Chasing the Clouds Away
Part 8
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All right. First things first....I kinda got all goofed up on the timeline of this story...so if you don't think the days and dates and stuff match up from previous chapters....how should I say this...GET OVER IT :)

Also keep in mind that this is a shipper story, so I'm ALLOWED to make parts of it super sappy!! 

WARNING: Semi-nice Fred alert! You have been warned!

OK, so if I remember correctly I think I left you with something like:

"After great debate, and careful thought I have come to the conclusion that it would be in the best interest of Emily Yokas and Charles Yokas to be placed in custody of..."
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Faith held her breath, and closed her eyes as she waited for the judge to announce her decision. It all boiled down to this. Who would get custody of Emily and Charlie?

Bosco looked at Faith, and saw her eyes were closed tight. It was as if she was trying to will Judge Maher to rule in her favor. He knew this moment was killing Faith inside because it was killing him. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and placed his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her closer to him.
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"...Faith Yokas."

At the sound of her name Faith's eyes shot open, and she looked at Judge Maher to make sure that she had heard correctly. The judge nodded at her as Bosco turned and placed a kiss on Faith's cheek. "Congratulations baby," he whispered softly in her ear.

Faith was so overjoyed that she barely heard another word the judge said. All she knew, and all she cared about was that Emily and Charlie would be living with her. She knew it would be difficult raising two kids on her own, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

Bosco sat holding Faith's hand. He was grinning from ear to ear. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Everything had worked out, and he was relieved. He lifted his gaze upward for a brief moment as he thanked God for answering his prayers.

Fred sat on the other side of the table stunned. He looked at Faith, and then stood up to leave. Faith looked from Fred to Bosco. The smile on her face faded. She pulled her hand from Bosco's. "I'll be right back."

Bosco nodded, and watched as Faith followed her ex-husband out into the hallway. Not wanting her to be alone with Fred he hurried after her.
******
"Fred. Fred wait."

He spun around. "What?!"

"I want to talk to you."

"Gawd Faith! Isn't it enough that you have custody, or will it not be a complete victory until you rub it in my face?!" The anger was evident in his voice, but Faith saw the sadness in his eyes.

Bosco didn't like Fred's tone of voice, so he quickly took his place next to Faith. He put his hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there for her if she needed him.

"No Fred," she said softly. "I just wanted to tell you that just because I have custody doesn't mean I'm going to keep the kids from you."

"What?" he asked in shock.

"You're their father. What kind of mother would I be if I kept them from seeing their dad?"

"You mean it Faith?"

She nodded. "If they want to spend time with you all they have to do is ask. And if you want to take them for a weekend every now and then just let me know in advance and we'll see what we can work out."

"You're serious?" She nodded again. "Why are you doing this Faith? After all I've put you through."

"Cause it's what I'd want if the tables were turned."

Fred smiled. "Thanks Faith," and he and Sarah walked out into the cool evening air.

Bosco turned Faith around so she was facing him. He looked into her eyes. "You're a better person than I am Faith. I don't think I could have done that."

She smiled at him. "I think you could." She put her hand over his heart. "There's a heart of gold in here. You just forget about it sometimes."

He wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her tight. "I'm so happy for you Faith."

"I was so scared, but it worked out didn't it?"

"Yeah, it sure did." He kissed her forehead.

Faith's lawyer walked up to them. "Congratulations Faith."

"Mike thank you for all your help." Faith hugged him, and he chuckled softly.

"You're welcome. I'll be sending you a copy of all the paperwork in the next few days." He shook Bosco's hand. "Make sure you call me if you have any questions."

"Sure thing. Thanks again."

Mike headed down the hall, and Faith and Bosco turned to go the other direction when Faith heard someone calling her name. "Officer Yokas? Officer Yokas." They turned to find Judge Maher approaching them. "I was hoping I would catch you."

Faith looked at Bosco and they exchanged a puzzled look. Bosco shrugged, and they turned their attention back to the woman. "What can I do for you?" Faith asked with uncertainty.

"Well, I know this isn't my place, nor is it very professional, so this is strictly off the record."

"Um, ok."

"I don't know what he told you about the questioning today, and I know I'm supposed to stay out of these things so I hope you don't mind me saying this but," she pointed at Bosco, "I think this one's a keeper." And as quickly as she had approached them she walked away.

Faith looked at a now blushing Bosco. "You just have to wow all the women don't you?!" she asked with a grin before kissing him.
******
The kids had spent the day out at Faith's parents, and as Bosco drove Faith out to pick them up he could tell that she was getting nervous. He glanced over at her. "What's wrong Faith?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking."

"OK, then what are you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking that the kids would probably hate the fact that I got custody."

"What?! You're crazy."

"They'll probably resent me and end up hating me. They probably wanted to live with Fred."

"Jump to the extreme much?"

"It's not extreme."

"Uh yeah it is." He cleared his throat and did his best imitation of her voice. "They'll probably resent me and end up hating me." He looked at her. "You're their mother. They love you, and sure they'll miss seeing Fred's ugly mug everyday, but they'll get past it."

"Yeah?"

"Hell, if Emily can get past hating me and wanting to cause bodily harm she can get over anything," he laughed.

Faith smiled. "Yeah I guess so. How is your foot anyway?"

Bosco quickly looked down at the ratty cast. "The foot is fine. But the cast is pretty worn cause I keep *forgetting* to use my crutches. I think I'm gonna swing by the doctor's tomorrow and see if they'll take the damn thing off."

"They'll probably just give you another one cause you've still got a little over a week left before it's fully healed; maybe longer cause you keep walking on it."

"I'm tired of riding a desk though. I wanna put my uniform on, and get back out there. Hell, I wanna put my shoe on."

"In time Reese. No need to go out there too soon and re-injure it."

He nodded. "I just miss it. Ya know?" Bosco shut off the car after pulling into the driveway at Faith's parents. "You figure the kids had dinner all ready?"

Faith looked at her watch. "Yeah. Mom serves meals like clockwork. I'm sure they all ready ate. Why?"

"I just thought maybe we could celebrate the occasion. I thought I'd take you all out to dinner, but maybe we'll have to settle for renting movies and eating junk food," he suggested with a grin.

"Well, Emily's still on restriction."

"Come on Faith. One night. Don't you think the kid's suffered enough?"

"Bosco! She broke your foot!"

"Like I didn't know," he laughed. "Just one night Faith."

Reluctantly she nodded. "But only one night. Tomorrow morning she's back to being grounded."

Bosco started to get out of the car, he turned to look at her. "I have you so whipped."

Faith went to smack him, but he eluded her and laughed all the way to the front door.

Faith's mom met them at the door. "How'd it go?" she asked nervously. Faith just smiled. "Oh I'm so happy for you!" The two women hugged.

"Where are the kids?"

"Out back with their grandfather. He's telling them all sorts of stories from when you were little. They found an old photo album. They've been looking at it for hours."

"Please tell me it's not the one with---"

"It is," her mom chuckled.

"Oh no!"

"What?" asked Bosco, a look of interest spread across his face.

Faith's mom leaned closer to Bosco. "There's a picture of Faith with---"

"Mom don't you dare!"

"What? What is it?" asked Bosco who was even more curious now that he knew Faith didn't want him to know about it.

"It's a picture of Faith when she was being potty trained. She's sitting on the ----"

"MOTHER!!!"

"I've gotta see this." Bosco headed for the back porch.

"No you don't! Reese! Reese!" He kept going. "BOSCO! Bosco I swear if you laugh you'll wish you were never born! You hear me?!" She yelled as she hurried after him.

"Hey guys!"

"Hi Bosco."
"Hello Maurice."
"Bosco!"

"Dad don't even think about showing him the picture." Faith warned her father as she came through the back door.

"What picture?"

"You know what picture."

He stood up and handed Bosco the photo album after taking position between his daughter and her boyfriend. "Oh! You mean the one on the fifth page."

Bosco quickly flipped to the fifth page. Faith tried to get around her dad and get the album from Bosco, but her father was doing a good job of running interference.

Bosco found the page, and he cracked up with laughter. "Oh man Faith! Your folks made this into an 8 by 10!"

"WHAT?!" Faith tore past her dad and grabbed the book from Bosco who was practically in tears from laughing so hard. She looked at the picture. "You liar! It's only a 3 by 5!"

"I know," he laughed. "But I sure had you going."

Faith playfully lunged at him, and grabbed him around the waist as he continued to laugh. After he finally settled down Emily looked at her mother. "You're in a good mood. Does that mean you got custody?"

Faith smiled. "Yeah sweetie I did."

"Cool," smiled Charlie.

Emily nodded, but wasn't as excited as her little brother. "That's great mom."

Faith could sense what her daughter was thinking. "Listen, I talked to your dad, and I want you to understand something. Even though you'll be living with me you can see your dad whenever you want. All you have to do is ask."

"Really?" asked Emily.

Their mother nodded. "Now, let's go get some movies and some snacks and go home."

Charlie jumped up. "Awesome! I wanna watch Monsters Inc."

"OK," Faith smiled. She looked at Emily. "What's wrong Em?"

"I'm still grounded."

"Not tonight."

"Really?" 

"Really."

Emily smiled. "Thanks mom."

"Don't thank me. Thank Bosco. He talked me into it."

Emily turned to him. "Thanks Bosco."

"No sweat kiddo."
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The movie was over and the kids were in bed. Bosco was helping Faith clean up. "Man, we ate like pigs," grumbled Faith. "I'm so full."

Bosco smiled. "Wasn't it great?!"

"Yeah it was pretty great. Thanks for the idea."

He nodded. "I still can't believe that big monster's name was Sulley," he chuckled. "He's a lot funnier than our Sully though."
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After everything had been cleaned up they sat together on the couch enjoying each other's company, and watching late night TV. Bosco looked at his watch. "Man, it's late. I better head home." He stood up and grabbed his jacket.

Faith quickly got up, and grabbed his arm. "You don't have to go."

"It's late Faith, and I'm getting tired. I should really go."

"Reese you can stay here."

"I should really be going."

"What? You don't want to stay with me?"

"No, no that's not it at all. I want to stay. I just didn't know if I should."

"Why not?"

"I just don't know if I should make it a habit. It's still pretty early in our relationship, and I still wanna take things slow."

"Reese, please? It's been a perfect day, and I want you to stay."

He pulled her close, and their lips met. "Ok you win," he whispered.

"I have you so whipped," she smiled and they both laughed.

A few minutes later they crawled into bed, and kissed each other goodnight. Bosco lay awake staring at the ceiling. "Shoot," he said quietly.

"What is it?" Faith asked with concern.

" I don't think I can sleep without a sleeping pill."

"You still having nightmares?"

He thought about it for a second. "I uh, I don't know," he whispered.

She propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at him. "What do you mean?"

He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He didn't want to see the disappointment that he knew would be on her face as soon as he told her. "I've kinda been relying on the pills to sleep," he said quietly.

She touched his cheek. "You have?"

He nodded. " I tried not to take the pills. But the nightmares got worse, and I just couldn't deal with them. I wasn't getting any sleep and since the guy prescribed them I figured what the hell."

"So the counseling isn't helping?"

"I guess I don't really know. I uh, I just keep taking the pills." He paused. "I knew this would happen. I'm just like everyone else in my family," he said in a hushed voice.

"Shhhh. It's OK. It hasn't been that long. It's OK to take them Reese."

"But I'm becoming dependent on them," he said sternly. "I haven't even tried to fall asleep without them the last few days, and here I am tonight and the first thing I think of is that I won't be able to sleep without one. What the hell was I thinking taking them?!"

"Hey, hey relax. There's nothing to worry about." She kissed him. "It's only been a few days, and you're stronger than this. Let's see how tonight goes, and then we'll take it one step at a time."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am," she smiled before kissing him once more. Faith lay back down, and Bosco turned so he could wrap his arm around her.

"'Nite Faith. I love you."

"I love you too Reese."
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To Be Continued in Another Story.....