AN: Another mini-update from me. Enjoy.

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Seth and the cousins finally let Ryan go to bed around eleven. He was more relaxed but his dreams were plagued with visions of his mother and father and he woke up after every nightmare.

When he finally decided to get out of bed, it was only around nine and he was still exhausted.

But he couldn't just sit around. He had to do something. He needed to do something. He needed to see his father. His mother had died and he hadn't been able to say goodbye to her. He wasn't sure how he felt about his father, the man had never shown any love or interest in him before. The man had seemed to enjoy punishing him. Trey had tried to distract him when he could, but it had never been a secret that he was a disappointment to his father.

He knew the Cohens wouldn't approve but this was the only way he could think of to have some peace. He was with the Cohens now, they'd proved that they wanted him as a part of their family. Grace and that stuff could wait. He had to talk to the man that had made him what he was. He had to go see his father.

He showered and dressed and told Rosa that he was going out. He'd figure out what he was going to say on the bus ride to prison.

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Ryan recognized his father through the plexiglass partition. He sat down and picked up the phone mounted on the wall.

"Ryan."

"You said you wanted to see me."

"Um…how are you?"

"Fine." Ryan kept his eyes glued to the table.

"Can you look at me?"

"Why?" Ryan's gaze flickered toward his father for a second.

"I knew you'd be angry…I don't blame you…I made a lot of mistakes…but you came…"

"Trey would kick my ass if he knew I was here…" Ryan muttered.

"What's happened to you? You're…you're a man now…nice clothes…"

"Mom ditched me. I live with a different family now."

"The lawyer…the one that called…he's your dad now?"

"Yeah," Ryan said after a pause. "You could say that."

Ryan's father nodded. "Seemed nice."

"Why'd you want to see me? Why now?" Ryan asked.

"I…I didn't know how to contact you. Dawn stopped coming years ago…I…I've been trying to change."

"How's that going?"

"I'm…I'm sorry. For everything. Your childhood…for not treating you better…for being such a bad father…"

Ryan shook his head, struggling to keep his face indifferent. "You weren't a father at all."

"Unfortunately…all I can do is say I'm sorry."

Ryan kept his face blank.

"I'm saved. I've found Jesus and…I'd like to try and have a relationship with you."

Ryan studied the man. He seemed sincere. Ryan lowered his gaze. He couldn't stop the tremor from running through him. "I don't think I can do this."

"But…you came today…that means something, doesn't it?"

"It was a bad idea. Good luck with your life." Ryan hung up the phone and stood up, walking out. He didn't look back.

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"Oh my god…" Kirsten embraced him as soon as he walked in. "Where have you been?"

"I told Rosa I was going out…" Ryan said.

"'Out' is not an acceptable destination. It's been over eight hours since you went 'out'," Sandy said.

"Dude. Not cool," Seth said from the stairs.

"I'm sorry…"

"We were worried, you didn't call, we couldn't find you…where were you?" Kirsten asked, leading him into the kitchen. He sat down on the 'punishment' stool."

"I had to take care of something…" Ryan said slowly.

"Ryan, these past few days have been hell for you…we are worried about you. Where were you?" Sandy asked seriously.

"I…I went to see him."

"Who?" Kirsten asked.

"My father."

Sandy and Kirsten froze.

Seth entered, pale. "Why would you do that? Trey said…"

"I know…I just…it was something I needed to do for myself," Ryan whispered.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Kirsten asked.

"Because I knew you wouldn't let me go," Ryan admitted.

"You've been there this whole time?" She continued.

"I took the bus…when I got back…I went to the beach," Ryan whispered.

Seth was shaking his head at him. Sandy wouldn't look at him. Finally, Kirsten sighed. "Go to your room, Ryan."

"I'm sorry…"

"We know. We'll be out to talk to you," Sandy said.

Ryan stood up, his gaze lowered.

"Wait. Empty your pockets," Kirsten said suddenly.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Empty your pockets," Kirsten repeated.

Ryan put his wallet, a lighter, a half-empty pack of cigarettes and keys on the counter.

"Smoking," Kirsten snapped. "You're grounded. Two weeks. I'm not going easy on you anymore, you have to quit. As of right now." She crumpled the pack and stuffed it into the trash can.

Ryan left his things and retreated to the poolhouse. Within minutes, Seth was knocking on the door. Ryan waved him inside.

"You okay?"

"Fine."

"How…how'd it go? With your dad?"

"Fine."

"Ryan?" Seth sighed, sitting down. "Give me something."

"He says he's changed. He apologized. Said he wanted to have a relationship…" Ryan said.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What'd you say?" Seth asked. It really was like pulling teeth to have a conversation with Ryan.

"I left. I said no and left."

Seth was looking at Ryan carefully. "You sure you're okay with that?"

Ryan hesitated. He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. You know how many times my mother apologized? How many times she said she changed?"

"This is your dad…"

"He's locked up. As soon as he gets out, he'll start drinking again and he'll be back to his old self," Ryan muttered.

"Then why go at all?" Seth asked.

"I don't know…it was stupid."

"We were worried," Seth said.

"I'm sorry."

Seth nodded. "Get some rest, man."

Seth went to the door. "I would've taken you."

"I know. I had to do it on my own," Ryan whispered.

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Ryan fell asleep and didn't wake up until after ten the next morning. For the first time in days, he didn't remember his dreams and he slept through the night. He glanced over and saw an oversized bowl of candy sitting beside a box of Nicorette.

"Morning," Kirsten said from the chair.

"Hey."

"Your cousins are outside at the pool," Kirsten said.

"Why the candy?" Ryan motioned toward the bowl.

"You have to quit smoking. Occupy your mouth, Ryan. Rosa's been warned. If I see either of you smoking, there'll be hell to pay. Got it?"

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"Luke and Summer are here, too."

"I'm up."

"Today will be better."

"Thanks. I am sorry about yesterday."

"Don't do it again," She paused. "If you want to see him…we won't stop you."

"I know. I don't want to see him…"

"You want to talk about it?" She asked.

"Not right now. Maybe later?" Ryan offered.

"Sure," She said. "When you're dressed, come inside for breakfast, okay?" She closed the door as she left. Ryan got ready quickly, showering and dressing. He knew that Seth was most likely still upset about his little disappearing act the day before but he hoped that today would be better when it came to uncomfortable conversations.

There was a loud knocking on the door. He answered it as he popped a piece of the nicotine gum in his mouth.

He opened the door. Seth, Summer and Luke were standing outside. "You're up?"

"Yeah. What's up?" He asked as they all filed in.

"Well, we were just swimming and stuff, it doesn't seem right for us to be hanging out with your family without you," Luke said. He immediately spotted the Nicorette box. "Ah, so Kirsten got you?"

"Yeah. I'm quitting. I don't want to know what she'll do if she catches me again," Ryan admitted.

"Grace and everyone wanted us to come out to dinner with them last night, but after you went all AWOL on us, they just came over today instead. I think she wants to talk to you. They're leaving tomorrow," Seth said.

"You still pissed at me?" Ryan asked.

"You went to see your dad, Chino? After all that drama at the funeral?" Summer asked before Seth could answer.

Ryan nodded.

"I'm not mad. We were just worried about you, that's all," Seth replied. "So, you coming out for some fun in the sun?"

"I don't have much choice," Ryan smiled. "Let's go, I'm wearing my trunks."

"You should probably eat something," Summer said.

"How do you know?" Ryan asked after a beat.

"Because you skipped out yesterday and Kirsten says you don't eat unless she makes you. Right?" Summer asked.

"When is the last time you ate something, man?" Seth asked.

"I'll go inside first," Ryan sighed, relenting.

"Good man. See? We'll get him back to normal in no time," Luke said, patting Ryan on the back as they walked out.

Corinne and Lorraine yelled their hellos from the pool. Brent was sitting in the Jacuzzi with his father.

Ryan joined Kirsten, Sandy and Grace in the kitchen. Kirsten immediately put a heaping plate of breakfast in front of him.

"Do I have to finish all this?" He asked, meeting her gaze reluctantly.

"Did you eat yesterday?" She replied.

Ryan sighed and lifted a spoonful of eggs to his mouth.

"You're lucky she didn't wake you last night and force you to eat," Sandy smiled.

"Sorry, I just…didn't think about it yesterday," Ryan admitted.

"Ryan, we're going to be going home tomorrow. I'd like to talk to you before I leave," Grace hesitated.

"We'll be outside if you need us," Sandy said, patting Ryan on the back as he walked out.

"Thanks. I'm listening, Grace," Ryan said, giving her his full attention as the Cohens gave them privacy.

"Well…I know these past few days have been really hard on you…"

"You, too, I guess. I mean, you found your daughter after all these years and she…and she died."

"At least I got to see her. And I got to meet you. I'm going to visit Trey this afternoon, Graham and I. We called him yesterday and he agreed to see us. Said you gave us your approval," Grace smiled.

"Trey…he's got some issues, but he's a good guy. He's a good brother most of the time, when he's not getting me arrested," Ryan replied.

Grace laughed. "I'm glad to hear that. What I wanted to talk to you about is…would you be willing to have a relationship with me? You're…you're all that's left of Dawn and I'd really like to get to know you."

Ryan was thoughtful. "You're very nice and I can tell that you really cared about Dawn. I've never really had a grandmother before…"

"Well, you have one now. I'm not pushing you, but…I travel quite a lot and it'd be nice if we could keep in touch. Maybe I could come see you when I'm in town…maybe you could come to Boston to visit me sometime?" Grace offered.

"That'd be nice," he said after a pause. "If the Cohens are okay with it."

Grace smiled widely. "Thank you…it means so much to me…I would never try and take you away from your family at Christmas or anything, but we'll figure something out. Maybe Seth could come with you or even the Cohens, too. I have lots of room. We'll figure it out as we go, okay?"

"Okay," He said.

"Also…all my grandchildren have trust funds set up for them…for their colleges or whatever they'd like to do after they graduate…"

"I can't take your money," Ryan said immediately.

"It's not my money. It's yours. I mean…" Grace was clearly trying to put her thoughts into words. "I have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I have a great job, a great family…I want to provide for them. I lost Dawn because I wasn't around, I was so caught up in my 'great job' that I almost lost my boys, too. The trust fund…it's so they won't have to struggle, so they'll never want for anything…" She hesitated. "A few years after Dawn disappeared, I set up a fund for her, too. I wanted to help her if I found her, I knew she would need it…and now, it's got almost 400,000 dollars in it. I was going to sign it over to her once I saw her again…but now…if you won't accept an account of your own…will you accept Dawn's money? I mean, it's a parent's responsibility to provide for their child…"

"Wait. I…I don't want your money, Grace, it's not mine, you don't even know me…" He said, clearly uncomfortable.

"When I set up the funds for Brent and the twins, I didn't know them either, they were just babies. It's your money, Ryan. If you'll accept it. This way, you won't feel like you have to depend on the Cohens for everything…"

"I could pay them back for school…" Ryan said aloud and then turned red as he saw that she heard him.

"I don't think they care, Ryan. I think they'd love it if you'd accept their money. They care about you, you're just as much their son as Seth is. But I'd like to treat you the same as I treat my other grandchildren. Which means a trust fund." Grace was watching him carefully. "I'll let you think about it."

"Thanks. I need to think about it," Ryan admitted.

"You better finish your breakfast," Grace smiled, leaving him alone.

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