Firstly, thank you to OCLover1, kirstencohen, beachgirl, Ldee, skipper, Jo, Ashlified, Mrs Clooney, Christine, Trinity Is Go, Cheryl and Carby4ever for your reviews of The Heartbreak.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas/holidays. Father Christmas was very generous this year and brought me Kirsten, Sandy & co. in a nice shiny orange box – plus with an impending assessment on Friday, I've got lots of motivation to write more missing scenes (hopefully one for each episode). I've got lots of half-written chapters so hopefully I'll be able to post more soon.

Thanks for all the encouragement! This one has also got a little bit of Kirsten/Ryan in it as well, because I love their relationship too – and I always wanted to know what happened after Ryan's mum left. Enjoy!

The Gamble

Ryan watched as his mother walked away from him, his hand waving a pitiful goodbye. He could feel Kirsten's eyes burning on him and he sighed.

He was alone. Again.

"Ryan…" Kirsten started.

"It's ok," Ryan interrupted her. "You don't have to make excuses for her."

"I thought…finding your mom was…I don't know, I thought I was helping," Kirsten stumbled. "I'm sorry, I should have listened to you."

Ryan didn't speak, something Kirsten found unnerving about him. She looked at him; he looked lost and her heart reached out to him for the first time since Sandy had brought him home. She had seen him protect her in the prison, and she had watched him take care of his mother in her drunken state. Now, she realised, Ryan needed someone to take care of him. Slowly, she walked over to him.

"I guess…you're stuck with us now," Kirsten said softly.

Ryan looked up at her, his eyes a mixture of sadness, fear and gratitude. He nodded, still silent. Kirsten was starting to learn that words weren't always necessary with Ryan.

"Come on. Let's go get some breakfast," Kirsten said. "Don't worry, Sandy's making it."

Ryan smiled and followed her into the house.

"Hey," Seth greeted them.

"Hey," Ryan answered quietly, still a little unsure about what was going to happen next.

Sandy walked towards them. "Where's, uh…?"

"Ryan's going to stay with us now," Kirsten said.

She watched as Seth's face lit up, while Sandy's expression changed to one of surprise.

"That's awesome," Seth said, excited. "I mean, it's…that's…that's awesome, right? That's cool, um…let's go talk about stuff, come on."

Seth walked into the family room and Ryan followed, a smile forming on his face. As he left the kitchen, he paused.

"I'll unpack later."

Those few words were enough for Kirsten. She smiled, before turning back to Sandy and walking towards him.

"Well, there's a no return policy now, you know that," Sandy said.

Kirsten grabbed hold of Sandy's shirt. "I love you, you know that?"

Sandy grinned. He would never tire of hearing her say those words.

"Are we ok?" Kirsten asked.

"Yeah," Sandy answered. He had always believed that, no matter what happened, they were always going to be ok.

"Good," Kirsten said. "Because we just got in way over our heads."

They turned to look at Seth and Ryan talking in the family room; well, Seth was talking, Ryan was listening. The perfect balance.

Kirsten turned her head towards Sandy. "About Jimmy…"

"It doesn't matter," Sandy interrupted.

"It does. You were right. I should have told you, I'm sorry," Kirsten said.

"It's forgotten," Sandy said, simply.

He slipped his arms around Kirsten's waist, pulling her body towards his. She found his hands and linked her fingers with his. Kirsten leaned into him and sighed happily. Sandy breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of her hair and her skin. He dropped his head and kissed her neck, his lips causing her skin to tingle.

The kettle started to whistle and Kirsten disentangled herself from Sandy's arms to take it off the stove. Sandy followed her, glad to be out of eyeshot of the two boys in the family room. His hands found Kirsten's hips and he pulled her towards him, kissing her before she had time to protest. Kirsten relaxed in his arms, running her hands up his arms and through his hair. Sandy's hands wandered under her robe, his fingers teasing her as they brushed lightly over the inch of skin that was bared where her top ended and her pants began.

The sound of laughter travelled through the kitchen and Kirsten pulled back, too conscious of the fact that Seth and Ryan were just around the corner. Her eyes glanced towards the back of the kitchen. Seth was becoming more animated and Kirsten smiled at the happiness in his voice.

"I think you've scored points on this one, you know," Sandy said.

Kirsten looked back at Sandy. "I wish I'd seen it before. Sooner."

Sandy frowned, puzzled. "Seen what?"

"Whatever it is that you see when you first meet someone," Kirsten answered, tracing her fingers over the contours of his face. "I wish I could do that – see past the surface. I wish I'd seen Ryan the way you saw him."

"I knew you'd see it eventually," Sandy said, softly. "I had every faith that you'd see it."

His eyes swept over her, taking in every detail of her face. "I love you."

Kirsten smiled as he bent down and kissed her again.

"Eugh. Unfortunately, Ryan, being part of this family also involves watching these two slobber over each other on way too many occasions than I'd like," Seth's voice interrupted them.

Sandy rolled his eyes at Kirsten before loosening his grip around her waist and turning around.

"What's for breakfast, Pops?" Seth asked, settling down on a stool at the island, ignoring his father's annoyed look.

Ryan hung back slightly, watching with amusement.

"How about we fix ourselves a proper breakfast? Bacon, eggs, pancakes?" Sandy offered.

Seth nodded enthusiastically and then paused. "We? That doesn't include Mom does it?"

"Hey!" Kirsten cried indignantly. Her eyes twinkling, she stormed past Seth and sat down at the kitchen table, looking up expectantly. "Well, get cooking."

Seth barked orders from his seat, while Sandy clattered pans around and Ryan pulled food from refrigerator. Kirsten watched as her family moved around the kitchen, enjoying the banter.

Her family. Her husband; and her two sons.