Tears fell from his eyes as he looked up at me. “How could Angie have done this to an innocent little baby?”

I pulled him into my arms. “I don’t know, sweet boy. I don’t know…”

The cafeteria had opened for breakfast, so I’d gone and got us some coffee.

After identifying Angie’s body as her next of kin, Austin, along with me, had met with the coroner and had arranged for his mother to be cremated. When I’d left him, the boy was rifling through the clothes and items that Angie had been brought in with, but he wasn’t there when I returned.

“Are you looking for Austin?” a male nurse asked me from behind.

“Yeah,” I turned toward the guy. “Where did he go?”

“Nurse Fogarty took him down to Neo-Natal ICU. I’ll take you to him.”

When I found him, Austin was staring through the glass at the tiniest baby I’d ever seen. The little girl had tubes inserted into every limb and a ventilator in her mouth. It was a jarring sight.

“What’s her name?” I asked, coming up behind him and putting my arms around him.

“She doesn’t have one yet,” Austin replied glumly.

I’d never been in a situation like this, so I wasn’t sure what to say. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine,” he sighed. “I’m not the one who was poisoned in utero and might have to live with all kinds of problems because of that monster, Angie!” There was venom in his words.

“You’re right,” I agreed. “Your mother was an irresponsible bitch, and if she hadn’t died, I would beat the hell out of her myself.”

Austin smiled up at me. “It looks like we’re on the same page.”

“We are,” I said, our gazes going back to the infant. “She has pretty brown skin.”

“Yeah, I asked the doctor about that. Just like when she had me, Angie didn’t list a father on the birth certificate, so my sister and I have that in common. They think her father must’ve been Latino or black.”

I nodded. “If she’s anything like her older brother, she’s strong and won’t need a biological father.”

Austin looked up at me, tears coming from his eyes. “What are we going to do, Hank?”

“Well,” I squeezed his shoulder, “there’s only one choice here.”

“And what’s that?”

“We’re gonna stay here until your sister is ready to come home with us, and we’re gonna raise her and take care of her no matter what.”

“Oh, Hank!” he cried as I pulled him into my arms. “We truly are on the same page…”

Four years later…

It was Emma’s birthday. Wearing a birthday hat, the little girl was running and playing with her friends from Pre-K. Also in attendance were Ms. Woaweesa, Tonya, her husband, their two kids, Coach Murdock, Rob Murdock, and their infant son, Brick Jr. There was cake, there was ice cream, there were burgers, there were hot dogs… And most importantly, there were friends and there was love.