Loose Ends

Chapter 26: Lions, Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

Ricky woke up in a good mood. He was going to spend his afternoon with Amy and their son and he couldn't think of anything else he'd rather be doing today after work. As he went about his weekend routine of getting himself and John ready and fed he kept wondering how to figure out what Amy found romantic today. He still had no idea how to do it as he dropped John off at his mom's and headed to work but he was still in a good mood.

Ben picked up on this as he noticed Ricky had a little more pep in his step today and kept smiling. The image of Ricky with his family, with Amy and John, replayed in Ben's head for a moment before he snapped himself out of it. It still stung a little that Ricky now had nothing keeping him from getting even closer to Amy, but Ben decided he needed to focus on Adrian and their unborn child instead of making himself unhappy by dwelling on Amy and Ricky. Ricky could tell that something was on Ben's mind because he noticed that Ben seemed a little distracted and down today. He decided not to ask him about it. He and Ben hadn't quite restored their friendship yet so Ricky opted to just leave well enough alone unless Ben approached him about whatever was on his mind. Soon enough their workday was over and Ricky showered and changed before heading to pick up John. He decided to take John to the park for a little while before his nap since the weather was so nice.

Amy had spent her morning sleeping in and then tidying up around the house. Her room was a lot easier to clean now that there was less stuff in it and so she decided to really clean the boys' room as well. She smiled as she started sorting John and Robbie's toys into their respective toy boxes, amused at how well John got along with his uncle. She finished up and started a load of laundry. She came back into the kitchen and saw Ashley fixing herself some soup.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So what are you up to today?" Amy asked her sister. Ashley shrugged.

"Just bummin' around the house for a bit. I might go read a book at the park later or something. You?"

"Ricky and I are taking John to the zoo after his nap. We haven't done a lot with just the three of us so we're gonna try and change that."

"Bring me back something."

"From the zoo?"

"What's wrong with souvenirs from the zoo?" Amy chuckled.

"Nothing I guess. What do you want?" Ashley shrugged again as she sat at the kitchen able to eat her soup.

"Surprise me." Amy shook her head in amusement and went upstairs to bum around on her computer until the laundry needed to be put in the dryer. She finished drying, folding and putting away two loads of laundry before it was time to head over to Ricky's. She arrived just as Ricky finished packing John's bag so they could head out.

"Hey," he greeted her after opening the door at her knock.

"Hey. All ready to go?" He nodded and locked the door behind him. He handed her John' stroller and they made their way downstairs. They all got into his car and made the short trip to the zoo. Ricky buckled John into his stroller as Amy placed his diaper bag in the basket below his seat. Ricky paid for their admission into the zoo and they were off. They decided to skip the sea life exhibits since Amy had taken John to the aquarium several days ago and instead headed straight for the children's zoo so John could interact with the animals. John kept swiveling his head around to see everything as Amy unbuckled him from his stroller and held his hand as they walked into the contact yard.

"Oooooooo," John said as he spotted a sheep and tugged away from his mother. Amy let him walk over to it and pet it.

"Be gentle, John," Amy cooed to him with a smile. She spotted a baby pygmy goat and pointed it out. "Look over there, John," she said while pointing at the little goat. "See the little goat?" John looked where she was pointing and smiled when he saw it too. He turned to Ricky.