(Don't worry, author's note is at the bottom this time! (and probably will be from here on out ))
Chapter Six
They spent the next few days hanging out and getting to know each other; not that they didn't know each other already…but people change. Martin changed when he was away from Ruthie. And Ruthie changed when she was away from Martin.
After their run-in with T-bone at the promenade, Martin took Ruthie to the batting cages. They reminisced about old times, when she would sit on the benches and watch as Martin practiced.
"I haven't done this in forever" she giggled. Martin went up beside her and guided her hands to the correct positions on the bat.
"Hold the bat up here," he demonstrated, "and lift your elbow." She did as she was told. "There you go." He said, watching the petite brunette in amusement, with a light smirk on his face.
They joked around all afternoon. Ruthie laughed at most things he said, and Martin smiled at his ability to entertain her.
The next day they went ice-skating. Ruthie thought it had been positively hilarious watching Martin's strong muscular frame trying to skate. He was…pretty bad. He fell on his butt or his face several times on numerous occasions.
Of course, Ruthie teased him about this. She was doing great, and had managed not to fall down hardly at all during their entire time inside the rink.
One time, however, when she bent over to help him up, he purposely just pulled her right down with him. She fell down next to him hard and peered at him through narrowed slits. He just grinned back at her sheepishly.
He shrugged. "My bad." He said, his contagious grin still in place.
"Uh-huh." She tried her best to continue to frown at him, but eventually relented and held a smile. She pushed herself up and said, "You just wait until you fall down again and I don't help you up. We'll see who's laughing then."
At this, he just chuckled and pulled himself up beside her. "Yea, we'll see."
-&-
"Hey Luce? Someone's at the door!" Kevin yelled up the stairs to his wife. Over at the Kinkirk residence it was a chaotic and noisy morning... as usual.
Lucy was running around trying to get Savannah dressed while calming a crying baby. Kevin was in charge of the three year old, Joshua Kinkirk. A few weeks after the road trip, Lucy had given birth to a healthy baby boy, and they named him Joshua Benjamin, after his uncle Ben.
"Can you get it please? I'm kind of busy!" She yelled back. The baby in her arms was screaming bloody murder and Savannah was running around in her princess dress waving a wand. "Savvy, stop running. We're late and we need to get you dressed." The reverend said, turning to her daughter.
"But I don't wanna." She replied through her toothless mouth. "I like playing princess."
"I know you do, honey. But Mommy has to go and you need to get ready." She said, finally hushing the baby a little bit. "You can come back and play later. Maybe even Sam or David will play with you." The little girl seemed to think about this for a moment and then showed her toothless grin once more
"Okay." She said cheerfully, and rushed off towards her bedroom to get changed.
"Luce! Come look who showed up!" Once again, Kevin's screaming filled the house.
Settling the baby down, she put Madison down in her basinet and went downstairs. "Coming." She called.
When she reached the bottom step she froze. "Simon?!" she gasped. She took off full speed towards him and threw her arms around his neck. "What're you doing here?" she asked incredulously, finally releasing him.
"I was in the neighborhood, thought I might drop by." He said, smiling down at his crazy older sister.
She gave him a skeptical look. "Well if that's the case, then Hi. And bye." She said, playfully ushering him towards the door.
He laughed at her antics and said, "I'm just kidding, Luce. I'm here for a couple weeks. I took off from work and we wanted to see everyone." He explained.
She looked like she was going to say something, but caught herself. She took a step toward Simon with her hands placed lightly on her waist, thinking about what he had just said. "We?"
His lips curled into a small smile. He looked over at Kevin who had Savannah, Josh, and Maddy all ready to go. "Hey guys!" he said, opening his arms wide enough for the six year old and the toddler to run into him. He scooped them up and showered them with kisses, their little bodies shaking with laughter and high-pitched screams filled the air. "What's up?" He asked, still ticking the giggling infants.
"Nothing much… we're supposed go to mommy's church barbeque." Savannah replied while sticking out her tongue and scrunching up her nose.
"Yea!" Josh shrieked, mimicking his sister's facial expressions. Simon laughed and looked over to Lucy who only rolled her eyes. Kevin had a proud smile on, admiring his three small kids, as he held the infant in his arms.
"Sounds…fun" he added dully. Lucy refrained from rolling her eyes again at Simon's immaturity.
"You never answered my question." She said, stepping forward slightly, eyeing him.
"What question?" he asked a small smirk playing on his lips. At a sharp glare from Lucy, he quickly backtracked. "Well, technically, it wasn't a question." He said, standing up from where he was squatting on the floor playing with Savannah and Josh.
Her glare hardened and Simon grinned back. "Come on Simon. You said we. Who's we?"
His smile widened and he pointed to himself. "I said that?" Lucy sighed, clearly frustrated with her younger brother, and he decided he had tortured her enough. He turned to the Kinkirk clan, "You guys," he started, eyes twinkling, "I want you to meet someone." He walked a couple feet outside the door and returned with a beautiful blond haired woman that held a smile resembling Simons.
Lucy had Kevin both did a double take. The woman looked so familiar, but neither could quite put their finger on it.
Simon had one of his arms around her waist, his other hand placed on her shoulder. Her hands were clasped together and thrown over one arm was her jacket.
The blond and Simon exchanged excited glances and turned back to face his sister and brother-in-law. Now it was their turn to exchange looks and Lucy and Kevin's heads turned toward one another.
A stunned Lucy was the first to actually say something. With her eyebrows raised in surprise and her mouth open, she said, "Is that----"
-&-
"Good Morning!" He said in a sing-song voice as he walked into the kitchen. He was wearing a brown polo that brought out his green eyes and complimented his figure nicely.
Martin walked further into the kitchen and stopped short of seeing Ruthie at the table, body clad in soft fuzzy red slippers, blue flannel pajama pants, a white tee and topped off with a pink robe fastened loosely around her. Her hair was put back into a messy bun with a few curly strands loose, and her nose was red. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, she had a Kleenex box in hand, and a mound of used and crumpled tissues surrounded her.
"What happened to you?" he asked. "You look terrible." She groaned and sent daggers at him with her eyes. She plopped her head down on her forearm and sighed heavily. She rolled her forehead off her sleeve to face Martin who stood there looking shocked, as if he'd never in his life seen a sick person. Which, of course she knew wasn't true, since she'd been sick multiple times while he lived with the Camdens.
"Are you sick?' he asked, curiosity and concern seeping through his words. She looked up at him, glaring and met his eyes.
"What does it look like? Of course I'm sick!" she exclaimed throwing her hands up. Receiving a sudden throbbing headache from the sudden movement, inwardly cursing, she laid her elbow on the table and put her head in her hand.
He chuckled softly before saying apologizing and asking her of she needed anything from him. When she declined, he shook his head and walked over to the cabinet. He fished out a tea bag and a mug and started heating the water.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, wondering how he got 'No thanks' mixed up with 'Will you make me some tea please'. There was definitely something wrong with that boy.
"I'm making you some tea. You need lots of fluids to help you get better sooner and the herbs can't hurt." He said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. As the water started boiling on the stove, he turned to face Ruthie. He leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest in an almost model-like stance.
Ruthie rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Really." She must have sounded awful because he laughed at this statement. Once he stopped, he peered down at her from his 6 foot 4" and studied her for a few minutes.
After a little while of silence, he said, "You should go get into bed. I'll bring you your tea when it's done, but you need your rest." She looked at him, mouth agape.
Once she snapped out of it, she retorted. "What are you, my nurse?" He chuckled again at this, which frustrated her even more. She had a sore and runny nose, she had felt feverish all day, and now he was here, giving her a hard time and making her head hurt. She did not need his company; especially if he was going to be that bossy.
"Come on, I'll help you up." He said, leaving his position at the counter to approach where Ruthie was seated.
When he offered his hand she took it, stood, and dropped it. "I can get myself up the stairs, thank you very much." With her head held high and her box of Kleenex in hand, She started the long trudge up the stairs.
"Stupid pretty boy" She muttered under her breath, so that she thought she was the only one that could hear. Once again, he chuckled and realizing he had heard her, Ruthie's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as embarrassment flooded her body.
-&-
"Cecilia? Is that you?" she asked, bewildered. The blond nodded eagerly at Lucy, a huge smile still spread wide across her face.
"Hey Luce!" she said never losing the grin and turning to Kevin. "Kev."
"Oh my gosh! I can't believe it!" Lucy exclaimed, coming out of her shocked state. She rushed over to envelope Cecilia in a big hug, which was returned to her. She turned to face Simon surprise and happiness still clearly etched on her face. "Where did you find her?" She asked, while putting her arm around Cecilia's shoulder.
"Well, a couple months ago we ran into each other downtown Los Angeles," He stated. Cecilia had slipped away from Lucy and was now proudly grinning at Simon's side with her arm around his waist and his arm around hers, leaving Lucy to stand at Kevin's side.
"Both of us at this cute little coffee shop, that I just adore." She added.
"And I was late for work, but when I saw her, I just couldn't leave." He smiled down at her as she spoke again.
"It was fate." She said, her eyes sparkling with adoration. "He immediately caught my eye, and I gave him my number, to call me back so we could catch up. Well, He called me that night and we went out for dinner the next night."
"And the next night, and the next, and I finally worked up the courage to officially be my girlfriend again" Simon inputed.
"And I said 'Yes!'" She exclaimed, positively beaming.
Lucy was at a loss for words. she opened her mouth and closed it, not knowing what to say. She never thought they would ever see each other again, let alone get back together. Not that she wasn't happy for them, she definately was, but she was shocked. Finally Kevin stepped in to save her and spoke up.
"Well congratulations, guys! We're happy for you."
"Thanks!" Cecilia squealed as the former cop gave her a hug.
"Yea, that's really...really great you guys. Congrats." Luce added sincerely. There was another round of hugs, and after everyone had settled down, the Kinkirks, Simon, and Cecilia all stood there in silence.
"Well..." Lucy said, running a hand through her hair, "I guess we should all get going then."
"Yea, we promised we'd be at the church by 10 O'clock..." He paused and looked down at his silver watch band. "and it's 10:30."
Everyone hustled into the car and once packed up, left for the church.
(A/N: Okay, so what do you guys think? I liked this chapter a little bit better than the past chapters I've written. I don't know, but I really liked chapters 1 and 2, but then I think my writing just kinda got a little stail...if you know what I mean. Let me know what you think of my story so far, and again-any advice or suggestions are always welcome! I'm definately trying to improve my story and make it so that my readers enjoy it more. Many of you have said that you like it, and I'm really glad!
I got a suggestion to make it longer, so I tried it out this time. I think it was pretty fun writing a longer chapter (even though it's not really long by any means. It's just longer...lol)
Also, feedback is much appreciated. I know I've said this before, but I can't stress it enough! Your reviews are what keep me going and give me the motivation I need to write. So thank you to everyone who has read my story and/or reviewed it. You guys are great!
Btw-about the schedule thing...I don't think that's going to happen. Not right now, anyway. I have soooo much to do, school being so hectic, and my activities taking up almost all of my time, that I don't think it would be fair to put this story on an update-every-week-thing, because I can't promise a chapter will be out when I said it will...I'm not sure if I'm making sense here or not, so if you don't understand me, just bare with me...
I don't want to disappoint you guys, 'cause my readers are VERY important to me. So once again, read, review, stay in school...and all that jazz.
Thank you soooooo much! ;)
Love, yours truly,
~E