Title: Chrismukkah With The Cohens
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The O.C.. Not for profit.
Description: A few missing Cohens+1 scenes from 3.10 The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah.

Author's Note: (Aug 2006) The text of this chapter has been somewhat modified since it was originally posted in Dec 2005, and it has now been beta-read by fredsmith518. But the bulk of the chapter is the same as before.

Chapter 1

Kirsten smiled as she finished setting the table and then called the boys to dinner. Chrismukkah was coming up, and she and Sandy had something to talk to Ryan and Seth about.

Once they were all seated and had started eating, Kirsten looked to Sandy, who smiled at her, then looked over at each of the boys.

"Okay, guys, we have to decide who's going to go and pick out the tree this year. I know that your mother and I usually do it, but..." Sandy looked specifically at Ryan. "Ryan, since you and Kirsten did it last year, I was thinking that you and I could do it this year. What do you say?"

Kirsten watched Ryan with interest. She and Sandy had already talked this over. He had told her how he felt a little guilty about his "bah, humbug" attitude last year, due to her father's legal problems that he had been dealing with at the time. And she herself was already feeling sad about this being the last holiday season with the boys in the house and just wanted to spend as much time with them as possible while she could. And Sandy felt the same way.

The way they figured it, Sandy and Ryan picking out the tree together would give them a chance to have a little one-on-one time. And while they were out, she could have some one-on-one time with Seth, putting up the stockings and the menorahs and such. She and Sandy planned to switch later, at some point, for some one-on-one time with the other boy.

Kirsten was glad to see Ryan nodding in agreement with Sandy's suggestion. It looked like he was about to say sure, but before he had a chance to actually say anything, Seth spoke up.

"Actually, Dad, I was thinking that Ryan and I could do it this year."

Kirsten could practically feel her jaw drop. She exchanged a couple of incredulous, amused looks with Sandy and Ryan. Sandy was the first to recover from the shock.

He cleared his throat. "Son, are you telling me that you are actually volunteering to do manual labor?"

Kirsten chimed in, with a big smile. "I can't believe it."

As did Ryan, looking amused. "It's a Chrismukkah miracle."

Seth gave them all dirty looks. "It's just... I went with Summer to pick out the Roberts' tree last year, and... she's just so good at it... I mean, I already asked her and she said yes and I thought that... you know... me and Ryan and Summer and Marissa could all go, make a day of it..."

Kirsten put her hand on her son's arm to stop his rambling, and smiled at him softly. "That's fine, Seth. We were just teasing you."

She was happy when the others chimed in, "Yeah."

Kirsten could see her son breathe a sigh of relief and then smile first at her, then at the rest of the family, who all smiled back.

"Yeah? Great. Great." He turned to Ryan. "Hey, man, we'll have to leave early. Summer says all the best trees go quickly, so we'll have to get there like right when they open."

Ryan gave him an indulgent smile. "Sure."

Kirsten watched her boys discuss the details of their excursion. She and Sandy exchanged a look and a shrug. Well, there was always plenty of time for one-on-ones later.

A few days later, Kirsten joined Sandy in seeing Seth and Ryan off. The boys were up early and were all ready to go pick up the girls right after breakfast.

"Now, remember, don't get a tree too tall, or it won't fit under the ceiling. Remember, there has to be room to put the star on top."

"We'll remember."

"Seth, go ahead and use your emergency credit card, but don't go over the limit we agreed on."

"I know."

"Do you guys have rope in the Rover to tie the tree to the top of the car?"

"Yes, Sandy, I put it in there myself yesterday."

"Get the guys at the tree lot to help you."

Seth finally got fed up when they were half way out the door. "Mom, Dad, we have to go. Summer and Marissa are waiting for us. We have everything under control. Really."

Kirsten stopped with Sandy at the front door. They each put their arm around the other's waist and watched their boys getting into the SUV, waving as they drove off.

"Good luck! Have fun!"

"Call if you're going to be late!"

"Yes, Mom!"

And then they were gone.

Kirsten sighed and gave her husband a brief, sad smile and a brief hug.

"Honey, I was going to go surfing, if that's okay..."

"Yeah, that's fine. I was just going to get the Chrismukkah stuff out."

"You sure? I can help you..."

"No, no. You go ahead. You can help when you get back."

Sandy gave Kirsten a kiss. "Okay. I'll be back soon. Love you."

"Love you, too."

After Sandy headed off to their bedroom to change into his surfing clothes, Kirsten took a quick look around at the bare living room, which wasn't going to be bare for much longer. She sighed, then headed for the spare room upstairs where they kept the Chrismukkah decorations.

It was well into the afternoon by the time Kirsten heard the Range Rover pull into the driveway. When she heard it, she got up from where she was sitting on the living room floor, taking decorations out of boxes. She had been hoping that the boys would have gotten back while she was out visiting Julie, since Seth had called a few hours before that to say that they'd be a few hours more. But she wasn't really surprised that it took longer than Seth had indicated.

"Sandy! The kids are back!"

Kirsten walked over to the front door and opened both sides to make sure there was enough room for the tree to get through.

When she looked out at the Rover, she saw the tree tied to the top. She tilted her head to the side to try and see it better. It looked pretty good, as far as she could tell. The boys did a good job, for their first time out by themselves. Kirsten smiled a little to herself. Or, well, maybe Summer was to thank for that.

After a moment, the kids got out of the car. To her surprise, only Ryan and Marissa emerged.

"Hey."

"Hey. Where's Seth and Summer?"

"We dropped them off at Summer's."

As Kirsten was nodding her understanding, Sandy came up behind her, planting a kiss on her cheek as he went past.

On his way down the stairs, he gestured at the tree. "Hey, kid. Let me help you with that."

Ryan nodded, and he and Sandy started to work on getting the big tree untied and off the roof.

Kirsten caught Marissa's eye. "Let's leave the guys to it. Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, we stopped at the diner."

"Come on in. How about some eggnog?"

Marissa smiled, and after a quick glance at Ryan, followed Kirsten inside. "Sounds good."

The two women got their eggnog and settled in on the living room couch, after pushing a few boxes out of the way. As Kirsten watched the two men struggle to get the tree inside, she had a feeling that Marissa wanted to tell her something. She fiddled with her glass nervously and a couple of times looked over at her. Kirsten had to hold herself back from asking Marissa what she wanted to say, preferring to let her come to it on her own time.

Finally, it seemed the girl got up her nerve. "Um, Kirsten?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"While we were at the tree lot..."

"Yes?"

Marissa took a deep breath. "Look, I just... I wanted to get a tree for my friend Johnny, because they didn't have one, and it was just a little one, you know, a table-top one, because his mom said that they don't have enough room for a big one, and anyway Seth put it on his credit card with your tree, and I'll pay you back –"

Kirsten smiled gently at the flustered girl and patted her leg. "Don't worry about it, Marissa. It's our treat. Don't give it another thought."

Marissa smiled back in relief. "Thanks."

Kirsten watched Marissa for a moment. Poor girl. With all her family troubles: no money, her father off with his boat who knew where, her mother living in a trailer (although she didn't know that). Kirsten felt it was the least she could do to help her out financially. After all, she was family, sort of. And Marissa was trying to help her friend. Good for her. Kirsten still hoped that Julie would come around and spend some time with her daughter during the holidays. It would be good for both of them.

A couple of hours later, Kirsten dropped onto one of the living room couches, exhausted. She couldn't believe she was so tired already, and there was still a lot of decorating left to do.

Sandy joined her on the couch. "Tired?"

"Yeah." Kirsten leaned into him, and he put his arm around her shoulder.

Kirsten relaxed in her husband's arms and looked around at all they'd been able to accomplish. After the men had gotten the tree in and set up on the tree stand, the four of them – Kirsten, Sandy, Ryan, and Marissa – had spent some time decorating it and the rest of the living room. Kirsten smiled to herself. It was nice, working together as a family, although it was too bad that Seth and Summer couldn't have joined them. They had laughed and had a good time.

Too soon, though, Ryan and Marissa had gone on their way to visit their friend Johnny and then hook up with Seth and Summer for dinner.

After a moment's quiet, Sandy offered, "Why don't we hang it up for tonight? We can do the kitchen and stuff tomorrow."

Kirsten gave her husband a tired smile. "Sounds good."

"This was nice, huh?"

"Mmm."

"And, just think, we have the whole house to ourselves for the rest of the day..."

Kirsten looked up and found Sandy grinning down at her. He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and she laughed. Then he leaned over and kissed her. Kirsten snuggled a little bit more into him, and he tightened his arms around her. Maybe this Chrismukkah wouldn't be so bad after all.

TBC