Eighteen months later

"No, no, no!" Nineteen month Carter yelled at the dog. "Mama!"

"Carter, what's going on?" she asked from the kitchen.

"Doggie no!" The frown on Carter's face made Elizabeth smile. Annie sat down with a huff, dropping a ball from her mouth. Carter's ball.

"Oh, Annie." She picked up the ball and took it to the kitchen to wash it off. Carter followed her and watched her wash it. "Here you go, bud."

"Mama," he whimpered, rubbing his eyes.

"You know what, sweet boy? It's time for a nap."

She rubbed his back and smiled as he tried to lift her shirt up. She still nursed him before bed. "Okay, let's go rock."

He whimpered and leaned against her so she unlatched the baby gate on the stairs.

As they rocked and he nursed, she sang the song from Tarzan she had sung to all her babies. He stared up at her with his big eyes, his fingers touching her chin. She loved this part of being a mom. There was nothing like providing nourishment and comfort and getting unconditional love in return.

After two more verses of "You'll Be in My Heart," he was asleep. She carefully laid him in his crib and left the room to grab Autumn's laundry.

Thankfully at twelve, Brady did his own, though not as often as she would like him to.

As she started the load, she heard her cell ringing downstairs. A few moments later, she walked into the kitchen and picked up her phone. Abigail had called her. "Interesting." She dialed her back. "Abigail? It's Elizabeth Thornton."

"Elizabeth! Thank you for calling me back."

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, back when your son was born, Jack asked me to wait to send any more foster children your way."

"Yes, and thank you for that."

"You're welcome. Well, I'm in need of a foster placement, probably short term. She's fifteen, which is a bit older than you normally take care of."

"True, but we don't have an age rule."

"Well, that's good. Would you be able to ask Jack and let me know if you are willing?"

"Sure. I will give you a call later today."

"Sounds great. Thanks!"

About 3:30, Elizabeth walked out to the end of the driveway to meet the bus.

"Mama!" Autumn said as she walked carefully down the steps.

"Hi, baby."

Autumn wrapped her arms around Elizabeth's waist. "I missed…you."

"I missed you too."

Brady walked down the steps and headed inside. "Hey Brady," Elizabeth said as she and Autumn followed.

"Hey."

"How was your day?"

"Fine."

"So I was thinking we could go to Vera's for dinner," she said, knowing that would get his attention.

"Cool."

When they got inside, he walked to the couch and dropped his bag, sitting down with a sigh.

"Brade. What's going on?"

He wouldn't look at her. He kept his eyes down, hidden under his baseball cap.

"Brady."

"Nothing, Mom. Nothing's going on."

"Look at me, please." He turned his head and she gasped, removing his cap. "Where did you get the black eye?"

"Johnny Graham. Jerk."

"No name calling, first."

"But he is."

"Brady, why do you have a black eye?"

"He…nevermind. He has one too so we are even."

"Since when do you think its okay to hit someone?"

"Since he decided to be so mean!"

"What did he do?"

"I can't say right now," he said, looking briefly at Autumn who was about two feet away playing with Annie. Carter started yelling in his crib. "I'll get him," Brady offered.

"Autumn, will you do me a favor?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Will you please let Annie outside and give her food and water?"

She watched Autumn do what she asked. She picked up her phone and texted Jack. "Meet us at Vera's?"

"I'll be there. 5pm?"

"Yeah. Oh and Brady has a black eye."

Her phone rang a second later. "A black eye? Where did he get that from?"

"Johnny Graham apparently."

"Did he tell you why he has a black eye?"

"Nope, he said that Johnny has a matching one so they are even."

"I'll talk to him."

"Thanks, Jack."

At Vera's, they sat in their corner booth where they could sit on either side of Carter and he couldn't escape. Vera came over and gave them some crayons for Autumn and Carter.

"Thanks, Vera," Elizabeth said.

"You are most welcome, dear. Is your handsome husband coming?"

"Yeah, he should be here soon."

"Dada!" Carter yelled, pointing at Jack as he walked in the door.

Jack smiled seeing his family. He walked over and sat next to Elizabeth, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself," she told him, receiving his kiss.

"Come on guys. We're in a restaurant," Brady told them, embarrassed.

"Good observation," Jack told him. "Where did you get that shiner?"

"Nowhere."

"We can wait to talk until later but we will talk."

"Yes, sir," he mumbled.

Carter climbed over Elizabeth to get to Jack. "Dada."

"Hey, buddy. I missed you today." Carter gave him a clumsy hug and then dove for Jack's water glass, spilling it everywhere.

"No!!!" Autumn cried as her picture she was coloring got soaked. "Carter...bad."

"He didn't mean to ruin your picture," Jack told her.

"It was for...you, Daddy. Its ruined."

Jack gave Carter to Elizabeth and moved to the other side of the booth to sit next to Autumn. "Can you tell me about it, pumpkin?"

"No. Its ruined." She put her crayon down and crumpled the picture.

Elizabeth noticed Autumn's cheeks were flushed. "Autumn, are you feeling alright?"

"I guess."

She knew it wasn't likely her ears as she'd had tubes in them for the last year. Jack felt her head. "You're pretty warm, pumpkin. Are you sure nothing hurts?"

She shrugged. "My head….hurts."

He picked her up and put her on his lap. "You just let me hold you, okay?"

"Yeah."

Dinner lasted only a short time because it wasn't long before Carter started throwing a tantrum when he wasn't allowed to stand on the table to eat his dinner. Then Autumn wanted to go home so they took their remaining food with them.

When they arrived home, Brady headed to his room to do his homework.

"I'm going to give Carter his bath," she told Jack. "And I need to talk to you a bit later."

"Tea on the couch?"

"Yeah."

Jack knocked on Brady's door.

"Come in."

Jack sat on the lower bunk and looked at Brady. He was sitting at his desk. "So, this black eye."

"It's not a big deal."

"I think it is. I thought you knew that you shouldn't use your fists to settle things."

"Johnny deserved it, Dad."

"I want you to think about that statement. Think back to when your first dad thought you deserved to be hit."

He crossed his arms. "That's not the same."

"Why's that?"

"Because I was defending someone!"

"Who?"

"Autumn!"

"What do you mean?"

"Johnny is always teasing her. He's always calling her dumb and retarded. Dad, she doesn't understand that word but I do! It's not right for him to do that."

Jack closed his eyes. Every fiber of his being wanted to hug Brady and tell him he did the right thing. But as much as it hurt that his daughter was being picked on, hitting couldn't be condoned.

"Dad?"

"One week. No tablet or TV."

"Dad, I couldn't let him keep doing that."

"I know, son, and I'm so very proud that Autumn has you on her side. But you can't punch someone. It's just unacceptable."

"Okay."

"I love you, Brady. And unfortunately, this probably won't be the last time she's picked on. But next time, ignore the remarks and just walk away."

"I'll try."

Elizabeth met him on the couch about nine o'clock when everyone was in bed.

He handed her a cup of tea and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Hi," he said, giving her a gentle smile.

"Hey."

"What's on your mind?"

"Abigail called."

"Did she?"

"Yeah. She wants to know if we are ready to take a new foster."

"Are you ready, Beth? You're the one who is home with the kids during the day."

"I'm ready but I want to know what you want too."

"I'm ready."

She smiled and kissed his perfect lips. "So I'm going to call her tomorrow."

"What do we know about this child?"

"Just that it should be a temporary placement and she's fifteen."

"Alright. She can have the guest room."

"Thanks, Jack. I know four kids is a lot but I'm up for it. Now, what's with Brady's black eye?"

School ended the next day so she would have all three kids after that. She could take them to the park and they could play with the dogs. Then they could head to The Nook. If the newest foster was there, all the better.

Brady cane into the room. "Guys?"

"Yeah, sweetie," Elizabeth said.

"Can I go with Dad to work after tomorrow?"

Jack spoke up. "Not everyday but maybe some Saturdays."

"I can work hard, Dad. I won't get in the way."

"Of course, I know you will. But, bud, its summer. Don't you want to have fun?"

"Staying home doesn't really sound that fun. No offense, Mom."

"Let us talk about it. We may be able to see if Nana Charlotte and Papa Tom can take you for a week or so."

"Cool! They have a pool."

The next morning, after the kids were off to school, she called Abigail.

"That's great, Elizabeth. Can I bring her over now?"

"Now? Um, sure. What's her name?"

"Danielle. She has been in foster homes since she was ten. She had run away from home because her Dad was abusive."

"Physically?"

"Yes and mentally. She is a very sweet girl, Elizabeth. I feel like she will fit right in with you guys."

"That's great. I guess I'll see you in a bit."

As ready as Elizabeth was to start fostering again, nothing prepared her for the girl that came over with Abigail an hour later.

When she opened the door, she found a lovely, blonde, fifteen year old girl. The shocker was that she was about five months pregnant.

"Welcome, come on in," she told them, Carter on her hip. "I'm Elizabeth. This is Carter." Carter smiled and hid against her shoulder. "You're Danielle?"

"You can call me Dani."

"Welcome to our home, Dani." Elizabeth put Carter down and offered to take her bag.

"That's alright. It's not that heavy."

"Let me show you where you'll be staying."

"I'm going to go now. Let me know how things are going, Elizabeth," Abigail told her.

"I will. Thank you." They walked over to the stairs and opened the baby gate. "Come on, Carter. Let's go upstairs."

He slowly climbed the stairs ahead of them and then ran into his room. Elizabeth kept walking two doors down and opened the guest room door.

"This is for me?" Dani asked.

"That's right."

"I've never had a room this nice before."

"First time for everything, I suppose. The bathroom is between your bedroom and Carter's. You will share with my daughter Autumn. But there is a half bath downstairs too."

"So you have Carter and Autumn?"

"I have Brady too. He's twelve."

"Why me? You have your hands full."

"You need a place to stay, don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm sure I won't be here long."

"Why's that?"

"No one wants to take a teenager with a baby on the way. I'm sure I'll just age out of foster care and be on my own."

"Listen, you're welcome to stay with us." Dani caught her staring at her belly.

"Seven months."

"You seem small for seven months. What does the doctor say about that?" She shrugged. "When was the last time you went to the doctor?"

"A few months ago. My last foster parents couldn't find the time to take me."

"Well, I'll make the time. What doctor do you see?"

"It was in Vermont."

"Okay, sweetie. I'll take you to my doctor. You'll really like her."

"I'm keeping my baby."

Elizabeth smiled when Carter called for her. "In here, Carter." He came running in. "What are your plans then?" she asked Dani.

"I'm going to get my driver's license and get a job."

"That's a good start."

"I thought so."

"But what about a car and childcare and food and diapers for the baby?"

"I don't know yet." She had hoped the father of her baby would step up. He was twenty one. But he got himself in trouble and now she had no idea where he was. "But no one is going to take my baby. I'm going to be the best mother I can be."

Elizabeth felt for Dani. It must be awful to not have any options. She was proud of her for wanting to keep her baby but it didn't seem like it was going to be possible.

Elizabeth knew one thing though. She was going to help her as much as she could.