Later that night, Ryan was in the pool house playing some ninja game on the Playstation 2. He became bored after dinner, with Seth not being home and all. Therefore, he thought it best to whip out the video games. In fact, he was waiting for a phone call from Theresa that night. They wanted to iron out the details for Matthew's next visit. Ryan was still thinking about the paternity test; however, he was not sure that he wanted to do it. Theresa had never lied to him, especially about something as important as this, and he was not sure he wanted to question her truthfulness now.
It had now reached nine 'o clock in Newport Beach. Ryan finally beat the fifth level, which was not an impressive accomplishment for him. Usually, he could go quite far in the game without any work. This time, since he was so preoccupied with what was going on in his life right now, that the game was now intensely difficult for him to play.
Just when Ryan was on the sixth level, Seth walked in. He was moderately nice dressed. Seth had on a sweater vest with a shirt underneath with some corduroys and Converse sneakers. He looked slightly disappointed.
"Hey, Man, how did things go?" Ryan asked. He still stared blankly into the screen.
"Not good, Man. Her dad like hates my life. I didn't think that I could do worse - " Seth started to explain.
" - But you did," Ryan filled in.
"I really wanted to make it work this time too. What's Summer going to think now..." Seth pondered aloud. He sat down on the floor, picked up the second controller, and began to play two players with Ryan.
"Well, she stayed with you before, so she will again," Ryan reassured him.
"I know, but I really wanted to make a good impression this time," Seth said. "So how are things here?"
"They've been better," Ryan replied.
"How come?" Seth wondered.
"My dad is getting out of prison in less than a week, and could very well get custody of me. Theresa is supposed to call me about details for this weekend, and I'm still thinking about... a DNA test," Ryan answered.
"What? Are you sure she's lying about the paternity, Man?" Seth asked.
"I don't know, and probably not, but Marissa suggested it because we don't know for sure if he's mine, and if I'm going to be paying child support, then... I should know," Ryan explained.
"True, very true. So what's this business with your dad. You're not going to leave us, are you?" Seth asked.
"No, I don't plan to, and I don't want to, but I guess my dad has a shot of getting custody of me - if he tried," Ryan said.
"How big of a shot?" Seth wondered.
"Not a big one, but if he decided he wanted to, it could cause a mess, I guess. I don't know - it's what your dad told me," Ryan answered.
"Oh, well, we'll do whatever it takes to keep you, Dude," Seth replied.
"I know," Ryan replied. The phone began to ring and Ryan went to answer it. It was Theresa. She was calling about what time to bring Matthew over this weekend, and things of the sort. Ryan listened, and spoke when necessary, but he did not mention anything about a paternity test - not yet. He could not bring himself to do it.