Okay so I'm pretty sure that this will be the last chapter, sorry but I don't think I can get much more out of it. I'm sure that if something comes up I can incorporate it into it, even maybe about selling The Newport Group?

Final Surprises

They were headed down the Californian coast in Sandy's new convertible. The breeze rushed through Kirsten's hair as she turned to Sandy beaming.

"I've never felt this free in a long time. I love the new car!" She shouted at Sandy on top of the noise created by the wind.

"Well I had to have something to keep my mind off you; just like you re-modelled the house over the last summer."

"It's a good thing you didn't re-model your old car, that could have turned out quite interesting!" She laughed, imagining the thought.

"How do you know that, I might be quite handy with a… with whatever mechanics use!" He retorted realising his lack of knowledge in that area.

"Uhuh?" She raised an eyebrow mockingly as Sandy kept his eyes on the road ahead. He smiled as he turned the music up and began to sing along before he was interrupted by the ring of his mobile. Reaching down he pulled it up recognising the number as the boys at home.

"Hello?"

"Oh hey Dad, it's me" Seth's voice rang out on the other line.

"Hey son. Guess who's coming back home with me?" Kirsten smiled sweetly as she thought of the prospect of seeing her boys again. They were about to start senior year, this definitely wouldn't be one to miss, I'm sure there'll be enough drama to keep them busy she thought as Sandy continued on the phone.

"Mom? Woah she's finally coming home, that's awesome. Well I was ringing to see if you minded if Ryan and I went out with the girls tonight, something about celebrating the end of the summer, but we really should be home."

"Actually it would probably be better if you just waited until the morning. Your mom will need to get settled in and get used to Newport life again. Since she's been away there's heaps to catch up on, you know how fast this town moves."

Seth finally caught his drift when he remembered that Kirsten hadn't been told about the Ryan/Trey/Marissa scenario. "That sounds great; we can make it extra special for tomorrow morning. I hope it all goes well."

"Thanks. You two have a good night, we'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye. Oh and say hi to Mom for me... wait and Ryan says hi to her too."

"Bye."

He hung up the phone as he turned to Kirsten briefly. "The boys say hi, they are just going out with the girls tonight to celebrate the end of the summer or something along those lines."

"They aren't going to be there when we get home?" She questioned, obviously disappointed. "I was looking forward to seeing them, it's been so long, I just miss them so much."

"Honey, they miss you too. It's just they only have one last chance at everything now, I don't want them to miss out on anything. Besides, you know how fast the gossip mill runs and since you've been gone for a couple of months you have no idea what's gone on."

"Good point, I can't wait to hear what the latest Newport calamities have been, unexpected and outrageous as usual I'm guessing?"

"You have no idea. But I'll tell you once we get home, once we are in Newport to make the scene right. You know, Newport gossip in our Newport house…" He started rambling, trying to cover up the information he was eventually going to bring down on her.

"Sandy, are you sure everything is okay? You're rambling which usually means you're trying to hide something."

"Oh sweetie it's just because I'm excited you're coming home. You have no idea how much I've been wanting this."

"And you think that I wanted to stay in rehab?"

"True, I guess it's just been so long that once the day has finally arrived it's a big deal for me."

"I know what you mean, I'm so glad I'm coming home. Our own room, our own bed, even our own high thread-count sheets!"

"You really are a Newpsie aren't you?"

"A lovable one though?"

"Definitely, to me at least!"

They carried on their playful banter for the whole of the trip home. Once they arrived at the Cohen casa they made their way to the front door where Sandy opened it as Kirsten stepped forwards inside and a smile crept upon her face as she revelled in the familiarity of her house, her home. Carrying her bags he led her to their bedroom where she instantly lay on their bed just staring at the ceiling while she reached over to grab a photo of them on the bedside table. Carefully scrutinising it she noticed the twinkle in Sandy's eyes, his hands firmly but lovingly encasing hers around her hips. Their smiles matched as they stared deeply into each other oblivious to the fact that their photo was being taken.

She was snapped out of her daze as she felt the bed dip as Sandy sat down next to her. He gently pulled her up to a sitting position similar to his and started stroking her hair down as she leant into his touch. They sat their silent for a moment until Kirsten spoke.

"So, what's been up in Newport recently?"

"Well there was one main thing." He started seriously. "When we were in Miami Marissa offered to keep an eye out for Trey and while she was doing this he tried to rape her."

Kirsten gasped at the thought of such a horrendous thing but remained silent, unable to find the right words for the scenario.

"She didn't want Ryan to find out and neither did Trey for obvious reasons, I mean of course he would want to kill him. And they did well but eventually Marissa told Summer who told Seth who then told Ryan."

"When was this?" She whispered hoarsely.

"The night you checked into Suriak. When Ryan found out he headed straight for Treys to 'settle things once and for all' as he said to Seth. Seth still level headed called Marissa hoping that she would be able to stop him as she was closer to him than they were. She rushed over to Trey's place only to witness Ryan underneath Trey as he was being strangled with a telephone ready to be smashed into his head."

She gasped again as the tears began to stream down her face.

"She tried to pull him off but he refused. She saw a gun on the floor and realised that the only way she could stop him from killing Ryan was to shoot him so she did."

"She shot Trey?" She questioned, shocked and flabbergasted but the news that she had just heard.

"Yes."

Another moment passed before she slowly got up and started walking away.

"Baby, where are you going?"

"I don't need alcohol Sandy but right now I think I need to be alone."

"Kirsten, if you're locking yourself in the wardrobe I'm coming with you."

She stared at him questioningly before nodding.

They sat in the darkness as Sandy protectively wrapped his arms around pulling her closer to him. She leant backwards into him resting her head on the top of his chest as she felt his breath hot upon her neck. He gently wiped away her tears as he soothingly whispered in her ear.

"Do you want to know the rest?"

She nodded as he carried on his story.

"Well Trey didn't die, he was in a coma for most of the summer right up until the end of it, he woke up about 5 days ago. All through the summer the case dragged on, the D.A was convinced that Marissa was covering for Ryan considering his record. When Trey woke up they just hoped that he could tell the police the real story and everything would go away. But, with Julie being Julie she had to intervene. She went to Trey and bribed him to tell the police that Ryan shot him, and he did. It was only until Marissa paid him a visit at the hospital that he changed his statement and they let Ryan go."

"Let him go?"

"Because Trey had said that Ryan shot him, he had been put in jail. Thank goodness that Marissa did what she did otherwise Ryan would still be in prison. The thing is though, at Harbour the parents didn't exactly want Ryan and Marissa attending, they filled a petition and a new dean of discipline was appointed who went through their records and expelled Marissa but not Ryan. Sadly, Ryan punched the dean when he wouldn't let go of Marissa which managed to expel him as well."

"He doesn't go to Harbour?"

"No, I'm thinking of getting him a tutor. I found one, she tutored Styllonne's kids which must mean she's very good. And this doesn't mean that college is out of the question, Ryan has an amazing GPA and his grades are solid, I'm sure he'll be able to pull through."

She sat for a moment in silence, taking the news in. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"The doctors agreed that it probably would hinder your progress there, I just wanted you to get better as fast as you could. And then you could come home and be with us, that's all we wanted."

"And I want to be there for you, show you how much you have done for me."

"Oh honey you don't need to do that, every time I saw you that was enough to help me through."

"But I wanted to share your burden, to actually help you through it. Not in the sense of just being there, I wasn't even there!"

"Kirsten, sweetie, to me the highest priority was you getting better and I had set it in my mind that nothing was going to get in the way of that. This year scared me and I just wanted you to repair yourself so to speak."

"Well I am 'repaired' now and so I am here for you." She paused for a moment before delving deeper into the scenario she was faced with. "How did the boys cope?"

"You know Seth, he tried to make light of the situation as usual but he's matured so much this summer. I think with the loss of you and the realisation that there could be serious consequences dawned on him and he stepped up to the responsibility."

"He didn't lose me… just temporarily misplaced me. Oh Sandy he must think I'm a horrible mum."

"No of course he doesn't. He's always looked up to you and this has just made him realise that no one is perfect, that there is always somewhere where someone will fall down. This was your issue, it's perfectly normal."

"But downing a bottle of vodka everyday isn't normal Sandy."

"I know, I didn't mean the actual actions. It's just that all throughout his life you've lead the perfect life, you've appeared perfect on the outside. While at times I have known that you aren't okay you've managed to make it seem like you are to everyone else and this just made him realise that you are human, that you do have feelings and you do have faults."

"How do you manage to turn everything around like that?" She said sweetly, leaning against his chest.

"It's all part of my charm."

She paused for another while before continuing. "So, how's Ryan coping with all of this? Are he and Marissa still going out?"

"From what I know they are. At one point he had turned even more silent and reserved than usual but I guess after Trey left he realised his place in this family and with Marissa. It's seemed to all work out for the best."

"Even though he and Marissa got expelled from Harbour?"

"He will get by, I'm sure with the new tutor that he'll be able to keep his grades up and we will make sure that he gets into college, he has so much potential."

"Yea he does. You know, sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we didn't take Ryan in, or if Theresa didn't lose the baby. I know it's selfish but I can't imagine life without him now. I mean Seth wouldn't have developed this much and while Newport would have been quite a bit less eventful, he's just seemed to piece everything together, like we were just waiting for him to arrive and complete our lives."

"It's like as if he's modified our pieces in a good way so that everything fits, because it definitely feels as if he was born into this family."

"Yea… I wouldn't have it any other way."

She allowed Sandy to fully encompass her body with his arms as he pulled her closer in an embrace. Just basking in the moment they let time pass slowly as they revelled in the touch of each other, the closeness that they has missed out on for so long. The tears started to well up in her throat as she began to quietly snuffle.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"Sandy, there's something I should have told you a long time ago. You're going to hate me for this."

Slightly scared at what we might hear, he urged her on. "Hate you for what?"

Gripping his arms tighter, she enveloped herself in him in a security embrace. "I… I had… an abortion." She lowered her head as the tears began to stream down her face.

Curling up into a ball she allowed Sandy's hands to drop from their position around her as he took the information in.

Sitting there in shock he stared straight ahead his mind filling of questions, when? Where? Why? And most of all, whose?

With her head bent down low and her arms wrapped tightly around herself she began to weep openly and the sobs shook her body.

Snapping back into reality he noticed Kirsten sitting there in a state. His arm gently trailed up her back as he tried to console her.

"You hate me Sandy don't you? You hate me!" Her screams became shriller as she faced the prospect she was verbalising.

Soothingly he whispered while rubbing her back. "Of course not honey. I just need to know the details. Whose baby was it?"

She gulped inwardly before answering his question fearing the rage he would inevitably feel afterwards. "Yours."

Time stopped as it dawned on Sandy while his head dropped as he quietly got up.

"Don't leave me Sandy! Oh you hate me, I knew you would!"

"I'm not leaving you, just moving closer to you." He sat bat down again next to where Kirsten lay curled up in a ball and once again went to wrap his arms protectively around her. She fell back into him as she let her tears seep through his shirt. "When was it?"

She breathed another sharp inwards breath before continuing. "You know how we had a small… well break kind of. It was just after that. I suppose I must have gotten pregnant before we broke up."

"So you terminated the baby in the 2 weeks that we were broken up for?"

"No, I didn't know by then but I would have if I had known. When we got back together Sandy, everything was great. I was still too young to settle down and to be honest I didn't want to. I didn't want anything spoiling what we already had, and I suppose part of me was afraid that the same thing would happen and we would break up. I guess I was just immature."

"Kirsten, you're right, you were too young, even I was too young but I'm sure we would have been fine. Have you told anyone else?"

"No, well my mother knew but no one else, I didn't want you to find out like you had about the Jimmy kiss. I'm so sorry, I know you must hate me but I'm sorry."

"Thank you." He paused before continuing. "Honey, don't be sorry. What's done is done, we can't take it back so don't dwell on it. Of course I don't hate you, it's impossible for me to hate you. I can't say that I wasn't shocked at your revelation but I am definitely not mad with you. Kirsten, I love you and nothing can change that. What I've realised over the past year is that even if anything happened I would still love you because you are a good person and you love me, that's all that I could ever hope for. Sure you've made a few mistakes but this isn't one. The only mistake you made here was not telling me, I hate to think that you've lived with this burden for over 20 years. And just think, if you didn't have that abortion we probably wouldn't have had Seth and think how much you'd be missing out on!"

"Yea, that's been my mantra the whole time. Thank you for understanding. I love you."

"I love you too. Now do you think you're reading to face the world, or at least sleep?"

"Yea, I think we've made the most of the wardrobe… well almost." She hinted with a smile.

"But for now I think we should get to bed, it's getting late."

"Thanks, for everything Sandy. I'm so lucky to have you."

"Right back at you." He lifted her up and gently carried her to bed where he placed her underneath the covers. He returned to his side and hopped in next to her as she pulled herself up to him resting her head on his chest. He began stroking the top of her hair placing fluttering kisses along where his hand had followed. Her breathing steadied as she drifted off to sleep and Sandy joined her moments later. They lay there entwined as they finally slept together in the complete comfort of one another knowing that they had talked through their entire problem, that they had finally no ground between them, they were together again.

Thanks everyone who has been reading this and especially those who have been reviewing! I'm now working on a Kandy at Berkeley fic which should be coming up soon, at the moment it's just little odd chapters so I''ll have to get on to that. Thanks again!