This, I think, will be the last chapter. I hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. It's almost Christmas, and this pleases me. I freaking love Christmas. I'm already in a holly jolly mood. And only a week more of classes and then finals and then I'm done! I don't like to think about finals, it only depresses me. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this and please let me know what you thought. I'm going to bed, it's been a long day. I had a stupid stats test that kicked my ass, unfortunately. Bah. I hate stats. Make me feel better.
Disclaimer: Um, yeah, they aren't mine.
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"Daddy!" Four year old Lily catapulted herself into Sandy's arms as he walked in the door.
"Hey there Silly Lily, is Mommy home yet?" He asked picking her up and carrying her into the kitchen. Their nanny, Leah, was sitting at the table with an abandoned coloring book and crayons of every color scattered around. Lily shook her head and her blond curls went flying in every direction.
"No, Mrs. Cohen just called, she's stuck in a meeting," Leah explained.
"Thanks Leah," Sandy told her. "Hey, what are you in the mood for? Chinese? Or Mexican? I could call Kirsten and ask her to pick up some burritos on the way home?"
"Did I hear burrito?" Ryan asked coming in the door and dropping his bag on the floor.
"Ryan!" Lily cried jumping out of Sandy's arms and running to her brother who scooped her up.
"Hey Lil," Ryan said giving her a wet kiss on the cheek.
"Ryan? What are you doing home? You aren't supposed to be home until Saturday," Sandy asked coming over to give his son a hug. Ryan shifted Lily to one arm so that he could give Sandy a return hug. "Kirsten's going to be over the moon when she sees you." Ryan smiled and shrugged.
"My classes got cancelled for today," he said. "So I hitched a ride down early." Both Ryan and Seth were now juniors in college. But they hadn't gone to same school like both their parents had expected. Instead Ryan chose Sandy and Kirsten's alma mater Berkeley, and Seth had gone clear across the country to attend Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. That move had surprised everyone, especially Summer who was going to the University of Southern California. Her reaction had been typical.
"Pittsburgh? Ew. Cohen. It snows there like all the time."
"I know," Seth said grinning. "I can't wait for the snow. What can I say Summer? I think I was meant for the east coast." Summer had campaigned hard to get him to pick somewhere else, but in the end it did no good. Seth wanted to go, and there was nothing that she could do about it. He assured her several times that him choosing Pittsburgh had nothing to do with Anna.
"If I see her, I will give her a hug and then run the other way," he promised.
"Well, I'm certainly glad to see you," Sandy said. "So you want burritos huh?" Ryan laughed and set Lily down and she went back over to Leah and her coloring books.
"Yeah, but tell Kirsten to order extras because I brought someone home with me," Ryan grinned from ear to ear and Sandy raised an eyebrow and a familiar voice rang out.
"Make sure she gets extra sour cream," Seth said as he came in. Sandy grinned and threw his arms around his son. "Dad, please. Watch the hair."
"And how did you get here early?" Sandy asked.
"Grandpa's jet," Seth said shrugging. "He promised not to tell, I wanted it to be a surprise." Sandy was right, Kirsten was going to be over the moon. Both her sons home early? She was going to have all three children in the house again.
"Well, he didn't," Sandy grinned. "How's the east coast treating you?"
"It's great, but man is it cold," Seth said. "I needed this break. I think I'm permanently frozen."
"Hey Sandy? I brought home some dinner," Kirsten's voice rang out through the house. "Can you help me carry it in?" Lily hopped down from her chair one more time and bolted through the house.
"Mommy!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Why didn't I get that kind of welcoming?" Seth asked as his little sister zoomed past. Sandy loved it. He knew that Lily loved him, but she adored her mother. She was at that stage that she never wanted to be away from Kirsten, and tried to act exactly like her. And of course, Lily already looked like Kirsten. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and Kirsten's delicate features. She would break hearts one day.
"Hey little girl," Kirsten smiled and placed the bag she was holding and her briefcase down to pick up her daughter. She began to walk into the living room. She stopped when she spotted the boys. "What are you doing home!?" She placed Lily on the ground and threw her arms around both Ryan and Seth. "I thought you wouldn't be home until Saturday, Ryan? And Seth, you weren't sure if you were going to make it at all?"
"Mom, please. It's Thanksgiving, of course I was going to make it," Seth told her. "As long as you aren't making the meal, right?"
"Right," she grinned and wiped away a tear as she hugged them individually one more time. "It's so good to see you both! I missed you so much!"
"What about me Mommy?" Lily asked tugging on her mother's arm, not wanting to be left out of the attention that was being bestowed.
"And you Silly Lily!" She said picking her up. "Oh, it's a good thing I ordered a lot of food."
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Ryan loved being back at home. As he laid in bed that night and stared up at the ceiling and smiled to himself. Five years. It had been four years since he had stolen that car and called Sandy.
Five years.
It was unreal how much had changed in five years. After Lily's birth, he admittedly was unsure of their feelings for him in the family. When Lily was about six months, and Kirsten was overwhelmed because Caleb had a heart attack and he needed her more at the office, and she wanted to be at home with Lily more, Ryan had figured, falsely, that the last thing that she needed was him in the house. Sure they had told him that Lily didn't change anything, that they loved him like a son, but things had gotten really stressful, and he thought that the best thing for him to do was to step out of the picture. He had a bag packed and was heading out the back door when Kirsten's voice stopped him.
"Where are you going?" She asked. She was sitting on one of the pool chairs staring at the ocean. He froze and turned caught.
"I….just…I thought it would be better….if I left," he offered.
"Better for whom?"
"Better for you," he mumbled. "You're just…you have the company falling apart and the baby needs you, and Seth needs you…and…" Ryan's voice trailed off.
"Ryan, how many times do we need to tell you that we love you? That you are our son? That this family needs you? I love you." Kirsten couldn't understand why he couldn't grasp that. How many times did they need to tell him that? Ryan just shrugged and Kirsten patted the seat next to her. "Come sit down." He dropped his bag and took a seat.
"I love you too." It was said so softly that Kirsten didn't think she heard him the first time. "I mean…I love all of you. I just can't understand how you can want to deal with two teenagers and a baby." Kirsten reached out her hand and placed it on his cheek.
"God, Ryan, we love you so much." She reached down and took his hand in her tiny one and gave it a squeeze and they sat there silently for a while. "Do you believe that?" Ryan took a deep breath and sitting there, with her, holding her hand, and seeing that she meant it, she did love him, he slowly nodded his head.
"Yeah. I'm sorry. I just panicked. I don't know what's wrong with me." She smiled gently at him.
"Nothing's wrong with you, it's rough for all of us right now."
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked.
"What?"
"You're…I know that you're stressed out, and I know that you cry at night in the living room. I always come down for a glass of water and hear you crying. Does Sandy know?"
"Know what?" Sandy's voice came from behind. He had woken up and found his wife gone and found both her and Ryan in the middle of what looked to be an intense conversation. Ryan looked from Kirsten to Sandy. Kirsten's head was done and it was clear that Sandy didn't know. With Lily, he was a little preoccupied himself, and he knew that Kirsten was a little strained, but he didn't know the extent of it.
"She cries at night," Ryan finally spoke up. Sandy looked surprised.
"Honey…" He said crossing over to her. Ryan took that as his cue to leave and stood up with the bag. "Where are you going?"
"No where," Ryan said giving Kirsten a small smile and heading back into the house.
"We'll talk more tomorrow," Kirsten called out to his retreating back.
"Of course we will," Ryan muttered.
"He was trying to leave," Kirsten said. "I think we need to take him to talk to someone."
"Maybe we should all go talk to someone?" Sandy suggested taking Ryan's seat and running a hand down her back. "Why didn't you tell me how upset you were?"
"I didn't want to add another item on your list of things to worry about," she said shrugging. "I'm just…a little overwhelmed right now." Tears began rolling down her cheeks and Sandy pulled her into a hug and held her until she had calmed down.
"Everything's going to be okay," Sandy told her. "Tomorrow we'll make an appointment for us all to talk to someone." She nodded and wiped the last tears away. "And next time, tell me when you're this overwhelmed and I'll try to make it so that you're….whelmed."
They had all gone to talk to someone and it had helped Ryan realize that his place in the family was sealed. They loved him, and he loved them, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
And now he was home from college. College. He went to college, it was amazing. And this was home, which was even more amazing. He felt a tug on his blanket.
"Ryan?" A little voice asked.
"Lily? What are you doing up?" He leaned over and picked her up and placed her on his bed.
"I had a bad dream," she said sticking her thumb in her mouth. "And Mommy and Daddy's door is closed. I didn't knock though, I just came here." Ryan laughed to himself a little bit. When Kirsten and Sandy shut their door it meant that they were doing something that they didn't want any of their children to walk in on. They had taught Lily already that when the door was closed she had to knock and wait for one of them to open it before walking in. Sandy had once commented that they didn't want to scar her for life, and Seth had retaliated with,
"Yeah, well why wasn't that rule enforced when I was little? I still have nightmares." Sandy had ignored him, and Kirsten had turned bright red.
"Well, do you want to stay here tonight?" Ryan asked. Lily shook her head.
"I want Mommy." Ryan knew that was going to be the answer, but still sighed inwardly. He would have to interrupt Sandy and Kirsten, and he hated having to interrupt them. Mainly because he didn't want to think about what was going on in that bedroom. They were his parents in every way but biologically, and he didn't want to think of them like that, even though he knew that they were getting it on like teenagers.
He picked Lily up and carried her down the hall to Sandy and Kirsten's room and was relieved to see the door was cracked. That meant it was safe to walk in. He placed Lily down and she bounded into the room and onto the bed, and he was also relieved to see both were dressed. Kirsten was dressed scantily, just wearing a black nightgown that clung to her body, but still dressed.
"Mommy," Lily moaned.
"Baby? What's the matter?" Kirsten asked. Ryan gave a small wave to Sandy who acknowledged it with a nod. Ryan went back to his room, and Sandy found that Kirsten already had Lily settled in between them. Sandy wrapped his arms around his daughter and wife and closed his eyes.
Both his girls were close enough to touch, and both his boys were just down the hall. Life was good. He opened his eyes again and saw Kirsten and Lily's chests move up and down simultaneously.
No, life was great.
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I believe that's it, kids. I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought, cause that would make my day. And hey, I updated, so now it's certain other people's turns to get their butts into gear and update too. An eye for an eye…or something like that.