Julian squeezed Nathan’s shoulder, and nobody made the moment bigger than it needed to be.

That night I looked at the photograph on my phone.

The boys’ faces were bright with anticipation, not with the desperate hope of being noticed.

Whatever happened next with Brian, this was the family they had built for themselves.

<strong>PART 21</strong>

Their graduation arrived on a warm evening in June.

The school had hung blue-and-silver streamers across the gym entrance, and parents crowded into the bleachers carrying flowers and phones.

For months I had worried about how to handle invitations.