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Chapter 19
"Gosh, it's good I'm here, you're a mess!" Dawn gasped after shortly inspecting her son. Without hesitating she rushed past Ryan, avoiding any body contact, closed the door behind herself and took off her sunglasses, which she placed on the commode in the foyer, checking herself in the mirror.
With a sigh Ryan trotted into the living room, wondering what she was up to. When Marissa came walking out of the kitchen to see who had answered the door, she caught sight of Ryan and flashed him a happy smile, inspecting him from head to toe.
"Slept well?"
"Yeah, thanks… seems I've lost my clothes though…" Ryan replied amused, again looking around to find something to dress.
"Kirsten threw them into the laundry, I guess you had been wearing the same things for quite some time... Is it possible to keep up the same style over 13 years!"
"I guess some things never change…" the architect sighed with a nod to the woman standing in the foyer.
Marissa followed his look and watched the strange woman silently. Somehow she had the feeling that she had seen this woman before, but it didn't ring any bells. Shrugging she returned her glance to Ryan, tilting her head to the side, showing him that she had no idea who was standing just a few meters away from her.
Before he could answer Alyssa entered the living room with Colin, carrying Ryan's bathrobe and grinning cheekily at him.
"Morning sleepyhead!" she exclaimed cheery, but Ryan still noted the hidden sadness in her eyes.
She handed him the bathrobe, which he put on immediately, feeling slightly embarrassed by his appearance in front of the children.
"Don't ya wanna hug your grandma?" Dawn could suddenly be heard, emerging from the entrance hall, extending her arms to the girl.
"Dawn…" Alyssa lamely mocked joy, a shiver running through her body.
She slowly walked up to Dawn and embraced her reluctantly, turning her head away from the older woman's face to avoid feeling sick of her boozy breath.
"Who's your little friend?" Dawn then asked while holding Alyssa one arm length away from herself, not feeling comfortable with any body contact. She hated the whole hugging thing, but she knew when she had to pull an act.
"That's Colin… my brother" Alyssa triumphantly told her, expectantly looking at Dawn.
Ryan's mother nearly choked at the words of the girl, throwing her a mad glance but didn't say anything before turning to her son, hissing:
"Told ya she's cheating on ya Ry!"
"Watch it Dawn" Ryan dangerously replied, his voice husky and full of suppressed rage. "Colin's Marissa's son" he continued, pointing to the model next to him.
"Maybe you remember her from the Casino night, the day before you left me!" he hissed, his blue eyes dark and provoking.
Colin and Marissa stood helpless at the scene in front of them, not exactly knowing what had happened between mother and son. Alyssa finally released herself from her grandmother's grip and walked back to her Dad, taking his hand, forcing him to look at her.
"Dad, Grandma and Granddad will be here soon. The obituary is out today… Maybe you should take a shower and get dressed…" his daughter reminded him softly.
Ryan blinked twice to pull himself out of the trance he had been in, absorbing what Alyssa told him. Then he nodded, threw Dawn one last glance and started walking up the stairs to the bedroom, trying to block out all thoughts towards his mother.
"Maybe you two get dressed as well" Marissa told Colin and Alyssa after a few moments of silence.
Although he had never seen that woman before and despite realising that she was obviously Ryan's biological mother and thus his grandmother, Colin hated Dawn on the spot. The way she had been talking to Alyssa and his Dad she showed no respect nor real interest in their lives, she hadn't even told them that she was sorry for their loss.
He nodded to his mum and gently took Alyssa's hand, leading her upstairs to her room.
"Can I get you something to drink, Mrs. Atwood?" the model asked when the children had left, knowing that she was facing a difficult situation. Ryan had never mentioned that his mother was back in his life again and after their encounter a few moments ago Marissa figured, that they still hadn't made up.
"D'you think that's your house, you sleazy little bitch" the older woman replied fuming, obviously looking for trouble.
But she was wrong, if she thought Marissa was easy to handle. The model stepped up to the mother of Ryan, looking directly into her blue, bleary eyes, before she spat:
"Don't you dare, you old scarecrow! You think you can come here and drag Ryan down with you in this moment of weakness where he needs all the support he can get? Listen, if you don't pull yourself together and try to at least act as if you care about the loss of his wife, I will personally call the police and let you deport from this house before I will request a restraining order. I doubt Sandy Cohen would refuse to help me in this case. Am I understood!"
Dawn was for the first time in a very long time speechless and just stared at Marissa, not believing that this tall, slim model was able to develop such a resolute and aggressive manner.
The blonde woman nodded her head, hiding her fury, realising that she needed to talk to Ryan in private, without all the people around who made him weak. She needed to remind him where they came from and who true family was, trying to convince him that she was back for good. Her desperate need for money had grown over the last few years and she knew, now that his wife was dead there was a fair chance of her moving in with him to finally get hold of that money he had been making.
The door bell disturbed the trial of strength between the two females. Both took one step back and turned their heads to the entrance. Before either of them could react the children came running down the stairs, racing each other towards the door. Colin arrived first, but just stood there until Alyssa was just inches away, before he ripped open the door to reveal the Cohen's standing outside.
Alyssa couldn't stop in time and flew past a laughing Colin right into the arms of Kirsten, who hugged her tightly, running her hand through the long, dark blonde hair of her granddaughter.
"Good morning sunshine!" Sandy laughed meanwhile, tousling the girl's hair before he stepped into the house, greeting Colin with a manly pad on the shoulder.
Kirsten and Alyssa followed closely behind to make room for the other Cohen family members who were pushing the buggy of Benjamin up the driveway.
When Cassandra had joined Colin and Alyssa they all disappeared to the girl's room, knowing that the adults had to discuss a lot and also fearing that all the Newpsies who were expected to arrive soon would just be too much to handle.
Sandy and Kirsten immediately sensed the tension filling the room, shooting each other a knowing glance before walking over to the two woman standing in the middle of the living room.
"Hey Dawn" Kirsten said while extending her hand to the blonde female, her eyes remaining distant.
"Hey guys… I'm gonna go and get Ryan" Marissa quickly explained, happy to escape the difficult situation.
The model rushed up the stairs and released her breath when she was out of sight, trying to shake off the rage that had been building inside of her. Looking around she wondered behind which door the bedroom of Ryan was located.
Hearing laughter of children she passed the first room and walked on. Marissa was just about the knock on the next door when she thought she heard the shattering of glass. Anticipating that Ryan would lock himself in if she knocked, the model slowly opened the door and peered inside.
The lamellae were half closed but Marissa instantly saw the shards laying scattered over the floor. Her eyes wandered through the room until she detected a now dressed Ryan, who was standing in front of a commode, on which the family photos and some porcelain animals were placed. Not aware of her presence, the adult reached for a little china bird and observed it closely, before clenching his teeth and throwing it against the wall where it shattered into thousand pieces, shards flying through the room, landing on the furniture and the floor. The model flinched and gasped loudly in shock, signalling Ryan that he was not alone anymore. Turning around he gave Marissa one of his looks she knew so well, while tears silently streamed down his cheeks. Realising that she was holding her breath Marissa exhaled, before closing the door behind herself and carefully walking over to the desperate man. She softly grabbed his hand and gently led him to the bed, inspected it shortly for shards, before she nodded satisfied and made the architect sit down. Ryan didn't speak and didn't resist her, his glance fixed on the floor, silent tears still welling up in his eyes.
Marissa wordlessly knelt down in front of him, placing her hands on his thighs, before lifting her head and directly staring into the beautiful blue eyes of her son's father.
"It's ok to grieve…"
"I never learnt to…" Ryan whispered.
"So you thought you'd do it Chino-way" Marissa smiled lightly, squeezing his thigh softly.
"No… I just… the room is so empty without her… it feels so lonely… the silence makes me furious…"
"Why furious?"
"Furious at myself for not being able to grieve with my daughter…. furious at Bernadette for leaving me alone… furious at the whole world for continuing to exist while my world is shattering…"
"That's totally normal Ryan… it is ok to be angry…" Marissa soothed.
"But once you have let off steam by smashing china you should think about the time you could spend with Bernadette, remember the happy times… it is important to keep the spirit of your wife alive inside of you… in a good way… do you know what I mean?"
Marissa could see Ryan's teeth clenching, his jaw tense and his eyes fixed on the model. Finally he nodded slowly, his face softening, his dark blue eyes regaining some sparkles.
"I miss her so much…"
"I know…"
The model got up from the ground and placed herself next to the architect, pulling him near, just holding him, hoping to give him comfort.
"Thank you…" finally Ryan mumbled, pulling away from the woman next to him.
"For what?"
"Being here… helping me through this…" Ryan replied, before deeply inhaling and softly telling her:
"Maybe… that's a sign…"
"Sign for what?" Marissa answered, confused about the tension she suddenly felt, the way Ryan looked at her. He hadn't been looking at her like this since… since they had been dating 13 years ago…
"You saving me… Emotionally, not by weapon" he slightly grinned. "That's new… Maybe that's the turn in our relationship…."
Slowly Marissa realised where he was going, what he was trying to say and she just stared at him with wide open eyes.
"I know I'm supposed to be grieving at least another year… you know the Newpsies… but I want to have you in my life, to have Colin around… I will never forget Bernadette and I will always remember her when I look at Alyssa… but I don't wanna lose another 13 years… will you and Colin move in with us…?"
Suddenly the door was ripped open and Colin and Alyssa came running in but froze at the darkness of the room.
The adults jumped up and gestured towards the children, screaming:
"Don't come near, stay where you are!"
Alyssa scanned the room and nodded knowingly when she identified the shards on the floor, before she lifted her head and directly looked into the eyes of her father, searching for the sight of tears.
The adults carefully walked over to the children, where Ryan picked up Alyssa, while Marissa led Colin out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Alyssa hugged her father tenderly, placing her head on his shoulder, mumbling:
"Can I show you something in my room?"
Ryan gently ran his hand over her head and walked towards the girl's nursery. Inside he placed her on the floor, while noting that Colin and Marissa had followed them. Alyssa wandered to the closet and opened it, reaching for a box hidden in the corner.
The dark blonde girl pulled it out and dragged it across the room to where the others were standing. Colin sensed her uneasiness and joined her, helping her push the heavy box through the room, curious to see what was inside.
Ryan and Marissa had in the meantime placed themselves on Alyssa's bed and watched the two kids working together, secretly exchanging a look of gladness, while Marissa grabbed for Ryan's hand.
Finally the two children had arrived at the bed and Colin joined the two adults on the bed, all three expectantly looking at the youngest Atwood family member.
When Alyssa opened the box, Ryan gasped, before he let himself slip off the bed and knelt down next to his daughter, carefully inspecting the content of the carton.
Reaching for the different toys he examined every single one, realising that Alyssa had obviously tortured every doll, action figure and stuffed animal.
"Those were toys Mum had bought me or I had chosen to give my little brother once he was born… I was so angry at them for leaving me that I threw them against the wall and garbled them…." the 11 year old girl explained in a low voice.
Ryan wordlessly pulled his daughter into his arms, embracing her tenderly, once again amazed about the similarities between them.
Colin silently got up and peered inside the box, before pulling out a figure from his pocket, giving it a little stare, before handing it over to his sister.
"Here… that's my favourite action figure… Kid Chino… maybe you want to start a new collection…"
Alyssa looked at Colin with tears in her eyes, before reaching out and taking the little toy from his hand, giving him a happy smile, thanking him with a nod.
Marissa proudly stroked her son's hair, smiling sweetly at the two siblings.
The moment of happiness and peace between the newly united family was destroyed by a scream and the sound of shattering glass from downstairs, followed by loud words from Sandy.
Ryan threw Marissa a glance before he got up and told the kids:
"You two stay here, Marissa and myself will be downstairs, we will get you when the visitors are gone, ok?"
Alyssa recognised the tone in her father's voice and knew that he was serious. She nodded her head and lightly pushed Colin's side, implying to do the same. The boy reluctantly nodded, slightly annoyed to miss the drama.
Satisfied, Ryan got up and took Marissa's hand, guiding her outside, before taking a deep breath and walking down the stairs hand in hand with the model.
A/N: The story is slowly coming to an end, so the drama is getting less, as I try to bring all the lose ends to an ending... it's late and I'm talking crap, sorry if I disappoint anyone...