Hello! I'm Bohogal1998, formerly known as Hippiechic81. I have written SSD stories before. This story is the third in a series that includes To Everything There is a Season and The Greatest of These is Love. If you haven't read those, you might want to before you read this. That way you won't get confused. They're pretty short. Hope everyone enjoys this story. The main characters with the exception of my OC, Sophia Anastasia Portacelli, are owned by Martha Williamson.

Early on a Monday morning, Oliver awoke to hear wretching sounds coming from the master bathroom. He got up and rushed in to find his wife, Shane, leaning over the toilet. He knelt down beside her and held her hair back.

"Maybe you should stay home today. You're probably fighting that flu that's been going around." he urged gently.

"No, Oliver. I don't have a fever. It's probably just something I ate." Shane protested weekly.

"Three mornings in a row?" her husband questioned skeptically.

" Maybe I have a food alergy. I'll make an appointment with an allergist this week." Shane promised.

"I don't feel comfortable letting you work in this condition." Insisted Oliver.

"Oliver. I'm fine. Now let's get going. We're going to be late." Shane assured the man.

Oliver just sighed and followed Shane out the door. When they got to the DLO, they found Norman and Rita Doorman hard at work.

"Hey guys!" Rita called out cheerfully when she spotted her friends.

"Good morning, Rita. Norman." replied Oliver.

"So what's on the docket for today?" Shane inquired, before suddenly being assulted by a horrible smell.

"Ugh!" she added.

"Shane, are you ok?" Norman asked in concern.

"It's the smell." Shane explained, taking a few deep breaths.

Oliver looked at his wife in confusion. "It's just coffee. It's the same coffee we've had in here for years."

"Exactly. Excuse me." Shane breathlessly responded as she ran from the room.

"What's wrong with Shane?" asked Norman.

"I honestly don't know, Norman. She was sick this morning but insisted on coming into work. She is making an appointment with the allergy specialist later on this week." was Oliver's anxious reply.

"Maybe that's it." Rita replied uncertainly. She didn't beleive that was the explaination, however. She made a mental note to have a private talk with Shane later.

After a few minutes, the woman in question returned smiling, but looking very pale. "Sorry about that. Let's get to work."

"Are you certain you're up to it?" Oliver pushed.

"Absolutely." Shane retorted, leaving no room for argument.

"Alright then. Why don't you do the honors." Oliver suggested.

Shane smiled and chose a letter from the bin and handed it to her husband.

He took it and examined it. "Let's see. The writing style indicates the writer as a female. The return adress and the delivery address are both smudged. There is a partial name here. I'm having a bit of trouble reading it. Norman?"

Norman took the letter next and inspected it for a moment before saying, "It looks like an s and an O and maybe an R or maybe a O. The last name deffinately starts with a P, but I can't see the rest."

"So we read the letter?" Rita pressed hopefully.

"Ah, yes." was the reply as Oliver went to select a letter opener.

He opened it and began to read.

"My darling Sophie,

As I am writing this , you are ten years old. I have written several times before and they were all sent back. I am hoping this one will finally reach the correct address. I am married now. His name is Travis chapman. He is a good man and he would be a wonderful father to you. We are currently living in Golden, Colorado. We have a ranch with horses. I know you loved horses when you were little. I have been clean for almost five years now. As soon as I felt that I was ready to get you back, I went to talk to your social worker and they told me she had retired and that you were turned over to a new social worker. I was able to track the retired social worker down and she gave me your last known location. Apparently you have been shifted around alot. I pray this letter reaches you and that we can reunite and be a family again. I love you so much, my Angel. Your mother, Angela Portacelli Chapman."

Shane was in tears when Oliver reached the end of the letter and Rita wasn't far behind.

"That poor woman. That poor little girl. She was lost in the system. How will we ever find her?" Shane questioned in a tearful whisper.

"We need to think this through. That child could have a new family and a happy life now. We don't want to interfere with that." Oliver warned his team grimly.

"But maybe she was lost in the system and needs a loving family and a place to call home." Rita pointed out.

"We have to try,Oliver." Shane pleaded.

"Well, we can contact child services and ask for the social worker of Sophie Portacelli." Norman suggested, trying to make his wife and Shane both feel better.

"But we don't even know if she's in the Denver system. The adress is smudged including the zip code." Oliver protested.

"This is where I come in." Shane spoke up as she wiped her eyes. She grabbed her laptop and got to work.

"What are you doing,Shane?" Oliver inquired nervously.

"Don't ask." Shane advised.

Oliver ignored that advice "I must insist that you tell me how you are going to retreive the information we need."

Shane hesitated before saying, "well, just your everyday run of the mill hacking."

"What?!" You are NOT going to hack into the DHS data-base!" Oliver demanded in shock.

"Of course not! I just know some loop-holes that most people don't." Shane retorted.

She typed a few things into her computer and stated, "Ok, there is a Sophia Anastasia Portacelli in the system. Her caseworker is Ms. Emma Cousins."

"Oh! I know her!" Rita exclaimed.

"You do?" Norman asked, surprised that his wife had a friend that he didn't know about.

"Yes. She was my neighbor before we got married and moved across town." Rita informed the group.

"Can you call her for us, Rita?" Oliver asked.

"Oh yes!" Rita assured him. Then she went over to the phone to make the call.

When she returned to the others a few minutes later, She stated, "Emma agreed to meet with us tomorrow morning at around ten AM."

"Great work Rita." Oliver complimented.

As the team sorted through the rest of the bin, Rita walked over to Shane and asked, "Would you like to get lunch together? Just us girls?"

Shane smiled at her friend."That sounds fun. I'm sure Oliver and Norman would be ok without us for a bit. We'll just asked them."

"Ask us what? " Norman uttered.

"If you and Oliver would be ok with Shane and I have a girls only lunch." Rita clarified for her husband.

"That would be ok with me." Oliver agreed. Norman nodded.

At lunch-time, The two women got salads from a nearby foodtruck and headed to Washington Park.

Once they were seated at a picnic table Rita began, "Shane, I don't really know how to bring this up, but I don't think you have an allergy. I think you might be pregnant."

"No. I couldn't be. I've been regular with my time of month."

"When did you last have one?" was Rita's question.

"It was just... Oh my... over a month ago. I should have started last week!" Shane suddenly realized.

"Calm down. I have a pregnancy test in my purse. We'll go to the ladies room back at the Post Office." Rita offered.

"Will you stay with me?" Shane requested.

"Of course." Rita replied.

"But wait. Weren't you going to use that test?" Shane wondered.

"I have another one back at home." was the reasuring reply.

"I'll sit with you when you're ready to take the test if you'd like."offered Shane.

"I don't really need it yet." Rita admitted softly.

Shane rubbed her friend's shoulder and she encouraged, "Aww. You and Norman will be able to have a baby. Trust the timing, Rita. And when the time is right, you and Norman will be great parents."

"Thanks. So will you and Oliver." Rita returned the compliment and added, "Now come on. We better get back if we're going to have time to do the test."

Shane looked at her watch. "Oh. Right!" The two women threw their trash away and quickly headed back.

In the ladies room, Rita waited for Shane to finish in the stall. After a moment the woman emerged and sat on the bench next to her friend.

"So what now?" she asked anxiously.

Rita looked at the instructions and replied, "Well, now we wait for the lines to appear. One means negative and two means positive."

Shane drew a shaky breath turned her attention to the test. Rita took her hand and they waited with baited breath.

Well, there's the first chapter. Will the test be negative or positive? Will they be able to reunite Sophie with her mother? Tune in on Wednesday to find out. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Thanks for reading! Catch ya later. Bye!