A/N: Hmm..... not liking this chap so much, but we'll see. sorry for taking so long, I had a busy weekend. Oh. and did anyone see this coming?? Just wondering!!

Chapter 14: And the Father is . . .

"We're almost there." Seth said quietly, eyeing Summer, whose eyes lit up with anticipation. She knew they were at the beach, but where were they going?
They had gotten out of the car by the boardwalk, and Seth took her over to the docks, where the rich Newport citizens kept their yachts and pontoons.
Seth slipped his hand into Summer's, as they walked side by side down one of the docks. Summer let her hand hang loosely with his, closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh sea air, trying to remember the last time she felt this good.
"Okay, well," Seth mumbled and Summer's eyes popped open and she let out a whimper of surprise and delight.
"Oh my god." Summer smiled. "You still have it!" She sat down on the edge of the dock, sliding her fingers over the lettering on the sailboat. Summer's Breeze.
"Of course I still have it." Seth smiled, sitting down next to her. "I haven't used her since I got the new one, but I love her."
"How do you know it's a she?" Summer asked, playfully, her eyes still on the name of the boat.
"Summer," Seth shook his head. "It's the code of the sea. Every boat is a girl. I think it has something to do with how horny sailors always are."
Summer laughed, rolling her eyes in his direction, letting her hand back into his.
"You know, I should take Charlotte sailing one day." Seth said matter of factly.
"She would love it." Summer nodded at this idea, leaning her head against his shoulder. She could feel his heart racing, even though he stayed calm and collected on the outside. That was such a Seth thing to do. Then again, it was something she was doing as well, because her heart was beating at least 10 times as fast as his.
"Of course she would love sailing. It's genetic." Seth smiled, breathing in the scent of Summer and closing his eyes to savor it.
Summer felt her heart tweak at his words and she looked up at him, biting her lip.
"What?" He asked, looking back at her, knowing her too well. He knew she wanted to say something, something he wouldn't like.
"Nevermind." Summer said, letting her thoughts be pushed aside. "I was just going to say how perfect this feels."
Seth let his doubts of Summer go, figuring he'd rather spend time with her then worry about what she was holding back. He stroked her palm with his fingertips and sighed.
"It's almost perfect." He said, Summer looking up at him with her big brown eyes that drove him nuts.
"Almost?" She asked, licking her lips as if she knew what was coming next.
"Yeah, except for one thing." Seth said, grinning and pulling her face towards him. He kissed her gently, then pulled back to see her pleased reaction, and kissed her again. They paused and looked back at the boat and the water, then Summer leaned back on his shoulder.
"You hungry?" Seth asked, feeling his stomach rumble.
"Starved." Summer nodded and he helped her up.
"What are you in the mood for?" Seth asked as they made their way back to the Rover.
Summer looked at him, thinking about how all she really wanted to do was engulf Seth Cohen's lips again, but instead she shrugged, "Anything but the Crab Shack."
Seth laughed. "So, you do work there?" He watched her nod, blushing. "Wow."
"You know," Summer blurted defensively, "The notion of me working is not that hard to believe." She watched as he looked down at her, cracking a smile. "Ok, maybe it's a little unimaginable."
"Summer," Seth laughed. "We are talking about the girl who used laundry detergent in the dishwasher because she thought it would make the dishes smell 'spring fresh'."
She punched his arm gently, laughing along.
"Well," She smiled, "I haven't made mistakes like that in a long time. I've changed."
"I noticed." Seth said.
"Noticed in a bad way or a good way?"
He looked down at Summer, eyeing the curves of her lips. He kissed her gently, but quickly and thought it over for a second as he opened the car door for her.
"Definitely a good way." He whispered as he slammed the door shut and went around to the driver's seat.

"Julie?" Sandy asked. "And what do I owe the pleasure of this untimely visit?"
"I need someone to confide in." Julie said, practically sobbing. She held up a tissue to her nose, shifting her legs in the leather chair in Sandy's office. "And I figured that because you're a lawyer, you are pretty good at keeping secrets, well, secret."
"Ok . . ." Sandy said, unsurely, but he did feel some sympathy for the woman crying in his office. "Is this about Caleb?"
"Sort of." Julie sobbed, not sure if she was pushing it with the cries.
"Go ahead." He leaned back in his chair.
"Well, basically, Caleb is threatening to divorce me if Marissa remains friends with Summer."
"Why does he care who Marissa's friends with?" Sandy asked quickly.
"He thinks the world of Marissa, and he think Summer is a bad influence, you know, getting knocked up and all."
Sandy cringed at this, and stated, "Well, she's YOUR daughter."
"I think he's right though. I mean, I don't want my Marissa to be caught up with trash like Summer."
"Summer is a great girl Julie, and what happened with her was an accident."
"No, Sandy. Falling off your bike is an accident. Getting pregnant when you're 19 is a disgrace, especially with Summer dropping out and leaving Seth like that."
Sandy couldn't argue with that. Summer did leave Seth pretty damaged.
"But Marissa is so stubborn. And well, I learned something from Nicole." Julie cried, trying to get to the point of this meeting.
"Summer's stepmother?"
"That's the one. She told me something. Something that would definitely solve lots of problems for Marissa."
"What problems?" Sandy asked.
"Well, she's having a lot of trust issues with Ryan. And Summer's bad influences. Those problems."
You're the only problem in Marissa's life, Sandy wanted to say, but instead he nodded, understandingly.
"What did Nicole say?" Sandy asked, waiting for a bomb to explode out of Julie's mouth.
"Who the true father of Summer's child is." Julie said, leaning back, trying to hide her mischevious smile.
"Seth?" Sandy asked, thinking this whole time it was. Even though Summer said it wasn't, the resemblance between Charlotte and Seth was uncanny.
"I wish it was so simple." Julie sobbed, adding some moans for the effect.
"Then who is it?" Sandy asked, skeptically, feeling slight pain that Seth wasn't the father.
"I don't know if I should say. It's one of those things that could ruin people." Julie smiled, watching her fire explode into several, out of control flames.
"You can trust me, Julie." Sandy nodded for her to continue.
"The father of Summer's daughter is," Julie paused, making sure no one was around. "Ryan."

***********

"Hey." Ryan said as Marissa climbed in. "How'd you end up here?"
"My mother paid a surprise visit to Summer, but supposedly she was just looking for me."
"She knew you were with me." Ryan said, angrily.
"Whatever." Marissa smiled at Ryan causing him to soften up a little. "Seth and Summer might be getting back together."
"I think they already have. Seth was practically skipping this afternoon."
"Yeah, Summer got all dressed up. They're on a date."
"Aww, how cute." Ryan chided Marissa's extreme interest in their friend's relationship.
"Yeah, you are." She smiled as they made their way back to the pool house. "Unfortunately, I think my mother is up to something though."
"I thought we established that already." Ryan chimed in.
"Yeah, but I can feel it now. Something bad is going to happen at dinner tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Marissa." Ryan said quickly, sliding his free hand towards her, comforting her. "We'll get through it. We always do."
"I know." Marissa said, letting the subject drop and leaning into Ryan as he drove. She still felt really awful about it, but tried hard to forget the unease in her mind.

"There must be some mistake." Kirsten yelled at Sandy, half drunk.
"No, Kirsten." Sandy began, his hands trembling. "Julie was serious. I've never seen her that distraught before."
"Julie," Kirsten said lazily as she landed on their bed, "is evil."
"I know, but she was sincere." Sandy said, leaning on the bed as well.
"Summer would never do that to Seth." Kirsten said. "And Ryan would never do that to Marissa! Although," She stopped herself quickly.
"Although what?" Sandy asked.
"Ryan and Marissa have been kind of uneasy for awhile, and Ryan really seemed eager to know everything that's happened with Summer. It actually does make sense." Kirsten said, finding it hard to believe that she found anything to be practical when she was this wasted.
"You have to tell Seth." Sandy said, sternly, shaking Kirsten from letting her eyes close.
"Why me?" Kirsten scowled.
"Because you owe it to him to be honest after these past few years."
"You had to bring that one up, didn't you?" Kirsten smiled, nodding in defeat. "I'll tell him."
"He's going to be so disappointed. I think he actually liked the idea of being Charlotte's father."
"Uncle Sandy!" Charlotte screamed from the living room and Sandy jumped to his feet to go see the little girl.
"Hmm," Kirsten sighed to herself. "I think someone should inform Ryan that the secret is out." Kirsten stood up, holding onto the closest thing possible to steady herself, making her way to the pool house, where she noticed her car was parked in the driveway, so Ryan was definitely home.
She trudged up towards the pool house door, forgetting to knock because she was so intoxicated and she barged in. Good thing Ryan was alone, she thought.
"Kirsten?" Ryan laughed at seeing her whole body sway in so drunkenly.
"I cannot believe you!" Kirsten laughed, practically knocking into the wall.
"Huh?" Ryan looked at her and Kirsten laughed some more.
"We know Ryan."
"Know what?" He couldn't wait to tell a sober Kirsten about how funny she was when she was drunk.
"That you are Charlotte's father!" She screamed very loudly, surprised by the sudden appearance of Marissa coming out of the bathroom.
Marissa stood there, looking at Ryan, fighting through tears.
"Marissa, she's dru--" Ryan started, but watched as Marissa shook her head at him.
"She's my best friend, Ryan!" Marissa screamed, feeling her heart start up with anger and she ran past Kirsten and out of the pool house.
"Oops?" Kirsten laughed and followed Marissa's direction.
Ryan stared at the door in which they both left him, blankly, not sure of what just happened.