Chapter Sixteen

The Disappointment and Regret

Ruthie watched once again from her window as this time Martin walked away instead of Freddie. She watched as he walked towards his dad's house. She knew when he'd said goodbye and that he'd be back to help her figure out what they were going to do about the baby 'together' that he had been upset. She hadn't expected him to not be upset about the fact that he was going to become a father but even though he'd told her that he'd loved her she felt that she was losing him all over again. It seemed that millions of emotions had filled them both and too many revelations had come out at the wrong time in the wrong moment.

Tears seemed to fill her eyes again she couldn't believe it. She seemed to have an endless amount of them lately and they seem to keep coming at the most inconvenient moments likes now. She could see the mini van pulling up and her mom and dad getting out. She had to get a hold of herself.

Annie followed Eric into the kitchen; they were both filled with disappointment at the fact that they could get nothing out of the old priest, Mcguffy. Taking a seat next to her husband with a deep breath Annie put her head in her hands.

"I'm really concerned." Eric said rubbing his own pounding head.

"Me too." she said sighing she got up and grabbed the Tylenol bottle off the self. She handed Eric two capsules and a glass of water.

"What could Ruthie have possible done?" Eric questioned throwing up his hands, "I mean she's….well…she's…"

"Ruthie!" Annie finished sitting back down beside her husband.

"Ruthie. Ruthie. Ruthie." Eric said sighing, "She kept us updated on everyone and everything in this house when she was little. When ever you need to find information out all you had to do was …"

"…go to Ruthie." Annie said finishing with a smile.

"If it was only that easy, if we only had to go and ask her what's going…." Eric began but stopped himself when he saw a look come over his wife, "What?"

"The boys!" Annie declared throwing her arms up with excitement, "They might know something."

Before Eric could say anything, Annie was dragging him up the stairs to find the boys in question. Annie was determined to find out what was going on and she would. She knew she would because she always did it was just a matter of time but as always she wanted to know this moment. While patients was a virtue and Annie had a lot of patients, when it came to her children she has none. It was the mother in her, always needing to protect and help.

Martin found himself sitting outside of his dad's house still in awe at all that had happened only an hour before. He'd actually held Ruthie in his arms, hell it had turned out that he'd done more with her then he'd thought and she was pregnant. Pregnant. He couldn't accept it yet. That he'd gotten her pregnant. He was so furious with himself and with her. How could she not tell him? How could she even attempt to keep this from him? Had she even planned to tell him at all?

He was so disappointed that she felt she couldn't tell him before now. So many emotions seemed to be eating him whole. He was angry, frighten, wounded, and filled with regret that he hadn't had the strength to tell her that he loved her before now. He just couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea that….that Ruthie was pregnant. It just seemed so surreal to him as if it was a dream but he knew that he wasn't going to wake up from this dream.

"Martin?" a soft voice said walking up next to him. It was Michelle, his father's future bride. She smiled and took a seat next to him on the porch steps.

"Hey." he grumbled.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a concerned voice.

"Nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing." she said and then placed a hand on Martin's hand. He quickly shook her off, "Martin, look I'm not trying to take your mom's place. Nobody could. I understand that."

"How would you understand that?" Martin asked flying up, he knew he was acting like an immature child but he'd just found out all this news and now she had the audacity to say she understood. He could have laughed.

"I understand." she said again standing up and turning to leave, "because I lost my mother too and I got stepmother, three to be exact."

"So, are you now going to go into this long tragic story about your life and how much were alike?" Martin asked sarcastically in a really shity voice. As soon as he said it felt bad but he just couldn't seem to help it, he was just so angry and hurt at the moment that he couldn't deal with someone else's problems.

"No actually I wasn't." She said opening the door but stopped and turned back, "All I'm saying is that if you need someone to talk to I'm here. And, Martin I love your dad and because I love your dad I know I'll love you. I just want to be your friend."

Annie and Eric spent an hour trying to pry information out of the boys with no luck at all. They seemed content on keeping all the secrets they knew to themselves.

"They were worse then Mcguffy." Eric said toppling over onto the bed next to his wife with a sigh, "I'm exhausted."

"Me too." Annie said agreeing.

"But we still don't know what Ruthie's hiding." Eric said with disappointment.

"But we will." Annie said, "I know we will."

Ruthie reached under her bed and pulled a box out that had been hidden under her bed for years now. It had almost been thrown away many times but yet here it remained. She placed the box in her lap and sighed as she pulled the lid off the old shoebox. She began to leaf through photos and little knick knacks that she'd collected each one involving Martin and her relationship with him. She let herself laugh at a picture of him doing something extremely stupid and she let herself smile as she picked up the ticket stub from a movie he'd taken her to after Vincent had broken up. She began to remember the wacky plan he'd gotten pulled into and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Martin." She said tracing his face in the photo with her finger, "I should have told you."

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up