Amy and Ricky

Ricky was standing beside the bed, wearing only his boxers and pulling some of the decorative pillows off the bed when Amy walked in.

"John asleep?" He asked looking up.

Amy walked to the bed opposite of him and sat down on top of the sheets which were still made.

"Not yet, I just tucked him in. We only read one chapter today"

Ricky finished putting away the pillows got on the bed and reached across, grabbing Amy around the waist and pulled her towards him. He flipped her over so she was now lying on her back and he was looking down on top of her.

"Hmmm well I guess we'll just have to be really quiet then" he whispered, running one arm under her Hudson college sweater to feel her bare skin, using his other arm to prop himself up on his elbow. He bent down to kiss the side of her neck.

"Ricky stop, stop" She whispered, but softly giggling at his actions.

Ricky knew, and had every intention of stopping but took his time and moved his kisses upwards towards her lips, then moments later moved towards her left ear.

"Aww do we have to?" His voice was husky and low.

"Come on" She said finally after a few minutes, wiggling slightly - a lazy attempt to get up from under him.

Ricky however continued to stay planted right on top of her, not moving and continued using his lips to lay soft gentle kiss around her face and neck.

"What about if" Ricky continued, his voice even lower, stopping in between kisses to get some words out "we. talk…after…you know" He kept telling himself a few more kisses, but couldn't pull himself away from her. He also enjoyed teasing Amy a bit, but also knew that he needed to stop soon before she got impatient with him.

"Ricky" she sighed now moving her hand from his hair to gently push at the front of his shoulder signalling for him to move. There were a lot of things weighing on her mind.

Sighing Ricky placed one last kiss on the back of her ear then pulled himself up off her.

"I can't help it, you're just too irresistible"

Amy simply rolled her eyes at this, but smiled. She moved herself up so that her back was against the head board, taking the pillow from under her and hugging it to her chest as she sat with her legs crossed on the bed. Ricky moved himself so he was near the foot of the bed, laying across the bed on his side. He propped his head up with one arm and looked at Amy.

"Is this about what happened with John this afternoon?"

Amy wasn't sure were to start. There was so many things she needed to tell Ricky. There was also the matter of what Claire had told her about Adrian. It was bothering her that Ricky hadn't mention anything about it. But right now, at this moment Adrian was the least of her concerns. Especially with all that has transpired with John in the last 24 hours. She figured she should start with the phone call from Logan's mom.

"Yeah about that, so I get a call from Amanda Clements, Logans mom"

"The kid in John's hockey team? His dad and I have an ongoing bet on which kid is going to have the most goals this season" Ricky chuckled.

Unbelievable, Amy thought, it was like she was lecturing John all over again.

"Right so about that" Amy started "Amanda basically told me that her son came home with John's hockey stick, because John lost it in a bet that they had. She was nice enough to want to give it back"

"Okay? I mean he shouldn't have done it but its really not the worst thing in the world, right?" He could understand why Amy might be upset but from the way it sounded earlier he thought it was a little more serious. Frankly he was relieved that was all it was.

"Okay well, it may not be the worst thing a nine year old could do but we need to stop this before it gets serious Ricky. Luckily it was over some silly game. What if they were daring each other to jump of bridges or god knows. I will not be responsible for a child getting hurt because they need to one up each other all the time"

Ricky sighed "No you're right. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. And frankly I don't think we should accept the stick back"

"It's a 200 dollar stick Ricky"

"John needs to know" Ricky replied point blank. "And really a bet's a bet. John chose to make one and he lost. I mean if you're really wanting to teach him a lesson I think getting it back after he made a poor choice would just negate that. What's to stop him from doing it again if mommy and daddy can just reverse what he did?"

Amy quietly considered what Ricky was saying then ran her fingers through her hair "Yeah okay, well you're not wrong"

Ricky laughed "Unbelievable, you can't just swallow your womanly pride and just say You're right dear, you're absolutely right"

Rolling her eyes Amy simply said "Well it's been a while, alright".

"So what was the game?"

"What?"

"The game, this game John and Logan were playing" Ricky's mouth was twitching a little but he was trying hard not to smirk.

"Now you're unbelievable! You think it's funny!"

"I just told you, I'd talk to him about it, that he's never to make bets again!" Ricky said now with an evident smile on his face.

"Ricky! I know you, you're like proud of him or something. It's like this weird male thing you guys have. Like you're wondering if he could have won"

"Well aren't you?"

"No, actually I'm not. Besides he said he would have won if some other kid didn't get his ball in the way or something"

"See!"

"Ricky god, that's not the point I was trying to make"

"That's my boy" Ricky said full out laughing now.

Amy simply shook her head, in complete disbelief. It was like he had a 5 minute maturity limit and then he couldn't help himself. She still to this day, wonders how he survived four years practically on his own with John. Actually come to think about, she didn't want to know. It was probably just a bunch of getting John to do things by making crazy deals with him.

"Seriously Ricky! Today it's just a hockey stick, next time it's a car, then after that who knows and before you or I know it we have a 25 year old with a gambling problem and instead of nice mothers calling us it's bookies looking to collect"

Ricky started laughing at how worked up Amy was getting about this "Geez Aimes, that's a little dramatic no?"

Amy looked at him, narrowing her eyes "Oh hey babe guess what, I have to do some sort of rigorous training tomorrow to become a volunteer at the fire station because I lost some bet and now I have to commit every Saturday, every week for like ever and then constantly complain over the next year about how I never have any time for anything" Amy said in a mocking voice, bringing up one of the most ridiculous bets Ricky has ever involved himself in "but gotta follow through with it because gee whiz a bet's a bet!" She made a hooking gesture with her arm.

"Sound familiar?"

"Hey that's not fair! And besides it's one of the best bets I've ever lost" Ricky said, holding back a laugh but still smiling.

Amy simply shook her head. She really couldn't win. And to make matters worst, Ricky was right. He really did enjoy working as a volunteer at the local fire station. On top of that they were a really tight knit group and it was through the academy that they've met a lot of their really good friends now.

Amy decided it was time to change the topic.

"Speaking of your boy, I want to talk to you about something else that happened with him the other day" Amy said, again getting serious. "I think he's really having a hard time with the two of us spending so much time working"

This time Ricky's expression was serious. He knew he hadn't been around a lot lately, especially for John and it seems the less time he was trying to spend at work the more time he had to be there.

"Did he say something?"

"No, but you can just tell it's weighing on him. I think he misses you being there for him at his games. I tried to explain how much work you have right now and he seems to understand but I think we both need to make more of an effort to really be there for him. I'm actually cutting back on my responsibilities at the paper so I can be at home and not rushing around all the time"

Ricky rubbed his face "Yeah, I know. Hopefully now that I've gotten the contract extension things will settle down for a while. It's one less thing to worry about. Maybe I can see if I can take him to the fire house with me on Saturday"

"Well I'm sure he'll like that, but I think he has a game that morning"

Ricky sighed "Okay well I'll figure something out and I'll bring it up when I talk to him tomorrow about the betting thing"

Amy now just noticed for the first time how tired and exhausted Ricky looked and her heart swelled a little. Amy crawled over to him, laying her body down right beside him so that Ricky could wrap his arms around her.

"I know you're trying hard for us and John and I appreciate it. We really do. I know you'll figure it out"

Ricky kissed the top of Amy's head. Sometimes he couldn't believe that this was his life. At 25 he had the perfect job, the perfect family. It was a perfect life really. Never in a million years at 16 did he think his life would turn out like this. At one point he didn't care if he spent his life in prison. He was definitely on the track towards that life. Then he met Amy and what seemed to be a big mistake at first, turned out to be the biggest blessing in his life.

He wanted it all. He almost has it all. He just didn't realize how hard it really was to enjoy having it all, without neglecting one thing or another. But he needed to make it work, because to loose his family is something he couldn't bare to go through again.

John and Ricky

John was sitting cross legged on his bed playing on his ipad. He had just changed into his Pajamas and was waiting for his dad to come in and read with him before bed. He had just moved on to the next level of the game when his dad walked in. The lights were already off, but the room was somewhat illuminated from the glow coming from his night light and the lamp on his night stand. His face also glowing from the bright screen he was intensely staring at.

"You know you're going to ruin your eyes sitting in the dark starring at the screen like that"

"You do it all the time with your laptop" John retorted back, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Laughing, Ricky plopped down on the bed beside him and watched him play for a few minutes. Putting his elbow on the pillow to prop himself up from behind John.

"Oh right there, watch out for the green dragon behind you!" Ricky called out, forcing John to quickly press a few buttons to turn his character around and fire at the dragon before he turned into a pile of ashes.

"YEAH!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

A messaged popped up on the screen "Mission Accomplish" before Ricky finally told John to shut the IPad off and put the device away, and then helped John get comfortable under his blanket.

"So I was thinking instead of a book today we could just talk about some stuff, if that's alright"

"Uhm yeah okay, I guess?" John replied a bit confused.

"How's school? Anything exciting happening?"

"Not really, I have a Math test on Friday but that's about it"

"Have you been studying for it?"

"Mom's been helping me with the practice questions my teacher sends home for homework. It's pretty easy so I think I'll do good"

"Oh good, sounds like you're ready" He paused for a bit before continuing "Listen, I'm sorry I haven't been around for your hockey games lately and that I haven't been able to take you to your practices either. Believe me I'm really bummed about that"

"That's okay I know you have to work" John said understanding.

"But I promise, I will be there for all your big games okay. I might not be able to make it every practice, or every game but I know when all your major tournaments are and I've already made sure to clear my schedule for them"

John nodded at this "Okay".

Ricky figured that if he was going to spend a lot of time at work, he could at least fill John in on what he's been doing. So he began to tell him about all the projects he's been working on and the one big contract he just got.

"Is it hard to come up with different ideas for all your clients?"

"Not really. They all have something that makes them unique. The hard part really is taking what that company stands for and translating it in the form of an ad that people will find interesting. Coming up with ideas is hard and takes a lot time and we have to come up with tons and tons of it before we settle on something we think is good enough to present back to our clients. But anyways enough about my work, want to tell me about this whole hockey stick bet ordeal?"

John sighed and didn't know how to tell his dad he lost the new hockey stick his dad bought him in a bet.

"Didn't mom tell you what happened?"

"Well yeah, but why don't you tell me what happened"

"Kay fine" John started sighing "We were playing basketball in gym and I was timing Logan to see how many shots he can get in 10 seconds. He got like 6 or 7 or something like that and I told him that my best time was 10 shots in under 8 seconds and he didn't believe me so I said I've already done it before its not even hard. And its not! I do it like all the time!"

Ricky just smiled at this. He recognized that compete level and the need to prove himself right.

"So we ended up making a bet. If I won he was going to give me his signed hockey poster, and if I lost he wanted my new hockey stick. And I already did it so I didn't think I would loose. But then it wasn't even fair because my last shot didn't go in because this other kid threw a ball from the other side of the gym and ended up getting in the way"

"Did it feel good to give your stick away after you lost?"

"No obviously not"

"Do you think you would have felt better if you had won and ended up with Logan's signed poster?"

John was about to say what he thought was an obvious answer, but then he wasn't sure.

"I don't know. I mean I know how much Logan loves that poster, Quick is his absolutely favorite player. He told me he like spent 2 hours in line to get it signed, so I'd feel bad taking it away from him"

Ricky was relieved, it was exactly the kind of answer he was hoping for.

"Listen I know you and I have these small fun bets all the time, but it's all for fun right? I've never asked you for anything that is important to you. We have bets for cookies, or hugs, or a kiss…little things that you would do anyways - bet or no bet right?"

"Well yeah…"

"So what me and your mom is saying is that, if something doesn't feel right or someone is going to feel bad in the end then it's probably not worth it. And that goes for any situation, not just making a bet with someone. I want you to think about that every time you do something with one of your friends. You understand what I'm saying?"

John nodded "Yeah I get it"

"Alright so Logan's mom actually offered to give you back the hockey stick"

"Really?" John said smiling and getting excited.

"Wait…but we also told her that we don't think we should get it back"

"What! Why?" John said getting up from the bed and looking perplexed at his dad. "Why would you say that?"

"Because you already made a choice and I think we need to stick by it. You choose to give your hockey stick away, and you lost so you lost it. Listen I get it, loosing isn't fun. But that's the consequence of what you did. Also it's also not entirely fair to Logan to just simply ask him to give back something he TECHINICALLY did win" Ricky said emphasizing the word technically. "Your mom and I had a chat and we also think that this time if you still want a new stick then you're going to have to buy it yourself"

"DAD! I don't even have nearly enough money! What am I suppose to play with?"

"You can do chores for money. You, me and your mom are going to sit down and come up with a list of chores you can do. For small chores you'll get paid $5.00, and big chores will earn you $10.00. In the mean time, you can use the stick you have"

"But that's not fair! If I got Logan's hockey poster, I would give it back!" And he really would. John knew he wouldn't feel good about taking something like that from his friend.

"Actually your mom talked to Logan's mom today. We told her that while it was NICE of her to call and want to give it back, we didn't think it was a good idea because THEN you wouldn't really learn your lesson. His mom wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of keeping it. She talked about it with Logan and he actually came up with the idea of donating it to an organization that donates equipment to less fortunate families. His mom even said that he wanted to make sure that the organization knew that it was coming from both him and you. Which I think is really nice of him"

John was quiet for a moment, a little surprised by what his dad told him.

"Really? Well I guess that's alright. Okay fine I'll do the chores thing" He finally said lying back down on his bed.

"Alright will sit around tomorrow and see what we come with okay. But now I think it's time for bed.