Ryan stared, dumbfounded, at the two girls who were staring expectantly back at him. He could feel his breath catching in his chest and knew beyond any doubt in the world that it was Ellie standing there beside Emma.

"Emma?" He managed to say before running his hands through his hair like he always did when he was stressed and taking a step towards his girls. "Ellie?" It was a question, not a statement. He took another step towards them and, hesitantly, reached out to Ellie and pulled her into a hug, taking notice of the fact that she was identical to Emma in every way.

Ellie sniffled and tried to comprehend the fact that she was embracing her father, a father she had wanted her whole life. She felt one of Ryan's arms slide off her back and reach outwards, inviting Emma into the embrace who willingly accepted.

Ryan realized that it was the first time he had held both his daughters in his arms at the same time in almost sixteen years. Pulling away, he stared into Ellie's face at a loss for words.

"God do you look like your mother," he said quietly, then placed a kiss to her forehead.

"Dad you have a lot of explaining to do," Emma said from beside Ellie.

"So do you," Ryan countered. "But I think we should do this with your mother."

Ellie and Emma exchanged a look, then looked back to their father. "What do you mean?" Ellie asked.

"I mean that everything that happened with me and you mother deserves a two-sided explanation. I think she would want to be here to tell you guys what really happened on her part," Ryan said sadly. "Now tell me how you met."

"Nah uh," Emma said with a cheeky smile. "This works both ways. If you want to wait for Marissa Cooper to get here and explain things, then you have to wait for an explanation from us too."

Ryan stared his daughters down, then shook his head in disbelief. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that both his daughters were standing in front of him. "Fine. Ellie do you have your mothers number?"

"Ya but good luck getting a hold of her. She's always busy. Normally it's Holly, her assistant, who answers the phone and she tells me that she'll pass on the message. But maybe your luck will be better," Ellie stated, reaching into her purse and pulling out a card with two numbers written on it. "Try them both, either will work. And use your name, sometimes it works too."

Ryan nodded and took the card with a smile, excused himself, and left his twins to talk amongst themselves.

"You really think this is going to work Ellie?" Emma questioned.

"Depends. My mom … our mom … always talked about a guy from high school that she loved and never stopped loving. Maybe if it's Ryan, they'll get back together," Ellie dreamed.

"And we'll all live happily ever after," Emma stated sarcastically.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ryan sat down on the leather sofa of his study, phone clutched in his hands, trembling as he lifted if from the receiver and slowly dialled the numbers on the card. Ringing filled his ear as he waited, then a pretty female voice that Ryan knew instantly wasn't Marissa's answered with a perky, "Hello?"

"Umm … Hi. I'm trying to get a hold of Marissa Cooper," Ryan said awkwardly.

"I'm sorry but Miss Cooper is busy at the moment. Can I leave her a message?" Holly asked politely but slightly impatiently.

"Actually this is really important," Ryan persisted. "It's about her daughters Ellie and Emma. Tell her its Ryan Atwood. I'm sure she'll find herself slightly less busy," Ryan said.

Holly considered for a moment telling the man that Marissa was extremely busy and to call back later, but when he mentioned Emma, the daughter Marissa had left behind with her husband when she moved from New York to LA that nobody knew about except her, she changed her mind. "I'll see what I can do Mr Atwood," she said politely.

Pressing the hold button, Holly placed the phone down on the table and walked to Marissa's dressing room, rapped lightly on the door, and waited for a reply.

"Come in," Marissa called from the other side of the oak door.

Holly turned the handle and pushed the door open, stepping in with what she hoped to be a light smile. "There's a phone call for you Marissa," she said.

"I asked you to hold all my calls Holly," Marissa said politely.

"I know Marissa. But the man says it's about your daughters Ellie and Emma. He says his name is Ryan Atwood."

Marissa looked up instantly from her magazine with a shocked look on her face and stared at Holly with disbelief. "What did he say his name was?"

"Ryan Atwood," Holly repeated and couldn't tell whether Marissa was experiencing good shock or bad.

"What line?" Marissa asked instantly.

"Two," Holly said, then backed her way out of the room with a smile.

Marissa picked up the line and hit the two button, then cautiously raised the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.

Ryan was taken aback at how tired her voice sounded after sixteen years of not hearing a word. "Marissa?" he asked slowly after a pause.

Marissa let out a breath of relief, realizing just then and there how much she had missed his voice. "Ryan," she said somewhat disbelievingly. "Haven't heard from you in awhile."

"I know," Ryan said sadly.

"Is everything ok?" Marissa asked, her voice slightly panicked. "Is Emma ok?"

"Ya, ya Emma's fine. But I think you need to come to New York for a while. We have a little bit of a situation," Ryan said.

"What kind of situation?"

"Emma and Ellie met."

In the simple statement that Ryan said, Marissa felt her whole world crash around her; every lie she had ever told Ellie about her father walking out on them, about how it was just them in this world, had crumbled beneath her perfectly pedicured feet.

"How?" was all she could manage to get out.

"I don't know. They said that I had a lot of explaining to do and I told them that it would be best if you were here to help me. And then they said that until they got information, we weren't getting any," Ryan said.

"I'll be on the next flight out," Marissa said, running around her dressing room and shoving things into a duffle bag she had stored under her futon.

"Really?" Ryan said.

"Ryan I'm not letting you do this alone. This is my mess too. Same address?" Marissa asked.

"No we moved after you left with Ellie; 1562 corner of Madison Avenue and 160th; penthouse apartment," Ryan stated his address.

Marissa nodded as she scribbled down the address onto a piece of paper on her vanity. "Just keep the girls there. I'll be on a flight out tonight. With any luck, I'll be there by mid-afternoon tomorrow."

Ryan paused, then said, "Thanks Marissa; for coming out, for doing this with me."

"They're my kids too Ryan. We're in this mess together. I'll see you soon."

"Ya. Soon."

"And Ryan?" her voice was hesitant and apprehensive. "It's really good to hear from you."

"You too," Ryan said, then hung up with a click of the phone. Running his fingers through his hair again, he stood from the leather chair and walked to the living room where Ellie and Emma were waiting, pouring through one of the albums of photos accumulated over the years.

"Is Mom coming?" Ellie asked, swivelling around to face her father who she could feel standing behind her.

Ryan nodded, somehow unable to find his tongue. "She'll be here about noon tomorrow," he said, then turned and walked into the kitchen.

As he sat on the stool with the newspaper in front of him, eyes fixed unfocused on the blurry words before him, Ryan wondered to himself whether he was ready for this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The three of them sat on the kitchen stools, watching the clock on the wall slowly tick away the minutes. The time of eleven fifty-one stared back at them.

"What time did Mom say she would be here at?" Ellie asked again for about the third time.

Ryan sighed. "Any minute now."

From its spot beside the stove, the phone rang twice, the ring that said there was someone at the door in the lobby. Ryan stared at it for a second, then picked it up. "Hello?"

There was silence for a second as Marissa lost her nerve.

"Hello?" Ryan asked again.

"Ryan, hi," Marissa said. "I'm downstairs. The doorman said I had to call before I could go up."

Ryan could hear the smile in her voice and smiled himself. "Sure. Come on up." He hung up the phone and turned back to his girls. "You guys ready for this?"

Ellie and Emma exchanged a look of scepticism, then turned back to their father and nodded.

A knock from the front door sounded and the three of them exchanged another look.

"Who wants to get that?" Ryan asked.

Ellie sighed and took a deep breath. "I will," she said as she crossed the threshold towards the front door, swung it open and faced her mother.

Marissa was standing there, as beautiful as ever, dressed in a pair of designer jeans and an elegant shirt, her hair in loose waves, pulled out of her face by large sunglasses that she seemed to have passed her love for onto her daughters.

"Ellie," she breathed out, then dropped her suitcase and embraced her little girl who was only an inch or two shorter. When they pulled apart, Marissa glanced around the apartment, her eyes coming and stopping at Emma who was leaning against her father, Ryan's arm draped over her shoulders.

Marissa walked slowly over to them, a sad smile on her face. "Emma," she said, shaking the tears out of her eyes. She held her arms open for Emma who hesitantly walked into the embrace and held tightly onto the mother she had always wanted.

Ryan smiled as he watched the interaction, then waited as Emma slowly pulled away. This left him and Marissa since Emma had moved to beside her sister.

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes

"It's been far too long," Ryan said as he held open his arms and Marissa slowly walked into them.

Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait

He inhaled the scent of her sweet perfume, every memory of their time together flashing through his mind. He wanted this feeling to last forever.

Just one chance
Just one breath

Slowly and hesitantly, they pulled away and granted each other a small smile before Marissa turned back to her bags.

Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

She could hear her pulse coursing through her ears, pounding deep within her. She was lost.

"I missed you so much," Marissa said, turning and adressing Emma again. "Both of you," she said, taking each hand of her daughter's in one of her own. "I think your dad and I have some explaining to do."

I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long

Ryan nodded and led his three girls over to the living room and guestured for them to sit on the couch. Emma immediately sat beside Ryan and Ellie took a seat beside her mother.

I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore

"Where do we start Mariss?" Ryan asked her, using the affectionate name he had adopted for her just after high school.

"At the beginning," Marissa replied sadly.

"Things just weren't going well for us," Ryan said slowly. "Everything was going great until you guys were about three months old. Ellie, you came down with a serious case of pnuemonia and we were under so much stress. Then Emma, you got really sick as well and the doctors couldn't figure out why. They ran every test in the book on you but you were a mystery. The two of you were so tiny, in the hospital for about a month. And nobody could figure out why you were sick Em."

On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance

Ryan took a second to look at Marissa who's head was hung in the bitter memory that she had hoped she would never have to relive.

"We were spending so much time at the hospital, neither of us were sleeping. And then add to the mix that my brother had just died. But that's another story. After two months of Ellie being on life-support in an incubator and the doctors having no idea what was wrong with Emma, they finally figured out that Emma, you were sick because Ellie was."

'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of Hell to hold your hand

"That doesn't make sense," Emma said. "If I was sick because Ellie was but I didn't have pneumonia, then why was I sick?"

Ryan grinned. "The doctors called it 'twin-syndrome'. Sometimes, in really young sets of twins when one of them gets sick, the other twin mimicks their twins symptoms without even having what the other one has. And that's what happened. They figured out that to cure you Em, all they had to do was cure Ellie."

I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything, but I won't give up

"But by the time the two of you were better our marrige was gone," Marissa said quietly for the first time. "We had argued so much, been under so much strain and worry over our two babies being in the hospital that we were just so sick of each other. And then I got a job offer in Los Angeles. It seemed so perfect at the time. We debated on whether your dad would keep you here for awhile and I would have you in LA for awhile. But we figured that the back and forth would just be disruptive, especially the older you got. And we staying in New York wasn't an option since I had just signed a contract with Ford models and Ryan moving to LA was out of the question since he had just been made partner of his architecture firm."

I wanted
I wanted you to stay

'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say

"The only other option left was to slpit you guys up and never have you know that the other one existed," Ryan finished for her.

I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long

He looked over to Marissa and noted the tears that were welling in her eyes. The decision to spilt their marrige and their girls up had been the hardest thing either one had ever had to do.

"I waited for you," Ryan said quietly, almost unaware of the fact that his and Marissa's daughters were hanging off every word their parents said.

So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go

"I sat outside the elevator with Emma in my lap for four hours, waiting for the doors to ding open and you and Ellie to step out," Ryan whispered.

Marissa gasped back another sob. "I waited for you too. I missed my flight and sat in the waiting room with my eyes glued to the door waiting for you to burst through and say that you didn't want me to go, to say that leaving was a mistake; that we needed to keep our marrige and our daughter's together. And I would have. Just to see you standing at that door would have made me come back. You wouldn't have even had to say anything. You were always able to do that to me."

Keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go

Ellie and Emma watched the interaction between their parents in awe and wondered if this was what love was really all about.