Okay so it's a long time coming but I finally updated! I'm making my way through al my unfinished fics just now so bear with me. So this is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed and please leave a final review.

Chapter 7

Kirsten studied the room again finally satisfied that it was tidy. She followed the boys out of the attic after switching off the light. "Okay guys, you gotta help me with all these boxes." Kirsten saw Seth visibly droop. He turned around slowly.

"What's in the boxes?" he asked.

"Crap." Kirsten replied smiling. Seth frowned.

"Heavy crap?" he enquired as he watched Ryan pile two boxes on top of one another and carry them down the hall with ease. Kirsten shook her head and lifted a large box that she knew was only full of paper and rubbish. Seth bent down and lifted a box and followed his mother down the hall.

"MOTHER!" Kirsten and Ryan both spun around at the same time.

"What? What did I do?" she asked panicked.

"How can you throw this out?" Seth asked in a high-pitched voice. He was opening the box Kirsten held in her hands and pulling out a smaller brown box with clear plastic on the front. There was a sign on the front saying, "Captain Oats' Stable." Kirsten frowned.

"Because you don't need it. You never use it and if you started to use it I'd be worried."

"But…" Seth began but was silenced by Ryan.

"Seth. What are you gonna do with it?" he asked. Seth frowned.

"It has sentimental value." He reasoned. Kirsten raised her eyebrows and continued to walk down the hall leaving Seth with his stable.

"Mommy!" Seth yelled at the top of his voice.

"What?" his mother replied. Kirsten followed the sound of her son's voice and found him standing at the front door facing Julie Cooper. "Hey Julie." Kirsten said unenthusiastically.

"Hey Kirsten." She replied as she placed a kiss on each cheek. "And how are you Seth? Looking forward to turning six?" Seth frowned but nodded politely his dark curls falling over his eyes. Kirsten absentmindedly ran her hands through her son's hair.

"So Julie. What's up?"

"Just checking in. Thought we could have lunch. You know catch up?"

"I can't. I have work to do. Presentations, model homes… it's endless. Plus I have Seth."

"And I have Marissa. Look you could take a break. We could even eat here. You have a maid yes?"

"Uh yeah but Julie I really can't."

Ten minutes later Kirsten and Julie sat propped on kitchen stools crunching on a garden salad. Seth sat in the den with a bowl of chips. He held a glass of orange juice in his left hand. He turned to his right and saw Marissa shovelling chips into her mouth. "So what do you wanna do?" she asked through a large mouthful. Seth shrugged his shoulders and concentrated on the blank television screen. He hadn't been alone with Marissa much. Only when both of their mom's were talking. He never really understood her. She would always wear pretty dresses and have her hair tied in bows but she would play in the mud and climb trees.

"Come on. What do you usually do?" She pressed. She remembered when he had first moved in. It was over a year ago and he always kept himself to himself. She had asked him to play once but before he could answer her mother had told her to come in and grounded her for ruining her new dress in the mud. She barely saw him after that.

When she heard that his grandmother died she and her parents had visited to show their condolences. Her father had been close with Seth's mom so he was looking after her while Sandy kept her mother entertained. She saw Seth sitting at the far end of the room with his legs crossed. He was staring down at something gold and shiny in his hands. When she got nearer she saw that it was a plastic Sheriff's badge. "What's that?" he asked.

"Grandma gave it to me. I'm gonna be a cowboy when I grow up."

"Really. Cool. Seth I'm really sorry about your grandma."

"Thanks." He replied quietly. Marissa crouched down next to him.

"When my Nana died. Mommy told me that she went somewhere she would always be happy. That she went somewhere she could always see us and look down on us. Like she's always there." Seth didn't respond. He ran his fingers over the sheriff badge and sighed.

"My mommy told me that too. Except she said that grandma would always look after me because she was my guardian angel." Marissa smiled at that thought.

"I like that." She said and continued to smile. Seth saw her grinning at him and he couldn't help but smirk despite himself.

Marissa snapped out of her daydream and listened to Seth rhyme of a list of activities all of which involved superheroes. He was waving his arms around animatedly as he talked about his favourite video game.

"Do you still wanna be a cowboy?" she asked interrupting his demonstration. Seth stopped and lowered his arms. He was surprised that she remembered. He nodded mutely. "So do you wanna play cowboys and Indians?" she asked brightly. Seth broke out into a large grin. He nodded again.

"I never get to play that game because… well no one will play it with me. Except my dad but… you know." He said blushing.

"Yeah. I know what you mean. My mom tries to play dolls with me all the time." Marissa jumped off the couch and headed for a vase full of decorative feathers. She pulled one out and placed it in her hair. "I'll be the Indian."

Three days later Seth blew out the candles. He was six whole candles now. His mother, father and grandfather all beamed down at him and he closed his eyes and wished. Just as he opened his eyes the doorbell rang. Seth jumped from his chair, "Can I get it?" he asked. Kirsten nodded but followed her son into the hall and watched him pull open the heavy door. Once again he found Julie Cooper staring down at him. When Julie saw Seth she bent down and kissed him on the cheek, "Happy Birthday Seth." Kirsten watched as Seth blushed and thanked her politely. Behind Julie there was Jimmy and Marissa hand in hand. Jimmy bend down and scooped Seth into his arms and sat him on his shoulders. "So little Seth how old are ya now? Huh twenty-one, twenty-two?"

"No I'm six!" Seth squealed happily as they made their way into the kitchen. Kirsten saw Marissa carrying a large package. Jimmy sat Seth up on the counter and lifted Marissa until she was level with him. Marissa copied her mother and kissed him on the cheek.

"Happy Birthday Seth." She held out the gift to him and he stared wide-eyed. But took the package from her. He pulled the wrapping paper off and found a brown box with clear plastic on the front. Through the plastic he saw a toy horse and the box said, "Captain Oats' Stable." Marissa smiled.

"You can't be a cowboy without a horse."

Seth stood looked up and saw that his mother and Ryan were gone. He made his way into his room and folded the box neatly. He hid the box under his bed hoping no one would find it. He couldn't bring himself to throw it away. It was the first good thing Marissa, one of his best friends, had done for him.

"SETH! BRING DOWN THE LAST TWO BOXES!" his mother's voice drifted up the stairs. "Okay mom." He answered loudly before making his way downstairs to join his family.

Okay I hope you're happy with how it ended. I decided to do this last chapter about Seth as I was running out of ideas for Kirsten so I hope you liked it and please review.