I know some of you weren't too happy to see Marissa in the last chapter, but she had to come up at some point...Anyway, aren't you happy I got this done before I moved back? I'm supposed to be finishing packing right now, but I'm a procrastinator, so I'm doing this instead. Review and let me know what you thought! Thanks!
Caleb looked taken aback for a moment, and turned from his daughter to the kid in the front seat of the car, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else but there at the moment.
"What does that mean?" Caleb asked slowly.
"Well, Dad, Ryan's going to be living with us. Sandy and I are going to be his legal guardians," Kirsten said calmly.
"What's wrong the boy's parents?" Caleb asked harshly. "Where are they at?"
"They're not capable to take care of him," Sandy said stepping in. "So we're going to take care of him."
"Dad, can you come with me for a second?" Kirsten asked, not waiting for an answer and leading her father away from the car. "He's a good kid Dad, a good kid whose been stuck with a lousy lot in life. Once you get to know him, you'll see that."
"Once I get to know him? Kiki, how long have you known this boy? How do you know this isn't a scam? He could be casing the house." Caleb shook his head. "This is all that do-gooder that you call a husband's fault."
"No! I took him home, this was my idea. My doing," Kirsten said getting frustrated with her father.
"Oh please," Caleb sneered. "This reeks of Sandy Cohen. Taking in a stray kid. How do you know he's not going to hurt you? How do you know that it's safe to let him into your home? Jesus, Kirsten, have you thought about Seth?"
"He's a kid, Dad, a kid with no family and no where to go!" Kirsten exclaimed rubbing her temples. "He's just a kid, and let's not forget that he did save me. If he hadn't been there that night...I could have been…" Caleb held up his hand to stop her. He didn't need to be reminded of what could have happened if this Ryan hadn't been there. He supposed he did owe the kid some gratitude. Caleb sighed.
"You're sure about this? This Ryan?" Caleb gestured over to the car.
"Yes," Kirsten said nodding. "More than I've ever been sure of anything. And I did think of Seth. He's really good for Seth."
"Taking in a kid, that's something your mother would have done," Caleb finally relented.
"Yeah, but she would have done it just to piss you off," Kirsten replied letting a small smile creep onto her face. "I have to go Dad. Give him a chance." Caleb grunted in reply, and it was more than Kirsten had been expecting, so she just gave him a smile and a kiss on the cheek and walked back over to where her husband and Ryan were waiting for her.
"Let's go," she said smiling at the two of them. Sandy studied her, as if he was checking to see if she was okay, and she gave him a small smile and nodded. "Everything's okay," she said softly taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'm starved. Let's go eat."
Seth was home when the three returned home later from lunch and their trip to Social Services.
"Dude, you passed that's so awesome!" Seth exclaimed as soon as they walked in the door. Ryan just smiled and nodded. "Do you know how very cool this is?" Seth was jumping from foot to foot again, something that Ryan was quickly recognizing as a sign that he was excited. "Hey, to celebrate, maybe we can take the car tonight?" He smiled innocently at his parents, and Kirsten hadn't seen him this happy in so long that she had to agree.
"Yes, you can have the car tonight," she said fishing in her purse for the keys and handing them to Seth.
"Excellent," Seth grinned.
"Are you guys going to stay for dinner?" Sandy asked sorting through the mail.
"No way, big night ahead of us, Dad, can't do a family dinner," Seth said the last two words as if they were poisoned. But to Ryan, a family dinner sounded wonderful. "Come on Ryan, let's hit the road."
"Be back before eleven," Kirsten called as they walked away. As the door shut behind the boys, Sandy turned to his wife and wrapped his arms around her.
"The house all to ourselves huh?" He said leaning in to give her a kiss. "Whatever should we do?" Kirsten grinned back at him.
"I can think of a few things," she told him tugging at his tie. Suddenly she stopped and frowned, and Sandy had to stop himself from audibly groaning.
"What's the matter honey?" He asked trying to unbutton her shirt and seem sympathetic at the same time.
"We're doing the right thing, right? Taking Ryan in? I mean, I know that I sort of sprung it on you, and the whole thing was very sudden, but you're okay with him being here, right? It's just that he's such a good kid, a smart kid, and there's something about him, you know? Like I just want to make everything that's wrong in his life better, I want to…I just want to give him a chance. It's a good thing, right? For all of us?" Sandy stopped trying to undress his wife, and looked at her seriously, cupping her face in his hands. He loved when his normally confident wife suddenly got very insecure, which generally happened when she felt passionately about something. He knew that Kirsten had already accepted Ryan as a part of her family. Something that she didn't do lightly, and he wondered if Ryan knew that. If he knew how big of a deal it was that Kirsten had let him into the family, and had done it so quickly, so instinctively.
"God, Kirsten I love you," he said. "It's a good thing. For all of us. You and me, and Seth, we needed him. We didn't know it, but we did. And you're right, he's a good kid. He deserves a chance, he deserves so much more than that." He kissed her and pulled her close to him. "And we're going to give him that chance; we're going to give him a part of his childhood back." It was exactly what Kirsten had needed to hear. Her father had placed some doubt in her head, just like he always did. Caleb had an uncanny ability to make Kirsten doubt herself in all of her decisions, even ones that she was sure about. The more she thought about it the rest of the afternoon, the more her father's words started to sink in. How well did they know Ryan? She and Sandy did rush into the decision that Ryan would live with them. They hadn't really thought it through, and she knew that they had just gotten in way over their heads.
But she knew that she had made the right choice. She knew, immediately and instinctively, that there was something about Ryan, something that made him special. A hidden sweetness that went against his rough childhood. He was gentle, and he was kind, and she felt a connection almost immediately, something that usually never happened with her. She just needed Sandy to confirm for her that she was doing the right thing. Needed Sandy to replace her father's voice in her head, and remind her that Ryan deserved this, deserved them.
Kirsten nodded, and then smiled at her husband. She tugged on his tie and he suddenly remembered his growing interest in undressing her.
"Come on," she said. "We'll fire up the hot tub, grab some wine? We have a few hours before the boys come home. Let's make the most of it." Boys. It rolled so easily off her tongue. There were two now. Plural. Boys. She smiled again at the sound of it, and pulled Sandy by the tie up the stairs to their bedroom.
It was the next morning, as Seth and Ryan stepped out of the house to wait for Kirsten to drive them to school, that Ryan had his second encounter with the girl next door. She was climbing into a Jeep when she spotted them and waved.
"Do you need a ride to school?" She offered. Ryan looked at Seth, who looked too shocked that Marissa was speaking to him to reply. Ryan shrugged at Seth and called back to Marissa,
"Sure, hold on one second." He darted back into the house and called out to Kirsten that Marissa was going to drive them to school. Kirsten frowned briefly at Sandy before calling out her goodbyes to Seth and Ryan.
Marissa, meanwhile, had pulled up to the driveway and Seth had already climbed in the back.
"I have to go pick up Summer, you don't mind do you?" Marissa asked.
"Summer?" Seth squeaked. He cleared his throat before continuing. Now was not the time to go all Peter Brady. "No, I don't mind." Neither Marissa or Ryan missed the grin that was on Seth's face for the rest of the ride to Summer's house.
"So you got in?" Marissa said as she drove the familiar streets to Summer's.
"Yeah," Ryan said nodding.
"Did the book bag or the fact that he accepted an offer for a ride to school tip you off first?" Seth mumbled from the backseat. Ryan shot him a death glare from the front seat. Marissa just ignored him.
"So are you going to Vegas Night on Saturday?" Marissa asked. "I mean, I know that Kirsten is in charge, or whatever, and I just assumed that you'd be going."
"Didn't we just have Vegas Night?" Seth complained. "Or was that Monte Carlo night? Or wait, when did we have Casino night? I'm so confused. But those Newpsies, they do love their booze and gambling."
"I'm going," Ryan confirmed, taking Marissa's lead and ignoring Seth in the backseat. "Kirsten made me buy a suit."
"Good," Marissa said. "I mean that you're going, not that you bought a new suit, or I guess that's good too…I…" Marissa laughed a little and shook her head. "Anyway, I'm glad that you'll be there. My mom is making me go." She rolled her eyes. They pulled into Summer's driveway and Marissa beeped the horn twice and Summer came out. She spotted Seth and Ryan in the car, and immediately scowled. She climbed in the back and glared at Seth.
"What is he doing here?" She asked.
"I think I'm going to school," Seth answered with a small smile on his face.
"I didn't ask you Sal."
"It's Seth."
"Whatever, Steve." She glanced up into the front seat and her scowl was replaced by a grin. "Who are you?"
"Ryan," Marissa answered for him. "He just moved here. He's staying with the Cohens. Ryan this is Summer, Sum, this is Ryan." Ryan turned in his seat to see the girl that he had heard Seth babbling about for days now. She was cute, but definitely not his type. Seth just sat there staring at her.
"Nice to meet you," Summer said still grinning at Ryan.
"You too," Ryan said turning back to face front again. They remained quiet for the rest of the short trip to school. When they got there, Seth led Ryan away to get his class schedule and to basically show him around and Summer interrogated Marissa for more information on Ryan.
"Where is he from? Why is he staying with the Cohens?"
"I don't know," Marissa answered as she and Summer made their way across the courtyard. "I don't know anything about him. He's new, and he's staying with Seth's family. That's all I know."
"Well, I'm going to find out more," Summer said grinning mischievously. "You don't mind, do you Coop? I mean, you sort of spotted him first." She glanced across the courtyard and spotted Seth and Ryan.
"I don't mind," Marissa said, but she was staring at Ryan, and Summer could see that she truly didn't mean that. "I swore off boys for awhile, remember? After Mexico…" Summer held up her hand. She didn't need to be reminded of what had happened on their little trip down across the border.
"I remember. Well, I have to get to class, I'll see you later?"
"Yeah," Marissa said smiling as she headed in the opposite direction of Summer. She did swear off boys after she caught Luke and Holly down in Tijuana together. But there was something about Ryan. Something that made her want to reconsider her standpoint on the whole boy issue. Made her want to find out his story, why he was staying with the Cohens. Where he came from. She shook her head, she couldn't think about Ryan, she had too many other things to worry about. She didn't need to add another one. Summer could have him if she wanted.
Marissa didn't care.
Not at all.
Summer could have him.
She wondered how she was going to convince everyone else that she didn't care, when she couldn't even convince herself of it.
Okay, so review please. I'm off to pack. Probably. Unless something better comes along.