Brring!

The doorbell startles Ryan out of his slumber. As his eyes open, he looks around to find that he's fallen asleep in a chair in the kitchen. It must be late afternoon by now. How could he have just fallen asleep like that?

Brring!

Ah, yes, the noise that woke him up in the first place. Someone at the door. Lazily, he stretches and moves to answer it. Where is everyone, anyway?

He finally wrenches open the door and gapes, dumbfounded. "Sandy? What are you doing here?"

"Ryan," his legal guardian, once almost-father, answers, "We need to talk."

"Oh. Um. Right. Come in." Ryan leads Sandy into the small kitchen and waits expectantly.

"Sit down," Sandy says, which is when Ryan realizes that he's the one who lives here and he hasn't been a very polite host. "Oh, sorry. Have a seat." They sit across the table from each other. It's only been a week, but the man across from him seems almost like a stranger. Ryan is reminded of their first meeting, and he feels a sharp pain inside, thinking about where that let to, how the year had turned out. Thinking about the day Theresa went to get the abortion she never went through with, and all of the things he had planned to tell Seth that day that he never got a chance to...

But no. This is a dangerous road, one Ryan can't afford to venture down. "So? What's going on?"

"You have to come home," Sandy says.

"What do you mean? You know I can't do that."

"We need you. All of us. Please, Ryan, come back."

"But –"

"Seth ran away."

"What?" Ryan stares. How could Seth do that to his parents?

"He's gone. In that little catamaran. God knows where. Alone. He probably doesn't even have a compass. Kirsten hasn't gotten out of bed for the past few days. Ryan, think about what this is doing to her. She's now lost three children. Three children," he repeats to himself, still getting used to the idea of that first child, the aborted one. The one he never knew about. It took the loss of the other two to make her open up.

Ryan knows about that almost-child. Kirsten had told him before he left, in an effort to make him understand why Theresa was doing this. He had shrugged her off, but her words had sunken in.

"Please, Ryan." Sandy's voice is near tears. "Come home. For your mother. She needs something to hold on to. I mean, for all we know, Seth could be..." he trails off, unable to face that thought.

Ryan marvels at the words, "your mother." One year ago, it had meant the woman who gave birth to him, who had inadvertently hurt him over and over. Now, it means the rich, smiling woman in Newport who would never let him down. His heart goes out to her. How could Seth make her suffer?

A key turns in the lock and Theresa and her mother step in. Theresa blinks in surprise at their unexpected guest. "Hi, Sandy. What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to see Ryan," Sandy says. "To see how you two were doing."

"Oh. Well, we're great," she responds. "Mom and I were just grocery shopping." She turns to Ryan. "I'm sorry. We would have left you a note, but you seemed to be out cold, and we didn't think we'd be gone so long." She looks at Sandy. "It's good to see you. Stay for dinner."

He looks uncomfortable. "Actually, I've got to be going. It was good to see you, Ryan. Theresa." He starts towards the door, but Ryan stops him. "Sandy, wait. I'm coming with you."

Theresa turns to him. "What?"

He pulls her aside. "Listen. Seth ran away and Kirsten is desolate. She needs someone. It'll just be for the summer. I'll be back before the baby's born."

She looks unhappy, but she understands. "Okay. Thank her for me. And, Ryan?" He looks at her questioningly. "Give her a hug. She'll need it." He nods and follows Sandy out the door, not even bothering to pack a suitcase. He's got very few belongings here anyway, and he knows he's free to borrow anything of Seth's.

Theresa jumps slightly, involuntarily, as the door slams behind them.