Chapter Nine!

The drive back to the Camden's house was silent. Ronnie stared out the window as they entered the neighbourhood. She couldn't believe how big the houses were. Her old neighbourhood had houses that were half the size of the houses in this neighbourhood. I guess they have to have a big house since they've had 7 kids. Ronnie thought to herself. She couldn't believe her eyes when they pulled into the driveway of a really large white house, with a big garage and toys all over the front lawn.

"Well, this is our house." Eric said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He and Annie stepped out of the car and Ronnie followed shyly, holding Chimpy.

"Our kids are so excited to meet you Ronnie." Annie said as she unlocked the front door. She opened the door and stepped in, motioning for Ronnie to come in too. Ronnie couldn't believe how beautiful and clean their house was. Compared to her old house, with cigarette butts and beer bottles scattered all over the floor, the Camdens' house was amazing.

Annie and Eric showed Ronnie the living room, the downstairs bathroom, Eric's office, the backyard and the kitchen.

"You have a beautiful house." Ronnie said politely as they stopped in the kitchen.

"Well thank you sweetie, but remember, it's your home too, so make it your home. Don't be shy." Annie explained. Ronnie nodded, not feeling very comfortable at the moment.

Moments later, they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs leading down to the kitchen. Two older girls appeared in the kitchen, one with blonde hair and the other with brown hair.

"Hi girls." Eric greeted.

"Hi dad. We saw the car in the driveway." Mary replied. Ronnie guessed these were two of the three Camden girls.

"Mary, Lucy, this is Ronnie. Ronnie, these are my older daughters, Mary and Lucy." Annie introduced. Ronnie smiled slightly.

"Hi." She said shyly. Mary and Lucy smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you." Lucy said. Annie and Eric nodded.

"Well, you've met two of our kids. You know Matt doesn't live here but he's coming over for dinner tonight. He wants to meet you." Annie explained.

"Mom, can we show Ronnie her bedroom?" Mary asked. Annie looked from Mary to Ronnie.

"Only if Ronnie feels comfortable." She said. Ronnie shrugged.

"I don't mind." She said quietly.

"Great, follow us." Lucy led the way as her and Mary turned and started up the stairs. Ronnie followed close behind. Once the girls had vanished up the stairs, Eric turned to Annie.

"Do you think she's okay?" He asked.

"I don't know, but I think she will be eventually. I think she just needs to get used to the new surroundings and situation." Annie replied.

"I'm just so happy Mary and Luce are so excited to be her friend. I think it'll be good for Ronnie to be around people closer to her age. After all, she was an only child." Eric said.

"Yeah, I think everything will be okay." Annie kissed her husband.


Meanwhile, Mary and Lucy were showing Ronnie her new bedroom and her new clothes. Ronnie couldn't believe the size of her bedroom. It was nearly three times bigger than her old bedroom which only fit a single bed. Ronnie couldn't believe all of the clothes that were hanging in her new closet either. She felt like she wanted to cry; she had never had anyone be this nice to her. From the time she had met the Camdens when she first woke up in the hospital, they had stayed with her while she recovered, while she was dealing with the inner pain, they were the only ones there for her. Then they went beyond all that and gave Ronnie a home, and were now in the process of filing for adoption. Now, Ronnie was in a beautiful bedroom with beautiful new clothes in the most beautiful house. She felt she didn't deserve any of it.

"So how are you feeling Ronnie?" Mary asked. Ronnie snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Mary.

"Uh, well the doctors said it will take some time before the wound heals completely, and I have to clean it every night before I go to bed. It still hurts a lot, especially if I lay on it or touch it." She replied quietly. Mary and Lucy nodded. Ronnie really liked these girls, and felt comfortable talking to them.

Ronnie turned to her own bed and saw something she hadn't seen when she first walked into the room. Sitting on the bed was a little white teddy bear with a name stitched on its belly in red thread. "Ronnie." Underneath the name was today's date. Ronnie picked it up and stared at it, remembering what Annie had told her in the hospital. Eric and I bought them a stuffed bear with their names stitched into their belly with the date of their birth. It was our little symbol of a new member of the family. Ronnie began to cry as she stared at the little bear.

"Ronnie, are you okay?" Lucy asked as her and Mary went over to Ronnie, who tried to hide her tears.

"I'm fine, it's just, you guys have all been so nice to me, and you hardly know me." Ronnie admitted through her tears. Mary and Lucy both looked at each other.

"Hey, we're family now, it's our job to be nice to you." Mary said quietly as she hugged Ronnie, who sobbed quietly.

"Yeah, we're here for you now. You don't have to be alone." Lucy added. Ronnie smiled.

"Mind you, as big sisters, we are also entitled to a little bit of teasing." Mary joked. Ronnie laughed a little.

"That's okay, I think I can handle it." She said.


Matt Camden arrived at his parents' house at 6:00p.m. to find his mom cutting up carrots in the kitchen for dinner. His little sister Ruthie was watching her mom as she sat on a stool near the counter.

"Hey mom." Matt greeted as he kissed his mom. Annie smiled.

"Hey honey, how's school going?" She asked as she gave her son a hug.

"It's okay I guess." Matt paused. "So, is she here yet?"

"Yeah she's been here for a little over an hour. She's upstairs with Mary and Lucy." Annie explained.

"She's cool, I really like her. She's really nice." Ruthie added with a smile.

"Has everybody met her now?" Matt wondered.

"Ruthie and the twins went up first to meet her after Mary and Lucy took her upstairs. Simon introduced himself a few minutes ago. I think he's still hanging out with the girls." Annie explained. Matt smiled.

"So I'm the only one who hasn't met her then." He said with a laugh.

"Well yeah, but you don't live here honey so don't feel bad. You can go meet her right now. She has your old bedroom." Annie explained but they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and down came Mary, Lucy, Simon and Ronnie. Matt smiled and turned to face the four who had just arrived in the kitchen.

"Oh hey Matt, when did you get here?" Simon asked as he gave his big brother a high five.

"About thirty seconds ago." Matt turned and smiled at Ronnie. "I was about to come up to meet someone."

"Oh yeah, this is Ronnie." Simon said. Matt reached out his hand and shook Ronnie's hand.

"Hey Ronnie, I'm Matt. It's nice to meet you." He said.

"It's nice to meet you too Matt." Ronnie replied shyly. Matt nodded.

"Well Ronnie, now you've met everyone in the family. Hopefully you'll be able to remember everyone. We're a pretty big family and now we're even bigger." Annie joked, but was serious at the same time. Ronnie blushed a little, still remembering the stuffed bear sitting on her new bed, symbolizing her entrance into this family. She didn't feel like part of the family yet, but she felt accepted; a feeling she had only felt once in her life, when she met Jenny. Now she was surrounded by people who wanted to share their lives with her. She had never felt so special, and during those moments, Ronnie almost forgot completely about the pain she was carrying.


That evening, Eric, Annie, Matt, Mary, Lucy, Ronnie, Simon, Ruthie, Sam and David sat at the dinner table, eating the delicious ham dinner Annie had prepared. It was all new to Ronnie who had never had a home cooked meal before. She had always been forced to fend for herself for meals, which mostly came from a can or a box. And she had never had dinner with her family, like she was experiencing now. She had always been used to eating alone in her bedroom, hiding from her parents. Now she was surrounded by nine people she knew she would never have to hide from.

Near the end of the meal, Ronnie was having a hard time finishing what was on her plate. Annie, being the concerned mother she was, noticed right away.

"Ronnie, are you okay? Is the ham undercooked or anything?" She asked.

"No, not at all, it's delicious. This is the best meal I've ever had. It's just I've never had this much food all at once. We didn't have a lot of money so...I guess I just have a small stomach." Ronnie admitted shyly.

"Well don't worry. We'll stretch it. Mom always makes so much food." Simon laughed. Ronnie smiled, enjoying each moment she was spending with this family, feeling more and more comfortable.


After dinner, Matt was getting ready to leave when he took Ronnie aside quietly when nobody else was around. Ronnie was confused, but Matt grew serious.

"Sorry to pull you aside like this, but I wanted to see if you were okay." He said in a low voice. Ronnie was surprised at how kind and caring Matt was, just like the rest of his family. She felt like she could really trust these people, something she wasn't used to feeling. She had never had people she was able to talk to so openly. She did have Jenny, but Ronnie had never been able to tell her the truth, but now the truth had been revealed, and Ronnie didn't have to hide behind the lies anymore. She could finally allow herself to express her feelings. It would take her some time to get used to, but she felt like she had all the time in the world.

"Um, yeah, I'm okay. It's just hard, you know, getting used to everything." Ronnie admitted quietly. Matt nodded.

"You've been through a lot in the last week. I'm sorry. Just try to remember, this family is really big on talking about feelings, so if you need to talk, this is a great place to do it. And my phone number is on the fridge. I've told all my sisters and brothers they can call me anytime to talk. So the same goes for you too." He explained. Ronnie smiled.

"That's really nice. Thanks." She said meekly.

"No problem. It'll be okay, you'll get used to everything soon." Matt smiled and the two returned to the rest of the family.


Ronnie was asked by Mary, Lucy and Simon to play basketball in the backyard later that evening. Ruthie and the twins had gone to bed, so the four teens played two-on-two basketball. Lucy and Ronnie played against Mary and Simon. Ronnie was having a hard time, especially since Mary used to be on the basketball team in high school, and she and Simon were winning by a landslide.

Ronnie was having so much fun with these kids who were close to her age, not even thinking about why she was here in the first place. She loved the Camdens so much; they had been everything she used to dream about as a child, and more.

"Ronnie, catch!" Lucy yelled as she tossed the ball over Mary's head. Ronnie jumped to catch it, but tripped over Simon's foot and fell on her side. She immediately felt paint rush through her body as she had landed on the side where the gunshot wound was. Mary, Lucy and Simon ran to Ronnie's side immediately.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to trip you." Simon apologized.

"Ronnie, what's the matter?" Mary asked when she noticed Ronnie wasn't answering them. She bent down next to Ronnie and put her hand on her shoulder just as Annie had run outside, hearing all the commotion.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly. She immediately noticed Ronnie lying on the ground, gripping her side tightly. She knelt down next to her.

"She fell while we were playing basketball." Simon explained. Annie knew right away Ronnie had fallen on her gunshot wound. She carefully took Ronnie's hand away from where she had been holding it tightly and saw that a thin layer of blood was leaking through her shirt.

"Sweetie, can you stand up? We need to get this cleaned up." Annie said as she helped Ronnie up.

"I'm okay." Ronnie winced as she stood up, trying so hard to stay strong, but Annie took her inside immediately and straight up to Ronnie's new bedroom.

"Alright, why don't you just change into your pajamas? I'll wash these clothes for you in the morning." Annie pulled out a pair of pink pajamas that Lucy had picked out and handed them to Ronnie. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get a cloth to clean it, and we'll put the antibiotics on it."

"I'll be fine Annie." Ronnie called, but Annie wouldn't hear of it. She disappeared down the hall to the bathroom where she pulled out fresh gauze bandages and tape. She wet a cloth and pulled out the bottle of antibiotics the doctors had prescribed for Ronnie's wound to heal properly. She made her way back to Ronnie's bedroom, where she found Ronnie sitting on the bed, holding her side tightly, now wearing the new pajamas she fit into perfectly. Annie sat next to Ronnie on the bed and dumped all of her first aid tools down next to her.

"I can do it." Ronnie said quietly, and Annie had to smile.

"You don't always have to take care of yourself you know. You can let yourself be a child and be taken care of. That's what we're here for. I just want to help, so can I see?" Annie asked, knowing it would take Ronnie some time to get used to an environment where people wanted to take care of her, and not hurt her.

Ronnie was hesitant, but she pulled up her pyjama top just enough for Annie to see that the wound had stopped bleeding. She poured some of the antibiotic liquid onto the cloth and dabbed it on Ronnie's open wound. Ronnie closed her eyes tightly, cringing from the pain of the medicine doing its work.

"I'm sorry Ronnie, I know it hurts." Annie apologized. Ronnie shook her head.

"You don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything." She said through clenched teeth as she tried to ignore the pain. Annie bandaged the wound quickly and smiled at the young girl.

"You were very brave." She said with a wink.

"I guess I've always had to be." Ronnie replied sadly. Annie moved closer and cupped the girl's face into her hands.

"Yes I know, but you don't have to be that brave anymore. You have nothing to be afraid of here, okay? Nobody here is ever going to hurt you; that I can promise you." She said quietly. Ronnie sighed and nodded slowly.

"I think I know that. You guys have all been so nice to me, nicer than anyone I've ever known. And I'm just so grateful for everything you've done for me." She was crying a little now and Annie took the crying girl and embraced her tightly.

"You're going to be okay sweetie. You're safe now." She whispered. She let go of Ronnie, who smiled a little.

"Now, I'm going to go into mom mode here and tell you I think maybe you need to get some sleep. I know it's a little early, but you've been through a lot and you're still recovering, so I think maybe it's time for lights out." Annie said. Ronnie nodded.

"That's okay, I think you're right. I'm starting to feel tired anyway." She admitted.

"Okay, well if you need anything in the night, our room is just down the hall. Don't ever be afraid to wake us up if there's a problem. We won't be mad." Annie promised. Ronnie smiled.

"Thanks." She said meekly. Annie leaned over and kissed Ronnie's forehead.

"Goodnight." Annie smiled and left the room, shutting out the light as she left, closing the door slightly.

Ronnie lay on her back and stared at the ceiling, cuddling Chimpy on one side and her stuffed bear with her name on it on the other. She had never been kissed goodnight before, or even said goodnight to. The only memories she had of her parents and bedtime were unhappy, with them yelling at her to get to bed, or kicking her into her room. Never had they shown affection, with hugs or kisses, or "I love you's." Now, Ronnie was living in a house where she knew she would be getting a lot more love than she had ever known. She had already felt more loved in the last week than she had ever felt in her entire life.

She shed a tear, but it was not a tear of pain or sadness; it was a tear of joy. She truly felt blessed, and for the first time in her life, she could lift up a prayer of thankfulness.

God, about a week or so ago, I asked you to make something happen; something so I could be happy, and be free from my parents. Thank You so much for answering my prayers, but Lord, I'm scared. I know I want to stay with the Camdens, but what if the adoption doesn't go through? What if I'm taken away? God, I pray for my parents too, wherever they are. I'm glad I'm away from them, but I don't want anything bad to happen to them either, so please be with them. Lord, You've given me so much, and I don't know how I can ever thank You, but thank You. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.