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

I stood in front of the stuffed animal aisle, overwhelmed. I wanted Tony to have a teddy T-Rex. The only one they had was taller than he was and would not be something he would be able to carry around.


“I just want a dinosaur teddy bear,” I said in despair. “That’s all. Just a teddy bear that’s also a dinosaur. And not a freaking dinosaur wannabe wearing a watch and a pair of sunglasses! Is that too much to ask in twenty-first century America? Come on! And this is Boston! I thought you people could just bend over and pull anything you wanted straight out of your asses.”


“There are many teddy bear alternatives that will do just as nicely, Wiley, and I do wish you would choose one so we can go. And anything you pick here is going to look a lot nicer than that sad, pathetic teddy bear he’s currently dragging around.”


“Maybe I should get him a Cookie Monster.”


“He didn’t grow up in the seventies, Wiley. Honestly!”


“I don’t know what kids like these days!”


Chapter 36