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 Four

"Ryan, you busy?" Kirsten asked, walking into his office. Ryan starred at the paper in front him in a daze. He didn't hear Kirsten calling his name. "Ryan!" Ryan's head shot up and looked at Kirsten confused. "Are you busy?"

"Uh, no, I was just reading this." Ryan replied, pointing to the paper in front of him. "What's up?" He asked, shoving the paper aside.

"Well, I just got a call from Seth. He's coming home today."

"Yeah, I know. He called me on the weekend." Ryan said.

"Oh, so you know he quit his job and is moving back home?" Kirsten asked, surprised that Seth didn't tell her first.

"Yeah." Ryan replied.

"Oh, okay. Well anyway, I was wondering if you, Marissa and the boys want to come over for dinner?" She asked, shrugging off the disappointment she had about Seth telling Ryan first.

"Uh, I'm not sure if Marissa can come. She's got this thing with Summer. Some girl's night out or something like that. She's had it planned for awhile now." Ryan replied.

Kirsten laughed. "Well, okay. So, you and the boys can come then?" Kirsten asked.

"Sure, what time would you like us there?" Ryan asked.

"Around six?" She asked and Ryan nodded his head. She then smiled at him and left his office.

Ryan sat at his desk and starred at the clock in front on him. He couldn't concentrate on anything today. He kept on thinking about the new baby that will be in the family and how much his life is going to change, once again. He knew that there would no longer be quiet nights, but restless nights. More screaming, crying and so on. He let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair, hoping it wouldn't turn gray anytime soon. It was three o'clock so he decided to leave the office early and go home.

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Ryan, with his three boys, stood at the door of the Cohen's house waiting for someone to answer it. Finally, Seth opened the door to them.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" Seth asked, he was a little surprised.

"Uh, your Mom invited us over for dinner." Ryan said, still waiting to go into the house. "Are you going to let us in or should we just eat the dinner out here?"

Seth laughed, "Oh course," He opened the door and let the four of them come into the house. "Whoa Conner, you've grown!" Seth exaggerated, picking Conner up in his arms.

Conner wiggled away from Seth. Seth then put him back onto his feet. "No, you're just weak." Conner commented and ran off to go find his Grandpa.

Seth laughed and noticed that Aden and Ben had brought their skateboards with them. "I see you guys are starting to like skateboarding and that's awesome" Seth commented. They both nodded their heads. "We can't skate in here or else the oldies will go crazy on us. But after dinner, I promise, we'll go outside and skate, okay?"

"Awesome." Aden replied. Ben nodded his head in agreement.

Kirsten and Sandy, with Conner in his arms, came walking into the foyer. "Hey guys." Kirsten said, giving Aden and Ben a hug. She looked at Ryan. "So, Marissa's out with Summer for the girl's night out?"

Ryan nodded his head. "Yeah."

Kirsten clapped her hands together. "Ok, well supper is ready in almost ten minutes." Ryan looked up at Seth and Kirsten could already tell what they both were thinking. "Don't worry, Sandy cooked." Kirsten said, making her way into the kitchen. All the adults took a seat at the kitchen table, while the kids went into the den and played with Seth's old playstation.

"So, Ryan, I was thinking maybe tomorrow you could come with me and look at some apartments. Mom said that you've got a couple lined up for sale." Seth asked.

"Yeah sure, no problem."

"Sweet." Seth commented, leaving the kitchen table and going into the den to play with his nephews.

Sandy got up from the table and started to bring the food he cooked into the dining room. After small talk with Kirsten, Ryan and her went into the dining room to sit down and eat with the rest of the clan. Ben and Aden were fighting over who got to sit next to Seth, until Seth decided to sit in the middle of them.

It was nearing the end of the dinner when Seth asked, "So, Ryan have you told Mom and Dad about, you know, what you told me."

Ryan shook his head and looked at his three boys. "No, not yet." He got up from the table and took his plate and his kids plate to the kitchen. He then went back into the dining room. "Hey boys, why don't you go play outside in the backyard?" Ryan asked. His three boys got up and left the table. Aden and Conner left to go play outside, while Ben went into the den to continue playing playstation.

"So, what haven't you told us, Ryan?" Sandy asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin and setting it down on his plate.

"Marissa and I, we're, uh, we're going to have another kid."

Kirsten gasped. "Congratulations!"

"Wow, I don't know what to say, Ryan. I thought you didn't want another child." Sandy said.

Ryan shrugged. "It wasn't really planned. I mean, I'm okay with it now. But it's going to be very hectic with four kids."

"Well, now that I'm going to be living closer, I could help you out." Seth offered.

Ryan laughed. "So, you can come over and cradle the new baby at two in the morning?" Ryan asked.

"Uh, well, maybe not at two in the morning but at two in the afternoon, sure!" Seth replied.

Just then Ben came into the dinning room.

"What's the matter, Ben?" Ryan asked. He could tell something was wrong with him. Ben grabbed his skateboard and walked away from the adults. Ryan got up from the dinning room table and caught up with Ben before he opened the front door.

"What's the matter?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing!" Ben screamed at his dad. "I'm just going out to skateboard."

Ryan grabbed his arm to make sure he didn't run off. "Is this about the new baby?" Ryan asked. He knew there was going to be some jealousy.

"No, it's not." Ben replied, trying to get away from his dad. "LET GO OF ME!" He yelled. Ryan then let go of his arm and Ben ran off outside with his skateboard.

Aden saw his brother from the side of the house and grabbed his skateboard and chased after him down the lane way.

"BEN!" Aden yelled out and Ben turned around. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, I'm just skateboarding. Want to come?" Ben asked.

Aden shrugged and dropped his board to the ground and skated after his brother who was already halfway down the street.

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Conner was passed out on the couch next to Seth, who was getting reacquainted with the playstation. Ryan sat uncomfortably on the other couch waiting for his twins to get back from skateboarding. It was dark outside and he was getting very worried.

Sandy came into the den and sat down next to Ryan on the couch. "Don't worry, they should be home soon." Sandy told Ryan and patted his knee for reassurance.

Ryan sighed. "Ben was pretty mad at me. They should be home now. I told them we were leaving at nine and it's almost nine."

"Did you want to call Marissa? Maybe they went home."

Ryan knew that the boys wouldn't skateboard all the way home. It would take them forever. The twins weren't even good at skateboarding. "I guess, I should." Ryan said and got up and went to the phone. He dialed his home phone number.

"Hello?" Marissa asked.

"Hey, are the twins there, Marissa?" Ryan asked.

"No, aren't they supposed to be with you?" Marissa questioned.

"They went out over two hours ago to go skateboarding and they haven't come back yet. I thought maybe they were with you."

"No." Marissa replied. She was getting scared.

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be home as soon as the boys get here, okay?"

"Okay, call me when they get there so I know."

"Okay, bye." Ryan said, hanging up the phone. He walked back into the den and shook his head at Sandy. "They're not there."

Just then Ryan's cell phone rang from inside his pants pocket. He fumbled into his pocket and pulled out the cell. "Hello? Ben, is that you?" Ryan asked.

The voice on the other end was shaky. "Aden, he's…"

"Ben? Aden's what?" Ryan questioned.

All of a sudden he heard a woman's voice on the phone. "Hello. Who's this?"

"Ryan. Ryan Atwood. Where's Aden and Ben?"

"It's okay, this is Mrs. Shelton from child services. I was called in when they found Ben…and Aden. I think you should come down here."

"Where's here?" Ryan asked, frantically.

"The hospital. Just come down and I'll explain everything." The woman said, her voice calm and focused on trying to keep Ryan from overreacting.

"Are they okay?"

"Mr. Atwood, I can't say anything over the phone. Just come down here."

Ryan flipped his cell phone off and went over to the couch to grab Conner, who was still fast asleep in his arms. Seth, Sandy and now Kirsten, who walked into the den who starring at him.

"What's the matter, Ryan."

"Ben just called from the hospital. Then this lady came on the phone and told me to go there." Ryan explained, he was starting to shake and Conner started to wake in his arms.

Kirsten went over to Ryan and took Conner out of his arms.

"Ryan, why don't you go to the hospital and leave Conner here."

Without complaining, Ryan left the house with Sandy and made his way over to the hospital. The car ride there was silent. Sandy wasn't sure what to tell Ryan because he himself didn't know what was going on.

As soon as Ryan walked into the hospital, he saw Ben sitting in a seat with his head down starring at his feet. A lady was sitting next to him, talking to him. Ryan and Sandy walked over to them and the lady stood up as soon as she saw them.

"Mr. Atwood, I'm Mrs. Shelton." The lady said, shaking Ryan's hand. Mrs. Shelton looked at Ben and said, "We'll be right back." Mrs. Shelton walked away from Ben and Ryan followed her. Sandy stayed behind and tried to talk to Ben. Ben didn't respond.

"Mrs. Shelton, what is this all about? Where is Aden and why did they call you?" Ryan asked, trying to keep his voice in control. Just then a doctor came out of a room and introduced herself.

"Mr. Atwood, I'm Dr. Shields." The lady said, then continued. "I'm sorry to break it to you but, over an hour ago Aden Atwood came into the ER with serious injuries after being hit by a hit and run and didn't make it." The doctor said, trying to find the right words.

Ryan collapsed to the nearest chair and looked up at the two.

Mrs. Shelton then continued, "When they arrived on the scene, Ben didn't say anything and hasn't since he walked off on me and called you." Mrs. Shelton said, taking a seat next to him. "I'm sorry about your loss."

Ryan shrugged away from the woman and stood up. "Where is he? Can I see him? I want to see him." Ryan shouted out at the doctor.

"Are you sure you want to see him?" The doctor asked. Ryan nodded and followed the doctor into a room where Aden laid on the table. "We tried everything, Mr. Atwood. He was bleeding severely and lost a lot of blood."

Ryan walked up to Aden and brushed his bloody hair away from his face and started to cry. "Can I just have a few moment alone?" Ryan asked the doctor, trying to hide his emotions. The doctor then left the room.

Ryan held Aden's hand in his and started talking to Aden. "It's okay little buddy." He said, tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this." He then let go of Aden's lifeless hand and brushed his hair again, before leaving the room.

Ryan walked back into the waiting room and Sandy was talking with the doctor. He walked over to Ben and slid his hand into his and walked out of the hospital. Sandy cut the conversation short with the doctor and ran after Ryan and Ben. They then rode back to the Cohen's house in silence. When they got home Seth and Kirsten swarmed into the foyer. They knew something was up. Ryan and Ben looked very pale and sick. Sandy kept his cool and told Kirsten and Seth what happened.

"Oh my god, Ryan…Ben." Kirsten said, embracing them into a hug.

Conner then came running into the foyer. "Can we go home now, Dad?"

Ryan nodded his head and was about to say something when Seth cut him off.

"I'll drive you guys home." Seth said, picking up Conner and walking outside.

"I'll call you tomorrow, Ryan. Take care." Sandy said, closing the door after Ryan and Ben left.

When they got home Marissa and Summer were sitting down in the living room watching T.V. Ryan had totally forgotten to call Marissa. He was in too much shock.

As soon as she saw them walk into Marissa bounced off the couch and walked over to them. "Where's Aden?" Marissa asked.

"Uh, I'll go put the boys to bed." Seth said, and then added. "Summer, help me?" He asked, and Summer followed him upstairs.

"Where's Aden?" Marissa asked again.

"There was an accident, a hit and run, and he's…he's…" Ryan tired to tell Marissa but the words wouldn't come out. He didn't want to believe them. He just couldn't believe them.

"What? What happened to Aden?" Tears streamed down her face. "He's not dead is he?" Marissa asked, and Ryan walked over to her and held her in his arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear.

All of a sudden Marissa went limp and fainted, falling to the ground. Ryan then picked her up and carried her upstairs into their room. He put her in bed and covered her up and turned off the lights, then left to go check up on the boys. Seth and Summer were in Conner's room putting him to bed when Ryan walked in.

Summer rushed over to him and hugged him. Seth must have told her.

"Ryan, oh my God." She said, letting go of him. "I have to go see Marissa, is she—"

Ryan cut her off. "She's sleeping…She fainted." Ryan said, walking out of Conner's bedroom. "I'm going to go check up on Ben.

Ryan knocked on Ben's door and walked in. Ben was sleeping on the bottom bed of the bunk bed, which was Aden's bed. He walked up to the bed and sat down next to Ben, who was lying down facing the wall. "Ben," Ryan asked. "Are you okay?"

Ben didn't answer him and Ryan started to worry over him. Ben hasn't spoken a word since the phone call he gotten from him and he showed no emotion of his brother's death. Ryan tried to get his attention by rubbing his arm but Ben didn't do anything. Ryan then gave up and walked out of Ben's room.

As soon as his dad left, Ben took out a photo from under his pillow and starred at it. It was a photo of him and his twin brother that was just taken a couple of months ago. He starred at it for a long time before putting it away, shutting his eyes and going to bed.

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