Thanks for the reviews! I will normally update once a week (usually Mondays or Tuesdays)because that's all the time I have but I may sneak in the extra one, like today!
Chapter Two
Sandy stuck his head round Seth's door. They hadn't managed to find a spare moment to speak to Seth in days. He was either with Summer or trying to cheer up Ryan by hanging out in the Pool House with the Play Station. They hadn't wanted to make a big issue out of it by "scheduling" a meeting so this was their first opportunity to catch him alone. Kirsten had checked the Pool House and knew Ryan was ensconced in some physics assignment.
"Seth….Seth?" Sandy rounded the corner and approached his son who was galloping his plastic horse across his stomach to the beat of whatever I pod music he was listening to. Sandy pulled the earplugs out of the boy's ears.
"Seth? Your mother and I would like to talk to you. In our room."
Seth scowled at the interruption and lay Captain Oats on his nightstand.
"What have I done?" he asked.
Sandy smirked.
"We just need to talk to you that's all. Come on." Sandy was already half way out of the room.
"Should I get Ryan?" Seth asked hopefully. If the 'rents were going to freak out over something he'd done, he could really do with Ryan for backup.
Sandy shook his head.
"No, we want to talk to you privately."
"Oh." Seth looked doubtful. He couldn't remember doing anything too outrageous recently. His grades were good. He hadn't had detention lately. Seth's conscience was pretty clear so he couldn't for the life of him think what his parents would want to talk about, alone, with him. Unless. A cold dread filtered through his body. He put two and two together and made far more than four. Unless they were getting a divorce. Seth's heart began to beat a little too fast. He knew they hadn't been getting on at all well recently but lots of parents had times like this didn't they? Seth couldn't begin to imagine living a Marissa Cooper type existence, having to share his life equally between parents living in separate households. Surely they could work it out couldn't they?
Seth dragged his feet towards his parents' room and knocked on the door briefly before entering. He looked at his mom cautiously.
Kirsten smiled at him fondly and patted the space on the bed beside where she was sitting. Sandy moved from staring out of the window and shut the door. Seth looked at each of his parents in turn anxiously.
"Mom, Dad, I know what you're going to say," he began to babble, "but really, you don't need to do this, I mean don't you think it's a bit drastic? You've been together forever…"
Kirsten and Sandy's faces were puzzled. They had no idea what he was talking about. Suddenly reality dawned on Seth's mother.
"Oh sweetie, no. That isn't what we want to talk to you about." She drew him into a hug and ruffled his curls.
She glanced up at Sandy as she spoke.
"Your Dad and I have…." She struggled to put what she wanted to say into words, "had some upsets recently it's true but we'll work it out, we always do." She tried to look her most reassuring to her son, even if in her heart she wasn't sure herself.
Sandy watched his wife as she held Seth tightly to her. God, he had fucked up mightily. Even Seth, in his own little world most of the time, had drawn the worst conclusion. He squeezed between them on the bed, his eyes downcast. He took Kirsten's hand in his and put his other arm around Seth.
"Your Mom's right Seth. We're going to be fine, right?" He looked into his wife's eyes, asking wordlessly for her to forgive him. Kirsten swallowed, her face flushed. She knew what Sandy was trying to do. She wanted to forgive him and move on and she would, eventually. But she couldn't forget.
Seth looked between them, not convinced and still confused.
"Well, what was it you wanted to talk to me about then?"
Sandy took a deep breath.
"Well, we wanted to talk to you about this before broaching it with Ryan. See what you felt about it…….. your mother and I would like to ask Ryan if we could adopt him."
Seth took a minute to compute what his father was saying and then his face broke out into a huge smile.
"Really?" He scratched his head contemplatively.
Kirsten was the first to speak. Her voice held a warning tone.
"This will only happen if you are one hundred percent sure about it Seth. And even if we are all in agreement, there's no guarantee Ryan will say yes."
"Are you kidding me? Having Ryan be my actual brother? That would be…awesome."
Seth began bouncing with excitement like a puppy. All thoughts of the state of his parents' marriage were banished.
Sandy spoke sternly to him.
"Now Seth, you know what this will mean don't you? Everything that at the moment would rightly be yours, as our only son would be shared between you both. Ryan would have the same legal rights as our son as you have."
Seth stopped bouncing and regarded his father with disappointment.
"Dad, do you really think I care about your money? Do you know so little about me that you think I'd rather have my inheritance all to myself than have a brother?"
Sandy shook his head.
"I do know you son, better than you think. And I knew you'd say exactly what you just have. But it needed to be said. It's no good us making a decision like this now and then you turn on us in ten years time…"
"As if I would?" Seth responded, rather hurt.
Kirsten rushed to reassure him.
"No we don't think you would Seth, we just want you to be part of the decision making process. That way everyone will know where they stand. OK?"
Seth began to twitch excitedly.
"So, when are we going to tell Ryan? You haven't mentioned it already have you? Can I be there when you do…."? Sandy put his hand up to halt his son's babbling.
"Now just take a breather a minute Seth. As I said before, this needs to be something Ryan wants too, and even if he does, it'll be a legal minefield out there. Dawn will need to be in agreement, maybe even his father, I need to look into all that, but just so long as we know you are in agreement in principle, then we can ask Ryan his thoughts and take it from there."
Ryan ambled along the corridor towards Seth's room. He needed to borrow a schoolbook he'd left behind in his locker. He was hoping Seth had his copy with him, save him from cycling back to Harbor. As he passed Sandy and Kirsten's room he paused as he heard voices and noticed the door was closed. Sandy and Kirsten's bedroom door was usually only shut for one reason and Ryan was pretty sure there wasn't much of that going on at the moment. Maybe, he thought hopefully, they were having make up sex? Ryan shook his head in alarm. He really shouldn't be thinking these things. As he went to move on he heard Seth's voice.
"So when are you guys going to tell him?" Ryan knew he should stop listening there and then, but in the whole time he'd been at the Cohens', he couldn't remember a single time when they'd talked to Seth alone, behind a closed door. Even when they needed to give him a lecture, Ryan was usually around and it would be he who would take it upon himself to skulk off and leave them to it.
As he pondered whom Seth might be referring to, he heard Sandy reply.
"After his court appearance tomorrow. I don't want him to have to think about anything else till that's dealt with. Then, we'll talk to his social worker and see how we should take things forward."
All color drained from Ryan's face. A lump formed in his throat and his stomach felt like it had separated from his body and fallen down a huge flight of stairs. He leant against the wall and tried not to panic. His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he ran the conversation through his mind several times more. He heard footsteps heading towards the door so he turned swiftly and disappeared into Seth's room. By the time Seth joined him, he appeared to be deeply engrossed in the comic book he'd found discarded on the bed.
"Hey man, I thought you were studying?" Seth commented as he looked at Ryan sprawled on the floor.
Ryan looked sharply at Seth for any sign of emotion. Surely if they were going to throw him out, Seth would fight his corner? Surely he would be upset? Wouldn't he? Seth showed no sign of being upset at all. In fact he appeared remarkably at ease. Ryan scowled to himself. This didn't make any sense. Why would they want him to leave? And why wouldn't Seth be at least a little bit upset? For fuck's sake, he'd run away to Portland last time Ryan had left. He couldn't figure it out and if he couldn't figure it out, then there was nothing he could do about it except prepare himself for the worst. He threw down the comic and mumbled an answer to Seth's question.
"I wanted to borrow a school book. But I already looked and you don't have it. I'll see you later." He kept his eyes down as he left the room. Seth looked after him, shaking his head. Ryan really had taken Lindsay's leaving hard.
Kirsten knocked on the Pool House door. Ryan lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't even acknowledge her as she came in.
"Ryan? Sweetie?" she asked tentatively.
Ryan dragged his eyes away from the spot on the ceiling he'd been studying and looked across at her politely.
"Did Dr Kim give you that report for the judge tomorrow? She said she was going to let you have it at the end of school today."
Ryan nodded and swung his legs off the bed. He reached into his school bag and withdrew a large white envelope. He gave it to her wordlessly.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow Ryan? You're awfully quiet. Well, quieter than normal I should say," she joked. She didn't like the way Ryan was looking at her. She was transported back to that first day in the pool house. He had the same guarded look about him.
Ryan chewed the inside of his lip, refusing to meet her eyes.
"I'm not nervous no, what's there to be nervous about? I haven't done anything wrong have I?" He looked up at her, his eyes suddenly challenging. Confusion clouded Kirsten's face.
"No Ryan, you've done everything that could be asked of you. We are all very proud of you, even Dr Kim!" she added, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "I'll see you at dinner, half hour OK?"
"Are you all ready?" Sandy queried as he opened the glass doors to the Pool House.
Ryan stood in front of the mirror, fixing his tie. Kirsten had instructed him to "look smart". Sandy walked over and touched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Come on now, you know this is really my job," he quipped as he adjusted and straightened the tie.
Ryan swallowed nervously.
"Now don't be nervous. Everything will be fine, you'll see. The judge is going to be very impressed. She'll be impressed with the personal character references from Jimmy and the foreman from your job and she'll be pleased with how well you're doing in school. If the kids I get off probation did half as well as you've done, I'd be out of a job." He finished up the tie and stood back to admire his handiwork.
"There, you'll do. Now I must just check that miscreant Seth and see if he's ready."
"Seth's coming?" Ryan hadn't realized. Sandy slapped him on the back fondly.
"The whole family will be there Ryan, judges like that sort of thing." Ryan nodded and wished his mouth wasn't so dry. He wasn't sure what he was more nervous about now, the meeting with the judge or the conversation that would inevitably follow it.
tbc
