<\/p>\n
Ray raised an eyebrow as Colleen prepared boxed mac and cheese. \u201cYou\u2019re making this from a box?\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s for Ben. He\u2019s been so quiet, I thought he might like it,\u201d Colleen said.
\nRay rubbed her shoulders. \u201cHe\u2019s still adjusting. He\u2019s only been here a day. It\u2019ll help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben quickly devoured the meal, then immediately asked to go back to his room. Colleen and Ray decided to check on him. When they entered, they were stunned to find him feeding a baby.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen, whose baby is that?\u201d Colleen asked.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s my sister,\u201d Ben replied, nervous.
\n\u201cYour sister?\u201d
\n\u201cNot really. She\u2019s a new foster at my old home. I couldn\u2019t leave her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben insisted the Franklins, his former foster parents, were bad people. \u201cThey\u2019re evil. She\u2019ll be in danger.\u201d Colleen and Ray exchanged worried glances. Ben revealed that Mr. Franklin had hurt him.<\/p>\n
Ray comforted Ben, assuring him they\u2019d help. Ben fell asleep in his arms while Colleen held the baby.
\n\u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d Colleen whispered. \u201cWe can\u2019t keep her.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think Ben is lying,\u201d Ray replied.<\/p>\n
That night, Colleen called a DCFS worker, Alana, who believed Ben\u2019s story and agreed to temporarily make them the baby\u2019s foster parents.<\/p>\n
Days later, Mrs. Campbell, the foster coordinator, called. Colleen nervously spoke with her, but Mrs. Campbell sounded suspiciously evasive when Ben\u2019s past came up. Colleen\u2019s fear grew\u2014had Mrs. Campbell figured it out?<\/p>\n
Ray and Colleen went into protective mode, planning to keep the baby hidden. When Ray saw a suspicious truck near their house, he feared the Franklins were onto them. He reached out to Alana, who reassured them that the investigation was ongoing.<\/p>\n
But things escalated when the Franklins showed up at their door, demanding the baby. A confrontation ensued, with Alana intervening to protect the Fergusons. Mrs. Campbell threatened them, but Alana made it clear the baby was now legally in their care.<\/p>\n
The police arrived, and after some tense moments, Ben stepped forward, revealing the abuse he\u2019d suffered. With evidence of the Franklins\u2019 crimes, the police arrested them.<\/p>\n
The next day, Alana confirmed the Franklins were being investigated, and the baby girl was officially named Grace. Colleen and Ray agreed to adopt her, starting fresh with their new family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ray raised an eyebrow as Colleen prepared boxed mac and cheese. \u201cYou\u2019re making this from a box?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s for Ben. He\u2019s been so quiet, I thought he might like it,\u201d Colleen said. Ray rubbed her shoulders. \u201cHe\u2019s still adjusting. He\u2019s only been here a day. It\u2019ll help.\u201d Ben quickly devoured the meal, then immediately …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3418,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417\/revisions\/3418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifevibesever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}