A light || Ricky and Nini

Chapter 173

Surprise! Y'all don't have to wait until tomorrow after all.
————
Ricky POV

"Dad! I'm home!" I yell when I walk through my front door, throwing my bag down and walking further into my house. "Babe, how do you just throw your stuff everywhere." Nini giggles as she follows after me and I turn, giving her a smile. "Because the man who raised me leaves pizza boxes across the living room for days on end. Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree." I shrug. "Hey! I find that offensive son." I smile wider and turn around to see my dad coming into the room. "Dad!" I exclaim, walking towards him to reach out and hug him. "I missed you Rick. The house was too quiet." He jokes and I quirk an eyebrow. "Oh so you've been here a lot?" I ask suggestively and my dad raises his eyebrows. "Yes because I live here. But Jen and I meet outside of the house if you must know." He says and I chuckle, putting my hands up in defense. "Okay okay. I'm glad you're good." I laugh and he smiles, reach out an arm and looking at Nini. "Hey Nini, sorry I practically ignored you." Nini smiles and walks toward him, giving him a side hug. "No worries Mr. Bowen. My moms do it all the time." She jokes and I can't help but reach out to rub her back as I laugh. The physical contact always makes me feel like I'm safe and that whatever my situation is, I'm stable. She directs her bright smile to me, her sparkling eyes meeting mine. "Speaking of, have you guys stopped by Dana's and Carol's? I can't imagine they'd be too happy knowing I got to see you two before them." Nini laughs and shakes her head. "No we came here first." My dad nods and checks his watch. "How about I drive you guys? Maybe accompany you guys for dinner at your moms'?" He asks Nini and she nods, checking her phone. "That'd actually be super fun. Let me text them?" My dad pats me on the shoulder and nods again. "Yeah I've got a feeling you two aren't gonna deal too well with being separated after two weeks of being attached at the hip." I mock offense and push on his arm. "We weren't attached." I defend and Nini looks up from her phone, her eyebrows raised. "Uh, what's your definition of attached at the hip?" I groan and Nini covers her mouth as she laughs. "Smartest man over here." My dad says proudly and I roll my eyes as I grin at the two people who can make me feel happy in under a minute.

"Okay so they said they'd love to have us over." Nini looks up and announces to my dad. He claps and reaches for his phone on the counter. "Then let's go to the Salazar-Roberts shall we?"

"Moms! Moms I'm home!" Nini sings when we walk through her door. I grin as her moms come running through the living room, engulfing her in large hugs. "Baby, we missed you!" I hear Dana say to Nini and it's almost like they completely forget about her for a split second because they turn to give me a hug that's just as big. "Hey there Ricky." Carol grins and they turn flip a switch once again to each give my dad a hug as well. "Good to see you Mike. We've got a table full of food and we want to hear all about Colorado!" They cheer, guiding us into the kitchen and pointing out our seats.

The house is warm and welcoming and Carol and Dana chat about what they did when Nini was gone. They talked about how they'd miss her when she left for college and my smile doesn't leave my face as the two grill us about our trip. "Hey moms, what is this?" Nini asks as she pulls out her chair, lifting something up from the seat. Carol looks at her curiously and the color drains from her face as she sees what Nini's holding up. "Who's this from? It's addressed to me but I don't recognize the return address." She says and something about the tone of the room makes me place my hand on her back. "Oh uh, we didn't mean to get into this tonight." Dana says and Nini's eyebrows furrow. "Wait the envelope is open... you know what this is? What are we not getting into tonight?" She asks and her voice wavers as her fingers feel over the ripped open envelope. I look across my room at my dad who's hanging out awkwardly and I look to Carol and Dana who seem uncertain and worried. "Hon sit down, let's talk about this before anything gets too-" Nini's voice rises and I press my hand firmer against her spine. "Too what? What is this and why did you open it?"

————
It's been a hot minute since Nini's had some drama in her life. 😏