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"You’re a sirl, Sienna Use that brain of yours and make a life that kid you were determined to have deserves Let the past be the past" And with that, Aunt Cathy hung up the phone

I wasn’t surprised Not really She’d always been that way Not once had she cooed over or cuddled Micah She had treated us as if she was our warden, and now I realized that was really all she ever had been But I’d been so desperate for so to give

I looked out theat the Falcos’ across the street They loved us More important, they loved Micah Maybe it was tiet the past If she wanted to see Micah, as I to keep her fro family He deserved it

A knock on the bedroo her I put the phone doalked over, and opened it up to Dewayne holding a sleeping Micah

"You want to change him before you put him in bed?" he asked in a whisper

I nodded "Take him to his room and lay him on the bed I’ll take it from there"

Dewayne did as instructed I followed him to Micah’s roo Micah into his paja, but it wasn’t happening Whichelse, I tucked Micah in and slipped quietly fro roo at the pictures of Micah andthe mantel One was from the day he learned to take his first steps Another was froraduated from beauty school

"You were just a kid here," he said, picking up the photo of me and Micah when he’d taken his first steps

"I was alhteen," I said But I had been a kid

"You look so proud of him You don’t look tired or bitter Just happy"

"I was happy My baby boy alking, and I was the only person he would walk to He was trying to followwasn’t fast enough"

Dewayne set it back down "Do you have extras? I’d like photos of him and you My mom and dad would too"

I had taken soletters I’d also been keeping a scrapbook for my parents up until he was three and I realized they were never going to reach out and get to know Micah So I’d stoppedit But I still had it

"I have a scrapbook of his first three years that y’all can have I can get you copies of photos from the past two years to add to it"

Dewayne srows I want to see you with hi the way he looks at you It says a lot about you and what kind ofHe tells s you’ve taken his you cook that he loves I think Morinned when he said it That was the only reason I kneas kidding I didn’t want toto walk into his life and change it I just wanted Micah to get to be a part of his life Micah already loved hi him

He chuckled and nodded "Yeah, she does Don’t knohy"

Because you’re lovable and kind Because youheart I re the tiirl feel safe in high school I didn’t say any of those things, though I couldn’t Not now Not after last night

"You’re blushing You thinking about last night?" he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes

I coveredmy tendency to blush

"It’s okay I can’t see about it either"

Oh my The silly flip my heart always did around hiot to stop thinking about it You do too We can’t go there We have Micah to think about, and I don’t do relationships, Sienna It’s not me I’m my own man I don’t like to be tied down I don’t even want to think of settling down Being the -down type You need a Ca his hand between the two of us, "we’re friends Hell, we’re family That boy in there is what’s important, and we both love hi that won’t end well"

The fluttering stopped It sank tosure I got that he wasn’t interested in so with me Just some phone sex and he was ready to e" coht? It ain’t that you aren’t gorgeous You’ll make a man a really lucky sonuvabitch one day I’irls sew their wild oats with But I’ll be the best da, you come tofor me because of Micah That was it If it weren’t for Micah, he wouldn’t care that I was back That I existed I was a young single ot me by froot that But hearing Dewayne say I wasn’t enough hit me hard Really hard

I just nodded I couldn’t speak

He smiled, walked over, and pressed a kiss to my forehead like I was a kid Then he turned and left

I stood there for a long ti it all sink in Toet Dewayne Falco But right noasn’t ready

DEWAYNE