Okay, thanks so much for reviewing last time! You really are super duper awesome people! So here is the next chapter, I hope that you enjoy and continue to review. I'm supposed to be packing right now, because I leave for school Friday, but...um, well, I'm not. I'm doing this instead. I'll pay for it later when I'm throwing things haphazardly into boxes, so you all better appreciate this, haha. I'm the queen of procrastination, and you are benefiting from that. Oh, and sorry about the TTTTTTT, but nothing else works, grr.

Disclaimer: Right, characters. Not mine.

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Sandy felt Kirsten tossing and turning next to him the entire night. About three, when he just couldn't lie in bed anymore, he climbed to his feet to look out the window at the pool house. He was not surprised to find Ryan's light on.

"Is he still awake?" Although Sandy knew that Kirsten was still awake, the sigh every few minutes was a dead give-away, it still startled him to hear her voice in the silence that had taken over their house. Seth, the only one asleep, was also the only one who knew nothing about Ryan's father's reappearance. They felt it better that they tell him the next day, knowing their son as well as they did, they knew that he would bombard Ryan with questions that Ryan wasn't ready to answer yet. Kirsten had suggested giving Ryan a night to digest this before springing the ever inquisitive Seth at him and Sandy had agreed.

"His lights are on," Sandy said sighing as he ran a hand over his face, as he always did when things were too much for him to think about. Kirsten recognized the sign and made a move over to him. "Are we doing the right thing? Inviting him over for dinner?" She threw her legs over the side of the bed and came up behind her husband, wrapping her arms around him. She rested her head on his back.

"I don't know," she finally answered. "I don't know if there is a right thing in this situation." Sandy turned around and hugged her tightly to him. "Ryan said that he would like to see him, and I think we have to obey his wishes, and I for one would feel much better that we do it here than on Dave's terms."

"I know," Sandy said. "And I know that I was the one who suggested meeting with him, but I can't help but wondering if it would have been better if I had let Dave leave without suggesting that he see his son again. Let Ryan live a normal life for once, and pretend that his father is still safely tucked away for another three to five years in a minimum security prison no where near him. But then I think that I did the right thing, that Ryan should have the option of seeing his father again if he wanted to. I can't decide if I'm in the right or the wrong here, babe, and that's killing me." Kirsten knew that he wasn't exaggerating. Not knowing if he had done the right thing was probably bothering him a whole hell of a lot. Her husband always tried to follow his moral compass, and most of the time he succeeded. Of course there was that time with Kirsten's Uncle Shawn where he disobeyed what he knew to be the right thing, but that had been different. His wife had been involved. Sandy would do anything for her, for all his family. Ryan included. Which was why he was so torn on his decision to let Ryan choose for himself. Sometimes Sandy thought that Ryan really just wanted someone else to choose for him, step up, be the adult, and let him off the hook. And if that was the case here, then Sandy had failed him.

Sandy would have to call Dave the next day and set up the date for dinner. He sighed one more time and turned back to the window, reluctantly releasing his wife. She kissed the back of his neck, and headed back to their bed to spend some more time tossing and turning until her alarm went over in a little over three hours.

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Sandy made the phone call the next day right after lunch. Dave answered on the third ring and Sandy nervously cleared his throat.

"Mr. Atwood?"

"Yeah?"

"This is Sandy Cohen." He wasn't sure if he needed to explain beyond that, and was relieved when Dave responded with a surprised.

"Hey! I didn't think you were going to call, I mean, I had hoped that you would, but I didn't hold any false hopes, you know, because I wasn't sure that Ryan would want to see me again. That's why you're calling right? You talked to Ryan?" Sandy, in his two conversations with Dave Atwood had already caught on to the fact that Ryan's silence had not been inherited from his father. The man was a rambler. He could rival Seth any day. Or himself for that matter. He had sometimes envied Kirsten's more reserved and quiet nature. It stopped her from saying things that she would later regret.

"Yes, my wife and I talked to Ryan, and he would like to see you, but we thought it would be better if it was on his turf, so we were wondering if you would like to come to dinner at our house?" It came out in one long sentence in one long breath and Sandy realized that he sounded more like Seth than the great lawyer he was supposed to be.

"That would be great," Dave told him.

"Great," Sandy echoed. "Tomorrow okay with you?" Ryan had wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible and both Kirsten and Sandy had agreed, wanting to have some nights where they could actually sleep.

"Tomorrow's good," Dave said. Sandy gave him the address and they decided on seven and hung up. Sandy immediately picked the phone up after setting it down and dialed Kirsten's number.

"Kirsten Cohen," she answered.

"Hey honey."

"Sandy! How did the phone call go?" She knew why he was calling. They had gone to lunch again that day, but had avoided at all costs discussing the current situation. Only once had it been brought up, when Kirsten asked if he had called yet, and he said that he was going to after lunch. That had been it. They had kissed goodbye, and she had hugged him a little longer than she usually did for support and then he went back to his office to face the task at hand.

"It was fine. He's coming over tomorrow night at seven," Sandy told her. He left the unspoken question hang in the air. Are we still doing the right thing? "You know we can still call and cancel." Kirsten's end was silent for a minute, and Sandy thought that she might be contemplating his offer.

"No," she finally said. "We can't. Ryan wants to see him."

"Okay." They talked a little longer until Caleb burst into her office and she said a hurried goodbye and hung up. Sandy was left on his own trying to get some work done.

He knew that it was impossible. Nothing else was going to be on his mind until then. Giving up around four, he left the office and headed to his car. He drove to Seth and Ryan's school and saw the soccer team being let out of practice. He beeped once and Ryan saw him and said goodbye to Luke and started to jog over to the car.

"Want a ride home?" Sandy asked rolling down the window.

"Sure," Ryan shrugged and opened the door to the backseat and threw his stuff in before climbing into the passenger seat. "Not that I'm not grateful for not having to walk or bum a ride, but why are you here?"

"I left work early," it was Sandy's turn to shrug. "Wasn't getting much done." Ryan just nodded.

"I couldn't concentrate in class today," he admitted. Sandy was surprised, but quite pleased that Ryan would admit something like that to him. "When's he coming?" There was no lead in to the conversation; there was no asking who Ryan meant. Sandy understood.

"Tomorrow. Around seven. Kirsten is going to order in from Lulu's," Sandy said. Lulu's. Ryan's favorite. He just nodded.

"It's a good thing that she's not trying to cook. We'd kill him just as he was getting his freedom," Ryan was trying to joke, but Sandy knew that it was a failed attempt to lighten the mood. To make Sandy believe that he wasn't as nervous as he really was.

"Yeah," Sandy played along forcing a small laugh. "Good thing."

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Kirsten placed the second earring in her ear. She studied her reflection in the mirror. She sighed one last time and headed towards the door. As soon as she had stepped out of her bedroom, the doorbell rang and she hurried downstairs. She arrived in the front hall just as Sandy was about to open the door.

Her first reaction was the same as Sandy's. He looked exactly like Ryan. It was actually amazing. She stepped up next to her husband.

"You found it," Sandy said forcing a smile. "Come on in. This is my wife Kirsten." Kirsten outstretched her hand and Dave took it.

"Very nice to meet you," he said politely. "And your house is amazing."

"Thank you," Kirsten said. She could do this. She could be polite. What would her father say if he knew that he had raised her so well that she was even polite to convicted felons? Her mother was probably rolling in her grave.

"Ryan's in the living room," Sandy said motioning behind him. Ryan had stood up when the doorbell had rung, but immediately sat right back down next to Seth. When Sandy began heading towards the door, he had bolted up again, only to sit right back down.

"Dude, are you all right?" Seth asked. "You're like a Jack-in-the-Box." Seth was trying to remain the calm force in the family. His mother had run around the house straightening magazines, only to come back and skew them slightly to the side again. She had changed clothes three times. His father had already had three glasses of wine, and was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. Ryan had spent the afternoon in the pool house. Marissa had been there for about an hour, but she had emerged and Ryan had not. He had only made an appearance ten minutes before, and had followed Sandy's lead and began pacing, until Seth had complained they were making him dizzy and convinced Ryan to sit and play some Playstation with him.

Sandy led the way and Ryan again hopped to his feet when he heard their voices approaching.

"Hi Ry," Dave said almost softly. "You look good." He noticed Seth, who had paused the game and was also now standing. "You must be Seth." Seth just simply nodded. "I'm Dave."

"He knows who you are," Ryan broke in. Kirsten was surprised, Ryan wasn't known for outbursts. Sandy immediately felt his stomach sink. This was a bad idea. He should have never told Ryan that his father had come by. It was a mistake. "I mean," Ryan looked embarrassed. "It's just, that he knows who you are, we all do. It's...I'm sorry." This apology was actually extended to Kirsten and Sandy and not his father. Dave just simply gave a nervous smile and nodded.

"Why don't we sit down for dinner?" Kirsten suggested breaking the tension filled silence that had overcome them.

"Great idea," Sandy said. He was certainly happy that his wife was taking charge, because he certainly didn't want to have to try. They led Dave into the dining room and Kirsten went into the kitchen to bring in the dishes. Sandy was about to open his mouth and tell Seth to go help his mother, when Ryan beat him to the punch.

"I'm going to help Kirsten," he said jumping from the table and heading into the kitchen. Seth suspected it was simply a means of getting away from everyone to collect his thoughts. Both Ryan and Kirsten reappeared a minute later holding plates of food in their hands.

"Looks wonderful Mrs. Cohen," Dave said politely.

"Oh, Mom didn't make it," Seth broke in, setting Dave straight. "She ruins grilled cheese." Kirsten scoffed.

"I can too make grilled cheese," she said offended.

"Right," Seth said to appease her. But he shook his head at Dave, who laughed. "Face it Mom, last time you made grilled cheese, you buttered the wrong side of the toast. It's why we love you."

"Among other things," Sandy broke in smiling at her. He was immensely grateful to Seth for the comic relief.

"Dad, ew, we don't want a repeat of Tuesday morning," Seth said shaking his head. "I'm going to need enough therapy as it is."

"What happened Tuesday morning?" Dave asked smiling at the teenager. He noticed that Ryan was cracking a slight smile, and figured that the best way to have his son open up was to keep the conversation light and teasing.

"Mom was in bed naked!" Seth exclaimed. "Why, I don't want to think about. Hopefully she was trying a new way of getting dressed under the covers. Like we used to do at summer camp so the other kids wouldn't see us changing. Or at least, I did that. Clearly, Dad, she's uncomfortable naked in your presence." Sandy laughed, knowing that this was a show that Seth was putting on for Ryan's benefit. He could also see that it was working. Ryan was visibly relaxing during the usual banter that overtook the Cohen dinner table.

"That hasn't been my experience," Sandy told him winking at his wife who blushed. Even Ryan had to laugh at Seth's reaction.

"Ahh! Dad! No! Stop now!" Seth pounded his fist on the table.

"Anyway, not that this discussion isn't just....wonderful," Kirsten said. Ryan had to note that his foster mother was a bright red shade that didn't seem to be fading. This fact just made the whole thing a little more enjoyable. "But can we talk about something else?" Everyone sat for a minute trying to discern a relatively safe topic. Finally Ryan just bluntly came out and said what was on everyone's minds.

"Dad, why did you come here? Why did you go to Sandy's office? Why did you come seek me out?"

"I wanted to see you. I haven't seen you since..."

"Since you were arrested?" Ryan offered. Dave dropped his head in appropriate shame. "Since you left me with Dawn and her many abusive boyfriends?" Ryan was gripping onto the dining room table for dear life and Kirsten exchanged nervous looks with Sandy.

"I wish I could change that. I wish I could take back all the things I've done, Ryan. I wish I could have been there to watch you grow up. And I came here...because...I don't want to miss anymore of your life. I know that the Cohens are providing you with things that I can't, or that your mother couldn't."

"Like a stable home?" Ryan muttered. Dave ignored and plowed forward with his speech. Sandy could see where it was headed, but hoped that he was wrong.

"But Ryan, we're family, and family should stick together." As if a lightbulb had gone off over Kirsten's head, she too realized where this was going and grabbed for Sandy's hand under the table. "I moved back in with your mother...we're going to try to make us work again...and we'd...well, we'd really like it if you could move back in with us. We'll get it right this time Ry, we'll be a family again."

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Uh-oh spaghetti-o! What's Ryan going to say? Review and you'll find out a little faster! I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with this, so you'll have to help me out. Angst and violence? Or just good old fashioned emotional drama? Let me know.