Disclaimer: Not mine…just borrowing

A/N: Hey everybody…I just wanted to say that this is going to be the last chapter that is overly similar to what actually happened in the series. I wanted to establish that everything else going on in the series still took place, just with the addition of Lee. Hope you like it.

Many thanks to Spykid18, SVOC Luva, Co, and Dogsbody for the reviews. Happy reading!

Chapter 3 – KaChing

Sandy pulled the Land Rover up to the valet stand outside the Newport Community Center while the valets opened the doors and helped the ladies out of the car. After handing the keys to the valet, Sandy walked over to the sign-in table, where they were checked in without him having to utter a word, because everyone knew the family of Kirsten Cohen. Smiling he offered his arm to his beautiful wife and led the way into the ball room. Ryan followed in suit offering his arm to his mother.

"I guess that means you're stuck with me," Seth offered Lee his arm.

"Such the gentlemen," she rolled her eyes but dutifully allowed him to guide her into the ballroom, which had been transformed into a stunning replica of a casino, "Whoa."

"Welcome to the lifestyle of the rich and bored," Seth grinned at her expression.

"All their parties like this?" Dawn leaned over to ask Ryan.

"Pretty much," Ryan smirked, thinking back to his first experience at the fashion show.

"Well, let's clean 'em out, kid," she looked over her shoulder at Lee, "You coming?"

"Yeah," she turned to Seth and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks for the escort."

"Did you just kiss Seth?" Ryan whispered fiercely at Lee as they followed their mother to the blackjack table.

"Yeah, so?" she shrugged, "I'm just giving him a hard time."

"Well don't," he warned, fully aware of his sister's flirtatious nature.

"Wait, you're going into big brother mode over Seth?" she gave him a confused look.

"He's a good guy, so don't start playing your games with him."

"I don't play games," she argued and he gave her a 'yeah right' look, "Okay, I won't with him."

"Good." Ryan smiled giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Kirsten!" Julie gave Kirsten a hug, "Another perfect event. "

"So, business is good?" Sandy shook Jimmy's hand.

"Yeah," he nodded, "It's good. It's good."

"I love your dress," Kirsten admired.

"You do?" Julie smiled "It's yours."

"Um," Kirsten turned away, not sure how to respond and hugged Jimmy. "Hi."

"Would you like a drink?" Sandy asked his wife.

"I'd love one," she smiled at Julie and Jimmy, "Excuse us."

"It's all fabulous, Kirsten, just fabulous," Taryn told Kirsten as she passed.

"Thanks," Kirsten smiled cheerily, but relaxed the minute Sandy returned with a drink for her, "Thank you."

"So it looks like you pulled off another Newpsie-approved event," he smirked.

"Cheers," she clinked her glass with him, her eyes wandering to Ryan, Dawn, and Lee at the blackjack tables, "I hope everything else goes well."

"Betting kind of big, Mom?" Ryan watched his mom slide two stacks of chips onto the table.

"Well, it's for charity," she smiled, and then whispered to Ryan, "Besides, the count's way positive."

"You're counting?" he looks shocked, "It's not a single deck."

"Oh honey, if I teach you anything in this world...the count goes way higher with multiple decks."

"Jeez, Ry," Lee grinned devilishly, "Don't you know anything."

"Blackjack," the dealer announced, preventing Ryan from retaliating to his sister's comment.

"Woo!" Dawn smiled at her son, "See, honey? My luck's turning around already."

"Drinks anyone?" a waitress came over to the table.

"Uh...Tonic water and lime, please," Dawn ordered, and Ryan and Lee shared a cautious smile.

"My boy," Dawn grabbed the chips and handed them to Ryan, "Lucky for him, he's got my brains."

"What about me?" Lee complained.

"Well you too, honey," she smiled and noticed Ryan looking at a teenage girl, "Go! Have fun...with your friend. I'll be fine. You don't have to baby-sit me."

"Okay," he patted her lightly on the shoulder and left.

"You don't have to stay here either," Dawn smiled at Lee.

"Oh, because these people are really my type of crowd," she rolled her eyes.

"Here," she handed her some chips, "Go play roulette, you love that."

"Okay," she took the chips choosing to ignore her mother's slightly trembling hand, "I'll see you later."

"Hey," Ryan casually approached Marissa.

"Hi," she gave him a half smile, "So, is that your mom?"

"Yeah," he glanced over at her.

"She came back, so I guess that means you're going home."

"Yeah," he shrugged, "I guess."

"Well, good luck with everything," she said with false cheeriness.

"You too. Have a nice life," he noticed Luke staring at them angrily, "You should go."

Seth scanned the room looking for something to interest him. With Ryan wrapped up with his mother, Seth once again found himself bored out of his mind at another charity function. He noticed a pair of red dice fall to the ground and bent down to pick them up. When he looked back up, he found Summer looking down at him.

"Hi Summer," he handed her the dice, "Seth Cohen."

"I'm superstitious," she ignored his greeting, "Blow on these."

"What?"

"Blow," she held the dice on her palm and put it in front of his face. He blew on them, she threw them on the table, and she won, "My god! Do it again."

"Okay," he blew on them and she won again.

"Yes!" Summer screamed and pulled him towards the table, "You're not going anywhere, Sid."

"Seth."

"Whatever."

"Okay," he shrugged happily.

"Blow."

"Oh crap. Goddamn luck, huh? Well, pony up, honey. Don't be shy," she said to the woman next to her. This game wasn't going as well as the last; maybe she needed a drink to calm her nerves. She had already had a seven and seven, but what was one more glass? She noticed her glass was empty and took a glass of champagne from the waiter, "My new best friend. Thank you."

"Um, don't you think you've had enough?" Kirsten walked up to her, having seen Dawn with her previous drink.

"Oh. You're right," she put the drink down, "I've just got to learn to celebrate without the sauce."

"Well, no one said it was going to be easy," she said as optimistically as she could.

"Could we talk?" Sandy came up to Kirsten, "It's important."

"Of course. Excuse us."

"Sure," Dawn shrugged, picking up the glass and finishing the drink the minute they left.

"Excuse me," Lee pushed past a tall skinny teen fixing her make up to get to a sink.

"Sorry," Marissa jumped away, "I hate how they don't have a separate mirror in here."

"Yeah, me too," she did everything in her power not to roll her eyes.

"You came here with Ryan, right?" Marissa asked, recognizing the girl as the one who walked in with the Cohen/Atwood combination.

"Yeah, I'm Lee, Ryan's half sister."

"I'm Marissa Cooper, I live next to the Cohen's."

"Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but…" she took her hands from the sink and grabbed a paper towel.

"Don't worry about it," she laughed, "Um, Ryan never mentioned that he had a sister."

"Well, he never mentioned that there was a neighbor," Lee responded with just a touch of iciness in her voice. She had seen Ryan talking to her earlier, and Lee was just as protective of her brother as he was of her, "It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, see you around," Marissa said half-heartedly as the girl left.

"Two Mountain Dews, my good man," Seth slapped money onto the bar and turned to his friend who had been standing there, "Ryan. Greatest night ever. It's like one of those nights when the stars and the cosmos and the moons align, and it's just like, wow. How's your mom doing?

"High rolling," Ryan gave a slight smile, "She was made for this place."

"Yeah? Then maybe this could work," he said hopefully.

"Yeah? Maybe," Ryan allowed the littlest bit of hope to slip into his voice.

"Rabbit's foot," Summer walked up to them and looked at Seth insistently, "Vamanos!'

"By the end of the night, she might know my first name," he raised is eyebrows and smiled at Ryan, "Duty calls."

Summer scoffed and walked away, with Seth trailing after her.

"Who's that?" Lee joined her brother and watched them walk away.

"Summer: Seth's dream woman."

"She's um…" she gave the teen and her red dress a good look.

"Intense?" Ryan suggested.

"That fits," she paused, "Hey, um…"

The sound of Dawn laughing interrupted her, and they both looked to see Dawn wobble and steady herself with the table. She saw a waiter, "Hold up. Oh!"

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked when she tripped, taking them both to the floor.

"What's my problem? What's your problem? Just back off," she looked up to see Ryan who had stood up from his seat at the bar, "Uh, Ryan, I must've tripped. It's these damn shoes," she tried to get up again. "Oops. Hello."

"Here," Seth noticed the commotion from across the room and practically throwing the dice at Summer, "Good luck."

"Dude, that lady is wasted," a teenage guy commented from the bar where Lee stood frozen in place.

"I bet you could bang her," his friend added.

"Hey, shut up," Marissa told them, and tossed Lee a sympathetic look, which Lee shrugged off.

"Why don't you just quit staring and help me up, okay?" Dawn said to the crowd around her, "Get me up! Help me up!" Surprisingly, Luke first to help and Seth comes to the other side. Ryan just stares, "Finally!"

"You okay?" Kirsten quickly came up beside Lee and Sandy approached the boys and Dawn.

"Seth, why don't you go get the car?" he took his place at Dawn's side, "What, maybe you had one too many?"

"Well, I..." she noticed everyone staring at her and the absence of her son, "What are you looking at? Where's Ryan?"

"Hey," Ryan took a step closer.

"Ryan?"

"Thanks, buddy," he took Luke's place at his mother's side, "I'm right here, Mom."

"Ryan, honey," she said as they made their way to the exit, "I'm so sorry. I ruined it huh?"

"It's okay. We're almost there," Sandy said soothingly.

"No. No. You know, I ruined everything, huh?" she tried to get him to look at her, "You hate me."

"No, I don't," he told her and then added softly, "I love you, Mom."

"Go with them, Lee," Kirsten ordered and then turned to the crowd, "Uh, it's okay, everyone. It's just uh…a little accident. She's with us."

That night Dawn passed out on the couch and Ryan watched her sleep. Lee, on the other hand, immediately went to the guest bedroom, locking the door behind her. Kirsten had knocked on her door to check on her, but Lee had just told her that she needed to sleep. The sleeping was a lie at first, but after a few sips from the flask in her duffel bag, she too was out.

The next morning, Dawn woke up and packed her things. She tried to check in on Lee, but found the door locked, so instead she walked over to the pool house. He was sleeping in the pool house and she just watched him for a second. When she turned to leave, she saw Kirsten walk in.

"You mind?" Dawn pulled out a pack of cigarettes once they walked outside by the pool.

"Um..." Kirsten began and Dawn put the pack away without taking the cigarette.

"So...you caught me," Dawn sighed.

"You can't do this. You're their mother."

"I'm a mess," she shook her head, "Not a mother."

"You have a responsibility," Kirsten looked almost appalled.

"I'm being responsible. I'm not wired for this. I can't care for anybody else. I don't have what you got," Dawn looked at Kirsten sadly, "The way your husband looks at you. And your kid looks at you. Even my kids... Like, no matter what, you're going to make everything okay. You hold your family together. I...tear mine apart."

"You can't walk away.."

"Why? This'd be the first good thing I ever did for him. This way...they both end up with a real mom," she said with tears in her eyes, "Take care of them, okay? They deserves it."

Kirsten stood there, completely stunned by what Dawn had just said. It was then that Ryan opened the door and stepped out. He noticed that his mom had a bag with all of her things and looked at her desperately for an explanation. All she did was wave sadly at him, and hesitantly he waved back.

"Thanks," Dawn said softly to Kirsten and left.

"So," Kirsten turned to Ryan, who was trying with all his might to not show that his heart was breaking, "How do you and Lee feel about staying with us/"

"Look, Kirsten, just because she…" he trailed off, "You don't have to…"

"I want to," she corrected trying to hide the own tears in here eyes.

"Thanks," he tried to smile, "Is Lee awake?"

"Not when I checked," Kirsten told him, "We'll talk to her when she wakes up."

"Okay."

"Come on, let's go inside," she gently guided him in to the kitchen.

"Hey," Seth greeted when they walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," Ryan muttered, "Lee awake."

"Shower," Seth said.

"Where's, uh...?" Sandy set down the toast he was making.

"Ryan's going to stay with us now," Kirsten said as an answer, "So is Lee."

"That's awesome," he paused, "I mean, it's...that's...that's awesome, right?" he looked at Ryan and then his parents, "That's cool, um... Let's go talk about stuff. Come on."

"I'll call you when Lee…" Kirsten trailed off and Ryan nodded.

"Okay then," Seth walked off and Ryan followed him.

"I'll unpack later," he said to Sandy and Kirsten over his shoulder with a smile.

"Well, there's a no return policy now," Sandy told his wife as she walked over to him, "You know that."

"I love you. You know that?" she put her hands on his chest, "Are we okay?"

"Yeah," he smiled.

"Good," she smiled back, "Because we just got in way over our heads."

A/N: Hey, if any of you are out there reading and not reviewing, I strongly suggest that you start. I'm not going to threaten to stop updating if I don't get X amount of reviews, but I wanted to say that they seriously motivate me. I'm always stressed out from school and reviews really brighten me day…even if they're critiques…so pretty please?