Faith

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Emmy took a bath and changed into her pajamas at the same time that Mari put on her own nightgown and brushed her teeth. When Mari was done using the bathroom sink, Emmy brushed her teeth. Once both were ready to settle in for the night, Emmy remembered that her favorite movie was on. "Mommy, can I stay up a couple of hours later?" she asked, turning on the TV.

"Nice try," Mari said, swinging her daughter up onto her hip and carrying her to bed. "It's past your bedtime already. I need to get up and go to work, and you need to get up and go to school. Let's go." When she got Emmy to her room, she gently laid her on her bed and tucked her in. "Good night, my little night owl. I love you," Mari said, kissing her daughter goodnight.

"I love you too, Mommy," Emmy said.

Mari turned off the light and left the room. When she was gone, Emmy prayed, "Dear God, thank you for my mommy and Ashlyn and her daddy and for taking care of my daddy in Heaven. I would love a new daddy one day, and I think Ashlyn's daddy would be perfect, but Mommy won't date him because he doesn't believe in You. Please help him to believe in You so he can be my new daddy and Ashlyn and I can be sisters. In Your name, Amen."

The next day after the lab closed, as he had said, Joe went over to Rick's house to check out his invention. Rick was still really nervous, but he tried to hide it. He led his boss down to his basement, and Ashlyn followed them. "My daddy's invention is the best!" she told Joe. "I bet he would win at any science fair and become one of the most famous scientists in history!"

Rick chuckled and picked up his daughter. "Honey, we should let Mr. Dollar see for himself," he said, patting her back. He then looked at Joe with a pleading expression on his face. "Please don't hate it and say I'm fired, sir," he begged. "As you can see, I am a hardworking single father with an adorable daughter. I need to pay for our home and for her school."

"I'm sure I'll like your invention. You are a brilliant scientist," Joe assured him, patting his back. "Show me how it works."

"All right," Rick said. Still holding Ashlyn on his hip, he said, "Ashlyn, press the blue button."

Ashlyn pressed the blue button, and the machine did exactly what it did the day before. Joe drank a glass of fresh lemonade and said, "Wow, Rick, this is delicious! You know what? I want you to make more of these and sell them at the science convention. They'd really be a hit."

Rick was overjoyed. "Thank you so much, sir!" he exclaimed, shaking his boss's hand.

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