AN: Thanks for the great response. Here's Part 2. I'm trying to keep the angst fairies from infecting this story since everyone seems to enjoy the fluff. Probably one more part to tie it all up.
"You guys have fun. And Ryan? Try not to break anything if they get too frustrating," Kirsten said as she walked out of the kitchen the next day.
"This is going to end in tragedy," Ryan sighed, ignoring Seth's eager expression and Sandy's confusion as he stared at the toolbox on the counter.
"I am totally a fast learner, Ryan," Seth grinned.
"Okay. Let's go take a look at the car. We'll need to go to the store and pick up some oil and an oil filter."
"A filter, like what you put in an aquarium?" Seth asked.
"Come on," Ryan smiled, grabbing the toolbox and leading them outside.
"I'm still the man around here, even though I can't do this…stuff. You guys know that, right?" Sandy asked.
"Yes, Dad. Even though, I've never seen you punch anyone, get your hands dirty or take a shot of tequila without wincing."
"When have you seen anyone take a shot of tequila without wincing?" Sandy questioned.
"This is not about being a man, this is about self-preservation. What happens if your car breaks down and your cell phone doesn't get service?" Ryan asked.
"No service? Dude…" Seth laughed.
"I'm serious, Seth. Think of this as survivalist training," Ryan said. "Okay, Sandy. Remember how to pop the hood?"
"Dad, you didn't know how to pop the hood? See, I'm already a lesson ahead," Seth teased.
"I'm still waiting for an answer about the tequila," Sandy muttered, leaning inside his car and pulling the lever to pop the hood.
"Now," Ryan said, ignoring Sandy's statement. He slid his hand under the opening between the grill and the hood. "You have to find the lever and push it and open the hood."
"God, that's just nasty," Seth murmured, seeing the dirty engine.
"Yeah. The basics," Ryan started as Sandy and Seth stood beside him. "This is where the oil goes. This is where the water goes. This is where the transmission fluid goes…"
"So…I have to check all those things? Plus the gas?" Sandy asked seriously.
"Yes. This is the oil dipstick…" Ryan said, demonstrating.
"Dad, Ryan said 'dipstick'," Seth laughed.
"Okay. So you pull out the 'dipstick' and wipe off the end. Then you stick it back in the hole and see how much of the end gets wet…"
Seth was laughing uncontrollably now.
"Seth. This was your idea," Ryan smiled.
"Okay, sorry…but all the talk of sticks and getting wet…I'm sorry…" Seth managed after a stern glare from his father.
"Moving on. See? The oil is low, it should be at this line but its way below," Ryan pointed. He replaced the dipstick.
"Okay. So do we add more?"
"Usually. But we're going to change your oil today. Every time you change the oil, you change the filter. It looks like you need a new air filter, too, see how it's all dirty?"
"Everything is all dirty, maybe we need a new engine," Seth commented.
"No. Let's go to the parts store and pick up what we need. Today's lesson is changing the oil."
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After the visit to the auto parts store and a quick explanation from Ryan, Sandy is on his back under the BMW. The car was raised on ramps that Kirsten had ordered.
"Sandy, don't forget to put this container under there to catch the oil…" Ryan said, standing by the engine. Seth was sitting on the ground near his father's feet. He slid the modified bucket near his father's feet.
"What?" Sandy called.
"You have to catch the oil…" Ryan started but he was interrupted by Sandy's sputtering and coughing.
"Damn…" Sandy managed, scurrying from under the car, covered in oil.
"It's…" Seth stammered as the oil gushed out. Ryan fell to his knees and rushed to get the bucket to catch as much oil as it could before it stained the driveway.
Sandy was wiping oil off his face and arms. "Is this supposed to happen?"
"That's what I made the bucket for," Ryan said, sliding out with oil all over him as well.
"I'm glad Dad took that lesson, you both look disgusting," Seth said. Ryan reached over and smeared oil down his arm.
"Now, moving on. Sandy…"
"Oh no, this lesson is over. I'm going to get a bath…"
"You haven't even started!" Ryan protested.
"I'm out, too," Seth said. "I don't want to be a man…"
"Come on, guys…" Ryan said.
"Sorry, Ryan. This just isn't a Cohen thing," Seth said, following his father into the house.
Ryan sighed. He wiped his hands and lay down to finish what he'd started.
An hour later, he heard a car pull in.
"Ryan?" Kirsten called.
"Hey." He slid from under the car, his jeans and shirt stained with oil and grease.
"Where are Sandy and Seth?"
"Inside, I guess. They couldn't handle it," Ryan said, wiping his face with a grimy arm.
"They made you do it alone? Oh, Ryan…"
"Well, they started, but they couldn't finish. It's no big deal…"
"No, they asked you to teach them, this is unacceptable…"
"No, its fine, Kirsten…"
"You want to teach them a lesson?" Kirsten smirked.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"A lesson, Ryan. Like, a real one. One they can't walk away from when they get bored."
"I'd just like to drop the whole thing, Kirsten. I'm almost done here…"
"Well, I'm not. Thank you for fixing the car, Ryan. I'm sorry they abandoned you out here…"
"It's fine. I probably would have ended up doing it all myself anyway," Ryan muttered. He got to his feet and wiped his hands on his jeans.
Kirsten walked around to the front with him and they looked over the engine.
"I changed the oil and oil filter, added some transmission fluid and put some coolant in the radiator. It should be good to go."
Kirsten reached into the engine and disconnected the battery.
"Kirsten…"
"If he wants to go anywhere, he'll have to figure it out on his own. And Seth can't borrow my car, either."
"They have a rental," Ryan pointed.
"You're taking the rental. You're coming to lunch with me. Go get changed."
Ryan shared a smile with her, walking around the house toward the poolhouse.
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"Dad, you think Ryan's pissed? He's been out there a while," Seth said, his ninja succumbing to his father's attack.
"God, I didn't think we'd been in here that long, let's go check on him…" Sandy glanced at his watch and stood up.
They were both clean after scrubbing off the oil but they had decided to stay inside so Ryan wouldn't force them to work again.
"Um, Dad? Your rental's gone," Seth noted.
"But the BMW looks ready to go. You want to go get some lunch?"
"You think Ryan's napping?" Seth asked, forgetting that the rental car was gone for a moment.
"Let him get some rest, we'll bring him back his favorite to make up for quitting on the auto lessons," Sandy suggested. They got into the car and Sandy tried to start the engine.
"Uh oh."
"Maybe Ryan went to get more parts," Seth said when the car didn't start on Sandy's third try.
"We have got to get that kid a cell phone," Sandy muttered.
"So. No lunch?"
"I'll call AAA," Sandy said, putting his phone to his ear. He gave the agent his information and after a short pause, hung up.
"Are they coming?"
"My service has been discontinued. As of an hour ago. I'm going to kill Kirsten," Sandy muttered.
"Let's look under the hood. We got through lesson one, maybe we can fix it."
"I can pop the hood. Let's make your mother proud," Sandy said.
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Kirsten and Ryan were enjoying their burgers at the small deli near the pier.
"So, who taught you about cars?" Ryan asked.
"My mother."
"Really? Your mom?"
"Yes. The history is, my dad's car broke down and he knows less about cars than Sandy. My mom stopped on the shoulder to help him."
"She stopped? That's dangerous…"
"This was before they were married. It's how they met. Back then, hitchhiking was pretty common so when she saw him, she stopped. It was something like a loose cable or something but she impressed him and he asked her out."
"Wow. Nice story. So, your mother taught you?"
"When I turned 15, she started teaching me. I learned to drive on a stick shift, she said if I could drive that, I could drive anything," Kirsten smiled.
"Very true," Ryan acknowledged.
"She said that when I started to date, if I went out with a man with a straight-drive, that he'd make me sit in the middle and straddle the gear shift so he could cop a feel every time he shifted…"
Ryan gave her a lazy smile. "My brother told me that trick."
Kirsten laughed. "Well, since I knew how to change gears, she said that instead of him putting his hand there, that I was in charge of changing the gears."
"I bet that didn't go over too well…"
"Well, I never had to use it. No one in Newport drives anything that's not an automatic," She smiled. Her phone rang.
"Hello? Hey, Sandy…oh, really? AAA said what?" She smiled.
Ryan laughed quietly.
"Ryan's having lunch with me, I told him he could take the rental…I'm sorry, Sandy. You'll either have to wait until we get home or you can…" She closed the phone after a pause.
"What?"
"He hung up," She smiled.
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Kirsten followed Ryan home after their long lunch. They were both surprised to see Sandy and Seth standing in the driveway in front of the opened hood of the BMW.
"What's going on, guys?" Ryan asked.
"You're evil. Pure, unadulterated evil," Seth said.
"I think we broke it," Sandy told Kirsten as she walked around to stand with him.
"Oh, Sandy, what did you do?" She gasped.
Seth held out a handful of wires and dropped them at Ryan's feet. "See?"
"Where'd you get these from?" Ryan asked, stunned.
"There," Seth nodded toward the engine. "And it still doesn't work."
"You guys…" Ryan stammered.
"If you two hadn't decided to get all cute, maybe this wouldn't have happened," Sandy scolded.
"You can't possibly be blaming us for this, Sandy. You and Seth asked Ryan to teach you about cars and then you just walked off and left him with all the work…"
"But we got dirty, Mom," Seth protested.
"Kirsten…" Ryan started.
"No. I unhooked the battery cable. That's it. All you had to do was put this back here," Kirsten demonstrated.
"Oh. Well, Ryan didn't teach us that…" Sandy protested.
"Oh. He said if the car's not getting power to always check the battery cable…but I thought that's what these were…" Seth pointed at the wires at Ryan's feet.
"Here." Ryan held out the keys to the rental car. "I'll fix it…"
"Ryan…" Kirsten protested.
"No. I'm not a teacher, you're not my students and I'm sorry that this ever got started. I'll fix it," He said evenly.
"You're mad," Seth said.
"I'm not mad," Ryan sighed.
"I'm mad," Kirsten snapped.
"Why, this is all your fault," Sandy said quietly.
"Guys. Stop arguing. Nobody should be mad, nobody should be upset, just drop it," Ryan sighed. He leaned down and picked up the wires and turned to get the toolbox.
Kirsten stormed into the house and Sandy followed her.
"I'll help you…"
"Believe me, I don't need your help with this. You've helped enough today."
"Can I watch?"
"No. Go inside, Seth. I need to concentrate."
Seth turned and left. Ryan sighed. He started to try and find where the wires belonged.
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"Honey, do you need any help?" Kirsten came out as the sun was going down.
"I have no idea where Seth got those wires," Ryan confessed. He was sitting in the driveway with assorted parts lying around him in a circle.
"Did you check…"
"I checked everything." His arms were stained with grease up past his elbows and his face was smeared with the engine grease. "I think they're messing with me."
"What?" Kirsten asked.
"I don't think these wires came out of the car. I think Seth and Sandy think they're being funny," Ryan said quietly.
Kirsten narrowed her eyes. "Ryan…"
"So, I'm going to try and put this car back together and I'm officially done with auto mechanics."
"You know what this means, don't you?"
"Please don't say it…"
"This means war."
"Please, Kirsten…can't we drop it?"
"You're not mad that you spent the past two hours under this car?"
"No. I don't care. I just want this to be over. I have homework to do and I'm tired. Please don't start with this…"
"Okay. I'll leave you out of it. But it's definitely not over…" Kirsten spun and walked back into the house.
Ryan started to reassemble the car.
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