A/N: This was an idea I had for a one-shot, and it turned into a four-chapter short story. I don't know how, but here it is – hope you like it.
"Hey!"
Ryan Atwood smiled at the voice in the front of his apartment and continued flipping burgers on the charcoal grill from the back balcony. It wouldn't take her long to find him – the one-bedroom apartment didn't have a lot of hiding spaces or anything. Sipping from the bottle of Corona at his side, Ryan breathed in his final moment of silence and listened to her approaching footsteps.
"I got a delivery for Atwood?"
Ryan turned, a grin threatening to envelope his entire face. "There's my girl," he put the spatula down and opened his arms wide.
Summer Roberts dumped off the little girl in her arms, who promptly wrapped her arms around Ryan's neck and giggled. "DADDY!"
"Hey, Princess. Where you good for Summer today?" he asked, his forehead resting against hers.
"She was an angel," Summer assured him, sinking to one of the lounge chairs on the balcony and propping her feet on the railing. "Tell your dad what had had for lunch, Jada."
The smile she beamed reached all the way to her mocha eyes, sending a memory of her mother through Ryan's body. "We had hot dogs at the pier, and then Summer bought me a Balboa Bar," she clapped her chubby little hands. "She said I could have another one next week, when we go to the beach."
Ryan gave Summer a "she doesn't need that much sugar" look, but the girl was examining the tan line on her thigh. "You need to go wash your hands so we can eat, okay?" Jada ran off and Ryan slid the burgers off the grill and onto a waiting tray. "You stickin' around?"
In answer, Summer stood from the chair and shook her head. "I'm meeting Cohen at PF Cheng's," she smiled. "And then I'm taking him furniture shopping."
After graduation, Summer had left Orange County for the greener pastures of UCLA. Seth had opted to stay in Newport and continue work on his comic book, Atomic County, which had been gaining a growing fan base since it's debut during their junior year of high school. By the time Summer graduated, more than a year ago, the spin-off, The Adventures of Little Miss Vixen, was taking a nation of geeky, virgin teenagers by storm. But their relationship had thrived, and now Summer, with a degree in design and marketing, was working on the company's first clothing line.
Ryan had feared that returning to Newport after a three-year absence, with a baby and no job, was going to be difficult. But Sandy had helped him find an apartment, Kirsten got him a job with one of The Newport Group's contractors, and Seth had picked up with him as though he had never left. For the first time in his life, he felt like everything was good.
Summer slid her flip-flops on and scurried back into the kitchen. "Kirsten said she could watch Jada tomorrow, if you wanted her to," she called over her shoulder, popping a carrot into her mouth from the bowl on the counter.
Carefully watching the last of the embers from his fire die out, Ryan replaced the lid on the grill and carried his dinner inside. "I don't know if I'm gonna go, Sum," he rolled his neck and turned his back, so as not to see the disappointment in her eyes.
But Summer was disappointed. She was determined. "It has been five years, Ryan. And she has been working really hard to get better. We've had this conversation a thousand times. You know it's time."
He hung his head. "I know, but it's weird, ya know? We're clearly not the same people anymore. I mean, I'm a dad and she's," he trailed.
"An addict?" Summer filled in, her eyes narrowing. She took his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. "Look, she's having a hard enough time with this whole thing as it is. Her mom's not all that supportive, and her sister won't talk to her anymore. The only person that she has seen is her dad. She needs to know that we are behind her recovery, Ryan."
"There's too much to talk about in one day, Summer. I mean, her life. . . and mine. . . and us? All the unresolved and the uncomfortable."
If there was one thing that Summer didn't take well, it was deviation from a plan she had concocted. "I'll pick you up at eight in the morning, we'll drop Jada off at Seth's mom and dad's, and then we'll drive to down to San Diego, okay?" And she was gone.
Ryan took another beer from the refrigerator and listened as the water ran in the bathroom. "Jada!" Please let her be getting into something, Ryan thought. At least that way, he wouldn't have to think about tomorrow's discomfort.
