Hello everyone, sorry it's been awhile. Here's my next chapter. It's a little short but I hope you like it! Don't forget to review!

Marissa Cooper lay beneath a mound of soft white duvet, enjoying the peaceful silences that rang throughout her apartment.

On a normal day she would have been roughly awoken hours ago, at the crack of dawn, by her 5 year old son and daughter, Nate and Lucy.

Every since their birth, sleeping in later than 7 had become a very rare luxury for Marissa. The twins were up by six nearly every morning.

Well, Nate anyway. Occasionally Lucy, who had inherited her mother's sleeping habits, refused to get out of bed at all but for the most part, the two children were extremely early risers.

Thankfully for Marissa, Nate and Lucy had spent the previous night with their "Aunt" and "Uncle" (neither was blood-related to the kids) and she'd been able to catch up on her sleep.

Marissa hadn't been resting very soundly lately, especially after her conversation with Ryan a few days ago, and that, combined with the continuous early mornings, had left her irritable and exhausted. She was grateful to finally have some time to herself.

Mentally scrolling through a list of things she had to do that day, Marissa forced herself to roll out of bed and brush her teeth before staggering groggily into the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee. She'd never be fully awake until she had one.

As she waited for the coffee to brew, Marissa stood at her enormous kitchen window watching the hustle and bustle of the city below her. New York truly was the city that never sleeps, she noted, observing cars the size of ants trundling along in the early morning traffic, not even on Sundays.

Carefully adding cream and sugar to her coffee, Marissa slouched tiredly in her chair, planning out the day ahead.

She should be able to get the laundry done, tidy the house and still have time for vacuuming before Seth and Summer brought the kids home for dinner at 4:30. If she hurried she might even be able to wash the kitchen floor as well!

Marissa sighed, depressed by the thought. It was amazing how much her life had changed since she left Newport.

Five years ago, the idea of spending an entire day cleaning would have had her rolling on the floor with laughter. She had never been particularly neat but, growing up, they'd usually had some kind of hired help to do their cooking and cleaning for them. She'd never learned the basic chores required to run a household.

In fact, Marissa had only done the laundry one before prior to moving to New York and she'd ended up turning all the clothes pink.

Now-a-days, her life pretty much consisted of two things; looking after Nate and Lucy, and cleaning.

Marissa had gotten rather good multi-tasking the two. She could now fold laundry while doing arts and crafts, scrub the bathroom floor while bathing the twins and pick up toys while giving piggy-back-rides.

Yes Marissa had become an expert at doing two things at once but the stress was starting to get to her.

She just felt like she was busy all the time. Like she never had time to take a break.

"You need a vacation." Summer had told her when she'd expressed these feelings a few days earlier. "You need to get away from life for awhile."

It was true, Marissa decided, taking a large sip of her coffee. She did need a vacation. She needed to go somewhere warm and sunny. Somewhere where she could relax.

"California!" Summer had suggested, giddy with excitement. "That'd be perfect! You could come with Seth and me at Christmas!"

California. The idea had seemed crazy to Marissa at first. She couldn't go there! Not where her mother and sister and Sandy and Kirsten were! No way. As much as she missed her family, she couldn't bring the twins to California and there was no way she'd leave them behind at Christmas.

"No!" She'd told Summer. "That's crazy!"

But the idea had stuck in her mind and the more she thought about it, the less crazy it became.

Maybe it was time for Nate and Lucy to meet their family. The kids had grandparents, aunts, uncles, that they'd never even met! It seemed wrong to keep them for them.

Marissa doubted that her children would stay a secret much longer anyway. Not now that Taylor knew. Marissa was surprised she'd been able to keep this quiet for so long already. The Taylor she knew would have spilled the juicy news as soon as she found out.

Marissa supposed Taylor wasn't saying anything because she felt threatened. If everyone knew about them, the whole Nate and Lucy thing would seem real and then Taylor would have to accept the fact that they were here to stay.

Marissa knew her rival didn't want that. Still, Taylor would probably break down and tell some time soon and Marissa didn't want her family finding out from her.

If they were going to know about Nate and Lucy, she'd tell them herself.

Determined, Marissa reached for the phone and then hesitated. Did she really want to do this? Her family wasn't going to be happy when they heard from her. Maybe she should just leave them alone and let them get on with their lives in peace. What they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

"No." Marissa scolded herself. She had to do this. She had to stop lying and face her fears for the kids' sake. They deserved to know their relatives.

Besides, Marissa reminded herself, picking up the phone and dialling the number that she'd been trying to make herself call for the past 5 years, this was her family, they'd forgive her. Eventually.

Breathing quickly, Marissa wiped her sweaty palms on her pajama bottoms, listening to the phone ring, praying that her mother wouldn't pick up.

It wasn't too late! She could still hang up the phone and…

"Hello?" Julie Cooper's crisp voice pierced Marissa's train of thought. Oh my god! Marissa started to panic. What was she supposed to say! Why hadn't she thought about this more?

"Hello?" Julie repeated, sounding rather annoyed. "If this is another stupid telemarketer I don't want…"

"Mom?" Marissa interrupted in a small, shaky voice. "It's Marissa."

"MARISSA!" Her mothers shocked voice rang through the phone. "OH MY GOD!"

Haha I'm ending it there because I have no clue how to write that conversation! Anyways I know that chapter was short and I'm very sorry for that. I won't be updating again until next weekend because I'm going to a funeral tomorrow pretty far away so we'll be away until Sunday night. Also, I just read a rather interesting review from Ryan&Marissa who thinks I should make Marissa pregnant. I think that would make for an interesting plot line but I have no idea how to write the reactions! How does everyone else feel about that idea? Should she be pregnant, should she not be pregnant? What do you think?

Thanks a bunch