A/N: And they just keep coming…
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but Tiffany.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Simon removed the phone from his ear taking a minute to look at it. He knew all of his sister's friends. Why was it that he had no idea who this girl was? Last night's talk about personal lives flashed in his head. Ruthie was right, as she usually is. He didn't need to know every single little thing about her. Maybe this was a new friend, someone he had yet to meet. He would have to ask her about that later.
"This is her older brother. May I ask whose calling?" He heard her let out an irritated sigh and mumble something under her breath that he couldn't identify. Simon knew by her tone that it wasn't meant to be said in the friendliest of ways. His eyebrow rose and irritation bubbled. "Excuse me what was that?" he asked calmly.
"I said that I wasn't looking to speak to her older brother. I wanted to speak to Ruthie," she snapped. Well isn't she nice? Simon thought. He laughed at how blunt and to the point this person was. No it wasn't blunt it was just simply being rude.
"Well I'm going to ask again if I may. Who would be looking for her?" The unidentified caller who had yet to give him her name huffed angrily. If he didn't even know any better he'd say that she growled.
"This is Tiffany now can I please speak to Ruthie?"
"Are you a friend of hers?" he asked.
"You could say that. We are what you could call distant friends," she said. His forehead wrinkled in confusion. Was there such a thing? "Now is she there so I could speak to her or are we going to be playing twenty questions all day?" Simon suppressed a laugh. He'd heard this kind of attitude before and frankly he despised it with every bone in his body. He would have to ask his sister how she had come across this new "friend".
"She's actually not available at the moment. Could I pass on a message to her?" The faster he got rid of this person the better. His gut was telling him that he knew her in some way and he didn't like the sinking feeling that came over him.
"Could you tell her that Theo's awake now? For some reason that's beyond me he wants to see her. I'm still trying to figure out why exactly that is seeing as she's not even his girlfriend…" Theo? Where had he heard that name before? Realization came over him and his fist contracted angrily. Now he had a very clear picture of who this woman was. A picture he would have much rather gone without painting in his head.
"Excuse me but I don't think I ever got your name," he said.
"Not that you need to know it seeing as I have no idea who in the world you are but its Tiffany."
"The name's Simon and I believe I told you my relation earlier on in this conversation," he sighed.
"Not that I care," she said snidely.
"You said you had no idea who I was so I'm telling you so we can become familiar with each other."
"Again does it look like I care?" she asked. Simon smirked when he pictured her rolling her eyes at him.
"Not particularly. But now that you know who I am and we've both got names to work with can I ask you what your relation is to T-Bone?" Simon knew perfectly well who she was but hearing her admit it would just work so much better. Her reaction would just be the icing on the cake.
"I'm his girlfriend," she said. Bingo! "Something that Theo here just can't seem to remember. He wants to see your idiot sister. Why is beyond me."
"Okay let's get one thing straight here Tiffany. My sister is not an idiot. In fact she's a very bright individual. Friends don't use comments like that in reference to people they care about."
"Well we're not friends alright. We just have to learn to tolerate each other until Theo opens his eyes to see what a skank she is." Okay that's it.
"Where do you go off calling her a skank exactly? Are you just throwing around names just to make yourself feel better? Make no mistake about this Tiffany. I know exactly what you two did to my sister. Don't go thinking that you get out of this with a get out of jail free card. She's been through enough heartache to last her a lifetime. I'll be dead and buried before I let you use names like that on her or anyone else in my family," he said sharply.
"Well it's not like I'm lying. She came in with someone on her arm the other day and looked absolutely fine," she said. "And from what I saw he already had a baby. I think the name fits perfectly but that's just me."
"I'm not even going to explain to you the situation with her boyfriend's son. Not that you would listen to it anyway. Chances are you'd just twist it to fit your feelings so I'm not going to be wasting my time."
"Whatever. The point is he wants to see her. Just let her know that he's waiting and tell her I can't wait to see her again."
"Whether she chooses to come see anyone is her choice but I'll let her know," he said.
"See why couldn't we have reached this solution like a half hour ago?" she asked exasperated.
"I like to get to know people before I talk to them that's all. It was nice meeting you by the way," he said cheerfully.
"You too, I guess," she grumbled. He smiled to himself.
"Oh by the way, how's the baby?" he asked. He laughed to himself when the question was met with the dial tone. But not before he heard her mutter a string of unrepeatable words. Settling the phone back on its cradle he sauntered out into the living room. "Oh hey guys," he called when he noticed Kevin and Carlos walk through the front door. Both brothers looked at each other quickly before looking back up at Simon.
"Did someone slip caffeine into your breakfast this morning?" Kevin asked.
"Nope but you'll never guess what I just learned," he said with a wide smile coming over him.
"The hokey pokey?" Carlos asked excitedly.
"Oh no fair man. You're going to have to teach me! I don't think I ever learned as a kid," Kevin exclaimed.
"I don't think it's all that hard to learn really. I mean from what Charlie showed me a couple years ago it goes something like 'you stick your right foot in, you stick your right foot out, and you stick your right foot in. I think the last part has something to do with shaking or something. He says you do that with all your body parts until eventually the song ends," he explained. Simon shook his head and laughed seeing Kevin try to follow instructions.
"I'm not even sure if I'm doing this right," Kevin said confused. Simon could see that he had gone straight to the shaking part until finally his entire body was shaking.
"Dude you look like you're having a seizure," he laughed.
"But that's how you're supposed to do it, isn't it?" Kevin asked flustered.
"No man. Ask Savannah she'll teach it to you," he said. He laughed even harder when he came to the realization that his three year old niece knew how to do a dance that her father didn't. Chances were that she also had better dancing skills in general.
"Okay so what did you find out?" Carlos finally asked.
"I just got off the phone with this Tiffany person who says that T-Bone's conscious now," he said.
"Wait is that the pregnant chick?" Kevin asked angrily.
"One of the many we know actually. Not that I know her all that well anyway. All I know is what she told me over the phone and from what I can see she's not exactly Mother Teresa."
"Not that Mother Teresa goes around having sex with everyone…"
"The point is that she's his pregnant girlfriend and a total witch."
"Well no duh," Kevin said.
"The question is do we tell Ruthie?" Carlos asked.
"Not that she'd care at this point," Kevin said.
"She probably doesn't but still I think we should keep this to ourselves for right now. Matt probably already knows. Until she finds out this stays between us, got it?"
"Aye, aye captain," Kevin saluted.
"Okay before Kevin makes a bigger fool of himself than he already is I say we go to the batting cages. I have some pent up anger I would much rather not unveil in my mother's house."
"I say we use that time to figure out how we're going to make him unconscious again," Carlos said.
"Can we get some food while we're at it? I'm starving? Kevin said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Simon muttered.
***
Ruthie woke to a small finger running along her face. Her eyes opened slowly to see Aaron perched on her stomach. She shifted slightly, groaning as she woke herself up. Feeling like she was taking forever Aaron poked his tiny finger in her face. She sat up smiling taking his finger away.
"Alright, alright I'm up," she mumbled. "Why didn't you go poke Daddy instead?" she asked. Aaron whimpered quietly bouncing on her. "Ow buddy that hurts," she told him. "I'm not getting up unless you stop hurting me," she said sternly. Almost immediately he stopped, whimpering quietly. He laid himself on top of her snuggling apologetically. Ruthie ran her fingers through his hair kissing his forehead before taking him off. Getting up she picked him up again where he quickly took hold of her and started sucking on his fist.
"Let's go get you changed so we can get some food for you. Last I checked sweetie your hand wasn't all that yummy," she laughed. Before changing him she looked over to see that Martin was just waking up.
"Good morning or should I say afternoon," she said as she saw him stumble over, rubbing sleep from his eyes. All she got in reply was a groan. "I think Daddy's still grumpy, what do you think Aaron?" The little boy laughed pointing a finger at Martin.
"Yeah I know I look silly buddy. Blame Mommy," he said pointing a finger at Ruthie.
"Okay why me?"
"You're the one who got up. You know I can't sleep without my snuggle buddy," he whispered. Ruthie felt a chill run down her spine when she felt how close he was. Shaking her head she frowned.
"Correction, he got up," she said pointing to Aaron. "He just wouldn't stop poking and bouncing until I got up," she said.
"Mommy's not a trampoline little man," he laughed. He whimpered softly begging to be lifted. "I know the truth hurts bud," he said rubbing his back. Ruthie shoved him with her free hand and glared. "What? It's true!"
"Little ears in the room, smart one," she mumbled.
"Oh right," he said. "We'll think about getting you one when you're old enough though, how's that?" He shook his head and cried quietly into Ruthie's shoulder.
"I don't think he's too upset about the trampoline idea. He hasn't eaten yet and his little tummy wants some food," she told him rubbing his back calmly.
"Well then what are we still doing here? I think I hear a bottle calling your name," he told him. They both followed Martin down who quickly popped it in the microwave.
"You do know you could just run it under the tap, right?" she told him.
"Yeah but the microwave was closer," he said.
"Lazy," she mumbled. Martin only smirked handing it to her. Ruthie took it as she rolled her eyes. She smiled down at the now happy baby in her arms. He cooed happily reaching up to play with her hair. "Careful honey," she warned him.
"Kind of ironic how the one thing that tore us apart is the one thing that brought us back together, isn't it?" Martin said coming up behind her. She sighed as they both watched him.
"Yeah, I really don't know why I ever hated him," she whispered.
"No Ruth. You didn't hate him. You could never find it in you to hate him. You simply hated the idea of him."
"How could I not? He took you away from me," she frowned.
"Hey I didn't go anywhere," he said softly.
"You were going to. You had a new priority in life that didn't include me."
"It's always included you Ruth, always. I don't know where'd I'd be without your help."
"Probably going crazy in some nut house," she laughed.
"You're probably right," he smiled.
"That's all in the past now, isn't it Aaron? There's no going back now." The little boy cooed quietly playing with his hands. She met the hand that grazed her face kissing it gently. "I love you," she whispered.
"We love you too, don't we?" he asked tickling his son who giggled in agreement. "We'd be totally lost without her," he said softly, kissing her tenderly. Ruthie smiled into the kiss when they heard Aaron squeal in agreement.
***
Ruthie looked up at the clock in her history class to see that it was only 10 o'clock. She groaned when she realized it would be a full four hours before she could get home. She closed her eyes for a few seconds picturing a quiet afternoon with just the three of them. A few more hours and she could be away from this stuffy classroom in Martin's arms. An evening with her boys. Her boys she thought as a smile graced her face. She liked the sound of that.
The class itself passed in a blur as she finished the last of yesterday's abandoned test. Luckily her teacher had made today a study period which allowed her to finish the exam. She tapped the pencil impatiently just hoping for each answered question to be the last. The sooner she left, the sooner she could go home. She had just finished answering the last question when the bell sounded signaling for a much needed lunch break. She sighed looking over it one last time before walking up to the front of the room.
"Did you get enough time?" her teacher Mrs. Smith asked.
"Yeah I did. Thank you for letting me finish it," she said.
"No problem. Just don't let it happen too often. Family emergencies are understood I just don't want to see it become a habit," she said. She gave a small smile and nodded. Ruthie had a feeling that were she not interrupted she would have tanked the test. Either that or taken Kevin's advice and fallen asleep.
Feeling a bit of a weight being taken off her chest she jogged over to the cafeteria taking her place in line. As she moved forward she frowned at the emptiness that came over her. She missed simply having him there next to her. She missed having him hold her in his arms. When she reached the end she looked around in search of her friends. Seeing them she took her seat, a small smile plastered on her face.
"Hey Ruthie," her friend Kathy called. She looked up mumbling a small greeting before she went back to her tray.
"Is everything okay?" Ruthie nodded wordlessly not meeting her friend's eye. "So how has your morning been?"
"Good," she said sticking a single fry in her mouth.
"How do you think you did on Smith's test today?"
"I think I did okay," she said deadpanned. Her sadness deepened when she saw a couple of strawberries that she didn't even realize were put on her tray. His favorite she thought. She took a small bite not having the heart to finish it. Kathy frowned when she saw her friend put the fruit back down.
"Okay something is definitely wrong. The strawberries are usually the first to go," she laughed.
"I'm just not as hungry as I thought that's all," she said. In the silence that followed she heard a quiet giggle. She smiled when she recognized it. She could hear it coming closer now. I'm really losing it now she thought. The urge to go home had gone ten fold. She had half the mind to just pick up and leave. She looked up at Kathy confused now. It was rare her friend went dead quiet. The confusion grew when she saw her starring up over her head.
"Guess who?" she heard him whisper. She jerked her head around to see Martin standing right next to her. Ruthie felt a giggle escape when she felt a slight tug on her hair.
"Go away Kev. Back away from the food or I'll be forced to drop it all over you," she growled playfully.
"Kevin? I didn't know you were expecting him. If that's the case then we'll just go…" Martin trailed snagging her half eaten strawberry. She looked up glaring at him and taking her food back.
"My food."
"What? You obviously don't want to see us so we'll just dine and dash," he said.
"No you'll do no such thing. If you leave you don't take food."
"What if we decide to stay?" he whispered.
"Then I'll think about sharing," she smiled.
"She's serious about it too," Kathy chimed. "Food is apparently earned when you give her something. I just tend to mooch off while she's not looking."
"Now I know why I'm so hungry in the afternoons. You take most of it," she said. He smiled at her narrowed eyes and took a seat on the empty bench. Aaron's happy giggling presented an honest smile, her first probably all day.
"How much for the fruit," he asked.
"I don't know. What are you offering?"
"I'm not sure yet. Would this cover the cost?" he asked laying a gentle kiss on her lips. Ruthie smiled returning her payment. Behind her she could hear Kathy squealing which quickly turned to a gag. She could feel her cheeks flush as she pulled away reluctantly. Almost instantly she missed the touch of his lips to hers.
"You know guys this is sweet and all but some of us are trying to eat. As cute as this movie is here, it's not exactly my favorite one to eat to." Ruthie could feel herself blush deeper ducking her head in embarrassment. She glared when she heard Martin chuckle next to her.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"I'm not complaining," Martin told her. She rolled her eyes smacking him playfully.
"Okay now I have a reason to complain. Simon's right, you are violent," he said massaging his arm.
"Am not!"
"Are to! I think I'm bruising Roo," he whined.
"Oh and what do you expect me to do, kiss it better?" she laughed.
"Actually that's not a bad idea…" he said liking the idea even more now.
"Yeah no."
"And there's the crash landing," he said sadly. "She's just full of disappointments today," he said.
"Yeah sorry to rain on your parade," she said.
"Will you be my umbrella?" he asked.
"Guys! Trying to digest food here."
"Sorry," they said together. The disappointment was quickly forgotten when Aaron called, reaching out for her. She laughed taking him easily and allowing him to snuggle into her.
"Hey you," she said poking his stomach. The little boy laughed wrapping his small arms around her neck. Ruthie picked up her unfinished strawberry taking a bite before offering it to Aaron who eyed it closely. She held it to his mouth as he fed on it happily.
Okay so not fair!" Martin said.
"What?"
"You didn't charge him," he said.
"Yeah well he's an exception, aren't you buddy?" she asked playing absentmindedly with his hair. He smiled letting drool to slip down his chin. She quickly grabbed a napkin cleaning him off while he kept sucking on the fruit.
"Someone's going to need a bath when we get home," Martin said.
"Leaving so soon?" she pouted.
"No not quite yet. We have a meeting to get to in a few minutes though," he told her. "Speaking of which we should probably get going soon. I don't want to be late." Ruthie's elated mood quickly deflated. It felt like they had just gotten here. Now they were going to leave again forcing her to face an afternoon of lectures and school work that could go on for hours.
"Okay," she said glumly.
"Hey turn that frown upside down! We'll be here to pick you up in a few hours."
"It feels like you just got here though," she said sadly.
"You've got to eat at some point," he laughed.
"Yeah well I'm not exactly hungry right now," she said.
"I'm not going to have to tell your mom that you didn't eat do I?"
"No," she sighed.
"Alright buddy I think it's about time we go so she can eat now. What do you think?" he asked preparing to take him.
"Go on sweetie. I'll see you later," she told him taking him off her lap. Ruthie smiled when she saw he still had his arms around her neck. "Come on sweetie you have to go now," she told him taking his arms from around her neck. She smiled sadly when she saw his arms wrap around her again.
"Aaron we have to go now bud," Martin told him pulling him off gently. He shook his head repeatedly cuddling with Ruthie again.
"Ma-ma," he said with finality. Both Martin and Ruthie shared a quick look before looking over at Kathy whose mouth opened widely in shock.
"What?" she asked.
"You know what Martin? Go to your meeting. I'll bring him by before class starts. We'll just hang out for a bit," she said rubbing Aaron's back gently.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure. Go ahead. There's no use fighting it. He's just going to put up a struggle and you'll be late."
"If you're sure," he said uneasily.
"Yes I'm positive, go," she told him.
"Alright, if you say so. You be good you little monster," he told Aaron kissing his forehead quickly before he left. When Martin finally left and Aaron was happily eating his first fry Kathy turned to her expectantly.
"Spill," she demanded. Ruthie sighed taking a bite of her burger.
"He's not mine but it feels like it," she said. Kathy's forehead wrinkled.
"Okay now you've lost me," she said taking a drink of her milk. Ruthie smiled playing with Aaron's hair.
"He's living at the house," she said.
"Your parents let you boyfriend live with you?" she asked incredulous.
"He's lived there before. Long before we ever got together. Not to say that I didn't have feelings for him then but that's the way it was. Dad offered him a place to stay and that's where he was for about three years. Then things happened and he moved out. Now he's back and we're together. End of story."
"Okay that's the majorly edited version. The one that doesn't fully explain this little guy," she said pointing at Aaron.
"He's been a single dad since the day he was born. I've just been there to help raise him," she said.
"Aren't you a little young to be playing Mommy though?" she asked.
"It's nothing that I'm ashamed of. Sure I'm still in school but I wouldn't trade long nights and countless feedings for anything," she said kissing his forehead softly.
"Don't you feel it's a little soon?" she asked.
"My parents always told me I acted three times my age so not really."
"What do you do about school if you spend half your day in the parenting field?"
"That's why the world invented multi tasking."
"Ma-ma," he mumbled.
"That's right sweetie. A mommy's work is never done, is it?" Aaron sighed laying his head on her chest. The bell sounded startling him. "Shh buddy that's just the bell," she whispered. 'You know what that means? That means we get to go find Daddy!" she said excitedly. Taking the full fruit off her tray before tossing it out, they went in search of Martin.
"I'll see you in class," Kathy called. Ruthie nodded not turning around heading over to the front office. Thankfully Martin was just walking out in time to meet them half way.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"I'll tell you later. Right now I don't want you late for class," he said. She groaned at the idea of having to face an entire afternoon without them. "Go," he said once she handed him over.
"Gee no goodbye?" she frowned. Martin smiled before kissing her lightly.
"Better?" he smirked.
"Much," she smiled. "Bye Aaron. I'll see you later, okay?" she said kissing his forehead quickly.
"Now go Ruth before you're late," he ordered.
"Yes Dad," she mumbled.
***
The next four hours were probably the slowest moving hours in her entire life. So much so that when the last bell sounded she was the first out of her chair slamming out the door. A smile spread across her face when she remembered who was picking her up. The smile was quickly whipped away when she saw the sombrero wearing, baby hating Rose waiting stiffly outside of her car in the parking lot.
"What are you doing here?" she growled making her way over. The faster she got rid of her, the faster she could rest easy.
"Well if you're so curious I'm here to pick up my sister," Rose said snidely.
"You have a sister?" she asked shocked.
"Yes, is that a problem?"
"No," Ruthie shot back.
"Good," she said sharply. Ruthie saw the first genuine smile on the bitter girl's face just then. "Hey Tiff, over here!" she called.
"Oh hey Rose!" she called excitedly. She almost did a double take when she heard the other one's voice. Then her ears made out the unmistakable sound of heels hitting pavement. As she approached Tiffany's face faltered. Her once real smile now replaced with a grimace.
"What do you doing here?" she growled.
"I go to school here," Ruthie said.
"One more reason to get me out of this dump. When Mommy and Daddy find out who I ran into they'll have no problem transferring me to a school that isn't tainted with the likes of you," she said.
"Nice to see you too," Ruthie shot back.
"Did Simon give you the stupid message yesterday?" she asked.
"What message?' she asked confused. Simon never gave her any message.
"Theo's conscious and for some reason that's beyond my understanding, he wants to see you," she said.
"Yeah well lucky you, I don't want to see him. Not that I believe he's out of his coma yet. You told me that once before and remember where that got us?"
"Yeah well I'm telling the truth this time."
"How can I be so sure? You've lied to me once already. Gotten my hopes up for nothing and then brought them to the ultimate crash landing in history,"
"Not that you were ever together. I don't know why in the world you were so hurt. He was mine, always will be!"
"Take him! I'm done with that cheating piece of steak!" Both Tiffany and Rose gasped.
"He still wants to see you! He wouldn't shut up about you since he woke up! Just come over and give him what he wants to he can shut the hell up already!"
"I'll have to seriously think about it. Who knows with your luck he'll drive you insane before the baby even comes! I'll be sure to come visit you in the loony bin at least once a week!"
"How dare you!"
"Oh I dare! Have fun with the cheating two timer!" Ruthie growled. She sighed with relief when she heard the familiar engine coming closer. Martin pulled up behind her making her turn around and smile. Almost as soon as she got in her lips desperately met his. She needed Martin. She needed his arms around her. She needed to hear that she wasn't crazy for being so angry, that her feelings were perfectly justified.
"You wanna talk about it?" he whispered.
"No. Let's just go home," she mumbled.
***
Once they got home Ruthie ran upstairs slamming the door behind her. She instantly regretted it when she heard a startled cry a few feet away. In seconds she took Aaron in her arms rocking him.
"I'm sorry sweetheart," she whispered. "Mommy's just not very happy with a few people right now. I'm sorry I scared you," she whispered. Walking over to the bed quietly she laid Aaron on his stomach massaging his back rhythmically. Once silence had fallen over them she heard the squeak of the front door opening.
"Honey I'm home!" she heard Simon call out. Good, just the one she wanted to talk to.
"I'll be right back," she whispered setting Aaron down again.
"Oh good I need to talk to you," Ruthie said stopping her brother in the hall.
"About what?" he asked.
"The message you forgot to give me," she growled.
"Oh yeah that," he said.
"So who called and for what?" she snapped.
"Just this Tiffany chick saying the jerk was awake," he said.
"Oh yeah and what did you say to her?"
"I didn't say anything to her. I just asked her who she was and she told me. That's it."
"Yeah there's a lot more there. What did Simon really say?" she asked irritated now. She didn't want to spend the whole afternoon beating around the bush.
"Simon says to touch your nose," Kevin hollered making his way in. Ruthie rolled her eyes glaring at him. She averted her eyes to see that Carlos was actually touching his nose. What did I do to get brothers like these two she asked herself. Oh yeah it was Lucy and Mary's fault.
"He doesn't mean to really touch your nose Carlos. You can put your hand down now," she said.
"Hey you're not Simon. What he says goes," he said. "Come on man I can't stand like this forever," Carlos said impatiently.
"Alright I say don't touch your nose," he said playing along. That was the real way to get anything done with those two. He sighed with relief and smiled.
"Now tell me what she really said," she groaned.
"That's exactly what she said, no lie. I mean I can't quote her exactly but that's what she told me," he said. Ruthie huffed in frustration stomping up to her room and slamming the door loudly. She groaned when she realized she had woken up Aaron a second time. She easily picked him up settling him on her chest and rubbing his back.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Is it safe?" Martin asked cautiously.
"Yes. Hurricane Ruthie has passed," she said.
"You wanna talk about what happened today?" he whispered.
"He's awake and wants to see me," she growled.
"Do you want me to get the guys and we'll knock him unconscious again?" he asked.
"No I just don't want to see him. Apparently he won't shut up about it."
"You broke up with him right?" he asked confused.
"Yeah apparently he doesn't remember that. Or Barbie didn't tell him what happened."
"I'd have to go with the second one. People normally hear you while they're in a coma."
"Either way I'm not going. I broke up with him and I can't handle this yo-yo game anymore. I'm happy. Perfectly happy with what I have. The only thing I've ever truly wanted is right here for my taking and I'm not giving that up just to be thrown around again."
"No one said anything about you two getting back together. That would be cheating on what we have now anyway. If he forgot, remind him."
"I can't even talk to him right now Martin. He opened my wounds without my knowledge and he thinks it's perfectly okay!"
"Shh babe calm down, okay? Those wounds came from me. You gave me a second chance. You always give people a second chance no matter how badly they mess up. That's just who you are. I'm not asking you to jump into his open arms. In fact I'm going to be forced to forbid it. All I'm asking is that you give him that chance. Let him explain."
"What's there to explain? The one day I'm out sick he hooks up with another girl and gets her pregnant. What kind of loyalty is that?"
"This has nothing to do with loyalty honey. Listen to his side and see how things go. Give him some closure," he whispered.
"But I don't want to," she sighed.
"It's the only logical way to go Ruthie. Otherwise he's going to think things that just aren't true. I don't want him to take you away from me," he whispered. Aaron screeched loudly pounding his tiny fist on the pillow. "I'm sorry I stand corrected. I meant to say us buddy. We're not going to let him take Mommy away are we?"
"Not that I'm going to let him. If he does I'll put up the biggest fight of my life and that's a promise," she smiled.
"So when do you want me to take you?"
"I guess now's about as good a time as any," she sighed.
"I'll meet you in the car in five minutes," he said kissing her tenderly.
***
Reaching the hospital parking lot Ruthie gripped Martin's hand tightly. He responded by running soft circles on hers.
"I don't want to do this," she sighed.
"We're already here Ruthie," he said.
"Come with me, please?" she asked much like the last time. Just like before he nodded without question.
"Let's go give Mommy some moral support Aaron," he said taking him out of his car seat.
Stepping inside the familiar doors the smell of cleaning solution engulfed her. With Martin's arm around her waist they all walked into his room. When she took in his face she was satisfied to see that he wasn't too pleased with what he saw. The happiness quickly died when she saw Tiffany sitting perfectly postured next to him.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked coming up to his bed.
"Yeah I would have much preferred to see you alone though," he said.
"Well that's not going to happen," Ruthie said.
"I can't even be alone with my own girlfriend, wow," he laughed.
"I'm not you're girlfriend anymore Theodore," she said.
"Since when do you call me by my first name? I only get called that when I get in trouble," he smirked.
"Yeah well maybe because you are," she said.
"I didn't do anything. All I want is to see my girl on our anniversary. Is that too much for a guy to ask?"
"Oh so now you remember. Interesting how that works," she said.
"I remembered Ruthie I was just kinda in a coma so I wasn't able to get you anything."
"Well don't bother. We're not together anymore. I think you heard me while you slept. I know what you did to me and there's no way I'm forgiving that."
"What exactly did I do?"
"The baby Theo. Our baby," Tiffany chimed in.
"We have a baby?" he asked.
"You don't remember?" she asked sadly.
"How could you do this to me?" Ruthie cried. "After everything I've told you about what happened you just let history repeat itself!"
"Ruth I…I didn't mean for it to happen," he said slowly.
"Of course not. That baby just appeared out of thin air in the body of little miss perfect over there and you had the nerve to keep it from me. You let me believe for weeks that nothing was wrong. Oh but I figured it out. It really hurt to hear from the woman you cheated on me with what happened but at least I found out. All those nights you never showed up, those calls you never returned. Oh and lets not forget the ones that you didn't make just to see how I was! But no instead you were too busy at the jewelry store personalizing a few purchases! I'm done here! I can't do this anymore!" Three heads whipped around to see a nurse coming in hesitantly. Ruthie was glad to see it wasn't just any nurse. She smiled gratefully at her sister who smiled with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but the doctor says he's going to need to run a few tests before he verifies how long it is until you can go home."
"But we're not done talking yet," he groaned.
"Oh we've been done a while now. He's free to go," Ruthie said.
"Alright sir if you could scoot into this chair for me we'll take you down to Dr. Snow to run those tests now. You can bring someone with you to keep you company though," she said calmly. It didn't take much for Ruthie to see the fire in her eyes though.
"Ruthie can we—"
"Nope I think I'm going to go home now, see what I can do to help my family," she said. She saw him drop his head sadly and smiled at her victory. "But I'm sure Tiffany would love to go!" she said excitedly.
"I would?" she asked confused.
"Oh yeah of course. Your boyfriend needs your support. Now go be supportive," she said.
"O-okay," she said uncertainly.
"Go ahead. We'll follow you out," Sarah told her. With that Tiffany made her exit, perfectly shining shoes marking her distance. As she left the sister's shared a knowing glance and smile. 'I'll see you at home,' she mouthed. Ruthie nodded with a smile. As they left she felt Martin's arms come around her.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
"I am now," she sighed.
"Do you want to stay and wait?" he asked.
"Could we? I kind of wanna talk to Sarah alone for a few minutes."
"Yeah," he smiled kissing her cheek.
***
While they waited the three made themselves comfortable in a waiting room chair, Ruthie sitting comfortably in his lap, a sleeping Aaron in her arms.
"I love you," she whispered closing her eyes a little.
"I love you too Ruth, so much," he said. He frowned when she saw Aaron's big brown eyes open suddenly. What's wrong buddy?" Martin asked seeing the look on his son's face. The look of concern deepened for both when they saw his eyes begin to water.
"What's the matter honey?" Ruthie whispered kissing his forehead gently. She felt him take hold of her in a death grip. A cry that he had become a custom to using when he was in pain passed his lips. "Shh baby I know your mouth hurts," she whispered rocking him gently. He dug his little face into her shoulder crying harder now.
"Let's gel you up and get you something cold then, huh?" Martin crooned. He gently nudged Ruthie who stood quickly so he could access the pain relievers.
"You're okay sweetheart. It'll be over soon, I promise," she said tenderly. Once it was pulled out Ruthie allowed him to massage it into his mouth.
"Open up big guy so I can get everything," he said softly. He did so but not without complaint. Once he was done he handed Aaron the ring that sat surrounded by an ice pack. The unhappiness continued even after he was soothed.
"What's the problem Aaron? Daddy's put the gel on, you have the ice, what else is there?" she asked confused.
"Ma-ma," he whimpered. It was strange how she'd become so used to his needs. She knew the difference here. This plea just asked to be held. Held and comforted until he felt safe.
"Mama? What the hell did I miss?" T-Bone asked annoyed from behind them.
"You know I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't use language like that around my son," Ruthie said angrily.
A/N: There we go! How did we do here? Good, bad? Let me know please!