This is the third version of this chapter. I know it's short, but it ended where it had to end. Hope you all enjoy. And as usual... I own nothing except my car (and a computer and a laptop).

Sandy got right to the point. They were all sitting at dinner, with plates full of food. Rosa had prepared a feast of roast, sweet potato wedges, and Ryan's favorite squash salad. But Ryan barely had time to chew his first piece of meat when Sandy brought up the pregnancy.

Not that Ryan minded. His stomach was in knots, and he really had no room for the food he was chewing. And when he had hugged Theresa he thought he felt a small bulge in her belly. He didn't know if he was feeling the baby, but he guessed it was soon enough to start showing. Not talking about why they were here would be like ignoring the pink elephant in the room. He was glad Sandy didn't beat around the bush.

"The first issue at hand is the paternity of this child. It's not fair to make any decisions, until we know if this is truly Ryan's baby."

There was a gasp across from Ryan, and his head jerked up to see Eva put a hand to her mouth. And it felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

"Theresa." Eva's voice was shaky. She turned to her daughter with a hard look. It was a look Ryan recognized. It was just like the look Sandy gave him when he was in trouble or said something out of line and nothing like the looks he had gotten from his father or A.J. or any of the other boyfriends. "Theresa," Eva repeated. "What is Mr. Cohen talking about?"

And suddenly the color drained from Sandy's face as he realized Eva didn't know as much as they did.

"Mama. I… The baby…" Theresa couldn't finish.

"The baby could be Eddie's." Kirsten finished for her.

Eva shook her head, looking at her daughter like she was a stranger. The Cohens and Ryan were silent; not wanting to interrupt what should have been a private moment.

"You told me that you and Eddie were waiting until you were married."

"I know, Mama. I'm sorry. I lied." Theresa looked down at her hands, which rested in her lap. She looked like a small child being scolded by her mother. "I knew you would be upset."

"You told me Ryan was the only one." Ryan could hear Eva keeping careful control of her voice. He noticed Sandy and Kirsten shooting each other bewildered looks from across the table. They had not anticipated this drama when they had invited Eva and Theresa for dinner.

"Mama. I didn't want you to think any less of me than you already did. It was hard enough telling you I was pregnant. I couldn't tell you that I wasn't even sure of the baby's father."

"This is not the girl I raised." Eva was shaking her head vehemently. "This is not the person I wanted you to become."

"Eva," Kirsten said softly. "Theresa wasn't with Ryan and Eddie at the same time. She and Eddie had broken up, because Theresa was unsure of her relationship with Eddie. I know that we wish our children would choose to wait until marriage, but unfortunately today that's just not everyone's reality."

Eva closed her eyes.

"Mama. I'm sorry."

"So you dragged Ryan back to Chino. Made him give up all of this wonderful goodness." She waved her hand the room. "And you weren't even sure if it's Ryan's baby. How could you?"

"It was my choice, Eva. Theresa didn't make me do anything. Even if the baby is Eddie's I want to be in its life."

"Listen to me, young man." Eva pointed a finger at Ryan. "If this is your child, that's one thing. But if this is Eddie's child, I will not let you throw all this opportunity away for another man's child."

"Eva–"

"Don't you Eva me, Ryan Atwood. These good people practically rescued you from the hellhole you called a home. You will not give it up for another man's child."

Kirsten covered her mouth with her hands, covering the smile that was tugging at her lips. Ryan looked miserable. The same way he looked anytime she or Sandy came down on him for misbehaving. And Eva looked like a force to be reckoned with. She wondered how often Ryan had to answer to her while growing up.

Sandy pointed a withering look at his wife. "Eva, we first need to determine if this is Ryan's baby. We're not letting Ryan go. We almost made that mistake."

"Then there's nothing to talk about until the baby is born," said Ryan. "We're not going to endanger the baby so that we can make the next few months easier."

"No, we're not going to endanger the baby or Theresa for the sake of a paternity test. But I've been doing some research and as it turns out there are non-invasive prenatal paternity tests."

"I've been in touch with my doctor," continued Kirsten. "She can set up a test as early as tomorrow if you'll allow it."

"Theresa, you don't have to do this." The words slipped out of Ryan's mouth before he could think about it. Had he thought about it, perhaps he could have gauged the reaction of all the adults around him.

"Why on earth not?" exploded Sandy. "There's no reason to drag this through the mud for six more months while we wait for this baby to be born. It's a simple blood test."

"It's okay, Mr. Cohen. I'll take the blood test."

"We'll incur all costs," assured Kirsten.

"Thank you."

"Then what?" Ryan asked petulantly, leaning back against his chair, and clenching his fists in his laps. "If it's not my baby, do you just expect me to forget about this?"

"We'll cross that road when we come to it."

"I thought we were here to discuss it."

"Ryan, please."

He turned to Kirsten. "I have a responsibility to this child. I'm not just going to forget it because a blood test shows that it's not mine."

"Enough, Ryan. You're seventeen-years-old. You're still a child yourself."

"I haven't been a child for years. Not since my father was put in jail and Dawn started with her string of boyfriends. I know you mean well, but you can't rewrite my history."

"We're not trying to."

"Yes you are, Kirsten. I know that last summer when we first met that I told you I just wanted to be a kid. And it's true. And living here with you guys has given me the chance to just go to school and hang out without worrying about who was coming home or if my mom would drink away the rent money. But I am who I am. And I'm not Seth. In some ways, I'm way older than Seth."

Kirsten arranged her forks and knife neatly around her plate. She refused to meet Ryan's gaze. Sandy was leaning forward, elbows on the table, his plate pushed away letting the food get cold. Neither knew how to answer Ryan. They were trying to give him the chance to be a kid. But maybe Dawn had made that impossible. Maybe it was just their job to keep him safe until he eighteen and it was legal for him to be out on his own. But to Kirsten that was unthinkable. He had become so much more to her than just the juvenile delinquent, the boy from Chino or the boy in the pool house. He was part of her family now and when he turned eighteen she wanted to make sure he came back to them.

It was Eva who finally spoke up. "I lived next door to you for how long? Eight- nine years?"

"Nine," Ryan clarified in a soft voice.

"It wasn't like I didn't see what things were like. I knew. And maybe I should have done more."

"I know you tried to help mom. She's a lost cause."

"Maybe. But you are not. And with everything you had to live, it's not surprising that you think of yourself as an adult. But you're not. You're just a child living with adult responsibilities. You finally have a chance to throw away all those responsibilities, why would you want to saddle yourself with more adult obligations before you have to? A child is a lot to handle."

"Because I love Theresa. I always have." He didn't say that he loved her as a friend. A friend that came with benefits. "Eddie is abusive. And I don't want him to have the chance to do to a child…" He couldn't finish. He was tired of telling everyone that he had been abused. It was no secret. There was probably a file an inch think sitting with child services. Sandy probably even had a copy.

"Ryan if it means that much to you, then we won't press the paternity test. We'll just continue discussing your options as if it were your child."

Ryan turned his eyes wide. He hadn't expected Sandy to give in. He had seemed so adamant about finding out the paternity of this baby, that Ryan thought he'd be talking until he was blue in the face. Some of the knots in his stomach loosened and for the first time since they had sat down for dinner Ryan thought he could breathe a little easier.

Then Theresa said, "But I want the paternity test."