Sandy wasn't sure how to read Ryan's response. His son had just been asked to change his entire life and permanently move in with the father he never knew he had, and he barely reacted. Did he really not want to? Did he still not understand? Would he really rather be back with his abusive father? Or the detention center? Sandy knew they weren't real options, but was Ryan going to hate him for forcing him into the family? Did he already hate Sandy for 'abandoning' him? It was so hard to know what was going on inside someone's head when they only said five words a day. But it wasn't a negative response, so that was something, wasn't it?

Ryan watched his new father walk away. The situation ended awkwardly, but Ryan was glad that the older man wasn't sitting there staring at him anymore. What did he want from him? There was no way for Ryan to be able to tell. He was so out of his element. Everything was so foreign. A little bit of hope sparked deep down inside him.

Everything was so foreign. He didn't understand anything that was going on. He was in a completely different world. Maybe he was in a world that didn't hate him? He quickly squandered the thought. He had been kicked down to many times to even consider getting his hopes up about anything. The situation would backfire one way or another. He just had to be patient and wait it out. Where would he go next? Maybe his mother would take him back in. Or maybe his real dad would be out of jail. But maybe he would be on his best behavior. Just in case.

"Sandy, what are you doing?" Kirsten had been reading in their bedroom with Rosie when Sandy had walked in and thrown himself face down on the bed. Rosie giggled and jumped on the bed to join him. She made a noise vaguely imitative of a young, wild animal and pounced on his back. He pretended to ignore her while waiting for the perfect time to scoop her up. Rosie was so easy, ever since she was born.

Sandy shook the thoughts from his head that started wondering what Ryan was like as a baby and made his move. She, as he predicted, cackled with laughter. It made him smile. He looked up at Kirsten who was only slightly less amused.

"Well?"

"I told him he was staying here."

"Who's staying here?" Rosie tilted her head at him.

"Ryan's gonna stay with us." Sandy held his breath. He had no idea how Rosie would respond. She had seemed fine around him the other day, but a whole new person moving into her house? He didn't know how she was going to take that.

"Why?" Why. Why? Because his mother abandoned him. Because the man who raised him, the man who was supposed to protect him, decided to beat him regularly instead. Because the people he grew up with turned him into a terrified mouse. Because her house was the only place he was ever going to be safe. Sandy knew he couldn't answer her innocent in any of those ways.

"Because Ryan belongs here now." Sandy smiled at his wife. She always knew what to say. The answer was just vague enough to make Rosie lose interest in the subject. "How about you go find your shoes and we'll go to the park?" Rosie ran out of the room to do a task which should have only taken a minute but they both knew would take at least fifteen. Kirsten stared at him expectantly. "What did he say?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know! He didn't really say anything. You know, I just wish I knew what was going through that kid's head. I don't know if he wants to stay or if he'd rather be somewhere else or what he wants to do."

"Well, it doesn't really matter right now. He's staying here. He knows he's staying here. He really didn't ask any questions or anything?"

"Nope."

"Did you at least give him the chance to?

Sandy opened his mouth to say 'Of course I did!' but closed it again because he realized it was a lie. Sure, he had stared at Ryan, waiting, but it was obvious he wasn't comfortable enough to ask him anything.

The stairs were getting easier to climb. That was nice but how much longer was he really going to be climbing them? He would probably be on his way back to his one story home soon. He would also probably incur more injuries making him thankful they only had a small home with no stairs.

The laundry basket was still sitting outside the bedroom door. He didn't want Kirsten washing his clothes. She probably didn't want to wash his clothes either. Why had she even offered? He would fill up the laundry basket and then make his way back downstairs later and wash them himself. He shuffled through his clothes. What should he put in the basket, anyway? All of his things were dirty. He picked out a few of his favorite things.

Sandy didn't find Ryan in the living room like he thought he would. What he found instead was his other son sitting on the floor, playing video games.

"Okay, I can explain."

"Turn it off, Seth. Where's Ryan?" Sandy watched Seth slowly crawl towards the game console to turn it off, probably hoping Sandy would have a change of heart and tell him he could keep playing. It wasn't going to happen. Seth eventually reached the television and dramatically pressed the off button. Lying on the floor, he simply pointed up. Sandy left him to pout and went to find Ryan.

A knock on the door made Ryan jump.

"Uh, come in?" He wasn't really sure what else to do. Should he have gotten up and opened the door himself? It seemed like a weird thing to do. Although someone knocking on his door seemed weird in itself.

"Hey, kid. Can I come in?" It seemed as though every situation Ryan was put in was stranger than the last.

"It's your house." Ryan watched as Sandy came in and leaned against the dresser by the door.

"See, that's what I wanted to come and talk to you about." Sandy had only told him he was going to stay a half hour earlier. That decision had a pretty fast turnover. "I don't want you to be thinking like that. This is your room now. If you don't want me in it, you say so. That's fine. If you want to keep the door locked, that's fine. This is your space now."

Ryan just stared. He really didn't know what else to do.

"I just… You're going to be staying here for a long time. At least until you turn eighteen. And you're going to be welcome to stay after that. I know that this is all sudden and confusing and, trust me, it is for us too, but you're a part of this family now. I just found out you existed a few days ago… I… I wish I had known about you a lot sooner so you could have been a part of this family a lot sooner." Ryan looked up to see Sandy staring at him. Again. He decided he couldn't take it. He wasn't going to be able to sit and try to be good and wait for them to kick him out. Especially with all this talk about 'family.'

"What about when you decide you don't want me anymore?" It seemed like the most likely ending to their relationship. Sandy looked down and softly chuckled.

"Sometimes I decide I don't want Seth anymore, but what are you gonna do? He's my son. I am going to love him and take care of him no matter what he does. And you're my son too." Ryan tried not to let himself believe it. Instead he moved onto the next scenario.

"What if my mom comes back?"

"You can see her if you want. Or if you don't want to see her, you don't have to. I'm going to have full custody of you soon so she's going to have no rights. She can't make you go anywhere." Ryan was tempted to ask about his father, his other one, but was afraid of the answer. He just wanted to let himself believe that everything coming out of Sandy's mouth was true. He didn't want the illusion shattered by reality. "If you have anything else you want to ask me, or anything else you want to tell me, you can. Anything. Anytime. All right?" Ryan simply nodded. He watched his full laundry basket being lifted off the ground.

"I can wash those." Sandy barely let him finish. Before carrying it out and closing the door behind him.