Annie sighed when she heard Ruthie's door slam. She had been expecting this reaction, but hadn't thought that it would happen when Ruthie was only 12.
"Ruthie was adopted?" Kevin asked Lucy. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it was important. Why would you need to know?"
"I'm your boyfriend! Don't you trust me enough to share things with me?"
"Kevin, I'm sorry, it just never occurred to me to tell you." Lucy was getting annoyed.
"But-"
"Can you please let us think? We need to figure out what to do." Lucy interrupted. Kevin glared at her, but was silent.
"What are we going to do?" Annie asked.
"We have to get her to talk to us. We have to explain to her what happened and about her mother. But how do we get her to talk to us?" Eric answered, frowning at his plate.
"Robbie, why don't you try?" Annie suggested. "She likes you, and since you didn't know about it, maybe she won't feel as betrayed."
"Ok, I'll go talk to her." He agreed, standing up.
When he got to her room he knocked and called, "Ruthie, it's Robbie. Can we talk?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No! You lied to me! I don't even belong in this family!"
"First of all, I didn't know about this and your parents must have some reason for not telling you before. Secondly, you know you don't have to be blood related to belong to a family. I'm not really your brother, but I like to think that I belong and I thought you did too."
"Fine."
Robbie turned the doorknob and it opened. He saw Ruthie laying on her bed, hugging a pillow, her face tearstained. "Are you Ok?" he asked gently.
"What do you think?" she snapped.
"Listen, I don't know the whole story, but I know your parents, and I know that they would not hurt you on purpose. You should talk to them." He sat down on her bed.
"They aren't my parents. I have no idea who my parents even are." Ruthie said, sitting up and wiping her eyes.
"Will you talk to Lucy or Simon? I'm sure they know what happened."
"No! They lied to me too! I don't want to ever talk to my 'family' again. All of them, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers. They all knew. Sam and David probably even knew, but no one bothered to tell me, the person it affected the most."
"I know it probably wasn't the best decision, but they were just trying to protect you."
"I don't feel like talking anymore. Would you please leave? I need to think." Ruthie said abruptly, pointing toward the door.
"Um, ok." Robbie stood up and walked toward the door. "But if you need to talk, I'm here."
He turned to smile at her, but the door slammed in his face.
The next morning everyone was rushing around getting ready for school and work.
"Has anyone seen Ruthie this morning?" Annie asked, setting a plate of pancakes on the table.
"No." Everyone replied.
Suddenly, Ruthie came down the steps. Without looking at her family, she mumbled that she would eat at school and was out the door.
"I guess she's still mad." Eric observed.
"What are we going to do?" Annie asked, her eyes filling with tears. "We have to talk to her! We can't let her go around feeling like this."
"What about the letter?" Simon suggested.
"What letter?" Eric asked, frowning.
"The one from her mom. It might help her understand why she was adopted."
"Good idea!" Annie cried. "Maybe then she'll talk to us. I'll leave it on her bed for when she gets home."
Ruthie walked in the door after school and ignored her mothers greeting. She had already ignored Simon the whole ride home and was eager to be by herself. She went to her room and locked her door and was about to sit down when she saw an envelope on her bed. Ruthie was written across the front in unfamiliar script. Ruthie wanted to throw it away, but her curiosity got the better of her and she tore the envelope open. A letter fell out that started with Dear Ruthie and ended with Love, your mother, Sara. Ruthie gasped and dropped the letter on the carpet. A letter from her real mother? Ever since the night before Ruthie had been dying to know everything about her real mother. What she looked like, where she was now, why she had left her, if she loved her. But now that she had the opportunity, she was terrified. She picked the letter up, held it with shaky hands and began to read.
Dear Ruthie,
I know you probably have a million questions about me, and why you were adopted. I hope I can answer them for you. I want you to know that I love you. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. I wanted more than anything to keep you, but my parents were very strict. If they had found out I was pregnant, they would have disowned me. I could never support us both by myself, so I went to Rev. Camden, your father, for help. He told me that his wife had been thinking about adoption, so I got to know them both and really liked them. I trusted them enough to allow them to have my most prized possession. You.
Your father and I had been dating for two years, and he told me he loved me. When I told him I was pregnant, he left. I know if he had stuck around long enough to get to know you he would have loved you, but he didn't. You have to understand how hard it was for me to leave you. Letting Annie, your mother, take you out of my arms and out the door of the hospital was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. The whole time I wanted to scream "No, don't take her! I love her!" but I knew I couldn't. I'm only 16. I cannot support a baby. It isn't your fault. And you had to suffer because of my mistakes, and I feel horrible about that. But please remember that your new family loves you too. They were so excited to get you, I just knew they were going to give you a much better home than I could have. You may be feeling angry at them right now, but please don't. It must be breaking their hearts.
I would give anything to be able to see you right now. Please, always remember that I love you more than anything.
Love,
Your Mother, Sara
A picture fell out of the letter and Ruthie picked it up. It showed a young girl in a bed holding a baby wrapped in blankets. On the back it read, Sara and Ruthie. Ruthie studied Sara, shocked by how much she resembled her. She had the same curly dark hair and darkish skin that none of the Camdens had.
Ruthie was overwhelmed with emotion. She still felt hurt and betrayed. She felt lonely because no one in her family understood what she was going through. She also missed Sara, even though she had never met her. She felt oddly connected to the girl in the picture.
Sad, scared and confused, Ruthie climbed into bed, carefully placing the picture under her pillow, and fell asleep.