Disclaimer: I don't own 7th Heaven.
claps my best disclaiming sentence yet!
Happy Turkey Day! I felt guilty for the little amount I uploaded, so I decided to include this.
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"Can I help you two?" A bored looking secretary asked,
"We wanted to get access to Braden Petroski's medical records," Ruthie said, a little nervous.
"Sorry, all such records are classified unless the parent or guardian allows it," She pointed a pen at Robbie, "Like I've already told this young man,"
"Robbie!" Ruthie said, and he gave a sheepish smile, "Ruthie, you are the guardian, right?"
"No," She said, "The guardian is Paris and Vic, Peter's parents,"
"Then lets go to Paris and explain all this to her and see Brady's file," He said, now dragging her out of the hospital.
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Ruthie rang the doorbell and sighed, hoping that Robbie was right.
A little boy of four with blond hair and lightly tanned skin opened it, looking curiously at Ruthie and Robbie,
"Hi, we're here to see Paris," Ruthie said, smiling, thinking that the little boy looked so much like Peter.
He nodded and let them in, showing them to the couch, not saying a word.
"Peyton, what's wrong?" Ruthie heard Paris say to the little boy
"We have guests," Peyton whispered
"Oh, well let's join them, no need to not be social, shy guy," Paris teased him
"Ruthie! It's wonderful to see you again," Paris said on seeing Ruthie, smiling, "Is this your boyfriend?"
"No," Ruthie laughed, "That is Robbie, a good friend of the family," She explained
"This is Peyton," Paris said, her hand on the little four year old's.
"Is Vic home with uh, Leo?" Ruthie asked
Paris turned a little sadder, "Uh, Vic and Leo left me four years ago with Peyton here. I don't know where they are,"
A noise came from upstairs, and Peyton involuntarily shuddered.
"Peyton, go see what that was, honey," Paris said, frowning, "That was odd. Anyway, why are you two here?"
"We just wanted to step in and see how you were," Ruthie smiled, "How come I didn't know about Peyton?" She frowned
"Do you remember the baby I gave birth to, that was stillborn?" Paris asked softly, "Well, he wasn't stillborn exactly, but he didn't have a high chance of living. He was in the hospital for two years until I could take him home. Vic had left with Leo after Peter's death," She closed her eyes sighing, "I didn't want to give anyone false hope and you had left by the time Peyton was able to live a normal life,"
"Oh," Ruthie said softly, "Paris, uh, even though it's been three, four years, I never knew exactly how Brady died, so we wanted to have a look at his med records," She explained, "But we can't do that without your signature,"
"Oh no need," Paris smiled and went to a filing cabinet, "Here are his records," She handed them over smiling, "Do you two want Peter's as well?"
"Yeah," Robbie said, "But I'd like to find out what they have in the hospital as well,"
A moan came from upstairs, dark, ghastly, and not something a four year old could do. Paris looked worried,
"Um, you two can show yourselves out while I go find out what that was," Paris went upstairs, a frown on her face, "Uh, there's signatures in Peter's files that should help you,"
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"Why are we going to the hospital now?" Ruthie asked, reading Peter's file, trying to see if there was anything she missed.
"Peyton's file," Robbie said, gunning the engine
"Why did you want Peyton's file?" Ruthie asked, confused
"I just have a hunch," He said softly, "He and Brady seem around the same age, so I don't know,"
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"We have two Peyton Petroski's, both with the same guardian," The nurse gave them the files, sipping her cup of tea, "Now, don't bug me again!"
"This one is stillborn," Robbie said, closing the file and opening the other one, "That's odd. There's nothing about this one until he's at least thirteen months old, getting a shot,"
"What?" Ruthie looked at the file, surprised, "But Paris said-"
"The blood types are different too," Robbie said, "Peyton is a type B now, but he used to be a type A,"
"Brady was type B," Ruthie said, pulling out Brady's file that Paris had given her.
Robbie put the paper of Brady and the papers of currently alive Peyton together, which showed that the little boy hadn't missed a single shot or doctor's appointment. It fit, like a puzzle.
"Do you think?" Robbie said softly, "That Peyton is Brady in the flesh?"
Ruthie opened Peter's file, "I don't know, Robbie. But if Brady was taken, why didn't Paris take me?"
Paris was the only one who could do this, having access to Peter and her,"
"She only took the ones that could've given Peter the STD. You are still a virgin, right?" Robbie asked, a little too loudly for Ruthie's taste.
"Shut up, and yes," Ruthie whispered, turning a little red
"She took Brady, to replace her dead sons, probably," He said, frowning, "God, I don't understand. The ambulances were there in two, three minutes, tops"
Ruthie started; she remembered something from the accident,
"I'm sorry, Ruthie, but this is for the best,"
It was the voice that plagued her in her nightmares.
"Robbie, we crashed at three-thirteen to a truck driver," She said, "What time were the ambulances there?"
"I don't know, but the driver was killed on impact and you were found lying on the side of the road, so we all assumed a Good Samaritan passing by, called 911,"
"No, it was an isolated road, and I was going to go on the highway when it happened. There were no other cars for miles and the truck just came at full speed,"
"So?"
"Did they even find any of Brady's ashes?" Ruthie asked, "Because, Paris was hiding, took the baby, and dragged me to safety as my car burned and called 911, leaving with Brady," Ruthie surprised herself with this theory.
"No," Robbie looked at it, "It just says that he died July 15th, for unexplained reasons,"
"What? Unexplained?"
"Think, there was a fire, so she took you two, burned down the car, so it looked like Brady died in a fire, now ashes, so they couldn't find out how he died," Robbie frowned, "There's no way to tell if he was kidnapped or not. If so, then, does Paris have Becca?"
"We need to go to the police and see what they have," Ruthie frowned, "And Kevin does not count!"
"They'll just laugh in our faces," Robbie said, sighing
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"Ruthie!" Detective Michaels greeted the young girl, "Mr. Palmer," He frowned, "I hope this is not regarding Rebecca Well's departure?"
"Sort of," Ruthie said softly, "Do you remember Peter's son, Brady?"
"Yes, he was the babe who died in that car incident," The old man said, "Case has been closed for years. It's my last week on the job before I retire and I'm hoping nothing bad happens this Christmas," He looked worried
"These are the medical records of three individuals," Robbie explained, "We believe that Brady is unknowingly masquerading as Peyton, since he was thirteen months old, under the guise of Peyton's mother, Paris Petroski."
"Oh my," the detective muttered, looking at the records.
"Our theory is that Paris Petroski, who is the main suspect in this case, kidnapped Brady and faked Brady's death. Then she took her grandson and changed his identity to match her stillborn son, Peyton Joel Petroski, to be exact," Ruthie explained
"Paris's story is that Peyton was in the hospital for two years, before he came to live with her, but there's no record of Peyton spending even one night on a hospital bed, let alone two years," Robbie added
"Isn't she Brady's legal guardian?" The man asked, "So why go to all this fuss when she could just take Brady?"
Ruthie frowned, "She wanted to have him for herself, I suppose, and blamed me for Peter dying as well,"
"And how does Becca tie into this?" the detective asked Robbie, putting down the folders.
"Becca and these other women became missing on the same day as Brady's so called death. Peter slept with all these women and one of them gave him the STD, so Paris took them as some kind of revenge," Robbie shrugged.
"And where are these women now?" He asked, frowning, "And explain how Paris could've done this all in one day?"
"Well, we went to visit Paris earlier," Ruthie said, "Before all this evidence came up, and there were odd noises, moans coming from upstairs,"
"What time and place were all these women last seen?" Robbie asked, "All I know is that it was on the same day, in Glenoak,"
"That's classified," the detective said, "But, we will get a warrant to search the house, Child Services to take Peyton away, for testing to see if he is Brady, and Paris will be put in jail if the boy is Brady or if we find one of the missing women, dead or alive," He moved to get a team together, talking
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"Okay, we are going to search the house tomorrow night," the detective said, "Child Services will take Peyton away the next night for testing. If he's Brady, then Ruthie, you're in charge. If not, Paris will be off for kidnapping a child, but not for abducting several women and possible maltreatment," He sighed, "If neither pan out, we have a lot of apologies to make,"
Ruthie bit her lip, "Thank you Detective," She laughed, "Robbie, you've just given me the best Christmas present ever,"
"I wouldn't be so quick to thank him," A man warned, "If the boy turns out to be yours, he'll have a whole new identity, and he has to deal with his mother, the woman who protected him being taken away and an alien, in charge of him now,"
"Buddy, I'm Miss Camden, host of Mellow Out," She smiled, "I've dealt with stuff like this before, but I just want to make sure he's okay first,"
His eyes turned wide, "Miss Camden? My wife loves your show! Can I have an autograph? For my wife of course, her name's Herbert. That's H-E-R-B-E-R-T," He said enthusiastically.
"Sure," She smiled, signing a slip of paper for him, "Nice to meet you, sir. Please make sure that the little boy is safe,"
"Of course ma'am," He nodded enthusiastically
"Huh," Robbie said, "I always forget that you're famous,"
"Good," Ruthie grinned, "Now let's go home and figure out how you're going to propose to Mary," She laughed at his silly face, "It's been quite a day, huh?"
"Oh yeah," Robbie laughed, "Are we going to tell them everything?" He glanced at Ruthie
"I don't want them to get their hopes up just yet," Ruthie admitted, "For now, let's just celebrate yours and Mary's engagement,"
"You really think she'll say yes?" Robbie asked nervously
"I think we should take a walk. Just a quick one, round the park," Ruthie said, "That way you can get your nervousness out and just propose already,"
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"Hey Sam," Martin greeted, "Savannah, what are you two doing?"
"Nothing!" Sam laughed nervously, "I was just telling Savannah why you aren't supposed to tell secrets," He glared at the little girl who just rolled her eyes and he left, saying that he was going to the Promenade and nobody should follow him, steaming.
"Well, someone's certainly cranky today," Martin commented, "Who's in the house?"
"Mommy's working on her sermon, Daddy's playing with Jacob and Michael, Grandma's cooking, Grandpa Eric's trying to find out why Uncle David's always unhappy, so they're in Grandpa's office. Uncle Simon's at the airport, picking up Carrie, Uncle Matt and Aunt Sarah are fighting again-"
Martin remembered the Zoloft.
"Katie went to go make Aunt Sarah feel better," Savannah continued, intent on finishing, "Aunt Mary and Charlie went to find Robbie and Aunt Ruthie, who were supposed to be home two hours ago. Chandler and Kendal had some complications with their sons, so they're like a few miles out of Glenoak, but they should be here by dinner," Savannah took a deep breath, now done with her rant, "Oh and Uncle Sammy's at the Promenade, by now,"
"How do you know all that?" Martin asked, astonished
"Easy," Savannah smiled, "I listen a lot,"
"You are a lot like Ruthie," Martin chuckled
"That's what Mommy and Daddy says," Savannah informed them, "Only, they don't like it when I hear stuff. Daddy always lectures me when I hear something I shouldn't, but it's their fault for talking about it where anyone can hear them!" She shrugged, "Susie, do you wanna play hopscotch?" She asked the girl who had come out from the kitchen.
"Sure," Susie smiled and went with Savannah, while Martin went in the house.
"Hello Martin," Annie greeted, stirring something, "How was the Promenade?"
"Fine," Martin said, "But my daughter found some Zoloft in a bag that belonged to Matt," He explained, "I'm pretty sure it's for Sarah,"
"Oh my," Annie frowned, "Is Sarah-"
"I honestly don't know, but it would make sense," Martin admitted, "Look, I didn't know who to tell, and-"
"No Martin," Annie smiled, "It's fine and it sounds like they're taking care of it, so we shouldn't worry," She sighed, "Why don't you tell Eric though, he has been wondering why we've seen so little of Sarah and the baby lately,"
He smiled and walked into the hallway, knocking on the office door.
"Hey Martin," David greeted him, "Dad and I were just finishing up," He gave a fake smile that Martin would use in front of the reverend sometimes when he didn't want Eric to know something.
"Oh, well, Annie wanted me to tell him something private about Matt and Sarah," Martin explained, "Do you mind taking the girls to the park? Susie's wanted to go all day,"
"Sure," David shrugged, "I'll be back in an hour or so,"
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"Oh hold on," Ruthie said, hearing her phone ring, looking at the caller ID, "It's Simon," She said to Robbie, holding the phone to her ear,
"Simon?"
"Hey Ruthie," He said cheerfully to her, "Do you mind talking to Carrie really quickly? She's a tad nervous,"
"Uh, no," Ruthie said, a little surprised,
"Good," She could see him smiling, "Here she is,"
Ruthie sat down on the park bench.
"I'll walk around, to give you privacy," Robbie said chivalrously, she nodded her thanks
"Is this Ruthie?" An unfamiliar voice said on the line
"Yeah," Ruthie smiled, "Is this Carrie?"
"Uh yes," She heard the person say
"Well, did you need something?" Ruthie asked
"Um, is your family nice?"
"Yeah," Ruthie said, a little confused
"I don't believe in God, is that a problem?" The voice said and Ruthie laughed
"Don't worry about that. After all, my brother is married to a rabbi's daughter," She chuckled, "He converted to Judaism now and Dad still loves him,"
"Really?" Ruthie could hear nervousness in her voice
"Yeah, after all, as long as Simon didn't bring home a worshipper of the devil or someone like that awful Rose, they'll love you," She frowned, "You aren't a worshipper of the devil, are you?"
"No," The woman laughed, "Oh, thank you Ruthie,"
"Ruthie!" She heard Robbie yell, "Ruthie! Come quick! Emergency!" She could make him out on the baseball fields and two little girls next to him. Someone was on the ground and was that blood?
"DAVID'S DYING!" Savannah, yelled at the top of her lungs.