Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The O.C. I do own a few individual characters as well as the plot, but there's really no point in suing me because I don't own anything of value.

Chapter Five

Back at Marissa's building, Summer let herself into the apartment. She could hear the television and, upon closer inspection, saw Noah fast asleep in front of a rerun of The Golden Girls, a show he'd developed a love for under his mothers watchful, and encouraging, eye.

Marissa was seated at the kitchen table, talking on her phone, paperwork strewn in front of her. She waved Summer in and quickly ended the call. Summer sat down in the chair opposite her, sighing loudly.

"How did it go?"

"We yelled a little, though nothing too major. I ran into Natalie, she thought I'd stolen your car. And she invited the both of us to dinner tonight- along with Cohen."

"But what about Noah?"

"I also ran into Kirsten, I told her about him. She said she was going to drop by, hasn't she yet?"

Before Marissa could answer, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Marissa rose to answer it, pulling the door open to reveal a very excited looking Kirsten.

"Hi, Marissa, I've spoken to Summer, I'm here to see Noah."

Summer smiled, noticing the excitement dripping from Kirsten's voice. She got up from the table and made her way over to the door, making her presence known.

"Oh, Summer, you're back. How did things go with Seth?"

"Interesting, nothing's resolved yet, but we'll get there."

However, Kirsten barely seemed to be listening. She'd spotted the young boy asleep on the sofa and slowly her eyes were welling up with tears. Her hand covering her mouth, she inched forward, trying to get a better look at her grandson.

"I can wake him up if you want," Summer offered.

"Oh, no, no. Let him sleep. Lets sit down and have a talk, there's so much I want to know about him."

They made themselves comfortable with cups of coffee, said goodbye to Marissa who was heading into the office and began covering the basics of Noah's life. They made it through his childbirth, toddler years and early childhood, and were now beginning on his current life.

"How does he do at school?"

"He does well. He's not too keen on math, but he still does well. He loves to read and is always immersed in some book."

"Oh, Sandy will be so pleased," Kirsten said, beaming with pride. "What about sport?"

"He's obsessed with soccer! His team's quite good, they made it into the final. They're supposed to be playing this weekend, but we had to come here, so he's missing out."

"Oh, he and Ryan can play together sometime."

Summer nodded. She glanced over at Noah, noticing he was beginning to stir. She got up and approached him, wanting to be there when he awoke so that she could explain whom Kirsten was. He yawned and stretched, smiling up at his mother, not noticing the other woman in the room.

"Hi baby, how was your nap?"

"Good," Noah replied, yawning again. "Did you get everything done?"

"Most of it. But I have to go out again tonight, so does aunt Marissa."

"Then who's going to look after me?" Noah pulled himself into a sitting position and noticed Kirsten for the first time.

"Sweetie," Summer said, taking Noah's hand and leading him over to the table. "This is Kirsten Cohen."

"Hello," Noah said politely.

"Hello," Kirsten replied, her eyes again welling up with tears.

"Noah, you know how we sometimes talk about your father?" Summer asked.

Noah nodded and took a seat opposite Kirsten.

"Well, this is your father's mom, your grandmother."

Noah's eyes went wide as he gazed up at Kirsten. She offered him her biggest smile and crept round to kneel down by his chair. He spun to face her, eyes wide and a hesitant smile on his face.

"Hi Noah, I'm your grandma."

Before he could say anything, Kirsten pulled him into a crushing hug. After a couple of seconds, Noah hugged her back, looking questioningly up at Summer over Kirsten's shoulder. She nodded encouragingly, touched by the image before her.

"How would you like to stay here with your grandmother tonight Noah?" Summer asked.

"Oh, and Sandy will be here, he'll bring the girls."

"Who's Sandy? And what girls?"

"Sandy's my husband, your grandfather. And Lia and Annabelle are your cousins."

Noah seemed slightly overwhelmed at the new family he had inherited in a matter of minutes but he nodded his consent. He answered the questions Kirsten offered him hesitant at first but warmed up, chatting about his soccer team excitedly, as Summer excused herself to take a shower.