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

One did not need a college degree to do this. One did not even need a high school diploma.


Nervously, Michael took the staple gun and gave it a try. He did fine until he reached the end of the sofa back. He caught his foot on a corner of the wooden frame and fell backward on his butt.


This was greeted by a chorus of laughter.


“So he’s both deaf and dumb!” one of the workers exclaimed.


I turned around, smiled, looking over the fellas while I reminded myself to be nice.


“Someone has a sense of humor,” I said casually.


They hemmed and hawed and quieted down.


“If you want to insult him, I could translate for you,” I offered. “Might as well say it to his face, right? Strap on a pair. All of that. I mean, you’re not going to be insulting the cripple behind his back, are you?”


They looked at each other, at the floor, at their supervisor, but they did not look at me.


Chapter 45