Chapter 3

"She refuses to get dressed." Ryan stepped into the room he shared with Taylor. Taylor looked up from the book she had been reading with a strange expression on her face. It had been two days since they took in Sophie and nothing has gone like they had imagined it.

"What do you mean?" Taylor sat the book down next to her as she tried sitting up in the bed.

"Everything I pick out for her to wear is apparently not something her Mommy or Daddy would make her wear. Taylor, they are the same clothes! Then I told her to pick out the clothes on her own and she told me she couldn't." Ryan fell back on the bed in defeat. This wasn't working out well, at all. "Are we really cut out for this?" Ryan turned his body towards her.

"We have to be. There is no way we can give up on her." She says confidently. Ryan gives her a smile before leaning across the bed and kissing her on the lips.

"So, how's my little guy?" Ryan asks putting both of his hands on Taylor's round stomach.

"He hasn't stopped kicking since I woke up." She frowns as she feels another kick to her bladder.

"Ryan…" Sophie's small voice travels through the bed room from the doorway. Ryan sits up and smiles at the sad little girl. She hasn't smiled since she moved in with them. The seven year old wasn't taking this well at all, but Ryan knew that no child would take well to their parents dying. He was having a hard time and the Cohen's weren't even his biological parents.

"You got dressed." He smiled opening his arms for her to come to him. She ran and cuddled her body into her brother.

"Yeah…this was Mommy's favorite dress on me." Her voice broke as she spoke.

"It's a very pretty dress, Sophie." Taylor spoke up as she reached out to touch Ryan's hand.

"Thanks." Sophie tells her shyly.

"You're going to be late if you don't go now." Taylor pointed out to her husband. Ryan glanced down at his watch before putting Sophie down. "Seth's probably already there waiting for you."

"You're right. We have to swing by and pick Colton up too." Ryan helped Sophie off of his lap before standing up.

"Oh God, Ryan please do not give him any candy if he's coming over here at all in the next two days." Taylor scrunched up her nose. Colton Atwood was bad enough but with candy or any sort of sugar in his system he was worse. Especially if he was around Ryan.

"I won't." Ryan laughs before leaning over and kissing her lips. He hears Sophie run from the room yelling 'yuck.' "Be careful, got it?" He tells her sternly. Taylor rolls her eyes.

"Yes, Daddy." Taylor folded her arms across her chest pouting like a small child.

"I'm sorry." He kisses her nose lightly before turning around to leave.

"I love you." She calls after him.

Ryan turns his head slightly giving her a warm smile. "I love you too." Before walking back out the door he runs back and kisses her stomach. "You too, Caden." He grins.

"He loves you too. Now, go!" She urges him to leave.

-

"So, how's everything going with Sophie?" Seth asked his brother. The two of them were standing in line to get ice cream after the movie they had just taken the kids to. Ryan looked back at the table Sophie was sitting at with Colton and Delaney, Seth and Summer's 2 year old daughter. Sophie wasn't paying attention to either of them as she played with her small hands in her lap. Ryan felt for the kid.

"Honestly? I don't know really. Every time Taylor or I try to do something for her she tells us it's not right…she rarely has dry eyes. I don't know what to do…" Ryan ran his hand over his face as they got closer to the counter.

"I know when I found out about Mom and Dad leaving Sophie to you I freaked out but honestly, Ryan I think they chose the right person. Whenever you need help you know Summer and I are always here."

"Thanks, Seth." Ryan gave him a smile.

-

"So, how's things with Sophie going?" Summer was sitting at the edge of Taylor and Ryan's bed with a bottle of nail polish in her hands. Taylor had been complaining that she couldn't reach her toes and she didn't want to walk around with messed up looking toenails, so Summer took the job in painting them for her.

"They could be better. She misses her parents, I don't blame her. I miss them too…" Taylor flipped through the glossy pages of the magazine in her hands.

"Me too. Taylor, do you think we'll ever be as good as parents as they were?" Summer asked seriously. Taylor put the magazine down before smiling at her best friend.

"I don't know, all we can do is try." Taylor told her honestly. Sure, Sandy and Kirsten made their mistakes in parents but they were amazing parents none-the-less.

Suddenly Taylor felt a strange jolt go through her body. This wasn't a kick, it felt completely different. Even though Taylor had told Ryan she was ready to have a baby, she really wasn't. She wasn't sure how to handle him or what to do when he cried. She hadn't been around when Sophie or Colton were baby's. They were almost four when she returned from Paris.

This baby had been a huge surprise. Ryan and Taylor both decided that they would wait five or six years before starting a family. It's only been two years since they married in the backyard of Sandy and Kirsten's home. It's only been two years since they married in the backyard of Sandy and Kirsten's home that they found out that Taylor was indeed pregnant. It had taken Taylor months to come to terms with the pregnancy. Ryan had been the one to suggest waiting awhile before starting a family so it seemed a bit odd to Taylor how excited he got when he found out she was pregnant. She knew she always wanted a family, especially one with Ryan, but she still wasn't sure if this was the right time for that.

Taylor shut her eyes tightly and realized that there was no stopping this baby from coming. She wished she could just squeeze her legs shut and maybe the baby would just stay up there until she was ready for him. No, he didn't want to do that.

"You okay, Taylor?" Summer asked her after Taylor had jumped a bit in her spot.

"I'm just…having these pains." She shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh my God, please tell me you are not going into labor!" Summer jumped up almost spilling the bottle of nail polish; which she knew Taylor would have scolded her for if she was paying attention.

"I don't know! I've never had a baby before!" Taylor was panicking. "Summer…am I supposed to be bleeding?"