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 took his hand into my own, traced a circle in his palm, looked at him, and smiled. He did not look at me, but rather looked at his hand, as if waiting for me to do it again. So I did, and several more times after that. Then I pointed my index finger at him.


You,I signed. Be a good boy. We’ll come to see you soon. Okay?


He let himself fall into my arms, sobbed softly against my neck.


I wanted to pick him up and carry him right out of there.


When he pulled away, I rubbed gently at the tears on his cheeks and smiled at him, hoping to encourage him. He stared at me, his blue eyes filled with misery. They wanted to say something, those eyes, but he couldn’t seem to find the courage or the words. It seemed like I was finally seeing the little boy inside there, lost in that world that was his small body and fucked-up life.


Chapter 39