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

As we passed a bookstore, Tony halted in his tracks and stared at a display window that featured a huge cutout T-Rex to promote a science book on dinosaurs. He gaped at that dinosaur, a goofy grin plastered on his face. He walked up to the glass, put his hand on it, captivated by the monster charging out of the display window.


He shrugged, which I took to mean he did not understand me, so I tried again. I pointed to the cutout of the T-Rex.


That’s a d-i-n-o-s-a-u-r. Here’s the sign for d-i-n-o-s-a-u-r.


See? I said you were a smart kid, didn’t I? Want to go see?


“You and your books,” Jackson said despairingly.


Chapter 18