missmara13

Okay, so The OC Titles Challenge is a challenge community where you write stories based on the titles from The OC Episodes. The stories don't have to have any connection to the episode the prompt comes from, although missing scenes are okay, they just have to related to the prompt. Does that make sense? lol

Title: Fathers & Son
Author: Mara
Prompt: #085 - The My Two Dads
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence. Language. Ryan!Bashing.
Summary: "I changed my name," he spit out, hoping he didn't sound as scared and small as he felt.
Notes: It is the summer of Ryan!Bashing after all... this takes place in the same universe as We All Fall Down, which was the one-shot about Ryan being shot in the chest by Oliver and suffering a stroke on the operating table and being left with some permanent damage, including a limp, weak spells, and tremors on his right hand...

Fathers & Son

Ryan Atwood was not quite 17 when Sandy and Kirsten Cohen sat him down one saturday afternoon for 'an important conversation', and even as he eased himself down into a chair and Sandy took his arm to steady him, he wondered how he was going to survive on his own because surely they were about to kick him out after all the trouble he'd caused by fighting with Oliver and getting shot and the hospital bills that followed. He could barely stand upright for longer than 5 minutes at a time, let alone actually walk across a room without a cane, so he had to hope they'd at least drive him to the bus station so he could get on one and go to Chino to beg Theresa and Eva for a place to stay... and once he was a little better he could handle construction work, he'd done it with broken bones, he could do it with a limp and tremors...

"We want to adopt you," Sandy said as Kirsten reached out to take Ryan's trembling hands in her own.

Ryan stared at Sandy for a long moment, then flickered his gaze to Kirsten before lowering it to where she held his hands as they began to shake more and more. "What?" he whispered, looking back up at Sandy in disbelief. "But I... I..."

"We almost lost you, and they wouldn't even let us see you at first," Kirsten said, squeezing his hands. "They wouldn't let us see our son and that is completely unacceptable. We want to make sure that no one can ever keep you away from us again."

"But only if you agree," Sandy added hurriedly. "If you don't want us to adopt you, it's okay, we understand. But we... we want to be your parents, not just your guardians. We love you, kid, and we want to make sure no one can take you away from us."

"But I... I got into the... the fight, and... and the bills..." Ryan began, wishing his voice wasn't shaking as much as he knew his hands were. "I got... got into trouble..."

"So has pretty much every other 16 year-old kid on this planet," Sandy said. "You've made some mistakes, but... but the shooting wasn't your fault. We paid those bills and got the home nurse and everything because we love you. You're our son in every way that matters, no matter what we decide."

Ryan looked down at his and Kirsten's hands, at how she held them even as they shook so violently, at how she gently ran her thumb across the back of them. "You want to adopt me?" he asked quietly.

"We want to be your parents completely," Sandy confirmed, reaching to to cover Kirsten and Ryan's hands with his own. "If you'll let us."

<><><><><><><>

Four years later, Ryan Cohen was just shy of 21 and finishing up his third year at UCLA when Frank Atwood walked back into his life and showed up at his apartment. "What do you want?" Ryan asked, clenching his left hand into a fist to hide the way it was starting to shake just from the sight of the man.

"I'm your father, who says I have to want something other than to see my boy?" Frank replied, basically forcing his way into Ryan's small and well organized apartment. There was no clutter to trip over, and wide spaces between furniture so he had clear paths even on bad days, a railing ran along the handful of steps from the living room to the kitchen and bedroom, mostly for Kirsten's peace of mind though Ryan had needed it a couple times since he, Sandy, and Trey had installed it the year before.

"It's been over 3 years since you got released from prison," Ryan said. "And we hadn't spoke for 7 years before that. So why are you here and what do you want?"

"Maybe I just missed my boys..."

"And Trey already told you to go to hell?" Ryan asked, though he doubted Frank had seen Trey yet. If he had, then Trey would be camping out on Ryan's couch to make sure their father didn't show up and cause trouble.

"You're brother and I never really got along," Frank said. "Don't you remember that, Ry? You'd coming running in to jump on me, and Trey would just glare..."

"Because you and Ma were drunks and junkies," Ryan said. "I didn't understand it then, but he did. And now I understand it, and... and I don't want you here."

"So you're just going to shove away your family?"

"My family?" Ryan asked, incredulous. "Trey is my family, along with the people who adopted me when I was 17."

"Adopted?" Frank asked. "What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell adopted my kid?"

"Your kid? You did everything you could to leave us! And you finally did it, you left us alone with her and her boyfriends! You left us to get hit constantly! At least you only hit us when you were drunk, Ma and her boyfriends hit us all the time!"

"That's not my fault!"

"The hell it isn't!" Ryan replied, yelling now. "You could have been a father and taken care of us!"

"You don't get to use that tone of voice with me! I'm still your father!"

"My father," Ryan said, spitting the word out. "I don't have a father! I have a dad, named Sandy Cohen. He's a lawyer, and he actually wants to be my dad!"

"That's enough! You're an Atwood, and..."

Ryan shook his head. "I changed my name," he spit out, hoping he didn't sound as scared and small as he felt. "I didn't want to be an Atwood anymore. I like being a Cohen."

"And what about Trey? You said you still claim him as your family," Frank asked, nostrils flaring.

"Unlike you, Trey will always be my family," Ryan said. "And considering the fact that he comes to my family's house for the holidays every year, I don't think he feels left out just because I changed my name." He paused. "Now get the hell out of my apartment before I call the cops."

"Make me," Frank said.

Ryan didn't get a chance to say anything, as suddenly he was laying flat on his back with pain radiating from his face and he could hear his dog, Siruis, barking and growling. He forced himself to look and saw the big boxer/rottweiler/lab mix had gotten between him and Frank and was acting the way he was trained, as a guard dog.

<><><><><><><>

Sandy was startled when he opened the door to find Ryan standing there, leaning on his black cane as his left side tremored and shook in accompaniment to the bruises on the side of his face. "What happened?" Sandy asked as he opened the door wider.

Ryan's only response was to step forward into Sandy's arms and lean against his dad, letting out a ragged sob of mixed pain, sadness, and anger. He felt Sandy's arms come up to wrap around him as he shook with soft sobs, and just let himself relax into the warm and safe embrace. "My father showed up at my place," Ryan finally confessed. "We got into a fight about... everything. And I basically told him to go to hell, that I didn't need him because I had you, and that's when he got really mad."

"He hit you?" Sandy asked, jaw tightening with tightly controlled anger.

"After I said he wasn't my family and that if he didn't get out I'd call the cops on him for trespassing," Ryan said, glancing down at Siruis, who was sitting calmly in the doorway, watching them. "Siruis went after him, a couple bites and a lot of barking and growling. Son of a bitch kicked my dog," he added, stretching out a hand to scratch behind the dog's ears.

"Come on," Sandy said, putting an arm around Ryan's shoulders and pulling him the rest of the way inside, as well as gesturing for Siruis to follow. "Let's get you some coffee and you're mutt some nice leftover meatloaf. Or brisket... or whatever it was Kirsten tried to make last friday that only the dog will eat."

Ryan nodded, smiling slightly as he leaned against Sandy on their way to the kitchen. "Okay," he whispered.

"And you can tell me about what happened tonight, or about that girl Summer introduced you to, whichever topic you prefer," Sandy continued with a grin.

"Sneaky," Ryan said with a short laugh.

"Either way, I find out important stuff about my son's life," Sandy said. "Either the bad stuff or the hopefully good stupid."

Ryan sank down into a chair as Sandy went to start the coffee and get the leftover meatloaf/brisket from the fridge. "Whoever told you that you were subtle? They lied. A lot," he said with a smile. "And Isabella's great," he added after a moment. "I actually kinda invited her to the Valentine's thing at the yacht club..."

"So we get to meet her finally?" Sandy asked, raising an eyebrow. "No more wondering whether it's her your embarrassed of or us?"

"No reason to wonder," Ryan said with a teasing smile as he accepted the coffee. "You're my parents, of course it's you I'm embarrassed of."

"Oh come on, it's every Jewish parents dream for their kid to date a doctor," Sandy joked.

"Yeah, that's what the Nana said, that I'm making her proud even though you couldn't be bothered," Ryan said, rolling his eyes. "Somehow I don't think she'll be quite so enthusiastic when she finds out that Isabella is Catholic."

"Catholics and Jews have a long history there," Sandy agreed.

"And I think it'll be worse after I mention the whole 'she was born in Spain', thing," Ryan continued.

"I don't think Ma will expect her to..." Sandy began, then stopped as he saw the grin on Ryan's face and realized what he'd walked into.

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, Dad."

The End

Ryan's dog 'Siruis', is named for a dog we used to have, and the mix (Boxer/Rottweiler/Lab) is exactly what the real life Siruis was. And while it doesn't full come across, trust me, the fictional Siruis is a great big sweet heart (And kinda dumb but smart enough to know who's an asshole) just like the real one...

And yes, I referenced Monty Python there at the end... lol... it just seemed so perfect to illustrate the point that Frank makes Ryan feel tense and scared and unsure, but Sandy makes him feel relaxed and safe and loved... he can slip into joking with Sandy.