slept with 100 girls?"

"Daddy, I want go-fwish!" John shouted again, moving his own shaggy locks away from his eyes while toying with the crumb covered cup holder attached to his seat.

"You wanna know the truth, Ethan?" Blowing out a breath, "Yes, I slept with too many girls..." Ricky tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "but you know what? I love Amy more than any of those girls - I love her so much because she means everything to me..."

His voice was getting shaky, as the sun reflected off of his wedding ring, "And I wish I would have waited for her. But I didn't." Sighing, "and every time you have sex with someone, you give away a little piece of your heart... until there are simply no more parts to give because you've given the most important part of yourself to strangers you'll probably never see or hear from again."

He sniffled, "and the woman you love more than life itself, has to live with the fact that although you were her first, she wasn't yours, and that look in her eyes will stab you in the heart."

Ethan watched the lone tear roll down Ricky's face, as he snorted, "Ok, geez you're starting to sound like a girl."

"Go-fwish!" The toddler chanted, banging his chubby fist on his legs to get someone's attention, "Go-fwish! Go-fwish!"

Turning the wheel to the left, "I just did the best I could do."

"Are you talking about me or about Amy?"

Scoffing, "it's as if Margaret just got me back for every lecture she ever gave me, and then some." Pulling into the large parking lot of the campus, "Give the kid his goldfish, would you?"

Her head shot up as a loud thud echoed across the room.

"This looks productive" Lauren remarked, picking the book she'd dropped up off the floor

Wiping her eyes, Amy straightened her back against the chair, "What do you want?"

"Well that was rude." Pursing her lips, she handed the book over to her, "shouldn't you have gotten this all done when you were home?"

Raking her left hand through her bangs, "And how was I supposed to do that when I just had a baby - who screamed all day - and didn't have any time?"

Lauren rolled her eyes, adjusting the purse strap against her shoulder, "You could have come over, I would've helped you -"

"And when could I have done that? When I got home from work and was exhausted?"

Going back to the notebook next to her hand, Amy erased the page aggressively, "You don't understand because all you have to do is study. You have no other responsibilities, and your mom or dad still does everything for you. Not everyone gets that luxury"

"I resent that, I do a lot for myself!" Lauren scoffed, crossing her arms across the top of her chest, "I hand washed a blouse last weekend."

"That's not the same. You don't know how easy you have it."

"Well it was a choice."

The pencil stilled, "Oh I see... a choice..." as Amy bit her bottom lip trying not to show the hurt, "as in I chose badly because I chose to have babies in high school"

Lauren shrugged, "You said it..."

"No you did." She retorted bitterly, swiping at her left eye quickly as another unwanted visitor poked their head into the room. "What do you want?"

"I was actually looking for O'Malley, I wanted to talk to her about the logistics of this Hudson University packet I got in the mail." Ben stated, leaning against the door frame, stifling a chuckle under his breath when he saw the little stain on the top of her shirt, "is that baby puke?"

Adjusting her shirt to try and hide the spot, and mocking him by laughing silently, she glared at him, "Well she's not here, so you both can go now."

"One, t-woo, fr-wee..." He counted loudly, running his fingers along the spines of the books lining the lowest end of the bookshelf

Touching his shoulder gently, Ricky put a finger to his lips, "Hey, buddy, remember quiet voice" Tugging on his hoodie string, Emma started to whine, squirming against his one armed hold.

"What's got you so upset, huh?" He jostled his daughter, running his free hand over the back of her head as her whines started to escalate - kissing her forehead, "I know you missed your nap", a book falling off the shelf diverting his attention. "Hey. No. Don't take them off the shelf." He scolded, trying to remove him from the bookshelf.

John shook him off, shouting "I wanna see da pit-chers!"

"They don't have pictures. They're not those kinds of books - put them back, please." Trying again to get him away from the shelf, "John...", he blew out a frustrated breath

"Mine!" Shouting again as he hugged the book tighter against his small frame

Realizing the noise level from his side of the library was escalating, and several people's eyes were now falling on him as he tried to quiet his children down, Ricky sighed and snapped towards the other side of the corner at his foster brother chipping off a paint chip from the wall.

Blowing out a breath as he trudged over to their spot, Ethan cut his eyes away from all the people, "What could you possibly want now?"

Not even giving him a chance to make another snide comment, Ricky thrust the fussy infant into his arms, giving him clear instructions with the wag of a finger, "Wait outside until I come get you."

Twisting the lid on the cup on the counter, and opening the cash register, she paused momentarily at the sight of an unknown man walking over to the sweatshirts holding an all too familiar face - Ricky's baby daughter, Emma.

Closing the register, she handed the customer their coffee, "Have a nice day", quickly ushering over to the other side of the store. "Excuse me... Excuse me, sir!"

"What?" He turned around, annoyed

"Where did you get that child?"

Ignoring her, Ethan adjusted the infant better against his hip. Shouting when she stepped in front of him, "What the hell, lady!"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Clementine's eyes stayed on Emma, "I'm going to need you to hand that baby to me - now"

Finger to his chin, he pondered, "Um let me see..." before taking a step back, "Hell no! Now buzz off."

"That child doesn't belong to you."

"Yeah, no shit"

"So give her to me or I'm going to call security!" She reached out, cupping her hands under the baby's arms, and attempting to pull her out of the stranger's grasp, causing Emma to start crying. Ethan pulled back, on the verge of shoving the crazy lady to the ground, and held Emma tighter. "I'm calling security." She sprinted over to the counter.

Jostling the baby into a better state of calm, he patted her back, keeping a tighter grasp on her squirming body, "I knew babies attracted women, but why did you have to attract the crazy ones?" Emma grunted, thrusting the string from his hoodie into her mouth. He watched the lady at the counter, keeping a sharp eye on her lips as they moved rapidly.

Footsteps slapped hard against the concrete as a little boy sprinted into the shop, a plastic bag of orange goldfish crackers falling from his grasp, causing him to pout.

"Thank God you're here!" Clementine cheered, eyes wide when her friend jogged through the entryway. "I called security"

Ricky stopped, confused, "For what?" marching over to where his son now stood. She followed on his heels, ready to aid him if he needed it.

Feeling someone standing behind him, Ethan scowled, "Look, lady I thought I said to fuc-" before the all too familiar slap to the back of his skull turned him around.

"I told you to wait outside!" Ricky scolded laying the book in his hands down on a green sweatshirt

"Yeah well your kid isn't exactly quiet. You were taking forever, and I was tired of getting stared at."

Her brow furrowed, "Wait... you know him?"

Clenching his jaw, he nodded, "Ethan - my foster brother"

"You needed something?" A burly man asked, walking towards the caramel blonde, hand squarely on his handheld radio

Opening and closing her mouth quickly, Clementine scrunched her nose and buried her head in her hands, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, Bubba. It was just a misunderstanding. Everything is fine"

Bubba lingered, eyeing the lanky teen with the infant, and shifting his gaze to the man he knew from the last time he was there, "You sure?" She nodded. Shrugging he nodded back and walked away.

"Wow. I'm so embarrassed."

Shaking his head, Ricky gathered the slobbery baby into his grasp, letting Emma rest her small head on his shoulder. "The daycare closed, Amy isn't answering any of my calls, and this idiot next to me decided to ditch school - so here we are." Ethan scowled again at his remark, stealing a few goldfish crackers from the bag his nephew was still clutching. "Let's go"

"I just made a fresh pot if you're in need of caffeine." She reached out, touching the infant's back before pushing her hands into her back pockets, and setting her gaze on the toddler clutching his dad's leg, "I also just took a batch of cookies out"

Grasping his dad's pant leg tighter, John hid further, shaking his head as a handful of his snack went into his mouth.

Ricky shrugged, "It'll have to be to-go", patting John's head gently with the palm of his free hand, and chuckled tiredly, "we've already missed our naps, and the fun is just getting started." Nodding again, she led the short walk to the counter.

"Do you like that lady?" Ethan questioned the boy, stealing more crackers, and dropping them into his mouth.

Glancing up at him, John shook his head vigorously back and forth, "No!"

He cocked a brow at the site, clicking his tongue at the way she lit up when she handed over the cup; her hand patting his niece's back while she bit into a cookie. "She totally has it for him." He thought aloud, smirking before hijacking more goldfish, "This could be fun."

Knocking on the frame twice, she stepped inside, "How's it going?"

Pushing her bangs back from her face and standing, Amy closed the book, "I will admit it was nice to just sit in here and try to catch up, but I'm not caught up."

"Ok, that's fine, I'll stay as long as you need."

"I would love to stay and get everything done, even if that's until midnight - but the reality is that I have a sleep-deprived teething baby, and an overly energetic toddler at home, as well as an annoyed husband who hasn't stopped calling me all day..."

She gathered up her things and slung her purse over her shoulder, sighing, "and I have a job, and I have to leave my homework unfinished yet again so I can go to my job because not only do we need the money, we need the insurance. So..."

"Ok, so you have to go to work. Ricky can take over with John and Emma when you get home." O'Malley moved over to the desk, opening the top drawer, "You did the work today. You took the first step - now it's just a matter of how badly you want to accomplish this."

Nodding, Amy bit her bottom lip and gave a small wave before walking out the door. Stopping by her locker, she reached for her phone, turning the volume back on just as the same unknown number that's called most of the day, popped up again. Blowing out a breath, she decided to answer it. "Look, I'm really not interested in whatever you're trying to sell me so-" She paused, "Wait...what..." mouth slightly agape at the words coming to her ears. "What does that mean?"

O'Malley was packing up her bag when she heard footsteps across the floor, "Did you forget something?" She looked up, her face filled with concern when she saw the young teen, "Amy..."

"Um -" Amy choked out between sobs, clutching the book in her hands tightly against her chest, her voice horse. Kaitlyn rose out of her seat quickly, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. Amy sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve, "does that offer to stay here still stand?"

"Of course." She nodded, keeping her hands on her shoulders as they walked together, "Take a seat."

"What am I, five?" He quipped, pushing the plastic bowl filled with stringy Mac and cheese noodles away from him, grimacing as he plugged his right ear with his finger, "Can't you put something in that kid before she causes me permanent hearing loss?"

Shooting him a dirty look, "She's upset she missed her nap today because someone decided to be an idiot", Ricky dipped the small spoon back into the pink bowl, blowing out a breath of frustration when Emma started swiping at her eyes, and continued to cry, refusing the mound of watery baby cereal he was trying to feed her.

Turning his back to the shrieking, Ethan's phone became visible. Ricky clicked his tongue, annoyed, "You're really texting Kathy after you brought a girl up here to sleep with?" Shaking his head as he stood, "Are you really that much of an idiot?"

Scowling, Ethan quickly angled his phone out of view, "I'm not an idiot - I was told that girls like when you play hard to get." He took a breath, shoving a forkful of his dinner into his mouth, "If I show Kathy that I'm fine waiting for whatever she's trying to figure out, while I also do what I want to do... then when she wants to get back together, I'll be okay with it."

Rising the dishes in the sink, Ricky let out an amused chuckle, "Who told you that load of crap? Ben?" Ethan was silent, continuing to stab at the processed noodles. Ricky's expression changed, "Oh geez" Taking the 3 steps back to the table, and lifting the screeching infant from the highchair into his arms, "Word of advice, Ethan -" pursing his lips as Emma squirmed and whined, fighting sleep, "don't take life advice from someone who has never lived it enough to give it." Ethan stayed silent, tapping at his phone screen.

Ricky's gaze traveled to the living room, seeing out of the corner of his eye his son jumping on the sofa cushion, the bowl of mac and cheese crookedly resting on the other side. "John, get down and eat!"

"I no want ne-more!" The boy shouted, shaking his head and continuing to jump

"Get down, or you're going to bed!"

"No!"

Ethan snickered, shoving another forkful into his mouth. Ricky bit his bottom lip, running out of patience and put the whimpering baby into the playpen, walking over to the sofa, "down - now." His look was none too happy, and John knew it because he quickly plopped onto his bottom, pouting.

Gathering up the discarded bowl of dinner, as his son huffed and stomped his way into the bedroom, he looked squarely at his foster brother, his tone sharp, "Never take life advice - or any advice at all - from Ben Boykewich"

"'I wonder what Piglet is doing, thought Pooh. I wish I were ther-"' The door opened sharply, sending a draft through the room.

"Mommy!" He cheered, raising the blanket he was sharing with his sister, over his head. Emma jolted against him, whimpering having been startled by his voice as she was dozing off.

"What happened here?" Amy eyed the disarray of the living room, setting her purse on the bookshelf. Ricky pursed his lips, closing the storybook he'd been reading and setting it on the end table.

"You couldn't have called me to tell me that the nursery was closed before I went there?" Annoyance was laced in her tone.

Turning his attention to his foster brother still tapping away at his phone screen, he whistled to get his attention, "Get up and wait downstairs."

Ethan smirked, moving the hair away from his eyes as he trudged out the door. When the door closed, Ricky adjusted the infant, standing up from the sofa, "If you would have answered any of my 104 calls, you'd know that some kid came in with the chicken pox and they closed the nursery" He muttered, frustrated, as their daughter started tugging on his earlobe, "What were you doing all day anyway?"

Amy furrowed her brow at him, giving his attitude back, "I was busy"

"So was I." He deadpanned, holding out their slobbery baby for her to take, before he grabbed his keys off the shelf, "now it's your turn", and slammed the door shut behind him.

Flipping the page, she shoved a forkful of cold mac and cheese into her mouth quickly, avoiding the infant's saliva covered, grabby hands that instead went straight down, crinkling a few pages of her textbook: leaving behind a spot of mushed up bits.

"No," She mumbled, resting her fork inside the bowl to remove her daughter's hands, "Emma, Mr. Stern does not want your teething cracker in his book." Amy looked to John who was busy on the other side of the table playing some game with his array of action figures, while Emma started to fidget, grasping her shirt collar tightly as her whimpers escalated. "Did she have a nap today?"

John looked up at her for a split second, shaking his head before returning to his toys. Crinkling another page, Emma started to cry, making Amy blow out a breath before standing up: shifting the baby's weight between her left side and the bend of her elbow, Emma's feet dangling as the remainder of the wafer dropped to the floor, and she became even more fussy.

Tucking a few loose curls behind her ear, Amy kissed her cheek, swaying slowly, and humming softly: momentarily shushing Emma's loud fusses to whispery whines, before making the mistake of laying her down inside of her swing - upsetting her further as she began to cry again.

"Sh-hit!" The boy muttered from the kitchen, causing Amy to turn around just in time to see the sippy cup dump over onto her notebook.

Sprinting quickly, she grabbed the wet notebook, cursing under her breath, as she grabbed a handful of paper towels and tried not to cry at the ink of her homework smearing and disappearing before her eyes.

He cocked his head, getting up off the chair, "sworry, mommy" his eyes were low, picking at the top of his Spiderman action figure with his thumb nail.

Amy sighed, putting her hand on his head, "It's okay buddy, it was an accident" Raising her brow, she clicked her tongue, "John, where did you learn that word?"

Without another thought, John shrugged and responded nonchalantly, "daddy did it"

10 minutes later

"Mommy... I tant f-ind my Spi-er-man toy!"

She looked up from her book for a breif second, "Did you drop him in the kitchen?"

Shaking his head, he looked under the table anyway, "Mommy, I tant f-ind it!" Whines becoming more pitchy.

Rolling her eyes, Amy set the materials she was working on on the cushion, taking a quick peek at her daughter on the blanket on the floor, before going into the kitchen. "Did you drop it in the bathroom?" He shook his head again, pouting. "Okay, did you -" her question halted as his eyes widened and he took off into the living room.

"DAT IS MINE!" John hollered, watching in horror as his little sister toothlessly gnawed on his favorite superhero's plastic head. Without hesitation, he yanked it away angrily, starting in on a meltdown and tossing it to the ground in disgust at the drool running down it before taking his open palm and slamming it down on her head, "Bad, Emma!" The action stunning the infant before she let out an ear piercing cry.

"Do we hit?" Amy yelled, tone angry as she grabbed his right arm, trying to make him look her in the eyes as she spoke. His resistance only fueled her frustration. "Say you are sorry - now." Trying to free himself from her grasp, John shook his head vigorously. She knelt down to his level, keeping her grasp on his arm, as she pointed to his shrieking baby sister - real tears running down Emma's red checks. "Say you are sorry to Emma, John. You don't hit her."

"S-s-shheeee t-too-ookkk m-myyyy tooyyyyy!" He sputtered, stomping his sock covered feet against the hardwood floor, tears heaping in his own eyes as he clutched the Batman figure in his other hand.

"Give them to me." She demanded, holding out her palm

"Nooooooooo!"

"I didn't ask" lifting them from his grasp, and pointing to the small wooden chair in the corner that they had just recently had to implement as the 'time out chair', Amy released his arm to attend to her daughter, and guiding him to it. "You know Emma grabs everything she sees. If you dropped your toys on the floor, she's going to find them, and put them in her mouth because she's a baby and doesn't know any better" She tried to sound gentle, but the frustration of the situation on top of her already bad day, made her voice sound rough and hoarse, "You don't hit her, John. You use your words if she makes you upset."

Wiping his face with the back of his hand, John threw his head back, aiding in his tantrum frenzy as he bucked his legs against the chair angrily and slobbered, "I-I-I" "d-do-nt" "t-t-tareeeeee" "d-d-ey ar-arrrr mi-minneeee"

Just as she was about to respond, the door flew open, his angry eyes falling directly upon her as he heard their children's coupled crying bouncing off the walls. "What's going on?"

"M-m-mom-mmy i-i-s-s me-e-e-ean! The toddler shrieked, coughing as he choked on the mess of saliva and tears all over his face.

Hearing another sniffle, and shaking his head at her attempts to step closer to hand their baby off to him, "Oh no, don't think you can manipulate me by crying-" Ricky took a step back, pushing his hands out to stop her as she too started to cry.

Hurt by his rejection, Amy brought the distraught baby closer to her chest, and closed her eyes, sniffling, "I'm not trying to manipulate you! I've just had a really crappy day!"

It was silent between them, Ricky's breathing increasing in loss of patience with each new passing second of their children's continued meltdowns. Emma reached a fist towards him before putting it to her mouth, causing him to sigh and take her from his wife.

Taking that as a sign, John too got up and moved towards his dad, wrapping his small arms around his legs for comfort. Ricky sighed again, reaching a hand down to pat the top of the boy's head.

"I'm not going to graduate, Ricky..." Amy mumbled under her breath, the hoarseness in her voice making it harder for him to hear everything she was saying.

Taking a second, he stilled, his attitude disappearing at both the words she said, and the way she broke down in tears against the wall, "What? What do you mean you're not going to graduate?" She shook her head, choking on her tears. "Amy?"

"I don't have the work completed." She muttered, gaining control of her emotions, swallowing and wiping her eyes, "And without it I don't have the grades to move forward even with Miss O'Malley letting me use her office all day to get things done."

Pausing she took in a gulp of air, her face starting to scrunch up again, "that's why I didn't answer you all day! I couldn't. I-" crying into her hand

Taking a moment to untangle their son from his legs, and put their whimpering daughter back on the blanket, Ricky walked over and engulfed her in his embrace, "Everything is going to be okay"

Amy let the tears fall down her face, staining the collar of his shirt as he held her tighter, "How do you know that?"

Closing his eyes, he kissed the side of her head, his voice soft, "Because I'll make sure it is."

"Yeah, that section always bored me too" He joked seeing her falling asleep in her hand as her fingers brushed the pages.

Rising her eyes slowly, she blinked a few times and yawned as he made his way onto his side of the bed.

"They're asleep - for now at least." He yawned into his hand, "I had a talk with John - told him that hitting his sister isn't okay. We'll see how well that goes though - especially since we didn't read a bedtime story as his punishment..."

The pencil dropped into the book, as her eyes closed again, knuckles digging into her cheek.

"Amy," he nudged gently, unintentionally startling her, "take a break"

Resisting the urge to drop like a stone, Amy lifted her head and raked her hand through her hair, nodding as she yawned widely, and closed the book in her lap. Removing the book from the bed, Ricky wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, pulling her back to rest against his torso, her head on his chest.

Accepting, she closed her eyes and sighed against him, "I'm sorry about leaving you with my voicemail all day - nobody called me from the nursery -"

Pecking her temple, "It's okay: obviously you needed to be at school. And hey I made it through a whole day by myself with only like five meltdowns between the two of them - I'd call that a win!" He chuckled softly, threading his fingers through hers

"What's going on with Ethan, why was he here with you?"

"He got some girl to ditch school with him - thought he'd come here and have unlimited privacy"

"To do what?" He cocked his head, raising his left eyebrow at her as her face contorted in disgust, "Ew! Gross! On our bed?" He nodded. She grimaced, fighting the urge to gag at the thought before shaking her head and sighing, "I swear sometimes it feels like Ethan is our third child."

Nodding slowly, he blew out a breath, "He's a complicated - idiotic - kid, who doesn't use his brain half the time and makes very stupid decisions"

She grazed her nails lightly against his forearm, "At least he has you to help guide him"

"I'm not entirely sure being a 19 year old married, teenage father of two, qualifies me for much of a life guide, Amy." He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, moving his thumb up and down against the outside of her hand, "But... hopefully having to spend almost the entire day with our two little screamers, deterred him away from having sex just a little while longer."

Nodding slowly, Amy adjusted against him, basking in the peaceful calm of his embrace; reaching her arm up to his head, and grazing her nails on the nape of his neck. Ricky's lip tipped up tiredly, pressing his lips to her hair.

Staying like that for another 10 minutes, she felt herself starting to drift off to sleep and shot up quickly, remembering the time sensitive work she still had to do.

"You don't have to - I know you're exhausted from being up with Emma all night last night, and now today..." She spoke softly, reaching to cup his wrist as he took the book into his hand, "You should at least try to get some sleep"

"I took a 25 minute nap after lunch." He declined, scanning the paper on the nightstand before flipping pages and scratching his eyebrow, "Besides... by my calculations we've got about a 3-hour sleep window in our future anyway."

Gathering the pencil back into her grasp and tapping it against her chin, "Why did you teach our son a curse word?"

"It just slipped out" His mouth opened and closed quickly, sighing in guilt, "and before I could stop him, he repeated it... all day."

"His voice is so squeaky when he says it!" She giggled

"I know, it makes it hard to be mad at him for saying it."

"We're horrible"

He shrugged, "Meh, no worse than when you accidentally rammed him into the refrigerator door."

"I slipped! I didn't know he was going to collide into the stupid thing!" Amy defended, mouth agape and eyes wide, "You clipped Emma's foot on the door knob last week!"

Clicking his tongue, Ricky chuckled, handing her the book, "Point taken."

Little light hearted chapter to lead into the next one coming up - because it's a big one!