Chapter 3

When Jack finally fell asleep, albeit peacefully this time, Vanessa Hutchinson let out a sigh. Anyone watching at the time would tell you it was a sigh of relief, but the 28 year old women was anything but relieved. Her baby Jack was precious to her, and out of all the foster kids she had set up Jack held the closest spot to her heart. She had always tried her hardest to place him in the best homes possible, so she had assigned him as a personal case to her follow worker, and close friend Jonathan Daniels.

Her heart had been broken when she heard that Jon had not done his job, and that he was part of the reason that Jack was in the hospital right now. She felt that it was unforgivable that Jon had not taken the utmost care with Jack, and had knowingly put him in a home with a possibly abusive foster parent. No remorse even crossed her mind as she stamped the papers authorizing the negelct charges that were now being placed onto Jon.

She did not regret choosing Jack over her long time friend, because she had chosen a career in order to help children in need. It sickened her that people were willing to lay a hand down on a mere child, but it sickened her even more to learn her friend Jon had turned a blind eye and allowed it to occur.

In the midst of all her thinking Vanessa couldn't quite block out the guilt bubbling deep inside her. She realized that she should have taken a tighter grasp on Jack's situation, and felt partly responsible for the condition he was in. But the guilt that was bubbling like a spring was quickly replaced by a surging wave of commitment and duty she knew that she owed the boy and was obligated to give to him. Brushing a stray lock of hair from the gently sleeping angel's peaceful face, Vanessa Hutchinson decided she was going to give Evelyn Mercer a call.

-Mercer Household-

Evelyn Mercer was having a bad day. The week before she had been set up with a foster child that the system was hoping she could mold into a functioning member of society. Evelyn had prided herself with never turning down a case, and always doing the best she could to help out all of the people she could. Evelyn Mercer had handled the toughest cases so far, as Bobby, Jeremiah and Angel had had been labeled lost causes and they had turned out just fine. She figured the new boy Sean would be nothing she couldn't handle.

When Bobby had been younger, he was always getting into trouble and Evelyn did the best she could to keep him in school and out of legal trouble. Sean was like a younger and angrier version of Bobby, and the two had not been getting along well in the house. The difference between Bobby and Sean was that Bobby would never have dreamed of disrespecting the women who gave him a home and never even considered stealing from her.

Sean was more than a handful, and was doing things that none of the Mercer boys would stand in their Ma's home. Yelling at her, stealing from her, and bringing drugs into her home was putting Sean on a short fuse with Bobby. Bobby stepped up and told Sean that "Anymore disrespectful shit with my Ma, and you'll be outta this house faster than you can say "why". When Sean was caught stealing and had drugs in his possesion he was arrested. The new charges combined with his past offenses landed him a spot in a Juvienille detention where he would remain imprisoned untill his 18th birthday.

Evelyn was upset that she could not help the boy, but she did realize that some things were just out of her reach. Evelyn Mercer was bringing a steaming cup of coffee to her lips when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing that was coming from the telephone on the kitchen counter. She was about to lift her aching body out of the warm kitchen chair when a gentle hand rested on her shoulders. Her watchfull eyes drifted up to meet the short and stocky figure of the eldest Mercer boy.

"Don't worry Ma, I'll get it" replied the man as he walked the short distance between the counter and kitchen table. "Hello?"

"Hello? Hi, this is Vanessa Hutchinson from social services. Is Evelyn around? This must be Bobby! Evelyn has told me all about you over the years." replied a silky smooth voice on the other line.

"Sure, I'll go get her. And I hope Ma hasn't told you everything about me", Bobby chuckled, as the phone was passed from strong, calloused hands to the much daintier and wrinkled hands of Evelyn Mercer.

"Hello Vanessa" spoke Evelyn for the first time. "Hold on a sec." Evelyn lowered the phone before she turned to talk to Bobby, "Bobby? Do you think you could give me a minute? This is an important call."

"Sure Ma, I was just coming down to grab a beer." The Stocky man pulled open the fridge and reached for a six pack before lumbering out of the kitchen and returning to the room he came from.

Evelyn shook her head at Bobby's antics before continuing her conversation with Vanessa. "It's a little late for a call tonight don't you think? What's the matter dear, is there an emergency?"

"Not a dire situation, no, but I did call to see if you could do me a favor. There's this boy who..."

"Vanessa," Interrupted Evelyn, "You know I had a tough time with the last boy you sent me. It seems a little soon for me to be taking in another one" Evelyns eyes tightened slghtly as she realized what Vanessa was asking.

"I know Evelyn, but Sean was a rare case. And I didn't expect him to stay out of trouble long, he would have split after his 18th birthday anyway. The child that I am trying to find a home for is very special to me. He just turned 10 and he's already been through 5 or 6 houses and all of them showed signs of severe abuse against the child, but he would never say anything so we could never get him to testify. His name is Jack Millers. We dropped his surname Fuller when he was recently removed from that home."

Evelyn's eyes softened as she heard the poor child's situation. "How bad was it?", she asked.

"It was bad. Really, Really bad. You should see the poor child. He refuses to tell us exactly what happended, so we aren't even sure of everything that was done to him. I was hoping that after a while in a stable home he would begin to open up."

The maternal instinct withen Evelyn that drove her to raise and conquer the 3 Mercer boy's was rising to the surface. "How can I refuse now?. I'd be happy to take him, but I need to know when so I can start preparing his room and the like."

"That's fantastic!", Beamed Vanessa. She was so happy that her little boy might finally have a chance to have a normal life in a normal home. "He should be realesed from the hospital in a few day. This means a lot to me, Evelyn, thank you. I'm not so sure that Jack could handle another abusive home, he's been through so many horrible situations. I'll drop him off in a few days. And again, thank you so much. you don't know how much this means to me."

As Vanessa was hanging up, Evelyn could feel the relief and gratitude pouring out of Vanessa. "No problem dear, and trust me, I understand. Bye-bye!"

A slight click reverberated across the kitchen before silence regained it's hold on the Mercer Household. Evelyn was slightly worried about what she had agreed to, but her worry was canceled out by the desire to protect the boy named Jack that Vanessa had told her about. If there was one thing Evelyn Mercer enjoyed, it was the thrill of a challange. And something in her gut was telling her that little Jackie Millers was going to be a challenge.

Thanks for reading! i know this chapter was disgustingly short, but i wanted to cover the section about Evelyn's reaction without including Jack. Im sorry if the characters are a little oc, but i have my reasons. Also, how do you think about the character vanessa? I keep adding points of view from other people in the story, but if you want less of those and more about the main characters just tell me. I have a part planned for Jack so don't worry, but it didn't fit as well here as it would in it's own chapter. Review is you want and make my day!

ps: if anyone is interested in being my beta reader, send me a message! i'd appreciate it!

-icerox