NOTE: I do not own any of 'The O.C' characters… you can thank FOX. If you have any questions or comment you can e-mail me at liverbrain22@hotmail.com

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Chapter Three

"Can I go to Uncle Trey's too?" Conner whined, clinging onto Ryan's leg. "Please?"

Marissa laughed at Conner. "You're not going with Daddy this time. Maybe next time." She told Conner. Conner stomped his foot and ran off downstairs to the living room.

"So, I should be back later tonight." Ryan said, combing his hair.

"Why don't you take Ben with you? You know, some father-son bonding time. He's been really mad at you lately."

"If I bring Ben, I bring Aden." Ryan replied.

"Aden will understand. You owe it to Ben."

"How do I owe it to Ben?" Ryan asked, throwing on a shirt.

"You did ground him on his birthday last weekend."

"Right, I'm the bad guy." Ryan laughed. "He shouldn't have given Aden a black eye." Ryan commented, and then continued. "Alright! I'll go tell him he's coming with me." Ryan gave in and walked off to the twins' bedroom and knocked on the door, then opened it.

The twins were still in the pajamas in their bunk beds, but not sleeping.

"Hey guys," Ryan said, looking around the room. "You guys really need to clean your room."

Both boys nodded.

"Ben, want to come with me to help fix Uncle Trey's car?" Ryan asked. And Ben shrugged, ignoring his dad.

"Can I come too?" Aden asked.

"No, just Ben today." Ryan replied leaving the room.

Ryan waited at the kitchen table for Ben to come down. Who knew it took a half-hour for a ten-year-old to change into clothes. He ignored the lateness of his son and sipped his coffee. He wasn't exactly in the best mood to go visit his brother in Chino. He knew that Trey wanted more than just a helping hand to fix his car. Trey was always like that. Ryan never told anyone that last summer he had leant him over five grand. Trey promised he would pay him back, but never did. Not that five grand was a lot for Ryan, it wasn't at all.

Ben finally came down stairs dressed in a pair of his baggy pants, baggy sweatshirt and a toque. Ryan laughed to himself. "You do realize it's really hot outside, Ben? Ryan commented.

Ben shrugged. "I don't care…Uncle Trey's place is gross anyway."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Marissa sat on the closed toilet with her head in her hands, trying to ignore her kids. They were driving her nuts. Conner and Aden were yelling at each other on the other side of the door. Boys, she thought to herself. Finally giving up the peace and quiet she had in the bathroom she opened the door and started yelling at the two.

"Aunt Summer is coming over, so you boys better be good, or else!" Marissa yelled at them.

"No, I don't like Aunt Summer, she's crazy! Why does she always have to come over?" Conner protested.

"Yeah, doesn't she have a life?" Aden questioned.

"Your aunt is my best friend and she is not crazy. Uncle Seth is the crazy one, remember."

Before Aden and Conner could protest, Summer came walking into the house. She never cared to knock or anything. She knew she was always welcomed in the house, or at least, that's what she believed.

"Oh my god, Marissa. You wouldn't believe who called me!" Summer shrieked, dropping her purse down on the kitchen table. She didn't wait for Marissa to guess and said, "Seth!"

"Uncle Seth called you?" Aden asked.

Summer nodded and pulled out candy from her purse and handed it to Aden and Conner. "Shoo now, let your mom and I have some privacy!" Aden and Conner grabbed the candy and ran off to the living room.

"Why did Seth call you?" Marissa asked, sitting down at the table with her.

"Well, I gave him my number when he came over last weekend. And I told him to call if he ever wanted to do anything."

"So, are you two, like, going out again?" Marissa asked.

"No, No…Well I wish, but no. He just called 'cause he was bored. But, we talked for hours! Just like the good ol' days."

"Well, that's a start." Marissa laughed.

"Sure is," Summer said, letting out a sigh. "I'm still in love with him, I think. He's all I think about. I regret what I did."

"It wasn't your fault. He was the one that moved away. He can't expect you to want a long-distance relationship, Summer."

"Yeah, I know, but still…."

"Ask him out."

"No!"

"Why not?" Marissa asked.

"I want him to ask me out first. I don't know if he feels the same way about me." Summer laughed. "Well, whatever…I'm acting like a teenager. So, what's new with you? Where's Ryan?"

"He and Ben went over to Trey's to help him fix his car…And I'm stuck here with those two maniacs." Marissa laughed. "They are giving me a headache already, and I've only been alone with them for two hours. They act so crazy without Ryan around."

"Girl, you need to step your foot down and set them straight!"

Marissa laughed harder. "Sure, whatever Summer. Like you would know, because you have three boys."

"Well, I would never have three boys, let alone one boy. You should of had a girl, that way I could take her out shopping for clothes! We'd have so much fun!"

Marissa smiled sheepishly at Summer and played with her bracelet around her wrist. "Well…I, uh, I haven't told Ryan this yet, but, uh…."

"What? What haven't you told Ryan?" Summer protested. "Oh my god! You're pregnant?" Summer whispered, making sure the boys in the other room wouldn't hear her. Marissa nodded. "Was it planned?"

"No, that's just it. He doesn't want anymore children, Summer."

"How far along are you?"

"Two months."

Aden walked into the room. "Two months for what, Mom?

Summer cut in before Marissa could explain herself. "Two months until I'm allowed to take you out shopping for some handsome clothes!"

"Sick, no way!" Aden said, grabbing a juice out of the fridge. "She's not serious, is she Mom?"

Marissa laughed nervously. "If you behave then she won't dress you up. So you better behave!"

Aden took a sip of his drink. "Don't worry, Mom…" He then left the kitchen.

"So, when are you going to tell him?" Summer asked.

"I guess, when he gets home. Or, I don't know, soon."

"Just…Don't not tell him."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ryan looked into his rear view mirror as he drove pass his old house in Chino. Trey's house was just around the corner from where they used to live when they were kids. Ryan hated coming to Chino, but he had to. Even though he had told Trey years ago it was over, their relationship, he had gotten in touch with him again once he found out he was doing better.

Ryan parked his car on the side of the road and turned off the engine. "Ben, wake up. We're here." Ryan said, shaking Ben in the passenger seat.

Ben woke up and got out of the car with his dad. He hated coming to Chino to visit his Uncle Trey. He liked his uncle, but he didn't like his cousins. He was hoping that they weren't there today.

Ryan knocked on the screen door. "Hello?" He shouted out.

A little girl then came to the door.

"Crap." Ben mumbled under his breath and Ryan looked at him.

"Hey Amy, it's your Uncle Ryan. Is your dad home?" Ryan asked.

"He's in his room." The little 4-year-old said, opening the screen door and letting her uncle and cousin in

Ryan and Ben walked into the house. It was a disaster. You could tell that Trey's ex-wife had not been around for awhile to see the disaster, otherwise Trey would have cleaned up a bit.

Ryan left Ben and Amy in the living room and walked into Trey's bedroom. He was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Ryan walked to the end of the mattress and kicked it, waking Trey up.

"Oh, hey Ry. Shit, what time is it?" Trey asked, getting off his mattress.

"It's ten-thirty in the morning." Ryan replied.

"Shit."

"Look, if this is a bad time, Trey…I've got Ben with me."

"No, I just slept in, that's all. Have you seen my kids around?" Trey asked, leaving the room.

"Amy let me in, and I haven't seen Josh." Ryan replied, following Trey into the living room where Ben and Amy were watching cartoons on the floor. "So, are we going to fix your car, or what?" Ryan asked.

Trey lit up a cigarette and walked outside. "The car doesn't need fixing, Ryan."

"So why did you make me drive all the way out of here?"

"Can't a guy see his brother?" Trey asked.

"Depends, why do you want to see me?" Ryan asked, sitting down on the porch steps. "What do you want this time?"

Trey rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I need a little help."

"How much money do you want?"

"A grand—I swear, once I get a job, I'll pay you back."

"A grand? What the hell do you need a grand for! And what happened to the job you had before?"

"Look, things have been a little tight. The stupid ex-wife ran off on me and dumped the kids on me and I can't afford to feed all three of us. I got fired from my job last week."

"Fine, I'll lend it to you, but you better find yourself another job. You have kids, Trey. Don't do what Mom did to us. Don't screw up the only family you got."

"It's kind of a little late for that." Trey spat out, lighting up another cigarette. "My kids won't even talk to me and Josh is always off doing his own thing, getting in shit all the time. It's a cycle," Trey explained, "Just like what happened to us, will happen to my kids and to their kids."

"You can stop that cycle though, Trey." Ryan got up from the porch and took out his wallet and handed him all the money he had in it. "Here's eighty, I'll mail you the rest later." Ryan walked back into the messy house and called out to Ben. "Next time when you need money, call me. Coming back to Chino is not the best activity on my agenda these days."

Ben showed up at the door and Ryan and him drove off and out of Chino. Ryan was fuming. He thought his brother was doing well, but he guessed wrong. He didn't understand how someone could just give up like that. Sure, when he was a teenager he thought that. He never understood why the Cohen's adopted him. But he didn't understand how Trey, an adult, could give up on raising his kids. He would never understand that.

"Weren't you going to help Uncle Trey on his car?" Ben asked, cutting through the silence in the car.

"His car didn't need fixing. He just wanted some advice, that's all."

"Oh." Ben replied, starring out the window. "So, are we going home now?"

"Well, we don't have to. We could just tell mom that we did fix his car and go do something else? You want to do that?" Ryan asked.

"Doesn't matter." Ben replied. He did want to though, but he didn't want to tell his Dad that. He was supposed to be mad at him.

"Well let's do something, then." Ryan said, still concentrating on the road ahead of him. "Anything you want to do, I do."

"Can you teach me to surf?" Ben asked dryly.

"You know I can't surf, Ben. That's something your Grandpa is going to teach you."

"That's right, you can't do anything." Ben shot back.

Ryan looked at Ben, who was still starring out the window. Changing the subject he asked, "School is out in a month, is there anything you want to do during the summer? I could sign you up for surfing lessons."

"No." Ben replied.

Ryan sighed. There was no way he could talk to Ben. They were so much alike and he didn't want to get mad at him. Ryan decided to skip the fun, whatever fun Ben and him were going to do, and headed home.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Marissa was cleaning the house all day today. She wished she had a housekeeper, but Ryan insisted they could handle everything. Maybe he can, Marissa thought to herself, but he's not the one who's home all day cleaning. As soon as she finished cleaning she sat down on the couch and turned on the T.V. Aden and Conner were in the basement playing some game. She let out a sigh and flipped through the channels. Not was on at this time of day, she turned off the T.V and relaxed on the couch. Before she got through a minute of relaxation, Ben barged through the door and ran upstairs. Ryan trailed behind him and tossed his keys on the table and as he took off his shoes.

Marissa got up from the couch and greeted her husband, who was home way too early. "Hey," She kissed him on the cheek. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Long story."

"Oh, okay. What's up with Ben then?"

"His usual, he's mad at me because I offered to give him surfing lessons."

"Hmm." Marissa commented walking over to the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"No." Ryan replied, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Marissa took at seat down at the table across from him. Ryan could sense that she was nervous about something, but he couldn't tell what. "What?" Ryan asked, trying to get her to talk.

"Uh, there's something we need to talk about."

Ryan straightened up in his chair. "Oh?"

"You know how, well, you know—Ryan, you know how a couple of months ago we, you know, well yeah." Marissa said, stumbling on her words. Ryan looked confused. "I think I'm—"

Ryan cut in, "Pregnant!" His eye's bulged out of his head when Marissa nodded her head in agreement. Ryan clasped his head in his heads.

"Ryan, it's not like we planned this. I know you don't want another kid, but I can't just not have it." Marissa said, pulling Ryan's hands away from his face.

"No, I understand Marissa. It's just that I'm a little…shocked. I mean, four kids, Marissa. Four." He repeated. Marissa laughed nervously and nodded her head. "Four." Ryan repeated again. "How, far along are you?"

"Two months."

Ryan got up from his seat and paced the floor. "Wow, uh, four kids, huh?"

"Yeah, four. Count them, one, two, three," And then she pointed to he stomach, "Four."

"When are we going to tell the boys?" Ryan asked.

"Now, I guess. They should know soon."

Ryan nodded and walked off to find the boys. Five minutes later he came walking back into the kitchen with Conner and the twins.

"We never have family meetings." Aden commented. "Are we in trouble?"

Marissa laughed, "No, of course not. We just have some…good news to tell you."

"Can I have a dog?" Conner asked.

Ryan shook his head, "No dogs." He looked over at Marissa, who was expected him to tell the boys the news. "The good news is…that you boys are going to have another brother or sister. Mom is pregnant."

"Yay!" Conner jumped up and down. "We can play!"

"You're not serious are you?" Aden asked, and both his parents nodded their heads. "Well, I guess that's cool." Aden nudged Ben in the elbow to back him up.

"Ben? What do you think of another brother or sister in the family?" Marissa asked.

"Whatever, I have no choice do I?" Ben said, then walked off and headed outside in the backyard. Aden followed him outside and Conner was left alone in the kitchen with his parents.

"When can I have my brother?" Conner asked.

"It takes nine months, Conner. And we're not sure if its going to be a boy or a girl yet."

"That's stupid." Conner commented then ran off to the living room.

Marissa laughed. "Well, I guess that went well." Ryan shrugged and Marissa got up and embraced her husband in a big hug. "Don't worry, Ryan. We survived with three boys, one more will be nothing."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Seth unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in. He couldn't believe the day he had. He just had to phone Ryan and tell him all about it. He picked up the phone and dialed Ryan's number. After the third ring, Conner picked it up.

"Hi."

"Hi? Is that how you answer the phone, Conner?" Seth asked.

"Uncle Seth! Can you come over and play with me?" Conner asked, running around in circles in the living room with the cordless.

"Uh, not right now buddy. But soon, I promise. Is your dad home?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, I'll go get him." Conner replied, dropping the phone on the couch and running outside in the backyard. "Uncle Seth is on the phone." Conner yelled out to his dad, who was in the pool.

Ryan crawled out of the pool and toweled himself off. "Where's the phone, Conner?"

"Couch." Conner said, running back into the living room to continue watching his movie.

Ryan picked up the phone off the couch and answered it. "Hey." He said, walking off to the kitchen and sitting down at the table.

"Hey, Ryan. How's it going?" Seth asked.

"Uh, it's going good. What's up with you?" Ryan asked. He didn't want to tell Seth just yet that Marissa was pregnant. He knew Seth wasn't just calling to ask how he was. He normally called to spill gossip or ask for advice.

"I'm moving back to Newport." Seth said, laughing.

"Really, what about your job at the hospital?" Ryan replied.

"I quit."

"WHAT? You quit? How could you do that, Seth? You've been there for like a year, and already you quit? I don't get it."

"It's just not working out. The hours are killing me and I'm having second thoughts. So I'm taking a break from it all and moving back to Newport."

"Do your parents know?"

"No, not yet."

"Huh, well that's cool I guess. Well not cool, but you know what I mean."

Seth laughed, "You sound like me there for a second."

"Yeah, well I'm a bit stressed out here myself."

"Oh?"

"Marissa's pregnant."

"Whoa, buddy! Congratulations!" Seth yelled out into the phone. Ryan didn't say anything. "Was this planned?"

"No."

"Oh, I see. Huh, well I'll be there to help you out with any babysitting now."

Ryan laughed, "Sure, just what I need. My kids are already crazy and they only see you like maybe five times a year."

"Well, what can I say?" Seth laughed. "Well congrads, I can't believe you're having another kid. Do Mom and Dad know?"

"No. Which is why, they might have a heart attack now, because with you moving back here and another kid here…" Ryan continued, "You should call them, Seth and tell them."

"You should do the same, Ryan."

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, it's kind of hard to hide a pregnancy away from your Mom."

"Yeah, well I better go. I told Summer I'd call her." Seth said.

"Summer? You're talking to Summer? Since when?"

"Since last weekend. So, I'll probably see you later, I'm coming up to Newport on Monday to look for apartments."

"Oh, okay. Talk to you later." Ryan said, then turned the end button off to end the conversation. He couldn't believe Seth just quit his job like that, and he was talking to Summer. There must be a connection there. There has to be.

Ryan returned to the pool and told Marissa all about his conversation with Seth.

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Thanks for the reviews everyone! I know a lot of people are asking 'when is this Atwood tragedy coming?' Well hold on guys! I've go to stir up the story a bit, but don't worry. It's coming!