that were the case, I might have spent a little more time than usual making myself look less worn out.

When I was finished brushing my teeth and brushing my hair, I wanted to slap myself for letting

Dewayne’s opinion affect me. I was better than that. I was tougher than that. Being pretty wasn’t

something I worried about normally. I went to my closet, pulled out a pair of shorts, and pulled them

on, then grabbed a tank top. I would not think about my clothing choices. I was not going to dress

nicer than this for a visit across the street. I intended to do some yard work today and have a picnic in

the backyard with my son. No reason to dress up. I’d already spent more time on my face than was

necessary for those activities.

I slipped my feet into a pair of flip-flops and refused to care that I hadn’t painted my toenails since

taking off the old polish last week. It did not matter. At all.

“You ready, Momma?” Micah asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet, looking out the screen

door toward the Falcos’ house. He was anxious to see them again now that he knew they were his

family.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, reaching for his hand and opening the door. “Let’s go meet your

grandparents.”

“I already met them, Momma. Remember?”

I nodded. “Yes, you did, but this time will be different because now they know how important you

are to them.”

Micah seemed to take that in as he started walking toward the street, pulling me with him.

Dewayne’s truck was still in the driveway, and although I knew he needed to see Micah and talk to

him now that Micah knew he was family, I kind of wish he had left.

As much as I shouldn’t care about the ‘average’ comment, it had hurt my feelings, and it was going

to make me feel uncomfortable around him. I hated that. I wished I could just get over it. That teenage

crush I had on Dewayne was rearing its ugly head and taunting me with his opinion of me. Men

sucked.

DEWAYNE

Momma stood at the door, watching Micah and Sienna walk toward the house. She was wringing her

hands, barely able to contain herself. She’d been watching their house ever since we got back home. I

was glad Sienna wasn’t going to make her wait. She had talked to Micah right away, it looked like.

Figures the kid would be curious and want to come over. He was like his dad in that way.

“Look at him. He’s so perfect. Looks just like Dustin,” Momma breathed in awe as they walked up

the front steps.

“Open the door for them, Momma,” I told her.

Dad stood up from his spot on the sofa and walked over to join her as they greeted their grandson.

Dad’s hand settled on Momma’s back, and she reached back to squeeze his hand. This was good for

them. Micah was gonna be good for them.

Momma opened the door just as Micah arrived. He studied her for a moment, then looked at Dad.

Everyone remained silent, waiting on him to say something. Finally he shrugged and held out his

arms. “So, I’m your grandson.”

His statement caused everyone to relax, and both my parents started laughing. Then Momma bent

down and held her arms out to him. “Yes, you are, and I’d really like a hug from my grandson.”

Micah went into her arms willingly. His little gaze met mine across the room, and he smiled. “Hey,

Uncle Dewayne,” he said.

Nothing in my life had prepared me for that. I managed not to make an idiot of myself by getting

emotional like a fucking woman and nodded. “Hey, little man,” I replied with a grin.

He pulled away from Momma and looked up at her seriously. “You got any cookies?” he asked.

Momma’s laughter was musical and light. I hadn’t heard that in a really long time. “Yes, I do. I

made a batch just for you. Come on in the kitchen.”

“First I need my hug,” Dad said, and Micah walked over to him as Dad bent down to hug him.

“You’re really big. My daddy was really big like my uncle Dewayne. I seen pictures. Do you have

pictures of him?”

Dad tensed up for a moment, then relaxed. We hadn’t looked at photos of Dustin since his death.

We never even talked about him. But this kid was gonna want to talk about him.

“Yeah, we got lots of photos of your daddy. We can look at ’em together,” he said, and Micah

beamed up at him excitedly.

“You hear that, Momma? You was right! They got lots of pictures of Daddy,” he said, looking back

at Sienna.

It was the first time since they’d walked in the house that I’d allowed myself to actually look at

her. And it was a mistake because, damn it all to hell, she had on shorts and a tight little shirt that

showed just how above average she was. Her hair was brushed into silky waves, and I missed the

mussed look from this morning. I wanted to muss it up again. While those legs were wrapped around

me. No! Fuck! I had to stop that shit. She was Micah’s mom. Not a fuck buddy.

“Come on in, young lady. We have cookies for you, too,” Dad told Sienna, who hadn’t spoken yet.

She blushed and glanced at me, then back at my dad. “I’m okay. Probably shouldn’t eat cookies this

early in the morning.”

Dad put his arm around her shoulders. “Cookies are for all hours of the day. Don’t you know that? I

remember when you ate Tabby’s cookies whenever you stepped foot in that door.”

“I was younger and in better shape then,” she replied, her blush getting worse.

What the hell was she talking about? The woman had curves in all the right places. It didn’t get

better than that.

“You’re still a spring chicken. Better eat those cookies now. Middle age will change all that. Eat

’em while you’re young.”

Sienna laughed and walked with my dad to the kitchen. I remained where I was, unsure where I fit

in here. It was my parents’ house, but suddenly I felt like the outisider.

“Uncle Dewayne! Come eat these cookies with me. Mama T has real milk too,” Micah called out to

me. Then again, maybe I did have a place.

SIENNA

The Falcos hadn’t been ready to let Micah leave. He’d been catered to all day long, and he was eating

up all the attention. Dewayne had left around four, telling Micah bye and that he’d see him soon.

Shortly after Dewayne left, I’d tried to leave with Micah because I still hadn’t gone to the grocery

store. I always went on Sundays to get ready for the week. Micah, however, had latched on to the idea

of staying with Tabby and Dave while I did my grocery shopping. So I let him.

I wasn’t sure if I could remember a time that I’d gone grocery shopping without Micah. He was

always with me, so I was used to telling him no and talking him out of sugary snacks. This was a much

quieter and rather peaceful experience. I loved my son, but I decided I liked grocery shopping without

him.

I took my time walking down each aisle and thinking about what we needed and how much money I

had to work with. I kept a calculator in my purse for shopping because I had tried doing the math in

my head but it’s embarrassing when you get to the checkout and have to take things out of bags and

give them back because you don’t have enough money.

With no rent, we had more than we normally did for food, and it was nice to be able to splurge on

the mint chocolate chip ice cream that Micah loved and some lemon tea for me. I stopped in front of

the bread and looked for a sandwich bread that was healthy but still looked white enough that I could

trick Micah into eating it. I also had to find one that didn’t cost too much. Five dollars for a loaf of

bread was ridiculous. Most of the time I could find a honey wheat that was light enough that Micah

wouldn’t complain.

“Bread is a serious matter. I can tell you agree,” a masculine voice said beside me, and I turned