Kirsten might seem OOC in this chapter. Just fair warning.

"Seth, you hold the ladder and hold it steady. Ry? I'm coming up, kid"

Kirsten watched gratefully as Sandy steadily made his way up the ladder, the moment hampered only by the incessant ring of her cell. A call from Julie Cooper of all people finally convinced her to put the damn thing on silent.

By then Sandy had made his up the slope to where Ryan was perched and from where she stood Kirsten could just make out a broad dark figure next to a shorter smaller form.

She wished briefly that she could have been up there comforting Ryan, but she understood that Sandy had this certain connection with their foster son that she didn't share. Ryan said he trusted her, but he believed in Sandy like no one else.

She watched as Sandy settled down beside their foster son and of course, immediately started talking. His initial relief of seeing Ryan okay with his own two eyes quickly gave way to anger with their child for pulling such a stupid stunt. The words 'bone headed', 'worried', 'irresponsible', 'safety', 'disappointed' and 'son' flowed from her husband's lips without censure. Ryan's remorseful tenor contrasted Sandy's sharp reprimand and the two voices bounced back and forth a while until both became soft, one with comfort and reassurance.

They sat there taking for a while.

Finally, she heard a chuckle, some encouraging words and something whispered between the two of them. Then moments later Kirsten was left to marvel at her husband as their foster son slowly inched down the slope with Sandy laying a steady hand on his back.

As they made their way further into the light Kirsten could see Ryan had the arm of Sandy's shirt gripped tightly in his fist. They paused at the edge of the roof Kirsten and hurried towards the ladder letting Seth grip one side while she held the other as tightly as she could.

Ryan hesitated but after a bit of coaxing he reached a shaky foot down to the first rung. Never straying very far from Ryan's position, Sandy praised him all the way down putting a comforting hand on his back whenever he hesitated. Kirsten held her breath the entire time praying that neither of them wobbled on the way down.

She didn't lessen her grip by a finger or release her held breath until both of Ryan's feet touched earth.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay" she cried

A whirlwind of emotions from relief to rage overcame her and she rushed at her foster son, giving him a bone crushing hug before following it with a swift smack on back of the head.

For a few moments everbody went completely still. Head smacks were strictly Sandy territory and before now Seth had been the only target. She could feel her cheeks burning with both righteous fury and embarrassment at her reaction but she managed to recover quickly

"Don't you ever do anything like that to me again, you understand me?"

Ryan nodded quickly, face flaming and looking positively stunned.

Seth snickered. "Dude. -"

Kirsten turned to him and yelled "You're next, Buddy"

Seth smirked quickly disappeared and his eyes widened.

"Why don't we move this into the house?" Sandy suggested his dimples, betraying his underlying amusement and relief at the turn of events.

They all began to walk towards the house, Seth and Ryan giving Kirsten wide birth.

"Hey, Seth?" Ryan asked

"Yeah?"

"What were you saying before about if I get down?"

Seth laughed nervously.

"Yeah, about that, Buddy- Ah, Ryan? No, Man, no... OW. Oooowwoooowww. Mom! Ryan, just punched me, Mom. Did you see that?!"

"Nope" Kirsten said as she plucked Ryan's missing shoe from a poor flower bush. Ryan ducked his head, the tips of his ears still a bright pink but she could see the small smile he had aimed at the ground.

They were all but at the main entrance when-

"-Cohen! There you are! Geez, how long does it take to climb out a window? We've been waiting forev-"

Summer stopped marching towards them, mid tirade, at the sight of her two adult Cohens practically towing her friends into the house.

"Hello, Summer" Sandy greeted but without his usual friendly tone

"Uh. Good Evening, Mr. C., Mrs. Cohen."

"Ryan and Seth can't come out to play right now but you can try back in a couple weeks" Kirsten said

"Make that a few" Sandy added

Summer blushed slightly "About that. I was just-"

"Good Night, Summer" Kirsten said pointedly

"Right."

Summer nodded hastily before making her retreat

"Good Night. See you on Monday, Cohen… Chino"

Kirsten waited until Summer pulled out of the driveway before addressing her wayward sons

"Kitchen. Now"

Ryan quickly moved through the front door while Seth lagged behind

"Dad. A few weeks?! Are you serious?!"

" Son, that's not even the half of it" Sandy said sternly as they made their way through the foyer

"Can't we talk about this?"

"Oh, we're going to talk. Believe me. But if you don't like the grounding I could always let your mother handle it"

"Sandy!" Kirsten admonished while Seth quickly took another step away from her.

"Go sit with your brother, Seth. Your mother and I will be in shortly"

Kirsten followed Sandy out of the boys' earshot

"You sure made an impression on the two of them. What happened to yin and yang?" Sandy stated, his voice amused

"Yeah, I know" Kirsten replied. She doubted that she actually hurt Ryan but she still felt slightly guilty "It was-"

"- Righteous parental fury. I knew you'd take a leaf out of my book sooner or later"

"This isn't funny! As scared as he was Ryan could have really hurt himself tonight" Kirsten exclaimed

"I know."

Sandy hugged her to him and she could feel he was shaking slightly from the adrenaline.

" They're all right now. I doubt either of them will want to do it again now that they've seen the wrath of The Kirsten"

Kirsten narrowed her eyes at him "Sandy Cohen. You're not using me as some type of threat"

"Fine." Sandy pouted "But they're definitely grounded from each other this time"

"No!" Kirsten said "…Maybe, a couple of days apart wouldn't hurt"

"It definitely wouldn't hurt us" Sandy laughed softly

Kirsten sighed. Her nerves were still shot, the boys were safe and sound, she had 15 messages and counting from various newpsies on her cell phone eager for the latest scandal and her house was about to get anything but quiet.

She couldn't fathom why it made her so miserable earlier.

"You ready?" Kirsten asked

"Let's go"

They made their way to the kitchen side by side, Sandy's voice booming,

"SETH EZEKIEL COHEN, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? AND LET'S NOT FORGET YOU TOO, SPIDERMAN…"

That's it, Guys. Hoped you liked it :). 'Till next time.