The middle-aged man stared across the desk at the woman who sat before him. Sickly and sallow-looking, as well as troublingly thin, she looked as though her life had been drained from her. Head bowed, her hair pulled away from her face, it was hard to believe that this woman was who she was supposed to be.

“I’m very sorry to have called you here, Mrs. Veneto,” the man began.

“Ms. DeSidiro,” the woman corrected, raising her head. Her eyes were narrowed slightly. “Just because Grant and I were married, it doesn’t mean I took his last name.”

“Y-yes, of course. Well, the reason I called you here is about your brother.”

Valo sighed and said, “Look, if it’s about Ashton, I’m sorry for whatever he did, but I’m not responsible for him. Our mother is.”

“It’s about your older brother, Ms. DeSidiro.”

“Dillon? Why? What happened?”

“He and his wife have been in a car accident. They’ve been severely injured, and, well, frankly, it looks as though they won’t make it.”

“So, what does that have to do with me?”

“As you know, the younger of your two nephews, Sean, isn’t old enough to be on his own. Considering that everyone else in the family is either elderly, sickly, or financially unable--”


“What, you thought I’d be able to take care of a kid who isn’t mine, who I’ve never seen before in my life? Look, I don’t know where you get your information, but before Grant died, we were very happily childfree. I’ve never wanted children nor felt the need to have them. I’m sure his grandparents can take care of them. Well, maybe not my mother, as you’ve seen what kind of mother she is, what with Ashton always being in trouble with the police and all.”

“Your sister-in-law’s mother is unable to care for the child either, Ms. DeSidiro. She’s very ill.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know, considering that everyone on my mom’s side of the family has pretty much pretended I don’t exist for the last ten or so years,” Valo snapped.

“At least consider taking the boy in temporarily, until we can place him in foster care. Can you do that much?”

Valo sighed. “Let me talk to my lawyer, and I’ll get back to you on it.”


Charise stepped through the doorway. “I’m home,” she called out, closing the door. She walked to the kitchen, where her husband and child were cooking. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” she remarked.

“How was work?” S asked, kissing her cheek.

“Same as usual,” Charise sighed. “I’m telling you, S, I can’t believe some of the problems kids today deal with. I mean, did we ever go through those things?”

Her daughter hugged her tightly. “Mommy, tell me a story,” she said.

“Okay, which one do you want to hear?”

“I want to hear how I got my name.”

“Again?”

“Yeah!”


Charise smiled to herself as she began, “Well, back when your dad and I got married, we didn’t plan to have any kids. But a few years ago, I was sure that I was pregnant, so I went to the doctor. Sure enough, I was. The very first person I told was your Aunt Lia. She told me, ‘Charise, it’s going to be a girl.’ She said it with the same level of certainty that someone would use when saying that February comes after January, or spring comes before summer. I, of course, laughed, especially when further doctor visits told me that the baby would almost definitely be a boy. But still, your Aunt Lia… she told me over and over, ‘Charise, it’s going to be a girl. I know it.’ Finally, I said to her, ‘Tell you what, if by some miracle the baby does end up being a girl, I’ll let you name her.’ And then, a few months later, you were born, and sure enough, you were a beautiful little girl. And, so, I let your Aunt Lia name you…”

“And that’s why my name is Artemis!”

“That’s right, sweetheart.”