The week goes by in a hurry. Alicia is calm, smiling even, but Ricardo can see the tension in her eyes as she looks at him, holds their son, and tries to help. He's leaving soon, almost sooner than he'd realized. He had thought- it'd be another agreed upon no, but then she'd looked at him, told him he should go, and it had changed things. He was going, finally, to the places he'd intended on going last year but had easily given up because she was pregnant, and the pandemic, and everything else. It aches, on some level, to be leaving them, but Sofia is here, and Mike, and AJ, and John, and Taya. Ricardo knows Alicia will be fine. He knows their son will be in good hands.

Even so, packing, and making other plans to tide them all over for the next few months feels like abandonment. It aches somewhere deep inside where he can't reach. Despite it all, he's excited, mumbling along with some language books in an attempt to get some of the more regularly used terms down before he goes, Alicia watching on fondly as Andre plays with her fingers. "I'm going to miss you," she tells him and he looks up.

"I don't know how to thank you," he says quietly. "Letting me go." He puts the language dictionary aside and walks over to her, lightly squeezing Andre's foot before leaning in to press a lingering, soft kiss to her mouth. "I... don't think there is a proper way to." She blinks up at him and he tries, kisses her in that way he knows melts her all the way down to her toes, and she sighs out a slow, quiet whimper before putting their son down and hugging him close. "I'm going to miss you both so damn much."

"He's going to be so big when you see him again," she mumbles into his shoulder, and he hugs her tight, looking at their son through blurry vision.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into her hair but she shakes her head vehemently.

"No, no," she insists. "I knew- I knew who you were when we started this journey. I understood- even felt the same, about traveling the world, seeing all of the sights, experiencing all of the cultures out there." She rests a finger over his lips and strokes gently. "If not for Andre, I'd probably be right there along with you. But I'm not going to hold you back from this. You stayed by my side the last year and a half, you... you made me feel so loved and good during the pregnancy, and now... now we're ok. We'll be alright. It's still rough out there, and I need you to keep yourself safe, but I trust you. Sofia and I, we'll take care of Andre, and you take care of yourself, and when I see you again..."

He waits, watching her. "When you see me again?" he prompts tenderly and she smiles faintly.

"When I see you again, we're going to work at giving Andre a sibling. Like we talked about, right?" She smiles up at him, lacing her fingers behind his neck, tears gleaming in her eyes. "It'll be... quite the welcome home party. Trust me on that."

He laughs softly. "I would expect no less, Foxy," he says softly, hands warm on her hips as he leans in once more, presses a lingering, soft kiss to her lips. "Thank you for not hating me for this."

She runs her fingers through his hair, kisses him again. "Never," she promises.

Years and years and years back, he had left on a similar trip while engaged to Paige. When he returned, it was to find she'd fallen in love with Del Rio, and they had gone on to be in a disastrous relationship for years. He had thought, then, that he'd be alone forever. That love just wasn't in the cards for him. Then Alicia had snuck into his life, and changed everything. And now he's here, about to leave again, but no insecurities are lurking. There's no pain and trepidation.

He rests his forehead against Alicia's and sighs softly. "I love you," he breathes against her lips. "Forever and always."

"And I love you," she whispers back, smiling through her tears. "Forever and always."

They kiss, again, hungrier, needier, aware that soon they'll be apart, determined to make the most of what time they have left together.