Author's Notes: Hey, everybody! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update (two weeks, I think), but I've been busy and kind of sick and it hasn't been fun. L Anyway, so here's chapter twelve, complete with two big events, as promised. I hope you guys like it! Please review…I'll either update in fifteen reviews or five days. Also, next chapter will also be mostly (if not completely) Seth and Summer, but in about three chapters or so, I will have a much better plot line for Ryan and Marissa, I promise. Okay, so enjoy this chapter, I hope you like it, please leave comments, requests, ideas, suggestions, whatever you want to see happen…whatever you want to tell me, please do!! Please review! Thanks! Love, Maddy
Chapter Twelve
"Coffee?" Seth asked Summer the following morning.
"No, no thanks," Summer answered as she shot Seth a small smile. Seth walked up behind Summer and started to massage her shoulders.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Seth asked as he continued to massage Summer's shoulders.
Summer turned to look at Seth and shrugged. "Okay, I guess…my head still really hurts," Summer said as she pulled on a stray piece of fabric from the table cloth. She seemed kind of absent-minded and out of it, almost like she was in a daze.
"Do you need me to stay home with you today?" Seth asked as he played with Summer's long, dark hair.
Summer shook her head. "No, honey, I'll be fine…I have to go see Katherine today and, other then that, I'm just staying home and resting like Katherine ordered…" Summer said in a whisper as she breathed in slowly.
"Okay, what time is that at?" Seth asked.
"One. But you should stay at work. I'll be fine," Summer told Seth.
"Are you sure?" Seth asked. "It's not a problem for me to be there."
"I will be fine, I promise. I'll call you if I need anything or change my mind about the appointment, okay?" Summer said.
Seth was unsure of whether or not he should leave Summer home alone for the day. Her voice was getting stronger by the minute and her face was getting more and more color as the hours passed. He decided it would be fine if he went to work as long as Summer called him if she needed anything.
"I will go to work, but only if you promise me that you will call me the minute something hurts bad or the second you need something, alright?" Seth asked, still unable to keep the concern out of his voice.
"Honey, I'm going to be fine. Give me a kiss and then go to work," Summer ordered stubbornly.
Yup, same old Summer…Seth thought as he leaned over and kissed Summer on the lips gently. As he pulled away, he added, "Feel better, sweetie. Give me a call at work if you need anything…even if you just want me to come home or go to your appointment with you, alright?" Seth asked again.
Summer rolled her eyes and laughed weakly. "Just go, I promise I'll call if I need anything," Summer told him. With one more kiss good-bye, Seth left Summer in the kitchen as he headed off to work.
Summer decided that she wanted to go lay down on the couch and maybe take a small nap before she had to get ready for her appointment with Katherine. As she crossed the hallway over to the living room, she heard the doorbell ring. Summer answered the door to see Marissa standing there.
Summer's eyes narrowed at Marissa coldly. Deep down, Summer knew that Marissa needed to tell Seth what was going on because Seth deserved to know. Summer also knew that Marissa had tried to get Summer to tell Seth about what was going on and that she, herself, should have had the courage to tell him. All this, however, didn't mean that she wasn't still mad at Marissa.
"Sum, I had to tell him. I'm sorry," Marissa blurted out. Summer shot her one cold look before leaving Marissa at the door as Summer entered the living room. Marissa closed the front door and followed Summer into the house. "He deserved to know, especially since things were getting so serious. I tried to get you to tell him yourself, I really did, but you wouldn't listen to me. I tried, I did," Marissa repeated as she looked at Summer hopefully.
"I know he deserved to know and I know that I should have told him myself," Summer said in a voice just slightly above a whisper as she stared at the blank screen on the television. Her head snapped in Marissa's direction as she added, "But you-you didn't need to tell him what was going on, I mean, you didn't need to break your promise to me like that."
"I'm sorry. I know that it sucked that I broke my promise to you. And if I thought I had more time, or if I had had a different plan, I would have gone with whatever I could so that I wouldn't break your trust. But you have to know that I didn't have another option and that if I could have avoided this, I would have. I just wanted you to be safe and I knew that if Seth knows, he'll keep you safe and I won't have to worry about losing my best friend," Marissa explained sincerely.
"Fine…I know you didn't do it to be vicious or mean or anything…and that you had my best interest at heart," Summer finally agreed as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.
"Good," Marissa said, shooting Summer a brilliant smile. "How are things between you and Seth?" Marissa asked carefully.
"We're going to be fine, don't worry," Summer said waving her hand at Marissa. "We talked about it and I think we're both fine with it now. We're going to work through it," Summer told Marissa.
"Okay, well, I hate to tell you this today, but I've got news for you, hon. Ryan and I are moving to New York for a while," Marissa said as she watched Summer's face carefully to see how'd she react to this.
Summer bit her lip. "Are you really?" she asked softly as she twirled her hair around her finger. Marissa nodded. "Well, I'm glad you guys worked that out…Seth and I are going to miss you guys so much. I wish you weren't going," Summer said sighing. "Hey, does this mean that Seth and I are going to miss Conner or Malerie's birth?" she asked reluctantly.
"Maybe, maybe not. Ryan's working out the details with his boss today. I'm not sure when we're leaving yet and I guess whether or not we're here for the birth will depend on what Ryan's boss decides today," Marissa told Summer.
"Well, it can't be too long, right?" Summer asked flashing Marissa a small, weak smile. "So what are you up to for the rest of the day?" Summer asked as a attempt to change the focus away from sad things like New York.
"We're house hunting today online and deciding what we're taking with and what's staying here and so on," Marissa said shrugging. "It's going to be very boring," Marissa sighed.
"House hunting," Summer said as she tried not to think of her aching head.
"Yup," Marissa replied as she looked at her watch. "Alrighty, well, I got to go home-Ryan's coming home after he talks to his boss so we can work out some of this moving stuff," Marissa explained.
"Of course," Summer said. "Have fun," Summer said as she walked Marissa to the front door. "I want to see pictures of the house you guys pick…call me later," Summer waved good-bye as Marissa climbed into her Jeep and pulled out of the Cohens' driveway.
A few hours later, Marissa was sitting down on their white carpeted living room floor as she and Ryan flipped through about ten thousand pictures and descriptions of houses in New York. "Ugh! There are so many houses and they are all so beautiful! I want them all, Ry," Marissa said as she sighed admiringly.
"Well, sorry, Riss, but I think we're only getting one this time around," Ryan teased.
"Okay, okay…well, let's see…we have to narrow this down some how…okay well, we want at least two bedrooms, right? One for us and one for Mal or Conner," Marissa explained logically.
Ryan shook his head. "Three bedrooms," Ryan said as Marissa shot him a confused glance. "Well, we're going to be there for a year to possibly almost a year and a half. We should get an extra bedroom so we can use that one as a guest bedroom. You know, in case, we have Summer and Seth come and visit us." Marissa grinned at Ryan. "Well, of course, maybe we could just live without Summer and Seth for an entire year," Ryan teased. Marissa had a look of complete horror on her face.
"Actually, Ry, I think that's a real sweet idea…okay, so three bedrooms…I guess the rest doesn't really matter," Marissa said as she flipped through a few more pictures and then threw them down into their own pile. "Okay, that is the 'no' pile. All those houses are either ugly or have too little bedrooms or way too many bedrooms," Marissa told Ryan. Ryan threw a few pictures and descriptions down into the new pile.
After about twenty minutes, Marissa shrieked, "Oh, my gosh! I have found the perfect house! It's Victorian, with a huge back yard. It's really too bad our baby will be too little to play on a swing set or something." Marissa flipped through the paperwork and scanned the description. "Oooh, look at those gardens!" Marissa said as she tossed a picture to Ryan.
"It's a beautiful house. Is that the one you want for sure?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, it's perfect and beautiful and charming-it's almost as perfect as this house. It's as close as we're going to get to home," Marissa said smiling at Ryan.
"Alright, I get it, you want this house," Ryan said as he gathered up the rest of the houses' descriptions and pictures. He threw them out in the nearby garbage can. "Okay, I'll go call work and tell them we picked the house that we want to put up in for the next year," Ryan said smiling at Marissa. "It really looks like a great house…you never know, maybe New York will become our second home," Ryan suggested as he shrugged hopefully at Marissa. He still felt desperate that she like New York when they went there since she was giving up the home she loved for a whole year, just for Ryan's benefit.
"Maybe, just maybe," Marissa agreed smiling at Ryan.
"Summer, how are you feeling?" Katherine asked as she stepped aside so that Summer could enter her office.
"Oh, better. Not a lot better, but better all the same," Summer said smiling weakly. "Really, I'm going to be fine," Summer said as she reassured Katherine.
Katherine smiled at Summer. "I think by the time you leave here today, you'll be much better than, um, better," Katherine said as she chuckled at her own weird wording. Summer glanced confusedly at Katherine. Katherine, whom noticed Summer's confusion, added, "Come in, come in, hurry, I've got great news for you and you are going to be so happy!" Katherine smiled excitedly as she hurried to sit behind her desk. She gestured for Summer to sit down in the chair across from her.
Confused, Summer sank down into the chair. "What's going on?" Summer asked nervously.
"Okay, I can't take the suspense of seeing your reaction and I'm sure you are wondering what all the suspense is about so I'm just going to tell you, okay?" Katherine asked smiling excitedly and widely at Summer. Summer barely nodded to Katherine, she was to confused for words or gestures at this point. "Well, Summer…they took some blood tests when you were at the hospital for the, um, accident, and they faxed over the results and-well-you're pregnant!" Katherine exclaimed smiling at Summer.
Summer, obviously not on the top of her game already today, had a slow reaction to this. "What?" she stammered about two minutes after Katherine had told her the news.
"You're pregnant!" Katherine repeated as she stood up. "Congratulations!" Katherine added whole-heartedly as she leaned over and hugged Summer.
Things were finally starting to register in Summer's head. Oh, my gosh, Seth and I are having a baby! Summer exclaimed in her head. This was the best news she had gotten in months, maybe even years. "I'm pregnant!" Summer told Katherine proudly.
Katherine laughed and hugged Summer again. "I know, I know! I'm so happy for you!" Katherine said as she continued to smile radiantly at Summer. "Now, I have a number of a great doctor I recommend, just in case you didn't have a doctor already picked out…" Katherine said as she pulled a post-it off her desk and handed it to Summer. "And I hope to see you here soon so I can have an update on the baby." Katherine flashed another wide, whole-hearted grin at Summer, whom was smiling back at Katherine like crazy.
"Thank you so much, Katherine!" Summer said as she threw her arms around Katherine's neck and hugged Katherine tightly. This is quite possibly the best day of my life! Summer thought happily to herself.
Twenty minutes later, Summer pulled her silver Mercedes up the driveway and parked the car in the shade of a few palm trees. She walked up the stairs to the front door and let herself in. As she locked the door, she heard something fall in the kitchen. "Seth? Is that you?" Summer called as she felt her heart start to race. She couldn't wait to tell Seth what Katherine had told her.
"Hey, honey," Seth called back to her. "I decided to take my lunch now so I could go with you to your appointment," Seth said as he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "But I guess I missed it, huh? I had a long conference call and I hurried home as soon as I could. I'm sorry I missed it, hon," Seth apologized as he pulled Summer into his arms and kissed her forehead gently, careful to kiss her forehead on the opposite side from her bandage.
"Oh, you didn't need to come home to go to the appointment with me," Summer reassured him. "However, I am glad you're home because I have something…great and special to tell you," Summer said as she pulled away from Seth and took both his hands in hers.
"This sounds like important news," Seth teased as she tucked a strand of Summer's dark chocolate brown hair behind her ear.
Summer nodded happily. "It is very important news…something that will change our lives forever," Summer said as she started grinning like crazy. She was imagining in her head what Seth's reaction was going to be when she told him the news and now she couldn't stop smiling.
"That is the widest I think I've ever seen you smile…what's up?" Seth asked curiously.
"Okay, I went to go see Katherine for the check up and to talk about future plans, you know, fertility drugs, no fertility drugs, whatever, all that, you know?" Summer said as she realized she was rambling. Seth nodded at her and smiled as though he was trying not to laugh. "Anyway! So I went to go talk to Katherine and before I could even ask her what we should do next fertility-drug-help-wise, she tells me the most excellent news I have gotten in years," Summer said smiling excitedly, as she remembered everything that had happened in Katherine's office that day.
Seth's eyes grew wide as he looked straight into Summer's eyes. "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?" Seth asked slowly and carefully.
Summer nodded happily. "Cohen, I'm pregnant!" Summer exclaimed. Seth pulled Summer into his arms again as she flung her arms around his neck.
"Oh, Sum, I'm promising you here and now that I'm always going to be here for you and this baby. I love you so much, Sum," Seth said smiling as he grinned ecstatically at Summer. "I'm so glad that you're pregnant! This is so exciting, honey!" Seth smiled at Summer. Seth leaned in towards Summer and kissed her passionately. After a few minutes of a passionate and intense make out session, the phone rang.
Seth pulled away from Summer for a moment to grab the phone and Summer groaned. "Oh, come on, Cohen, let the machine get it…we're celebrating, may I remind you?" Summer teased as she leaned in to kiss Seth. Seth also began leaning in towards Summer, content with the idea of forgetting about the phone, when Summer caught something out of the corner of her eye. She could see the caller ID on the cordless phone and the three words she saw made her squirm as she began to feel her heart race again. This time it was racing from fear and not from excitement. "Seth…" Summer whispered as she stepped back. "Look at the caller ID," Summer hissed.
Seth turned his head. The caller ID read 'Newport Hospital, ER'. He turned and looked at Summer again. She was still staring at the phone with a pale, straight face. "Sum, calm down, it's probably just your test results or something like that," Seth said as he gave Summer a weird look as he reached for the phone.
Summer rubbed her forehead as she wondered why she had the creeps from the hospital calling. It was completely logical that they were calling with test results from the accident. Summer tried to reassure herself with this as Seth answered the phone, but, for some odd reason, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen to her. She turned and looked at Seth, whom had answered the phone. She watched his face as he listened intently to what the person was telling him. She couldn't quite work out what was happening because she had never seen this look on Seth's face before. "Thank you for calling and letting me know," Seth said in a strangely quiet tone as he hung up the phone.
Seth turned to face Summer and she was shocked to see tears forming in his eyes. Not only was she shocked, but she also felt very scared now that she knew that whatever the hospital had said made Seth sad enough to cry. She had only seen him cry once or twice before in all the time that they had been together. "Seth, what happened?" Summer demanded to know in a quivering voice.
Seth looked at her and bit his lip. He took a deep breathe and then looked Summer at her directly. "The hospital…called to say…Kellie and Alex were in a car accident…they…d-died…" Seth said slowly as he watched Summer's eyes fill with tears.