The answer to the most popular question: Chelsea Cooper is Jimmy and Hailey's daughter. Sorry for the confusion! I stuck the little "Japan" reference in there to see if anyone would catch it and figure it out. Good job Summer-Breeze171 and I-luv-the-oc-and-smallville! Also, thanks for the comment controversy-queen…legendary? You're too kind! Also, a very Happy Belated Birthday to Adam Brody!

Disclaimer: I don't own The OC or the movie Stepmom to which I owe my inspiration for this story. I do however own any original characters, and the story itself. If you want to use this, or add it to your fan fiction archive/site, please email me so I can have a link. Thank you, and enjoy!

Chelsea' POV

"Disgusting," I muttered under my breath, while searching for my pink imitation Uggz. Leave it to me to wait until the last minute to get ready.

"What's the matter with you?" Marissa shouted. Good, I thought to myself, sounds like she actually did tear her tongue from Ryan's throat long enough to acknowledge my existence.

"I'm sorry that you don't have the decency to keep your hands off each other in front of the munchkins," I sneered, motioning to the kitchen table where Emily were sitting, cheerios all over her face.

"We're young and in love," She replied playfully, "So deal with it." I shook my head and went back to my search for boots.

"Cho!" Emily yelled pointing at a soggy cheerio lying on the floor.

"Cheerio," I nodded kicking at it with my foot, "Those are for eating, not for dirtying the floor with." She looked at me quizzically, and then pointed at the piece of cereal again. I then turned to Grayson, who was crawling on the floor in an awkward, Grayson fashion. Visiting Marissa's just made me realize how lucky I was to be an only child…well at least the youngest with no little kids to deal with.

"Aunt Chelsea?" I heard him yell from under the table "Have you seen my slime?"

"Your slime?" I asked, giving him a puzzled look as I sat down in the chair next to Emily.

"Yeah, it's green and goopy," Josh smiled, nodding his 8-year-old head wildly.

"No, I can't say I've seen it," I shrugged, and then stood up to stop Erin from tipping her bowl of milk over her head.

"There it is!" I heard Josh laugh, and turned around to see him pointing at my butt. I quickly tried to turn to see the back of my dress, and sure enough there was a big green spot right on my ass.

"Perfect," I sighed, stopping myself from loosing my cool, "You watch the squirts, because I have to go change." I pushed Josh towards the twins, and took off in the direction of the guest room. Ripping open my suitcase I rummaged through my things, looking for a suitable outfit. Finally I came across a pair of black pants and a white sweater. After changing into the new outfit, I folded up the dress and set it in the nearly empty laundry basket.

"You almost ready to go?" Ryan asked, sticking his head in the room. I zipped up my suitcase and followed him out.

"As ready as I'm going to be," I shrugged, "What time are we supposed to be over there?"

"Ten minutes from now," He laughed. The Atwood's were notoriously late to everything, especially since they had Emily. I shook my head, and followed him out the door. Maybe this trip would do me some serious good.

"Your kidding me!" Lena gasped, as she answered the door. She threw her arms around me pulling me into the apartment at the same time.

"It's good to see you too!" I snickered, after hugging her back, "Look at you! Your taller than I am now!"

"Have been for a while there, Chels," She rolled her eyes, as she closed the door behind Ryan and Marissa. "Hi guys." She went through the traditional round of hugs, and even faked enthusiasm when Grayson went into explaining the slime incident. Catalina Cohen, ever the gracious hostess. I've must admit sometimes she makes me sick.

"So Lena, we have much to discuss," I grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her out onto the balcony, "Great place by the way."

"Um, thanks," She gave me an awkward look, "I'll pass that on to the actual owners."

"Whatever happened to Jersey anyways?" I asked just to make small talk.

"My mother still lives there," She nodded, "I, at this point in time, am not. At least I'm hoping to move here for good."

"Things not going so well with your mom?" I inquired, leaning over the balcony to look at the busy city streets below. She took a spot on a patio chair and let out a strangled sigh.

"Nope," She answered, starring at the sun dipping out of the sky, "So how are you? What's new?"

"Everything," Chelsea beamed, "Lena, babe, life is great!"

"Wow, that's not a Chelsea like thing to say," Lena pondered, "What happened to all the self-pity, and "I'm so tortured" song and dance?"

"A good healthy dose of American life," Chelsea explained, "It's awesome! I'm in my element. I feel so…normal. I'm no longer the weird girl who moved from Paris or London or Tokyo. I'm just Chelsea."

"Technically aren't you still the girl who moved from Milan, since that's the last place you we're?" Lena wondered aloud, "Or the girl who knows like 4 languages but is denser then a rock?"

"Hey! I resent that," I shot back, sending an icy look in her direction.

"Just trying to make sense of things," She threw her hands up and moved towards the door, "I'd love to hear every minuscule and magnificent detail of your new Californian existence, but we better get inside."

"Your not saved from it you know," I warned, but followed her anyways, "I'm still going to give you the full recap of my first full year in America."

"I'll try to contain my excitement," She stated sheepishly, as she lead me to the kitchen.

"You guys ready?" Summer, clad in an incredibly trendy emerald cocktail dress, asked us.

"Yeah," Lena nodded, as she grabbed Emily who was toddling by, "We'll be waiting in the car. Tell Aunt Marissa we have Emily."

"Alright," She answered, while rooting through her small Gucci handbag, "Here, get in your dad's car, we should be down in a few minutes…or as soon as they finish a round of Madden."

"Oh man," Lena shook her head, with an exasperated sigh, "Who let them near the playstation?"

"Not me," Summer laughed, "I thought I hid that thing! Don't worry, if a rematch ensues, I will not hesitate to unplug it."

"So, let's hear about the wedding plans," Marissa stated joyfully, taking a sip of her sparkling cider.

"Oh wow," Summer sighed, resting her chin on her hand, "I've got so much to do, it's not even funny."

"Did you pick a place?" Ryan inquired, watching the kids out of the corner of his eye. Chelsea and Lena had volunteered to take the 4 little ones to play some old-fashioned arcade games in the back of the restaurant. Emily was asleep on Lena's shoulder, and Grayson, Livvy, and Devon we're fighting over who would get to verse Chelsea in a ninja game.

"Yeah, but you guys aren't going to believe where," Seth replied, pausing for effect, "Newport."

"Newport?" Ryan laughed, "Your kidding, right?"

"Nope," Summer shook her head, "The location happens to be the only thing we have decided on. And Newport is the venue."

"I'm surprised," Marissa remarked, "I thought you both despised Newport...I mean it's been like 14 years since either of you have lived there."

"True," Seth agreed, pulling Summer's hand in his, "But it just seemed right. And no wedding is as interesting as a Newport wedding."

"I guess that would be a nice change of pace," Ryan nodded, picking at the cloth napkin in front of him, "And it will be nice to see everyone again. Kind of like old times."

"See?" Summer asked excitedly, "It will be so much fun. Just like high school." All at once, each one of the four adults went completely silent. High School…what a scary thought.

Sorry this chapter was so short (like the last one). I've cooked up a few more storylines in the last few days, so I've got some surprises in store for you guys. This chapter was originally longer, but the whole thing got deleted yesterday (just before I was about to update) so I had to hurry and re-write it since I want to get in a few more chapters before Christmas. Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!!!!! Another chapter should be posted by Monday at the latest. Thanks so much for all the great feedback guys!

Happy Holidays,

Stephanie