Thank you to Emz, ally, Sunny, JenJenxx, Aimee, kandy4eva, Mariana, Natalie, Sheryl, Lauren, Cynthia, Michelle, Jen, Kaz and Cohen-girl for your reviews.

This one took a while to write, I got totally stuck. A special thanks to Kaz for helping me. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but it's going to have to do, because it's been driving me insane trying to get this far!

The Test

It was late by the time Kirsten returned home, exhausted from possibly the worst Newport party she had ever been to – and that was saying something. She came through to the family room and found Seth asleep on the sofa. Dark circles hung under his eyes and his curls were a tangled mess. Kirsten couldn't help but run her hand lightly over his head to smooth them down. She hadn't seen her son so peaceful for days. Something was going on with him but he refused to talk about it to her or Sandy, only Ryan. She was grateful that he had someone to talk to; she needed a friend herself right now.

"I didn't know whether to wake him."

Kirsten turned towards the voice coming from the kitchen and saw Sandy leaning against the kitchen island, a mug in his hand. Kirsten shook her head.

"No, we might as well leave him here now he's asleep," Kirsten said quietly.

She carefully pulled a blanket over her sleeping son and stood watching him for a moment.

"Do you want some coffee?" Sandy asked.

Kirsten looked up at him and shook her head, no. An awkward silence fell between them. Sandy looked at her closely. He expected her to be angry with him, but right now she just seemed sad.

"You're late home," Sandy commented.

Kirsten didn't speak, only nodded, and walked into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, her eyes browsing the shelves. She desperately wanted to talk to him about Lindsey and her father, but she was still hurt by Sandy's words earlier. He didn't trust her.

He didn't trust her.

"How was the rest of the party?" Sandy asked, hoping to get some kind of answer from her. He hated the silence.

Kirsten sighed. "Awful."

She could feel Sandy's eyes watching her, waiting for her to elaborate.

"My dad cancelled his announcement about adopting Lindsey," Kirsten continued, subdued.

"He did?" Sandy said, surprised. Caleb had spoken to him about a paternity test, but he had been sure that Caleb's intentions towards Lindsey were honourable for once.

Kirsten pulled out a bottle of water and closed the fridge, turning towards him. "It turns out that Renee isn't sure who Lindsey's father is."

"How did Lindsey take the news?" Sandy asked.

"Not good. I stopped at her house on my way home from the party. She was in tears; it took me half an hour to get her to stop crying," Kirsten answered.

"So what happens now? Is Lindsey going to take a paternity test?"

"Dad wants her to. Actually, I think Julie wants her to," Kirsten said bitterly. "Lindsey's refusing. She just keeps saying that if he really were her dad, he wouldn't treat her like that. She's so angry at him, Sandy."

"What about you?"

Kirsten looked at him questioningly.

"How do you feel about it?" Sandy enquired.

Kirsten sighed again and paused before answering. "I just can't believe that after everything that happened at Chrismukkah, she might not actually be my sister. I mean, how could Renee do it? How could she do that when she wasn't sure of the truth?"

Sandy wished he had the answers for her. She looked tired and sad as she leaned back against the fridge, closing her eyes for a moment.

"What if she's not your sister? What happens then?" Sandy probed.

Kirsten shrugged. "I don't know. It was so hard accepting her as my sister, but she's part of the family now."

"What about your dad?"

"He does seem to genuinely love her," Kirsten contemplated. "But if she's not really his daughter…to ask him to love her, the way we love Ryan? I'm not sure he could do that."

Kirsten wrapped her arms around herself, hugging them tight against her body. She wished Sandy's arms were around her; she wished he was whispering comforting words in her ear like he always did when she was upset. But she couldn't pretend that everything was ok when it wasn't.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," Kirsten said, making her excuses to leave and standing up straight.

"Kirsten…"

"Please, Sandy," Kirsten begged, dejectedly. "I'm too tired to argue any more."

"I don't wanna argue with you, Kirsten," Sandy said. "But don't you think we should talk about things?"

"I have been talking, Sandy. It just feels like you haven't been listening," Kirsten sighed.

"Is that why you went to see Rebecca?" Sandy asked.

Kirsten glared at him for a moment. What was it about that woman?

"I guess I needed to see for myself," Kirsten said.

"See what?"

"What you were putting our family at risk for," Kirsten answered.

"I told you, it's not about making a choice," Sandy cried.

"Of course it is! God, Sandy, the police turned up today asking about her. And I lied for you; I lied for her," Kirsten said angrily.

"I didn't ask you to do that," Sandy objected.

"So you would have been ok if I'd told them the truth? If I'd told them that you had Rebecca shacked up at some hotel?"

"No, of course not!" Sandy raised his voice and from behind him, Seth stirred on the sofa.

Wary not to wake him, they both stood quietly for a moment. Sandy leant against the island, exasperated at continually having to explain himself to his wife. He had felt so torn while Rebecca was around, and now she was gone he was supposed to feel relieved; but he didn't. He felt regret and resentment towards Kirsten for pushing her away.

"I just don't know what it is you want from me, Sandy," Kirsten sighed.

"I just want you to trust me," Sandy said sadly. "Just like I trusted you with Jimmy."

"Oh, you are not bringing up Jimmy again," Kirsten said, feeling the anger rising up inside her again.

"That's not what I meant," Sandy defended.

"You wanna talk about trust, Sandy? Then why can't you trust me? Because all I'm trying to do is stop my family from falling apart," Kirsten spat, keeping her voice hushed.

With that, she spun on her heel and left Sandy alone in the kitchen. He sighed wearily. He felt like he had failed: he had failed to help Rebecca; he had failed to keep his promise to Max; and he had failed to stop Kirsten from getting hurt. Even with Rebecca gone, she was still tearing a hole in his marriage. He knew his words and actions had hurt Kirsten, and he wished he could take them back. He felt like he had been taking lessons from Seth, speaking without thinking first. That had to stop. Now that Rebecca was out of their lives, Sandy realised it was time to rebuild his family.