Ryan didn't know too much about video games. He had played some when he was younger and spent a lot of time at his friends' houses during the summer. When Ryan was thirteen they had moved from Fresno to Chino, leaving the few friends he had had behind. The kids his age in the new neighborhood were either involved with gangs or had parents who wouldn't let them hang out with the weird quiet kid with the crazy older brother.

The video games Seth had were much more complicated than the ones he had played years before. Ryan wasn't sure if it was easy to be really good at the games and he was just an odd –and terrible—exception or if Seth spent a lot of time playing them. The guy had a beautiful girlfriend. How much time did he really have to play video games?

Between his excitement for all the different games he wanted Ryan to play and his expertise in every one of them, Ryan could tell that Seth must have spent a lot of time playing. But getting his ass kicked at video games was much less stressful than getting his ass kicked in any other way Ryan was used to.

As weird as it felt to Ryan, he thought that Seth liked him. The constant rambling and the fact that Seth didn't seem to get bored even after hours of playing with him could mean something completely different, but Ryan couldn't figure out exactly what. Rosie, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested. When she woke up from her nap, she brought down a couple of dolls and sat off to the side with a myriad of other toys and mumbled to herself. Even though he was pretty sure it was normal for little kids to talk to themselves while playing, he wondered if anyone in this family's mouth ever stopped moving.

Sandy seriously considered skipping his meeting and going straight to his wife's office. He knew she wasn't pleased with the situation they were in. Hell, Sandy wasn't pleased with the situation they were in. He had told Kirsten everything that had happened in the short time they were apart as soon as they were back together. That had been difficult enough, but throwing in the fact that a child had come from the situation and that suddenly Sandy was solely responsible for the child and that Sandy had to pick up the child from prison… He was surprised she was still speaking to him.

Despite how angry she was with him, all he wanted to do was talk to her, share everything he had learned about his long lost son. He didn't even care if she was too angry to comfort him, he just needed to be around her. After distractedly powering through a boring meeting, he finally made it to see her.

"Hey." She didn't sound happy but at least she was speaking to him. "Where is he?"

"At home."

"With the kids?"

"Honey, you know I wouldn't leave them alone if I didn't think it was safe." She sighed.

"I know. It's just… Did you find out anything else about him?"

Ryan wasn't sure how long they had been playing video games or if Seth was ever going to want to stop. Could he just tell Seth he wanted to stop and take a break?

Rosie had gotten to take a nap, when would it be Ryan's turn? Sure he was past the age where it was normal for him to have naptime, but he had missed sleep. Being locked up, he didn't sleep much. He was always surrounded by loud and potentially dangerous other boys and guards. Even when he was locked up in solitary, he heard constant screaming and yelling coming from the other cells.

Plus, he loved that bed. He hadn't gotten time to fully appreciate it the night before. He had been so tired that he had passed out right away. The idea of lying in a bed that comfortable surrounded by silence was like paradise. He had had playing games with Seth and he was happy that Seth somehow didn't seem to hate him, but he was ready to be alone again.

He tried waiting for a perfect moment to tell Seth he wanted to go lay down. Having no idea what that perfect moment would have looked like, Ryan had no idea if there was one and he just missed it. Forty-five minutes after deciding he wanted to go lay down, Seth got up to put in yet another game. It seemed like good a time as any.

"I actually think I'm gonna go lay down."

"What? Yeah. Sure. In that case, I'm going to skip this game, put it aside, save it for later when we play again. And I'm gonna put in Minecraft because really, it's kind of embarrassing and kind of a solo player thing."

"Cool." Seth continued talking, but Ryan figured he had properly excused himself enough to walk out of the room.

By the time Sandy was done telling Kirsten everything he had learned, she was comforting him. He was relieved not only that she didn't seem to be angry anymore, but also that he had gotten everything off of his chest.

Hearing her say that it all wasn't his fault made him almost believe it. Deep down he knew that the chance of him conceiving a child on a one night stand was improbable and that there was no reason to follow up with a complete stranger he had met in a bar, but Ryan's life just seemed so sad. He couldn't help but think of how different his life would have been if Sandy and Kirsten had raised him.

"So you really think he's not even a little bit dangerous? Growing up with all of that violence?"

"I doubt it. I think he's just terrified. You know, I doubt there was ever a moment in his life when he wasn't terrified. I just wonder if he did it all because he knew that Ryan wasn't his."

"That should have nothing to do with it. No one should treat anyone like that. Much less a poor defenseless child! And what kind of mother would let that happen to her son? I just can't believe it. But it's going to be okay. He's with us now." Sandy smiled to himself. Not only at the prospect of Ryan finally being safe, but that his wife had already accepted him into their home.