Disclaimer: you know the deal, I own nothing except my dirty little mind ;-)

Thanks J, Kursk, Liz and Leentje for the reviews, it is really appreciated!

Thanks to Chuckie for beta-ing

Chapter 3

Pushing the door open, Sandy and Kirsten entered Alyssa's bedroom together.

"Alyssa, Cassandra?" Kirsten asked when she couldn't see the two girls.

Spotting a woman on the balcony, Sandy guided his wife to the French window and they both stepped outside. They were greeted by the chatter of Alyssa and Cassandra who were sitting on the bench, laughing and pointing at a picture in the magazine they were reading.

When the grandparents appeared on the balcony they both turned their heads and then jumped up and ran over to them, Alyssa embracing Kirsten and Cassandra immediately clinging onto Sandy.

"Hey girls!" Sandy laughed, picking up Cassandra and pinching her cheek lightly.

Kirsten meanwhile runs her hand over Alyssa's dark blonde hair, tightly hugging her granddaughter.

They were interrupted when the woman at the balcony railing turned around and softly said:

"Hey Kirsten, Sandy..."

Both adults lifted their heads simultaneously, a puzzled expression on their faces. After a few seconds Kirsten suddenly clapped her hand together and called:

"Oh my God, Marissa, is it you?"

Marissa nodded smiling and walked over to them, greeting both with a hug.

"Long time no see! What are you doing here?" Sandy asked when finding back his voice.

"Well, that's a long story... Bernadette will tell you. How are you both doing?"

"Bernadette?" Sandy asked puzzled before answering: "We're doing fine, thanks. Kirsten quit working some time ago as Ryan took over her position at Newport Living. So we had some time to finally travel abroad, do what we wanted to do since the boys left home. And of course we try to spend as much time as possible with our grandchildren"

"How have you been?" Kirsten then asked, placing herself on the chair while the kids went back to their magazine.

"I've been doing great, thanks. I have been travelling a lot, working in Europe and Asia. But I'm actually thinking of cutting down. I haven't been home for ages..." her voice trailed off, her eyes wandering back to the two figures in the garden.

Sandy and Kirsten followed her glance and realised that it was Seth and Ryan sitting together on the grass, Seth's arm lying around Ryan's shoulder. Kirsten gave Sandy a worried look, slightly tilting her head, her eyes asking "Do you know what's wrong?". Sandy answered with a shrug, his eyes also expressing worry.

"Ok, why don't we head downstairs and help Summer and Bernadette with dinner?" Kirsten then suggested, already getting up and heading for the bedroom. She needed to know what was going on.

Sandy nodded and held out his hands to the two girls who got up, reaching out for their grandfather's hand, joining him on the way downstairs.

Marissa threw one last, worried glance over to the couple in the garden before she also hurried inside, making her way down to the kitchen.

When Sandy reached the kitchen with the two girls, Bernadette was setting the table with Kirsten, while Summer was breast-feeding Benjamin. Cassandra immediately broke free from her grandfather's hand, running over to her mum, excitingly asking her:

"Mum, mum, did you see who's here?"

Summer lifted her head, amused by the excitement of her daughter, when Marissa entered the kitchen, smiling wildly at the sight of Summer and the baby.

"Hey Summer, long time no see!"

"Oh my God Coop!" Summer yelled, watching her childhood friend walking over to her. Not able to get up as Benjamin was still hungry, she smiled happily at the model.

Marissa hugged her carefully while admiring the beautiful baby in her friend's arms.

"Gosh I missed you" Summer told her, happy to see Marissa again after what seemed an eternity. They started chatting about the long time they hadn't seen each other, while Kirsten and Bernadette continued preparing dinner. Sandy meanwhile had taken the girls to the living room, where they wanted to show him their latest playstation game.

Finally Benjamin seemed to have had enough and started yawning. Summer tenderly placed the baby over her shoulder for the burp.

Afterwards she walked over to the nearby stroller, placing her son inside, covering him with a small blanket. When she was sure that Benjamin was asleep, she walked back to Marissa and gave her a warm embrace.

"Do you know..." she asked her friend under her breath.

Marissa nodded without a word, worriedly looking at Summer.

"Gosh, it's so good to have you here..." Summer told her honestly, her eyes telling Marissa that she was worried too.

"Dinner's ready" Kirsten finally called, interrupting the girls in their playstation game and releasing Sandy from his constant failing to win against them.

The three of them joined Summer and Marissa on the way to the table, where they sat down, hungrily waiting for the food to be dished up.

"Who's gonna get the boys?" Kirsten asked Bernadette, who flinched visibly at the thought of her husband. As Summer and Marissa were in a deep conversation about childbirth and the girls were talking about their new record on beating Sandy, Kirsten glanced over to her husband, gesturing him to go outside and find out, what was going on.

Sandy got up again and walked past Kirsten and Bernadette, not without noticing how tense and pale his daughter-in-law was.

When he stepped outside, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the upcoming confrontation. While walking over to his sons, Sandy tried to figure out what could have happened between Bernadette, Marissa and Ryan. He was sure that Bernadette's tension was somehow connected to Marissa. But why on earth would Bernadette invite Marissa over in the first place?

He clearly remembered his discussion with Ryan short after his son had met Bernadette. It was one year after Marissa had left and Sandy knew that Ryan was still hoping for her to come back, to get in contact with him after one year of complete silence.

So when he started dating Bernadette, Sandy was worried. Sure, he liked the girl, but he could see that Bernadette was in love with Ryan. And Ryan was too hurt to commit himself to another relationship with all his heart. So in Sandy's eyes, Ryan was using Bernadette to get over Marissa.

Being the parent and experienced with relationships, he expressed his worries to Ryan. Of course his son wasn't known to be very talkative, but Sandy managed to get a few things out of him. Ryan made him realise, that he loved Bernadette. Not like he had loved Marissa, but still enough for him to consider marrying her. He explained to Sandy that he would never be able to forget Marissa. She sure wasn't his first or last love, but she definitely was his soul mate. That was the last time Sandy tried to discuss relationships with Ryan and from then on, he accepted all his sons decisions in this regard.

Hearing someone walking up to them, Seth raised his head and looked at his dad. After a quick side glance at Ryan he stood up, turning around to warn Sandy with a look. Although he had been practising the non-verbal communication for the past few years, it was still not working and Sandy just threw him an amused glance, clueless about what his son wanted to tell him.

Ryan wiped away the last few tears, not wanting his foster dad to see him crying. Slowly raising he turned around, facing Sandy with a blank expression on his face, trying to hide his sorrow.

"Hi Sandy, good to see you" Ryan said, his voice deep but emotionless, pulling him into an embrace.

"Son, it's also good to see you" Sandy answered, very well knowing that Ryan was hiding something.

"So, do I have to guess or are you gonna tell me what is going on?" he addressed the dark blonde man in front of him.

Looking directly into Sandy's eyes, Ryan didn't fuss around but told him straight: "Bernadette has cancer".

Telling from the look on their dad's face, Seth and Ryan knew that this was worse than he had expected. They could see questions forming in Sandy's mind, questions that were never posed, as he stayed silent, wordlessly absorbing the news. Finally he laid his hand on Ryan's shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

"I'm so sorry son... We'll get through this, ok, there is nothing to worry, and there are treatments and..."

"It's too late..." Ryan interrupted him, his voice shaking, not able to continue, as he allowed his fear to surface.

"Bernadette's going to die dad, that's why Marissa is here. Bernadette wants Ryan and Marissa to get back together once... once she's gone..." Seth explained softly.

"But that's... that's ridiculous!" Sandy exclaimed upset, shaking his head in disbelieve. "What are you gonna do now?"

"One step after another... let's get it over with this dinner, we need to tell Kirsten. And we need to talk about this altogether; we will need your support during this time... I'll handle the Marissa story later..." Ryan announced, pulling himself together, vigorously heading to the kitchen, gesturing Sandy and Seth to follow him.