Between Us.

| Four. |

Rikki felt her heartbeat increase, as she stared into the deep chocolate brown eyes of the woman who used to be her best friend not too long ago. Who she'd hurt the most.

"J-Jamie." Rikki stammered, watching as the Caucasian woman slowly nodded her head.

"Hey." Jamie blew out, tucking a long piece of her hair behind her ear. Rikki took a step back, eyeing the woman curiously.

She had on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair was now dyed a little differently and seemed to be longer as she had not one ounce of makeup on her face. She looked strangely different, but it worked well on her.

"Hey?" Rikki responded back, the word coming of her mouth in question form.

Jamie gestured inside Rikki's apartment, and Rikki took a step back and let her inside without questions. She closed the door behind them, turning around to catch Jamie taking off her 'middle school baseball mom' hoodie.

"Stephen told me that you had a daughter," she shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want to believe it until I saw the proof. Can I hold her?"

Rikki looked down at Jamie's extended arms. Can she hold her baby? She should say no but this was her best friend at some point. She shook her head. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

A small smile grew on Jamie's lips, as she began rocking the little girl back and forth once she was in her arms. "She's adorable. What's her name?"

"It's Arika." Rikki smiled, staring at her daughter who grabbed a handful of Jamie's hair.

"Hi Arika," She cooed, smiling at the tiny girl. "I'm Jamie, sweetheart. Can you say Jamie?"

Arika poked out her lips, attempting to say the name. "Jam... Jam."

"It's close enough," Jamie laughed, still swaying with the little girl in her arms. She turned to Rikki. "When did you have her?"

"February, last year. She'll be 2 then."

"And when did you find out you were pregnant?" Jamie asked, watching as Rikki bit down on her bottom lip.

"Day after the renewal. I had went to the ER because I thought you had broke my nose." She sighed, staring up at Jamie with sad eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not usually about violence, but I didn't know what else to do when I found out. Don't worry, Luis got his too." She answered, taking a seat on the couch next to Rikki.

"It's okay, I don't blame you." She waved her hand, staring at Arika who was playing in Jamie's mane.

"How have you been, though? Everything good?" Jamie changed the subject, glancing Rikki's way.

"Yeah, I guess. Things could be better but at least I have her to make up for the bad things."

Jamie smiled, playing with Arika's tiny hands. "That's how I felt when I had Lucas. My little baby. He hates when I say that, but oh well."

"Can't help but to baby your first." Rikki began laughing, taking away a bit of the tension.

"Damn right. Gosh, she's so damn cute." Jamie gushed, turning Arika around so she was facing her.

"I know, we hear that often. Don't we baby?" Rikki cheesed, tickling the little girl who erupted in a fit of giggles.

Jamie nodded, sitting Jailyn back down on her lap. "Stephen told me she was so cute because she's half his. He doesn't want to listen to me when I say she might be Luis's. He has so much hope."

Rikki's smile erased, as she swallowed her spit. "Oh."

"Maybe it's because he's never been a father before, I don't know. Or maybe he still has feelings... Actually no, never mind." Jamie shook her head, her eyes focusing on Rikki's wristwatch.

"What time is it?"

Rikki looked down at the time. "It's about 9:39, why?"

"I told Lucas I would only be 10 minutes, so I can help him with his chemistry homework. So, I should probably be on my way." Jamie exhaled, gently lifting Arika and placing her onto Rikki's lap.

"Alright, say bye baby." Rikki cooed, as her daughter waved.

"Bye, sweetheart. Hey, do you two have any plans tomorrow?" Jamie asked, throwing her hoodie back on and zippering it up.

Rikki thought for a minute. "Um... Ari has her first day of daycare tomorrow."

"Aw, how exciting. Are you driving there?"

"No, I don't have a car anymore. So, we'll probably take the bus." Rikki played with Arika's curls, a habit of hers.

"Oh well, in that case... I'll pick y'all up at 7, okay?" Jamie raised her eyebrow, as she reached for the doorknob and pulled the apartment door open.

"Oh wow. Thank you." Rikki smiled warmly.

"No problem. I really gotta leave now." Jamie spoke, waving for the second time as she shut the door and left.

Rikki hopped up from the couch quickly, cradling Jailyn in her arms as she ran to catch the woman on her way down the hall. "Hey, Jamie?"

"Yeah?" Jamie turned around, her eyes locking with Rikki's.

Rikki scratched her head awkwardly. "Uh, does this mean that we're okay now? I'm not saying friends but-"

Jamie cut her off. "Rikki, I'm sorry. But you betrayed me and slept with my husband behind my back multiple times. We can't really ever be okay after something like that, we just can't,"

Rikki let Jamie's words sink in, as she looked down to the carpeted apartment hall. "The only reason I'm back is because that little girl could be my stepdaughter and apart of my family. And if she is, I'm going to treat her with the most respect and love, something I can't say you did for me,"

"And I'm truly sorry, but due to what happened before: this can't change anything between us. We're nothing anymore, not even acquaintances. I'm here for her and her only. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

And with that, she left before Rikki could even blink. And although, it felt like she should be sad, Rikki knew that deep down Jamie was right.