A/N: Thanks for the great reviews. Hope I can keep this one on track. So many ideas…so little time!

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Kevin smiled at Savannah, tossing a dishtowel over his shoulder and opening the back door. Martin stood on the step, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. He gave Kevin a weak smile.

"Martin!" Kevin greeted, opening the door further for Martin to step through. "Come on in! Lucy's not here right now, but she should be back soon."

"Um, I kind of wanted to talk with you anyway," Martin admitted, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"You okay?" Kevin asked, pouring two glasses of juice before joining Martin at the table. Kevin pulled Savannah's highchair closer to the table and set a handful of Cheerios on its tray. She busied herself picking one up, investigating it and then putting it into her waiting mouth.

Martin stared at Savannah. She had grown so much in such a short time. Martin remembered the day she was born. He reached out a tentative hand and let Savannah grasp one of his fingers. Martin smiled at Kevin, who was smiling back.

"I know that you're nervous about being a father, but we're all here for you. And if you ever need advice or help with anything, Lucy and I will be glad to do it. I was terrified the first night we brought Savannah home, but look at me now. Now I'm Mr. Dad!" Kevin laughed.

Martin smiled. "Thanks, but that's actually not the reason why I came by."

Kevin gave Martin a curious look. "What's on your mind?"

Martin took a deep breath. "I saw Ruthie in school today, talking with Jack."

Kevin's face distorted. "I don't like Jack."

"Join the club," Martin agreed. "The thing is, I think that Ruthie is going out with him this weekend. I can't be sure, since she's not talking to me."

"I thought that things were shaky, but okay?" Kevin asked.

Martin sighed. "Ruthie says that things are okay, but she's still not talking to me, or looking at me for that matter."

"She'll come around. She's a little embarrassed right now and hurt that so many people knew about you and Sandy. Give her time and things will get better," Kevin suggested.

"So what should we do about Jack?"

Kevin sat back and rubbed his forehead. "Have you talked to Eric about this?"

Martin nodded. "I did. I told him exactly why Jack wants to date Ruthie. But Reverend Camden is going through this 'Ruthie-can-make-her-own-decisions-and-I-trust-her' phase. I figured you'd be the next best one to come to."

Kevin was processing Martin's information, when something struck him. He sat up straighter and looked Martin in the eye. "Why exactly does Jack want to date Ruthie?"

"She's the minister's daughter," Martin hinted. "She's a conquest to him and nothing more."

Kevin knew that Ruthie was smart enough not to fall for some guy's lines under normal circumstances, but now…

"I'll talk to Lucy about this and maybe she can talk to Ruthie," Kevin offered.

"I'd really appreciate that," Martin said. "I'd do it myself, but I just don't think Ruthie wants to hear anything like this from me right now."

Kevin smiled. He looked over at Savannah and then back at Martin. "What's your real reason for not wanting Ruthie to date Jack?"

"Excuse me?" Martin asked.

Kevin leaned forward, elbows on the table. "I know that you're concerned about Ruthie getting hurt by this Jack guy, but is there more to this than that?"

Martin sighed. "I have way too much going on in my life right now to be confusing things even more with girls. My only concern is Ruthie's safety."

"If Ruthie decided to go back out with Vincent, how would you feel about that?" Kevin pushed. "Or how about that Brian guy who wanted to date her? What about Peter?"

Martin got to his feet quickly. "I think I should get going. Tell Lucy I said thanks and I'll talk to her later."

Martin was out the door before Kevin even had time to get to his feet! Kevin lifted Savannah from her highchair. "I have a feeling, sweet girl, that things are about to get a lot worse around here before they get any better."

"How's it going in here?" Lucy asked, entering Ruthie's bedroom.

Ruthie looked up from the hoards of books piled on top of her desk and shrugged before re-burying her head.

Lucy walked over to the CD player and pressed the stop button. Ruthie had been listening to the most depressing, lovesick music. Everyone in the house was getting tired of it. "Can we talk for a sec.?"

Ruthie looked up again and, with a large sigh, swiveled her chair so she was facing Lucy, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"It's hard to believe that not so long ago, you and I were sharing this room," Lucy reminisced. "It feels like forever ago, doesn't it?"

Ruthie smiled weakly. But Lucy continued on. "That was before Kevin and Savannah."

"And Martin?" Ruthie offered.

Lucy nodded. She hadn't meant their conversation to go in that direction, so she worked to get it back on track. "I heard that you've got a date this weekend?"

"Who'd you hear that from?" Ruthie asked, raising an eyebrow. She hadn't even had a chance to tell her parents yet.

"Kevin was talking with Martin and he mentioned something about you and Jack going out. Are you sure that you're ready to start dating someone so soon after…?"

Ruthie closed her eyes. "So soon after Martin broke my heart?"

"Ruthie," Lucy sympathized. "It's only been a few days."

"And I'm fine now. I've wanted to go out with Jack for weeks now and he finally asked me out. I'm going out with him, Lucy, so don't try to talk me out of it."

Lucy remembered what it was like to want to get over a guy. She thought back to her breakup with Jeremy and Jimmy Moon and Jordan. Why did she have so many exes whose names start with J? she asked herself. Stay on topic here, Lucy.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt. How much do you really know about Jack anyway?" Lucy asked.

"I know that he's cute and he wants to date me," Ruthie pointed out.

"If that's all the reasons you have for wanting to date him, then I think you should go back to the drawing board."

Ruthie shrugged. "Did Martin put you up to this? Did he tell you and Kevin something about Jack?"

"He's concerned about you, Ruthie," Lucy said. "Martin doesn't want to see you get hurt by some older guy who may be dating you for the wrong reasons."

"First of all, Ruthie began. "Martin is the only older guy who's hurt me lately. Second of all, Jack knows that I'm not some kind of easy girl or anything like that. As hard as it may be for all of you to see this, I do have a few qualities that some people may find appealing; qualities that go well beyond the physical! Now, if you don't mind, I have homework to do." With that final statement, Ruthie swung back to her desk and buried her head, once again, into her books.