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“Right, then we can be brothers.” Victor chimed in.

“Well, dang. You two have it all figured out.”

“Yep! I told you, Vick.”

“Can you ask my dad, Ms. Shiloh? He said you don’t care if my mom still comes see me.”

“Let us figure all that out. Y’all just eat.”

“And tell my dad that you’re getting back together with him so he doesn’t take away my game.”

“Oh, that’s what this is all about?” I asked.

“I want you and my dad to be happy again, but I also don’t want to get in trouble.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s up to him.”

Right on cue, there was a knock on the door. Victor was on my heels as I walked over to the door to let Quinton in. When I opened the door, Victor spoke before I could.

“Ms. Shiloh said she’s going to take you back, Dad. I don’t have to get in trouble.”

Quinton shook his head as he grabbed Victor into a hug. “Come here, boy! Do you know how scared I was?”

“I’m OK, Daddy. Tell him, Ms. Shiloh.”

“He appears to be fine, and he knows how dangerous what he did was. He also apologized for upsetting me and asked me to take you back.”

“Vick, don’t you ever do that again. I told you I was going to bring you over here when you were ready.”

“Well, I was ready, and I didn’t want to keep seeing you walking around like you were sad because of me. You said Ms. Shiloh wasn’t mad with me, but you wouldn’t bring me to make sure. I had to do something.”

“Thank you, buddy, but you might as well pack that game up and put it in my room when we get home.”

“Since you’re here, you two might as well have dinner with us. I made more than enough.”

“Yeah, Dad, she made lasagna. You love lasagna.”

I looked at Quinton, and he shook his head when our eyes met. “We might as well stay, but don’t think you’re off the hook.”

“But I got your girl back for you, Dad. Don’t forget about that,” Victor mentioned.

“Don’t even try it,” Quinton said, shaking his head.

16

Shiloh

Six Months Later

It had been four months since my boys and I had moved in with Quinton, and I couldn’t believe how well we worked together. He still dropped the boys off at school, but now I picked them up every day and came home and helped them with their homework and made dinner by the time daddy made it home.

The highlight of my stay so far had been the visit with Victor’s mom. After being released from the rehab center, she moved into a sober-living home. They helped her get a job, and she used part of her first check to bring Victor all kinds of gifts. I was so happy for him. She even thanked me for being there for her baby when she couldn’t be.

The most surprising turn of events was Theo and his dad becoming pen pals. Maurice doubled down on not wanting me to stop living my life just because his life was on pause and not wanting me dragging his son back and forth to a prison to see him. Initially, I didn’t know how to feel about Maurice coming back in our lives, but at the end of the day, he was Theo’s dad.

I would have hated to keep him away from his son and have Theo grow up to resent me. I left the decision up to Theo. When he asked if Quinton could still be his dad even when his real dad came back, I knew that I had made the right decision by letting him into our lives. My little family was beyond perfect.

Since it was boys’ night out, we were at the movies. Every other weekend, we did something with the boys. We even brought Trey to the movies for a change. Since he was now walking, he was squirming like crazy, trying to get Quinton to put him down so he could wander around.