Ch 4

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Erin's legs moved quickly, her knees bending to jump over branches and rocks. She had headphones in, and there were hot beads of sweat forming on her head. She'd nearly sprinted at least two miles without slowing down. Eventually her legs became too exhausted and uncontrollable. She slowed down a lot, but didn't stop. Not until someone grabbed her hand.

"Let's take a rest," Jay suggested, fairly out of breath. When Erin stopped he spun her around and began kissing her.

"I'm covered in sweat," she whispered, dropping her headphones from her ears.

"I don't care," he laughed, moving his lips to the edge of her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Erin laughed back at him, before forcing his lips back onto hers. He wrapped his strong arms around her, his arms beaded with sweat as well.

"Hey, by the way," Jay whispered, still out of breath. "I called H.A.C. They scheduled us an interview. It's in two days."

Erin's eyes widened. "What? Jay . . ."

"I thought about what you said. Kids who need better families. As much as I like the idea of us having our own, there are so many children out there who need love as much as we need each other's. I know there's the perfect child out there for us."

Erin nodded and smiled, but before she kissed him again she bit her lip. "Maybe . . . maybe after some time . . . we could try for our own?"

Jay smiled and kissed her. "Oh, definitely," he murmured, grinning at the inside joke.

"Come on," Erin said after a few minutes of rest, picking up her headphones and raising them back to her ears. "We've got to get back home. This is our one day off and I don't want to waste it working out."

Jay smirked and followed her as she started back down the trail.

...

Erin pulled back half of her hair into a small bun, in the style Jay liked. She threw on a little bit of mascara and contouring before finding Jay changing in the bedroom. She tilted her head as he zipped up his black jeans.

"What?" he asked curiously, smirking a bit.

"I'm just imagining you as a daddy," she smiled as Jay approached her slowly. He put his hands on her arms and kissed her.

"You are going to show Bunny who's the real mom ."

She smiled and rested her cheek on Jay's shoulder. "The only good mom techniques I may know come from Camille. She was the closest thing to a mom I've ever had. I . . . I wish she was here to see where she got me."

Jay didn't reply. He was glad that Erin was going to do for a child what she always wanted for herself. She deserved all the love and happiness in the world, but all she'd ever done was give hers away like free candy. He loved her for who she was, and loved her for how much she loved.

They walked down the stairs and headed out to the car.

...

The H.A.C. interviewer opened the door for us to exit. "Thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Halstead. Just follow Miss Marie right down the hallway. She'll take you to get to know some of the different aged children."

"What are we looking for?" Erin whispered. "Baby or kid? Boy or girl?"

Jay shrugged. "We'll know when we see them."

They walked into a large room that looked like a preschool classroom. Many kids, about eight to ten years old ran around throwing things, shouting, and few sitting down reading calmly.

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