I'm sorry it took so long to update! I promise I'll try to be better about it!
The next morning the Camdens were in the kitchen, going through their normal routines of getting ready for school or work when Ruthie walked slowly down the stairs. Annie glanced nervously at Eric before saying cheerfully, "Hi, Honey! Can I get you some breakfast?"
Ruthie didn't smile as she answered, "Please don't try and pretend everything is all right when we all know that it isn't."
"I'm sorry." Annie immediately apologized.
"I'd like to meet my real mother."
"Ok," Eric said slowly, hiding his surprise. "I'll look on the internet and ask Sergeant Michaels to help me find her. But there is a good chance that we never will. It's very possible that she got married and changed her name, or moved to another country."
"I just want you to try." Ruthie finally gave him a small smile. "And I would really like some more time alone. I just need to think. This is a lot to deal with."
"We understand." Annie assured her, giving her a hug. "We do want to make this easier for you."
"Thanks." She said before walking outside to catch her bus.
Weeks went by with no luck in the search for Ruthie's mother, and the mood in the Camden's house was tense. Ruthie tried to act like her normal self, but she couldn't ignore her anger and pain. Then, one day when Ruthie arrived home from school, she found her parents sitting at the table looking serious.
"Simon, please go upstairs." Annie told him as he followed Ruthie inside. "Ruthie, come here. We need to talk."
Ruthie took a seat next to her father and immediately began fidgeting nervously.
"We found you mother." Eric told her after a long pause. "It was difficult because she did change her name, but she is still in California, only about an hour and a half away."
"Can I see her?" Ruthie asked hopefully.
"If you are sure you want to. You really need to think about it first."
"I'm sure, really. Please let me see her!" Ruthie hadn't told anyone, but she had been fantasizing about meeting her mother. In her fantasies, Sara had immediately welcomed Ruthie into her home. She had introduced Ruthie to her husband, Ruthie's biological father, and Ruthie's two younger siblings. They had gotten along great and at the end of the day Sara had begged the Camden's to allow her to take Ruthie back. They had agreed and Ruthie spent the rest of her life living with her real family.
"Ruthie?" Annie asked, touching her arm and interrupting her thoughts. "Did you hear your father?"
"No, what?" Ruthie asked, trying to pay attention to the conversation.
"You have off from school next week, I was thinking you and I could go visit her then. What do you think?"
"That sounds great!" Ruthie grinned at them and ran upstairs, nearly bumping in to Simon.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked.
"I'm going to meet my real mother!" she informed him.
"Are you sure that's a good idea" he asked frowning.
"Of course! If things go my way, she'll take me back and things will be the way they should be!"
"You really want to leave us?" he asked.
"Well, no offense, but you're not my real brother. I mean, I like you and everything, but I'm not really related to any of you. I'm better off with my real family. I have to go pick out an outfit to wear when I meet her!" She skipped off, leaving Simon alone in the hallway.
For the rest of the week Ruthie was happier than she had been in months. She was constantly smiling and instead of walking, she now skipped wherever she went. Although her family was glad to see her in such a good, they couldn't help being hurt that she was so eager to leave them. Now that she really thought it was happening, Ruthie had no problem sharing her fantasies with the rest of her family and every chance she got she talked about what she thought Sara would look like or act like, or about Sara's house, and Sara's husband.
Finally, the day that Ruthie was to meet Sara arrived. Ruthie had been through every item in her closet, but had finally settled on a nice pair of jeans and a long sleeved red shirt. She didn't bother to straighten her hair that morning, thinking the more she looked like Sara the better. Her family waited for her in the kitchen to wish her luck and say goodbye. Before she left, she hugged them each and said goodbye, truly believing that she wasn't coming back. After the door slammed and the car backed down the driveway, Lucy quietly asked her mother, "What do you think will happen?"
Annie sighed and answered, "I think she's going to get her heart broken."
Please, please review! J
Next chapter – Ruthie meets her mother!