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said.
    “How
do you feel about this girl, if you don’t mind me asking?”
    “I
think I love her. I don’t know. Can you love someone in six months?” he asked.
    Candace
smiled broadly. The innocence in his voice and his expression belied his age.
Jonah had always been focused on activities and school. She guessed that this
might just be his first experience with love.   “You’re asking me?” she winked at her son.
    “What
do I do?” he asked her.
    “What
do you want to do?” Candace asked him.
    “I
guess, I should marry her, right?”
    Candace
pursed her lips. “Is that what your heart tells you to do?” she asked.
    “No,
but it’s the right thing.”
    “The
right thing, Jonah, is to stand by Laura and this baby. That, I agree is the
right thing. You shouldn’t marry anyone unless your heart is in it all the way.
Trust me on that.”
    Jonah
nodded. He looked across at his mother who had closed her eyes in thought.
“Mom?”
    “Hum?”
    “I
really don’t know what to do.”
    Candace
opened her eyes. “I know. Why don’t we worry about that tomorrow,” she
suggested.
    Jonah’s
tears started to fall and Candace moved to embrace her son. “Jesus,” he
groaned. “I can’t do this. I’m crying on my mom.”
    Candace
chuckled. “If only you knew how many times I wished I could do that very
thing,” she told him.
    “Really?”
he asked.
    “I
swear. Thank God for Pearl. Now, come on. You know they are all out there
talking about us.”
    “Jameson
is going to think I am a total fuck up,” he commented.
    Candace
smiled at him. It warmed her heart that each of her children had grown to worry
about Jameson’s opinion. “Don’t underestimate her,” Candace said. “She might
surprise you. ”
    ***
    “Hey,”
Jameson called into the kitchen where Candace was standing at the stove.
    “Hey
yourself,” Candace replied.
    Jameson
slipped her arms around Candace’s waist. “How are you doing?” she wondered.
    Candace
turned and faced Jameson. “I can’t say I expected another grandchild this
soon,” Candace answered.
    “Mm.
Me neither,” Jameson agreed. “Seriously, are you okay with this?”
    “No,
not really. That doesn’t really matter, though. He needs us to be okay with
this,” Candace said.
    “Us?”
    “Yeah,
us,” Candace said. “He’s pretty concerned about what you will think of him,”
Candace told her wife.
    “Me?”
Jameson asked in surprise.
    “Jameson,
he looks up to you, you know?”
    Jameson
frowned. “No, I didn’t. I mean, I love Jonah. I just thought he saw me…”
    “I
know what you think, honey. I know it’s strange for you,” Candace sighed. “They
care about you.”
    “I
know,” Jameson admitted. “Just, sometimes I don’t know what I am supposed to be
to them. You know?”
    “I
do,” Candace said. “Maybe you could go talk to him,” she suggested. She pointed
out back to where Jonah was splitting some firewood. “I think he could use
someone to talk to right now. Someone not his mom and not a sister that will
tease or lecture him,” Candace explained.
    Jameson
looked out the window and sighed. “What am I supposed to say?”
    Candace
kissed Jameson gently. “Let him talk. Just be honest.”
    “You
know, you really are an amazing woman,” Jameson said.
    “You
think so?”
    “No.
I know so,” Jameson said with a kiss. “Are you going to call Pearl?” she asked
as she reached for her coat.
    “No,
she’s spending the weekend with Jeffrey. They need this time. I’ll call her
Monday.”
    Jameson
nodded with her hand on the door. “Wish me luck,” she said.
    “You
don’t need any,” Candace reassured Jameson. “Wine, maybe,” Candace said to
herself as she watched Jameson make her way toward Jonah. “Luck? No. Wine.
Definitely.”
    ***
    “So?
What do you think?” Michelle asked her mother.
    Candace
moved a pot onto the stove and turned to face her daughter. “About?”
    “About
Jonah!”
    “What
about