| | | | |WEDNESDAY MORNING | | | |Simon walks out of his room to see Ruthie standing next to the | |bathroom. | | | |"What are you doing?" Simon asks. | | | |"Lucy's hogging our bathroom, dad's using his, and Robbie's | |currently in here, and my bet's on Robbie | |finishing first," Ruthie explains. "Where are you headed?" | | | |"Well, to the bathroom, but I can use dad's when he's done," Simon | |tells him. | | | |"Oh," Ruthie replies. "Okay." | | | |"So, got any plans for school today?" Simon asks her. | | | |"No, not really," Ruthie replies. "You?" | | | |"No," Simon replies. "I love you Ruthie," he tells her and gives her| |a hug. | | | |"Love you too," she replies giving him a hug back. | | | |"You're a great little sister and I just wanted to let you know | |that," Simon gives her a smile. Ruthie just | |shrugs. "Don't shrug, believe it!" He tickles her and she giggles. | |Simon sees Eric walk out of his room. | |"See, you lost your bet, dad was done before Robbie. I win." He | |gives his sister a kiss on the forehead and | |heads down towards Eric. "Dad, you don't mind if I use your bathroom| |do you? I mean, nine people and | |three bathrooms, gets just a little bit crowded if you know what I | |mean." | | | |"It's okay Simon, just put everything back where you found it," Eric| |informs him. | | | |"No problem," he replies and heads on in. Eric walks to Ruthie with | |a confused look on his face. "He seems | |a bit.....chipper, doesn't he?" | | | |"You're telling me," Ruthie tells him. "He kissed my forehead. He | |never kisses my forehead, at least not | |usually." | | | |"What are you doing?" | | | |"Waiting for Robbie to come out so I can use the restroom." | | | |"Why don't you use yours upstairs?" | | | |"Because Lucy's hogging it and I figured I'd get in her faster," | |Ruthei replies. | | | |"You feeling okay?" Eric asks her. | | | |"No! I gotta go real, real bad!" Ruthie says with a paniced look on | |her face. Eric smiles. | | | |"Hang in there, I'm sure he'll be out soon." Just as Eric said that,| |Robbie emerges with a towel wrapped | |around his waist. Ruthie rushes past him and slams the door, not | |noticing she snagged Robbie's towel by | |accident and caused it to fall to the floor. Robbie, embarrassed, | |quickly picks it back up and puts it back | |on. | | | |"Boy, am I glad you're not Mrs. Camden, Lucy, or Ruthie," Robbie | |tells him. | | | |"You'd be a little more embarassed?" Eric asks and Robbie nods his | |head yes. | | | |"Say, do you have any open slots today that I could drop by your | |office at church and talk with you?" | |Robbie asks. "I have the day off and figured it would be as good of | |a time as any." | | | |"Actually," Eric replies. "I don't have any appointments this | |morning. Why don't you go get dressed and | |then we can sit down and talk here. I'll just call my secretary and | |tell her I won't be in until later." | | | |"You can do that?" Robbie asks. | | | |"Ya, I can do that," Eric tells him. "Go on, get dressed." Robbie | |nods and goes to his room as Eric heads | |downstairs. He makes his way back to the kitchen and finds Annie | |making a huge breakfast of pancakes, | |eggs, bacon, and toast. "Has anyone ever told you that you look | |positively gorgeous when you cook?" | | | |"What's got you in such a good mood?" Annie asks. | | | |"This morning, everything just seems right with the world," Eric | |tells her. Ruthie's doing great, Simon's just | |strangely happy, and Robbie asked if he could talk to me." | | | |"Oh good," Annie replies taking some bacon of the stove and onto a | |plate. "Maybe he'll finally get | |whatever's bothering him out." | | | |"You don't mind that it's not you he wants to talk to?" Eric asks. | | | |"Eric, you've been more of a parent to him than me," Annie tells him| |as she moves over to scramble the | |eggs some more. "You took him in when I was against it, you belived | |in him when I didn't, you loved him | |when I couldn't. I'm not surprised that he wants to talk to you. | |You're a very easy man to talk to, you're | |a great listener, which is one of the qualities that attracted me to| |you in the first place. In fact, I always | |wondered what you saw in me, with all my imperfections and flaws. I | |was never a beauty queen, I was | |never on the A list, I was never in the popular groups, and I've | |made my share of mistakes in life. I mean, | |it was just a few years ago I finally told you I'd smoked pot. I can| |have such a short temper at times. I've | |doubted you and your sincerity on several occassions. I've been | |terrible to you during my pregnancies. I | |don't deserve you and I've never fully understood why you love me as| |much as you do." Eric, who stood | |there speechless through Annie's speech, finally walks over to her, | |puts his arms around her waist, pulls | |her away from the stove, and kisses her deeply for a few moments. | |Lucy walks down the kitchen stairs | |for breakfast, sees them and stops at the base of the stairs and | |smiles at her parents. | | | |"Annie Camden, how can you think that?" Eric asks. "If anyone has | |flaws in them, it's me. I haven't been | |the best father to our kids, I yelled at you when you told me your | |secret about your past, I've doubted | |you and your sincerity on many occassions, I was the skinny, awkward| |boy who didn't seem to fit or | |belong anywhere. I always though you were out of my league. I wake | |up, every morning and look over | |next to me to see you and my heart leaps with excitement because I'm| |lying next to the most beautiful | |woman in all the world. How fortunate am I to have found the most | |beautiful woman in the world, a | |beauty that starts on the inside and works it's way out and you just| |radiate. I see you and I want to | |write a million love songs for you. I want to build a monument for | |you to express the love I have for you. I | |want to cherish you forever, for as long as we both shall live. You | |are my beloved, my wife, my best | |friend, my best companion," Simon and Ruthie join Lucy on the | |stairs, "my sweetheart, my sweetie, my | |partner in life, the mother of my children, the future grandmother | |of our future grandchildren, you light up | |my life, you give a sparkle to my eye, and you are the most | |beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. | |Annie Camden, if I had to do it all over again, the only thing I'd | |have done different was I wouldn't have | |waited so long to ask you to marry me." Matt and Robbie have been | |standing in the door leading into the | |kitchen from the hallway. | | | |"If I had it all to do over again," Annie replies, "I'd marry you | |all over again. I love you Eric Camden." | | | |"And I you, Annie Camden." They kiss deeply once again. Lucy puts | |her hand on her heart and sighs at | |the romanticness of it all. Lucy and Simon eye each other and smile | |because of their parents. Robbie puts | |a hand on Matt's shoulder and whispers, "You've got to be one of the| |luckiest people on earth to have | |such a wonderful family." | | | |"Thanks," Matt whispers back. "Thanks for giving me your perspective| |of not having this kind of home to | |help me to realize that." Robbie nods. "Oh, what the heck," Matt | |says and opens his arms. They give each | |other a hug. | | | |"Can we eat now?!" Ruthie calls out and Eric and Annie turn to | |realize they have a large audience. Annie | |blushes as she goes back to her eggs. Lucy jogs over to her dad to | |give him a hug as Simon walks next to | |his mom and puts an arm around her. | | | |"Mom, I'm so glad you're my mom," Simon tells her. Annie looks over | |at him with a proud smile. | | | |"Thanks Simon, I love you," she tells him and kisses his cheek. | |Ruthie comes over and jumps in Eric's arms. | | | |"Daddy," Ruthie tells him. "Thanks for making me know I can always | |trust you and depend on you and love | |you. Thanks for being such a good dad that I never have a reason to | |be scared of you ever. Don't ever | |change." Eric smiles and hugs her tightly. Matt walks over to Eric | |and puts an arm around his shoulder. | | | |"Love you dad," Matt tells him. | | | |"And I love you," Eric says and kisses his cheek. | | | |"Hey, do you think we could get out of school today?" Simon asks | |looking over at Eric. "Not because we | |want to get out of anything, but I'm really in the mood to just | |spend time with my family today." | | | |"Ya, me too," Ruthie replies as Eric sets her back on the ground. | | | |"Ya, I agree as well," Lucy tells him. "I only have a month and a | |half left of school before I graduate, then | |who knows what exactly I'll do for college. I'd like to have a | |memorable day." | | | |"I'm up for it," Matt says. "I've been looking to take a day off | |from class and it just so happens, today is | |my day off from work." | | | |"I think we can arrange it," Annie tells them. "What do you think | |dad?" | | | |"Okay," Eric replies and his kids all cheer as Robbie silently slips| |out back down the hall. "Annie, you want | |to call the schools? I just need to call my secretary and ask her to| |reschedule my appointments." | | | |"Sure," Annie replies, "but it can wait until after breakfast." | | | |"What about Robbie?" Ruthie asks. "Can he spend it with us?" | | | |"Of course," Matt replies. "He's as much a part of this family now | |as any of us." | | | |"Where is Robbie?" Lucy asks looking around. "Wasn't he just here? I| |saw him give Matt a hug just a few | |moments ago." | | | |"You guys hugged?" Eric asked surprised. | | | |"So I've decided to give the guy a break," Matt tells him. "Guess | |I'm starting to think of him more like a | |brother now." | | | |"I belive I saw him head down that way," Annie says pointing with | |her head towards the hall. | | | |"I'll go get him," Matt says. | | | |"No, no," Eric tells him. "I'll go get him." Matt eyes Eric | |suspisciously as he walks away. | | | |"Does dad know something we don't?" Matt asks Annie after the rest | |of the kids make their way to the | |table. | | | |"No," Annie replies. "Robbie hasn't been talking to any of us." | | | |**************** | | | |"Robbie?" Eric asks walking into the living room where he sees | |Robbie sitting, looking out a window. He | |pulls up a chair and sits next to Robbie. "What's going on?" he sees| |the tears on Robbie's face. Robbie | |notices Eric and quickly wipes them away. | | | |"I just didn't want to interupt in your family plans," Robbie tells | |him. | | | |"Robbie, you know that any family plans we make includes you," Eric | |tells him. | | | |"But I'm not one of you," Robbie tells him. "I wasn't born into this| |family. I'll never be one of you." | | | |"You already are one of us," Eric tells him. "Your last name doesn't| |have to be Camden to be in this | |family." Robbie turns away from him. "Robbie, what's going on? | |What's been bugging you the past few | |days?" | | | |A few moments pass before Robbie finally speaks. "My mom called on | |Sunday. She had news to tell me. | |My dad, took my youngest brother without my mom's permission, took | |him out of Florida and all the way | |to Georgia as they were driving around for who knows what | |reason...." he trails off. | | | |"Go on," Eric encourages him. | | | |"My dad got drunk at a bar, he got my underage brother drunk there | |too somehow," Robbie says fighting | |the tears that come anyway. "He got in his car, he was intoxicated | |way over the legal limit. They found | |no human remains from the accident. My dad drove right in front of a| |train and was hit, the car was | |totally destroyed, my dad and brother are dead!" Robbie falls out of| |his chair and onto the floor next to | |the wall. Eric gets up and moves the chairs away to get to Robbie. | |He gets down beside Robbie and holds | |him as a father would hold his young child who was crying. The sobs | |reach all the way to the kitchen and | |Annie, who's finished fixing breakfast, leaves to go to them. She | |finds them on the floor and walks over to | |them to help comfort Robbie. Eric whispers in Annie's ear what has | |happened. The kids make their way in, | |leaving the twins in their high chairs. They stand in the doorway | |holding each other. | | | |"What can we do for Robbie?" Ruthie asks her siblings. | | | |"There's not much we can do," Simon replies. "Mom and dad are taking| |care of him right now." | | | |"We can be the brothers and sisters he's always needed," Matt tells | |them. | | | |"And right now we can pray for him," Lucy tells them and they huddle| |together to pray. | | | |As Eric and Annie hold and comfort Robbie and the kids move from | |their huddle to surround them, the song | |"You Are So Beautiful" begins to play as we fade out. | | | |THE END. | | | |THE SONG THAT FADES OUT THE SHOW | | | | | |You are so beautiful to me | |You are so beautiful to me | |Can't you see? | |You're everything that I hoped for | |You're everything that I need | |You are so beautiful to me | |  |