This is based on Seth's line somewhere in Season 3 where he says he planned his 1st escape on an Etch-a-Sketch. The version of Etch-a-Sketch in this chapter is one that comes with a special pen to draw on it with, rather than the sort that makes lines using buttons-I know they exist as my sister had one as a kid!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my story so far, it's really encouraging to have positive comments and constructive criticism. I'm really pleased you all like it so much, I've been meaning to join here for ages and have always wanted to write about little Seth. Originally it was going to be a chapter of Seth's life then a chapter of Ryan's, but I found it too hard (and too depressing!) to write about little Ryan. I love writing Seth, it's much more fun! Next chapter will probably be about the creation of Chrismukkah, but I'm not happy with the rough draft I've got on paper at the moment, I need some help with it! I assume Kirsten and Sandy would have celebrated both even before the term was coined, but I just can't get the characters to behave and say what I want them to!

Seth put his Etch-a-Sketch pen down and pondered on just how much he hated Newport. He had no friends at school, he hadn't had any in first grade and no-one seemed to have changed their minds yet. They were now in second grade and he still spent lunchtime and recess on his own. Some of the kids made fun of him liking comics and the way everything he owned had Spiderman on it. The boys had teased him for weeks when he'd brought Captain Oats in for show and tell, they'd claimed that horses were girls' toys, and the girls had protested, saying his horse wasn't pretty enough to play with their pink, purple or white ones with their glittery tails and manes.

Seth also hadn't been invited to Marissa's birthday party a few weeks ago and he'd cried when he'd found out. That had only made the kids in his class shun him further and so he'd spent that Saturday trying to ignore the excited screams and happy laughter that had drifted over to his yard from Marissa's house.

His parents had taken him to the pier for an ice-cream to cheer him up, after seeing him moping and withdrawn. He hadn't wanted to tell them that he'd been the only person in the class to not be invited, as he didn't want his parents to think he was such a loser, so he'd said he thought a few other kids hadn't been invited either.

He loved his Mommy and Daddy and he knew they loved him, but they were so much busier here than they had been in Berkeley. He just really wanted to go back there and was sure that when he did, and he'd got their old house back, his parents would be pleased and would come back to live with him there.

He looked down at the map he'd drawn, that showed where school, the store, the bus stop and his house were. He'd written the name of each place by it and had drawn a line showing the best route from his house to the bus stop, passing the store on the way so he could get supplies.

He knew he'd need sandwiches, a blanket and pillow, comics, apples and cookies ( he'd already smuggled one of each out of the kitchen earlier), some juice, his comic books and all $ 20 of his allowance, that he'd saved over a month. His parents had been surprised at his hoarding, as he normally begged to go to the mall the minute either of his parents gave him his $ 5 on Saturday morning.

He opened his Spiderman piggybank on his bed, to make sure he still had every cent of his precious fortune.

Content that it was all there, he replaced it carefully in the container and turned to his bookshelf which was stuffed full of comics and other books.

He looked at his collection, trying to decide which were his favourites, the ones that were essential to his survival and the ones he could cope without.

He'd take the Spiderman one his dad had owned when he was little, as he'd promised him he'd look after it and he decided on a Superman one too, as Clark Kent reminded him of his Daddy, because he was clever, kind and strong, just like the superhero was.

He got his Spiderman backpack out of the closet and placed the cookie, the apple and his comics inside. He rummaged in his trunk and found his baby blanket, which had 'Seth' stitched onto it by his mother. No Ezekiel though, as her sewing skills and patience had not stretched that far.

He folded it and placed it in the backpack too. He zipped the bag up and placed it under his bed and then put the Etch-a-Sketch next to it.

He curled up on his bed, exhausted by all the thinking and planning he'd done and fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Kirsten was working in her office on some last minute changes to some plans for a house that had been commissioned by a client of her father's.

Sandy came in, kissed her neck and began massaging her shoulders, something he'd do instinctively when she was stressed.

She turned and kissed him back lovingly.

"Where's Seth, sweetie?" she asked anxiously. He'd wandered off in the toy store last weekend, which had caused her to have the worst twenty minutes of her life. When Seth had been found, following a lady who looked a lot like her round the store, she'd hugged him to her like she was never going to let him go and then had proceeded to scold him and, regretfully, she'd administered a rare swat to his bottom. Consequently, he'd been rather wary of her over the week that had just gone, frightened when she was stressed, even though she'd explained to him that she was stressed because Grampa had given her a lot of work to do, rather than his behaviour that was the cause of it.

"He was upstairs playing last time I checked, baby... That was about 10 minutes ago. Do you want me to check on him? I should spend some more time with him really, we can play a game or something. Do you still want pizza for dinner? Shall I order it for 7 o'clock?" he responded, kissing her neck again.

"Thanks, Sandy, yes to all of the afore-mentioned... You're my hero, you know that? Saint Sandy has a nice ring to it!" she teased affectionately, kissing her husband on the mouth.

"Awww, thanks beautiful! You're amazing too! See you in a while, OK?" he declared as he left the room with a wave.

He climbed the stairs and paused outside Seth's room. He was worried that he couldn't hear Seth muttering to himself or whispering to Captain Oats, so he pushed the door open and his gaze fell on his sleeping son gratefully.

He knelt by the bed to watch Seth more closely and to be able to give him a kiss. He did so, but as he stood up, his foot came in contact with a toy under the bed. He got down on all fours to locate the offending object on which he stubbed his toe and spotted the Etch-a-Sketch and the backpack Seth used for school under the bed.

He pulled out the toy and a look of shock and fear crossed his face as he saw what the picture was of.

With his finger, he traced the path Seth had drawn earlier and looked from it to the backpack to his son, unable to process the fact that his son might want to leave him and Kirsten.

He grabbed the toy and rushed downstairs to show Kirsten what he'd found.

"Honey, Seth's asleep... But..." he garbled, his emotions running high. Kirsten turned to look at her husband, suddenly seeming smaller and very frightened.

"He's not... sick... is he, Sandy?" she finally declared, her eyes filling with tears and her arms going round Sandy for a much-needed hug.

He held her close before replying.

"No, not as far as I know, anyway. But I found this in his room, and he's packed his backpack, I think he was planning to act on his idea..." Sandy trailed off, knowing that the evidence would explain the situation better than his long-winded explanations.

Kirsten broke down in tears and Sandy held her closer than before, kissing her head as he squeezed her lovingly.

"We have to talk to him about this, sweetie... I didn't think he was that unhappy here, did you?" she questioned, desperate for answers to the thousands of questions that suddenly filled her mind.

"I'll talk to him, darling, not now though... You know how grumpy he gets if we wake him when he's napping... I'll talk to him when he's awake, I promise, OK?" Sandy ventured, trying to comfort his wife.

"Thank you, sweetheart, again, you're my hero" she said, much more quietly than the first time she'd called him that that day.

He kissed her again and led her to her chair and handed her a tissue.

She wiped her eyes and smiled, regaining her composure rapidly.

Sandy smoothed her blonde hair, squeezed her hand and left the room.

He headed towards Seth's, where he replaced the toy where it had been left and made his way to the lounge.

He sat in the lounge, reading the paper as he waited for Seth to emerge.

After a while, he heard the familiar tread, well, more like bounce, of Seth's feet on the floor above and was pleased to hear him approach the stairs.

Seth burst into the room with a jubilant "Hi Daddy!" and he then threw himself into his father's lap, clamouring for a kiss and cuddle that Sandy gladly gave him.

"Hey Setheleh, did you have a good nap, my darling?" Sandy asked, which was met by Seth's eyes becoming as round as marbles in surprise.

"How did you know I was asleep, Daddy? Do you have X-Ray vision like Clark Kent?" he questioned, snuggling further into Sandy's lap.

"What do you think, Setheleh?" Sandy replied. "Do you think I used X-Ray vision or did I come upstairs to check on you, huh?", he added, gently breaking the truth to Seth.

He held Seth close to him, his son's head resting on his chest, as he pondered for the millionth time that day the reasons why Seth would want to run away.

He knew Seth hadn't really made any proper friends in school, but he didn't seem to hate them either, and he was doing fine academically, which was good. Sure, he'd been upset at not being invited to Marissa's party, but hadn't complained that much and his happy-go-lucky vibe had been quickly restored with a cuddle and an ice-cream on the pier. Unless his son behaved fundamentally differently at school from the way he behaved at home, he simply couldn't understand how such a charming, affectionate, and downright lovable child could have the grand total of zero friends.

"You know you can tell Mommy and me absolutely anything, don't you, chicken?" he intoned lovingly, smoothing Seth's hair as he spoke.

"Yes Daddy, I do, thank you. I love you," Seth responded, cuddling his father warmly.

"And I love you too and so does Mommy. That's why we'd be really really sad and worried if you ran away, if you decided to leave." Sandy replied, looking Seth right in the eye as he spoke.

"Don't be sad, Daddy, I hate it when you and Mommy are sad, it makes me sad too" Seth said finally, after a moment's thought.

"And Daddy, would it cost more than, uh, 20 dollars to buy back our house in Berkeley?" he uttered, looking at his dad for the answer.

"Oh, it would cost way more than that Setheleh... Do you miss Berkeley a lot, my darling? I know you had friends there, you must miss them... Maybe we could go and visit Berkeley in the vacation, we could go and see Tom and Carl and meet the people who live in our house there, would you like that?" Sandy enquired of his son.

Seth's eyes lit up at the thought of returning there and thanked his dad for the suggestion.

"It's OK here too, though, Daddy," he added, not wanting to upset his dad too much.

"Our house in Berkeley was the best though, wasn't it?" he continued, remembering how much he'd liked it.

"Yes, it was a nice house, Setheleh... It's always going to be special to me, as it was the first house Mommy and I lived in together and you were a baby there, but we can't go back, my darling, not for the moment, anyway. Mommy has to help Grampa with his business, she really enjoys it and I've just started a new job too, so we really can't go back, I'm sorry." Sandy explained, doing his best to comfort his son.

"And promise me right now you'll never run away, that you'll come and talk to Mommy or me if somethimg's bothering you, OK?" he added, speaking lovingly but firmly as he looked Seth right in the eye.

Seth looked a little taken aback by the sterness in his father's voice, but he nodded.

"Yes Daddy, I promise I won't run away. Are you mad?" seth ventured nervously, not wanting to bring his father's wrath upon him.

"No, Seth, I'm not mad, just worried about you. Now why don't we have a snack, then we can play a game together or watch a movie, 'cause I haven't spent much time with you recently..." Sandy suggested.

"That sounds nice, Daddy." Seth replied. "Hi Mommy!" he declared as he spotted Kirsten in the doorway. She'd listened to most of their conversation and smiled at her son.

She asked if she could join in too, as she needed a break from her work and Seth was most adamant they'd been going to ask her anyway.

She plopped herself down onto the sofa, kissing Sandy then Seth and hugged the two male Cohens towards her, so Seth was in the middle.

Feeling safe between his parents, Seth decided that he wouldn't run away, at least not while he could still get hugs like that from his Mommy and Daddy.