Marry Me

Part 11

Ricky is seething.

He can practically feel the steam rolling from his ears as he stands in your car shop, his hands shoved into his black jacket pockets. He grits his teeth as he tries to keep his temper in check, but he's so disappointed! He's been so worked up about it and now he has to wait again!

His court meeting was today, the one where the judge was to discuss his custody of his daughter, but it was postponed indefinitely! He's not sure why, his lawyer couldn't really give him any good reason either, and now he's going to have to just continue waiting! Not only does that mean he's still restricted when it comes to seeing Chloe, which honestly hasn't been that big of a problem lately with how Claire has been, but he's still paying child support!

It's so --- frustrating!

It pisses him off, it's completely throwing off his time table. He married you with this date in mind, figuring once he got the proceedings started it would be a fast track to divorce. Now it's completely stalled again, and he's not sure when the next one will be!

"It's going to be alright, I'm sure it's not postponed forever," you say after a moment when he finally stops ranting, casually changing the oil on a car like it's the easiest job in the world. You're dressed in that ugly jumpsuit again, but the sleeves are tied around your waist so your upper half isn't burning up with the heat of the day. Ricky notices you're not wearing your wedding ring, but it's probably hard to work on cars with it on.

"Just long enough where I have to keep paying lawyer fees," he sounds so glum. "She's going to break my bank account so I'll stop fighting her."

"You know if you need help with those, I can, right? You didn't just marry me for my bed." Which you know he keeps saying is uncomfortable, at least the one in his bedroom is. You think it's just fine, but everyone has their own preferences. "All you have to do is ask."

"It's alright, it's not yours to worry with," Ricky shakes his head. He doesn't want to impose on you more than he has already. Moving in with you, trying to get adjusted, having Chloe give you a stomach virus... it's been interesting. Man, all this stress really makes him wish he hadn't quit smoking, but he didn't want that around his daughter.

"What's mine is yours," you say absently, pouring fresh oil into a funnel into the filler hole, stifling a yawn behind your hand. You watch as the liquid drains down, giving it time before you lift the funnel out and replace the filler cap. "If you need it, I can help."

"I just don't want to impose any more than what I have," Ricky replies, glancing around your shop. It's busy for a Friday, none of your guys are lounging around today, but the radio is still blaring and he can hear the constant clinking of tools. You seem to have the easiest job right now, doing something with oil and watching it drain out of a funnel into something in the car; he has no clue what you're doing, honestly.

"It's no problem. Is Claire getting Chloe from school today?"

"Yeah, she has her this weekend."

"Do you have any plans? I thought we could do something."

"Oh, I don't think so," Ricky hesitates as he rubs the back of his neck. "What do you have in mind?"

"I dunno yet. I just figure we could do something, maybe help you relax. This is probably one of the first weekends you haven't had Chloe in a while. I already have someone who can cover for me tomorrow morning so I can skip out."

"Sounds like you were expecting me not to be busy."

"Guess I just know you that well," you say lightly, shooting him a smile as you crouch down to look under the car, checking for leaks. You've cranked it and let it run for about a minute, and that's typically the time it takes to notice if the cap wasn't tight enough on the oil and if it was leaking down into the pan. "So date night tomorrow?"