Loose Ends

Chapter 15: Late Nights & Early Mornings

It had been a long day for Ricky. After hearing during his lunch break that Amy would be talking to Ben tomorrow he'd managed to stay focused only because he didn't want to have to face the wrath of Bunny. Now that his shift was done for the day he was sitting on the couch in his apartment, all cleaned up from work but not feeling very hungry. He knew he needed to eat something before picking up John from Amy's but nothing in the fridge, freezer, or cupboards had seemed appealing. Instead he sat there on the couch, occasionally checking his watch waiting for time to creep closer to John's bedtime. Why does it bother me SO much that Amy doesn't want to talk to me? Why did I have that dream after she assured me she was okay? I mean, she called me as soon as she listened to my message to tell me she was fine so why the dream? And how on earth am I supposed to keep my promises to her if she won't talk to me and tell me what's going on!? He replayed their conversation from that night in his mind again, trying to figure out what words or phrases he'd spoken that caused Amy to get lost in thought. Try as he might, he couldn't pin down exactly what he'd said that had triggered the drastic end to that conversation. He glanced at his watch and was thankful that it was finally 7:15. He knew it wouldn't take him that long to get to Amy's and if he left now he'd be there early, but he decided to leave then anyway. His thoughts were on Amy the whole drive to her house and he was still wondering about her as he rang the front doorbell. Anne opened the door.

"Hello, Ricky. A little early aren't we?"

"Maybe a little." Try a whole half hour. Anne welcomed him in and he sat down on the couch, not trusting himself to go up to Amy's room and have small talk with her. Especially since he knew if he tried he might not be able to stop himself from trying to get her to talk about what he actually wanted to talk to her about. Instead he opted to silently sit on the couch for the next twenty minutes or so. Amy came downstairs and went to place John in his playpen when she spotted Ricky sitting on the couch.

"You're early." Ricky was startled; he hadn't heard her walk in.

"A little." He looked at John and saw that he was already dressed in his pajamas and was happily spinning the wheels on his toy truck, oblivious to what was going on around him. Ricky couldn't help it. Seeing his son always made him smile and this was no exception. Amy sat John down on the couch next to Ricky and went upstairs to grab his overnight bag. She returned moments later and handed the bag to Ricky without a word. He took it from her and she stooped to scoop up John once again.

"You be a good boy for daddy, okay?" She kissed his forehead but he continued to ignore her, entranced with his toy truck's wheels. Amy just chuckled before handing him to Ricky, who was now standing, ready to take John for the weekend. Their hands brushed as she handed Ricky their son and that simple contact made him smile. She walked him to the door and held it as he walked out.

"See you Sunday."

"See you Sunday, Amy." Ricky turned and walked towards his car. He turned back to look at Amy for a moment but she had already shut the door and his spirits sank just a little. He quickly buckled John in his car seat and made his way back to his apartment. Dinner at the Juergens household was a subdued affair, with everyone seemingly in their own head space. Anne looked around the dinner table curiously.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" Three heads suddenly swiveled in Anne's direction, confusion written all over their faces. Anne smirked.

"You all seem to be deep in thought. Is there anything any of you want to share? After all, families are supposed to talk to each other at the dinner table." George was the first to respond.

"We've just got a lot on our minds tonight I guess. I can't speak for the girls but I've been doing some soul searching and I'll tell you about it in a few days." Anne was now very curious as to what was on George's mind, but he'd asked for some time to think about things so she'd let it go, for now. Dinner finished in silence.