David played a boxing video game with Courtney and everybody laughed when she knocked him out on-screen. Shawn grilled burgers and they ate and laughed together. David watched Nate eat as he gathered more video footage—scarfing french fries as he held the phone, the ultimate multitasker.

Courtney put the horse on her bed and ate beside David and followed him all afternoon. They played another video game, and this time David had no mercy for his little sister—and she still beat him! As the afternoon continued, Courtney pulled him into her room and showed him some of the drawings she had made.

“These are fantastic, Courtney. You really have a lot of talent at this. I hope you keep up with it.”

She didn’t seem to hear the compliment. She left the room and he found her on the couch and sat by her.

“What’s with the long face?” he said.

“I don’t want you to leave. I just got my big brother.”

“Hey, it’s so awesome to finally meet you. I still can’t believe I have a sister.” David looked into her eyes and saw the hurt there and wasn’t sure of everything Courtney had been through. Suddenly he got an idea. “I want you to have something.” He unclasped his necklace with the cross on it. Courtney moved her ponytails and he put it around her neck and fastened it. She held up the cross and looked at it, then turned to David with a smile. Then she hugged him and put her head on his shoulder.

Melissa and Shawn walked into the room, trailed by Nate with his camera.

“Hey, David,” Melissa said. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

Nate stepped forward for a better shot, and Shawn turned and glared at him.

“Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just filming everything,” Nate said with a nervous laugh. “By the way, this is gold.” He put an arm around Shawn and whispered, “Pure gold.”

Shawn gave a reluctant nod and stepped away.

“So I’m kind of a tomboy,” Melissa said. “And I like a little adventure. Shawn does, too, as long as it doesn’t include heights. I’ve seen your cliff-jumping videos, and I wondered if you would do something with me.”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Would you go skydiving with me while you’re here? No one will go with me.”

It felt like something came alive inside David at that moment. “What? Are you kidding? I’ve always wanted to go! No one will ever take me.” He looked at his parents.

His dad smiled and said, “We’ll watch from the ground.”

Shawn smiled. “No, intentionally jumping out of a perfectly good airplane just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.”

“I’m in,” David said to Melissa.

“Really? Yes!”