Raising Ryan

Chapter 20 – Looking for Love In All The Right Places

As expected, Ryan was the last person up the following morning. The kitchen was already alive with the brewing of fresh coffee and the schmearing of bagels. Kirsten went through the trouble of making everyone fruits parfaits for breakfast. Since it was a matter of just layering vanilla yogurt and fresh fruit, followed by a sprinkling of granola bits, it fell well within her perimeters for 'cooking'.

Taking a seat at the table, Ryan shocked everyone by pulling a parfait closer to him and digging in.

"Look at this," Seth mocked. "Since when are you ever hungry after a night of drinking?"

"I threw up a couple hours ago, I'm hungry now."

"So I heard you were playing drinking games last night," Sandy added. "Kirsten said you told her you lost and that's why you came home drunk."

Ryan paused in mid-chew, wondering just how angry Sandy was going to get over his drinking. This was well-covered ground and Ryan was well versed in the rule he'd broken.

"There's just one thing I don't understand," Sandy continued. "You're from Chino. How could you lose?"

Ryan snorted a laugh of relief. Turning to Sandy, he could see this wasn't going to be as bad as he was expecting.

"Lost my touch I guess," Ryan smirked.

"Well, I'll tell you what, I understand why you partied like you did yesterday. I do. It was a very big day for you and the team had a lot to celebrate and you were the reason Harbor won. But as your guardians, Kirsten and I need to remind you that you are under the legal drinking age. We know you guys are going to drink," Sandy explained, looking at both boys at the table. "We know if we flat out tell you 'no', you'll do it just to spite us. We need you both to know that we wish you wouldn't drink until you're old enough. However, since we also know that's probably not going to happen, you boys are both old enough and smart enough…to know when you've had enough. If you think you're old enough to be drinking, then you're old enough to be responsible about it. This goes for both of you. Do you understand?"

Both boys nodded at Sandy.

"Good. Good talk guys. I think I need another parfait, these are really good."

When Sandy stood up from the table, "So…that's it? Aren't I grounded or something?" Ryan asked, confident there was more to all of this.

"Nope, that's it. Unless you want to be grounded. Do you?"

Frowning at Sandy's ridiculous question, Ryan waited for another answer.

"Grounding doesn't really seem to work on you. I would prefer to have your word that you're going to tone it down. It's been a long time since you came home in that condition. I just don't want you to forget what you've already accomplished."

That made sense. Sandy was right. Sandy was almost always right. "I won't. I promise."

"Seth?"

"Responsible drunkenness, got it. If I ever get invited to a party, I'll remember that."

"Hey, I invited you last night," Ryan reminded him.

"Yes, you did, but to a party full of athletes. Give credit where credit is due Ryan, I know where I don't belong."

Scowling at Seth, Ryan stood up and grabbed a sliced strawberry full of yogurt out of Seth's cup and stuck it on his forehead.

"Gee, thanks Ryan! What the hell was that for anyways?"

"I just felt like it."

"I'm glad I'm here to amuse you."

A couple hours later, Ryan found Sandy alone in the living room reading the Sunday paper.

"Hey kid, how's it going?"

"Good." Parking himself on the arm of the couch, "I just wanted to say…I'm glad you didn't go nuts this morning. I mean, I was expecting it and you had every right to, I know better, but, still."

"Ryan, you can't go through life and not make any mistakes. You'll go insane trying to figure out how to juggle it all. Everyone makes mistakes. It's how we grow, how we learn. And quite honestly, you said it yourself last night, you were just being a kid. This wasn't bottled up anger or one of those magical disappearing acts you used to be famous for. It wasn't until recently you learned how to just be a kid. As a parent we have to keep an eye on the drinking. Ryan, if anything were to happen to you, or to someone else as the result of the drinking…we'd lose you. Forever."

The comment struck Ryan hard. Of all the consequences he'd thought about, having the courts yank him and send him packing hadn't occurred to him.

"I never…looked at it like that. I guess, I've done so much since I came here…and I'm still here. I assumed it was permanent."

"We love you Ryan, and we want you to stay with us, always. But that's the one thing that scares us about the drinking. If the court caught wind of your drinking, now they can question whether or not we are providing sufficient parenting, or if we're contributing to the delinquency of a minor because we didn't stop you. We don't' want to see you hurt, meaning an accident of some sort, and we don't want anyone thinking you don't belong here as the result of an accident. I don't even want to consider the consequences of an accident that hurts someone else. If we lost you, it would break our hearts. Just…think about what you're doing before you do it. Okay?"

Nodding, "I understand. I'm sorry I worried you guys."

"Comes with the territory kid. Besides, we need you on our side because what if Seth goes out on a bender? You realize what it's going to take to pull him back in?"

Laughing, "That'll never happen, Seth can't handle puking. But it would be pretty entertaining for the rest of us."

"Don't be getting any bright ideas," Sandy warned.

"Thanks Sandy."

"Just remember what I said. A drink isn't worth letting someone take you from us. So please, just think about it the next time it comes up. Okay?"

Nodding, "Okay."

It was after dinner the following weekend when Ryan ran through the house to answer the chiming doorbell. A smile took over his face immediately at the sight of Sami on the steps.

"Hey."

"Hi there. Are you ready to work?"

Groaning, Ryan leaned against the closed door. "No. Not yet. Come on, you can put your stuff in my room."

In the sanctity of the pool house, Sami tossed her books onto the Warden's chair and Ryan instantly pulled her into an embrace. Sami allowed herself to get lost in his kisses for a moment before pulling away from him.

"Ryan…Ryan, we're supposed to be studying."

"Got all weekend to study," he cited, nestling up against her neck.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she giggled.

"Seducing my girlfriend," he whispered.

"O-kay. Let's slow down a minute here," Sami hesitated.

"I just want to kiss you. I missed you." Licking his lips Ryan went right back to where he left off.

"Hold on, hold on. There's something I have to ask you."

Standing in front of Sami, Ryan looked down at her. "What?"

"Do you have anything?"

"What?" Ryan tried to clarify.

"Do you have any…protection?"

Sami could visibly hear Ryan draw in his breath as his eyebrows went up. "Sami, you don't have to…"

"I want to. We've been together for a while now and I've been thinking about since before we talking about that day you came to dinner. I want to…do you?"

He was a 16 year old boy, seemed a silly question. And yet he found himself intrigued by the fact she was asking him what he wanted, rather than telling him the way it would be.

"Yeah. I want to. I've got…" His words slipped away at the unsexy mention of protection.

Sami smiled and bit her lip before tipping her head up to Ryan and locking her mouth with his. Ryan could swear he'd just been electrocuted. His body tingled in places that didn't normally tingle, he felt the need to catch his breath but he didn't want to let go of Sami. His heart was going a thousand miles an hour when they finally parted.

"Why don't you go get that thing you've got…we're gonna need it," Sami instructed.

Nodding Ryan ran into his bathroom, a little more quickly than he meant to. Retrieving a wrapped condom, he came back into the room to find Sami laying on his bed, patting the blanket next to her.

Swallowing anxiously, Ryan tried his best to keep his wits about him. He stepped down off the ledge and tossed the condom on his night table before crawling onto his bed next to Sami. They laid there for a moment, just absorbing each other. Ryan had thought about doing this with Sami from the minute he'd met her. Now that the moment was here, he didn't want anything ruining it, anything rushing it.

He ran his fingers through Sami's hair, looking into her eyes the entire time. She was committed to this. He moved his hand down and ran his thumb over her lips. When he didn't think he could wait any longer and he gently wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her close, pressing his mouth to hers. He wanted this so badly. He never knew love could be so intoxicating. The way she smelled. The way she felt. The way she touched him. He closed his eyes and let the moment unfold.

Around nine in the morning the next day, Seth paced the kitchen, growing impatient with each passing minute. Ryan owed him a rematch and he was ready. Now. Ready now. But without Ryan, there was no rematch. He downed his third up of coffee and, running solely on caffeine, decided it was a grand idea to wake Ryan up. True, in the past this always proved to be a bad idea, but today it felt right. Today, Ryan would go along with the program. He hoped.

Racing up the steps, Seth boldly walked right up to the pool house door and yanked it open.

"Okay Ryan, time to…"

Seth froze, completely in awe at the sight in front of his eyes. He knew Ryan got plenty of action, he just never really took the time to get a visual on it. Granted he'd missed the main event and Ryan was sleeping, shirtless, with an equally naked and still sleeping Sami snuggled up against him.

Dear God! It was a blessing he didn't wake Ryan up. Talk about a beating! Ryan would have left him just this side of a coma. Acting as stealth as possible, Seth, closed the door and, for some unknown reason, tiptoed across the patio back into the house.

He got a bird's eye view of what it's like for Ryan coming into the house when he bumped, literally, into his Dad attempting to take a seat at the table.

"Morning oh son of my loins."

"Dad, please, it's too early for that."

"Sorry. Where's Ryan? Didn't you drag him out of bed?"

Seth hid his panic by pouring himself yet another cup of coffee. "Um, you know how Ryan is Dad. I…didn't feel like taking my life in my hands today."

"Oh. Well. Good for you. That's probably a wise decision."

"Where's Mom? She's normally up by now."

"She is. Actually, I left her in the bed room, she was going to go wake Ryan up, she needs you guys to help her out today, with what, I have no idea."

Seth half swallowed, half inhaled his latest sip of coffee. "She's (cough) waking him (cough) up?"

"Yeah, so you're off the hook for today."

"But Dad! Doesn't Mom understand how dangerous that is?"

"She's a Mom. Nothing scares her."

Seth moved in the direction of the patio door with the intention of intercepting his Mom on her way to Ryan's door. But one glance through the glass proved he was too late. His Mom was standing, frozen, holding Ryan's door open. He could only imagine her face resembled his own shock at the sight in the pool house. He took a seat at the table and waited for the yelling to begin.

Kirsten's heart raced as did her mind as to the best way to handle the situation. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the floor and gently rubbed Ryan's arm. It took a bit of rustling to wake him up but finally his eyes opened, squinting against the morning light. He gave Kristen a quick, groggy smile and closed his eyes again.

"Ryan, wake up," Kirsten forced again.

This time Ryan opened his eyes a bit grouchily and waited for further instructions.

"I want you to get cleaned up, say goodbye and meet me in the kitchen."

Not exactly understanding the instructions, Ryan attempted to get up only to learn Sami sleeping next to him weighed him down. His eyes grew wide as the previous evening's events came flooding back to him.

Cool as a cucumber, Kirsten nodded at him to get moving and then turned and casually walked back to the main house.

Oh this was bad. Really bad. He was dead. He was sure of it.

As gently as he could, he roused Sami, who instantly pulled him into a hug.

"Um, we have to get up."

"What's the hurry?"

"Kirsten knows." The panic on Ryan's face was evident.

"Okay, just, stay calm. Wait to hear what she has to say before you worry. No parent wants to face the fact that their kids are having sex…"

"I've been told not to use my room as a playground."

Sitting up, Sami pulled the blanket around her. "Ryan, you and Kirsten are tight. I can see it. I don't think you're in as much trouble as you think you are. And, if you are, what's the worst that could possibly happen? They'll never leave us alone!" she laughed. "I love you. It'll be okay. You'll see."

"I gotta get in there."

Sami opted to gather her things and shower at home so Ryan could clean up for his conversation with Kirsten. He walked her out to her car and kissed her goodbye.

"Even though we got caught, last night was…really nice."

Smiling, "I thought so too. Call me later. Let me know what happens."

Nodding, Ryan waved then stuck his hands in his pockets and watched her drive away. Taking a deep breath, he kicked at the ground and turned slowly toward the house. Opting for dragging out the inevitable, he wandered back around to the back of the house and entered through the kitchen. Kirsten was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee prepared for both of them.

Without making eye contact, Ryan took his seat and hung his head low.

"So," Kirsten initiated. "You and Sami…"

The hard swallow from Ryan answered that question.

"Ryan, it's okay."

For the first time Ryan allowed his eyes to dodge up to Kirsten's. He'd made the transition from panicked to confused.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I know you care about Sami and quite frankly, I'm surprised you waited as long as you did."

"But you said…that I…"

"I told you being intimate with someone should mean something. You shouldn't be doing it just to pass the time. I can see that Sami means something to you."

Okay. That made sense. She wasn't a one-night stand and Ryan kept seeing her because he really did like her. Their relationship had nothing to do with sex.

"But…I did this, in my bedroom. You said…"

"I know," Kirsten agreed, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug. "And yet, I'm not sure what I expected. Where did I think you'd go? Intimate moments are meant for…intimate places. I wouldn't want you out in public somewhere doing this. And something tells me, if I force you out, being in public wouldn't phase you."

"So, you're not angry?" Ryan asked, unsure of the answer that would follow.

"No. I'm not angry."

Still confused, "So, then…why did you call me into the house?"

Smirking, "Because as the Mom of this household, I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to lounge around in your bed with your girlfriend all day, especially since she'd already spent the night."

"Right." Ryan scanned the tabletop, still trying to absorb the fact that he, apparently, wasn't in trouble.

"I'll keep this between you and me but I just want you to promise me you won't make a habit out of it. Sami is special to you and this is something you should keep special too. Just take it slow." After a pause, "Oh, and Seth knows. He actually found you first. He didn't turn you in, he just didn't get to me before I made it to your door."

"Great. I'm never going to hear the end of this now."

Kirsten looked at Ryan, a small smile still present on her face. She was wondering what Ryan was thinking and it only took a moment longer before she found out.

"Okay, you win, alright?"

"Win what?"

"It…means something…when it's with someone you care about. You were right. You're always right."

"Uh! I wish I had a tape recorder!"

"Yeah well, you know me…gotta do it my way."

"That's okay. As long as you get to where you need to be. And right now I'd say you're ahead of schedule."

"I'm really not in trouble?"

Laughing now, "No. You're free to go. Just remember what I told you. Besides, I think Seth is ready for his crack at you," she remarked, standing up from the table.

"Why thank you Mother," Seth interjected, entering the kitchen. It came as no surprise to anyone that he'd been eaves dropping the entire time. "So…inquiring minds what to know man! Was it hot?"

"Seth!" his mom scolded.

"Oh come on Mom, you've caught him in the act, he's an animal!"

"I am not!" Ryan disagreed in his own defense.

Taking over his Mom's seat at the table, "We're brothers Ryan, you can tell me anything. Was it an all-nighter? How many places did you do it in? Did you use anything that was, oh, say, battery operated?"

"SETH! Enough!" his Mother raged. "Does he always do this?" she asked walking back to the table.

Poor Ryan. What a way to start his day. First a conversation with his Kirsten about what he did the night before and now Seth wanted a detailed rundown of everything single thing he did. At least Kirsten had the courtesy to be vague and it's not like he told her anything she didn't already know.

He slumped in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "Seth has no problem whatsoever in getting to the bottom of…anything."

With her hands on her hips, "So he's going to needle you all day long until you throw him a story or two about last night."

"Oh yeah."

"Seth, leave Ryan alone."

"Mom! That's so unfair! You got to talk to Ryan about having sex, why can't I talk to him about having sex?"

"I didn't ask him details Seth, that's private," she explained.

"But you're a Mom, you know what he did."

"Exactly, which is why I don't feel compelled to force him to give me the blow by blow details."

The kitchen fell quiet and the boys looked at each other while Kirsten got a grip on the words that just ran out of her mouth.

"There was no pun intended with that…it just, came out that way. I think now would be a good time for me to run those errands. I'll see you guys later."

A grin found it's way onto Ryan's face. Maybe being good wasn't as bad as he thought. Kirsten was barely gone from the kitchen when Seth started on him again.

"Okay she's gone, you can tell me now. Everything. I want to know everything! I can make you breakfast while you organize your thoughts. Want some paper, you could make an outline?"

Ryan sighed and sat forward. "Not this time man. I'm not telling stories this time. Sami's special and I want it to stay that way. I hope you can understand that."

A bit dejected, Seth nodded his head. "I can respect that. She's cool. I'm glad you're happy with her. You guys are good together."

"Thanks. So does this mean you're not gonna make me breakfast now?"

Tipping his head, Seth drummed his fingers on the table. "How about this…we'll skip breakfast, because it's sort of late now anyway, and you can make lunch." Off of Ryan's look, "You make better lunches than I do," Seth reasoned.

"Ham and grilled cheese?" Ryan offered.

"I'll get the stuff."

Kirsten tiptoed away in the hallway so the boys wouldn't hear her. It seemed life with Ryan had come full circle. Ryan had a better understanding of who he was really was as well as a much better handle on his life. His relationship with Sandy had come a long way since day one, even if it wasn't quite perfect yet. And the boys were finally truly friends and brothers. Managing that was rather easy for Seth, but it was something that took time for Ryan to realize he appreciated it.

Coming back down the stairs, Kirsten caught the aroma of Ryan's ham and grilled cheese sandwiches. Dropping her purse on the couch, she hollered through the house, "Those smell really, really good! Is it too late to make one more?"

Seth was setting a bag of chips and a jar of pickles on the table as Ryan plated up the last sandwich.

"I already made you one." Stepping close to Kirsten, Ryan offered her the plate and whispered, "For the record, you can't tiptoe in the hallway when you're wearing heels…it's not very stealth."

When he pulled away, that mischievous gleam twinkled in his eyes causing Kirsten to bite her lip in spite of herself.

"I'll have to remember that."

(TBC)…