3 Years

36 - Filling Holes

There's a longer version of Let You Go that's a whole extra minute. A song for a show by Disney should not make me feel this way.

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"Ok, that should be the last of it."

"Are you feeling ok, Noah?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Nia was currently trying to clean up Noah's scar that was on his forehead in the bathroom while Ricky was helping her.

It was a long, silent, and awkward car ride to their apartment, but they managed. Just because the ride was over didn't mean the tension disappeared.

"C'mon, let's head to bed," Ricky says, taking Noah off the counter and guiding him down the small hallway, letting Nia finish up tending to her wounds.

They enter his room, and Ricky pulls out a pair of pajamas for the boy to change into. He turns around, so he can change. Afterward, Ricky pulls the blankets back, so Noah can get into bed. "Quite an eventful day, huh?" he says.

"Yeah."

"And you're sure that you feel fine?"

"Mhm."

Ricky pulls the blankets up to the boy's chin. "I'll be back in a bit, kay?" The child nods at him. "Night, love you."

"Love you, Dad." Ricky kisses his temple before quietly walking out of his room.

"How is he?" Nia asks him.

"He seems to be doing fine," he answers. "You?"

"Eh, I've been better."

"Why were you two out?"

"He couldn't fall asleep, so I thought a drive around town would help. By the way, your friends are still here."

Right... "Please help me explain all this to them."

"Sure, but I wanna go check on him first." He nods at her before walking into their tiny living room where everyone was packed around and on the couch.

"I want an explanation, and I want it now!!"

"Carlos!" Ricky hisses. "Tone it down a bit. He's trying to sleep," he says, sticking his thumb in the direction of Noah's room. "Ok, one question at a time."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Ricky Bowen?" Gina asks first.

"First off, that's two questions. Second, uh, still me."

"What about the name? What did you call yourself in front of that officer?" Kourtney asks.

I guess one question at a time doesn't matter with these people. "Daniel Scott. It's a cover name." Footsteps can be heard coming in from behind Ricky. Nia enters the living room.

"And I'm Veronica Scott," she says, coming to stand next to him. Ricky nudges her a little, and she knows what he means. "But my real name is Nia."

"After returning to the states from our years of being captured and living in a prison, we were forced into hiding," Ricky explains. "These fake names are what we've lived by for about five years." Nia nudges Ricky this time, and he breathes deeply, twirling his rings around his fingers. "And... we're technically... married."

Everyone gasps, and their jaws drop. "You-!" Seb slaps a hand over his husband's mouth on account of Ricky's wishes to be quiet.

"Let's hear him out first," he reasons.

"It's all fake," Nia chimes in quickly before questions are blurted. "We're married as Daniel and Veronica, not our actual names. It was a very low point in our lives, especially since we were told we couldn't come home."

"And who's the boy?" Nini asks hesitantly.

"His name's Noah and-" As Ricky's about to answer, they hear quiet footsteps approaching. All of their attention goes to the young boy holding a stuffed bear under his chin. Ricky immediately walks over to him and bends down on one knee to his height. "Hey, what are you doing up?" he whispers.

"I can't sleep," he yawns.

"Well, you sound tired," he jokes. He moves some hair away from the boy's forehead. "C'mon, bubba," Ricky whispers, "it's already really late." Ricky picks him up, kisses his cheek, and carries him to his room, the stuffed animal covering most of his face.

Despite the hushed voice, Nini still heard what he said. Bubba... I haven't said that since... since before he left. It was a nickname Nini had for Ricky for years. It was almost foreign to her at this point; she hadn't said it in so long. Hearing it again brought so much back.

"So, uh... do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" Gina asks.

"Uh, sure. Go ahead," Nia answers.

"How did you meet Ricky?" Kourtney asked.

"We were in the same group for military training. We were also in the same group of ten for the submarine mission, the one that forever changed our lives."

"How did the marriage thing come to be?" Seb asked.

"It was just luck of the draw. There were four of us that had to go into hiding, and we just happened to be partnered together."

"There are others?" Ashlyn said.

Nia nods. "Yeah, they live in West Jordan now."

They stop talking when they hear a faint voice coming from down the hall. Ricky was... singing? "What's going on in there?" Big Red asks.

"A lullaby probably," Nia shrugs. "Car rides and Danny singing-"

"You mean Ricky, right?" EJ interrupts.

"Yeah, sorry. I, uh, I'm used to our false names," she says shyly. "Anyway, those two things are what helps Noah fall asleep best." The words were muffled, but they could faintly hear his voice floating down the hall. "Noah's always been closer with him."

I knew it; I always knew he'd be a great father. "He's a very lucky boy," Nini says. A few people look at her with sympathy, but she waves them off.

Nia's about to add something else, but Ricky comes back from the bedroom and stands with her once again. "Now, where were we?" he asks.

"We were just asking, um... Veronica some questions," Carlos says.

"Oh, ok." He lowers his voice and whispers, "This isn't too much, is it?"

"It's fine," she says back. "Where did we leave off?" she says louder. Nia glances at Ricky and they have a silent agreement that he'll do more of the talking now.

"Oh, um... would you care to tell us a little bit about Noah?" EJ asks.

Ricky silently prays this doesn't end poorly and swallows the rock in his throat.

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Any predictions for next week?