Note: I do not own The O.C. Wait, do I? Uh, no. No, I don't.

Ryan spent a few hours with Samantha before waking Theresa up. It was time for him to go meet Marissa.
"Theresa," he said softly sitting on the bed next to her. He rubbed her arm and she woke up. Samantha was asleep again.
"Thank you," she said. "You know you do more than enough to help me out, I really appreciate it."
"As far as I'm concerned," Ryan replied, "You and Samantha are as much a part of my family as the Cohens are."
He hugged Theresa and started to leave, then stopped.
"Hey, Seth kind of forced me into this thing tonight," he explained "We're going to play Scrabble and Jenga - I know it sounds kind of lame, but -"
"It sounds great," Theresa said, happy that they could all be friends, "I'll be there."
"Okay, 9 o'clock-ish, I'll see you then."

He was ten minutes early when he got to the beach, but Marissa was already waiting at the pier where they planned to meet.
"Hey," he said causing her to look up.
"Hi," she smiled and offered her hand for him to hold. She had been thinking about things, and she knew that Ryan cared for her, and she understood why he would always be friends with Theresa. They grew up together, they went through all their problems together, they even did musicals together. He took her hand in his and they walked down to the beach together.

Theresa stepped out of the poolhouse on the morning of Christmas Eve. Seth and Summer were sitting by the pool, dangling their feet in the warm water. Even though it was winter, it was still 72 degrees outside. Theresa said hello to Seth and Summer and walked into the house. Kirsten was waiting for her and had coffee for two ready to go on the counter.
"You ready, hun?" She asked Theresa.
Sandy walked in on the conversation and asked, "Ready for what? Where are you two going now?"
"We're going shopping, Samantha needs new clothes. Again! She's growing so fast," Kirsten had taken Theresa shopping every weekend since she came to stay with them.
The main reason she was there was because Ryan had wanted to be near her, but now she was missing Chino more and more every day. Even with the shopping and the nanny and all the extravagences of her life in Newport, she wanted to go home. She called her mother every night, usually crying with homesickness. Ryan had caught on and convinced her to stay twice now. He liked to play with Samantha and he really liked to see Theresa so well taken care of. She deserved it, after all the hard work she had done in her life to take care of others, she deserved this. And her mother had convinced her to stay, too, because she was getting an excellent education and didn't have to work for a living at such a young age.

So Theresa hung out with Ryan or Seth when their girlfriends were busy, she kept Kirsten company when Sandy worked late, she went shopping with Marissa - once - and she even made a few new friends at school, but her heart just wasn't in it. And when it came right down to it, the only reason she really stayed was because she wanted a good life for her daughter.

Ryan came downstairs and into the kitchen as Kirsten and Theresa were getting ready to leave.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"We're going shopping," Theresa said, smiling slightly.
Ryan's eyebrows raised and he smiled, "Christmas shopping?"
Theresa laughed. "No, besides I already got you something."
"I got you something too," Ryan said, "and thanks again for, you know, helping me with Marissa's present."
Theresa smiled and she and Kirsten took off for the mall.

At the pool, Seth and Summer had begun to play and splash each other. Summer was squealing at Seth, begging him not to get her wet.
"Okay," he said and stood up.
"Thank you," Summer said and started to get up too, but before she could Seth jumped into the pool right in front of her and completely soaked her.
"Cohen!" She screamed as he pulled her into the pool and dunked her head under the water. When she came up she was trying to act mad, but she started cracking up.
"You better watch it Cohen," she screamed, as they continued to play in the water.

After Theresa and Kirsten got back from their shopping trip, Theresa went to the poolhouse to get ready to leave. She was going to Chino to spend the holiday with her mother and some other relatives that were coming over. She had packed and was singing to Samantha when Ryan came in without knocking. He was so used to the poolhouse being his that he always forgot to knock. Theresa looked up and stopped singing.
"Oh, hey," Ryan said quietly. "Please . . keep singing."
And she did. She finished the lullaby and set the baby in her bassinet.
Ryan handed Theresa a present with a big bow on it.
"Oh, you didn't have to-" she started.
"I know," Ryan interrupted, "I wanted to."
She sort of laughed as she opened the gift. It was a framed black and white picture of the two of them. They were just kids in the picture, maybe 10 or 11 years old. Theresa's eyes watered, and she quickly wiped the tears from her face.
"Thank you," she whispered, then turned to the bed and picked up a clothing sized gift box and handed it to him.
He smiled and slowly opened the box to find a 3-pack of Hanes "wife-beaters." He and Theresa laughed, but then he picked up the undershirts to find a framed photograph as well, only this one was of Ryan and Marissa.
"Oh, Theresa. This is, this is really . . . Thank you." Ryan hugged Theresa before leaving so she could finish getting ready.

Ryan came back into the house, and sat down in the kitchen, where Kirsten was on the phone.
"Okay, Dad, we'll see you then," she finished on the phone and hung up. Just then, Sandy walked in, hearing the end of her phone call.
"Caleb's coming over?" Sandy asked, obviously not thrilled to hear the news.
"Yes," Kirsten said, "and I know you two are going to get along wonderfully. It's Christmas, Sandy."
"Yeah, okay," Sandy said as he reached into the refrigerator for a snack.
"So Julie's coming too?" Ryan asked looking up from the newspaper he was reading.
"Yes," Kirsten said again, "and I know YOU two are going to get along wonderfully. It's Christmas, Ryan."
Ryan smiled and nodded to Kirsten and said, "Yeah . . Christmas."
"Oh, and Marissa will be joining us as well," Kirsten remembered out loud. She looked from Ryan to Sandy. "Jimmy and Hailey," she said slowly, as if she were telling juicy gossip, "are in Hawaii on vacation . . . together," she emphasized.

At dinner, Marissa sat down next to Ryan and put her hand in his. Seth waited for Summer to show up, but when she didn't and dinner was about to start, he called her cell phone and got no answer. When he called her house, her father told Seth she was busy. Seth was upset but didn't want to ruin Christmas dinner for everyone else, so he just said her car battery died and she wouldn't be there for dinner.
Note: Sorry to the people who already read this on the O.C. boards, I'm getting it all up as quick as I can (I'm too busy for my own good lol). The next few chapters are a very long Christmas night for R/M & S/S that has to do with the reason Summer didn't show up for dinner, so be sure to check back. Thanks