Author: Catgurl83

Title: Shocking News (21\?)

Disclaimer: Despite all of my begging of Santa and my parents Simon and Matt still aren't mine. *Sigh*. The only ones who belong to me are Charlie and Benjamin.

Feedback: Much appreciated.

Rating: G

Author's notes: I'm fudging medical details to suit my purposes again.

Thanks to Kimberly for beta reading this for me!

**********

"Yes, that is a total of four large pizzas," he agreed. The young man on the other end of the line told him a monetary amount and asked if there was anything else that he could get for him. He assured the kid that there wasn't before they both hung up.

"How long?" Sarah asked her husband without looking up from playing peek-a- boo with Charlie.

"Forty-five minutes," Matt answered.

"You ordered one with nothing but cheese, right?" Sam asked as he raced a toy truck around the sofa, David at his heels trying to catch up.

Matt laughed, "Of course." The twins absolutely would not eat any toppings on their pizza. Sam even picked the cheese off of his. In fact, the boys weren't fans of any Italian food.

Matt walked across the room and took Charlie from Sarah, holding the baby high in the air and spinning while she cooed and chuckled.

The front door opened and Mary called out, "We're here."

The family converged on the foyer as they had a habit of doing, from all throughout the house.

Simon came from the kitchen where he had been putting away the few things that he had just picked up from the store. He had been sent for beverages, chips, and something to have for breakfast the next morning because the kitchen was almost empty of food. No one had had time to go grocery shopping in awhile. Not that it really mattered; they had all been pretty much eating at a restaurant or having takeout in the hospital waiting room. None of them had been doing much more than sleeping at home lately. This was the first meal that they were all having together at the house since a few days before Ruthie's bone marrow transplant.

Eric stepped out of his study where he had been working on the sermon that he would be giving that Sunday. Chandler had been perfectly willing to preach another week but it had been a month since Eric had preached and he missed it. He also felt that they all needed to get back a semblance of normalcy for the twin's sake as well as for their own.

Annie had been upstairs putting laundry away. They were all starting to run low on clean clothing. She abandoned a basket of whites at her daughter's voice.

The Colonel, Ruth, Kevin, Lucy, Matt, Sarah, Sam, and David came from the living room.

Lucy quickly and silently appraised the man standing just inside the entrance with Mary. He was tall, probably about 6'4" or 6'5" and had blond hair with just a hint of brown in it. His deep almost aqua colored blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at them all. Her stomach fluttered at the sight of that smile. It brought out the deep dimples that he had on both sides of his face and also showed his perfect pearly white teeth. She let her eyes travel down to take in the tailored suit that he was wearing. She could tell that beneath the suit he had a muscular build. All in all, she could definitely tell what had initially attracted her sister to this man.

"Benjamin, my parents Reverend Eric Camden and Annie Camden," Mary introduced.

Eric stepped forward to shake the man's hand, still sizing him up. This man sure was different from any of the others that Mary had dated over the years, he thought. Most of her various boyfriends had been kids, if not in age than in maturity. Just looking at Benjamin and shaking his hand he could tell that this man was a grown up. He would judge Benjamin to be about twenty-nine or thirty. A little old for Mary but he would reserve judgment for now.

"My grandparents, the Colonel and Ruth," Mary said.

"My brother Simon." After they had shaken hands, Mary continued, "My sister Lucy and her husband Kevin Kinkirk."

As they shook hands, Kevin mused that Benjamin's handshake was firm and confident but not too firm or overly confident. As a police officer, he had quickly learned to assess people. His initial opinion on character almost always proved to be true. This time, he felt that Benjamin was a genuine person.

"Sam and David are the babies of the family," Mary went on.

Sam shook his head vigorously in instant denial. "We aren't babies."

"Yeah, Charlie's the baby," David added, obviously insulted.

"You don't seem like babies to me either," Benjamin said as he offered his hand to first David and then Sam, shooting Mary a smile.

"And you know Matt, Sarah, and the baby," Mary smiled down at her little brothers as she said the word. She really should have known that the boys would take offense at being called babies even if she didn't mean anything bad by it.

Sarah and Benjamin hugged and the two men exchanged greetings before Benjamin turned his attention to Charlie who was in her father's arms grinning up at him. "Hey Charlene, how ya doing munchkin?" he asked as he made a face at the baby who immediately started chuckling and reaching for him. He accepted the baby with ease. Several members of the family silently raised their eyebrows at the familiarity.

"The only member of the immediate family not here is Ruthie."

Benjamin smiled at Mary, "I'm sure that I'll be able to meet Ruthie on my next trip to California."

"I hope so," Mary responded.

The doorbell rang and everyone but Matt stepped into the living room to give him room to accept the pizza.

Matt came back into the room carrying the food and Annie ushered everyone into the dining room where plates and cups had already been set out.

"You are a pilot?" the Colonel asked Benjamin who was sitting between Mary and David once the pizza and chips had been served and soda poured. Both Sam and David had apparently taken a liking to Benjamin and had insisted that they get to sit near him.

"Yes Sir, I am."

"How long have you been a pilot?" Sam asked around a bite of pizza, causing his mother to reprimand him about talking with his mouth full.

Benjamin smiled at the little boy. "I've been a pilot for six years."

"Is it fun?" David asked.

"I like it."

"You get to fly all over the country?"

"Yes. Sometimes I even get to fly out of the country."

"Wow." Sam looked down the table at his mother. "I want to be a pilot."

"You are in charge of the whole plane?" David questioned.

"I'm not really in charge," Benjamin tried to explain. "The planes that I fly belong to a very large company. They tell me things like where to go and when."

"Oh," the boys said in unison, a little of their exuberance gone.

"How long have you worked for the same company?" the Colonel asked once the twins had turned back to their meals.

"Since I got my pilots license."

"You've never wanted a change?" Eric asked.

Benjamin shrugged, "Not really. I'm content at the airline, there really isn't a reason to switch."

"You live in New York?" Annie asked.

Mary had been right when she'd warned him, Benjamin thought in amusement. He had thought that she was exaggerating when she'd told him that her family would spend the entire meal and as much of the rest of his time in GlenOak that they had the chance to questioning him. Obviously, she hadn't been. "Yes."

"Did you grow up there?" Annie pressed.

"Partially." At the questioning looks that he received, he went on. "My parents are divorced. I was born in Connecticut but when they split up my father moved to New York. I lived in Connecticut with my mother but went to New York every other weekend. I also spent spring break, a month during the summer, and part of my Christmas break with my father."

"How old were you when your parents split up?" Lucy asked sympathetically.

"I was three," he answered.

"Are you an only child?" Annie wanted to know.

"Yes, I am."

As one of only two other people at the table who could understand what Benjamin was going through, Kevin watched with amusement. He hadn't found it funny when he had been going through it but it was in a somewhat different light when it was someone else. At least when he had been questioned like this the Colonel and Ruth hadn't been here. He would never admit it to anybody but the Colonel had always and probably always would intimidate him to some degree. Benjamin was handling them well though. He didn't seem to mind the probing questions that they were firing at him.

The questions went on for quite awhile with Benjamin answering them patiently.

************

"So, what is he like?" Ruthie demanded as soon as the door closed.

Simon moved over toward the bed and sat in the chair opposite it. He had been by the hospital that morning and Ruthie had insisted that he had to come by and give her the scoop as it were on Benjamin since they had no idea when she'd be able to meet him for herself.

He couldn't believe how much better she seemed already. Yesterday, when she had woken, coherent for the first time since the transplant, he could barely understand anything that she had said. She had seemed so weak and groggy. Now, she was still obviously very weak and tired but she was able to stay awake long enough to have an actual conversation. Her voice was also much better. "Well, he's tall. You'd probably think that he is good looking."

"How old is he?"

Simon laughed, the mask muffling and hallowing the sound. He still wasn't used to these paper masks and it was the third time in two days that he'd had to wear one. "Surprisingly, that was one thing that no one asked him." He thought for a few moments. "I'd guess that he is probably in his late twenties or early thirties."

"How did Mom and Dad react to that?" Ruthie asked. Their sister was twenty- three. If Benjamin was thirty, that would make him seven years older than her.

Simon shrugged, "I'm really not sure. They seemed to be okay but then we had all just met him. Even they probably don't know what they think of him yet."

"Kevin is several years older than Lucy too," Ruthie said after a moment. "They like him pretty well."

"The boys got along with him really great." He chuckled, "They've decided that they want to be pilots like him now although they weren't thrilled that pilots for airlines couldn't fly where they want when they want."

"Let's see," Simon thought for something else to tell her, "He is a major baseball fan. He and Matt regularly go to Yankee's games."

"How did he and Mary meet?"

"They didn't say," Simon shrugged, "I assume on a flight."

Ruthie sighed; she really couldn't wait to get out of here for more reasons than she could count. With all of the questions that everyone had asked Benjamin, no one had thought to ask him the interesting ones. Sometimes she wondered how she could be related to these people. "Is he staying at the house?"

Simon laughed, "Are you kidding, with everyone that is staying there? He'd have to share a room with one of us and since he really doesn't know us well, he is staying at a hotel. He insisted that he'd be more comfortable that way when Mom tried to get him to stay at the house. " Matt and Sarah had Lucy and Kevin's old garage apartment. Mary was staying in Ruthie's attic bedroom. The twins were in his room with him and the Colonel and Grandma Ruth were in the twins' room.

A nurse stepped into the room. "We need to draw some blood so you'll have to wrap up your visit." She stepped back out of the room.

Simon stood. "I'll see you later Ruthie."

"Tomorrow?" she questioned.

"Tomorrow," Simon agreed. He knew that after staying away for as long as he had, she wouldn't let him get away with not coming everyday.

As her brother left, Ruthie sighed. She was beginning to feel like a human pincushion. And they weren't even sticking her each time they needed blood. They were using the catheter that they had put in weeks before to take the blood. She really couldn't wait to get out of here.

***********

"What did you think of him?" Lucy asked her husband that evening as they let themselves into their house.

"He seemed like a decent guy."

Lucy laid her purse on the table and turned back to him. "That's it?"

Kevin shrugged, "He seemed like a nice enough guy."

"Do you like him?"

"I really don't know him well enough to like or dislike him," Kevin pointed out. "We just meet him a few hours ago."

"I liked him," Lucy informed him. "He seemed nice."

"And he is good looking," Kevin said with a raised eyebrow.

Lucy gently slapped his arm. "You think I'm that superficial?" She went on before he could answer her, "He is good looking but there was more to it than that. I really can't explain it but there was just something about him."

They went into the living room and sat down.

"He seems a lot more mature than any of the other guys that Mary has dated in the past. She has always had the tendency to date guys that somehow exude immaturity."

Kevin raised his eyebrow again, "Like my brother."

"Yes. I mean. no. I like Ben but there is just something about him."

Kevin smiled at his flustered wife. "It's okay Luce. I see the same qualities that you do in Ben."

"And Wilson was mature but in a different way. His has a hurried maturity that comes from growing up too fast, from gaining too much responsibility at too young of an age. Benjamin's maturity isn't like that."

"He also seemed to get along well with the boys. I could tell that they already really like him even though they just met him. He was able to relate to them in a way that few are able to without having any real experience with kids."

"We really don't know that he doesn't have much experience with children," Kevin pointed out.

"He doesn't have any children and he was an only child."

Kevin shrugged, "He could have younger cousins."

"It is possible," Lucy reluctantly agreed. She really hated to be wrong or to overlook a possibility. "He seemed quite close to Charlie. I've never seen her let a stranger take her like that. For the first several days after they got here this time she wouldn't even let the family hold her like that."

"It does seem like he's been around her quite a bit."

"Yes. She adores him. And Sarah acted like they see him all of the time. He and Matt act like best friends."

"What are you getting at?" Kevin asked with an arched brow.

"I have to wonder how long Mary and Benjamin have been dating. They never told us and it seems like he's known Matt, Sarah, and the baby for quite awhile. I assume that he knew Mary for awhile before she introduced him to Matt and Sarah."

"You're right," Kevin agreed.

"I'll ask Mary when I see her." Lucy mentally added that to the list of questions to ask Mary the next time she was able to be alone with her older sister.

************

Author's note: Next chapter more of Benjamin.