“Hi.” Her shy guy spoke softly, then whispered in her ear.

Sarah whispered back and Nick smiled. She looked right into Margaret’s eyes and told her what Nick said. “Nick would like to know if he can have a candy, too. He also wants you to know that his daddy said he misses you.”

Margaret gasped. She recovered quickly, hiding the shock in her eyes. “Of course you can have a candy, Nick.”

Sarah set Nick down and stretched her aching back. It often hurt because she was always carrying the boys. They wouldn’t be little for long and she tried hard to enjoy these moments and not take them for granted.

Nick received his candy and smiled with a mix of happiness and wariness. Margaret looked over the boys’ heads and eyed Sarah up and down, obviously finding her lacking, before she scooted the boys up the steps. “Go find the cookies on the counter in the kitchen.”

Sarah didn’t like the boys having so many goodies right before dinner, but she held her tongue, not wanting to start off on the wrong foot.

Once the boys cleared the front door, Margaret turned on her. “How dare you say that their father misses me! You have some nerve coming here and speaking of Sean as if he’s still alive.” Margaret shook with anger and grief.

She obviously didn’t intend to be civil.

Sarah had vowed to remain calm no matter what. She would not argue with Margaret or engage in any kind of yelling or verbal sparring. She’d had enough with people yelling when she was growing up and didn’t raise her voice unless absolutely necessary. The boys deserved to know their grandmother, and she was going to make sure they got the opportunity. “Nick asked me to tell you that.”

“He needs to understand Sean isn’t coming back. The doctor told you that two years ago when Nick was having nightmares,” Margaret challenged.

Sarah took a slow breath to calm her rising ire. She had seen Jack and Nick through their tears and grief. She had finally gotten them to accept their father’s death, though they did so in different ways.

Jack always wanted to hear stories about Sean. Every night at bedtime, Sarah told him one of her memories. He especially liked the stories that included Jack and his father together. It made Sean real to both the boys, whose memories of their dad faded a little more each day.

Nick’s acceptance had taken longer. Even though he was younger and everyone thought he would forget his father, that wasn’t the case. Nick began having dreams about his dad immediately after Sean’s death. At first, Nick woke up scared and confused and wondered why his father wasn’t home. The doctor told Sarah not to encourage him, but to coax him to accept Sean wasn’t coming back. Even so young, Nick seemed to understand his father was gone, but couldn’t reconcile why he saw him on their nightly adventures.