AN: Here's another chapter for everyone. I meant to get it out over the weekend, but things got busy for me here. I hope you like this. Please review!

Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.

Chapter 17: New Connections

Kirsten didn't realize that she had been talking with Ruby for almost the entire day until she heard the door open and Sandy, Ryan, and Seth coming towards her. She stood up to meet them as Seth was rambling on about something.

"Hey," Sandy spotted the new person on their patio. "Sorry to interrupt."

"I didn't realize that we had been talking so long," Kirsten smiled. "This is our back neighbor, Ruby Miller. I guess we've been talking to each other all afternoon."

"Nice to meet you," Ruby shook Sandy's hand.

"This is my husband Sandy, and our boys, Seth and Ryan."

"I've been meaning to introduce myself once I saw you all moving in, but it sounds like you've been busy."

"Just a little," Sandy smiled at her.

"Mom?" a voice called across the yard.

"That's my daughter," Ruby told them. "Over here honey!"

"Maddie?" Seth and Ryan said at the same time as they watched one of their new friends cross into their backyard.

"Seth? Ryan?" Maddie looked at them.

"You all know each other?" Sandy looked at the teenagers.

"She's one of the ones that was going to come over this weekend so you could meet them," Seth told them.

"Well, nice to meet you," Kirsten smiled at the girl.

"You too," Maddie looked at the boys. "So I guess we're backyard neighbors."

The group continued to talk until just the adults were left in the Cohen's yard when Maddie took Seth and Ryan to hang out in her backyard.

"Dad's home!" Maddie called back as she saw the familiar car pull in.

"Hey sweetie," her dad smiled at her as she led the two teenage boys into their yard. "Who are your guests?"

"This is Seth and Ryan, the ones I told you about. Apparently they live behind us. Mom has been at their house all day getting to know their mom."

"Don't go into the house with them by yourself," her dad told her. "Just stick to the yard. If you're going into the shed, keep the door open so we can see what you're doing."

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes as he took his things into the house and then came back out to meet his wife in the Cohen's yard.

The adults looked up as they heard the gate open and close again. Sandy looked shocked as he saw the newcomer enter and give Ruby a kiss on the cheek.

"Nathan?" Sandy looked surprised.

"Sandy Cohen," he smiled at him.

"You two know each other?" Kirsten looked at her husband.

"He's the dean at the college," Sandy told her. "So my new boss lives right behind us."

"Well hopefully you had a good day so this won't be awkward," Ruby joked as she glanced at her husband.

"From what I hear, you had a wonderful day. The students all loved you." Nathan smiled at Sandy.

"Well, hopefully I'll be able to keep it up." Sandy remarked.

"You'll be fine," Kirsten assured him. "Looks like the kids are having fun over there."

They all looked into the adjoining yard and saw the group of three get out some nets and set them up.

"Looks like she's getting out the field hockey equipment," Nathan smiled. "She loves to entertain guests."

"I would never guess that either of those boys is in the system," Ruby stated. "They both look like they could be your biological son."

"Thank you for saying so," Kirsten glanced at Sandy and saw his confused look. "Maddie was in the system too. They adopted her last year."

"So is it hard?" Sandy looked at the couple.

"It was hard in the beginning," Nathan told them. "She fought us a lot, and acted out whenever we tried to tell her that we wanted her and would not send her back. It took a lot of therapy and patience."

"We need to find a new therapist for Ryan," Kirsten said. "The one we had him go to didn't work out. He walked out in the middle of the first session."

"Who did you send him to?"

"Dr. Thomas, he was recommended to me by my colleagues at the PD's office." Sandy told them.

"Don't send him back there," Ruby said. "We tried to send Maddie there as well. She revealed to us after there was no improvement after almost a year that he would try to force her to talk about things that happened in her childhood that she wasn't ready to talk about yet."

"We told Ryan that he didn't have to go back to him," Kirsten said. "I just need to find a new one."

"There's a facility in town that we send Maddie to. It focuses on the artistic aspect rather than the verbal aspect."

"What do you mean?"

"Maddie sometimes has issues expressing herself verbally. This facility specializes in art therapy. It has helped wonders."

"Maybe we should look into that," Kirsten looked at Sandy. "He's not interested in vocalizing anything to us most of the time. He did sign up for that art class voluntarily. He may like it more than we thought."

"I suppose we could give it a try,"

"Here's their business card," Nathan opened up his wallet and handed them a rectangle card. "You won't regret it."

Seth gave up on playing field hockey with Ryan and Maddie once they both got very intense about outdoing the other. He sat on the back steps and watched as they tried to score against the other.

"Are you sure you don't want another turn?" Maddie looked back at him.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm not into physical activity much."

"Did you check out the Crew?"

"Logan took me to meet the coach," Seth shrugged. "He said to come by the next practice to check it out if I want. Would I be considered a jock if I join?"

"The jocks here are nothing like they seemed in Newport," Ryan stopped to look at him. "You should've seen all the athletes that showed up to the boys cooking club today."

"So you liked it?" Maddie looked at him.

"It was cool," Ryan shrugged.

"John said that Mr. Fields lets you take samples of your work home, then he donates the rest to a local shelter or food bank."

"That's pretty cool,"

"Did you like the esports club today?" Maddie looked at Seth.

"Yeah," he smiled. "Logan also told me that if I have an idea for a new club that I can make up a proposal and pass around a petition. If I get enough interest, the school might consider my idea."

"What's your idea?"

"A comic book club. Or maybe I should call it graphic novel club so that there's no stigma and girls could join if they want."

"I like it," Maddie stated.

"You like what?" they all looked up as the adults joined them again.

"Seth is thinking about starting a comic book club at school, or graphic novel club. I think there might be a lot of interest."

"So you didn't find a club that you were interested in today?" Kirsten asked him.

"Logan took me to check out the esports club,"

"Esports?"

"Video games," Ryan informed them.

"Don't worry," Maddie saw their looks. "They don't just play random games the whole time. The faculty advisor is the computer teacher. He teaches everyone code and they try to develop their own video game if they want."

"Sounds interesting," Sandy smiled. "Let's head back to the house and get some supper."

"You boys are welcome over anytime," Ruby told them.

"As long as we're home," Nathan added.

"Overprotective," Maddie said as she gave her parents a look.

"Maddie is also welcome over at our house as long as we're home," Kirsten told them all.

The two families waved goodbye to each other and Sandy and Kirsten led his family back across their yard and into the house. Since it was getting late, they all made up plates of deli sandwiches and chips. Then the boys went up to their rooms to do their homework while Sandy and Kirsten talked in the living room.

"So you had a good day then?" Sandy looked at her. "You said you guys talked all afternoon."

"Yes, we got to know each other well." Kirsten smiled. "She told me about a parents group that she's a part of. It's not just for parents of younger kids. It's parents of kids of all ages. They have meetups a couple times a week. They also try to get a weekend away every year."

"Sounds like fun,"

"I finally feel connected here," Kirsten smiled. "So how did your day go?"

"It was good…." he started telling her all about his classes that day.

A couple hours later, Kirsten made her rounds with the boys to make sure that they were getting ready for bed. Seth was still on his computer, but he immediately started to shut it down when he saw his mom enter the room.

"Lights out," she told him.

"Got it," he nodded.

"So what were you doing?"

"Just chatting with the kids I told you about," he shrugged. "We all exchanged screen names today."

"Was Ryan online too?"

"He was for a while, then he signed off because he said he had some reading to do,"

"I'm glad you boys are starting to make friends," Kirsten smiled. "And I am looking forward to meeting them."

"Ok," Seth started to get settled into bed as Kirsten started out of his room. "Good night, mom."

"Good night," she smiled as she closed the door behind her.

Kirsten walked down to Ryan's room and knocked softly on the door. She slowly opened the door when she heard him call for her to enter. She walked into his room and spotted the darkened room with the only light being the one on his bedside table as he looked through one of the books she had picked up for him at the library.

"I see you found the books I left for you," she smiled at him.

"Yes. Thank you," he sat up and pulled one of the books off the pile. "I think you left one of your books by mistake."

"What-" she noticed his look as he handed her one of the books about starting her own business. "So you found out my secret."

"I won't tell," he smiled at her. "So what kind of business do you want to start?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I would like one that would allow me equal time for both the business and my family."

"Do you think that's possible?"

"I hope so," she smiled. "I'm still in the early brainstorming stage."

"I'm sure that it will work out for you," Ryan told her.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," she smiled at him. "I came in here to tell you that it's time for lights out."

"Got it," he placed his book down on his night stand as she started out of the room again.

"Good night." Kirsten smiled at him.

"Good night," Ryan called as his door closed and he turned out the light and got settled for the night.

AN: so what did you think? I hope you liked it. Please review!