“I told Al about Charlie’s birth today,” I told them a little bit later.

“Aww, that’s great,” Jenny said, smiling at Alice who rolled her eyes in return. But she looked back at Jenny and smiled to show she was kidding.

“Yeah, it was nice,” Shane agreed. “Until Al dug her nails in my shoulder and dragged me into the delivery room. I still have the scars.”

Alice made a sound that could have been laughter, and Shane glared at her. “Yeah. Funny,” she said, but she smiled. “I’m glad she did though.”

“I still wish I could have been there.”

“You were, just not in person,” Shane said. “You were there for the most important part anyway.”

“Yeah, I really was,” I said, smiling at the memory. I was so glad I hadn’t missed his birth. I still felt bad for not getting there before I had, but I knew that I’d been there when it counted. “You got to hold him first though.”

“You let me,” Shane replied. “Really though, thanks.”

I suddenly remembered something. “Hey, you took those photos of him right after he was born. You sold them to that magazine and Bette put them in the gallery at CU.”

“I remember that!” Jenny exclaimed. “The shot of Alice holding Charlie won that award. It was great.”

“We’ve had it hanging in the den ever since,” I told them, but they already knew that since they were frequent guests at our home. Still, it was nice to remember that time. It had been good for all of us.

“That’s when we decided to really start looking into foster care,” Shane said, a faraway look in her eyes. “Oh, speaking of that, Ryan’s flying in from New York in a couple days. He was planning on it for Jenny’s birthday but when he heard about Alice he decided to come a little sooner.”

“That’s sweet of him,” I said, and I really meant it. I loved Shane and Jenny’s son. He was the first of the two they’d ended up adopting, and one of many that they’d fostered for. Helena had set them up with every single child that had come through their doors, and she couldn’t have done a better job. They’d all been great fits.