He dropped Summer off in front of her house and watched her run up the driveway toting her new three thousand dollar purse. It had been another harrowing shopping adventure following the trip they'd taken three days ago, after he'd found Summer and his mother waiting in the living room for him. He still hadn't quite been able to process that. Summer was an awful liar and his mom wasn't much better. He pulled into his driveway and entered the house through the kitchen. He found his mom sitting dismally at the island, leafing through a magazine with a glass of wine in hand.

"Hey," he said, opening the refrigerator. "Thanks for the automobile usage." She smiled.

"No problem. Did you have fun?" He stared at her until she got the message. "You were shopping with Summer. Stupid question."

"Where's Dad?"

"Out with Jimmy Cooper."

"Seriously?"

"I said the same thing." She took a long sip of wine. "Restaurant stuff, I guess. I don't know." She closed her magazine. "You going out tonight?"

"Nope. Summer's doing something with Marissa."

"Okay. Well...me either. I'm just going to be doing some work. Here. So...you know, I'll be around. If you wanted to...talk. Or anything." He eyed her suspiciously.

"All right."

"Great. I'll be in my office."

"I'll be in my room," he replied, attempting to follow the strange game she was playing.

"Great," she said again, giving him an overly pleasant smile. He nodded warily and went upstairs to his room.

She'd been acting strangely since they'd talked a few nights ago. It was a conversation he hadn't been able to forget. He couldn't fathom that his mom, who was arguably the most perfect woman in Newport, had such a flaw on her record. An abortion? When he heard that Teresa was having one, he didn't really think twice. He wasn't one who stereotyped or cared about money, but...hell, she was from Chino. It just wasn't a surprise. But his mother? His multi-millionaire of a mother? Perfect lives left no room for things like abortions. He hated thinking thoughts like that; it was proof of what living in Newport could do to your mind. Still, though, it made him a little sick to think about his mother. He had naively always thought of her as kind of a saint, the one who would secretly bring him ice cream when Sandy sent him to the confines of his bedroom to 'think about what he'd done.' The one who'd let him bow out of school on several occasions and spared him the agony of humiliating social experience after humiliating social experience. The one who made futile attempts to learn how to play his video games and never really succeeded. Sure, she spent more time at work than he would have liked her to when he was a kid, but she made such a consistent effort. She had always existed as kind of a glowing presence in his life, the one who he knew could make everything okay. And now he knew something about her that refuted her perfection. He didn't want to think about it.

Even more troubling was the fact that the baby was his father's. He had reluctantly listened in on their fight, praying that he wouldn't hear something terribly unpleasant. This was not the case, he, in fact, heard several things that he wished he could forget. He was starting to understand, he thought, his mother's attachment to Ryan. He gave her a chance to have two kids raised under her happy roof. She would more than likely understand why he was so upset about Ryan leaving, because she was probably almost equally saddened. In under a year she had helped morph Ryan into a completely different person. And this new person, among other things, really loved Kirsten. He saw her as his mother. He was her second chance.

He heard voices from outside and looked out the window into the backyard. His mom was in the hot tub, propped up on her elbows at the side, and Julie Cooper was towering over her. He couldn't clearly see his mom's expression, but he was betting that she was not pleased by this visit. He considered things for a moment, then ran downstairs. He watched them through the back door and saw Mrs. Cooper making elaborate hand gestures while Kirsten stared at her trying to mask her disinterest and annoyance.

"So Cal figured it all out...the honeymoon is going to be so amazing. And the resort is really private, too, which is absolutely wonderful, if you know what I mean..." Julie said, winking exaggeratedly. The color drained from Kirsten's face.

"I'd really rather not think about what you mean, Julie," she said. He burst out the door.

"Mom!" Both women looked over at him and he made his best sick face. "I just threw up like eight times," he lied. Kirsten, looking both concerned and a little skeptical, pulled herself out of the hot tub and grabbed a towel. Mrs. Cooper looked disgusted. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Cooper. Sorry to interrupt."

"Seth, honey, what's wrong?" Kirsten neared him and put a hand on his forehead. "You don't have a—,"

"I just put a cold washcloth on my head. Trust me. I'm burning up," he said pointedly, and she took the hint.

"You poor thing. Julie, I should really take him inside." Julie feigned a smile.

"I should go." She started to leave, then took another look at Seth and broke into a jog. They went inside and Kirsten closed the door behind her, a smile finding its way onto her face.

"You are a god," she stated. He shrugged, blushing.

"You looked like you needed a little help."

"I don't know what I was thinking going into the yard alone. She always comes over."

"Could we have worse neighbors?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what we did to deserve that."

"I thought you were working...?" he asked. She sighed.

"Yeah. I got heinously bored. Numbers. Lots and lots of numbers," she shuddered. He nodded, then looked away.

"Well...I was maybe going to watch a movie. And...unless you were going to do some more 'work', maybe...you would want to watch with me?" She was touched by his invitation and smiled.

"I'd love to."