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

(Please read and review!)

I want to start updating this story a lot more, so I'm going to post shorter chapters. I sat down one afternoon and planned this whole story out. A LOT is going to happen. A lot of drama, little bit of angst and sadness, and a lot of happy shit we all like in the end.

Chapter Ten

Conner sat at the kitchen table swinging his feet back and forth, looking at his dad preparing breakfast. It was the first day of their summer holidays. Conner couldn't wait for uncle Seth to wake up so they could play road hockey outside.

Ryan stood at the stove staring at the eggs in the pan. Today was the day he was going to bring the family into to see Dr. Zion. He had waiting a week for everything to cool down and now it was time to face reality and talk about Aden. He had tried talking to Ben, but Ben wouldn't listen to him. Marissa was more or less getting back into her normal routine and Ryan was looking forward to going back to work soon, but Kirsten wasn't letting him come back. She demanded that he took off more time with the family. She even suggested they go on a little vacation.

"Dad…Toast." Conner laughed, pointing to the burning toast in the toaster. Ryan dropped the spatula down on the oven and ran over to the toaster. "Did you know that when you burn something it causes cancer." Conner said.

Ryan threw out the toast and popped two more into the toaster. "Did you also know that T.V causes cancer." Ryan replied and then turned back to the stove and cooked the eggs. "Go get Mom and Ben."

"What about Uncle Seth?" Conner asked.

"He's not home."

"What? He promised to play road hockey with me today." Conner cried out.

"Well, he'll be home later this afternoon." Ryan replied. "Breakfast is ready, go get your Mom and Ben."

Conner didn't move from his seat. "MOM! BEN! WAKE UP. BREAKFAST IS READY!" Conner shouted.

"Conner! That's not how you get their attention." Ryan scowled. "Use the two feet you were born with and go get them."

Conner ignored his dad. "Where did Uncle Seth go?"

"He spent the night with Aunt Summer."

Conner stuck out his tongue and gagged. "That's gross!" He exclaimed.

Marissa and Ben walked into the kitchen with their pajama's still on and sat down at the table with Conner.

"Hey sweetie." Marissa kissed Conner's forehead as she sat down next to him.

"Mom, did you know that Uncle Seth is at Aunt Summer's." Conner asked.

Marissa nodded her head. "Be nice to Aunt Summer, Conner."

Ryan went around the table and distributed the eggs to everyone and gave everyone a slice of toast and bacon. He then sat down next to Ben. "So, first day of summer boys…Happy?" He asked.

Ben nodded his head and continued eating his breakfast. He knew he shouldn't be on summer vacation. All last week his parents were fighting with the school to not fail him. They finally came to an agreement that they were going to pass him. Ben was no longer going to go back to that school though. They agreed to pass him, so that's all that really mattered to anyone right now.

"So boys, this morning we're all going to go see Dr. Zion. And then after that Grandma and Grandpa invited us over for lunch."

"Sweet." Conner replied.

"Ryan, did Kirsten tell you when you can go back to the office?" Marissa asked, chewing on her bacon. She was starting to eat like a horse, with the baby coming.

"No. She's too hard to convince. She's not letting me come back until…Until everything gets sorted out."

Ben pushed his chair away from the table and walked away from the kitchen.

"What did I do now?" Ryan mumbled, as he scratched away at his forehead. "Okay, we all better get dressed. The appointment's at nine-thirty." Ryan stood up and gathered everyone's dishes.

Conner ran off to his room and Marissa stayed seated.

"You okay, honey?" Marissa asked.

"I try, I really do, Marissa." Ryan replied. "He's been like that with me all week and I don't know what to do. I try talking to him and I end up yelling at him. Anything I tell him, he gets made at me. I don't know what to do." Ryan sat back down at the table with her. "Sorry." He mumbled. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"Ryan, I'm fine. The baby's fine." She smiled at him and grabbed his hands across the table. "Tomorrow we find out if it's a boy or a girl."

"Are you sure you want to know if it's a boy or a girl? I mean…We didn't know with the boys. We like surprises don't we?" Ryan asked.

"I want to know with this one, Ryan. I think we've had too many surprises. I want to be ready for a boy if it's going to be a boy, or a girl if it's going to be a girl."

"If that's what you want, okay." He picked up her hands and kissed them. "I love you. Now let's go get dressed." He laughed and went around the table and picked her up. He carried her upstairs and placed her down on their bed. "We're going to get through this. I know we are; we always do."

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"That was the best night ever." Summer said. She turned over on her side and lay next to Seth. "I missed you a lot. I'm glad you're back." She kissed him softly on the lips and snuggled next to him.

"I missed you too." Seth replied. He brushed her hair back and kissed her neck. "Last night felt like our first, didn't it?"

"Oh, definitely." Summer laughed. "Except this time there was less slobber involved."

"I thought you liked my slobbering." Seth recounted.

"To an extent, Cohen." Summer replied. She then sat up in her bed and took his face into her hands. "Will you promise me something?"

"Anything. What is it?" Seth asked.

"Promise me you will never leave." Summer questioned. "I think I'm falling in love again, Cohen."

"Me too… I promise." Seth replied and kissed Summer on the lips.

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Ryan and Marissa, along with Ben and Conner, sat together on the sofa in Dr. Zion's office. They had been there for almost an hour already. Ben hadn't said a word since they got out of the car, but Conner was talking away. They talked mainly about how the family was dealing with the death of Aden, as well as how they were dealing with it individually.

"Well, our time is up guys." Dr. Zion said, looking at the clock on the wall. "Ryan and Marissa…Could I talk to you two for just a few minutes before you leave." The doctor asked.

"Sure. Ben and Conner, why don't you two go wait outside for us. We'll be down in a minute." Marissa said. Ben and Conner then both left the room.

"Is there something wrong?" Ryan asked. He thought the first session went pretty well considering everything that has happened with his family within the past month.

"Oh, nothing's wrong, Ryan. I just wanted to talk to you about individual therapy. I think that maybe it's best that we do one on one. Also, I'm a little concerned about Ben and yourself, Mr. Atwood." Ryan had told her about the communication problem between the two of them. When he told Dr. Zion about it, Ben hadn't said anything about it. "I'd like to be able to talk to just the two of you."

"Okay, that sounds good." Ryan replied.

"So, is everything going good then?" Marissa asked.

"I believe so, Mrs. Atwood." The Doctor smiled at her and then stood up. "I'll see you next week?"

"Yes, next week." Ryan stood up and shook her hand. "Thank you."

Ryan and Marissa left the office and went back to their car, where Ben and Conner were waiting for them.

"Are we going over to Grandma's and Grandpa's now?" Conner asked.

"Yes, Conner. Now get in the car." Marissa replied.

They all got into the car and drove to Sandy and Kirsten's house. Nothing much was said to each other in the car on the way there because they all had just talked for an hour about Aden. As much as Ryan hated thinking about Aden, he felt good to talk about him. He missed him so much right now and wished that he could just see Aden's face again. Every time Ryan thought about Aden's face, he kept on remembering the night at the hospital. Aden's lifeless face was cut and bruised. He wished he could just see Aden's blue eyes again, filled with joy, happiness and life.

Conner ran out of the car as soon as Ryan turned of the ignition. He ran up to his Uncle Seth, who was sitting out on the front porch with Summer.

"Summer…Seth, what are you two doing here?" Marissa asked.

"Oh, Seth wanted to come by to pick up a few things. Then we decided to stay for lunch. Are you guys here for lunch?" Summer asked.

"Yeah." Marissa replied. "Conner." She scowled. "Get those sticky fingers away from Aunt Summer's hair!"

"Uh, Conner!" Summer stood up and faced the boy. Before Summer could say anything, Kirsten and Sandy walked out of their house and Conner ran up to them.

"Ryan, what do you feed this kid?" Kirsten asked, as she picked Conner up.

Ryan laughed at her and walked into the house with everyone, Ben trailed behind the group. Once they were inside all the adults sat around the Cohen's kitchen table and Ben and Conner went into the den to play Playstation.

"So, how did it go?" Sandy asked, referring to the therapy session.

"The therapy?" Ryan asked. "It went great."

"Well that's good." Sandy commented, pouring everyone a cup of coffee.

"Marissa, I have to show you this cute little thingy I got for the new baby! Come with me to my car!" Summer said and then left.

"Okay…" Marissa laughed and followed her outside. "You know…You don't have to get us anything, Summer. I have so much stuff left over from the boys." Marissa told her, as she walked over to Summer car.

"I didn't get the new baby anything." Summer said.

"You didn't? Then why – "

Summer cut her off. "I'm falling in love, again…With Seth Cohen." She explained. "He promised me this morning that he wouldn't leave me. Things are getting serious between us now."

"That's great! You two are meant for each other, Summer." Marissa hugged her best friend. "So, how serious are things?"

"Well, we had sex last night and oh my God, Coop. It felt like the first time. He was so amazing." Summer exclaimed. "I never want this to end."

Marissa laughed at her. "I'm glad you're now happy, Sum. Seth's an amazing guys and I don't know what I would do without him…He's help Ryan and I so much."

Summer rolled her eyes and laughed. "I feel like I'm sixteen again…Falling in love with Seth Cohen. Only this time there's no Anna and he's not a geek."

"He's still the same Seth." Marissa told her. "I'm happy for you." They started to walk back into the Cohen's house.

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