My S4 Missing Scene
This takes place right after The Night Moves.
The Day After the Night Moved (apologies for the cheesy title)
The Cohens stood transfixed in their former living room, each with their own thoughts.
Sandy: I didn’t like this house when we first came here. It wasn’t ours, it was Cal’s. And it wasn’t Berkeley. But over the years, we made it our own, raised our son, gained our second son. Our home. Gone. In just a few minutes.
Kirsten: I always loved this house…from the day we moved in, even though my dad liked to remind us that it was his. It was never going to be Berkeley, but it became ours, and we were a family here. I hope it can be fixed.
Seth: Geez. I always hated this house. It always represented everything that I hated about Newport and its class structure. But now that I look at it, it was my home; at least the one that I can remember best, where I grew up. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
Ryan: This was never just a house to me. It was my first real home; a place where people cared and were always there for me. What’s gonna happen if they can’t fix it? Where will we go? No matter where I end up, I know I’ll never feel this way about a house again.
The four of them had their differing reactions, but they could all be summed up the same way:
They were homeless.
Well, not really, but still temporarily without a place to live.
“So,” Sandy said, “I guess we need to find a place to stay.”
“Uh huh,” Kirsten nodded. “A hotel? Until we figure things out?”
“Excellent idea, Mom,” Seth concurred. “A little room service would feel really good right about now.”
Ryan said nothing, but looked at the other three incredulously. It was something to see - what money could do for you. It could fix things that were broken, ease the way for things that were difficult, and apparently even calm the nerves when things looked darkest. The stress and anxiety that he would have expected to surface never made an appearance with his new family. That wouldn’t have happened in Chino.
The Atwoods had always worried about everything; they had to.
His dad dealt with the lack of money by being a fuckup and put himself and his needs first; which resulted in him landing in jail. Even now, Ryan was waiting for Frank to vanish again, or to get caught in some sort of new scheme to complicate everyone’s lives around him.
Trey? He handled things differently. He hid in a bottle or in a cloud of smoke or between random girls’ legs. God only knew what he was up to in Vegas. The lack of phone calls asking for help with bail had Ryan wondering if all those card counting lessons had enabled Trey to accumulate a good cash cushion, which would then allow him to tread the straight and narrow. Nope, it was Trey, after all. He didn’t change; not really. All Ryan could do was hope that his older brother was okay.
Dawn. Mom. All these years, she had fought her addiction to alcohol - and let the men in her life lead her around - from town to town - running from whatever trouble they had gotten into - usually about something unpaid. Her sense of self-worth had been destroyed and her inability (or was it unwillingness?) to fight back had left its emotional mark on her - and on Ryan.
But now that he thought about it, he realized that both the Cohens and the Atwoods faced their problems head on. The Cohens used money to fix it - the Atwoods just escaped any way they could.
“Ryan?”
He emerged from his daydream to realize that everyone else was looking at him.
“Is that okay with you?” Sandy asked. “I mean, it won’t be home, but it’ll do for the present.”
“Sure, whatever you think is best,” Ryan answered.
Sandy didn’t respond, so Ryan knew he was waiting for the official okay.
“Sounds good,” he replied with a small smile and a nod.
“Then it’s settled,” Kirsten confirmed.
She pulled out her cell phone and went outside to make the arrangements.
The Cohen men walked gingerly around the demolished living room, each picking up and examining things, if only to truly absorb what had happened.
“They can fix this, can’t they, Dad?” Seth asked hesitantly, his voice sounding much more like a little boy.
“I’m sure they can,” Sandy responded, his tone indicating that he wasn’t really all that sure. He was holding a piece of one of his college debate awards and his face showed his uncertainty and sadness. He chose to pass off the question.
“They do remarkable things now in construction. Don’t they, Ryan?”
Ryan nodded his agreement thoughtfully, although he wasn’t sure either. He hadn’t ever seen this much destruction in one place, even in Chino, where arson was a common occurrence. But during his time working at construction sites, he had seen some incredible transformations, and his reading had indicated that nothing was truly unsalvageable.
“They can do some amazing things,” Ryan agreed. “But we’ll need an expert to tell us for sure.”
Just as he finished speaking, Kirsten re-entered the house, folding up her phone.
“Come on, boys, let’s go. I got us a suite at the Omni,” she announced. “It’s a little further away than I wanted, but it appears that most of the hotels are booked. It’s all set.”
The men stepped carefully back to the front door and obediently followed Kirsten out to the stoop. Sandy brought up the rear with a last look back before closing the door gently.
“It’ll be fine,” Sandy stated firmly. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
The suite at the Omni was gigantic - four bedrooms, two on each side of a large living area in between. Ryan’s jaw dropped as they entered, but Seth was apparently not surprised or impressed. His first move was to head to the left side bedroom and flop down on the bed.
“Not too shabby, eh, Ryan?” Seth enthused as Ryan followed behind him into the room.
“Shabby isn’t the word that comes to mind,” Ryan answered as he sat on the other bed, still looking around in disbelief.
Newport was constantly upping the ante, he thought. Even their hotel rooms were beyond description. He remembered Oliver’s and realized that most residents of Newport were used to this; that it wasn’t a big deal to have a hotel room as big as most houses he’d ever lived in. But he had to admit; it didn’t suck.
The two boys sat quietly for a few minutes before Sandy’s voice broke the silence.
“Boys, how about some fish tacos?” Sandy suggested.
“Dad. Awesome,” Seth praised, along with Ryan’s nod.
“Okay, here’s the money. There’s a good place right around the corner,” Sandy instructed.
Seth moaned as Ryan rose to take the money.
“Come on, bro,” Ryan encouraged. “You have all day to lie around, and you have to eat sometime.”
“I thought we were going to have room service,” Seth whined.
“Get some fish tacos to go with that ‘whine’,” Sandy said. “Room service breakfast. Tomorrow.”
“Ryan? Did I ever tell you what a wise man Sandy Cohen is?” Seth commented with a smile. “Dad, you’re right. Room service breakfast totally rocks.”
Ryan again smiled and nodded his agreement, the best way to deal with an enthusiastic Seth, as he led him out the main door to the hall.
While the boys were getting dinner, Kirsten and Sandy were resting in their room when Kirsten’s phone rang.
“Hello?”
“KIRSTEN! Oh my God! Are you in labor? I tried to call your home phone but no one answered. Is everything all right?” Julie’s concerned and frenetic voice came loudly through the phone.
“I’m fine, everyone’s fine,” Kirsten responded softly, hoping to calm Julie down. “We’re at the Omni.”
“The Omni. What are you doing there?”
“Our house wasn’t exactly livable. We need to get an assessment of the damage before we can even think about staying there. Right now, it’s not safe.”
“I didn’t realize,” Julie said, “since our house is intact. You’re right, certainly. You can’t stay there and jeopardize the baby or anyone else. But why didn’t you call me?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think of it,” Kirsten admitted, “in the moment, all I could think was to get a place to stay - and quickly. That was my first priority.”
“Well, you know that you’ll have to come and stay here,” Julie declared. “This house is enormous so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Kaitlyn and I would love to have you for as long as you need.”
Kirsten hesitated. This was something she couldn’t decide on her own. It required a family vote.
“I have to run it by the family first,” Kirsten said. “I’ll call you right back.”
She hung up before Julie could protest, then turned to Sandy.
“Julie wants us to move in with her and Kaitlyn,” she said slowly. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m fine with it,” Sandy agreed, “and the boys might like having their girlfriends in close proximity.”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Kirsten mused, “but we could always set some ground rules.”
Sandy sighed.
“I know you want the boys to stay young forever, honey,” Sandy sighed, “but you know they’ve probably already been there, done that, right? Keeping them from their women might only make them more determined.”
“I know they’re grown up now, and yes, I realize that they’ve probably had sex,” Kirsten said wistfully. “I just have to get used to the idea. But we’ll ask them about staying there over dinner.”
The boys returned shortly thereafter and the family sat at the table to eat. Sandy broached the subject.
“Boys, how would you feel about staying at Julie’s for a while?” he asked between bites.
Seth and Ryan exchanged glances.
“Sure, if that’s what you want,” Ryan replied. His first thought was that it was where Marissa had lived, and there would be reminders there. But maybe it would be a good thing - they were mostly good memories, and he had to face them some time. Besides, Taylor would be there, and she always managed to cheer him up. Maybe there could be some private time with her. It was a big house, and he was sure that Taylor would have already scoped out some excellent hiding places.
Seth was torn. He thought about all the quality time he could share with Summer and was probably considering spending some time in the same places that Ryan was. But it did mean giving up room service, one of his favorite things ever. He winced inwardly, thinking that if Summer knew he was actually considering choosing room service over her, a major rage blackout would be coming his way. Maybe there was a compromise.
“So….,” Seth suggested, “How about we wait until tomorrow?”
Sandy and Kirsten smiled as Ryan laughed out loud.
“You’re so transparent,” Ryan smirked. “You want to make sure you get that room service breakfast first, right?”
“Ryan, my man, we’re young. We need to experience all aspects of life, especially room service,” Seth declared.
“You’re right,” Sandy concurred. “Everyone should experience room service breakfast at least once in their lives.”
“We’ll go there tomorrow - after breakfast,” Kirsten said. “I’ll just go call Julie.”
The next morning, Julie, Kaitlin, Summer and Taylor were preparing to meet the Cohens - all with different things on their mind.
Julie: Was pleased that she could finally do something for her best friend, while spending time figuring out the sleeping logistics.
Kaitlin: Was looking forward to having everyone together, like a real family.
Summer: Was happy that Seth would be there with her - he needed time to bond with their newest family member...Pancakes.
Taylor: Was already thinking of less traveled nooks and crannies where she and Ryan could get better acquainted.
After a large and sumptuous (Seth’s word) breakfast, the Cohen family checked out of the hotel and drove over to the Cooper residence. They pulled up to the house and headed for the front door, where their hosts were waiting.
They were all of the same mind now.
Their extended family...all together...the way it should be.
The Day After the Night Moved (apologies for the cheesy title)
The Cohens stood transfixed in their former living room, each with their own thoughts.
Sandy: I didn’t like this house when we first came here. It wasn’t ours, it was Cal’s. And it wasn’t Berkeley. But over the years, we made it our own, raised our son, gained our second son. Our home. Gone. In just a few minutes.
Kirsten: I always loved this house…from the day we moved in, even though my dad liked to remind us that it was his. It was never going to be Berkeley, but it became ours, and we were a family here. I hope it can be fixed.
Seth: Geez. I always hated this house. It always represented everything that I hated about Newport and its class structure. But now that I look at it, it was my home; at least the one that I can remember best, where I grew up. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
Ryan: This was never just a house to me. It was my first real home; a place where people cared and were always there for me. What’s gonna happen if they can’t fix it? Where will we go? No matter where I end up, I know I’ll never feel this way about a house again.
The four of them had their differing reactions, but they could all be summed up the same way:
They were homeless.
Well, not really, but still temporarily without a place to live.
“So,” Sandy said, “I guess we need to find a place to stay.”
“Uh huh,” Kirsten nodded. “A hotel? Until we figure things out?”
“Excellent idea, Mom,” Seth concurred. “A little room service would feel really good right about now.”
Ryan said nothing, but looked at the other three incredulously. It was something to see - what money could do for you. It could fix things that were broken, ease the way for things that were difficult, and apparently even calm the nerves when things looked darkest. The stress and anxiety that he would have expected to surface never made an appearance with his new family. That wouldn’t have happened in Chino.
The Atwoods had always worried about everything; they had to.
His dad dealt with the lack of money by being a fuckup and put himself and his needs first; which resulted in him landing in jail. Even now, Ryan was waiting for Frank to vanish again, or to get caught in some sort of new scheme to complicate everyone’s lives around him.
Trey? He handled things differently. He hid in a bottle or in a cloud of smoke or between random girls’ legs. God only knew what he was up to in Vegas. The lack of phone calls asking for help with bail had Ryan wondering if all those card counting lessons had enabled Trey to accumulate a good cash cushion, which would then allow him to tread the straight and narrow. Nope, it was Trey, after all. He didn’t change; not really. All Ryan could do was hope that his older brother was okay.
Dawn. Mom. All these years, she had fought her addiction to alcohol - and let the men in her life lead her around - from town to town - running from whatever trouble they had gotten into - usually about something unpaid. Her sense of self-worth had been destroyed and her inability (or was it unwillingness?) to fight back had left its emotional mark on her - and on Ryan.
But now that he thought about it, he realized that both the Cohens and the Atwoods faced their problems head on. The Cohens used money to fix it - the Atwoods just escaped any way they could.
“Ryan?”
He emerged from his daydream to realize that everyone else was looking at him.
“Is that okay with you?” Sandy asked. “I mean, it won’t be home, but it’ll do for the present.”
“Sure, whatever you think is best,” Ryan answered.
Sandy didn’t respond, so Ryan knew he was waiting for the official okay.
“Sounds good,” he replied with a small smile and a nod.
“Then it’s settled,” Kirsten confirmed.
She pulled out her cell phone and went outside to make the arrangements.
The Cohen men walked gingerly around the demolished living room, each picking up and examining things, if only to truly absorb what had happened.
“They can fix this, can’t they, Dad?” Seth asked hesitantly, his voice sounding much more like a little boy.
“I’m sure they can,” Sandy responded, his tone indicating that he wasn’t really all that sure. He was holding a piece of one of his college debate awards and his face showed his uncertainty and sadness. He chose to pass off the question.
“They do remarkable things now in construction. Don’t they, Ryan?”
Ryan nodded his agreement thoughtfully, although he wasn’t sure either. He hadn’t ever seen this much destruction in one place, even in Chino, where arson was a common occurrence. But during his time working at construction sites, he had seen some incredible transformations, and his reading had indicated that nothing was truly unsalvageable.
“They can do some amazing things,” Ryan agreed. “But we’ll need an expert to tell us for sure.”
Just as he finished speaking, Kirsten re-entered the house, folding up her phone.
“Come on, boys, let’s go. I got us a suite at the Omni,” she announced. “It’s a little further away than I wanted, but it appears that most of the hotels are booked. It’s all set.”
The men stepped carefully back to the front door and obediently followed Kirsten out to the stoop. Sandy brought up the rear with a last look back before closing the door gently.
“It’ll be fine,” Sandy stated firmly. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
The suite at the Omni was gigantic - four bedrooms, two on each side of a large living area in between. Ryan’s jaw dropped as they entered, but Seth was apparently not surprised or impressed. His first move was to head to the left side bedroom and flop down on the bed.
“Not too shabby, eh, Ryan?” Seth enthused as Ryan followed behind him into the room.
“Shabby isn’t the word that comes to mind,” Ryan answered as he sat on the other bed, still looking around in disbelief.
Newport was constantly upping the ante, he thought. Even their hotel rooms were beyond description. He remembered Oliver’s and realized that most residents of Newport were used to this; that it wasn’t a big deal to have a hotel room as big as most houses he’d ever lived in. But he had to admit; it didn’t suck.
The two boys sat quietly for a few minutes before Sandy’s voice broke the silence.
“Boys, how about some fish tacos?” Sandy suggested.
“Dad. Awesome,” Seth praised, along with Ryan’s nod.
“Okay, here’s the money. There’s a good place right around the corner,” Sandy instructed.
Seth moaned as Ryan rose to take the money.
“Come on, bro,” Ryan encouraged. “You have all day to lie around, and you have to eat sometime.”
“I thought we were going to have room service,” Seth whined.
“Get some fish tacos to go with that ‘whine’,” Sandy said. “Room service breakfast. Tomorrow.”
“Ryan? Did I ever tell you what a wise man Sandy Cohen is?” Seth commented with a smile. “Dad, you’re right. Room service breakfast totally rocks.”
Ryan again smiled and nodded his agreement, the best way to deal with an enthusiastic Seth, as he led him out the main door to the hall.
While the boys were getting dinner, Kirsten and Sandy were resting in their room when Kirsten’s phone rang.
“Hello?”
“KIRSTEN! Oh my God! Are you in labor? I tried to call your home phone but no one answered. Is everything all right?” Julie’s concerned and frenetic voice came loudly through the phone.
“I’m fine, everyone’s fine,” Kirsten responded softly, hoping to calm Julie down. “We’re at the Omni.”
“The Omni. What are you doing there?”
“Our house wasn’t exactly livable. We need to get an assessment of the damage before we can even think about staying there. Right now, it’s not safe.”
“I didn’t realize,” Julie said, “since our house is intact. You’re right, certainly. You can’t stay there and jeopardize the baby or anyone else. But why didn’t you call me?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think of it,” Kirsten admitted, “in the moment, all I could think was to get a place to stay - and quickly. That was my first priority.”
“Well, you know that you’ll have to come and stay here,” Julie declared. “This house is enormous so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Kaitlyn and I would love to have you for as long as you need.”
Kirsten hesitated. This was something she couldn’t decide on her own. It required a family vote.
“I have to run it by the family first,” Kirsten said. “I’ll call you right back.”
She hung up before Julie could protest, then turned to Sandy.
“Julie wants us to move in with her and Kaitlyn,” she said slowly. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m fine with it,” Sandy agreed, “and the boys might like having their girlfriends in close proximity.”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Kirsten mused, “but we could always set some ground rules.”
Sandy sighed.
“I know you want the boys to stay young forever, honey,” Sandy sighed, “but you know they’ve probably already been there, done that, right? Keeping them from their women might only make them more determined.”
“I know they’re grown up now, and yes, I realize that they’ve probably had sex,” Kirsten said wistfully. “I just have to get used to the idea. But we’ll ask them about staying there over dinner.”
The boys returned shortly thereafter and the family sat at the table to eat. Sandy broached the subject.
“Boys, how would you feel about staying at Julie’s for a while?” he asked between bites.
Seth and Ryan exchanged glances.
“Sure, if that’s what you want,” Ryan replied. His first thought was that it was where Marissa had lived, and there would be reminders there. But maybe it would be a good thing - they were mostly good memories, and he had to face them some time. Besides, Taylor would be there, and she always managed to cheer him up. Maybe there could be some private time with her. It was a big house, and he was sure that Taylor would have already scoped out some excellent hiding places.
Seth was torn. He thought about all the quality time he could share with Summer and was probably considering spending some time in the same places that Ryan was. But it did mean giving up room service, one of his favorite things ever. He winced inwardly, thinking that if Summer knew he was actually considering choosing room service over her, a major rage blackout would be coming his way. Maybe there was a compromise.
“So….,” Seth suggested, “How about we wait until tomorrow?”
Sandy and Kirsten smiled as Ryan laughed out loud.
“You’re so transparent,” Ryan smirked. “You want to make sure you get that room service breakfast first, right?”
“Ryan, my man, we’re young. We need to experience all aspects of life, especially room service,” Seth declared.
“You’re right,” Sandy concurred. “Everyone should experience room service breakfast at least once in their lives.”
“We’ll go there tomorrow - after breakfast,” Kirsten said. “I’ll just go call Julie.”
The next morning, Julie, Kaitlin, Summer and Taylor were preparing to meet the Cohens - all with different things on their mind.
Julie: Was pleased that she could finally do something for her best friend, while spending time figuring out the sleeping logistics.
Kaitlin: Was looking forward to having everyone together, like a real family.
Summer: Was happy that Seth would be there with her - he needed time to bond with their newest family member...Pancakes.
Taylor: Was already thinking of less traveled nooks and crannies where she and Ryan could get better acquainted.
After a large and sumptuous (Seth’s word) breakfast, the Cohen family checked out of the hotel and drove over to the Cooper residence. They pulled up to the house and headed for the front door, where their hosts were waiting.
They were all of the same mind now.
Their extended family...all together...the way it should be.