The Right Choice

Title: The Right Choice
Rating: PG-13
Author: Sxymami0909
Fandom: Secret Life
Pairing: Ricky/Amy, Ashley, Anne
Word Count: 2490
Prompt: Tag to episode 3x5 ‘Which Way Did She Go’ Written for itsniley



Ricky held the door open for Ashley as they walked into the school. Staying at Amy’s house wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be. So far the morning had gone decent. John had been good and he only fused slightly when they’d dropped him off at the nursery.

Since he was staying at Amy’s he offered to bring Ashley to school for Anne and George saying it only made sense since he was heading in that direction anyway. Normally he enjoyed spending time with Ashley. She wasn’t a pushover and she had a good head on her shoulders, but lately something had been different with her.

She spent most of breakfast making off handed remarks about Amy and her mothering skills and Ricky wasn’t really sure why. Her voice brought him out of his thoughts as they made their way down the hall.

“Are we going out for breakfast every morning?”

He shook his head.

“No, because I don’t think we’ll be leaving for school an hour early every morning.”

“Well I told you it wouldn’t take an hour to drop off John.”

He glanced at her and they paused in front of a classroom as she spoke.

“I mean Amy practically throws him from the car and then speeds away.”

She chuckled lightly and Ricky glared at her. This is what he was talking about. He was getting really tired of her attitude towards Amy. If this is what Ashley was like with her it was no wonder the two of them didn’t get along.

“She does not.”

Ashley gave a slight nod and he sighed. He wasn’t going to argue with her about it, he’d been defending Amy all morning and apparently Ashley was going to say what she wanted regardless so he left the frown fall from his face, voice quiet as he spoke.

“Well I’m not gonna do that. I’m gonna go in every morning. I wanna make sure he’s okay first before I just walk off and leave him with strangers.”

“Those strangers are his family during school hours and he’s always okay. John loves those two nursery ladies. More than he loves Amy…or you, or me.”

Ricky frowned at her words. She was doing it again. If this was how Ashley was going to be for the next four weeks he wasn’t sure he’d be able to deal with it.

“No he doesn’t.”

“Yeah he does.”

“Would you stop. Be nice. Amy’s a good Mother. She’s made him feel really secure and that’s why John’s happy no matter who he’s with.”

He saw Ashley’s face fall and watched as she nodded slightly. He gave her a small smile and was about to tell her they should get to class when he overheard two people talking as they passed by them.

“Amy Juergens is pregnant again--”

He jerked his head in the direction of the voice and spoke in a hard voice.

“Hey you, what’d you just say?”

The girl turned startled and her eyes widened as she glanced at Ricky before taking off in the opposite direction. The guy she was talking to wasn’t so lucky. Ashley grabbed his arm preventing him from running.

“Did you just say Amy Juergens is pregnant again?”

The guy glanced between them and stuttered.

“Uhh I didn’t say it, but other people are saying it. E…everyone knows…it’s all over school.”

He tugged himself free, took one more look at Ricky’s angry face, and ran down the hall. Wonderful the day just got a whole hell of a lot worse. Amy’s been gone less than two days and already rumors were spreading like wildfire.

Ricky shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Could things never be easy? Why did people have to think the worst? Hadn’t Amy been through enough with getting pregnant with John and the rumors that had started? He heard Ashley talking to him as she moved in the other direction but he ignored her. It was definitely going to be a long day.

________

Ricky stood in the kitchen hands deep in soapy water as he scrubbed the dishes from dinner clean. Work had been a pain in the ass. He was tired of hearing Ben go on and on about Adrian and whether or not it was right for her to have an abortion.

The truth was he didn’t mind being an ear for Ben, but he felt like the only reason Ben didn’t want Adrian to have the baby was because he didn’t want Amy to find and that was wrong. Amy deserved to know the truth. She deserved to know that Ben had made a mistake, that he wasn’t perfect.

And if he was being honest with himself, he wanted her to see that everyone makes mistakes even her precious Ben. Lately things had been good between him and Amy. Really good and he was pretty sure that they’d had a few moments that were more than friendly.

The first was weeks ago at John’s first birthday party that they threw for him. Another was the night he convinced her to go to New York and then two days ago while she was showing him how to drop John off at the nursery they’d almost kissed.

The minute their lips had touched his son squealed knocking them apart. Typical one-year-old behavior, but Ricky had been relieved. More and more lately he’d been seeing Amy differently, his feelings for her changing into something he didn’t really want to acknowledge at the moment.

He was terrified of attempting to take the next step with Amy. He wasn’t good at relationships and if things didn’t work out he couldn’t risk that things between them would go back to the way they used to be when she despised even the sight of him.

It was hard not knowing where they stood in that respect and even harder trying to pretend he didn’t care. He’s been spending time with Zoe hoping to drown his thoughts of Amy out, but that hadn’t worked. All it had given him was temporary pleasure and an empty feeling in the morning.

And with Amy gone the feeling of loneliness had deepened. He hadn’t realized that he’d been spending so much time with her recently until she was gone. Ricky hadn’t spoken to her since she landed and he was starting to wonder if she was having so much fun that she’d forgotten about him and John.

He sighed. Thoughts like that would only lead him further down the rabbit hole. A place he promised himself he wouldn’t go. He was in the process of taking his frustration out on one of the dishes when Anne’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“Hey, I can do that, you should put the boys to bed.

He glanced up when he felt her hand on his back as she smiled at him. He grinned and shook his head.

“No, I got it, you cooked. I’m happy to clean up.”

She laughed lightly as he continued working the sponge over the dish. She took it from him anyway and placed it in the empty part of the sink as she spoke.

“I really appreciate you staying here.”

“It’s what Amy wants, so I’m happy to do it.”

She glanced at him briefly studying him for a second before looking back at the dishes. Ricky had certainly changed since the first time they met. He had been there for John since he was born and she knew that he tried to be there for Amy as much as she’d let him, but that hadn’t been much.

It seemed as though things had recently changed and Amy had come to depend on and involve Ricky more and Anne was glad for it. Once you got past his bad boy demeanor Ricky was a really good person and she had a feeling her daughter was starting to see that.

“It’s really nice of you…I really appreciate you being here. I think getting away for a few weeks is going to be really great for Amy.”

Ricky smiled and nodded. He tried not to sound too worried or put off with his next words.

“I didn’t hear from her today…”

“I’m sure she’s busy with her first day of school and finding her way around New York.”

He nodded at Anne before speaking.

“I hope she’s okay.”

Anne’s face softened at the genuine concern on Ricky’s face.

“I’m sure she’s fine. Who knows this might lead to her going to Julliard or maybe playing for the New York philharmonic.”

Yeah, which would leave him without Amy and without his son. Ricky swallowed hard. That wasn’t something he wanted to think about. He shrugged lightly.

“I guess.”

Anne’s brows furrowed.

“She’s good right?”

“You’d have to ask your French Horn player…I just know sticks.”

He gave her half a grin and she shrugged.

“I don’t even know why she picked the French Horn in the first place.”

Ricky hesitated slightly, voice soft as he spoke.

“I know.”

Anne raised an eyebrow ask she spoke surprise in her voice.

“You know why she picked the French Horn?”

He turned so he was facing her and winced as he spoke.

“I hate to bring up Band Camp, but she told me the story at band camp.”

“Well John’s over a year old I think we’ve gotten past the whole debacle at Band Camp.”

He chuckled laughed and nodded. She watched his face, smile gracing his lips as he told her the story and she was surprised at the warmth with which he told it.

“It was Peter and the Wolf. You played Peter and the Wolf to her over and over again right?”

“Yeah, I did. The French Horn plays the part of the wolf.”

“Yeah. She was scared of the wolf. She thought if she became the wolf she wouldn’t be afraid anymore.”

“She thought that in the third grade?”

He grinned and nodded.

“She thought that in the third grade and she thought that you loved the wolf part of Peter and the Wolf the best and she just wanted you to love her.”

Anne frowned.

“But I do love her...I’ve always loved her.”

He gave her a warm smile.

“She knows that…or she knows that now.”

He looked away after a couple of seconds and went back to cleaning the dishes. Anne stood there for a few minutes just watching him, her mind spinning with a million thoughts at once. She’d always thought that what Amy and Ricky had at Band Camp was a simple one night stand.

Something he did with all ‘fresh meat’, but Ricky was a smart kid and she doubted he remembered such intimate details from all of his conquests lives. Standing there alone in the kitchen with Ricky doing the dishes together, it was the first time she considered the possibility that he might actually have genuine feelings for her daughter.

They might have been there all along under everything, but something had definitely changed in the last few weeks. She could see him maturing, becoming a man that he should be proud of and maybe, just maybe a man worthy of Amy’s love.




_______

She’d kissed him. What was worse was he let her, even kissed her back for a second. It was a mistake. He didn’t think of Ashley like that, but now he understood why she’d been acting so off lately. She liked him. That much was obvious by her actions tonight.

He was doing it again. Making the wrong choices, making mistakes that he wouldn’t be able to come back from. Not this time though. He’d fix this. He’d talk to Ashley in the morning and work things out. They were friends, family, but that was where it ended.

Ricky sighed and plopped down on Amy’s bed. He had just gotten John to bed and was reaching over to turn on the baby monitor when his cell phone rang. He reached over and flipped it open without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello.”

“Hey.”

He smiled as her soft voice washed over him and he reached an arm behind his head leaning back on it.

“Hey there, how was your day city girl?”

She chuckled and he could hear the smile in her voice.

“It was long and sort of overwhelming, but completely exhilarating too. Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah, actually it does. So tell me how awesome is New York? Did you have any time to sight see?”

“Actually that's practically all I did today! Ricky it’s so amazing here. One day we’re gonna have to bring John. He’d love it. We can take him all over, to the Statue of Liberty, China town, the theater district and oh my god to hear the orchestra play!”

He smiled at the excitement in her voice and let out a small laugh.

“I’m sure he’d like that. Maybe one day we can.”

“Yeah…”

The line was silent for a second and he heard her take a deep breath before speaking again.

“How are things going there. Did John do okay without me? I’m sure he’s happy to have you there more.”

“Yeah, he did pretty good. He fused a little bit when I wasn’t putting him down. I think he misses you, but he's good.”

“And how are you?”

“Me? I’m okay. Your families not too bad I actually spent some time with your Mom tonight and I got to hang out with Robbie a little. It’s nice having people around to help…we miss you though.”

She paused and her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke.

“We?”

It was now or never. She was giving him a clear opening and he knew this was his chance to take it.

“Yeah…your parents, Ashley, John…me.”

“I miss you guys too…all of you. I don’t know how I’m gonna last here for four weeks without…everyone.”

“Me either.”

“Ricky…”

“Hmm.”

“Nothing…I should probably go. It’s really late here and I have to be up early tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to call earlier tomorrow so I can talk to John.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.”

“Okay…well…goodnight then.”

“Goodnight Amy.”

Silence filled the line for a couple of more seconds before he heard a click and the line was dropped. He shut the phone and tossed it on the night stand before sinking further into Amy’s bed, arms crossed over his chest.

There was no denying it, he had feelings for Amy. Strong feelings and they weren’t going away anytime soon. He had four weeks to make a choice. Either he spent the next month getting over Amy or he spent the next month becoming the kind of man she could love.

Whatever decision he made would shape the rest of his future with his family and for once Ricky Underwood was determined to make the right choice.