Disclaimer: If I owned The O.C you'd know about it.
He'd been given this option a long time ago but it had never seemed all that important to him back then. Now it was all he really thought about. He'd had the papers for months and had just never got around to signing them. Either he didn't have the time or he couldn't find a pen. Taylor had began to notice how restless he'd become and chalked it up to pre-wedding jitters but if there was one thing he was sure of it was how much he wanted to be married to that particular crazy redhead. It was more a question of what name her wanted to give her when they tied the knot. She told him it didn't matter to her, any name that was his was perfect but he didn't share the same sentiment. There was more to a name then just the letters, there was a history and while the Atwood history would always be a part of who Ryan was the same did not need to be said for her. Taylor deserved better than that and so did the kids they were sure to have.
He'd brought it up to Seth and was rewarded with a laughing fit that resembled hyperventilating. Apparently Seth had forgotten that Ryan even had a last name so it didn't matter much either way. He could hear it in his voice though it did matter to his brother. Summer had offered an explanation on his behave saying that a part of Seth was still insecure about his role in Ryan's life; especially since Trey had reached out and started putting in work to rebuilding their relationship. He'd promised to talk to him about it but Summer assured him that on a rational level Seth knew how solid their relationship was but he was only human. And when it came to her, he'd be chino til the day he dead so she'd support whatever decision he eventually got around to making.
Kirsten had cried, said that it was enough that he was even considering it. He remembered right after the earthquake when he'd been in the hospital and he'd called her mom for the first time. The look she'd given him made him happy while at the same time made him feel like shit for not having said it soon. He made a point to all her mom as often if not more than he called her Kirsten and the same went for Sandy. Frank hadn't liked it much but at the end of the day everyone was very aware who Ryan considered to be his father.
So what was in a name, it was history, it was who you were, who your parents were, it told people where you belonged. He wasn't just an Atwood, he hadn't been an Atwood for a really long time. Signing these papers meant finally accepting something that had been true for a decade. He was a Cohen. So he picked up the pen Kirsten had bought him for signing contracts and did something he should have done a long time ago.
He watched her as she moved around the kitchen filling their home with the smell of freshly baked pie, chicken, rice, steamed vegetables and old over holiday goodness. They were having Christmas dinner at their house this year and she'd been up all morning preparing while he ran errands. When she had her back to him he walked behind, taking her into his arms and breathing in a scent that was uniquely hers.
"How does Taylor Bliss Atwood-Cohen sound to you?"
She turned in his arms hopping up on the counter bringing him closer with her legs and playing with the hair at the back of his neck. She tilted her head to the side and sighed as if deep in thought, he runs his hands up and down her thighs smiling at the dramatics she never grows tired of. She repeats the name, her name come March, over and over as he chuckles gently, it sounds amazing to him.
"How does Ryan James Atwood-Cohen sound to you?" she says with a giggle. And he thinks not for the first time that its moments like these that reinforce just how much he loved this woman. "Sounds pretty perfect."