We walk out of the store, and I see Justin on the phone with someone. When Dylan opens the door, I hear him say. “Okay, I got to go. Make it happen.”

“Did you find anything?” he asks, looking in the back at Dylan who just nods his head. I sit in the car next to Justin, and I realize that his whole outfit probably cost what I make in six months.

“Do you want to stop somewhere so he can change?” he asks, and I just shake my head.

“He can change in the car,” I say, and he looks at me. We make it to church, and when I get out, I’m looking around to make sure no one is there watching me.

“You okay?” Justin asks, and I just nod.

“I’m just nervous,” I say the truth. “I’m waiting for Andrew to show up and blame me for keeping him away from Dylan.”

“Gotta say, sweetheart. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold myself back if that happens,” he says, and just the way he says it, I know that he means it, but the last thing I want is for Justin to be in trouble because of us.

“I changed,” Dylan says, coming out of the back seat wearing his new clothes. I walk over to him and twist his shorts so they are straight. “Mom,” he groans, and I grab his hand.

“Let’s go before we don’t have any seats,” I say, and we walk into the church. I see more than one head turn to look our way. It’s not hard to see why. I even hear a couple of whispers, but I ignore them and walk up to Father Rolly. “Hey there,” I say, and he smiles at me and then looks at Dylan.

“Did you grow?” He asks him the same question every Sunday. “You are almost going to pass me.”

“Father,” I say. “This is Justin, a friend of ours.”

“Father,” Justin says, extending his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” he says. “Now go sit.”

“Do you need anything?”

“You did what you needed to do on Friday.” He smiles at me. “And it was perfect.”

“Thank you,” I say and turn to walk down the aisle to sit in one of the pews.

We sit in the middle of the church. I wait for Dylan to go in, and then Justin waits for me to sit, and then he takes the seat next to me at the end of the pew. The service is just under an hour, and when it’s done, we walk out of the church, and I walk to the car with my head high for once.

Justin must sense it because he puts Dylan in the car, and we take off. “Are we going to our house now?” Dylan asks, and I’m about to turn around when Justin speaks up.