Maybe It's Better This Way

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Well here I am again! Almost over - sniffs

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Chapter 28: Two out of Fourteen

'Seth and I did some hanging out, how about we do something?' Kirsten asked Ryan hesitantly, sitting herself down on Ryan's bed. He looked up from the textbook laid open before him, 'I don't really know if I do anything you'd like?'

'You mean I wouldn't enjoy beating up water-polo players?' she questioned teasingly.

Ryan gave a bashful grin, 'Nah, probably not your thing,'

'Or burning down houses?'

That time he just gave her one of his infamous 'looks'.

'Joking, joking! Ok, what can we do? I would say we could look over some development plans together, but you're gonna be doing that in the summer anyway.' Ryan was planning on helping-cross-unofficially interning at the Newport Group. 'So…what do you get up to?'

'Um…I…play play-station…'

'I'm kinda banned from it after I managed to cause system failure on the first one we had.'

'Oh, ok not that,' Ryan agreed, suppressing a laugh, how could anyone crash a play-station?

'What else?'

'I watch films, I take Marissa shopping, I ride my bike, I listen to Journey…can you see I'm running out of ideas here? I study, I cook sometimes…hey!'

'No.'

'Yes.'

'No way!'

'Aw come on Kirsten, it'd be fun.'

'No it wouldn't, do you want me to burn down the house?'

'Can we stop with the house-burning references?'

'Sorry.'

'Let me teach you to cook something…we could make Seth eat it!'

Kirsten grinned, 'OK, something easy though.'

'How about cake? You can hardly go wrong with that.'

'You're on.'

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It took Kirsten nine tries to bake something that vaguely resembled a cake. Her first attempt had resulted in a rather egg-shelly mess, the second involved a major measuring failure. (Yes pounds and ounces are different Kirsten) and the others suffered from her complete and utter inability to either set the oven timer properly, grease cake-tins or mix ingredients.

Too wet, too dry, undercooked, overcooked, burnt to a crisp, sunk in the middle, stuck to the tin, crumbling on the cake rack; you name it, Kirsten had done it.

By the fourteenth effort they had run out of eggs, and sugar, and flour, and Ryan was beginning to suspect it was a lost cause. He watched wearily as his foster mother mixed the last of the ingredients, completely focused on her task, oblivious to the smudges of flour on her face and the way her tongue poked out the side of her mouth in concentration.

'This one is going to work Ryan,' she said brightly, flushing as she noticed his less-that-optimistic face. She'd said that each time for the past four hours.

She scraped the mixture into a tin, which she had remembered to grease this time, and was about to set it in the oven when Ryan stopped her. 'Don't open the door!' he exclaimed, 'You've still got one cooking in there.'

'Oh yeah,' she remembered distractedly, setting the tin down, 'that makes them sink doesn't it?'

Ryan laughed and lay his head down on the counter, 'Uhu.'

'Well I am gonna sit here and watch that cake till it comes out,' Kirsten told him decidedly, 'and then I'm going to do it again for the next one. These are going to work!'

She suited action to words, sitting down on the floor, her back against the kitchen island and staring fixatedly at the oven.

'You know we have set the timer this time Kirsten,' Ryan said, settling himself beside her.

Kirsten smiled, 'I know sweetie; I just don't want it to go wrong. I don't trust it.

Ryan bit his lip, 'I don't think it's the timer that's the problem,' he said cheekily, squirming away as Kirsten prodded him.

'I admit it,' she said, 'I can't cook, but thanks for doing this Ryan, I had fun today.'

Ryan was silent for a moment, fighting the feeling of being out of his depth with the happy familiarity of the situation. 'I did too,' he said at last, 'Thanks.'

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Kirsten smiled broadly as Sandy wandered into the kitchen, 'I have a surprise for you honey,' she said.

'Really?' he asked seductively, kissing the back of her neck.

'I didn't mean like that and you know it,' she chastised, watching his face fall slightly, 'Ryan and I have been cooking…'

There was a nervous laugh from Sandy and a shriek from the hallway; 'WHAT?'

Seth had obviously overheard.

'What was that mom? You and Ryan…no, he wouldn't…he wouldn't do that to us. Would he dad? Oh my god he's violated the pact! Where is he? I'm totally gonna kick his ass…'

'Don't say 'ass' Seth,'

He rolled his eyes at his mother, 'You've been cooking but I'm not allowed to say 'ass'?...RYAN!' Seth gave another shriek as his brother entered the kitchen through the patio door, 'What have you done man? You violated the pact.

'What pact?'

'The pact Ryan, the pact!'

'Huh?'

'The oh-so-holy-we-three-Cohen-men-will-never-ever-let-Kirsten-cook pact,' Sandy informed him, sounding worryingly like Seth.

'Yeah and you broke it, so first I am going to get you and then I'll make dad sue you and then you can eat whatever it is mom made.'

Ryan gave one of his trademark 'looks' that swept the entire kitchen, 'Correction,' he said grinning; 'We are all going to eat what Kirsten's made.'

'No!' Seth howled whilst Sandy looked quietly aghast.

'You guys are so mean to me,' the cause of their distress whined.

Ryan spoke up again, 'Look we each made a cake, well, Kirsten made several but that's beside the point, all you have to try a slice of each and guess who made which ok?'

The Cohen men didn't look convinced.

Kirsten sidled up to her husband and began to nuzzle his neck, 'Please baby, please? It's a cake, how can that hurt?'

'Ki-ir,' Sandy moaned, 'this isn't fa-i-r. You know I can't resist you.'

'Ugh Dad, way too much information and a so not aesthetically pleasing visual,' Seth complained as his parents kissed.

They broke apart laughing, 'Well your father's in,' Kirsten declared smugly, 'Seth?'

'Please don't make me do this, please mom. Ryan? Dad?' Seth looked round desperately.

'Come on son, I have to,' his father chided.

'You have to eat it, you married her; it's like an unwritten rule.'

Kirsten glowered at her son, ignoring the puppy-dog look currently adorning his face, 'No cake, no car, ever,' she said dramatically.

'Wha-a-at? That's blackmail, that's so wrong, it's immoral; OMG my mother is actually evil!'

'She is Caleb Nichol's daughter,' Sandy muttered causing Ryan to snigger and the glare of 'The Kirsten' be directed at her husband.

'It's your choice Seth,' she said wickedly.

'Can it only be a very little piece?' he asked resignedly.

His mother pouted, 'Fine. You cruel son you.'
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Father and son both lifted a slice of cake to their lips, the former suppressing a shudder, the later very obviously not.

'You know if I die you'll have only yourself to blame,' Seth warned as he opened his mouth.

'I think I can live with that,' his mother replied flippantly.

'I'm too young to die,' he whimpered.

'Eat it Seth!'

'This is cruelty to children, that's what it is,'

'Just eat it,' Sandy ordered, munching on his own piece, 'It isn't that bad, actually it isn't bad at all…of course this could be Ryan's cake.'

Ryan and Kirsten exchanged glances as Sandy finished his mouthful and reached for the other slice. Seth still hadn't managed to bring himself to eat his.

'I could be the next Mozart, I could discover another galaxy, I could find a cure for cancer, but we'll never know…'

'Eat the damn cake Seth,' Ryan growled, laughing as a startled Seth shoved the cake into his mouth, chewing ferociously before swallowing with an exaggerated grimace.

Kirsten smiled, 'See, you're not dead honey,'

'Yet,' was Seth's reply

'Neither is your father and he's eaten both,'

'Yeah,' her husband replied, a puzzled look on his face, 'and both were pretty good. I can't tell any difference, you sure you baked Kirsten?'

She folded her arms across her chest, pretending to be offended, 'Yes I did.'

'I can't work it out either,' Seth put in, having finally tested the other cake, 'maybe the first one; it was a little darker on top.

'I say the second,' Sandy added, 'ok, own up.'

'You're both right,' Ryan said gleefully.

'What?' Sandy and Seth wore matching expressions of confusion.

Kirsten smiled proudly, 'I cooked both!'

Seth choked and ran for the bathroom while Sandy flung his arms around his wife, 'I am so proud of you baby. Ryan, you're a miracle-maker!'

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