"Please, Mary, you have to watch Mercy for me!" Frankie begged.
"I don't think I can, Frankie. You know how my parents feel about you. They wouldn't be thrilled if I was over at your house alone, especially after the drug bust." Mary took the phone into her room so Simon, Ruthie, and Lucy wouldn't hear her.
"Please, Mary. I could bring Mercy over to your house. Your parents can't object to that, right?" Frankie sounded desperate.
"I guess so, I'll have to check. One more kid won't hurt I guess. Hold on." Mary set the phone down and went to look for her mom. She found her in the kitchen. "Mom, before you say anything -"
"Why do I have a feeling you're going to ask me something I may not like?" she set the bowl on the counter.
"Frankie's on the phone. She wants me to watch Mercy for her for a few hours--she'll come over here. We can let her play with Sam and David and she can sleep in their playpen. Come on, mom. Frankie sounds desperate."
"Well, I guess thats okay. You'll have to watch Sam and David as well."
"Thanks mom." Mary ran back upstairs. "Frankie, my mom said thats okay."
"Great! I'll bring her over now." Frankie hung up.
"Now?" Mary said to the dial tone. There goes my relaxing evening, Mary thought. Fifteen minutes later, Frankie arrived with Mercy.
"Thank you so much, Mary. I really appriciate this," Frankie said, setting Mercy down in Sam and David's room.
"Where exactly are you going? And how long will you be?" Mary asked.
"I'm not sure. I think Johnny is cheating on me again. I'm going to hunt him down again. And I've been getting these threatening phone calls. I don't know who they're from. I just need to get away, you know? Mercy's been a handful. I'll be back in three hours, tops. I promise."
Mary followed her back to the door. "Okay, good luck, I guess." Frankie waved as she went down the walk. Mary went back upstairs to check on the three babies. Mercy was asleep, but Sam and David we standing up in their cribs. Mary took them out and put them on the floor and the crawled around. After about 10 minutes, they got amused with their toys. An hour later, Mercy woke up and Mary gave her a bottle, along with the twins. Then she changed them, put on night clothes, and put them down for the night. An hour later, Frankie came back for Mercy. "Thanks, Mary. Um, I can't exactly pay you right now. I will after I get paid next week."
"Don't worry about it. I had to watch the twins anyway. She slept most of the time."
"Thanks. Y'know, you're a really good friend." Mary smiled.
"Bye, Frankie. I'll see you Friday."

****************************************************


Two days later Mary had to sit for the twins and Ruthie. Simon and Matt were hanging out together and Lucy was at the movies with a friend. Her parents were out for the evening. She had just put the twins to bed when the doorbell rang. Thankfully, the twins didn't wake up.
"Ruthie! Could you get that!" she called downstairs, where Ruthie was watching TV. The door opened and Mary could hear a muffled scream. She ran downstairs to see what was wrong. Ruthie was okay, thank goodness, but she was staring, frightened at the person in the doorway.
"Ruthie, why'd you scream?" she asked, coming to the door. She didn't need an answer. It was Frankie. "Ruthie, go check on Sam and David, then go to your room," Mary instructed, not taking her eyes off Frankie.
"Why? You just put them down. I'm not in trouble, am I? For screaming?"
"No, sweetie. I just need to talk to Frankie alone, okay?" Ruthie got the message and obediently went upstairs. Mary turned back to Frankie.




What happened to Frankie? If I get 7 reviews, I'll post the next one. This is my 1st 7th Heaven fan fic, so don't be too brutal!