Chapter 163

“With this ring…”

It didn’t happen.

I sighed. “Six kids, right?” I picked up the family portrait and held it so both of us could see. “We should start right away, so ours and Shell and Rip’s can grow up together. Actually, ours doesn’t have to be a baby. There are so many older kids in need of homes.”

I took a deep breath, then lifted myself up out of the chair. I offered Patrick a kiss on the cheek, then, the eyelids, ever so gently. Finally, I gave him one on the lips, as best I could, where the tubes were.

“The ring didn’t do it. The kiss…? Come on, Patrick…Paddy…Big Red.”

I waited.

“No, huh?”

None of the blips on any one of five monitors changed their rhythm.