Sorry about the long delay. There's a lot going on in real life right now, so I can't promise anything, although I do promise to try. Thanks for reading and I hope this was worth the wait.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The apartment seemed huge and empty to Sandy when he came home from the airport. He had lived on his own for the last four years, and was well used to it, but that was before he'd met Kirsten. She had been practically living with him since Thanksgiving, and even before that, she had dropped by almost every day. It had been less than an hour since Sandy had last seen her, and he was surprised at how much he missed her.

Kirsten had invited him to spend the winter break in Newport with her family, but he felt that a month was too long for a first visit with his soon-to-be in-laws. He was going to spend four days there after Christmas, where he and Kirsten would break the news about their upcoming marriage and the baby on the way. He'd also taken a job waiting tables, and planned on working overtime and saving some money for the future. God knew he'd need it.

His job didn't start till tomorrow, but there was no time to relax. Today's task would be harder than any twelve hour shift could be. Probably even harder than meeting Kirsten's parentsand telling them thathe'd gotten their daughter pregnant. He'd put it off until Kirsten had left, wanting to protect her from what would at best be a highly uncomfortable situation. Sandy would love to put it off even longer, forever, if possible. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Taking a deep breath, he picked up his phone and dialed his mother's phone number.

"Hello, who is this?" the familiar voice demanded impatiently. Damn. Sandy had been hoping to catch his mother in a good mood, but those were few and far between for Sophie Cohen. He understood, on some level; she worked hellish hours at an emotionally draining job. She hadn't had an easy life, growing up poor in the Bronx, and then having to raise three children alone after Sandy's father had walked out on her.

He understood, but that didn't make things any easier for him.

"Hi Mom," he answered with a cheerfulness that he didn't feel. "How are you?"

"I'm great, aside from the fact that my youngest son never seems to have time to call his mother," Sophie answered sarcastically. "I've just come back from shopping at Barney's and tonight the girls and I are going to a society benefit to save the rain forests. "

Sandy sighed. "I don't call often enough, I get it. I'm sorry."

"Sanford, what do you want?" Sophie asked.

He summoned all his courage. "Actually, I wanted to share some good news with you."

"You've gotten a job?" Sophie asked, her tone shifting to one of genuine interest and excitement. "I want you to tell me all about it."

He'd forgotten about the job, but he might as well start with it. It would make his mother happy, and possibly even soften her for his other news. "It's a public defender job, which means I won't be making a lot, but I don't have a lot of loans to pay off, and it's what I've always wanted to do. I start on the first of July."

"Helping the ones who need it most," Sophie remarked approvingly. "You'll make your mother proud, Sanford."

Sandy didn't talk to his mother often, maybe three or four times a year, and this was by far the best conversation he'd had with her in years, maybe even since he left home to come to Berkeley. She hadn't been too thrilled that he'd chosen California, or that he'd left when he wasn't even seventeen. Their relationship, already strained, had deteriorated even further. And now that she finally seemed to be accepting his life here in California, he was about to ruin it again.

He took a deep breath. "I have some more good news, Mom. I'm getting married." There was a long pause on the other end of the line. He hoped she hadn't fainted, but Sophie Cohen wasn't the type to faint in the face of adversity. "Mom?"

"You're getting married." Sophie repeated flatly.

If he knew his mother, she would try to talk him out of it. Sandy prepared himself for a long and bitter argument. "Yes."

"May I ask when this joyous occasion is taking place?" The sarcasm in her voice was back, and Sandy had an almost irresistible urge to hang up the phone and run out the door. It wouldn't work, though. His mother would call back again and again until she finally talked to him or he changed his number.

"January," he answered, his voice sounding as flat as Sophie's. "It would mean a lot if you could make it."

"You don't give me much warning," Sophie commented. "Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"We weren't engaged until a few weeks ago," he answered.

"And who is the blushing bride?" his mother continued. "You never told me you were seeing anyone."

"Her name is Kirsten," Sandy told her. "Kirsten Nichol, and she's an art history major here at Berkeley."

"Art history?" Sophie asked sarcastically. "Well, that's certainly a useful degree. How old is she?"

"Nineteen." His mother wasn't going to like that answer. Not that she would like Kirsten anyhow, but still being a teenager wouldn't win her any points with Sophie Cohen.

"I see, a young one," Sophie remarked. "What does her family do?"

His mother wouldn't like this either. "Her father's in real estate. He owns a number of companies in Orange County."

"Orange County?" Sophie repeated. "Sanford, please tell me that you're not marrying one of those empty-headed rich girls who do nothing but party at clubs and spend their trust funds on exorbitantly priced designer clothes."

"She's not like that, Mom," Sandy said shortly. He wasn't expecting his mother to approve, but that didn't mean that he would let her make her snide remarks about Kirsten. "She's amazing, and I'm lucky to be marrying her."

"You are lucky," his mother agreed. "Girls like that normally wouldn't look twice at you. Is she pregnant?"

Sandy took a deep breath. "Yes."

"I see." There was another long pause on Sophie's end. "How do you know it's yours?"

He knew she would ask, but the question still infuriated him. "I know because she said it's mine and I trust her," he answered, straining to keep his voice calm.

"How touching," Sophie commented. "I suppose I don't need to waste my breath giving you my opinion."

"No, you don't," Sandy snapped.

"Sanford, you're my son," Sophie began, her voice suddenly gentle. "You're a good boy but you believe what everyone tells you. Girls will see that and take advantage of you. I don't want you to get hurt when you find out that this Kristen--"

"Kirsten," Sandy corrected her sharply.

"When you find out this girl's only marrying you because her rich-boy boyfriend wouldn't," Sophie finished. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"You know what really hurts?" Sandy asked bitterly. "That my own mother couldn't put aside her bitterness to be happy for me."

And with that, he hung up the phone.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Normally Kirsten wasn't too crazy about flying, but this time she found herself wishing that the flight from Oakland to Orange County was longer. Five hours would be nice, or even eleven. A stopover in Tokyo would be just about perfect. Anything so she could delay what she was about to face at home.

At least Sandy was coming next week, she thought. The thought of telling her parents that she was pregnant was still terrifying, but a little less so now that she knew Sandy would be with her. She knew he was worried about meeting her parents, and how much he must care about her to do this for her.

She sipped her orange juice as she tried to pay attention to her book. She had been reading the same paragraph over and over for the last twenty minutes. She was still exhausted from finals week, and she would kill for some coffee, even a Diet Coke. But caffeine was off-limits until after the baby was born.

At least she wasn't really showing yet. She'd put on fifteen pounds since she'd started at Berkeley, but ten of that had been when Jimmy broke up with her. Someone might be able to tell she was pregnant if they knew already, but Kirsten was fairly certain that her news would come as a surprise to her parents. At least, it would to her father. Her mother might not be quite as surprised.

In any case, they wouldn't be able to tell right now. She was wearing sweatpants and Sandy's Berkeley sweatshirt that she'd stolen from his closet right before they left for the airport. It was baggy and comfortable and smelled just a little like Sandy, which Kirsten found soothing. If Sandy wasn't here with her, the next best thing was pretending that he was.

She began to plan how she would spend the time until Sandy came to Newport. She had eight days until he arrived on the twenty-seventh. The twenty-fifth was Christmas, obviously, so that was one day taken care of. She'd promised herself that she was going to take Hailey out for the day, so that was two days planned for. She still needed to do her Christmas shopping. Three. A day to meet up with her high school friends would pass the time, even if she hadn't talked to any of them since leaving for Berkeley, and they had never been very close to begin with. Maybe a girl's day out with her mother and Hailey--that could be fun. She had a feeling that her father would want her to spend some time with him. And if nothing else, she could always go into the Newport Group and help out there. Yes, that would do nicely.

She felt better knowing what she was going to do. The plane would touch down in another fifteen minutes or so, and an hour after that she would be home. These were the last eight days of her childhood, and dammit, she was going to make the most of them.