Shane heard him before she saw him. She turned to look and immediately squatted down to prepare for the impact—he was running full speed ahead towards her with a giant smile and his arms spread wide. He ran into her arms and she picked him up in a bear hug. She smiled and as soon as he was in her arms she felt all her worries disappear. Sure—she knew that the arrangement would likely end and things were far from ok, but in that moment she knew that Shay would be safe—even if just for a little while.

Shane started to tear up a bit.

“Shane! I missed you so much! What took you so long?” The little boy said as he clung to his sister’s neck.

“Hey to you to buddy! Sorry it took me long, I had to make sure your new room was just right before I could come get you.”

“My new room? At your house? You mean I get to stay with you?”

“Yeah that’s the plan, at least for now. Come here I want you to meet someone.”

Carmen was overwhelmed. The little boy was the spitting image of Shane; he was skinny and pale with dark hair and striking neon eyes. When he ran into Shane’s arms, Carmen’s heart melted into a puddle and that started to flood her eyes. Seeing Shane hold her little brother and tear up was almost too much to handle. All of that combined with the bruises on the boy that made Carmen’s blood boil–it was safe to say she was a wreck.

Shane put Shay down and turned towards Carmen.

“Shay this is Carmen, she is my girlfriend. Carmen this is my brother.”

Carmen gave a little smile and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you Shane’s brother!”

Shay was glued to Shane’s right leg. When Carmen introduced herself, he looked up at his big sister as if to ask permission to talk to the Latina.

Shane nodded while smiling and said, “It’s okay. Go on and say hi.”

Shay looked back at Carmen with a lopsided grin on his face. Then he looked down at the floor and reached his hand out to hers. “Nice to meet you too Carmen.”