Title:
Chrismukkah With The Cohens
Disclaimer:
I own nothing related to The O.C.. Not for profit.
Description:
A few missing Cohens+1 scenes from 3.10 The Chrismukkah Bar
Mitz-vahkkah.
Beta Reader: fredsmith518
Chapter 3
Seth sat in the family room, watching the videotape of his Bar Mitzvah for the fourth time. He sat, mesmerized. It's not like he was a masochist – okay, maybe he was sometimes, especially in regard to Summer – but in this case, that wasn't it. (He didn't think.) He just couldn't pull himself away.
Seth heard a noise, quickly looked around, then breathed a sigh of relief. There was nobody there. Thank Jesus and Moses. He really didn't want anybody to see his Bar Mitzvah humiliation, especially Ryan (which is why he had turned it off quickly earlier when Ryan had come in from the pool house). Not that Ryan didn't already know about it, in some detail, thanks to his diarrhea of the mouth. But he wasn't kidding when he told Ryan that he'd only be able to see the video of it over his dead body (or something to that effect).
Seth watched for a few more minutes, cringing at his 13-year-old self sitting alone at the table, his only "friends" being his parents. Yeah, Seth nodded to himself, he was definitely glad that he'd snuck into his parents' bedroom way back when and snagged the videotape and hidden it where nobody would find it. It hadn't seen the light of day since (well, until today, of course). He figured that his parents probably knew that he had it, because they never mentioned it being missing. Seth sighed. Well, that was good anyway. That they never brought it up, that is.
The sight on the video of himself dancing with his mom to That's What Friends Are For caught his eye. He groaned and reached for the remote to shut off the embarrassing sight, but just couldn't push the button. He watched, frozen, until YMCA came on, and he saw his younger self dancing with his dad. As Summer would say, Ew. Nobody should ever have to witness Sandy Cohen dancing to YMCA.
Seth heard another noise from the kitchen behind him, but ignored it, figuring it was probably nothing again. But then he heard a second noise, at which point he turned around, only to find his mother watching him watching the tape. Seth was immediately embarrassed and could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.
"Mom!"
Seth tried to quickly stop the tape, but he was so flustered he hit the wrong button and just paused it instead, leaving a picture on the TV of himself looking embarrassed about seeing his dad dancing to YMCA.
Seth turned back around to look at his mother. "What – How long have you been standing there?"
She looked at him sympathetically. "Just for a minute."
His mom walked around the couch and sat down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulders and pulling him close.
"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Seth snuggled into his mother, like he used to do when he was little. "I know it was a horrible experience for you."
Seth looked up at her. "Mom, it wasn't your fault that none of the kids showed up. I know you tried. I know you invited everyone –"
His mother shook her head and squeezed him tighter. "No, your dad and I should have made sure it would be a good experience for you. It was an important time in your life." She looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to The Nana and let her throw you your Bar Mitzvah in New York. Then you would have had your cousins, aunts and uncles, people from The Nana's synagogue..."
Seth didn't know what to say to that. She was right, of course. The Nana had offered, and his father had argued for it, but his mother had been opposed to it. She wanted it here, at home, in Newport. He himself was torn. He would have liked to have his cousins there, but if there was a chance that they could get Summer Roberts to come...
Seth sighed and sat up. He put his arm around his mother's shoulders to comfort her, like his mom did for him earlier. "That's okay, Mom. And now I get a do-over. I get to rewrite history with Ryan's Bar Mitzvakkah. It's going to be awesome."
His mom smiled at him. "Best Chrismukkah Ever?"
Seth smiled back. "You betcha!"
His mom laughed. After a moment, she looked around at all the Chrismukkah decorations. "Looks nice in here. Your dad did a good job."
Seth feigned insult. "Hey, I helped!"
Kirsten smiled and kissed her son on his cheek. "And you did a very good job, honey."
Seth wiped off his cheek in an exaggerated gesture. "Mo-o-om!"
His mother chuckled at his melodrama, and responded in kind with an insincere, "Sorry."
After a moment, she stood up. "So, I was going to order something for dinner. Your father will be home soon. I know Ryan's out with Marissa, so what do you think? Thai?"
Seth also stood up. "Um, actually, I was going to eat with Summer. She spent all afternoon Christmas tree shopping with her dad, so..."
His mother nodded. "Okay, sweetie. Well, have a good time."
Seth started to leave, but found himself pulled into a hug first. He hugged his mother back, willing himself not to tear up when she started rubbing his back with her hand. He did manage to hold it together until he was able to pull away, giving her a sad smile.
"Thanks."
Then Seth ducked his head and headed off to meet up with his girlfriend.
By the time Sandy got home from his Bar-Mitzvakkah-related errands, the Thai food that Kirsten had ordered was ready and waiting for him. He broke into a big smile when he walked into the kitchen and found his wife emptying the food from the containers into serving bowls. He went right over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Looks good, honey. Where are the boys?"
"Ryan's out with Marissa, and Seth's with Summer."
Sandy chuckled. "I should have guessed. Just you and me, then?"
He wiggled his eyebrows, gave her a sly grin, and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to him. He planted a big fat one square on her lips. Kirsten giggled as she extracted herself from his grip.
"Sandy! The food!" She gave him a sly grin back. "We'll have plenty of time for that later."
Sandy gave her a playful "Grrr" and kissed her once more before heading over to set the table. Shortly the two of them sat down to eat, Kirsten frowning a bit as she sat down.
"I guess this is what it is going to be like next year, huh? Just us every night?"
Sandy reached over and took her hand. "It will be all right, honey. We'll just have to make the most of the time we do have with them."
Kirsten nodded and gave him a bit of a smile, obviously trying to put on a brave face.
After a moment of quietly eating, Sandy offered, "I got a chance to talk with Ryan today. You know, when I got the picture. It was nice."
"And I got a chance to talk to Seth. I guess we got our one-on-ones after all, huh? Or at least, half of them."
Sandy gave her an encouraging smile, but then she gave a little sigh and continued. "Poor kid. He was watching the video of his Bar Mitzvah. Did you know that he wanted Ryan to have one so he could have a do-over, so he could rewrite his own history?"
Sandy nodded slowly. "Yeah, Ryan told me. Did you know that the reason why the kids didn't come to Seth's Bar Mitzvah was because Luke had his birthday party the same day?"
Kirsten raised her eyebrows. "No, I didn't. Well, that explains a few things." She lowered her eyes, looking a little ashamed. "Oh god, Sandy, I just... I should've let your mother throw him the Bar Mitzvah in New York, like you wanted."
Sandy reached across the table and held her hand again. "Oh, baby, don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't have known how it would turn out. I understand why you wanted it here, and I'm sure Seth does, too. This is your home – our home – and you just wanted Seth to have his coming of age in his hometown. I'm sure he doesn't blame you."
Kirsten shrugged and went back to eating.
After a moment, Sandy picked up the conversation on a lighter note, hoping to get Kirsten back into the good mood she was in a few minutes earlier. "So... um... I finished the decorations here in the house, with Seth's help, of course."
Kirsten looked up with some amusement on her face. Sandy smiled to himself, that was better. "Yes, I saw. Very nice. And Seth made sure I knew he helped."
Sandy smiled. Sounded just like Seth. "Of course."
"Of course."
"Oh, um, also, I didn't put anything in the pool house. I wasn't sure what you were thinking or what Ryan would want..." Sandy shrugged.
Kirsten nodded thoughtfully. "We'll have to check with him, but I was thinking just a small potted tree on the kitchen island or something."
"Sounds good."
They went back to eating, continuing their dinnertime conversation. It was mostly light-hearted, but Sandy could see Kirsten still get a bit sad every so often. He sighed. This holiday season was hard on her. The last one with the boys, the first one without her father. Well, he and the boys would just have to do their best to make it the Best Chrismukkah Ever.
Kirsten sat on the couch in the family room, smiling as she looked around at her family. Her husband and her boys. She sighed with contentment as she ate another bite of her ice cream. They were all exhausted after the Bar-Mitzvakkah, but had enough energy left to spend a little time together before heading off to bed, drinking coffee or eggnog, munching on ice cream or apple pie, or whatever else they had in the refrigerator.
"This was nice, wasn't it?" Kirsten started, getting everyone's attention. "I mean, you know, working as a family, doing something nice, for the hospital, and for a boy in need?"
Sandy gave Kirsten a big smile. "You are so right, Kirsten." He looked specifically at Ryan. "And, Ryan, you did great. I told you that you could do it."
Ryan smiled back and ducked his head. He looked a little embarrassed at the praise, even after all this time. Kirsten wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to accept a compliment gracefully.
"Thanks. But..." He looked back up at Sandy and frowned a little. "I was so nervous. I didn't embarrass myself too much, did I?"
Kirsten answered for Sandy, reassuring Ryan, "No, sweetie, you were wonderful. We're so proud of you."
Seth joined in, "Yeah, man, it was awesome."
Ryan gave Seth a little smile and nod in response.
Sandy asked Seth, "So, did tonight live up to your expectations?"
Seth grinned and nodded excitedly, leaning forward in his seat. Kirsten smiled at her son. It was nice to see him happy and excited after being so sad yesterday.
"It was so great. Everyone dancing to That's What Friends Are For and everything! Even Dr. Roberts and Julie Cooper joined in! It was awesome." Seth sat back a little. "Although, you know, I still think we should have gotten Herkel, The Jewish Clown, at least then he could have provided the entertainment until Ryan showed up..."
Seth looked pointedly at Ryan, clearly indicating that he was expecting Ryan to explain where he went. Kirsten was curious, too, so they all waited for Ryan to speak.
Ryan looked around at the family kind of nervously. "Um... well... Johnny was having kind of a... crisis, I guess you could say, and I had to... um... help him... out of it. But, I got back as soon as I could, so..."
Sandy looked at Ryan reassuringly. "It's okay. And, it's a good thing that you came when you did. Otherwise I might have had to break out the show tunes."
Everyone laughed.
Ryan raised his eyebrows and looked around. "What did you guys do while I was gone?"
Seth and Sandy frowned. Kirsten couldn't blame them, after the reception they had gotten from the Newpsies.
After a moment, Sandy replied, "Nothing much. Told some stories. Sang some songs. Nothing interesting." Sandy cleared his throat, smiled, and looked directly at Ryan. "Nothing compared to what you did tonight. You're a real man now, and, you know, I don't think I'll have to explain to you what mensch means after all... I think you know already."
Ryan gave Sandy a pleased smile and ducked his head, again, concentrating on finishing his ice cream.
Kirsten exchanged a pleased look with Sandy. The evening had definitely gone well. Ryan was happy, Seth was happy, their friend was going to get his surgery, and Kirsten herself was over her holiday blues. Chrismukkah definitely had twice the resistance of any ordinary holiday.
Shortly, everyone finished their snacks, exchanged hugs, and headed off to get all snug in their beds.
Happy Chrismukkah to all, and to all a good night.
The End
