“When she smiles shyly at me, I exhale. And when her cheeks turn pink, I chuckle. I don’t know why that makes me so happy. But it does.”

“Francie is smart, she thought. She must go to high school and maybe beyond that. She's a learner and she'll be somebody someday. But when she's educated, she will grow away from me. Why, she's growing away from me now. She does not love me the way the boy loves me. I feel her turn away from me. She does not understand me. All she understands is that I don't understand her. Maybe when she gets education, she will be ashamed of me - the way I talk. But she will have too much character to show it. Instead she will try to make me different. She will come to see me and try to make me live in a better way and I will be mean to her because I'll know she's above me. She will figure out too much about things as she grows older; she'll get to know too much for her own happiness.”

“Someone remind me why I didn’t want to be an accountant when I grew up,” Brock drawled.Niko chuckled. “Because accountants don’t get to make things go boom.”

“Why?" I demanded of her. "Why bring the child into this? Why not just come straight to me?""Does it matter at this point?"I shrugged. "Not really. I'm curious."She stared at me for a moment and then she smiled. "You don't know."I eyed her warily. "Don't know what?""Dear boy," she said. "This was never about you."I scowled. "I don't understand.""Obviously," Arianna said, and gave me a stunning smile. "Die confused.”

“Then, I asked her what was wrong, then smiled at me, and told me “I feel so sad.” And I swear at that time I could feel her slipping away. I didn’t know what to say, so I just said “I am here. And I don’t mind spending my whole life making you happy.”

“Mom. Mom, I... All I ever wanted was for you to smile at me. If you praised me just a little bit or touched my cheek...you'd make me so happy, I would cry.”