Years have gone by since the death of Noah his special needs son, and Wiley Cantrell realizes it’s time to move on. He and his husband Jackson try to adopt little Tony Gorzola, a deaf boy with HIV who is emotionally traumatized.<br><br>Difficulties quickly set in. Tony is a sweet boy but very damaged by abuse and neglect. And Tony’s mother, in prison, is unwilling to relinquish her parental rights. No sooner do they get the go ahead to foster Tony when another child they had considered becomes available -- the daughter Jackson always wanted.<br><br>With two children on their hands, life is complicated -- wonderfully so. But just as things begin to settle down, Tony, his immune system compromised, falls ill with pneumonia ... and Wiley and Jackson find their little family faced with crisis once again.

Go Tell It on the Mountains

“Hush now, honey,” I cooed into his ear. “Hush, hush, hush.”


I knew he couldn’t hear me, of course, and I was sorry for that. Whatever terrors and trials he had been through in his life, he had endured them in utter silence, without a comforting voice or word.


I rocked him gently back and forth, and I kept speaking. He eventually put a hand on my throat, as if to feel the vibrations of my words. After a while, he put his arms around me and stopped resisting. I pulled him closer, cradling his head with my hand, shifting my weight from one foot to the other so he would have a rocking motion to calm him.


I eased myself out of the water and carried him upstairs.


Jack followed, looking guilty and upset.


I set Tony down on the bed, crouched, gave him a long look.


Jackson nodded, offering an “I’m sorry” face.


Tony looked at him for a moment, lowered his eyes.


Chapter 12