Prompt : Twinkle & the Cohens+1

Kirsten had never been one for singing.

After all, who could imagine singing in Caleb Nichol's house?

("Or laughter?" Seth would add.

"Or eye contact?" Sandy chimed in.)

So leave it to her to fall in love with a boy who did musicals.

Sandy sang in the shower. Sang while he grilled. While he drove. Even his light snore was in tune.

So it was no surprise he enjoyed singing to his children.

Of course, once they were of age to know the phrase, 'Dad, shut up,' the fun was over. But before then, especially in womb, they belonged to him.

He walked into the Cooper-Roberts-Cohen house after a day of work. He dropped his briefcase in the foyer and made his way toward where he knew he would find Kirsten, the kitchen.

She was leaning on the counter, sipping on a smoothie Julie had made for her. Her eyes lit up at him as he came in. He smiled back but his eyes quickly moved to her extended belly.

Despite the kitchen being occupied by everyone, there was no hesitation as he bent down and lavished his unborn daughter with attention. He whispered a bit of baby talk as he left tiny kisses on his wife's belly.

Just as he was beginning to sing, Seth spoke up. "Dad, have some dignity!"

"Dignity is overrated, son," was Sandy's response as Kirsten ran her hand over his hair.

Seth scoffed before Summer asked. "Is that weird? Having so much attention on your stomach?"

Kirsten paused a moment to swallow her drink before answering quickly. "Well, you kind of get used to it. It's much weirder when a stranger comes up and touches your stomach as if they have some right. But, as far as Sandy goes, there's no point trying to stop him." She smiled lovingly at him as he started the second chorus of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'

While Kirsten had never cared for singing, she did enjoy singing to her babies. Maybe it was the fact that infants weren't critical and wouldn't tell her how poorly she sang. Seth's favorite had been 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' but Sophie's was 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which Kirsten and Sandy found quite appropriate. She was their little star, their surprise.

Kirsten smiled as Sophie's eyelids finally slid down to hide her baby blues. She slowly put her into her crib and settled her in.

With a final stroke of her cheek, Kirsten whispered, "Goodnight, my little wonder."

Seth walked into the kitchen to talk to his mother.

"Hey, Mom," he started quietly. Kirsten knew that tone and turned from her work at the coffee pot to look at her son.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"I always thought Dad got his singing voice from his father." Seth had never spoken to his dad about the issue of his grandfather. He had always been afraid to breach the subject.

Kirsten understood Seth's feelings. She had never pushed for information about Sandy's father, accepting her husband's theory that there were something's about his past that she shouldn't know. She hated it but she accepted it. That was the line in Sandy's life that no one crossed.

But she did know the answer to this particular question. She listened for a moment as the elder Sophie sang to her granddaughter.

'Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky,'

"No, Seth. In fact, there are two things I love about your grandmother. Her son and her singing."

Just then, Sandy walked into the kitchen and kissed his wife on the head.

"She loves her," he mumbled against Kirsten's head.

Kirsten snorted, "Normally, people don't worry about their parents loving their grandchildren."

"Honey, we've never been normal."

"Yeah, I'm with Dad. Plus, she's not always that nice to me and I actually look Jewish. Who would think she'd be so accepting of something that looks like you?"

Sandy smirked while he poured coffee for everyone. Kirsten stared at Seth for a moment before adding, "Thanks, son."

Seth grinned before turning serious. "Dad, you left her unsupervised in there!"

"Of course not, Seth. Ryan has been watching her like a hawk since she first picked up her granddaughter." Sandy chuckled.

"Oh," Seth breathed in relief. Sandy took two cups into the living room, one for Ryan and one for his mother.

Seth and Kirsten were silent for a moment before Seth ventured a question. "So… if the Nana smokes and sings well, and Dad sings like her... it would be safe to say..."

"Seth Ezekiel…" Kirsten warned. She did not feel like having the pot debate with him right now. Not with the Nana in the house.

Seth was very concerned about being so far away from Sophie as she was growing up. So much so he almost didn't go East to school. But with much convincing from his family (difficult though it was for Sandy to tell Seth not to go to Berkeley), he set off for Rhode Island with Summer.

He was thankful that they lived in the cyber century and he could be there as Sophie went through her milestones without actually being there. The family conducted plenty of web chats and videotaped practically everything so Seth could see it unfold.

He found various ways to entertain his little sister, in ways that only Seth Cohen was capable of. His roommate, Barry, was majoring in theater and had access to all the props and costumes.

He helped Seth perform nursery rhymes, lullabies, and scenes from Disney movies, in very Seth Cohen ways.

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" was turned into a rap while "Be Our Guest" from "Beauty and the Beast" became a superb Shakespearian act.

It was clear that Ryan had a special place in his heart for his little sister. She was the first person who he could honestly have a clean slate with. She grinned wide when she saw him simply because he was her big brother and for no other reason.

He would do anything for her, which apparently included singing.

He was putting her to bed one night and the way she was looking at him with her big blue eyes made singing to her just seem right.

Ryan, forgetting the baby monitor, sandy Sophie her favorite song in a whispered tune. It was a calming song the way his gruff voice rumbled deep in his chest. Sandy and Kirsten could hear it through the other monitor in their room. They didn't move and barely breathed as they listened to their son.

Kirsten couldn't help it as she began to cry. Sandy put his arm around her shoulder. Despite the fears that another child might make Ryan feel pushed away, it was as if the birth of their daughter had finally solidified Ryan in the family though they had seen him as their son for years.

Perhaps it wasn't that they hadn't fully accepted him but that he hadn't fully accepted them. Like maybe he still felt like he might be kicked out of the family or that he still needed to prove himself.

Maybe now, he actually felt like a Cohen. Maybe now, he knew he belonged, like they had been trying to tell him.

Kirsten wiped away her silent tears as they heard Ryan's final words to Sophie.

"Goodnight, little star."