AN: I apologize for the very VERY long delay in updating this story and greatly appreciate your patience! I changed my mind a few times about the direction I wanted this story to go. Thank you so much to everyone who liked, followed, or commented on this story. I appreciate all of your feedback, both positive and negative and I am overwhelmed by your kindness. I knew that not everyone would agree with me when it came to Amy in the finale, but I thought it was important for John's voice to be heard. That said, please remember to keep in mind that this story is about John. It will only include the characters from the original show that John would have grown up knowing.

What would you say if I told you I just knew that somehow you changed me in some special way?

Despite John's atypical family, he did have a very happy childhood. Ricky made sure of this. It came as a surprise to no one that he had quite a knack for music, given how his parents first met. He became a very talented saxophone player and used music as a way to express himself. People used to joke that he, Ricky, and Uncle Ethan should start a band of their own. He was also a decent baseball player and swimmer. Ricky made a point to attend every game, meet, and concert that he could. John had a lot of friends and was very outgoing.

Ricky never wanted John's family situation to get in the way of his development. He entered him in a support group for children of teen parents and another for children raised by single parents. Ricky and John maintained open communication and for the most part had a very close relationship. Whenever an event arose that Ricky could not attend or a mother's touch was needed, Ricky's mother, Grandma Nora, was always more than willing to step in. She said that it was to make up for not being around when Ricky was little.

Ricky always wanted his son to have the close family unit that he never did. Therefore, he made the best of what they had. It was Ricky's idea to hold family dinners every Sunday at his foster parents, Grandma Margaret and Grandpa Shakur's house. All of the family still living in Valley Glen or nearby would come; Grandpa George, Grandma Kathleen, Grandma Nora, and when she finally settled down, her wife, Grandma Ollie joined them too, and whichever aunts and uncles were in town at the time as most of them left home for college. It was the family's chance to catch up on what had been happening with one another all week.

It was when Amy would come back into town, this entire dynamic would be thrown into chaos. When John and Amy would hang out by themselves, everything was great. They would do fun activities and really have a chance to catch up with what was going on in the other one's life. When any other family members entered the picture, somehow an argument would always ensue. If not an argument, awkward tension undeniably filled the air. Sometimes the smallest of things could set it off. It wasn't so bad when it was just Amy and Ricky, they usually got along alright, but Amy and Grandpa George always ended up fighting.

When Kevin entered the picture, John and Amy's one-on-one time became very rare. Amy came to visit much less often and when she did, Kevin usually accompanied her wherever they went. As Amy and Kevin's relationship became more serious, John and Amy's relationship became more strained. The nicer Kevin was to John, the less John liked him. When Amy and Kevin decided to move to Europe, John started to distance himself from her mentally. He talked about her less and never got his hopes up anymore about seeing her. Once they left, she still called him fairly often, but given the time difference and John's busy schedule, they did not actually get to talk much. Ricky made John call her back and respond to her E-mails once he noticed them piling up.

Interestingly, John had a very different reaction when it came to his father's love life. He was nine when he started noticing Nicole hanging around a lot more. Nicole was a waitress who worked with Ricky at Geoff's when he was in college, so John had known her for a long time. She was also working her way through school and hoped to be a nurse one day. Ricky always referred to Nicole as a friend, but John had his suspicions that she was more than that. It was almost a year later when Ricky finally admitted that they were "seeing" each other. John felt bad when he found out that Ricky's reason for not wanting the relationship to be too serious was because John disliked Kevin so much. But with John's blessing, the relationship progressed, although still very slowly since Ricky still did not want to overwhelm John with it. Or himself if he was being honest.

Nobody was surprised when Kevin asked Amy to marry him while they were on a gondola in Italy. It was the picture perfect proposal so everyone was excited. Everyone, that is, except John. He was not exactly sure why people thought he would be or why they kept asking him about it. In his opinion, it was like they had already been married from the beginning. And no matter how long he knew him, Kevin was still somewhat of a stranger to John. John continued to feel hurt and resentment toward her since after the proposal, wedding stuff was all Amy ever wanted to talk about. Aunt Grace noted that this engagement was very different from all of Amy's other engagements since it would definitely work out this time. John did not know what she was talking about, nor did he want to.

Amy and Kevin got married the summer after John finished seventh grade. It was a huge ceremony in Central Park that Grandpa George declared so bluntly that he was glad he wasn't paying for. Ricky chose not to attend. He said he could not take the time off work but John knew that was not the reason. John traveled there with his grandparents like he always did. John didn't want to go either but he knew he did not have a choice; especially not after Kevin asked him to be his best man; a request that Ricky guilted John into accepting since it would make his mother happy. John was glad when the wedding was finally over because maybe then his mother could go back to talking about something else for a change. The first few years of their marriage were relatively the same as the rest of their relationship, in John's opinion.

Nothing could have prepared John for the moment when his hurt feelings toward his mother turned into anger. John had just started his freshman year at Grant High School and things were going great. John and Ricky had finally moved into a bigger place. And with John's permission, Nicole eventually moved in with them. Nicole never overstepped her boundaries or tried too hard the way Kevin still did. She was available when John needed her and was always very supportive, but left the parenting up to Ricky. John had a great audition for the marching band and was guaranteed a spot despite Ricky not allowing him to attend band camp over the summer. John got good grades in his classes and made friends easily. He even started dating a girl named Tara from his French class. Ricky did not hesitate at all to give John "the talk" as soon as he found out. John should not have been surprised given how young his parents were, but he still did not enjoy hearing about it.

Everything was going well for John, until he got a very excited phone call from his mother. Amy and Kevin got on the phone together to tell John that they were pregnant. John should have felt honored that he was the first person that they told, but he didn't. They then told him that they wanted him to come live with them in New York for a while so he could finally have a "normal" family with two parents and a little brother or sister. John hung up on them without answering their question. What exactly did she think a normal family was?

With this news, John continued to ignore Amy's phone calls. He ignored her long enough that she finally called Ricky to discuss her proposition for John. Of course Ricky did not agree with her either and was also upset that she would ask such a thing, but regardless, he congratulated her on her pregnancy and promised to talk to John about it. The only thing John said on the matter was that he was not leaving California and that having a sibling fifteen years younger than him with a different father barely counted as the big happy family that Amy seems to envision; especially when the family that had always been there for him was not going anywhere. Ricky agreed, and it was never brought up again.

Throughout the next several months, John and Amy barely spoke. At first she called often, but as time went on, the less he answered the less she called. When Amy and Kevin came into town for a few days over Christmas, since they stopped coming in for Thanksgiving several years prior, The situation was made even more awkward when Amy's friends and family members kept comparing this pregnancy to her last one and how much easier it must be this time around. If John had not already felt hurt by the news and her ask of him to join her "normal family", every comment made him feel that much worse. It had been a long time since his mother made him feel like he ruined her high school experience, but all of those feelings came right back. Even though Ricky assured him that that was simply not true, the more excitement surrounding this pregnancy, the harder it was to avoid. Of course John declined Amy's offer when she asked him again.

John's baby sister, Ella, was born in early May. If John was being perfectly honest, he did not really want to meet her, but he knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. As soon as school was out for the summer, he went to New York for a few days to spend time with his new "normal family". The house was covered in pink decorations and Kevin's family had all basically moved in to help them out. The spare room that John usually stayed in when he visited was now a nursery. Ella really didn't do much other than eat, sleep, and cry. He supposed she was cute, but Amy had really hoped that meeting her would convince John to stay in New York with them. John did not see it that way.

The only time that trip that John and Amy had a weekend alone was when she brought him to the airport. After much frustration, he finally asked her the question that he had been wanting to ask his whole life.

"Mom?" He finally said, "why did you want me to stay here?"

"Because I finally have the chance to give you the perfect family that I couldn't before."

"Why did you even keep me in the first place?"

"Why would you ask me that?" she asked very surprised.

"I just want to know," he said without looking at her, "what was the point?"

"Because I love you," she replied without hesitation.

"Then why did you move away?"

To this she did not have an answer quite as prepared. After she thought about it for a moment she finally told him what he believed to be the truth. "Because I felt like it was the best decision for me at the time. I had always dreamed of being in New York and I finally had an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I would have been miserable if I stayed in California married to your father just because everyone wanted me to."

John hesitated. "I didn't say anything about Dad."

Amy didn't say anything, she just looked confused.

"Half of my friends' parents are divorced," John continued, 'I don't remember you guys being together; not really anyway. And I can't even picture you two together now. So I don't care that you left him. But what about me?" John asked not realizing that there were tears in his eyes at this point until Amy reached in to wipe one away, crying herself.

"I never want you to give up on your dreams," she whispered while hugging him, "and never let anyone tell you otherwise."

John knew he was never going to get the answer that he wanted out of her. With that, they said their goodbyes and she asked him one more time if he wanted to stay in New York with her and his new family. Once again, John declined.

John was quiet when he got back home. Quieter than usual. Ricky wanted to ask him what was wrong but had a feeling he already knew the answer and that John would talk to him about it eventually. And he did.

"Dad?" John finally said, "What's a normal family?"

"I don't think they exist," Ricky replied, "Family is who is there when you need them, not necessarily who you're related to. The rest doesn't matter. No family is normal"

"Dad," John said again, "thanks for always being there for me."

"You came into our lives at an unexpected time. You've always know that," Ricky told him, "You changed your mother's life in a way that she struggled with. But what you don't know is that you saved mine."

John always knew that his family was different. But he would not change that for the world.