Okay so here's the next chapter. Let me know what you thought of it. I'm still currently unemployed, which is good because that means I get to sleep and relax, and those are both beautiful things, but also means that I'm broke, which is not a beautiful thing. In fact, it kind of sucks. But anyway, I digress. Let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thanks.

Disclaimer: Oh, they aren't mine. You thought they were? You silly, silly people. Please, if they were mine I would not be worried about my state of employment or lack of employment right now, would I?

"Dude, call me back as soon as you get this. Look, I know that you skipped school today, but I didn't tell the parents yet. And I don't want to…I mean," Seth paused. He was going to tell Ryan that he didn't want to add any unnecessary worry onto his mother, who certainly didn't need anything else to worry about. But then, of course, Ryan would feel guilty, and when Ryan felt guilty he talked even less than he normally did. "I won't tell. But you need to come home before Mom and Dad start asking where you are." Seth hung up the phone and sighed. Summer had called him to let him know that Ryan had skipped school and she had dropped him off at the beach, where he had said he was going to do some thinking. Thinking was never a good thing, and Seth was worried. He tried calling Ryan several times, only to have it go to voice mail each time immediately. When Seth got home from school he was hoping to see Ryan already home, but he had been home for an hour now, and no sign of his brother. Since she had been ordered to cut down on stress, his mother was usually home by five-thirty at the latest, and his father, desperately trying to make amends with his family, was trying to make an effort to spend more time as a family, which meant that he generally trailed in shortly after Kirsten.

This gave Ryan about an hour and a half to get home without either parent being any the wiser. Seth began to pace around four thirty, and by five, he was calling Ryan's phone almost every two minutes. He tried Marissa, thinking that maybe Ryan had gone there, but she hadn't seen him.

"I haven't seen him since around lunch time," she told Seth apologetically. "But if you hear from him, will you let me know?" Seth had sighed in frustration.

"Sure," he said before hanging up to call Summer again.

"Cohen, he'll turn up," she told her boyfriend for what felt like the eightieth time.

"What did you guys talk about? What did he have to think about?" Summer bit her lip. She knew that more teenage drama was the last thing that the Cohens needed, but at the same time, she knew that Ryan needed to talk to the Cohens. All of the Cohens, but especially Kirsten, about how he was feeling about the new baby. And Seth would undoubtedly tell his mother, who would force Ryan to talk.

"We didn't talk long," Summer finally admitted. "But I got the feeling that he was feeling a little…unsure about the new baby."

Of course, Seth thought to himself. How stupid they all were. Of course Ryan would question his place in the family with the arrival of a new baby. His security in the family was tenuous at best, and with all that had gone on, he wondered how they could have not been more reassuring to Ryan that they wanted him. He couldn't blame his parents, well, at least not his mom. She had ten thousand other things to worry about.

When the front door opened, Seth jumped to his feet and hurried to the front hall.

"Thank God, dude," he said as he rounded the corner, only to come face to face with his mother.

"Thank God what?" She asked with a smile on her face as she dropped her briefcase by the table, and placed her keys in the bowl on the table. She couldn't get the grin off her face that day. She was having a girl.

"Oh..." Seth was trying to find a reason when the door opened behind them and his father stepped in. Sandy leaned in and placed a kiss on his wife's cheek and was thankful when she didn't pull away, but instead leaned into him and smiled. It was a start at least, and the thought that they might return to normal cheered him up so much that a grin crept across his face.

"Hey kid," Sandy said smiling at his son. Seth nodded towards his father.

"So, what were you thanking God for?" Kirsten asked. Seth had hoped that his mother would have let it drop, but his mother never let anything drop.

"That I have such a beautiful mother," Seth lied with an innocent smile.

"Nice try," Kirsten said. She moved past Seth towards the kitchen. She was starving. Eating for two certainly had its perks, but being hungry all the time was not one of them. Kirsten pulled open the refrigerator and pulled out a pudding cup. "Where's Ryan?" She peeked into the living room and then turned to look out the window at the pool house, but found both empty.

"Oh, well, he and Marissa went out after school," Seth lied once again. He sure hoped that Ryan turned up soon so that he wouldn't be found out on all these lies.

"Oh, when will he be home?" Sandy asked as he pulled out the take out menus for dinner. "Is he eating dinner with her?"

"I'm not sure," Seth said shrugging.

"I'll give his phone a call," Sandy told Kirsten. "Figure out what you want for dinner." Kirsten nodded, as Sandy picked up the phone.

"I think that he said that they were eating out," Seth said desperately. They had a rule about cell phones, when they were not home, the boys had to have their phones on at all times. It could be on vibrate, but it needed to at least be turned on. If his father called Ryan's phone, it would immediately go to voice mail, which meant that either Ryan was ending the call, or he didn't have it on at all. Either way, Ryan would be in trouble. Seth was determined to keep this off his mother's radar, for as long as that was possible.

"I'm still going to give him a call," Sandy said giving his son a strange look. Kirsten looked up from where she was studying menus and frowned at Seth.

"What's the matter honey?" She asked him.

"Nothing," he told her forcing a smile. "Absolutely nothing. So what are you in the mood for tonight Mom?"

"I'm thinking Mexican," Kirsten said pushing the menu over to him to look. Ryan's phone went straight to voice mail and Sandy knew that something was up. Seth was acting strange, and Ryan wasn't picking up his phone. He looked over at his wife who was laughing at something that Seth said. Seth looked up at his father and saw the wheels turning in Sandy's head.

Sandy knew that something was up, but didn't want Kirsten to know. Instead he walked into the living room, shutting off the phone, and talking loudly so that Kirsten could hear.

"Okay, no, okay that's fine. Have a good dinner with Marissa. It's okay, we'll see you later," he hung up and noticed Seth staring at him when he walked back in. "Ryan's eating with Marissa. He'll be home later."

"Oh okay," Kirsten said. "More food for me then." She grinned at her husband and rattled off the many things that she wanted ordered for her. "I'm going to go change." As soon as she was out of earshot, Sandy turned to his son.

"What's going on?"

"What?"

"Ryan didn't answer his phone, what's going on?"

"Why did you…"

"I don't want your mother to have to worry about something until there is something to worry about," Sandy explained. "So spill."

"Ryan skipped school today. Summer said that she got the impression that he was doing some heavy duty thinking."

"About what?"

"About the family, about his place in it. I haven't heard from him all day." Sandy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"We need to keep your mother in the dark about this. She doesn't need this. She needs to…" Sandy shook his head. "I'm going to go look for him." He grabbed his car keys. "If he calls, call me. Tell your mom that I'm going to get the food." Seth nodded. He wrapped his arms around himself uncertainly. Sandy noticed and placed a hand on Seth's shoulders, and again was pleased when his son didn't pull away. "He'll come home." Sandy was walking towards the door when Kirsten's voice stopped him.

"Where are you going honey?" Kirsten wanted to trust him. She did, but she couldn't help but be suspicious as he was heading out the door, as to where he was going. She knew that Rebecca was long gone, or at least she hoped she was, but she couldn't help wanting to know exactly where he was going to be, and he who was going to be with.

"I'm going to go pick up the food," Sandy lied easily. Of course, she thought to herself. I'm just being paranoid. He's not hiding anything from me.

"Oh, okay," Kirsten smiled at him. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Hurry back, I'm starved."

"I'll try," Sandy muttered as he left the house and climbed into the BMW. He suddenly realized as he pulled out of the driveway that he had no idea where to even start looking for Ryan. The school? The pier? The beach? Where would he go, if he was doing some, in Seth's words, "heavy duty thinking?"

The beach. But what part of the beach? God, this whole damned town was on the beach. Where would he even start? He drove towards the ocean and up to a semi-secluded area where he normally went after a fight with Kirsten. Parking the car, he got out and scanned the area looking for a blond head. Sighing, he was about to turn back and keep going further down the beach when he spotted him.

"Great minds think alike," Sandy mumbled as he made his way to Ryan. Ryan was sitting using a stick to draw pictures.

"Hey," Sandy called out when he got closer. Ryan turned around, caught and sighed.

"Hey," he replied after a hesitation. "So I guess Seth squealed."

"About you skipping school? No, he lied for you, but I tried your phone and when you didn't answer, I got worried, and I forced it out of him," Sandy said plopping down next to Ryan. "I didn't tell Kirsten though. I didn't want her to worry."

"God," Ryan said covering his face with his hands. "I didn't even think about that. She's okay? She doesn't know?"

"No, and she doesn't have to. Come on home with me kid."

"I…I'm sorry about skipping school."

"I know."

"I just…couldn't think there."

"Which is ironic," Sandy said with a smile. "Because that's sort of its purpose. To make you think." Sandy paused and searched for the right way to phrase his next question. "Can I ask you what it is that you needed to think about?" Ryan shrugged, and continued to look out at the ocean.

When Ryan didn't respond right away, Sandy decided to approach it a different way.

"Could it be about the baby?" Ryan shrugged again, but Sandy knew that he was on the right track. "Are you afraid…are you…do you..." Sandy normally had no problems talking. In fact, he considered it his forte, but right now he was floundering.

"I know that you…you guys won't kick me out," Ryan finally said. "I know that, you aren't that cruel. But it's just…with everything that's going on…and with the new baby…I just think that it would be easier for everyone if I just…"

"What? Left? Do you know what that would do to Kirsten? To me?" Sandy shook his head. "She was absolutely inconsolable when you left last summer."

"But she would have…the baby is going to take up all of her time," Ryan said shrugging. "I don't think she would even notice me gone."

"Yes she would. And so would I. And so would Seth." Sandy shook his head. "It amazes me that after all this time, you still don't realize what you mean to us." There was another long pause before Sandy looked over at Ryan. "I know I messed up big time. I know that you, and Seth, and Kirsten are still trying to figure out a way to forgive me. I know that if it weren't for the baby, I probably would still be at the motel. I would like to think that Kirsten would be on her way to forgiving me, but I'm not stupid. I know because she is pregnant that…sped things along a little bit. I know that I let you down. You and Seth. I know all of that. I know that I want my family back. I'm trying to piece us back together, and I know that it will take some time, but I'm optimistic. I think that we can be complete again. But…we can not be complete without you. You are a part of this family. You are my child, as much as Seth is, as much as the new baby is." Sandy stood up and offered a hand down to Ryan. "And I also know that if I don't get home with food pretty soon, my pregnant wife will have my head on a chopping block. So come on. Let's go home." Ryan finally accepted his hand and allowed Sandy to pull him to his feet. As they walked to the car, Ryan turned to him.

"Sandy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming to get me," Ryan said softly. He wanted to tell him that he knew that Sandy was sorry, and that he was trying to forgive him. That he hoped that they could be whole again. That he was overwhelmingly grateful to even get the chance to be a part of that whole family.

"No problem kid," Sandy said slapping him on the back. "Now when we get home, if Kirsten is surprised to see you, just tell her that you and Marissa got into a fight at the restaurant and called and asked me to come pick you up." Ryan raised an eyebrow at this concocted story, but just nodded.

"What restaurant?" Ryan asked with a small smile.

"I don't know, the Crab Shack."

"Why didn't I just walk home?"

"Because you were tired."

"What did we fight about?" Ryan was grinning now, Seth was right, messing with the parental units was fun.

"I don't know, kid, make something up." But Sandy was grinning too, enjoying the exchange with his foster son. They climbed into the car and Sandy started towards the Mexican restaurant. "Can you call the restaurant and put our order in?" He handed Ryan the menu. "And pick out what you want."

"What I want? Sandy there's enough food circled here to feed a small army," Ryan argued.

"Or a very hungry pregnant woman," Sandy replied. "Most of that's for her. So if you want to keep all your appendages, you won't get any funny ideas about eating any of that. God, when she was pregnant with Seth I made the mistake of eating the last of the peanut butter. I was lucky to make it out alive." Ryan laughed and picked what he wanted and called the order in. Sandy's phone rang and he answered it.

"I'm coming honey," Sandy said into the phone. "I had to make a quick detour to pick up Ryan. He had a fight with Marissa…yes…okay, another burrito. Got it. Okay…love you. Bye." Sandy ran into the restaurant to pick up the food and order another burrito. Ryan turned back on his phone and listened to the thousand messages that Seth had left on his voice mail. Then the ones that Marissa had left, and then even a couple from Summer, and smiled. It was still weird that he had all these people that cared about him. It was weird that he was excited about the prospect of being a big brother. That he considered himself to be Emily's big brother. He smiled to himself. Emily's big brother. It was a title that he was more than happy to have. Sandy came back a few minutes later holding a couple large bags full of food.

"Ready to go home kid?"

"Yeah," Ryan said smiling. "Let's go home."

Okay, so I'll try to work on the next chapter and get it up soon. Review please! Thanks!