A/N: So I finally got around to writing the epilogue. It's turned out to be a bit longer than I intended, so it will be in two parts. Hope you enjoy and review!!
Epilogue I
"Ryan! Ryan!! RYYYYAAANNNNNNN!! It's time!!" Marissa screamed as she held her stomach. The contractions had started an hour or so before and she had been timing them. Now seven minutes apart it was definitely time.
"Ok, I'm here." Ryan panted as he came in from the back yard. He was followed closely behind by his very own Mini-Me, and the form of a three year old boy.
"Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy?" the little one asked worriedly.
"Buddy, it's time for me to take Mommy to the hospital to have the baby, just like we talked about." Ryan comforted the three-year old then swung into action as he maneuvered his wife to the stairs where she could rest until he was ready.
"Ok, you remember the breathing. Just sit there while I get us organized, ok?" he kissed his wife's forehead as she nodded.
"AMY ELIZABETH!! He screamed as loud as he could.
Marissa's Mini-Me in the form of a tall, slim teenage girl emerged from one of the rooms upstairs.
"What? Where's the fire?" Amy answered with all the typical attitude of a thirteen year old girl.
"Uh….Mom's in labor" Ryan replied intoning with his own bit of teenage attitude. "Time to put the plan in motion."
"Oh, sorry" Amy said quietly. "Ok, you get Mom to the car, I'll bring her bag out. Then I'll call everyone on the list and get Uncle Seth to pick me and Brooklyn up." She looked over the railing at her mother. "You ok, mom?"
Marissa waved a thumbs up over her head as she breathed through a contraction and Ryan helped her to her feet.
"Ready to do this again?" he whispered to her as he led her carefully to the car. Marissa smiled and nodded.
The car ride to the hospital was quiet and relatively calm. Marissa breathed easily through her contractions now about four minutes apart. This was her third labor and a piece of cake she told herself. Ryan held his wife's hand and thought about how beautiful she looked when she was pregnant. Not that she wasn't beautiful all the time, but pregnant, she glowed.
Now forty years old, the only indication of her age was a few laugh lines around her eyes, but Marissa had still been stressed and depressed at the though of turning the big 4-0. Ryan had decided to surprise her with a romantic week in Hawaii for the two of them. He arranged for Amy and Brooklyn to stay with Seth and Summer (what was two more when they already had three now?!), and they had spend the week completely rapt in each other.
Marissa had commented that for the amount of time they spent in their room making love, it would have been cheaper to spend the week in a hotel in Frisco. Ryan argued that the scenery had set the mood and most likely contributed to Marissa's present condition.
Each one of their children was a miracle given Marissa's medical history and the two of them had always joked that Amy was conceived by the sheer volume of sex they had in those first few months. Although they had never used birth control of any kind, it was not until the weekend they spent in New York for their tenth wedding anniversary that they conceived again, and Brooklyn was the result.
Ryan chuckled to himself as he recalled how each of his children had been conceived.
"What's so funny?" Marissa asked, hearing him chuckle.
"I was just thinking that perhaps I should get a vasectomy." He looked at her with a completely straight face.
"O…k, kind of a random thought at this particular moment, but I'll bite…explain." Her lips curled into a smile as she panted through another contraction.
"Well, you're still hot, I'm still horny as ever, and we still have some significant birthdays and anniversaries to get through before you REALLY can't have any more kids, and after this" he looked down at the largest belly she'd ever had during a pregnancy "I think we're really done." He smiled his cheeky smile as he glanced sideways at her.
Marissa rolled her eyes and started laughing, but her expression changed quickly.
"Oh my god, Ryan…my water just broke. You'd better hurry or I'll ruin the leather." She was now panting through her mouth consistently.
Ryan laughed as he pulled into the hospital. "It's ok, we're here. Only you would worry about something like ruining the leather seats at a time like this…ok, maybe Summer too, but relax, it will come clean." He kissed her hand and pulled up outside the Labor and Delivery entrance.
Ryan was relieved to see two nurses waiting with a wheelchair and said a silent prayer of thanks first for his oldest child who was smart and mature beyond her years and had obviously completed the first phone call on her list, and secondly for ATCO being the largest and most successful architectural and interior design company in Northern California. It allowed him to afford the very best in private health care for his family.
Once inside, Ryan made sure Marissa was comfortable. After her examination, they had been told that despite the closeness of the contractions she was still only four centimeters dilated and there was still some time for an epidural and likely a few more hours of labor. Assured that he was not needed immediately, and that Marissa was in the best possible hands, he stepped outside to check his phone messages and sneak a cigarette.
Although outwardly calm and acting like this whole childbirth thing was now old hat to him, inwardly, just like the previous two times, he was a wreck and scared for his wife's health. This time there was an added stress that had forced him back to his secret habit of more than twenty years.
Ryan looked at his phone. Five messages. Even before he checked he knew who they were. He smiled and became reflective of this perfect life he had built as he listened to the messages.
"Chino. Amy called and Seth's gone to get her and Brooklyn. I'm leaving in five to come to the hospital. Seth will bring all the kids when we call and tell him it's close….so, I'll see you soon or maybe even before you get this….anyway…bye….oh and you owe Robbie money since he's babysitting Angelica and Zeke until Seth gets home….ok….tell Coop to breathe….bye.
Summer. She always made him smile. Anyone who could keep Seth's ego in check like that made him smile. Only Summer and Kirsten could accomplish that, especially since he'd got his own Siskel and Ebert type movie review show. He represented the Chronicle and Adam Krebbs represented the Sentinel. Cohen and Krebbs aired weekly on the local Fox affiliate which made him a celebrity about town. Summer was the epitome of the together mom, successfully balancing egocentric husband, three kids, and a career, all with a killer sense of humor and a heart of gold that would do anything for her family.
Family…wow…Ryan paused after listening to her message to reflect further. He and Summer had both been sorely lacking on the family front, but not anymore. At a quick count, not including any Atwoods from his previous life, he had three parents, three brothers, one sister, two sisters-in-law, one almost sister-in-law, two children, two nephews and one niece. A dinner for immediate family only at the Cohens' now numbered sixteen and there were more to come!
He moved onto the next message knowing it would be another member of his family.
"Hey sweetie. Amy called. She sounds so grown up. It's Saturday so naturally Sandy is on the golf course. I left him a message to come home as quickly as he can. It should only be another hour or so. If you get this and you want me there sooner just call. I called Sophie and she's going to let Jamie know so they can make their plans to come home. Give Marissa my love. I'll see you soon."
Kirsten. She was more of a mother to him than Dawn could ever hoped to have become. Unwavering support and unconditional love from both her and Sandy had made him the man, husband and father he was today. He loved watching them enjoy the retirement that they had earned and so richly deserved, and that gave them the time to be as devoted grandparents as they were parents.
Ryan took a long, satisfying drag from his cigarette and moved on to the next message.
"Ryan. Amy called. I'm on my way. I know you and Marissa said that we should all wait to come to the hospital until you said so and Amy reminded me of that, but I can't. So I'll see you soon, and please tell Amy to stop calling me Grandma, it makes me feel old! I called Kaiti in New York. She's getting a flight home tomorrow. I told her to use some of ATCO's FlexJet hours. Jamie called me after Sophie called him, they're driving back from UCLA today and they'll be here late tonight…and don't think I don't know you'll be checking these message while smoking cigarette outside the hospital. Give my girl a kiss and I'll see you soon."
Julie. Finally, the mother Marissa wanted and needed. Friend, confidante, nurturer. It was a joy to watch their relationship now. She was still extraordinarily beautiful and fit for a woman approaching sixty, and she hated to be reminded that she was a grandmother. Although she had hated it when Caleb had called her JuJu, she liked hearing her grandchildren say it. After all, the most sought after and influential interior designer in the state of California couldn't possibly be a grandmother, right?
Ryan smiled as he tossed his cigarette. Julie was the only one who officially knew his secret, although he suspected Marissa did too, but just never said anything.
He played the next message:
"Ry. Amy called. Guess you're doing this again, huh? I'm gonna hang out at home with Christina until someone calls to say it's a done deal. She's really not ready to experience all the realities of labor and childbirth yet, we've still got a six months to go (chuckle). Good luck, man. Call me when you're ready for us."
Nate. Now there was a guy who was paying it forward, saving the world one troubled teen at a time at the youth center that Ryan built, Marissa administrated mostly from home, and he ran like a well oiled machine. It was located in his old neighborhood, and had a variety of sports and social groups that kept the kids off the streets. They also had a very successful work placement program. One day about four years ago, he'd just about collapsed with jellied knees when Christina walked into the center in search of a job. Having served a short prison sentence for a relatively minor drug offense, she had cleaned herself up and was ready to contribute to the community she grew up in, in a positive way. It took very little time for Nate and Christina to rekindle the relationship they had when they were much younger. Now approaching their thirtieth birthdays, they were engaged and expecting their first child. Yet another one for the Cohen clan.
Uncle Nate who could hand the kids back once he'd wound them up beyond belief was going to have a very rude awakening in six short months, though Ryan as he moved on to the last message.
"Ryan. Obviously you know that Amy called us because you told her to. I'm on my way to get her and Brooklyn now. I guess our Seth/Ryan time today is cancelled…we'll have to reschedule for some time in the next three years 'cos that's the only time you're gonna have (laugh). I'm looking forward to meeting the latest Atwood since you guys have been so secretive about the sex of this one. I bet Summer it was a girl, but she says it's definitely a boy since Marissa's even bigger than she was with Brooklyn and not carrying a little ball like she did with Amy…so I guess I'll see you later and don't let Summer get too bossy. Later."
Seth. Where to begin with Seth. More of a brother and friend than he could ever have wished to have. Even now they were graying, middle-aged men, they still had Seth/Ryan time in front of the PlayStation whenever they could, although Robbie, at fourteen had taken to logging his own time with Uncle Ryan now since it was no fun beating his dad anymore. Seth was very much a Sandy Cohen type father, easy-going, but firm when necessary and able to talk to his fourteen year old son with the ease Sandy had spoken to him. Eleven year old Angelica was something else and a mystery that Seth suspected he would never solve. After all he was sixteen before he really had any experience of any kind with the opposite sex. At seven, Ezekiel, or Zeke as they called him, was still young enough to be a Mommy's boy, but Seth had faith he would come around to in a few years. Seth had never let his work or his celebrity interfere with his family life and had sworn never to miss a single soccer game or ballet class and had so far kept his word. How could he be anything but a perfect father with a role model like Sandy?
Ryan closed his phone and smiled to himself as he went back into his wife. The reception he got was quite unexpected.
"Mr. Atwood, I'm glad you're back. Your wife had been given the epidural and a further examination has been done by Dr. Miller. Her dilation is advancing rapidly and she's almost ready to push, but the doctor is concerned about her elevated blood pressure. He may decide to perform an emergency Caesarian section if he feels your wife's health or the baby's is at risk."
Ryan nodded in a state of shock and entered Marissa's room.