"When did this happen?" Ryan asked as Marissa inspected the rock on Summer's finger. It was unusual for Seth to do anything without telling him first, and though he knew this was a personal thing, he was still finding it hard to wrap his head around the new information.

Seth shrugged his shoulders. "You know the other night? When I told you I was taking Summer out on the boat?" Ryan nodded. "We sailed out a little ways, and I waited until the sun set. It was all very romantic, Ryan. I think you would have been impressed," he verbally patted himself on the back.

Marissa huffed, and then shrank slightly at Ryan's look. "What? It's not like you're the most romantic guy on the planet," she pointed out. With a hand on her shoulder, she smirked. "Not like it was a bad thing. You're a "to the point" guy. I like that."

He smiled and was about to say something else when voices invaded the kitchen. "Anyone home?"

Sandy slid the glass door open and smiled over the gathering. "Hey, did we miss dinner?"

Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer all stood, gathering their plates. "Yeah. But we got a whole freezer full of those flank steaks you like so much. Want me to throw one on for ya?" Seth asked his father, who just shook his head. "Alright, but it's your loss, man."

Sandy just rolled his eyes and shook Ryan's hand. "I got some boxes in the car. You guys wanna help me?" he asked as the group moved into the kitchen.

"Boxes of what?" Seth asked, popping the door of the dishwasher open. "We don't have enough uneccessary shit in this house already?"

"We have you, Sweetie," Summer grinned widely and kissed his chin before dropping her plate into the dishwasher.

"Yeah, okay. Crack on me, Summer, go ahead. I can always take the ring back," he threatened.

She rolled her eyes and smacked his gut. "Cohen, go help your dad," she ordered.

Marissa stood awkwardly as Seth started after his father. "You might wanna jump on that train, Ryan. You know how Seth is with the heavy lifting."

He grinned and nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, starting for the living room when a voice stopped him short.

"DADDY!" Ryan's daughter, Jada, took a running leap into his arms as Kirsten filed in slowly. Jada lifted a light pink bag in her little hands. "Look!" Her chocolate eyes grew wide as Ryan peered inside the package. "Kirsten bought me nail polish," she clapped her little hands.

Marissa knew there was a stupid grin plastered on her face, but watching Ryan nuzzle the small girl in his arms, kissing her cheek and her forehead and hugging her tightly as he rocked her gently made her feel giddy.

"Alright, Munchkin," he grunted, setting her back on the ground. He stooped to face-level and tapped on the bag she was still clutching. "I'm gonna go help Sandy and Seth unload the car and then we'll put it on, okay?"

She nodded as her daddy disappeared from the room. "Ryan's gonna put nail polish on her?" Marissa couldn't help but stare at the beautiful little girl with the brown skin and the Little Miss Vixen sundress twirling herself around in the middle of the floor. She was singing to herself.

Kirsten just laughed as she stepped around the island to hug Marissa. "You'd be surprised at the wealth of his hidden parental talents," she informed, embracing the young woman's shoulders. "It's good to have you back, Marissa," she whispered.

If Marissa had been able to choose her own mother, Kirsten Cohen would have been her selection. But fate had gone another way, and she assumed it was for the best. Especially when the Cohens took Ryan in. "It's good to be home," she answered.

"Summer, can I have a popsicle?" Jada asked.

Summer looked at the little girl before her and nearly melted. If her future children were anything like this one, she was ready to start having them immediately. "Um, maybe we should ask your dad, Sweetie. It's getting' pretty late," she said.

Jada seemed to consider throwing a fit, but then noticed a new person in the room. "Hi," she smiled as she tottered over to Marissa. "You're Marissa," she said matter-of-factly.

Marissa laughed and knelt to the floor. "Yes, I am. And you must be Jada."

Jada's black pigtails bobbed as she nodded her head. "My daddy has lots of pictures of you in his office," she said, turning her head to the side for a closer look at the woman she had seen in glossy form so many times before.

"He does?" Marissa smiled.

"Yeah. You're so, so pretty," she said, her big eyes growing in wonder. "I like you in the one on the beach," she said. "You are wearing this yellow dress and it has all these big flowers on it? It's the prettiest dress ever."

Marissa knew exactly the photo she was talking about, one from a Vogue magazine shoot she had done nearly two years prior. "Well, I think you're so, so pretty, too." She tried to focus on the girl, instead of the fact that Ryan had pictures of her in his office.

The little girl dropped her bag of nail polish and reached out to run her chubby fingers over Marissa's blonde locks. "My daddy says it's 'cause my mom was," she said distractedly.

With a nod, Marissa agreed. "She was."

The answer seemed to surprise Jada. "You knew my mom?"

"I did. She was a pretty cool lady." It wasn't a complete lie. Theresa was pretty cool – she had helped Marissa out of a couple of tight spots, and she had never really taken Ryan away. Not if Marissa was honest – Ryan had made the decision to go to Chino when she got pregnant. She and her therapist, Alecia, had spent an entire week in rehab discussing Theresa, and she was actually starting to feel pretty good about the woman from her ex's past.

"Yeah," Jada agreed, letting go of Marissa's hair. "Are you gonna marry my dad?"

Before Marissa could catch a breath or a thought, Kirsten jumped in. "Jada, Sweetie, why don't we go get your Barbie out of the car. I think we left it."

"I don't need it," Jada waved the woman off and went back to looking at Marissa, as if waiting for an answer.

Fortunately, the boys came back. Marissa had never been so grateful for the Cohens in her entire life. "There's my favorite supermodel," Sandy announced, hugging Marissa, which helped to steady her against the shock of the previous moment.

"Hi, Sandy," she breathed into his shoulder. When he pulled away, she saw something that could only be described as deep understanding and acceptance. It was the first look of the sort that had really resonated with her since her arrival in Newport. And it forced tears to her eyes. "Excuse me," she said quietly, rushing from the room in search of some place to hide.

Ryan watched her go, and contemplated going after her, but the tug on his jeans drew his attention toward the floor, and the bouncing girl vying for his time. "Can we do the nail polish now, Daddy? Please?"

He nodded. He found he could rarely say "no" to this angel he had been given. At least she could keep his mind off Marissa for awhile. And that would definitely be a good thing.