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14 - Faith

**ONE WEEK LATER**

Andy was doing his best to come home at night much to Tiffany's annoyance and I only knew this because she was constantly texting or calling him when he was home. One night as Andy and I were trying to be intimate she kept texting and calling to the point the mood was quickly gone, on my end and I told Andy we were done even trying for that night.

A few days later we were leaving therapy and it wasn't a good session at all. I brought up Tiffany constantly calling and ruining most of our time together and Andy wasn't too happy when I did but I said since she had come in the picture it was like I was married to her as well.

Andy was dropping me off back at my office building and before I could get out of the car, he grabbed my hand and I turned to look at him.

"What?" I asked.

"You know I'm really trying with Tiffany...I don't want you to feel like you're married to both of us." Andy said sounding defeated.

"She just needs to back off Andy. I'm your wife, Jacob is your son. I mean we are feeling like we are on the backburner." I said and Andy groaned.

"I never want either of you to feel that way. I love you both so much." Andy said and I placed my free hand on his face.

"We love you too, you just need to tell her once you leave the office you're done and it's family time." I said and Andy nodded. "I mean it Andy if we do have another baby, we are already going to be sleep deprived, we can't have a cellphone ringing all hours of the night." I added.

"I know, I know. I'll talk to her when I get back. I will even call a meeting with her and Lynne about it." Andy said and I smiled at him. I leaned in and kissed Andy but then both our phones started ringing and we both groaned.

"Can we just throw our phones away and just run away together?" I asked Andy and he smiled.

"Sounds amazing." Andy said and moved his lips from mine to my neck and I moaned as he did. Our phones kept going and I groaned. I pulled away from Andy.

"To be continued...?" I asked and he nodded.

"Tonight, our room, no distractions." Andy said, I raised my eyebrows while I smiled at him.

"Perfect." I said and he gave me another quick kiss, then got out of his car and headed up to my office. When I opened the door, I saw a little girl sitting at the small table in my office. She looked to be about 4. She was coloring in a coloring book, eating what looked like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and was in dirty clothing.

"Hi there. Who are you?" I asked and she got very shy. "It's okay I'm Miss Mel, what's your name?" I asked crouching down to her level.

"Faith." She said with a sweet smile. My secretary walked in carrying a glass of apple juice and I looked at her as she handed the glass to Faith.

"I was trying to call you, I know you were with Andy but..." My secretary was saying, and I just held up my hand to stop her.

"Calm down, it's fine. What's going on?" I asked.

"So, Faith Hale had been sitting at the hospital for 4 days in the children's ward. Her family house caught on fire, and they were trying to get ahold of family to take her and she has no one." Lindsay, my secretary said, and I sighed.

"What about children services?" I asked.

"They said they will get to her, but I guess they have a backlog of finding homes and shelters for the kids since St. Mary's closed last week." Lindsay said and I groaned. St. Mary's was one of the biggest orphanages in town.

"Is there a family we could call that has been on the list for fostering?" I asked and Lindsay shook her head.

"I have called. Some are taking a break, some took the kids in from St. Mary's. Everyone stretched thin. I did put a call in to surrounding counties and I'm waiting to hear back to see if anyone can take her." Lindsay said and I sighed.

I looked over at Faith who was coloring and humming. In her own little world.

"And her parents died in the fire?" I asked.

"Her father did, her mother died of smoke inhalation the day after the fire." Lindsay said. I looked at Lindsay and then pulled a credit card from my purse.

"Can you run to the store and get her some clean clothes please? At least a couple days' worth." I said and she nodded as headed out of the office.

I looked at Faith and smiled as she looked at me.

"You okay?" I asked and she nodded.

"Miss Mel?" She asked as I sat at my desk.

"Yeah sweetie?" I asked.

"They said my mommy and daddy went to heaven. Are you going to be my new mommy?" She asked and my heart sank.

"Oh sweetie, no...I'm going to help you though, okay?" I asked and she nodded. I knew she didn't know what I meant but I knew I had to do all I could for her.

◼ ◼ ◼

At the end of the day Faith was lying on my couch watching some cartoon on my tablet when Lindsay came walking in.

"Did you hear anything from anyone?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No, no one got back to me. I don't know what to do..." She said and I groaned.

"Well, I mean I got her clothes for a few days and everything, why don't I just take her home with me..." I trailed off.

"Mel..."

"We don't have a choice Lindsay, what am I going to do?" I asked and she shrugged.

"I know I need to call Carla and let her know where she will be but other than that this is all I can do." I said. Lindsay nodded.

"I'll call her and let her know." Lindsay said.

"Thanks. I need to get home with her." I said and Lindsay sighed.

"How is Andy going to react?" Lindsay asked and I shrugged.

"Not exactly sure..." I trailed off as I packed my stuff up, grabbed the bag of clothes for Faith and then walked over to her.

"Well, you are going to be going home with me tonight. Why don't we get you there, washed up and changed." I said and Faith nodded, taking my hand when she got off the couch.

We walked out to my car, and I knew I didn't have a booster seat for her, so I just made sure she was hooked in the seatbelt tightly.

Time to go home to Andy...

◼ ◼ ◼

I was sitting at the table with Faith when Andy and Jacob walked in. Andy picked him up late from school knowing he had an art project he was working on.

"We're home!" Andy announced.

"In here." I said. Andy and Jacob came walking in and instantly saw the situation at the table.

I had given Faith a bath and then got in her one of the outfits Lindasy bought her.

"Who's this?" Jacob asked and Faith got shy again.

"It's okay sweetie, this is my son Jacob and my husband Andy." I said and pointed them out to her.

"Mel...?" Andy asked.

"Andy, this is Faith, and we are going to have her for a couple of days." I stated. Andy just looked at me in shock.