“Did your dad and I tell you that you had to go live with Aunt Joanie because the new glasses cost too much money?” I asked.

“No, you just told me to be more careful sliding into the dirt,” he answered quietly.

“Would we ever even think about telling Mason or Hailey they had to leave our family if they got sick and needed expensive medicine?” I pushed gently.

“No, because they’re just little babies,” he said, shaking his head.

“Then we don’t get to say that about you either, Austin, because you’re our son every bit as much as they’re our children,” I told him fiercely.

He looked down at his socks and stayed quiet for a long moment, turning my words over in his careful little mind.