Disclaimer: I do not own 7th heaven or any of the characters. The CW does. I only own my own characters and ideas.

Chapter 10: The Bad Start to the Conversation

Ruthie sat on her couch. She was waiting for Lucy to come over. She had no idea what Lucy wanted, especially at this time of night. Oh well, Ruthie thought. At least she would be occupied for a while dealing with her crazy sister. A knock at the front door brought Ruthie back to reality.

"Come in!"

Lucy came bounding in and gave her sister a huge hug. "Sorry to stop by without much notice. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, of course not Lucy, you're family. You would never be interrupting anything." Nick had come in to the living room with a tray of tea and shortbread cookies that Ruthie had made that weekend. Ruthie gave her husband a quick non-verbal look of thanks for not spilling the beans about how much Lucy was really interrupting.

"So Luce, what did you want to chat about?" Ruthie asked as she helped herself to one of the cookies and handed Nick a cup of tea.

"I have a big favor to ask you Ruthie."

"Uh oh…in all my years as your sister, it more often then not is not a good thing when you ask me for help. What is it?"

Lucy let out a laugh. "This is for something good. I was wondering if you could take Savannah for a few hours tomorrow while Kevin works."

"Sure, no problem. Do you need me to take the boys too?"

Lucy shook her head and went into detail about the night's events.

"I think it would be good if you spent some more time with Savannah. I know how close the two of you used to be. Maybe she will listen to you. Having her talk to someone who isn't her parents and won't be objective towards her will hopefully get her to open up." Nick finished his statement and looked at the astonished faces of both his wife and sister-in-law. "What? I took a child development class in college to fill an elective credit."

Ruthie just shook her head at her older sister. "I would love to take Savannah for the day. We can make some name plates and stuff for Thanksgiving. I could use another set of hands for slave labor."

"Thank you thank you thank you! I don't know how Kevin and I can thank you enough. Now maybe I can feel better about leaving the boys with mom and dad. As it is, I think she will also have Matt's kids there too."

Lucy jumped up to leave after giving Nick and Ruthie both a big hug. Ruthie went to show her sister out as Nick cleaned up the tea and cookies. Once Lucy was well on her way back home, Nick came behind Ruthie and gave her a kiss. "Now we can get back to what we were doing. Let's go upstairs to bed."

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Ding Dong. The doorbell went off bright and early the next morning at the Connor house. Ruthie threw on her bathrobe and ran down the stairs. She forgot that Savannah was coming over so early. Nick hadn't woken her up. She would have to deal with him later.

"Hi Aunt Ruthie! Thank you for letting me come over to hang out with you today."

"Hey sweetie. How are you? Where is your mom?"

"She had to get going. She has to be at the church for a meeting with Grandpa and some other people."

"So Savannah, do you want some breakfast?"

Savannah's eyes got big. She knew that Aunt Ruthie made good breakfast for her. "I knew that you were going to so I didn't eat any breakfast. Could you make your famous pancakes shaped as hearts?"

"Sure thing Vanna. Why don't you go into the living room and watch a Disney movie that you brought with you until dinner is ready." As Savannah trotted off to the living room Ruthie just laughed to herself. The pancake batter was the same as her mother's and her sister Lucy's. She and Lucy had copied the recipe from their mother before they moved out on there own. She knew Savannah would have the same recipe one day. The only thing that made Ruthie's pancakes so special was the fact that she had a mold that shaped them into hearts. Ruthie also found some mini chocolate chips from the fridge and popped those on top.

Ruthie finished up the pancakes. While she had been working, she was thinking of the best way she could talk to Savannah. It was going to be an all day talk; one that did not seem like a scolding.

Savannah was sitting on the couch with an afghan covering her watching The Little Mermaid. That was a movie even Ruthie remembered from her childhood. "Hey Vanna, do you mind putting the movie on pause? It is time for breakfast."

Savannah didn't even have to be told twice. She was just like Ruthie when it came to breakfast. Just the smell could lure both of them away from anything they were doing, even sleep. Savannah climbed up on the stool at the island and looked at the food put before her. Pancakes and fresh fruit were artfully placed on the plate to make it look attractive for any picky eight-year-old. Ruthie sat down across from her with a cup of coffee and a pancake and fruit for herself. As Ruthie had hoped, Savannah was the one to get the conversation rolling.

"Thanks so much Aunt Ruthie. We don't get pancakes at all at home. It is all because of Brett and Zach. It isn't very far. I want to be able to eat what I want."

"I see what you mean Savannah. I have no idea how hard it is for you because my sisters and brothers and I were pretty healthy. Have you ever thought of how hard it must be on Brett and Zach though? They can't eat that food either."

"So?" Savannah was getting a little mad as she pierced a piece of strawberry with her fork. "I should still be able to eat what I want. I don't have diabetes!"

Ruthie could sense that this conversation was going nowhere yet. She decided to plunge forward a bit though to see if she could fix the situation. "Now Savannah, how do you think Brett and Zach feel that they can't eat the food?"

"They should be used to it. I got to eat candy and stuff before they were born and now I can't. They never have been able to eat it before."

"Yes they did Savannah. They were not always sick. They know what things like chocolate taste like. By the way, how do you think they feel that you blame them for you not being able to eat dessert? They can't help that they are sick. You are the big sister and should try and set an example."

"Aunt Ruthie, can we please stop talking about this right now? I wanted to have some fun today."

Ruthie just nodded. She couldn't think of what to do. Suddenly, a brilliant idea came to mind that should change Savannah's attitude. She would execute it later that day. It just needed a bit of planning.

A/N: Oooh cliffy….I love them. I have an awesome idea for the plan. You will just have to see how it works. Please review. I highly appreciate it. Thanks so much.