John came out of the dressing room with a pair of slacks and a buttoned-up shirt. Bert gave him a thumbs up.

"You can get that if you want. The suit as well." John turned to Mary.

"Mary Poppins, what about you? You should try something on." Bert nodded his head.

"Yeah,Mary, I saw the way you were looking at that pink dress over there."

"Bert, this trip is for John, not me."

"You don't have to buy the dress. Just try it on," John exclaimed. Mary gave her umbrella to Bert.

"Oh,alright. Hold on." Mary grabbed the dress that was a few feet away from her and headed into the room that John once occupied.

The men waited outside patiently,as they looked outside, the sun began to slowly exited the dressing room,both of them with their attention elsewhere. Mary cleared her throat,making John turn around instantly.

"Wow!" John turned to tap on Bert's back except he noticed Bert already had his eyes glued on Mary. He slowly crept towards her,close enough to hear her heart beating.

"You...look beautiful,Mary." He said softly,melting Mary's heart right on the spot. She blushed. Then, realizing what she was doing, she backed away from him.

"Well, I must change back into my regular clothes now," Mary replied uneasily.

Later that night, the three were sitting in front of the fireplace. John was already in his pajamas and attempting to read a book while Mary was knitting and Bert was eating an apple. Bert got up to throw away the core. John sat up,yawned and stretched.

"Getting late,I see. You should probably be heading off to bed now." John moaned and groaned as he got up.

"Just a few more minutes." Bert laughed and rose from his seat.

"You seem pretty tired to me." Just then, John thought he would get the better of him. He leaped for the back door. Before he could escape,Bert scooped him up in his arms. John burst out laughing.

"Hey,let me go!"

"Nope!" Bert plopped him down onto his bed. He turned his head to face Bert who was at the edge of the bed.

"John,"he began.

"What was your family like?" John's frowned.

"I wish I could tell you. It was five years ago. My dad died when I was two. I was an only child. As for my mom, she couldn't take care of me. A year later she just up and left,leaving me in an orphanage." John felt a tear falling from his eye. He wiped it away and continued.

"I ran away about six months ago. It's just been myself-until now that is." Bert put his hand through his hair and looked at the floor. John leaned sideways to get Bert's attention.

" Nobody has ever been this kind to me before. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. It's been a pleasure." John sat up,his voice filled with curiosity.

"Are you going to adopt me?" Bert was baffled. He moved closer to John.

"Listen,John, I don't know. I'd love to but," John gasped and clasped his hands together,excitedly.

"I know,I will need a mom. What about Mary?"

"You can't just ask her something like that. Besides, it wouldn't be right to marry her just for convenience." John looked him straight in the face.

"I know as well as you that you have feelings for her." Bert got up and paced the floor.

"So what if I do? She has to like me back. Who knows if she ever will. There's a lot more to it than that." John sighed and played back down and turned in the opposite direction. Bert moved to the other end of the bed.

"I do know one thing,though,"Bert told him. "I know that I will always be there for you. And I will never give up.I promise you that. No matter what it takes." John smiled and leaned over,giving Bert a hug. Bert smoothed out the hair on his head as he felt his shirt get slightly damp.