A sob shook the boy’s small body, and his tears soaked through Seamus’s T-shirt. After a while, the sobs morphed into hiccups, but Seamus never stopped rubbing the little back. Eventually, Kyle’s breathing settled, and Seamus wondered if he’d fallen back to sleep. He kept the rocking chair moving until he was certain the boy was back to sleep.

Then he stood carefully and walked back to the bedroom, where he deposited Kyle in his bed, pulled the covers up and over him and kissed his sweaty forehead. He sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, waiting to make sure Kyle had settled into sleep. When he got up to leave the room, he fixed Jackson’s covers and smoothed the hair off his forehead before leaving them to sleep.

Though he was now wide awake and overwhelmed by the weight of the responsibility he and Caro had assumed for these precious children, Seamus got back in bed.

“What’s wrong?” Caro asked as she curled up to him.

Seamus put his arms around her. “Kyle was awake and crying, so we spent some time in the rocker. The poor guy asked me if his mom is really not coming back.”

“Oh Lord. What did you say?”

“I told him the truth. What else could I say?”

“That was the right thing to do. I remember when Joe asked me that after his dad died. I was always honest with him. It took a while for him to understand how long forever really is.”

“I forget that you’ve already been through this with one heartbroken little boy, and now I’ve got you back in the same boat again.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but in that boat with you and Kyle and Jackson. We’re going to get them through this, Seamus. It won’t happen overnight, but one day they’ll find a way to accept what’s happened, and when they do, they’ll go back to being the happy little guys they once were.”

“You promise, love?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I sure hope so, because I already love them an awful lot, and I find myself wishing for a magic wand that could make everything right in their world again.”

“Since we don’t have a magic wand handy, we’ll just have to love them through it.”

“We did the right thing taking them in, didn’t we?”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“Not about wanting them or anything like that.”

“Then what?”

“I guess I worry that I’m not up to the job of being their dad. We know you’ve got this mother gig mastered. You’ve already raised one fantastic son, so you’re an expert. But they’re getting a rookie with me, and I’m feeling out of my league already.”

Her shoulder shook under his hand.

“Are you laughing at me, Carolina O’Grady?”