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!)
Chapter Nineteen
The car door slammed. "Why can't I stay home with Mom?" Connor whined.
Marissa and Ryan ignored Conner. "So, are you going to be all right?" Ryan asked again.
"Let's see…Um, yes." Marissa laughed. "Don't worry; I'll have Summer with me all weekend. We'll be fine." She assured him.
"Yeah, like that's reassuring." Ryan joked.
"Damn right." Summer shouted at Ryan. "Not only are you and the boys going to have a fun-filled weekend, but we girls are going to have fun-filled weekend too. Isn't that right, Amy?" She bent down and asked the little girl.
Amy shied away from Summer.
"Are you sure you're okay with having Amy around all weekend?" Trey asked.
"Yeah, it's fine." Marissa replied. "Don't worry, you boys have fun. Just don't come home smelling like a skunk."
Seth cut in, "Well, we can't really guarantee anything, Marissa. We are going to be in the middle of a forest with animals lurking around. If we're not sprayed by an animal, then we'll definitely get eaten by an animal."
"WHAT!" Conner yelled. "I don't want to get eaten! I'm only five!"
"You're not going to get eaten." Ben yelled from Seth's car. He was already in the backseat of the car waiting for everyone. He was anxious for this weekend. His dad had told him it was to 'bond' but Ben didn't really see the 'bonding'. He was going to be spending the weekend with his dad, Uncle Seth, Uncle Trey, Grandpa, Conner and Josh. Where was the bonding?
"Don't worry, sweetie." Marissa soothed him. "I'm sure Daddy will chase off any animal that comes near the campsite."
"Ha!" Seth laughed. "I guess you never heard about the Summer of 2005 incident." Seth was referring to the time where they had gone camping with Sandy and Ryan had freaked out the whole time. Ryan never slept the whole weekend. He kept on thinking there was an animal outside the tent. He may look like he was a macho; but inside, he was still a little kid.
"What incident?" Marissa asked.
"Nothing." Ryan quickly replied, looking at his watch. "Hey, look at the time…We should really go pick up Sandy now." Ryan finished putting the things in the back of his SUV and went into the driver's seat. Trey took the passenger seat, with Conner and Josh in the back. Seth had his own car with Ben riding with him. Ben had insisted that he drive up with Seth and Sandy.
"Have fun, boys!" Summer shouted.
Marissa, Summer and Amy stood at the end of the driveway, waving at the two cars leaving.
Summer shrieked. "Are we ready to party or…" Summer stopped and frowned at Marissa's odd smile that was plastered on her face. "What?"
"Oh, nothing. You don't really plan on having a 'party'?" She asked. "Amy's here and we do have Kirsten coming over later tonight."
"It was a figure of speech, Coop! Wow, three kids later and you're all…motherly." She laughed. "I hope I never turn out like you."
"You wish." Marissa laughed. "Come on, let's go over to the store and buy some junk food."
"I've been dying for junk food, for like, forever!" Summer exclaimed, going over to her car. "Do you like junk food?" She asked Amy.
Amy nodded her head and climbed into the backseat of her car.
"She doesn't talk much, does she?" Summer asked Marissa, as she went over to the driver's side.
"No, she talks. Just not to you." Marissa replied. "By the end of the night you won't be able to shut her up. Be thankful she's like this now."
"Weird kid." Summer commented, starting the car.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ben sat in the back seat of Seth's car and watched on in amusement as his uncle and grandpa fought over directions.
"Dad, I know where I'm going!" Seth yelled, gripping the steering wheel. He really didn't know where the hell he was, but he wasn't about to tell his dad that. Sandy had the map out on his lap and he kept on telling Seth that he had made a wrong turn. Before leaving Sandy's house, Seth had told Ryan to follow him behind his car to Brewer's Park. Seth used to go there all the time during college with his friends.
"Seth, we should be there already." Sandy commented, folding the map and giving up. "It doesn't take over an hour to get to the campsite."
Seth laughed. "Well, the last I went to Brewer's Park, I wasn't going as slow as I am going now." He commented.
"So, you were speeding?" Sandy asked.
Seth snorted. "Of course not. Hey, look, road kill." Seth pointed to the side of the road and then looked in his rearview mirror. Ryan was still behind him.
"Can I see the map?" Ben asked. Sandy gratefully handed Ben the map. Ben unfolded the map. "So, where are we?" He asked.
Sandy turned around in his seat and pointed to where their destination was. "We should be here."
"But, where are we now?"
Sandy shrugged. "Haven't seen a sign in a while. For all we know, we could of taken a wrong turn and be heading back to Newport. You see, with a person like Seth, he's got – "
"Ha! We're here!" Seth interrupted. "I told you I knew where we were going!"
"You didn't." Sandy said. "But, that's okay. I forgive you for your tardiness."
"Believe what you want to believe, Dad." Seth replied, as he pulled into a parking lot. There were a few cars already there. Ryan parked beside Seth and got out of the car.
"I'll go pay for the site." Ryan told them. Ryan jogged over to a little cabin and went inside. Inside, Ryan paid for their campsite, which was surprisingly cheap, and then went back outside and handed Seth a slip of paper. "Here's the map." He said and then left to his SUV.
Sandy grabbed the map from Seth. "I'll take that. We don't want to get lost again, now do we?"
"Dad, it's like less than two minutes away from here. That I know for sure." He pointed out, as he drove off down the small dirt road that lead into the forest. They saw a few people setting up camps. Seth was surprised he didn't see more people. It was such a beautiful September weekend.
"This is it." Sandy pointed to the spot.
Seth parked the car, got out and stretched his legs. Ben got out, grabbed his bag, and walked over to the flattened site. "This is it?" Ben asked, dropping his bag down.
"Ben, you don't seem so enthusiastic about it." Sandy put his arm around his shoulder. "First time camping, huh?"
"Dad never took me camping before. He promised he'd take me and Aden camping last year but he never did." Ben replied. He looked around and noticed a clearing. "What's over there?" He pointed to the clearing.
"That, my friend, is a lake." Seth replied, as he unloaded his car.
Ryan and Trey started unloading the SUV. Conner was already running around in the woods, pretending to shoot birds, while Josh was leaning up against the SUV watching Ryan and his dad unload the camping gear.
"Are you going to just watch us, as you swat at them flies? Or are you going to help?" Trey scowled at Josh and threw a bag at him.
Conner came running up to Ryan. "Dad! Dad!" He circled him. "There's a lake! Can I go swimming? Can I, can I?" He asked, bouncing up and down.
"Once we get everything set up, we'll all go for a short swim." Ryan told him, as he took the cooler out from the SUV and brought it over to the campsite. Sandy, Seth and Ben were already trying to put up one of the tents. Ryan couldn't help but laugh at the site. "Having trouble?" Ryan asked.
"Smarty pants over here forgot the instruction manual for the tent." Sandy mumbled, trying to figure out how to make the tent.
"Tents have manuals?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, but I forgot it." Seth replied, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Which tent is that one?" He asked.
"Ours" Seth replied. "The kid's tent is still in my trunk."
"I'll go get it."
Ryan got the tent and started making it with Trey. After five minutes of confusion and then ten minutes of effort, the kids tent was up. It was a very large tent indeed; it could fit up to five grown adults. The adults were sleeping in the six-person tent, which Seth, Sandy and Ben still haven't gotten around to putting up.
"Need any help?" Ryan asked Sandy, who had given up and was now sitting on a log watching Seth and Ben try to put up the tent.
Ryan and Trey took over the adults' tent and within ten minutes they had it up.
"How the hell did you do that?" Seth asked, scratching his head. "Last time I checked, you knew nothing about setting up tents."
"Good luck, I suppose."
"Can we go swimming now?" Conner yelled out from the forest. Josh and Conner were both in the forest 'exploring', or at least Conner was, Josh was just trying to get away from everyone.
"Get your swim shorts on!" Ryan yelled out to him. "You want to go swimming, Ben?" Ryan asked, patting him on the back.
"Sure."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Summer grabbed a tissue from the box. "I love the ending." They were watching Beauty and the Beast – for Amy's sake. It was one of Marissa's favorites when she was little. "So, what movie are we watching next?" She asked. She grabbed a bowl of chips and started eating them.
Kirsten came walking into the kitchen with more food. "Oh, how about we watch that one movie there…Oh, I forget the name of it. It's a 1970's classic."
"1970's?" Marissa repeated, pulling out another movie from the stack. "I was thinking of something a little more updated. How about this movie?" She held it up so everyone could see.
"Oh my God!" Summer shrieked. "I love that movie. I was so in love with that guy!"
"Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights?" Kirsten asked. "I've never seen it. Is it good?"
"You'll love it." Summer popped in the movie.
"Wait." Kirsten stopped them and looked over at Amy who had finally fallen asleep. She had been wired an hour ago and wouldn't shut up. "I'll go put Amy to bed. Don't start it without me." She picked up Amy from the couch. "Where is she sleeping?"
"Conner's room." Marissa told her. Kirsten left to go put Amy to bed. Marissa grabbed the bowl of Cheeto's from Summer. "So, have you and Seth figured out a date yet?" She asked.
"Well, he wants to wait until the baby is born." She replied
"And you? What do you want?"
"Well, pretty soon I'm not going to have a figure like this." Summer scanned her body with her hands. "So, we're probably going to get married after the baby. The baby is due sometime around April. So, May or June should be perfect for the wedding."
Marissa laughed. "It's always about the looks."
"Always."
Kirsten came walking back into the living room and sat down. "Okay, let's get this movie going before I fall asleep on you two."
Both Marissa and Summer laughed at her and Marissa pressed play.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ben held out his stick for Ryan to put another marshmallow on. They were all sitting around the campfire and it was getting late. Conner was already asleep next to Ryan, with his tiny arms wrapped around him.
"How many have you had, Ben?" Ryan asked, before putting on another marshmallow.
Ben shrugged. "I've lost count after the third one."
Ryan closed the bag of marshmallows. "You've had too many. I don't need you keeping Conner and Josh up all night. It's already nine. You should be tired."
"But I'm not." Ben replied and put his stick down.
"Hey, why don't we all sing some campfire songs?" Seth asked.
"I don't sing." Ryan replied. "Besides I doubt you know any."
"Yeah, I don't sing either." Trey replied.
"Okay, then let's just look at this lovely fire we have before us." Seth said enthusiastically.
"Hey, I have an idea. There's this story I used to always tell Seth when he was a little kid. I told it to Ryan too, the last time we went camping."
"Uh, Sandy, maybe we should skip the stories." Ryan said.
"What's the matter, Ryan? Afraid you'll get scared?" Seth joked.
Ben spoke up. "Yeah! I want to hear a story!"
"Okay, do you, Josh?" Sandy asked. Josh just nodded his head and continued carving out a piece of wood with his knife. "Okay, it all started out…" Sandy began telling the story that had scared him when he was a kid and that had scared Seth when he was little. When he had told Ryan the story a while back ago, he was surprised that Ryan was affected by the story. Sure, it was Ryan's first time camping in the woods, but he was seventeen. You'd think he'd be able to handle it.
"Oh, this part is sick!" Seth bellowed out.
"Seth!" Sandy yelled at him. "My story, not yours." Sandy said, as he continued with the story. By the time he was done telling the story, Ben and Josh were looking around the forest nervously. They were looking for the 'creature' that lurked the forest at night. Good thing Conner was sleeping, otherwise the adults were going to have to sleep with someone else.
"You kids should get to bed now. We have a lot planned for tomorrow." Sandy told him.
Ben and Josh slowly made their way to their tents and went into their sleeping bags. Ryan carried Conner over to the tent and put him to bed. When he came back to the campfire, Sandy, Seth and Trey were laughing at him.
"What?" Ryan demanded.
"Oh, bro, you should have seen your face!" Trey replied, while making faces.
"Oh, no it was more like this." Seth added in a face.
"I wasn't scared." Ryan said.
"It's okay. I was a little scared when I first heard it." Sandy told him.
"Dad, weren't you, like, a little kid?" Seth asked.
"Yeah." Sandy started laughing.
"Make fun of me…I don't care." Ryan mumbled. He knew they were right. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++