Early Monday morning, Jack and Elizabeth stood outside Tipton Elementary with Autumn, saying one last prayer. Autumn smiled at them when Jack was done, as if the weight of the world had just been lifted from her shoulders.

"Autumn go….school."

"I am so proud of you, pumpkin."

She held on to their hands as they strolled through the doors. Jack had no doubt that his little pumpkin was going to make tons of friends.

As soon as they walked in room seven, Autumn's eyes lit up. There were so many colors and things to do.

"Good morning," a cute, blonde woman said, greeting them at the door.

"Morning," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"I'm Faith Carter. Are you the Thornton's?"

"Yes. I'm Elizabeth. This is my husband Jack and our daughter Autumn."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She knelt down so she was eye level with Autumn. "My name is Miss Carter. It's nice to meet you, Autumn." Autumn smiled at her.

"We are going to have some fun today. We are going to play a game with pictures and read books and maybe color a bit. How does that sound?"

"Autumn like….color!"

"Well, that's great. Why don't you say goodbye to Mommy and Daddy and I can show you where your chair is?"

"Oh, well, we would like to stay for a bit," Jack told her. "Just to make sure that she's settled."

"Autumn big," Autumn assured him.

He squatted and looked her in the eye. "You are a big girl, pumpkin."

"Autumn not….scared. Daddy work?" The adults chuckled.

"Okay then. Give me a hug." She gave him a big hug and raised her arms to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth bent down and hugged her, giving her a kiss. "I love you, baby."

"Love Mommy."

Faith smiled and took Autumn's hand. "See you later," Faith told them. "She will be just fine."

Jack took Elizabeth's hand and they walked out of the room, looking back only once.

Jack laughed as they got to his truck. "I guess she's not scared anymore."

Elizabeth slipped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "That's because her Daddy taught her how to pray. He is a very smart man."

"I just thought it might help her."

"And it did."

"What time are you picking her up?"

"At noon."

"So that means we have about three and a half hours."

"For what?"

"Well, our brave daughter in there has slept between us the last two nights."

"Right."

"Well, maybe we can make good use of this alone time."

"Don't you need to work?"

"Nope. Gave Jesse the day off and thought I would take one too."

He slowly kissed her neck, just below her ear, giving her goosebumps. "A day off, huh?

"Yeah."

"Let's go!"

…..

Later…

"My husband's a genius," she mumbled into his neck.

They froze at the sound of a knock and then the door to their fifth wheel opened.

"Jack?"

"Ma?! Can you please give us a moment?"

"Um sure. Its ten. I mentioned when I called I'd be here about now and I figured you'd be in the house working. I thought Elizabeth would be alone in here. "

"Mom, please."

Elizabeth laughed after they heard the door shut. "Something you want to tell me, babe?"

"Mom's coming?"

"Hmm. Yeah. That would have been good to know." She sat up and started dressing.

"What was that you were saying before?"

"The genius part?" She leaned forward and kissed him slowly, deeply, making him wish his mom was not waiting outside. "Still a genius. Still adorable. Still amazing."

"Just checking."

They emerged from the fifth wheel a few moments later. Jack kissed Charlotte's cheek and walked into the house.

"Sorry, Elizabeth."

"Its fine. I'm headed to the laundromat. It won't be much fun but I'd love your company."

"Alright. Laundromat it is."

Elizabeth gathered all of their laundry and put it in their car. "It will be nice to have a washer and dryer again," she mentioned.

"I bet. Won't be too much longer, right?"

"No. Only a couple weeks before we move in but the laundry room isnt as essential as other things like the kitchen."

"True. So how did Autumn do this morning?"

"Better than us. She had been scared not two days ago and the moment we get there and met her teacher, she said she's wasn't scared and told Jack to go to work."

Charlotte laughed. "That's a good thing."

"It is. Your son, Charlotte. He's amazing. The other day he taught her that when she's scared, she needs to pray and God will help. It was so sweet watching him hold her in his lap and teach her."

"That's wonderful. I guess we did something right," she teased.

"You did lots of things right. Thank you for raising him like you did."

"You're welcome, dear. I'm glad he has you. You bring him so much happiness."

The truth was, he brought her immense happiness too. She couldn't imagine life without him.

…..

At noon….school

Faith asked Elizabeth to speak with her when she arrived. She assumed it was to let her know how the day went. However, she didn't expect what she actually told her.

Autumn played in the corner, looking through a picture book while they chatted.

"So how was she?" Elizabeth wondered.

"Emotionally, she was just fine, however, when we went out for recess, she saw a man with a dog and decided to follow them down the sidewalk."

"A dog?"

"She walked out of the playground. We noticed that she was missing after a couple minutes."

"Oh my goodness."

"Now, I want you to know something, Elizabeth. Children with certain challenges tend to walk off sometimes because they don't understand the danger. This is just something we have noticed before. That means that we are going to absolutely keep an even closer eye on her than normal but you and your husband also need to speak with her about it."

Faith handed her a pamphlet. "This mentions a support group for parents of Down's children. I know you two are new to this situation so I thought maybe that might help."

"Thank you." Autumn walked over and leaned against Elizabeth. "Hi, sweet girl."

"Home?"

"Yeah, let's go home." Elizabeth stood and shook Faith's hand. "Thank you for keeping her safe." She looked down at Autumn. "Autumn, can you goodbye to Miss Carter?"

"Bye," she said with a wave.

"Bye, sweetheart. See you in two days, alright?"

As they drove, Autumn stared out the window. "You okay, sweetie?"

"Autumn….want puppy."

"We need to ask Daddy about that."

"Autumn ask…Daddy. Want puppy."

When they got home, Charlotte was in the fifth wheel reading the newspaper.

"Nana!"

"Hi, Autumn."

"Charlotte, do you mind watching her for a couple minutes? I need to talk with Jack."

"Sure."

Autumn climbed up on Charlotte's lap so Elizabeth headed over to the house.

"Jack?"

"In the kitchen," he called.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course. Where's pumpkin?"

"She's with your mom."

Jack noticed the serious look on her face. "Jess, you can take lunch."

"Great. Thanks, Jack. Hey, Beth."

"Hey, Jess. Tell Clara I might come visit tomorrow."

"I will."

"What's going on, babe?"

"Faith, Miss Carter, told me that during recess, Autumn wandered off. She saw a man with a dog and she followed them."

"Why weren't they watching her carefully?"

"They were, hon, but they have about 10 other kids that have different needs too. Faith said some children wander off because they don't know why its dangerous."

"So we need to talk to Autumn."

"Yes. And she told me about a support group for parents of Down's children. I really think we should go."

"Okay. We will check it out."

Jack and Elizabeth walked to the fifth wheel. "Oh and by the way, Autumn wants a puppy."

"Oh boy," he said with a laugh. "I would too. Maybe for Christmas."

A few moments later, Charlotte watched as Elizabeth and Jack tackled the situation.

Elizabeth held Autumn on her lap and Jack knelt in front of her. "Pumpkin, Mommy and I need to talk to you about something very important. Do you know what important means?"

"Autumn better….listen," she said with a nod.

"That's right. Miss Carter told us that you walked away from her and the group today."

Her eyes lit up. "Want puppy! Daddy, Autumn have….puppy?"

"We will talk about that in a minute. Remember when you fell outside a few weeks ago and hurt yourself?"

"Yeah. Owie!"

"That's right. Well, if you wander away to somewhere you aren't supposed to be, you could get an even bigger owie." He saw a bit of understanding in her innocent face. "That's why you need to always be with Miss Carter. She will make sure you don't get hurt."

"Autumn…Autumn see puppy!"

"I know but the puppy wasn't yours. You shouldn't have gone and followed it."

"Autumn bad….girl?"

"No, sweetie," Elizabeth told her. "You didn't know. But now that you know, we need you to promise us that you will stay with Miss Carter or another adult."

"Do you understand?" Jack asked her.

"Yes. Stay with…Miss Carter."

"That's right, pumpkin."

"Daddy…want puppy."

….

That night…

Jack rolled over to wrap his arms around Elizabeth but Autumn was between them again. He didn't mind too much. She was adjusting to their new situation too. However, he missed just holding his wife.

He sat up, gently picked Autumn up, and took her to her own bed. He made sure she was covered up and had her doll nearby before he headed back to Elizabeth.

"Jack?"

"Shh. Go back to sleep." He moved close and wrapped his arms around her.

"That's better."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

"Is Autumn ok?"

"She's fine."

"Do you think we handled the whole thing okay earlier?"

"Yes. She seemed to understand."

Elizabeth had called the support group and found out that the group met twice a week, twice a day. So Elizabeth signed them up for the ten am group which fell while Autumn was at school.

Not thirty minutes later, Elizabeth smiled as she felt Autumn climb back into bed with them.

"Night, baby girl," she whispered, kissing her forehead.

Autumn snuggled closer and fell asleep, feeling safe and loved, exactly how Elizabeth wanted her to feel.

The next week, Grace showed up and as planned she, Elizabeth, and Autumn went shopping for furniture for the house, including the large L-shaped couch that Elizabeth wanted for the living room.

She found all of Autumn's furniture, a bed, dresser, and two side tables. Then she found the same for the master bedroom and a dining table and chairs and washer and dryer. All would be delivered the following week.

Elizabeth's phone rang as they walked out to the car. "Hello?"

"Hello, Elizabeth. This is Abigail. I have news."

"What's that?"

"I have two things actually. One involves Autumn's adoption."

"What about it?"

"The court date is set for October 20th."

"Great. What's the second?"

"Well, when will your house be ready?"

"Next week. We just ordered our furniture."

"That's great. We have a little girl that needs a probable long term placement."

"Really? How old is she?"

"Eighteen months. Her name is Mercy."

"I will talk to Jack and call you back, alright?"