𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝟕 | 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

in a span of two months, ricky and nini were able to adjust to their situation of taking care of gracie. the two learned a lot of things and concepts in raising a baby. from changing diapers to feeding, they were able to get the hang of it. with that, ricky and nini got closer as friends.

it was an ordinary wednesday morning, nini was at her clinic, talking to some of her patients. she was finally on her break when she decided to check social media and with that, she came across ricky's instagram.

meanwhile, ricky was in the studio and he sighed in relief when he finished producing an artist's album. with that, he decided to take a short break. he scrolled through instagram until she stumbled to a familiar account.

it was late afternoon and ricky pulled up on the driveway. he saw nini's car parked as well, meaning that she was already home. as he opened the door, he saw nini playing with gracie and he couldn't help but smile. "hey nini."

"oh hi ricky." nini responds, standing up, carrying gracie with her. "have you eaten? i made some pasta. come on, let's eat."

ricky didn't respond and just followed nini to the kitchen. nini set gracie on the high chair as she prepared their meals.

the two chatted mindlessly about their days. nini tried to feed gracie and she jumped for joy when gracie ate the food she made for the first time. ricky couldn't help but laugh at nini's reaction. after their meal, nini cleaned up the kitchen counter while ricky played with gracie in the living room. when she was finished setting all the dishes in the dryer, she walked to the living room and saw the two share a high five. she couldn't help but show a bright smile.

after hours of playing, gracie fell asleep and nini brought her to her crib. soon, she walked downstairs and saw ricky in the kitchen, bringing out a bottle of wine and a glass.

"oh hey, you want some? sorry i was craving for some. i haven't had since we took home gracie." ricky says with a light chuckle and nini nods, "yeah sure."

ricky brought out another glass and poured some wine for him and nini. the two chatted more about their personal lives this time, nini talking about how she has two mothers and her filipino ancestry, while ricky talking about how his parents got divorced when he was in high school.

"oh i'm so sorry that happened to you ricky." nini said as she took a sip of her wine.

"nah it's chill now. my dad now is happily married with a woman named jenn. you may know her since she taught drama back in east high. my mom is married with todd now and they all get along pretty well." ricky responds.

"oh that's great. i'm glad." nini adds.

the two continued to talk until they got into the topic of their love life.

"so you've only been with one guy?" ricky asks.

"yup. ej caswell. i suppose you know him since you're friends. we dated back in high school until we had to break up, since we were going to different colleges in different states. but it was a healthy breakup. now he's in a happy relationship with my friend gina." nini replies. "how about you? have you ever had a girlfriend?"

ricky choked on his wine and nini gasps, "oh sorry was that inappropriate? i'm sorry for asking."

"no it's fine." ricky said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "you see i was known to mostly have random hookups and flings back in high school but back in college, i dated this girl named alice. we were together for a year, but we broke up because it just didn't work out. i just found our relationship too toxic."

"oh wow." nini replies.

"yeah."

nini took another sip of her wine. as she did that, some liquid dripped to her chin. ricky grabbed a napkin and leaned closer to wipe it for her. nini's breath started to hitch since they were so close. ricky started to stare at her eyes the moved to her lips. suddenly, the moment was interrupted when they heard the doorbell ring.

— hi just wanted to say i love you all ❤️