Ruthie Camden knew she was going to die, in fact she knew when she would die, how she would, where she would die and she knew her family would be devastated when she did.


It was Sunday night in the Camden household; all the kids were in their bedrooms except for Ruthie she was in the kitchen with her parents. Annie and Eric were making themselves a bedtime snack, Ruthie was leaning on the counter staring off in space.

"Everything's going to be okay, you know," she stated abruptly.

"What do you mean?" asked Annie.

"Matt will follow his dreams and become a doctor; Mary will find a job she loves and hold onto it; Lucy will marry a man who loves her and who she loves; Simon will grow into a great man who takes responsibility for his actions; the twins will turn out to be smart, caring, generous young men; Robbie will find a job working with kids, he'll move out, get a place of his own and start a family there, but he'll come back to visit because this is home to him; and the two of you will always be okay, no matter what, you'll be okay. I love you."

She walked up the stairs leaving her confused parents standing at the counter.


Standing at the foot of the twins' bed Ruthie whispered, "I love you, both so much, and I'm so sorry that I won't be around to get to know the great men I know you'll grow up to be. Just remember I'll forever be in your hearts. I love you."

Ruthie closed the behind her as she left the twins' room.


Ruthie knocked on Simon's bedroom door.

"Come in," he called.

Ruthie shut the door before sitting on the edge of Simon's bed.

"Matt and Robbie will both move out, eventually, so you'll be the big brother around here, which means you have to be more mature. Stop trying to make friends by doing stuff you know is wrong. Sam and David are going to need you to be a good role model and a good brother. You can't do that if you go out to parties and get drunk or hang out with bad people all the time. You're a great big brother, keep it that way; and don't worry you'll find friends who like you for you. I love you, Simon."

Ruthie stood up and started for the door.

"Ruthie, wait," she turned around, hand on the doorknob. Simon just looked at her for a second and said, "I love you, too."

Ruthie smiled and left the room.


Leaning on the doorframe Ruthie knocked on the open door of Matt and Robbie's room, they looked up from the books they were reading.

"You," Ruthie said, pointing at Robbie, "are going to be great at whatever you want to do with your life, and I hope it's something with kids because you're great with kids. You're like a brother to me, and even though we're not blood related I love you as much as I love my real brothers.

"You," she said, pointing to Matt, "have what it takes to be a doctor, a really good doctor. You'll find someone to love who loves you back and you'll get married and be happy. You're an awesome bid brother and no matter what you think, you're irreplaceable. I love you."

Ruthie turned and walked towards the attic, leaving the two stunned men sitting on their beds.


Ruthie sat down on her bed facing Lucy, who was just sitting there staring at nothing.

"You will find someone," Ruthie said, getting Lucy's attention, "I know you thought Jeremy was the 'one' but he wasn't and he doesn't deserve you. When you least expect it you'll find a guy who does deserve you and he will make you happy because you deserve to be happy. I love you."

Lucy smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. "I love you, too," she said.

Ruthie then turned to Mary, who was looking at her, "You won't always be bad Mary," she said, "someday you'll be good Mary. You'll have a job you love, a husband you love and kids you love.

In the meantime you have a family that loves you no matter what you do, because that's what family is, unconditional love. Despite all of the stupid things you did last year I still think you're a great sister, you'll always be a great sister. I love you."

Mary blinked back tears. "I love you, too, Ruthie," she said.

Ruthie smiled sadly, "I'm going to bed now, goodnight."

"Yeah, I'm going to get a bedtime snack," said Mary, "goodnight."

"Me, too," stated Lucy, "goodnight, Ruthie."


Mary and Lucy arrived in the kitchen where Robbie, Matt, Simon, Annie and Eric were already talking.

"What's up with Ruthie?" asked Lucy.

"We don't know," replied Eric, "She came to all of us and told us we'd be okay, only she used a lot more words."

"She came to us, too," said Mary.

"I would really like to know what's going on with her," said Simon.

"So would I," said Robbie, Matt, Mary, Lucy, Annie and Eric at the same time.

"It'll have to wait until tomorrow," said Mary, "she's already in bed."

"Speaking of which," said Annie, "We should all be heading to bed now, too."

With that, they all headed to their respective bedrooms and went to sleep.


The next morning Mary and Lucy decided to walk Ruthie to school. They were about two blocks away from the school when a black car slowly went by, the driver stuck a gun out the open window. He shot five times before speeding away. Mary and Lucy, who had dived to the ground stood up.

"Are you okay," Mary asked.

"Yeah," replied Lucy, "are you?"

"Yes. Wait, where's Ruthie?"

The girls turned around and saw their baby sister lying face down in a pool of blood. They ran over and knelt down beside her. Mary carefully turned her over, almost throwing up at what she saw. Ruthie was ghostly pale and her front was covered in her own blood. Mary checked for a pulsed, but didn't find one.

"She's dead," she said, looking at Lucy.

"Oh god," Lucy whispered.

Mary pulled Lucy into a hug, and there they sat crying into each other next to the body of their dead sister until the police came.


Ruthie Camden knew she was going to die, in fact she knew when she would die, how she would, where she would die and she knew her family would be devastated when she did, but she also knew they would be okay, in time.

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Please review.

PS - I own nothing, not the characters and not the show. I only own the story.