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!
"C'mon Dev!" Anna yelled proudly at her seven-year-old son as he ran down the field. It was a cold Saturday in autumn. A sea of enthusiastic parents surrounded her, but somehow she was able to spot out a handsome dark haired man with expressive eyes. Aka- the one that got away.
"Hey Anna," He greeted with a friendly tone. Suddenly the crowd cheered as Devon scored a goal, "Are you sure he's mine? Because he so didn't get the athletic thing from me."
"He's yours Seth," Anna couldn't help but chuckle, "At least I think so…I mean, he does hold a scary resemblance to the mail man, so I'm not entirely sure."
"So that's how you got the discount on stamps," Seth joked, before growing serious, "Look Anna, we need to talk."
"I'm beginning to think "we need to talk" is the only phrase you know how to say," Anna pointed out lightly, "Like that Tammy Talks A Lot we got Lena for her birthday when she was 5."
"I swear to god that thing was possessed," Seth shook his head, "But all joking aside, Lena's exactly who we need to talk about."
"Why? What's the matter?" Anna's maternal instincts flared up immediately, "Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Seth assured her, keeping his eyes glued to Devon, "But she came to me with an unusual request the other day."
"And what's that?" Anna questioned, stopping for a moment to shout words of encouragement to her son.
"She wants to move in with Summer and I…permanently," Seth answered softly as a bewildered expression covered Anna' face.
"Alright," Anna nodded, trying to act as unfazed as possible, "If that's what she wants to do, then that's what she wants to do."
"Your okay with it?" Seth questioned in shock, "Because, you know, it's okay if your not."
"No, I'm peachy, I mean it's not that I want her to move out, but it's not a huge deal," Anna explained, "Unless your not okay with it…"
"No, I'd love to have her move in," Seth disagreed quickly, "Summer too- she and Lena are getting along great."
"I'm glad to hear that," Anna remarked with phony happiness, "I'll uh, start packing her things."
"Okay, I'll tell Lena," Seth told her, as the game-winning goal was scored by Devon's team, "Well I better go grab Devon, I promised him we'd go for pizza after the game. Did you want to come along?"
"No, I've already got plans," Anna clarified, "But thanks anyways."
"Did you see me?" Devon jogged over, a huge grin covering his face, "I totally rocked out there!"
"You we're awesome bud," Seth laughed, ruffling his hair, "We we're just talking about how much you remind us of David Beckham."
"Really?" Devon's eyes lit up at the mention of his sports idol, "Cuz Lena said I'm more like Mia Hamm because I run like a girl."
"Don't listen to her," Anna shook her head, but couldn't help but snicker at the thought of her sarcastic daughter, "You we're great, sweetie."
"So are you coming for pizza? Dad's taking me to DiCarlo's," Devon asked eagerly, hugging his mother to further persuade her.
"No, I'm sorry Dev, I've got to go," Anna explained, feeling terrible the whole time, "But I'll see you tomorrow! Maybe we can get ice cream or something."
"Okay mom," Devon sighed dejectedly, "Bye." Anna hugged him tightly not wanting to let go.
Anna's POV
The room was so cold, so unrelenting. It was like being in a hotel room, just without the uncomfortable beds and scenic paintings. Instead it was filled with leather furniture and bookcases full of medical volumes. Imagining how many people had passed through this room was almost impossible, and I couldn't help but hate it with a vengeance. Her eyes darted between me and the charts in front of her, and it was painfully easy to pick up the troubled look on her face. She had bad news.
"Anna, I'm sorry to inform you," She said, a little too professionally, "But the cancer has spread."
"What?" I was shocked, even though I had seen this coming from a mile away. My body stiffened, and my heart constricted. "How could this happen?"
"We can't say for sure," She explained, lacing her fingers together, "We thought the treatments we're working." Though I felt like screaming, I restrained myself. It's not her fault, I repeated over and over again in my head. Whose fault was it then? God's? Mine?
"So what do I do now?" I questioned, my voice shaking. Suddenly, all I could think about we're my kids. What would they do without me? They'd probably be okay…but what about Livvy? She was too little to understand. Would she forget me? What about Lena? She'd hate me for not telling her anything was wrong. And Devon? He's my little boy…what if he couldn't take it?
"You could try chemo," She suggested, handing me a pamphlet, "There are a few other options, but chemo may be your best bet. Please read through this though, so you're aware of all your options."
"Okay," I nodded, standing up and turning to leave in two robotic motions, "Thank you." Once I was in my car, I wondered why I'd thanked her. What could I be thankful for? That she delivered the worst news of my entire life? It seemed as if I was unable to understand anything anymore. Instead of dwelling on these things, I put the car in drive, and went home to an empty house.
"I don't understand," Chelsea sighed, eyeing the object in front of her, "What am I supposed to do?" Lena, who was standing across from her, gave her a shocked look.
"Well you eat it," Lena explained, emptying the rest of her package into her mouth, "You open your mouth, and just…pour them in. Then the key is to take a big gulp of soda."
"Soda? But why?" Chelsea asked, carefully ripping open the pink and black package, "You know what, you can have mine. I'll pass."
"Oh no you don't," Lena shoved the package back at her, "You have too! You want to be a normal American teenager? Then shovel that candy in your face, Chels, because every American kid has done this at least once."
"Fine!" Chelsea cried, as she tipped back her head and poured the tiny bits of candy in her mouth. As soon as they hit her tongue, they began to pop, creating a strange feeling after she closed her lips.
"See? Isn't it awesome?" Lena smiled, as she shoved a soda in her cousin's direction, "Now drink some soda before they stop popping." Reluctantly, Chelsea grabbed the soda, and took a generous drink. A cringe came across her face as she felt the candy continue to pop on it's way down her throat.
"That's crazy," Chelsea laughed, "Disgusting, but totally wicked."
"Yeah, supposedly, drinking coke with Pop-rocks is supposed to kill you," Lena mentioned. Chelsea eyes grew as big as saucers and she set the candy down. "I said supposedly. No one has ever actually died from it…except Craig."
"Craig? Who's that? Are you serious?" Chelsea stood up and tried to make herself heave into trash can. Lena grabbed her and sat her back down, a sly smile on her face.
"I was kidding," She snickered, taking a sip of her soda, "Lighten up."
"Your evil," Chelsea shook her head, grabbing a handful of pop rocks and pelting Lena with them.
"You did not just do that," Lena narrowed her eyes and grabbed a pillow off of the couch, "Your about to get your ass handed to you!"
"Bring it on, Cohen!" Chelsea yelled arming herself with a pillow. Both girls let out a battle cry and ran at each other, smacking each other with pillows. Within seconds it turned into an all out war, hair pulling, scratching, kicking, and even biting.
"Very mature," Summer laughed passing the two girls, "Lena, if you can pry your nails out of Chelsea's arm for just moment, there's someone on the phone for you."
"Really?" Lena squeaked, standing up right as she composed herself, "Who?"
"I don't know, it's a boy though," Summer grinned handing her the cordless.
"Ohhh a boy!" Livvy sang, skipping through the living room in her tutu, "I bet Lena's going to get cooties!"
"Oh no, not cooties!" Summer laughed, tickling Livvy. Lena rolled her eyes at her little sister's squeals, as she made her way out to the balcony dragging Chelsea along with her.
"Hello?" Lena spoke into the phone after she closed the door behind her, "Oh Hey, what's going on?"
"Who is it?" Chelsea whispered with a raised eyebrow. Lena just waved her off as she moved further out onto the balcony.
"Tonight? What time?" A huge smile had spread across her face, "Yeah, I'll be there. Later." With a giggle of delight, she clicked off the phone and did a ballet twirl towards Chelsea.
"C'mon, who was it??" Chelsea demanded, grabbing her by the arms.
"Chase Winston," Lena replied, "Who just so happens to be the hottest guy in the senior class. The senior class, Chelsea, the senior class!"
"Wow, so what did he want?" Chelsea inquired, letting her go, "Did he ask you out?"
"Kind of," Lena responded, biting her lip, "He asked me to go with him to this party tonight."
"Oh," Chelsea sighed, moving towards the door, "I thought we had plans."
"Man, I totally forgot," Lena gave her an apologetic look, "I'll call and cancel. I mean, it's just some little party."
"No, Lena, don't do that," Chelsea shook her head, stealing the phone from her second cousin's palm. "The most popular guy in school asked you out, and you are going to go no matter what."
"I'm not going to leave you here," Lena stated, "You could come with!"
"I don't know," Chelsea whined, kicking at a leaf with her shoe, "I don't want to ruin it for you. I'll be fine, I'll just hang out with Marissa and Ryan and the kids."
"No Chels, your going to come along," Lena put her foot down, "It will only be a couple hours anyways. We'll be out of there by 9, and we can go to a late movie or something."
"Okay, I'll go," Chelsea gave in, "But only because I've never been to a New York party before."
"Great, you'll love it," Lena promised, dragging her into the apartment, "And we have to get ready."
"Where are you two going?" Seth asked as Chelsea and Lena crept towards the door. Both we're made up especially nicely, and we're wearing skimpy ensembles.
"Movies," Lena answered nonchalantly, as she fastened one of her black strappy heels.
"Not dressed like that your not," He told her firmly, referring to her short red corduroy skirt and spaghetti strapped top.
"But Dad, it's just the movies," Lena complained, putting her hands on her hips. Summer looked up, turning her attention away from the TV show she and Seth had been watching.
"No buts, Lee, go change," Seth instructed.
"Aw, Seth, don't be such a stick in the mud," Summer shouted with an annoyed tone, "Go ahead guys, have fun, and if you get trashed, remember to take a cab."
"Thanks Summer!" Lena grinned grabbing her clutch off the counter, "See you later guys." Without waiting another second Lena flew out the door, Chelsea following quickly behind her.
"What was that?" Seth cried, looking at Summer, "You didn't respect my authority."
"Whatever Cartman," Summer rested her head on his chest, "Like I said, lighten up. If you are too strict, she'll just want to rebel even more. Believe me, I know. I was a teenage girl not too long ago."
"Your sure about this?" Seth asked raising an eyebrow, "Because I'm going to hold you responsible if Lena ends up on a corner somewhere."
"I'm completely sure," Summer nodded, flipping the channel until she found an old episode of The Valley, "I mean hey, my dad kept trying to keep me from dating you. And look at us now, we're engaged."
"So you're only marrying me in order to stick it to your father?" Seth chuckled, pulling her closer, "That's just great."
"No, I'm marrying you because you make good money," Summer smiled, "And because you're a good kisser."
"You got that right," Seth moved in, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. As she ran her hands through his hair and deepened the kiss, one thought crossed Summer's mind. "When I'm right, I'm right."
A/N and STORY SPOILERS: Thanks for the incredible reviews you guys, I really appreciate them!!! And the constructive criticism was wonderful…you're right, Summer is too chirpy! I can't believe I didn't realize it before. At first, it was because I was trying to show how hard she was trying to make a good impression on the kids. But in some future chapters a problem will arise and Summer will experience the not so fun part of parenting…and there will be a blowout, on more than one account. So just hang tight, and try to stomach her chirpiness for now, and I promise the good 'ole fashioned Summer will show herself soon. Addressing another issue- I realize I jump around a lot when it comes to the point-of-view. It's really annoying, and confusing, I know, and I try to make it clear whose POV each part is in. If you wondering why I don't just do the entire story in one POV here's the reason: Most of all I can cope with Lena's character, I'm her age, and am obviously, using events from my life for inspiration. So it's extremely easy for me to write things in her POV, and really do her character justice. Lastly, for all you RM fans, I have a storyline for them all figured out, and they will get some more face time soon. Look for chapter 9- that will be the beginning of some RM issues. By issues, I don't mean to scare you, just take my word and stick with the story. NOW REVIEW! I beg of you!
Lots of Holiday Love,
Stephanie