Sorry this took so long, I had major writer's block. So hopefully you like this chapter, cause I had trouble with it. Let me know what you thought of it!

Disclaimer: The characters are so not mine.

As Kirsten returned to work, and the boys went back to school, and Sandy got a new case, things in the Cohen house returned to normal. At least, outwardly things returned to normal. Everyone could feel the tension still, but no one had enough time to talk about it, and so for the time being, everything resumed how it had been before Rebecca. Or BR, as Seth had begun to call it.

Kirsten had reached her fourth month without any more incidents, or contact from Rebecca. At her last doctor's appointment, he had told her that soon they would be able to tell her the sex of the baby, and she was anxious to find out so that she could start decorating. If it was a boy she would have the room nearest her and Sandy's painted a baby blue, and if it was a girl, she was going to go out and find every pink thing that she could. There would be so much pink that it would look like someone had thrown up Pepto Bismal. That was her goal.

She came into the kitchen to find both boys eating cereal out of the box.

"We have bowls you know," she said as she pulled out the orange juice from the refrigerator. "And spoons. And milk." She sighed, knowing that it was a lost cause, as both boys just glanced up from where they were shoving handfuls in their mouths and ignored her completely. "Fine. Be animals, see if I care."

"So today is another doctor's appointment right?" Ryan asked. Kirsten nodded and smiled. "You can find out if it's going to be a girl or boy?"

"Yes."

"Then we can talk about names?" Seth asked. "Cause I have some really good ones picked out."

"They better not be related in any way to comic book characters," Kirsten warned.

"They aren't," Seth feigned insult. "Mother, please. Give me more credit than that."

"Or cartoon characters," Ryan added. Seth turned and gave Ryan his attempt at a withering look.

"Really, people," Seth said. Sandy appeared in the kitchen.

"What are we talking about?" He asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Seth and Ryan had talked about how Seth's ignoring of his father just made things tenser for his mother, and so Seth had been trying to work on forgiving his father, or at least making nice with him.

"Baby names," Seth answered.

"Ah," Sandy said. "Well, we've decided on the name if it's a girl."

"You have? Without consulting me first?" Seth cried.

"What is it?" Ryan asked completely ignoring Seth.

"Emily after my mother," Kirsten replied. "Emily Catherine."

"Emily Cohen," Ryan tried it out. "It's nice."

"What about for a boy?"

"We haven't decided on a name for a boy," Kirsten said shrugging. "We're still discussing that."

"How about Caleb?" Seth suggested with a smirk.

"Maybe," Kirsten said as Sandy spit out his coffee. She turned and grinned at him. "Just kidding. I should go get dressed. Have a good day boys."

"Call us when you find out," Ryan requested. Kirsten nodded and left the boys alone in the kitchen. Without Kirsten, an uncomfortable silence fell over them, until Ryan cleared his throat.

"We should probably go," he said. "Summer will be here to pick us up any minute."

"Have a nice day," Sandy said. Ryan just nodded, and Seth replied with a,

"You too."

Before Rebecca, Sandy would have wondered what was wrong with Seth. Before Rebecca, just a simple "you too" would have raised some alarms because Seth was never one to use two words when eight could be used instead. Not unless he was angry with his father, or he was upset for whatever reason.

Now Sandy was happy that Seth had even spoken those two words at him. It was a big step. He knew, from eavesdropping of course, Seth did inherit the need to know exactly what was going on at all times from him, that Kirsten had requested that the baby be born into a tension-free house.

"Please…try to forgive him Seth," she had pleaded.

"I am trying," Seth told her earnestly. "But he hurt you. I mean…that's just not...he wasn't supposed….you didn't deserve…I mean, who is Rebecca?" Seth shook his head. This not being able to fully explain what he was thinking and feeling was a completely foreign concept for him. He had always been one to verbalize everything, and he couldn't quite find the words to explain how much he hated his father, and how much it hurt him what Sandy had done, and how much he wanted to protect his mother from anything else, and how much he just couldn't hate his father, no matter what he did. It was like his brain was perpetually spinning, trying to decide what to feel towards his father at that moment.

"I know," Kirsten had said pulling her son in for a hug. "I know that you are trying, and I appreciate it." She turned to Ryan and grabbed his hand. "I know that both of you are trying."

So Seth's two words were not so much for Sandy, but for Kirsten's benefit. Sandy had always thought that Seth was closer to him than Kirsten. That Seth was more like him than Kirsten, and that Sandy understood Seth just a little bit better than Kirsten did. Maybe it was because Seth looked more like him, or maybe it was the whole Jewish thing, or maybe it was just because they were both outcasts in Newport, but it was quickly becoming clear to him that he had never even noticed how close Seth and Kirsten were. How alike they actually were, and how much Seth just simply idolized Kirsten. She may not be the perfect mother, but Seth was beginning to realize just how lucky he was to have the mother that he did. She wasn't Julie Cooper, or Dawn Atwood, and she loved him, had always loved him, and only wanted what was best for him. And maybe Seth had always known that, known that not all mothers were like his own, but it seemed to Sandy that ever since Ryan came to live with them, Seth was more aware than ever that he should thank his lucky stars that this was the family that he was born into.

Sandy drank the rest of his coffee and headed upstairs. Kirsten was standing in front of her closet frowning.

"What's the matter?" Sandy asked.

"I was going to wear my gray suit, because I have that meeting after the appointment," she started.

"And?"

"It doesn't fit," she finished. He expected her to be upset about this, and when she turned around and had tears running down her face, he wasn't terribly surprised.

"Oh honey," he said. "We can take you shopping, and you'll be back down to your normal size after the baby is born."

"No," Kirsten shook her head. "It's not that. I don't care about that. It's just…it's real. I don't fit into my clothes. It's real." Sandy went to her and pulled her into a hug and she clung to him as she cried.

"I know," he whispered. "It's real and it's amazing."

"Can you tell what sex the baby is?" Kirsten asked. The doctor smiled at Kirsten and nodded.

"If the baby is in the right position, we should be able to see," the doctor said. Kirsten gripped Sandy's hand as they looked at the small screen. "Congratulations Mrs. Cohen, it appears that you are having a girl." Kirsten couldn't help the tears that started to roll down her face. She wanted a girl. She had wanted a girl so very badly.

"Oh Kirsten," Sandy breathed as he gave her a kiss to her temple. "A little girl." A girl. Kirsten felt as if she couldn't breathe.

"Emily," she whispered.

Ryan's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he glanced up at the teacher before pulling it out and glancing at it. There was a message from Sandy with about a thousand exclamation marks.

"It's a girl!" Ryan couldn't help the grin that crossed his face and he hurried closed his phone and shoved it back in his pocket. The bell rang and the students began to gather their things and Ryan leaned over and tapped Marissa on the shoulder.

"It's a girl," he said grinning. Marissa squealed and threw her arms around him.

"A girl? Oh! Kirsten must be so excited!" As soon as they left the room, they spotted Summer.

"Did you hear?" Marissa asked. Summer didn't need to ask what Marissa was talking about.

"No, I haven't seen Cohen all day, did you get the message?" She asked Ryan.

"It's a girl. Kirsten's having a girl," he told her. Summer did a little jump.

"Oh that's so exciting! Kirsten must be thrilled!" She turned to Marissa. "Want to go out after school and get a little dress to give to her? Little girl clothes are so much more fun than little boy clothes."

"Sure!" Marissa said. Ryan just rolled his eyes. Of course Marissa and Summer would have identical reactions. Of course their first thought would be to go shopping. Why had he expected anything less? He was saved from any more squeals when Seth joined them in the hallway.

"So a sister, huh?" He said. "I was hoping it was going to be a boy to follow in my footsteps."

"No you weren't," Summer said, and it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You wanted it to be a girl just as much as your mom did. You told me that you wanted a little sister, because you knew how much it meant to your mom, and because of all that she's been through recently you would do anything for her right now. So don't even try to play cool about this Cohen…."

"Summer, pillow talk is not to be shared," Seth interrupted her angrily. Summer just shrugged.

"Well, don't try to be all macho about the whole thing. You're going to have a baby sister. Stop acting like it doesn't mean anything." Seth just shook his head and Ryan grinned at Marissa and leaned in and whispered,

"Seth and macho? Never thought I'd hear him be accused of being too macho."

"Me neither," Marissa agreed giggling. They walked away from the still bickering couple and towards their next class. "So how are things? I mean, how are Sandy and Kirsten?" Ryan shrugged.

"They're okay. I mean, I don't know if things will ever go back to normal, but they're both trying. I just…I don't know if they're actually trying to make things okay, or just trying to pretend that everything is okay."

"And how are you doing with everything?"

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked more defensively than he would have liked.

"I just meant…how are you doing dealing with everything that's going on? The baby, Kirsten and Sandy….everything?"

"I'm fine," Ryan said quickly. "I'm excited for the baby."

"And you aren't worried…"

"Worried about what?"

"Just that…I mean, it's normal when a new baby comes to question your place in the family…"

"No," he said. But she wasn't buying it, but she knew that this wasn't the time or the place to have the conversation, and she was also very aware that she probably wasn't the person he should be talking about this with in the first place.

"Okay," she forced a smile and leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied distracted. "See you later." As he walked away from her, he thought about what she had said. Worried about the baby, what a ridiculous thought. He was seventeen years old. Of course he wasn't worried about a baby getting attention that would have gone to him. It wasn't even like he deserved Kirsten and Sandy's attention. The baby was their child. Their flesh and blood, and he…wasn't.

He knew it was crazy but he was suddenly gripped with the fear that they would decide with everything that was going on, they didn't have the time or the patience to put up with him. After all, they were trying to piece together a broken marriage and at the same time they were going to have a new baby in the house, along with a teenager that already belonged to them, and it would probably be easier for them if he wasn't there.

Logically Ryan knew that they wouldn't kick him out. But he couldn't stop the fear from creeping over him. It was as if two sides of his brain were having an argument.

They love you.

Do they really?

Kirsten would be devastated if you left. Look what your leaving did this past summer.

Would she even notice? Things are different than they were last summer.

They consider you a son.

But you aren't their son. Not technically.

Technicalities don't matter.

Sighing, Ryan decided that he couldn't take school for the rest of the day. He grabbed his books out of his locker and headed out the doors away from his class. Summer had driven them that day, so he had to walk and hope no one would notice as he skipped out.

"Chino, what are you doing?" No such luck. There was Summer sitting in her car staring at him.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you?" She retorted. "I decided to take a mental health day and go shopping for Kirsten and the baby."

"Emily," Ryan spoke up.

"What?"

"That's what they're going to name her. Emily." Summer considered it for a second.

"I like that," she said nodding. "So where are going?"

"Mental health day too?" Summer didn't push it any further and finally leaned over and opened the passenger door for him.

"Get in. I'll take you home."

"I don't want to go home."

"Fine, then I'll take you wherever you do want to go," she said shrugging. Ryan looked around before getting in. As they drove off the campus, she turned to him.

"Where am I taking you? The pier? The mall?"

"The mall?" He scoffed. "Um…" He hadn't thought about where to go. He just knew that he needed to do thinking that wouldn't be clouded by his western civ teacher's droning.

"You look like you need to do some serious thinking," Summer said, surprising him. "So you need some brain fuel." She was quiet for a moment. "Want to share?"

"What?"

"Why you look like your world is crashing in on you, and why you are skipping the rest of the day, and why you need to go somewhere to do some thinking?"

"I just…"

"Is it about the baby?" Sometimes Summer was so perceptive that Ryan was floored by her. She wasn't as dumb as she liked everyone to think that she was. Ryan didn't respond. "They love you, you know? And Kirsten…I mean, you should have seen her this summer when you were gone."

"When Seth was gone," he corrected.

"No," Summer said giving him a small smile. "When you were gone. So don't be such an asshat. Don't overthink this whole thing and do something stupid. They love you. You are their son. You are not a burden. Face it, at some point you became a Cohen. I'm very sorry for you."

Okay, so again, please let me know what you thought and if you are still interested in it. I'm so tired and I had to sit through my sister's graduation this morning and it was long and boring and I don't think I quite recovered, so off to bed I am I think. Let me know what you thought please!