Before you read this chapter, read the prologue please! I know how it feels to read a prologue, but it is very necessary for you to understand this chapter! It's not that long. :)

Now, let's try this again! My chapter dedication goes to lovemyst10 !!! She is one of my greatest friends and her poems are absolutely astounding! I love them sooooo much!! I would suggest checking her profile out!

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MADDIE

Ugh! Those kids. They were wild and all over the place. Some were chewing on toys while others picked their noses and tried to eat their buggies. Why they found them so appetizing? I didn't really know. It was their naptime and none of them were making it easy. I couldn't wait for my shift to be over! I was ready for the next church service. There was only thirty minutes of agony left.

I picked up a crying toddler and tried to soothe him, but another attached herself to my leg. Being careful not to accidentally step on the child's legs, I stumbled while I tried to get to the diaper bags. As I tried to stay concentrated on grabbing a bottle, the child that was once on my leg had quickly found interest in a chair leg. Kids those days!

I successfully pulled out a bottle from one of the bags and gave it to the whining child I was holding. Instantaneously, he ceased his whines as he drunk the milk.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. Who was calling me at that hour? I shifted the child onto one arm as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. Reading the caller ID, I realized it was Xander, my boss and mentor. He knew I was at church that time of morning. Working at that! Why was he calling me?

"This better be good, Xander," I answered irritably as I started to rock the child. His eyes were starting to close slowly.

"I've done it!" Dr. Livingstone was laughing madly.

"Done what?"

"He's awakened! After all these years, he's awakened!" Now it sounded as if he was crying. Bipolar much?

I became silent as a rush of shock took over. The professor had been working on that experiment for as long as I could remember. I knew this was a huge feat for him.

"Maddie?" I had stayed silent for too long.

"That's great, Xander." I said slowly, still processing the information The child had finished his milk and now was sleeping in my arms. I put the phone between my ear and shoulder as I took the bottle and put it back in the diaper bag with as much ease one hand could have done. I carried him carefully to a crib with a grunt. Jeez! Some kids weighed tons! "Hey, how about we talk about this after Church?"

"But Maddie" he sounded dejected. "I wanted to show you how I woke up Adam."

"I will, but God first." I said, determined to wait.

"Fine." He paused. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this but... I know you would be happy to know that...I prayed before I gave Adam the serum."

I choked on my spit, surprised. I never thought in a million years that Xander would be praying. "Wow! For real? That's amazing!" I said with excitement, so loud that loud wasn't even the word for it. The other person that I was working with gave me a disapproving look. For it was the kid's nap time.

"Ok, Xander. We can talk about this after church, and you have to tell me everything. See you later." I hung up without waiting for a response.

"Who was that?" my coworker, Ms. Angela, asked. She was the nosey old lady that I worked with. If only she would mind her own business.

"Just my boss, Ms. Angela." I sighed as I picked up the babies fallen toys.

~~~

After church service, I found my best friend and roommate, Melody, waiting for me as I talked to several church attendants. I quickly said my goodbyes and caught up with her.

"Hey, Mel! Did you enjoy that service?" I asked, feeling energetic after the killer sermon Pastor Lopez preached. I felt like God's power was coursing through my veins!

"Yeah! It was really good!" She sounded equally excited as I was.

"Did you have any patients today?"

"Just a few." She adjusted the pencil behind her ear.

My phone rung. "Excuse me." I held up my pointer finger to Mel to answer the phone. I looked at the caller ID to find that it was unrecognizable number. It must have been a telemarketer.

I quickly hung up. "So you were saying, " I asked. As I was about to put my phone back in my back pocket, my phone rung again with the same caller ID. I answered the phone, determined to give the telemarketer a piece of my mind.

"I don't want any of what you're selling! Can you not call me anymore? It's quite annoying and I'm sure you have better things to do with your time." I said as soon as I answered.

"Uh...Maddie?" I heard that thick French accent and I immediately knew who it was. I hadn't spoken to him for quite some time.

"Oh my... I'm so so sorry dad. I thought you were one of those sales persons. I didn't mean to yell at you." I paused. "How have you been? It's been a while since we had spoken."

"Five years to be exact." My father said. I heard remorse in his voice. "I'm really sorry, Maddie. That I left you to fend for yourself all those yearsans not support you. I want to change that. Do you think....do you think you can meet me at The Waffle-house? Right now?" I heard hope in his voice.

I was just about to accept his request when I remembered my call from Xander. Why couldn't I be in two places at once? "I'm sorry Dad. I just can't right now. My boss called me and told me that a new experiment worked and he wanted me to check it out. You know, being his assistant and all, I can't refuse his orders with leisure as other workers can. How about this evening? I will probably have time then."

I looked out of the corner of my eye to find Mel talking to Tristan, the newest member of the church. He had been with our church for almost two months and Mel was the first person he had met. Over that time span, they developed a thing for each other and Mel was hoping he would ask her out soon.

"Ok then." I heard his smile through the phone. "As long as I get to see you. I want to make up for lost time. See you at 6:30."

"Ok, Dad. Je t'aime." I said and hung up the phone.

"Maddie!" I felt someone jump and hug me, almost knocking me over I turned around to find Mel beaming. "He asked me out!"

We squealed as we jumped up and down with happiness. "I'm so excited for you!" I said, smiling from ear to ear.

"I'm so excited." She was still smiling. "I have to get ready to go for our first date. I will see you later tonight to tell you how it was." As she walked away passionately, I watched as the sun glistened on her after she walked out of the glass doors of the church.

After talking with a few more people, I made my way towards my car.

~~~

"So tell me how it all happened, Xander," I said as I walked down the hallways of the hospital, following Xander to Adam's room.

"Well, as I was making a new serum, I decided to try lavender. I knew it had a very pungent smell, so I added it to the mix. It reacted very well and the mixture actually changed color. I tried it on an animal and it woke up almost instantaneously. I decided to try it on Adam." He laughed. "And it worked. It really worked!" He said in disbelief.

I was happy for him. Perhaps he had finally gotten his son back.

"But there is one small problem." He said; face serious.

"What is it?"

"He has absolutely no memories. He didn't even know who he was. He can barely do anything." His voice was pained and saddened.

"I'm sorry." I wondered if he had gotten a concussion during the impact of the accident. He had been a near-death patient, after all.

"That's where you come in!" The Professor beamed. His eyes lit up with excitement.

"What now?"

"You know, being the manager in the scientific health department, I can't really look after him and take care of him. I had to sneak away just to give him the serum. Well, I mean, you can take care of him for me. I'll even give you extra pay if you want."

I stared at him dumbfounded. He wanted me to take care of his child? That extra pay did sound good, but how was I supposed to teach him? And I had my own life to deal with. I couldn't stay at the hospital to take care of him.

"Before you ask, he won't be at the hospital for long. The doctors here will just check on him and make sure everything is ok. Otherwise, he is free to go home." He said, reading my mind.

"Where would he stay?" I asked, eyeing him.

"I just purchased a mansion not that long ago. You know I practically live at the lab, so I found no need for a home. Now that Adam is awake, I guessed it would be nice for him to have a good place to stay. So it could feel like a real family again when I visit." His face had softened. "Now, you and your friend could live there. I bought one of the pretty small mansions. Only about.....twenty rooms, five bathrooms, and a pool in the back yard. So it's a win-win for you. You get to live there for free and you get extra pay." He smiled.

My face had widened into a smile as he spoke. By the end of his speech, my face was hurting from cheesing so big. "Oh! Thank you so much!" I gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around me. He was always like a second father to me. Well, third. The Father of the heavens is always the first. Then, of course, the second was my biological father.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." As we pulled out of our embrace, I saw his dark brown eyes glisten with tears. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I have a little of my family back. It's, what you would call, a miracle." He wiped his eyes.

"It really is. He has blessed you abundantly." I smiled. "Plus, you didn't tell me about that prayer."

"Ah! Do I really have to?" He smirked playfully.

"Um...yeah!"

His face had turned serious again. "Well, I prayed to your God before I tried the serum and told him that if he saved my son that I would try to serve Him." He said quickly. He mumbled the last part so fast that I almost couldn't hear what he said.

"That's amazing! The best thing to do is to join a study group. It will help you get to know God better and connect with other believers." I smiled.

"Yeah...." He didn't look as excited as I was. "We're here."

We had walked the rest of the way to Adam's door. With a confident hand, I opened the door.

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Hi guys! How did you guys like it? For people who have read the first version, who likes the new version?

Hm... anyone wondering what went on between Maddie and her father that made them part separate ways?

Any questions concerning the story? Tell me what would you would like to see more of in this story.

Thank you for reading! God Bless You All!!! 💝💝💝