DISCLAIMER: I don't own 7th Heaven or anything related to it. Suing me would be very, very dumb. But if you are dumb, then go on and sue. I just found some lint in my pocket that you can have.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I thought that I wouldn't like it here that much but it turns out that this is the greatest place that I've ever been. The people are really nice and there are some cool things to do here. Besides, the Camden's are like my second family." Martin said, looking at her and trying to judge her by the way her face looked when he said certain things, such as family.

"I don't know," she said and stopped. She turned to him and looked up into his eyes. "I might like it here but I don't know. And I really hate not knowing."

"I think that sometimes not knowing is pretty cool. It makes life interesting." Martin said and Kennedy re-focused on the dishes.

Trust me, my life is way too interesting as it is.

Chapter 4: Another Brick In The Wall; Part 1

The following Monday came before the girls could really even process it. The last thing they knew, they were being ushered out of school by their mother and now they were getting their backpacks for their first day in their new respective schools.

"I don't have to go," Teagan said, only slightly slipping with her pronunciation. She was still in her pajamas, reveling in the fact that, once again, she would have Mommy all to her self.

"You will someday," Dakota muttered and climbed onto their mother's bed. Abby wasn't feeling very well from her grocery shopping trip the day before, so instead of seeing her three oldest girls off to school from the driveway, she asked them to come to her room.

Abby looked pale compared to how she was a year ago. Her eyes were more sunken in and weary than they had been and they were puffy. Even young Teagan knew she had been crying.

The sun shone in the room through her white lace curtains and traced across the hard wood floor to her white embroider bedspread. To her left, her oldest daughter sat in a maroon shirt (with a funny saying on it, but since she was tired, her eyes wouldn't focus on the words) and dark shorts. Teagan sat on her other side, curled up against her with her head on her stomach. Dakota sat next to Teagan with her hands laced in Abby's. Marina was the only one standing and that was because she didn't want to ruin the crease in her tan pants that she had spent half the night perfecting.

"My girls," she said, weak and distant. It wasn't one of her good days, to say the least. Maybe I can call the neighbor that the girl met to baby-sit. What was her name? Andrea? Anita?

"Mom, are you sure you're going to be all right here alone?" Kennedy said, resting her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Yes, besides I'm not alone. I've got Doctor Teagan here to help me." She saw her youngest's face break out into a big smile. She loved be good for her children; she wasn't always that way.

"Okay. Well, if you need anything, you can call Annie. I left her number on pad next to the phone," Kennedy said, brushing a piece of hair from her face.

Annie, that's it, Abby thought and shook her head. "I might do that later on." She looked over at the clock and then started pushing Kennedy away. "You better go or else you'll miss school. You can't be late on your first day; people will get the wrong impression. Go, go."

Kennedy smiled and gave her mother a kiss while the rest of the school bound children took notice and followed suit. Once they said their good byes, they went downstairs. Kennedy looked around a bit, making sure they weren't forgetting anything. When she was sure that they were good, she followed her sisters out the door and to the car.

"I hope the Colgrove girl's will have a good first day," Annie said to her husband, who was currently getting their twin boys ready for kindergarten. Sam had accidentally spilled his orange juice on the table and some of it had descended to their shirts. Not enough for a change though because once the wet spots dried, there wouldn't be any sign of the spillage.

"Me too, they seemed like such nice girls. I am curious about the mother though. Kevin said he saw her get out of her car yesterday afternoon but he couldn't say anything more than that." Eric said. He was always curious about one neighbor or the other, it seemed.

"Well, maybe I'll visit her today," Annie announced before finishing washing the dishes.

"Visit who?" Martin said, coming down the stairs with Ruthie at his side.

"Mrs. Colgrove," Annie said.

"Do we know that's her name?" Ruthie said as she slid into a seat and got a piece of toast that her mother made for breakfast. "I mean, Kennedy said that Colgrove was her last name and we only assumed that the rest of the girl's and the mom's name was Colgrove as well."

"Yeah, she's got a point there," Martin said to the girl who he thought of as a sister, not knowing she didn't feel the same.

"Hmm… well, maybe I'll see about that, too," Annie said. "But you two better hurry along or you'll be late for school."

Ruthie and Martin left after waving goodbye to their family. Eric decided that Sam's shirt was too wet for him to wear, so he brought the boys upstairs to change Sam's shirt and get their backpacks. It was only Annie in the kitchen now.

As she wiped the kitchen counter off, she thought back to the days when she was feeding all of her children. Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie, would still be bustling about the kitchen, talking above one another, trying to make sure they were ready for school while she or Eric would be feeding baby Sam and David. Ah, the good old days.

A knock at the door broke her from her daydream and she went to the front to answer it. When the door was opened, Teagan and a woman that looked to be almost 50 years old greeted her. According to Marina, their mother was only in her late-30's. The grandmother?

"Hi, my name is Abby Russell. You met my girls already. I'm their mother," she smiled a weak smile but Annie assumed it was a tired one. She knew what it was like having a house full of kids.

"Hi, I'm Annie Camden, come in please?" she said.

The two women talked for almost an hour over tea while Teagan colored. They brought up many subjects, including the last names of Abby's children and why they were different, but Annie was shocked at one point of their conversation.

"Martin lives with us because his father is in Iraq right now," Annie had said and saw the same look in Abby's eyes that she had seen in Kennedy's. Abby looked away and stared at the coffee table. "I'm sorry, have I said something that you took offense to?"

"No," Abby said with the slightest hint of emotion in her voice. "It's just that about a month ago my husband was killed in Iraq."

Annie eyes grew wide with sympathy and she hugged Abby, who was trying to keep her composure. Teagan hadn't noticed the grownups; she was still in her Mickey Mouse fantasy.

After the incident, they talked a bit more before Abby asked if Annie could watch Teagan for a few hours, while she got some rest. She told Annie that she hadn't been sleeping so well the passed couple of nights and it was finally getting to her.

Annie agreed and for the next couple of hours, she and Teagan played in the back yard. They stopped only to make sandwiches and watch Teagan's favorite show, The Bold and the Beautiful.

"Teagan, your mother lets you watch this?" Annie asked.

"Yup," the little girl said, totally involved in the show.

"And do you understand it?"

"Yup," and while they watched, Teagan explained a year's worth of history to her babysitter.

Ruthie and Martin fans: no, they aren't going to be together, sorry. I'm going to redo the first chapter, cause even though many people who already read it won't be able to forget what happened, new people will get that sense of mystery. Sorry. Anyway, school in the next update.