Disclaimer: Don't own 7th Heaven, if I did, Mary and Robbie would be together and ON the show.

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"Luce, Kevin called," Annie said, coming in from the kitchen, holding the wireless, "He, Jacob, and Michael are stuck in traffic with a flat tire with no spare, and they don't have any money for a tow truck, because he left his wallet at home,"

Lucy hurried to the phone, worried, "Kevin?" She went outside for privacy.

"Oh, Matt, Martin took Katie, Anna, and Suze to the Promenade for ice-cream," Annie said, after smiling at Eric, so happy her entire family was there.

Matt looked at his watch, "I have to get going anyway, Sarah and Stevie should be waking up, wondering where I am," He gave his mother a hug, "I'll be by later to pick Katie up, but Sarah wants us home for dinner, sorry,"

"Fine," Annie turned to Simon, suddenly remembering something, "Simon, I forgot! A man named Mr. Stellar called and asked for you, while you were on the road,"

Simon groaned, "That's a PR guy. I hope I don't have to add on more publicity for this movie," He disliked the press and paparazzi, even though his girlfriend was a journalist. "I'll be upstairs on my cell," He bounded upstairs, intent on privacy.

"Momma," A blond haired boy walking down the stairs, "Can we go to the zoo? Anna told me that there's a wooly spider monkey!" He asked Mary, His eyes shining

"The wooly spider monkey seemed to recognize me this year," The boy said, "It looked at me, as if saying, 'Hey Peter, doing any better in math this year?"

Ruthie shuddered at the flashback

"Sure Charlie," Mary grinned, "Ruthie, Sam, David, you guys want to come with?"

"Sorry, I already had to go to the zoo for a field trip this year and that was enough," Sam said, "I don't understand why the administration can't take us somewhere else,"

"How many times have we been on this trip?"

"A thousand,"

"Once every two years since first grade,"

"Feels like a thousand,"

"Five times,"

"Still feels like a thousand,"

Ruthie sighed, "No thanks for me too. The zoo has some memories I'd rather avoid,"

"I cannot," David said, "I am going to the museum. They have added in a new history wing, Sam, why don't you come wit-"

"My brother, the geek," Sam cut him off, sighing, "I have to find some last minute Christmas presents," He grabbed his jacket,

David frowned, slightly hurt, but tried again, "I have to get presents too. I'll walk over with you, Sam,"

"Oh, I forgot to go shopping for presents!" Ruthie groaned, "I'll come with you two. I'll even drive out to the mall," She made a mental list of everyone she needed to get a present for.

Sam looked pained, "Actually, the presents I have to get, I have to get by myself, so I'm walking. You can take David with you though," He walked out, David looking at his sister, upset.

"Here," Annie chuckled, "The keys to the van," She and Eric waved everyone out.

"Oh Eric," Annie smiled hugging him, "Can you believe how old we're getting?"

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"So spilt or stick together?" Ruthie asked David

David said, "I think we should work apart," At her questioning look, he sighed, "I forgot to obtain gifts for everyone." He kept his head down,

"David," Ruthie laughed, "I didn't bring anything here, other then clothes for myself,"

David admitted, "I didn't find anything at school worth bringing home as a gift,"

"Okay, then let's pool our money together and just buy everyone one thing," Ruthie said, "Simon and I always did that for Christmas,"

"Here," He handed all the money he had on him, not bothering to count.

Ruthie didn't count either, just pocketing it in her purse.

"How much do we have?" David asked, pulling out a pocket calculator.

"I'm not telling you," Ruthie smiled, "We'll buy everything on my credit card and the money you just gave me is now in the credit card, plus my own,"

It didn't take David's scientific mind to know that there was more money on that card then what his parents had, tripled. When he was picking things out, he tried to find the cheapest thing while Ruthie looked for the best thing, usually slightly more money.

"Ruthie," David said, holding up a few bags, "Aren't you concerned about your credit card bill?"

"No," She laughed, "David, stop thinking about money and just pick out the best things," She ate another piece of candy, "Who's left?"

David said, "Robbie and Martin,"

"I already have a present for Robbie," Ruthie said, "I can just add your name to it,"

"So that leaves Martin," David said,

"What do we get a guy that has everything that he wants?" Ruthie asked, frowning, "Soap?"

"Not everything," David said, "He still wants to meet some lovely lady," He made kissing sounds, laughing, causing Ruthie to laugh as well. Sometimes David was a little boy and other times he was a boy genius.

"What about a baseball mitt?" Ruthie suggested

"He has a plethora of them," David said, "He never throws anything away,"

"A baseball bat?" She guessed

"No," David shook his head

"A stupid bobble head?" Ruthie said, sighing. She really didn't know a lot about baseball.

"It is likely he has already obtained one," her brother pointed out, thinking she was serious

"Here," David found a book, "If he wants a lady, he needs this right?" He held up a book titled: The Romance Reader's Guide to Relationships.

"Yeah, that's the sort of thing Martin wouldn't buy himself!" Ruthie grinned, "Smart thinking, David!" She was kidding, of course, thinking David was kidding too.

"Thank you," David looked proud of himself. Now knowing he was serious, Ruthie made a mental note to buy him a baseball cap or something to show how sorry she was, if he got mad at them.

"That is everyone," David said cheerfully,

"Except for you," Ruthie said, "Pick out whatever you want and I'll buy it," She grinned,

"My search was unsuccessful," David said to her, looking unhappy. Still, she could tell that David wanted something, but decided it was too expensive. She decided to give him a $100 gift certificate, knowing it would be more then enough for whatever it was he wanted in the store.

"Oh well," Ruthie grinned, "I'll find something for you," She glanced at her watch, "We should go. Dinner's starting in a half hour," She glanced at all the presents, "Can you please send these to Glenoak Inn, Room 15, and gift wrap them all, in the names Ruthie and David Camden?" She asked the cashier, filling out some forms for the presents.

"Yes Ma'am," The cashier nodded and continued to check in their gifts.

"Are you staying at a different residence?" David asked

"If I have to, but I'd like to stay home," Ruthie admitted, "Besides, for now, it's just a place to hide all these presents," She pointed at the large array of presents they had picked for everyone.

"What's up with you and Sam, these days, David?" She asked, noticing how far apart they had grown.

David sighed, "We have nothing in common anymore. I try to hang out with him, but he brushes me off,"

"Why?" Ruthie scribbled out a check, not giving the receipt a second glance.

"I don't know," David sighed, "Something happened when I realized that I wanted to go to Yale for college and Sam was still goofing off with his friends," He shrugged, "Mom and Dad had me skip a grade-two actually, and I got into that school, now a fourteen year old tenth grader with the highest GPA and my twin brother is the guy I want to be-normal,"

"Normal doesn't exist, David," Ruthie smiled, "So when were you going to tell me that you were actually in high school?"

"I just skipped this year, at the insistence of the headmaster, so sometimes I still think I'm in eighth grade," David smiled, "Ruthie, I'm glad you're still the coolest sister,"

"Of course I am," Ruthie grinned, "After all, Lucy and Mary have nothing on me!"

He laughed and she loved hearing him laugh, like old times. Only the once ever present Sam was missing and it saddened Ruthie.