Joel—

Moriah stood next to me, her hand resting gently on my shoulder. It was silent between us, as we waited to have a meeting with a social worker.

Moriah kept rubbing my back gently. It was safe to say that I was nervous. It was hard not to be, after hearing stories of children being in the system. It frightened me, and if I could save them all, I would.

"Joel and Moriah Smallbone?" A small woman called out.

Moriah smiled softly at me as her hand left my shoulder, then reconnected with mine, automatically lacing our fingers. I took in a deep breath, letting Moriah lead me to the small woman with a vanilla file and a clipboard.

"We're Joel and Moriah," I stated.

The woman looked up, "Helena Tera. Follow me, please."

Moriah nodded, as she turned around. We followed her, all while I took in the small details of the social worker. She had to be older, seeing the fine, gray hairs poke out against the black. Yet, her face still seemed youthful. She was short, shorter than Moriah and I; I had to guess about 5'3.

"Aren't you nervous?" I whispered to Moriah, who just smiled softly and shook her head.

"Please, sit down." Helena pointed to two chairs in front of a wooden desk as she held a door open.

Moriah and I obliged, sitting down in the chairs as Helena sat at the desk. She flipped through the file, glancing at us every few seconds.

"God has this, love." Moriah assured, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

"I think we've got a case file for you, Mr. and Mrs. Smallbone. Two sisters, they're new to the system. They need to be placed in a home right away." Helena stated, "They lost their parents in an accident. One girl, Nicole, she's 13 and in a coma. They don't know if she'll wake up."

"What about the other girl?" Moriah asked.

"That would be Brittany, she's almost 16. She'll be going into her junior year," she answered, "She's okay for the most part. Shattered tibia, dislocated shoulder, a few stitches here and there."

"Oh my," I muttered.

Helena sighed, "I am aware that you both are musical artists, what are you going to do while on tour?"

"We were thinking we could send them to my brother's home between shows, or take them with us." I answered.

"How exactly were you planning on doing that if the girls are in public schooling?" Helena questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Moriah glanced at me, swallowing before looking back at Helena.

"If we had the choice, we wanted to home school them. We understand that losing a parent is hard, and that they could possibly want their privacy." Moriah explained, "And we wanted to respect that."

Helena nodded, "That is all for today. You can meet the girls tomorrow. You have been given case file T-9077."

~*~*~

I kissed Moriah's cheek, sitting down next to her as I handed her a cup of coffee. She sighed, laying her head against my shoulder.

"What do you think they're like?" She asked.

"I don't know, love." I sighed, "We'll have to wait and see."

"At least our nieces and nephews will be happy to have some new cousins," she grinned.

I smiled, gently kissing her forehead. "Yes, they will."

"What's on your mind, Joel?" Moriah asked, sitting up and clutching the mug tightly.

"I wish they're weren't so many kids in the foster system." I sighed, "I wish they all knew God, and had hope."

Moriah sat the mug down on the coffee table, then leaning back against the couch. Her head rested against my bicep as her hands wrapped around my forearm. A small smile had spread across her lips.

"I know you do, baby, but helping these two girls, we're changing the world. Just one heart a time." Moriah reassured, "It might seem small to the world, but it's big for these two girls."

"I guess you're right, darling." I mumbled, laughing quietly.

"I'm always right," she giggled, "Come on. Let's head to bed, it's late."

"What about your coffee, Mo?" I questioned.

"Oops," she shrugged, "Let it get cold."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Go on, up to bed. I'll put the cup away. We don't need Adeline hyped up on caffeine, do we?"

"I guess not," a smile playing Moriah's lips. I smiled kissing her forehead as I stood up, then held my hand out for her to take.

She took my hand as I pulled her up. "I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too, Joely."

~*~*~

"Joel, honey, wake up." Moriah sighed, gently shaking me. I groaned, shaking my head and rolling over. She laughed, "Baby, you really need to get up. We meet those girls today."

"Right," I mumbled, my voice being muffled slightly by the pillow.

"Come on, Joel David." She snickered, using my full name.

I grumbled, rolling once again and laying flat on my stomach. Moriah laid back down, her hand on my back.

"I don't wanna," I pouted.

"Honey, seriously. We need to get ready." She stated.

"Fine," I murmured, sitting up.

Moriah giggled, sitting up behind me and wrapping her arms around as she kissed my cheek. Then rested her chin on my shoulder.

"I love you, Joely." She mumbled, the smirk evident in her tone of voice.

I grinned, swiftly moving and laying down, quickly Moriah on top of me. She squealed, being surprised as I held her against.

"I love you too, darling." I smiled, quickly kissing her.

Moriah sighed, shaking her head.

"You're like a child," she laughed.

"You're the one who married me," I whispered.

She grinned, "Of course I did. Now, let's get ready."