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 could tell these words were costing him. I knew exactly what he was trying to say.


“I wantto say something,” he countered. “One day…well, it was the day of Noah’s funeral. I remember walking behind you as we entered the church and went to sit down and get ready for the funeral mass. You were so devastated, so hurt, so out of your mind. And I didn’t realize how much you loved that boy. I knew it, of course. But I didn’t knowit. I thought…well, I don’t know what I thought. But that day, walking behind you—Jesus, you could hardly stand up that day—I knew I was a complete fuckwad. Just like you said in that frickin’ book. And don’t think I’m forgiving you for that book, because I’m not. Not yet, anyway. But you were right, what you wrote about me. That was the day I realized you were right. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”


Chapter 119