"OK, here's the deal," Jack told Abigail. "The organization is called Rainbow of Hope, and they employ mentally retarded adults to work in all phases of plant and tree care, planting seeds, watering, pruning, the whole works. The workers are paid minimum wage, and all the proceeds from the plant sales goes back to the organization."

"That sounds wonderful!" Abigail exclaimed. "What do you think, Sharon? Do you think you'd like to work with plants?"

"Uh huh!" Sharon nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll take you over there after I drop Jackson off at the bus stop tomorrow," Abigail promised. The following day, she drove Sharon and Julie to the building that housed the Rainbow of Hope nursery. Its interior was cheerfully painted in primary colors, and there was a large, comfortable reception area. Abigail asked to speak to the company's director.

"This is my sister-in-law," she told the middle-aged woman. "Her name is Sharon Parrish. I was hoping you'd have room for her in your nursery program."

"Did she graduate high school?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Year?"

"I'm not sure. Some time in the mid sixties."

"Well, I'm gonna have to have a lot more to go on than that. I need her transcript and diploma."

"I don't have them," Abigail replied. "She's only been living with us since her mother went into assisted living several months ago."

"Well, until you can find them, I can't enroll her in our program."

"All right." Abigail sighed. "Come on, guys."

"But aren't I gonna work with the plants?" asked Sharon.

"Not today. We have to somehow find your high school transcript and diploma. Do you have any idea what your Mom did with them?"

"I wanna work with plants!" Sharon began to cry.

"Please don't cry." Abigail embraced the other woman and patted her back. "It's all right. We'll get you some plants on the way home."

"OK!" Sharon smiled.

Abigail stopped by the dollar store on the way home and bought several artificial plants for Sharon to 'practice' with, a couple of toys for Julie, and a few household and personal items. Then she went home and spent most of the afternoon helping Sharon with her 'plants' and coloring and watching television with Julie. She cooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner, and it was ready just in time for Jack's return from work.

"Look at my new plants!" Sharon exclaimed excitedly. "I couldn't work at the nursery today, so Abby got me some plants of my own at the dollar store."

"That's great!" Jack kissed his wife's lips. "How did it go?"

"They need her transcript and diploma," Abigail told him.

"Oh, boy." Jack sighed. "They're probably stored in the attic in the house we grew up in. I'll drive out there this weekend and look for them."

"Wouldn't your Mom know where they are?"

"I doubt she'd remember, and I'd hate to have to bother her with something like that anyway."

The following Saturday, Jack kissed his wife good-bye and began the journey to the home he and Sharon had grown up in. "So, what shall we do today?" Abigail asked Sharon and the children.

"I wanna go swimming!" Julie cried.

Jackson made a face at her. "It's too cold, silly."

Julie stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's warm enough to go to the park," Abigail suggested.

"Yeah! I wanna go on the slides!" Sharon exclaimed.

"Remember what we talked about last time, Sharon?" Abigail asked gently.

"Yeah. I'm too big and might break the slide," Sharon muttered unhappily. "But I can go on the big red swing!"

"That's right." Abigail smiled. "As long as nobody else is using it."

Luckily, the red swing was available, but about five minutes after Sharon began swinging, a little girl about Julie's age came over and stood watching her swing longingly. "Sharon?" Abigail called after about twenty minutes.

"Huh?"

"I think you've swung enough for now. It's time to let somebody else have a turn, OK? Let's go feed the ducks. I brought some stale bread to give them."

"Ducks!" Sharon sailed off the swing and landed on her feet. Abigail gathered Jackson and Julie, and they all walked down to the pond to feed the ducks.

"Can we go to the pizza buffet for lunch?" Jackson asked hopefully.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Abigail replied.

"Hurray!" Sharon and the children all jumped around with glee.

Abigail drove them all to the pizza restaurant. While they were eating, she saw Joanie and Monica come in together and waved them over. "How are your parents?" she asked Monica. "Did they make it back home OK?"

"Yep." Monica giggled. "I think Dad's still kind of freaked out at the idea of becoming a grandfather, but I'm sure he'll get used to it soon."

"How are Matthew and Julie?" she asked Joanie.

"They're fine! Still working hard. Both of them are."

"That's nice."

It was almost dark when Jack finally got home, looking utterly exhausted and smelling of moth balls. "After many hours of searching, I finally located the necessary documents." He sighed wearily as he plopped them onto the table.

"Does that mean I can work at the nursery?" Sharon asked hopefully. Jack nodded. "Oh, goody!" Sharon hugged her brother and placed a wet, sloppy kiss onto his cheek as he gave a wry smile.

"You must be exhausted." Abigail gently brushed the hair back from his forehead. "After you've eaten your dinner, I'll run you a hot bath."

Jack smiled, thinking of the pleasures in store for later that night.