I lean in and kiss him on the cheek. “I need to go. My uncle is waiting on me.” Without another word, I turn and walk away before the dam can break and I find myself helplessly crying in his arms like a fool.

I’m so confused and hurt that I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I just need to take every day for what it is and see how I feel. I want to wait for him. I do . . . but I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared.

When I get to the foster care place that my uncle asked me to meet him at, I park on the street behind his car and walk up to the building.

As soon as I open the door, I spot Mark standing around, talking to some older lady with long, white hair.

He nods at me and holds up his finger when he notices me watching him from afar.

I nod my head in understanding and take a seat in one of the chairs by the entrance.

Looking around, I start to feel sad, but for a whole new reason. The thought of these kids not having any parents to tuck them in at night or read them a bedtime story breaks my heart. Some of these kids have probably even been passed around from home to home, feeling as if no one loves them.

It really makes me wonder why Mark asked me to meet him here. I never even knew that he came here, but the way he’s talking to that lady makes me believe that he comes here often.

“Avalon.”

I look up at my uncle.

He nods his head. “Come on.”

Standing up, I walk over to my uncle and smile at the lady, as I follow him through the building and outside to the back, where there’s a bunch of kids playing.

I look at Mark to see him smile as his eyes land on a little girl with long, blonde hair.

It causes me to smile. “Who’s she?” I pause. “That look on your face tells me she’s somewhat special to you.”

He pulls his eyes away from the little girl and turns to look at me. “Her name is Kylie. She’s two years old and has been with two families since she was born. She’s special to me all right.”

“Oh,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say. “Why is she back here? What was wrong with the families she was with?”

He shakes his head and pulls his eyes away from me. “They weren’t good enough. There’s always something not good enough and I’m not going to just leave her with anyone. She deserves so much more than someone who doesn’t even give a damn that she’s breathing. At least here she has friends and the staff has practically become her family.”

I follow him as he walks through the playground, toward the little girl. He stops beside her and kneels down. “Kylie.”

As soon as Kylie looks over and sees Mark, she throws her arms around his neck and holds on, as if she’s been waiting for days to see him.

I get choked up, but quickly try to hide the tears that unwillingly slide down my face as I watch them. I’ve never seen Mark hold someone so close in my life. You would think it were his own daughter.

“I heard you’ve been good,” Mark says as she pulls away from the hug. “You’re always good, right?”

The little girl smiles and nods her head.

“I knew it,” mark says excitedly. “I have someone I want you to meet, okay? She’s important to me just like you are.”

Mark grabs her hand and stands up. He looks over at me, and motions with his head for me to come closer.

I smile nervously and walk over, stopping right in front of them. I’m stunned speechless when she looks up at me and my eyes meet her wide, curious ones.

“Oh wow,” I whisper.

Her eyes are the brightest shade of green I’ve ever seen, and in the upper right side of her left eye is a patch of gray. They’re absolutely the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.

Mark smiles. “Kylie, this is Avalon.” He stands behind her and pulls her long hair out of her face. “She’s very special to me. She’s like a daughter to me.”

Keeping my eyes on her wide ones, I kneel down in front of her and give her my best smile, fighting through all of my many emotions. “Hi, Kylie. That’s a beautiful name.”

She laughs and then turns to hide her face in Mark’s leg. Every few seconds she turns back to me, and laughs before hiding her face again.

I can’t help but to smile at her, and before I know it, I’m playing peek-a-boo with her, moving around Mark’s legs to get her.

“I’m going to get you!”

She lets go of Mark’s legs and takes off running in what looks like slow motion. She’s so darn cute and tiny that her small legs don’t take her very far.

We play for a good fifteen minutes, before she runs back over to Mark and he tackles her in a hug.

He looks up at me from the ground. “It’s about her dinner time.” Standing up, he grabs Kylie’s shoulders and looks down at her. “Would you like Avalon here to come back and visit with me next week?”

Kylie looks up at me. Her eyes meet mine and she laughs, while nodding her head.

“Alright. Why don’t you go have Lynn clean you up for dinner.” He looks over at the white haired lady as she appears next to him and grabs Kylie’s hand. “Thank you.”

She nods her head and grabs Mark’s shoulder. “Thank you. We’ll see you next week.”

With that, she walks away, pulling Kylie along beside her.

The look in Mark’s eyes as he watches them walk away tugs at my heart, but I have no idea what to say to him. This is a side of him that I’ve never seen before. It makes me wonder what got him here in the first place.

The walk back out front to our vehicles is silent, but I can’t help but to notice the pain etched across his face.

I watch as Mark leans against his car and runs his hands through his messy hair. He keeps looking over at the building as if he wants to go back.

“Why did you ask me here? What is going on?”

He turns around to grip the top of his car. “There’s something you should know.” He turns to face me, and swallows before speaking. “I’m not sure what all Royal has told you . . .”

“Don’t stop there, dammit.” I growl out when he stops. “You can’t mention his name and then stop. Tell me,” I push. “What does this have to do with Royal?”

“I need you to listen and I need you to listen close.” His voice cracks. “I was there the night his fiancé got murdered.” He slaps the top of his car and hangs his head low. “I was just a rookie then; had only been on the job for a few weeks at that point and I had no idea what to expect.” He pauses, but doesn’t look over at me before continuing. “We got the call that a man’s pregnant fiancé was raped and murdered, and that the man killed the three men that did it to her. We showed up at the house as he was saying goodbye to her. It was a sight that would break any good man down.”