"Hey Mom! Dad!" Ruthie called out as she and Martin walked through the back door into the kitchen.
Ruthie was very excited that she was going to be home to hear Simon tell their parents about his engagement. She had always liked being involved in the family drama and being away at college, she missed being in the middle of everything all the time. She knew that Martin also liked visiting the family home, since he had once shared that until he came to stay with her family his house had always felt slightly empty. Even though he loved his dad, he missed his mom and he had always wanted siblings.
"Ruthie? Martin?" Annie exclaimed as she appeared at the top of the stairs, "I didn't know you two were coming home."
Her mom looked a little frazzled but very happy to see them. Annie had told Ruthie one of the last times they had talked that with the boys getting older and Savannah running around more, sometimes it was as though she had been transported back to when her eldest children were younger.
"It was a surprise." Ruthie revealed as her mother hugged her first then Martin.
"Well I'm so glad you two are here. How's school?" Annie asked, even though she talked to Ruthie at least once every week if not more.
"It's fine. Where are the boys?" Martin asked, as he reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. Martin enjoyed spending time with the boys and didn't seem to mind when they followed him around or badgered him to play games with them.
"Oh, Eric picked them up today and took them to the batting cages. They wanna play baseball just like you." Annie explained, laughing at the twin's hero-worship of Martin, "I guess they could have a worse role-model," she teased.
"Definitely." Ruthie agreed, enjoying the fact that Martin's face had turned slightly red with embarrassment at all the attention. Martin had always been a little self-conscious when it came to receiving compliments. Ruthie enjoyed watching him squirm, so she was always secretly delighted when she was around to witness him being complimented.
"I'll have to call Luce and invite her, Kevin and Savannah over for dinner tonight." Annie said, clasping her hands together as she seemed to ponder something, "Oh and I'll have to run out to the supermarket and get some things. If you two want you could go by the church and tell Luce about dinner, maybe go get Savannah so Kevin can run some errands."
Ruthie laughed as her mom began going through the refrigerator and cabinets, taking stock of what she would need for the dinner feast she was certain to prepare. Ruthie loved her mom's cooking and by the whispered "sweet" from Martin, she was pretty sure he was definitely glad they had come to home to visit.
"Sounds good. We'll see you back here later." Ruthie agreed, giving her mom another quick hug before motioning for Martin to follow her out the back door. She was looking forward to seeing Lucy so she could ascertain whether Simon had given her the news or if it was going to be surprise to her and Kevin as well as her parents. She also couldn't wait to see her niece, Savannah. Even though Ruthie was happy she had went away to college, sometimes it made her sad when she thought about what she was missing out on back home with Sam, David and Savannah all growing up so fast.