“Don’t make my momma cry,” was his simple demand.

“It’s okay, baby. I promise. We just have to talk about good stuff, like Dewayne watching you

again and maybe you visiting Tab . . . Mama T again. Okay?”

Micah looked back at her and studied her face before nodding, but he didn’t look real sure. Then he

wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed tightly before letting her go. He then turned and ran

to the door.

When the screen door closed behind him, Sienna turned to look at me. “You took him over there

without asking me.”

I had been prepared for those to be the first words out of her mouth. “They missed the first five

years of his life, Sienna. Dustin was their baby. Their golden boy. They have mourned him for the past

six years. It wasn’t fair that all this time they could have had a part of Dustin that they didn’t even

know about.”

Sienna’s back went stiff, and she raised her chin in a defensive pose. Damn, she was even more

gorgeous when fire was flashing in her eyes. “I sent them photos of him for two years. I begged your

mother for help when I realized my parents were disowning me if I kept the baby. Nothing,” she said.

“Nothing. I got nothing from your mother. She never once replied. I grew up in that house.” Sienna

pointed to my parents’ house. “It was my second home. I loved those people, and then, when I needed

them most, when Dustin’s child needed them, they turned their back on me too. You have no idea how

that felt. No idea.”

I heard the words she was saying, but I knew for a fact that my parents had known nothing about

Micah. My mother would have been in Fort Worth by Sienna’s side if she’d known. Something was

off here.

“You know Momma, Sienna. She’d have been there if she knew. She would have been there every

motherfucking step of the way. Momma loved Dustin, and she loved you. Micah would have been the

center of her world.”

Sienna was shaking her head. “No, she wouldn’t, because she wasn’t. I see that she still lives at the

same address, Dewayne. She hasn’t moved. I sent her letters. More than I can count. Not once did she

respond. Not once.”

This wasn’t right. I just didn’t have an answer other than that my mother didn’t know about Micah.

She couldn’t. She would have wanted that baby. She would have made sure Sienna had everything she

needed.

“We need to talk to Momma. Something isn’t right. She doesn’t know, Sienna. Hell, my father

almost passed out when he figured it out. Momma still doesn’t know who he is, but when I told Dad

who Micah’s mother was, he saw Dustin in the boy immediately. He wouldn’t move from his side

from that moment on. He asked him questions and he watched him with complete fascination. When

we left, he kissed his head. My dad kissed Micah’s head . My dad isn’t affectionate. You know that. So

tell me you believe they knew about Micah and ignored him.”

Sienna stood there, and then, instead of arguing, she burst into tears. Shit! Micah was gonna be so

damn pissed at me.

SIENNA

They wanted him. His dad had kissed Micah’s head. For years I had longed for Micah to have family.

Grandparents who loved him. Someone other than just me and Aunt Cathy. This was all too much. I

had sent those letters to Tabby. Was it possible she hadn’t received them? So many of them?

“Fuck, Sienna. Please don’t cry. Micah will blame me,” Dewayne said, sounding panicked. The fact

that Dewayne Falco was worried about a five-year-old boy being mad at him made me cry harder. He

wanted Micah to like him. He wanted to be a part of Micah’s life too. I hadn’t expected this at all.

Returning to Sea Breeze had been something that terrified me.

But this . . . I hadn’t needed to be scared of this. I had been worried about Micah being hurt. But

instead Micah got others who love him and want to be a part of his life. The fear of what would

happen to him if I died wasn’t as heavy anymore. I had always lived with that constant terror. Micah

was going to have a family. One bigger than just me. A group of people who he could trust to be there

for him.

“I sent letters . . . pictures,” I said, mostly for my benefit, to remind myself I had tried to tell her . .

. to tell them.

Dewayne nodded. “I believe you. I do. I just know my momma didn’t get them.”

That was the Tabby Falco I remembered. The one who Dewayne insisted would have been there if

she’d known. The one who wouldn’t have let me live in Fort Worth in a house with an aunt who didn’t

approve of me being a pregnant teen but who wasn’t going to force me to give up my baby. She had

given me a roof over my head and a ride when I needed it, but she hadn’t been warm and kind.

I wiped at my now-wet face and took a deep breath to calm myself. Dewayne was right. Micah

wouldn’t understand my tears, and he’d be upset. He didn’t like seeing me cry. I think it scared him.

“If they want to be a part of Micah’s life, I want that for him. He needs family. He wants it.” I

swallowed and concentrated on not breaking down again when I said this to Dewayne. “He has always

wondered where his grandparents were. Other kids had them, and he didn’t understand why all he had

was a momma, and an aunt who he wasn’t very close to. She was more like a landlord.”

Dewayne looked pained. “They’re gonna adore the kid. He will have the best damn grandparents on

earth. Just give them a chance. If you can do that, you may save them both. Micah is what they need.

He’ll bring back the joy that Dustin took with him.”

Micah and I needed to talk first. “Give me time to help him understand. And then I’ll call you and

let you know we’re ready. But I need to make sure that your mother didn’t get those letters. Because I

sent them . . . and if she got them and . . .” I trailed off. I hated saying to her son that she could have

known about Micah and hid it from Dewayne and his father. I’d sent those letters. They couldn’t have

just vanished.

“She didn’t get them. How did you send them? Did you mail them from your aunt’s?”

I nodded. I had put them in the mailbox in the mornings.

“Would your aunt have taken them?”

No. Why would Aunt Cathy take them? She didn’t want us there with her. She was taking us in

because she didn’t want us on the streets. I shook my head. “I can’t imagine she would have.”

Dewayne frowned. He didn’t look convinced. “Momma didn’t get them. Something must have

happened to them. It’s possible someone intercepted them.”

I hoped he was right. Because more than anything, I wanted the Falcos to be a part of Micah’s life.

I wanted him to know the people who were a part of his father. I wanted him to see pictures of his

father growing up. All those things. I wanted them for him.

“You find out if she ever received those letters, and then I’ll talk to Micah. I need to know they

want to be a part of his life first.”

Dewayne nodded and shoved his hands in his front pockets. “I’ll talk to Momma and let you know

as soon as possible. But can we go ahead and confirm that I’m hanging out with Micah on Saturday

mornings while you work? I want that time.”

Micah needed that, and it would save me money. I nodded. “Yes. That’s good. If you can’t one

Saturday, just let me know at least a week in advance so I can make other arrangements.”

Dewayne grinned. “When you tell those people across the street that Micah is Dustin’s son, you

will have free child care whenever you want it.”

Something else I wasn’t used to.

We said our good-byes, and I watched as Dewayne turned and headed for his truck. I may have