Stray
Chapter 2

"Champagne, sir?" He opened his eyes and saw a smiling face six inches from his.

"Uh, no. I'm good, thanks."

The flight attendant moved on and Ryan closed his eyes again, trying to imagine what the reunion would be like. Would she still look the same? Would she even talk to him?

He dozed off again and was asleep until the voice of the flight attendant bothered his sleep.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take your upright position now. We're just about to land in Los Angeles." She smiled sweetly and walked down the row without waiting for his response.

Ryan yawned loud, and resisted from stretching, lest he injure the person next to him. After blinking a few times, he sat up and brought his chair up with him. As he buckled his seatbelt, a different flight attendant strutted up the aisle and paused by his side.

"The Elites reunion, huh?"

Ryan looked up at the stewardess. She was looking straight ahead but he could still see the slight smirk on her face. "Excuse me?"

"You're here for the Newport Association's Reunion." It wasn't a question.

"Uh… Yeah, I am," he replied. He settled into his seat, convinced that it was just a coincidence.

"Cohen, aren't you worried?"

"Cohen. No, I'm not. I'm confident that everything will go fine and things will go back to normal, like they were. And I can't believe that you're still calling me Cohen!"

Summer stared at him indignantly from the passenger seat of the white Lexus. "Now you've just ruined everything!"

"What?" Seth cried just as indignantly. She slapped his arm and he groaned, taking one hand off the wheel to rub his arm.

"For one thing, you just said that things were gonna be fine, which means they won't because you just jinxed it. Secondly," her tone softened, "I've always called you Cohen."

"Yeah, you just wait," he replied with playful sarcasm. "Zack and Ciara are going to stop calling me dad and Nevaeh's going to grow up not saying 'dada' but 'Cohen'. And that's going to be all your fault."

Summer laughed and peeked over her shoulder. A ten-year-old girl and boy were sleeping on each end of the back seat, their heads resting on their own windows. In the middle was a small, chubby toddler in a child safety seat. She was playing with some stuffed animals complacently as the car drove. Summer smiled and turned her attention back to Seth.

"Well, if they do start calling me Cohen, then they better learn to say it with attitude, like you do, baby." He looked over at her and smiled, reading her mind perfectly. She blushed and muttered something along the lines of "Nerd" as his cellphone rang. Nevaeh squealed with delight and Summer turned her attention to her youngest child while Seth answered his phone.

"Hello." He paused for a second for a response. "Hey! Ryan, man! Where are you?"

Summer raised an eyebrow as she sat properly again. She listened to Seth's side of the conversation and watched as the once familiar sights of Newport streamed by her.

"… Yeah? Did you find out who it was? Maybe she'll turn up at the reunion… Didn't see her at all?… Yeah, Mom and Dad are going to kill you… They're alright. Sleeping in the back cuz we woke them up early… Uh-huh, of course, man… You're there already? Okay, well, turn around."

Summer smiled again as Seth honked his horn twice, pulling up barely an inch away from Ryan's knees.

"Seth, you psycho!" Ryan yelled, running around to the driver side door. Both Seth and Summer got out and the two brothers hugged.

"I missed you, man."

"Yeah, me too." Ryan let go and turned his attention to his sister-in-law. He grinned and bear-hugged her. "Summer! It's a good thing that you're taking care of things."

"Welcome home, Chino!" she greeted playfully. After they let go of each other, she turned her attention to waking up the twins and getting all three kids out of the car.

"Well, Ryan and Kelly are going to want his old pool house, Seth and Summer are going to be in Seth's old room as well as Nevaeh. That leaves us with Zack and Ciara fighting over who gets a couch down here and who gets the only guest bedroom."

Kirsten let out a contented sigh as she listened to Sandy try to work out last minute arrangements. "It's going to be good, having the kids back again."

Sandy grinned at her wistful nostalgia. Putting his arm around her, he replied, "And the grandkids."

She agreed and sipped her tea. They sat in silence for a couple minutes until they heard a car horn and yelling coming from the drive. "They're here."
"Yup. Should we go out and greet them or should we pretend to be senile?" Sandy completed his sarcasm with feeble gestures.

"I think Seth and Ryan would know if we were senile," Kirsten replied, standing up and smoothing out the creases from her skirt. "They already know that you're crazy, but not senile."

"Hey, watch out, you," he teased back warningly. "I may be crazy, but it's only for one person. You."

As they approached the front door, it opened and a whirlwind of children flew through it. Seth called after them, loaded down with bags, but it was too late.

"Zack! Ciara! Can you guys please enter Grandma and Grandpa's house civilly?"

The kids ran up to Sandy and Kirsten and hugged their waists. Following them were Summer, with little Nevaeh in her arms. Lastly came the brothers, both loaded down with suitcases, two of Ryan's and six of the Seth and Summer's.

Sandy picked his way over to the two men at the door with arms open.

"Boys! Welcome home!"

Seth was first to approach him, a wide grin decorating his face. "Hey, Dad. Long time, no see."

After Seth backed away with a pat on his back from Sandy, Ryan stepped up, an equally wide grin on his face. "Hey."

"Hey, Ry." Sandy responded quietly, knowing his adopted son's quiet, sensitive habits. He let go and looked behind him. "Where's Kelly?"

Ryan looked down at his shoes for a moment then looked Sandy in the eye. "She had to stay at home. She has a bunch of business stuff to do…" He trailed off, hoping Sandy didn't catch on with his deception. Before Sandy could reply, Kirsten joined them, hugging Seth and then Ryan.

"Kelly couldn't make it, huh?"

"Nah, she had things to do in New York," he replied, relieved.

"That's alright. We're glad to have you home. Come in! What are you waiting for?"