Ryan was sitting out on the back porch, staring out at the infinity pool and onto the ocean beyond that. When he had designed this house, he had designed pool to be just like the infinity pool at the old Cohen house. He had loved sitting in his pool house back then, or out by their pool looking out onto the vast blue ocean. It had always given him a sense of peace and tranquility, even hen his mind was in turmoil. Like right now. Trey was back in town- but why? What did he want? Ryan was convined he must want something, that was the way the Atwoods were. Well, maybe that was unfair. After all, though he had given his father a leg up, it wasn't like he was letting his father free-load off of him, maybe that was more his mother. That might explain where Trey got it from. Of course... It was always possible that Dawn was the one who had contacted Trey, and asked him to come. On the phone she might have mentioned Ryan's success, well of course she mentioned Ryan's success. She couldn't get past the checkout counter at the grocery store without telling the clerk about her son.

Then again... Perhaps she wasn't as delusional about her mortality as she often seemed to be. She refused to discuss things like a living will or a regular will for that matter, but maybe on some level she was more aware of her limited time than she let on, maybe that was why she was so staunchly against talking it about, she knew it was coming and so no reason to torture herself further by dwelling on the matter. Maybe that was why she called Trey. If she had called Trey. Ryan still wasn't exactly sure why Trey had arrived in town. He had only said that he had gone to see their mother. Perhaps that just to test the waters, to try and get a read on what might happen once he actually strolled in to Ryan's office.

Ryan sighed and took a sip of his beer. He didn't like wine. Even though he was usually forced to somehow get through a glass during important business dinner, lunches, and functions, he hated the taste, and he had come to prefer the sobriety and the advantage of keeping his mind sharp while his "companions" worked through bottle after bottle by themselves, without even seeming to realize it. When the business deal closed, Ryan didn't even mind picking up the tab.

Sometimes, he had to sigh, when had it really come to this? Business dinners over too much wine. Worrying about his sons. Wishing Taylor were home more. Time had passed so quickly. Chino was so far in his past, that if he went there now, he'd probably feel the same fear as any of his neighboors. Sure, he had tried to keep in touch with roots, but eventually... It just wasn't possible. He had become more at home at a country club or formal resturaunt than he wanted to admit. Something he would never admit to Trey, who had looked much older than his 35 years.

Ryan wondered what he had been doing with himself for all this time, and suddenly dinner didn't seem so terrible. Sure, Trey might be casing place or planning his angle, and whatever story he told Ryan might not be the truth, but still. He was family. And he could afford to be generous. After all, he had been the lucky one... Maybe if someone had reached out a hand to Trey the first time he was in trouble things might have been different... But deep down, Ryan knew that wasn't the case. Trouble didn't just find Trey, Trey went looking for it.

"Hey..." A soft female voice said, gentle hands running up and down his arms, then the feeling of his wife's touch around his neck. He looked up into Taylor's bright brown eyes.

"Hey, didn't hear you come out here." He said smiling, taking her hand in his and kissing it, first the inside of the wrist, and then the finger tips. He got to his feet, still holding her hands, and gave her another kiss on the lips.

"My... Aren't we affectionate tonight..." Taylor said, circling her arms around his waist. Ryan stil had the trim waist he had had as a boy, somehow he still found time to work out every day.

"Yeah... I was just thinking... About how lucky we are..."

"Trey?"

"Yeah... If Sandy hadn't found me when he did..." Ryan shook his head.

"You still would have found a way Ryan,"

Ryan shrugged, "Maybe... or maybe not. But still... I should be grateful for everything I have and I should have been," He paused, "More..." he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say, but Taylor waited, "I should have been more welcoming to him today. I.... When I saw him, it felt suddenly like being back there, and I was so mad at him..."A look passed over his face, and Taylor fought back the sudden surge of jealousy. He was thinking about Marissa. So many years had passed, but she knew the scars still ran deep, that somehow for all their love and happiness, he couldn't let go of the "what-ifs." She knew he loved her, she didn't doubt that for a moment, but still, there was a part of him that would always love Marissa, who would forever being young and beautiful in his mind.

Her thumb unconsciously went to the two bands she wore around her ring finger. Engagement. Wedding. Worth a small fortune each. Ryan had insisted. He had been so determined to prove to anyone that he wasn't the kid from Chino who got into fights anymore, that he had somehow climbed his way to the top of the Newport food chain, and now he could afford to give his wife the same size diamonds that everyone else bought for their wives. The same people who had once been afraid for their valuables when he had been let into the community, now invited him to their country clubs and asked him to build their houses. The diamonds were bought and paid for by the very people who had once shunned him, and whispered about him behind closed the doors. Well, of course, they still talked. After they had adopted Craig, tongues had wagged. Taylor had heard the whispers as she walked around town with the boy. Some said that he was Ryan's bastard son, and it was true that the resemblance was striking, but of course the rumors were completely unfounded.

Taylor remembering that he was her husband, and that he had married her, and that she was the mother of his children, found her voice, "Well, he's coming over to dinner, so you'll have plenty of time to make it up to him." She smiled.

"Right..." Ryan smiled, his hands going around her thickening waist, she leaned slightly against him as he locked his hands behind her back. It relieved some of the tension she had been carrying there. This baby was tiring, more so than the first had been. She hoped it was a girl. One of each. She was determined that if she had a daughter, she would make none of the mistakes that her mother had made with her. "What's for dinner?" He asked.

"Steak,"

"I think I should throw it on the grill, if Trey finds out I didn't even cook the steak..." He shook his head, "I'll never hear the end of it."

"Relax, Lisa's taking care of it. Speaking of taking care, how's Matt?"

"Out like a light the last time I checked, poor little guy."

"Fever going down?"

"Seemed to be, it was at like 99 last time I checked."

"When did you check?"

Ryan glanced at his watch, "About half an hour or so ago, and I told Lisa to keep an ear open, and call me if he started hollering."

"Good. By the way, did you know Craig's in your office, on your computer? He said he had permission."

"He did... Some kid was getting on his case about his mom. I told him to do a little digging, see if he could figure out how he the kid was getting his info."

"You think that'll work?"

"I don't know. I just didn't want him to sit in his room stewing, and if there is something on Google- we should know about it, right?" Suddenly, Ryan smiled, "Did you everything think we'd be here? All grown- up, trying to figure out how to discipline our kids... God, I don't even grill my own steaks any more!"

"Well..." Taylor wasn't sure what to make of this outburst, then she noticed the beer on the table, "Well, the second you stop drinking cheap beer, then I will know you have truly gone to the dark side." She smiled, then her face turned serious, "I know what you mean... It's gone by so fast."

Ryan nodded, a soft breeze floated across the breeze, and Taylor's hair blew across her face. With a gentle hand, Ryan moved it, then kissed her again, "But you know... I can't think of anyone I'd rather be here with than you."

"And I with you..." She said, going in for passionate kiss. Then, the doorbell rang.