Down A Rabbit Hole We Go – Chapter 8, The Kirsten
Disclaimer: I do not own the OC or any of its characters.
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Caleb was pacing the foyer when the doorbell rang. He spun around staring at the massive double doors. Bracing himself, he strode forward, putting on his best smile. He opened the door to greet Kirsten, Sandy, and Seth. "Kiki, Sandy, Seth, come in," he invited, opening the door wide. Once all three were inside and the door was shut, he turned to face his oldest daughter. "Kiki, darling, how are you today?" He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
"Well, considering that I sat up half the night worrying about what my husband and father were up to and my husband came home beat up and wouldn't tell me anything other than I'd have to talk to my father at dinner tonight, I'm pretty concerned, Dad." Kirsten answered.
"There's nothing to worry about, really Kiki. I'll explain everything," Caleb assured, before looking toward Seth. "Seth, how's my favorite grandson?"
"I'm your only grandson, Grandpa, unless you have another family somewhere that we don't know about," Seth mused.
Caleb froze momentarily wondering if Sandy had told Seth about Ryan. But Sandy had the same deer in the headlights look on his face that Caleb had. "Of course, you're my only grandson, Seth. Funny guy," Caleb chuckled, clapping Seth on the shoulder. "Rosa's in the kitchen and she's making apple strudel. Why don't you go have some? You can hang out in the family room and play that video game you're so fond of."
"Dessert before dinner, Grandpa? You could just tell me that you want to speak to mom and dad alone, you know." Seth replied as he headed toward the kitchen.
"Kiki, why don't we go into my office and talk?" Caleb encouraged once Seth was out of sight.
Kirsten allowed her father to lead her into his office and took a seat on the big leather couch with Sandy sitting beside her.
Caleb seated himself in an armchair across from his daughter. A low coffee table sat between them.
Kirsten suddenly remembered sitting down like this across from her mom and dad when they told her about her mother's cancer diagnosis. She had a moment of panic. "What's going on, Dad? Are you sick?"
"No. No, Kiki. It's nothing like that." Caleb sighed and looked down at his clasped hands. "Kiki, there's something I have to tell you and you may be angry with me, but I want you to know that I never intended to hurt you. I love you very much."
"Dad?" Kirsten interrupted, but Caleb held up his hand to stop her.
"Please, Kirsten, just let me say this. Years ago, when your mother was still alive, I did something that was very wrong." Looking up at Kirsten, he continued, "Before your mother was diagnosed with cancer, we went through a rough time in our marriage. She actually kicked me out…twice over a period of a few months."
Kirsten nodded, remembering her mom throwing her dad out of the house a couple of times, but it was only for a few weeks each time and then they seemed to work things out.
"The second time, I went to Fresno to give her some space. I worked out of the office we used to have there for a couple of weeks. And during that time, I … I had an affair, Kiki." Caleb confessed.
"You cheated on Mom?"
"Yes. It was only one time with the secretary at the Fresno office. It felt terrible about it and it never happened again. I told your mother. I was afraid she was going to divorce me, but somehow she managed to forgive me." Caleb replied.
Kirsten was silent for a moment before asking, "Dad, why bring this up now? Mom never mentioned it and I probably would have never known, so why bring it up?"
"Because, Kiki, as I've always told you girls, decisions have consequences. I made a terrible decision that night and although your mother forgave me, there were still consequences." With that said, Caleb reached down and picked up a thick photo album from the coffee table. He opened it to a page toward the back and handed the album to Kirsten.
Kirsten stared at the photo in front of her. It was a photo of a blonde teenage boy dressed in a suit and a beautiful Hispanic girl in a dress. It looked like a photo from a school dance. Kirsten looked at Sandy who was staring at the picture intently to avoid her eyes. Then she looked back at her father. "What?" the question died on her lips.
"His name is Ryan. He's fifteen years old. He's my son, Kiki… your brother."
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Seth held his ear to the door of his grandfather's study, listening to his grandfather confess to having an affair. His mom seemed to take that news pretty well, but when his Grandpa confessed to having a son from that affair, the room went silent. Seth suddenly wished he could be a fly on the wall inside that room because he was sure that The Kirsten was about to make an appearance and it was going to be epic. He was so intent on listening, he failed to notice Rosa approaching him and barely contained the squeal that tried to escape as Rosa grabbed his ear and pulled him away from the door. She dragged him across the house, only letting go as they neared the kitchen. "What are you doing Senior Seth?" she scolded. "Your grandfather asked you to come to the kitchen. You had no right to eavesdrop."
"Well, you must have been eavesdropping too Rosa, if you heard Grandpa say that." Seth countered.
"I was listening for you. Your Grandfather asked me to keep an eye on you while he talked with your mother." Rosa explained.
"So, did you know about Grandpa's secret love child, Rosa?" Seth quizzed, his eyes gleaming.
Rosa said something in Spanish that Seth couldn't understand before turning back to her cooking.
"Grandpa said there was apple strudel." Seth continued without missing a beat.
"You can have one piece, but no more. It's Senior Ryan's favorite." Rosa admonished.
"But it's my favorite too, Rosa. Ryan….so that's his name, huh? Uncle Ryan…has a nice ring to it."
Rosa pushed a plate with apple strudel on it into his hand and pushed the boy in the direction of the family room that was attached to the kitchen. "Vámonos!"
"All right, all right." Seth conceded, going into the family room area and pulling one of his old video games out of the TV console. He plopped down onto the couch and began eating with one hand while starting the game with the other.
It was only a couple of minutes later that Seth and Rosa both looked up as Ryan entered the kitchen. Ryan knew his father wanted him to stay away from his office, which he'd said was in the front of the house across the foyer from the den, but he was bored and curious and the smell from the kitchen was too enticing. He saw a middle-aged Hispanic woman that must be Rosa. Her smile reminded him of Teresa's mom and set him at ease. "Hola, ¿debes ser Rosa? Es un placer conocerte finalmente," he spoke to her in Spanish. "Is that apple strudel I smell?" he continued in English.
"I see you are a charmer, like your father, and much better looking than any woman that old man might have brought home." Rosa teased. She handed him a plate of apple strudel. "It's nice to finally meet you too."
Ryan took the plate and thanked her before turning toward the breakfast table. It was then that he noticed a boy about his age, sitting on the couch in the connected family room area, looking directly at him. He knew it must be Kirsten's son, Seth. He hadn't thought about where Seth might be while Caleb and Kirsten were talking. He nodded at the other boy in acknowledgement.
Seth nodded back and held up a video game controller. "You want to play?" he asked.
Ryan shrugged, but joined the other boy, taking one of the controllers.
Rosa watched their interaction curiously. Seth Cohen had the gift of gab around adults, but he was awkward around kids his own age. Ryan was a polite young man who seemed quiet by nature. From what Mr. Nichol had told her, they were almost the same age. Maybe they would be good for each other.
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The longer Kirsten remained mute; the more worried Caleb became. Of all the reactions he had anticipated from Kirsten, stunned silence wasn't one of them.
Kirsten studied the photo in front of her noticing the uncanny resemblance between the boy in this photo and her father in her parent's wedding photo that was hanging on the wall in her Dad's den. She flipped the pages of the photo album and realized that the entire album contained photos of the boy at various ages. She turned back to the first page and found a picture of a newborn baby with a shock of blonde hair. This was followed by a photo marked "6 months old" of the baby sitting up but leaning precariously to one side. Another photo labeled "first steps – 11 months" showed the boy standing with bright blue eyes, a big grin, and two lower baby teeth showing. The pictures continued, showing various milestones – birthdays, first day of kindergarten, first grade. There was even a photo of her father and the boy at Disneyland. Kirsten noted the date. It was during the summer after her mom died. The boy was 15 now, the same age as Seth. Seth had been seven years old when her mom died. Her dad started taking more frequent trips out of town and skipping holidays with the family after her mom died. Kirsten had thought it was just his way of dealing with the loss or not dealing with it. Now she realized he had was living a whole other life during those times. As she continued to look through the album, she saw more candid shots of the boy playing little league baseball, on a sailboat, in a Christmas pageant, playing soccer. There was one of him deep sea fishing with her father…. their father…standing behind him with his hands on the boy's shoulders. "How could you keep something like his from us, Dad?"
"I didn't intend to, Kiki. By the time I found out about Ryan, your mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She'd already forgiven me for so much. I just couldn't bear to tell her, even after her initial remission. And then, after she died, you were having a hard time dealing her death, working at the company, and raising Seth and my relationship with Hailey was so strained. I just kept putting it off. I almost told you several times over the years, but we seemed to be butting heads more often and I didn't want to risk our relationship. I know that I was wrong for keeping Ryan a secret, especially after your mother died. I wish I'd told you years ago." Caleb explained.
Kirsten continued to look perplexed. "What changed? I mean, what happened last night, Dad?"
"That's not easy to explain, Kiki. Ryan's mother…she seemed like a nice girl when the affair happened, but she changed over the years. Early on she was a decent mother, but after her husband got arrested…"
"She was married too?" Kirsten asked, shocked.
"She was, but I didn't know it at the time. I'd never really asked her anything about her personal life. Her husband was serving a short stent in jail for writing a bad check. That's how she knew that Ryan was mine and not his." Caleb answered. "They had a son who was around four when Ryan was born and Frank, Dawn's husband, decided to stick it out for the sake of his son. He was actually a fairly decent guy. He tolerated Ryan as long as I sent a support check every month along with the wages that Dawn would have made if she'd stayed with my company. But he lost his job when Ryan was nine and started drinking. It bothered him that I was basically fully supporting his family at that point. He and Dawn had a huge fight about it, and he got drunk and stupid and tried to rob a convenience store at gunpoint. He's still in jail." Caleb looked at his daughter and could see the disappointment in her eyes but decided to get the rest of the story out in the open. "Dawn's life seemed to go downhill after that. She started drinking and had a new boyfriend every few months, each one shadier that the last. I moved them to Chino wanting to have Ryan closer to me so that I could spend more time with him and hoping that a change in location would benefit Dawn. But things got worse over the years. Her older son, Trey started getting into trouble with the law. And that's how we ended up in Chino last night. Trey got arrested for stealing a car and Ryan was riding with him."
"He's a criminal?" Kirsten questioned.
"No, Kiki. Ryan's not a criminal. He had no idea the car was stolen. He was just trying to get out of the house, away from his mother's abusive boyfriend." Caleb corrected.
"Jail… abusive boyfriends…. sounds like a soap opera," Kirsten muttered. She felt Sandy's hand on her back and looked up at her husband, seeing his bruised cheek again. "What happened to your face, Sandy?"
"Honey, I told you it was just a misunderstanding," Sandy answered,
"The truth…now, Sandy." Kirsten insisted. She listened as Sandy explained the events of the night from the time they arrived at the Chino Juvenile Detention Center until the time they finally left the center in the early hours of the morning. Once he had finished, Kirsten stared at the photo album in her lap.
"Kiki?" Caleb broke the silence.
"Don't call me that!" Kirsten snapped.
"Honey," Caleb tried again.
"Where is he?" Kirsten asked suddenly.
"Ryan? He's upstairs resting. It was a long night. But he's always wanted to meet you. I could ask him to come down and you two could talk for a while before dinner…get to know each other." Caleb mentioned hopefully.
"I can't do this." Kirsten dropped the photo album on the coffee table and stood. "I have to go. Find Seth, Sandy."
"Kiki, please." Caleb implored, standing and moving toward her.
"No, Dad! First you tell me that you cheated on Mom and that you have a son that you've kept hidden for fifteen years. A son that you left to live with an alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend in Chino. Then you tell me that he got arrested with his criminal brother and assaulted my husband who was trying to help him. I can't. I can't do this right now! I'm leaving!" She headed toward the kitchen to find Seth with Caleb following at a clipped pace.
"Kirsten, just listen for a minute, please. Ryan is a good boy and he's innocent in all of this. You have every right to be angry at me. I'm ok with that. But please give your brother a chance."
"What do you want me to do Dad?" Kirsten's voice continued to rise as they rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Open my arms and welcome a total stranger into my mother's home?"
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Seth and his new Uncle Ryan were in a fierce battle on the video screen.
"Oh, it looks like someone's trying to be a hero, but he got a little cocky. XO XO, it's an unbeatable combination. Ah! Oh! Oh! Ohhhh! What happened to your head dude? Where did it go? I'm sorry, Did someone die?"
Seth's monologue was interrupted by his mother's voice as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. "What do you want me to do Dad? Open my arms and welcome a total stranger into my mother's home?"
"Mom"
"Kirsten"
"Kiki"
"Senora Cohen"
Four voices tried to silence Kirsten before she said anything else. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the kitchen as she saw the boy standing next to the couch in the family room area where he'd been engrossed in a video game with her son.
Ryan wrapped his arms around his middle and looked at the floor, embarrassment flushing his cheeks. He rocked back and forth slightly. A part of him had expected to be rejected by his father's family, but he'd let himself hope.
Kirsten wrapped her arms around herself, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment at being overheard. The boy…her brother…looked young and fragile in his current state. She could see the bruises on his face, the deep purple standing in contrast to the blush on his cheeks. His arms were wrapped around his torso like he was trying to hold himself together as he kept his gaze on the floor. Kirsten's maternal instincts kicked in, but she had no idea how to approach the boy or how he would react if she did. He looked ready to bolt from the room.
An uncomfortable silence descended.
Finally, Seth couldn't take it any longer. He stood and moved around Ryan to stand to the side halfway between his uncle and his mother. "Mom, did you know that Ryan is the same age as me, only I'm about two months older which should make me the boss, but he pulled the uncle card so I guess that makes us even in the power struggle."
Kirsten looked at her son, fighting the smile that threatened to form on her face. Leave it to Seth to break the tension with ridiculous rambling.
"By the way, I hope you and dad plan to stay for dinner because Grandpa ordered an insane amount of food from Salvador's…too much for me and him and Ryan to eat and it'd be a shame for all that food to go to waste," he added hopefully.
"Yes, it would definitely be a shame," Kirsten agreed quietly, having finally found her voice. She moved over to Seth giving him a quick hug and kissing his forehead.
"Ew..gross, Mom. I've got a reputation to protect," he whined.
Kirsten then turned toward her brother who seemed to have relaxed somewhat at Seth's banter. She moved until she was a few feet in front of him. "Hello, Ryan. I'm…your sister…Kirsten. Welcome to our family."
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Disclaimer: I do not own any restaurants.
Sorry for the long wait, but I hope it was worth it.
Translation of Ryan's Spanish comments to Rosa - Hello, you must be Rosa? It's nice to finally meet you.