Lots of block for this chapter. Lots of different versions. Sorry it took longer than I thought it would. The O.C. is way too cool to belong to me, alas. Peace and love...

Chris walked close enough to the water so that his toes were just cold enough. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his head bowed, shielding his forty-year old eyes from the setting sun. His head kept brushing against Seth's arm, the wind tickling Seth's skin.

"Seth?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Are you ever going to marry my mom?"

Seth shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you want to?"

Seth walked a little slower. "Maybe."

"Do you think she wants to marry you?"

"I don't know, Chris. Why?"

Chris looked up at Seth's eyes that were staring straight back at him. "I want you to."

"I know."

"You'd be good at it."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Why? You love my mom, right? You love me. What else is there?"

"There's a lot else."

"You're not going to leave again, right?"

"I hope not."

"What do you mean, you hope? You get to decide, right?"

"Right. I know. I just...I'm not sure I'm what you guys need."

"I need a father."

"That's not true."

"My dad isn't a father. He's a dad. I need a father."

"Chris..."

"You want it, right? You want me, and you want my mom. You're just...What is it that makes you so...not wanting to be my father?"

"Chris, it's not like that. I'm just not sure that I've spent a long enough time to become such a permanent person in both your lives. That's all."

"I heard you telling Uncle Ryan you wanted to marry my mom. That that was a reason you came back."

"I love her, and I would like to marry her, and I want to be your father, Chris, but there's more to it than that."

"Like what?"

"I...well...there is. Adult stuff."

"Adult stuff."

"It's important to me, okay, Chris? I don't want to make more mistakes that just...hurt people. Especially your mom. She doesn't need any of that."

"She needs something, though." Chris looked back to the sand in front of his feet, leaning harder against Seth until Seth's arm came around his shoulder.

Summer lay, nearly passed out, on the floor of Luke's motel room kitchen.

"So, Ward, you wish we had ended up?"

"You're just thinking that because you've finally remembered how cute my ass is."

"That's because you, like, showed it to me."

"It was a dare."

"Doesn't mean you had to do it."

"I'm not chicken."

"Mmm. I have to get home."

"You want me to drive you?"

"You're wasted."

"Oh, and you're not?"

"No. I'm definitely wasted. I just wonder how I'm going to drive..." yawn. "home."

"Yeah...I can call a cab."

"No. I'll just call...Coop! Riss can take my home."

"Where is she?"

"I dunno. But she gave me one missed call on my phone."

Summer pushed the return call button, pulling up her knees as she rolled over onto her stomach.

"Hello?"

"Riss! Hi! You called me."

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to see you, but you were out."

"Yeah. Luke needed me. Can you give me a ride?"

"Where are you?"

"At Luke's hotel. The...Marriott. You know, the hotel?"

"Yeah, honey, are you drunk?"

"Yeah, something like that. Come on, Riss, you're not supposed to be dumb."

"Sorry. Yeah. I'm coming. And Sum?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Don't do anything stupid before I get over there. You didn't yet, right?"

"Stupid?"

"Something you'd regret. You didn't, right?"

"Uh...no, Riss, what's up with you?"

"Nothing. Just...stay still until I get there."

"Mm-hmm. Kay, Riss."

Summer turned off the phone, reclining back onto her elbows.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yup."

"You know how much Chris looks like you?"

Luke rolled his head over, shaking it slowly, back and forth. "He looks like you. Like so much."

Summer shook her head. "He's going to look like you. His jaw is like bam. And his eyes are just like yours."

Luke shook his head, but grinned. "He's gonna be a hot kid."

Summer giggled. "I know! He's going to get all the girls. We'll have to get him out of Newport."

"Why?"

"Newport girls? Around my Chris?"

Luke laughed. "You still are a Newport girl."

"Yeah, and if I was Ms. Cohen, I wouldn't let me anywhere near her son." Summer giggled, rolling over onto her back.

"Is she there?" Ryan looked around his shoulder.

"She's here somewhere." He smiled at the phone.

"Would she talk to me?"

"I don't know."

"My mom says she's real pretty."

Ryan nodded. "She is."

He heard the choke in Theresa's voice, so he kept talking. "She's got this beautiful light brown hair that still curls, these huge black eyes that look so much like yours, a smile that can really make anyone smile. And-and she likes to dance, and read, she's so smart, and she loves people. All kinds of people. She'll always see the good before anyone else. And she-she...she's so beautiful, Theresa."

"She sounds like you."

Ryan laughed. "I never liked to dance."

"Well, that's true. So true. Do you remember the Winter Formal in sophomore year? We were the only people not dancing to the last song."

"Hey, well, that's kind of true. But it's better than a broken toe."

She laughed, and his smile widened. "How've you been?"

"Oh, well, you know, not good. I miss everyone."

"Have you seen your mom?"

"Just once or twice. We talk on the phone a lot."

"You should've called here sometime."

"I'm calling now."

"Do you want me to find her? She's around her somewhere."

"Um, no. That's okay. I'll call again, I just...wanted you to know that I-I still care."

"I know."

"Okay. So, I mean, tell her I called. And-and that I'm going to call back. Just so that she...she can make a decision, you know, whether or not she wants to talk to me."

"Okay. I will."

"And tell her I-I love her. Please."

"I will."

"Okay. I love you too, Ryan."

"I...okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Ryan hung up the phone, staring at it for a little longer than he had to. Jenn's arms came around his neck from behind.

"Who was that, Daddy?"

He turned to look at her and ran his hand down the back of her head.

"That was your mom."

Jenn's eyebrow furrowed. "My mom?"

"Theresa."

Jenn's arms fell. "She called here?"

Ryan nodded, turning around, keeping his hands on her tiny wrists.

"Jenn..."

"She called here. And you're not mad?"

"No. I'm not. You don't have to be either. Jenn..."

Jenn bit her lip and shook her head. "I can't believe this." She started to walk out of the room.

"Jenn! What about Ms. Cabala? You forgave her. Maybe you could forgive Theresa too."

Jenn spun around. "Ms. Cabala didn't leave you. Or me."

Ryan noticed she was crying. Usually, he could see the first bead of water threatening to be released from the corner of her eye. This time he hadn't noticed anything until four tears were touching her chin. He had been thinking about Theresa, and white houses, and dogs, and smiles, and laughs, and his baby had been crying. His Jennifer.

And she was running out of the room, but he hadn't sprung up to chase her yet. She was crying, and running away from him, and he was sitting in the middle of the room, doing nothing. He was still thinking about his high school sweetheart.

Marissa ignored Summer's babbling about how ridiculous the idea of take out was, Summer's moaning about how much her feet hurt, Summer's bitching about how Marissa shouldn't judge Summer about wearing sweatpants in public, because Marissa wore flip-flops with jeans, and Summer had even seen Brendan wearing socks with sandals, so Marissa should never judge Summer ever again. Seth would never wear socks with sandals, and if he ever did, Summer would correct him. That was the thing about Summer, when she was drunk or tired; she suddenly got very chatty, and couldn't shut up if she tried.

"Summer, why did you go to Luke's in the first place?"

"Duh, Riss, because he was, like, lonely. Riss. That's dumb. I miss Coop. Get rid of Brendan, and you can be Coop again. How awesome would that be? So awesome. You know what else is so awesome? Remember Jake Ryan in Pretty in Pink? I used to love him so much. I still love him. But I love Cohen now too, but he's still no Jake Ryan. Jake Ryan is, like, untouchable, don't you think? Like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. So cute. Remember when everyone thought he was gay? That was dumb, right, Riss? He is so not gay. Girls are just little jealous bitches and can't accept when they have no chance with a guy. Like Anna. Remember Anna? She was nice, but she got all snotty when she realized that Cohen totally liked me best. I like Cohen, don't you, Riss? Cohen's awesome. I wonder if that dude that played Jake Ryan's still acting."

"Sum, breathe, okay?"

"I'm breathing. I'm just up, you know? We should go jogging or something. Remember when we used to go jogging? Like, right after Chris and I had all that ucky pregnant weight. Oh my god, you should have a baby, Riss; it'd be so weird if you were fat. But it's not really fat, because it's pregnant, and it's cute, you know? Like...a glow."

"Uh-huh."

"But you don't want a baby, right, Riss? You always said you and Brendan are way too busy for a baby, and you're right. I was too busy for a baby too. What with trying to go to college. I wish I had gone to college like you. That would've been fun. Like, you hear about it on t.v. and you see it in the movies, but you actually got to do it. I'm jealous. But I'm happy I had Chris then, I guess, because that means he's old now and I don't have to worry about all that crap, and Cohen likes him now. I bet Cohen wouldn't like him so much if he was screaming all the time. Like remember that time he would not shut up for, like, a week? That was so frustrating."

"Uh-huh. I never said I didn't want a baby, though."

"Believe me, you don't, Riss. They're cute when they're little, but you're such a good aunt, you don't need to be a mother."

"But it would be kind of cool, don't you think?"

"No, Riss, do not start baby talk, because then you're going to think you want one, and you don't. No, you were right before. You don't want a baby. You don't need a baby. You probably wouldn't be the right kind of mother for it."

"What? And you're the perfect 'kind of mother?' You had a baby when you were nineteen, dropped out of college, started living with your ex boyfriend's parents, and then threw your son into thinking he's got this perfect new father when your ex boyfriend decides to sail back."

Summer sat, silent, watching Marissa pound the steering wheel, and finally huff back into her seat. As soon as she sunk back into her seat, Marissa started talking again.

"Oh god, Summer, I'm sorry. That's not true. You're a good mother. I know that, and you know that. I'm sorry."

Summer let her chest fall and looked at Marissa's tired eyes trying to focus on the road. "What's wrong, Marissa?"

"Nothing. I'm just having...this problem."

"Is it what I said? Because I'm sorry if I offended you. You might be an Anthony Michael Hall fan." Summer grinned, running her hand on Marissa's arm.

Marissa laughed softly and nodded. "That's it Summer. I was always rooting for the skinny, blonde kid."

"But seriously, Riss, what's wrong?"

"I just...I could be an okay mother, right?"

"Yeah, Riss. Why?"

"I better."

"Better what?"

"Be an okay mother."

"What? Why would you...are you pregnant?" Summer turned her whole body sideways, her entire drunken babbling replaced by a need to take care of her friend and gossip.

Marissa shrugged, letting her head fall onto her palm.

"Oh my god, you're pregnant? And you didn't tell me? Riss!"

"It didn't come up."

"Didn't come up? Riss! You let me give my speech about friggin Jake Ryan and you're going to have a baby? Why didn't you tell me to shut the hell up?"

Marissa smiled. "Doesn't work usually."

"I'm not drunk enough to not care that you're having a baby. I could never get there."

"I would've told you eventually."

"I hope so. Unless you let little Jesse or Jocelyn tell me themselves."

Marissa grinned. "You remember?"

Summer laughed. "Duh, Riss. Eighth grade."

"I can't believe you remembered that. That's the first thing I was thinking when I found out."

"Really?"

"Well, the second."

Summer giggled. "Do you think Brendan would go for either of them?"

Marissa's grin fell, but she just shrugged. "I don't know. There are probably some names in his family he has to pass on or something."

"That's what middle names are for, baby. Jesse's such a good name too. Oh my god, what if you have a girl and she and Chris get married?"

Marissa giggled again. "Then Chris would be a little cradle robber."

Summer shrugged. "Seven years is so not bad. And I bet they'd make such a cute couple. And we'd be related!"

"In some weird, complicated way."

"Yeah, but so what. We could say we were sisters."

"Sure, Summer. Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Jocelyn Roberts."

Summer gasped. "It's perfect. Aw, Riss! Our kids have good married names!"

"We don't even know I'm having a girl."

"When did you find out?"

"This morning."

"You didn't tell anyone since this morning?"

"What? Oh, no, I told Kirsten."

Summer's back straightened from her anticipating hunch. "You told Kirsten? When?"

"Well, I went over to the Cohens' looking for you, and she was there, so..."

"You didn't call me."

"Yes, I did. Your phone was turned off. I left a message."

"Your message just said you were coming over. It didn't say you were pregnant."

"I was coming over to tell you."

"But you got there, saw I wasn't there, said 'oh well' and told Kirsten instead? I thought we had a pact, Riss. We were going to be each other's maids of honor, and we-we'd call each other first when we found out we were pregnant. I called you."

"And you were my maid of honor."

"And so that's it? You tell Kirsten? You're not even that close with her."

"Sum, what am I supposed to do about it? She was there, and I had to tell someone."

"So it was just that she was there. So if Holly's in Newport and I'm getting married, she'll be my maid of honor."

"Summer, it's not that I didn't want to tell you first."

"Kirsten? What if Ryan had been the only person there, would you have told him?"

Marissa's eyes were growing. "Summer, I'm sorry. I..."

"You'd tell Ryan first over me. Your ex boyfriend who you never really cared about since he had a baby. You'd tell him over me just because he was there."

"Summer, we're not talking about Ryan."

"The mailman. No one's home, but the mailman was walking around. Man, I hope that mailman's not around when you need a babysitter."

"Summer, stop. You know I would've told you first if I had the choice."

"No, it's fine, Marissa. Tell Kirsten. In fact, I think Kirsten probably would make an excellent maid of honor. She's loyal, a true friend..."

"Summer, you're drunk, okay? Calm down."

"I'm calm, Marissa. Why don't you go tell Kirsten how calm I am?"

"Summer, that's not fair."

Summer slumped her shoulders and rested her head against the car window.

Seth laughed with his mouth open as Chris pushed him into the living room. Chris shoved him as hard as he could until Seth fell onto the couch. Chris then sat on top of him, trying to get comfortable. Seth laughed, but stopped resisting. Chris's legs moved along with Seth's heavy inhales and exhales.

They heard the front door slam, both dark heads spinning to Summer stomping into the living room.

"Hi Mommy..." Chris rolled off of Seth's stomach, letting him sit up.

"Summer?"

"Guess what, you guys. Marissa's pregnant. Surprised? Yeah, me too. Not so much to Kirsten though. But you know, Kirsten and Marissa are close like that. They talk all the time, and they can tell each other all these secrets before including me."

Marissa rolled her eyes, finally catching up with Summer's ascent into the living room.

Seth grinned. "You're pregnant?"

Chris stood up. "You're going to have a baby!"

Marissa smiled and nodded, opening her arms as Chris and Seth came to hug her. Summer groaned.

"Goddammit, my head hurts."

Seth kissed Marissa's cheek and smiled at Summer.

"Drunk much?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "What's your problem, Cohen?"

He laughed and put his hand on her forehead. "You want me to take you to bed?"

"I can go myself."

"Okay. Just making sure you remember where it is."

"Ha. Ha-ha. Wow, you're a funny one, you know that?"

"Mm-hmm." Seth picked her up by her thighs, swinging her over his shoulder and ignoring her ear-shattering moan. "Goddammit, Seth, my head."

Chris grinned up at Marissa. "Are you going to have a girl baby or a boy baby?"

Marissa laughed, pulling Chris into her waist. "I don't know. But you can't tell anyone yet, okay? I wish your mom hadn't just blurted it out in the first place."

"I won't tell. My mommy's drunk; don't be mad at her."

"I'm not. She'll be better in the morning."

Chris nodded. "Did you tell Uncle Brendan yet?"

Marissa shook her head. "I will, though."

"Yeah, because you're gonna get fat."

Marissa laughed again. "I'm going to get fat."

Chris crooked his finger, and Marissa bent down. "Are you scared?" Chris whispered.

Marissa nodded. "Yeah."

"Why? Because of Uncle Brendan?"

"No. I'm just wondering what's going to change."

"Things don't have to change."

"Yeah, yeah they do. But it could be a good change. Like when your mommy got pregnant. That was a good change."

"Do you remember when my mom was pregnant?"

Marissa nodded, standing back up. "Yeah, really well. That actually relaxes me, because it feels like I went through it just like she did."

"Was my mommy a funny pregnant woman? Like on t.v.?"

"Your mom was a very funny pregnant woman. She gave me a permanent headache."

"If you need anything, you'll ask me, right?"

Marissa smiled, running her fingers through Chris's hair. "Promise."

"Good. I'm gonna take care of you when Uncle Brendan can't, okay?"

"Okay."

"First, sit down. You should get off your feet."

Marissa laughed. "I don't think I have to worry about that yet. I still have to go to the doctor."

"Oh. Well, don't stay on your feet too long. That's not good for the baby."

"You're right, Dr. Roberts."

Chris grinned. "I should become a doctor. That would be awesome."

Marissa nodded. "Awesome."