The months came and went and suddenly spring was upon is. The dirty snow had melted, leaving the new blades of grass to peak up from beneath from the once frozen earth and fill us with hope once again.

I worked at getting my garden ready, planting dozens of rose bushes and azaleas and tulip bulbs and anything that would look or smell nice. Our property wasn't large, but it was big enough to display a fairly impressive lot of bushes and flowers. Bosco and I would work side by side someday's and by the time April came we had planted at least fifteen rose bushes all around our home. The days were long when we had so much to do and think about that it was a relief to sit on our padded knees and dig our hands into the mulchy dark earth and plant new life.

We were getting ready for two new lives to begin in early August. It had turned out that Mikey had gotten both Kath and Carly pregnant in the month of November and they were due around the same time. How hard it was to think about these pregnancy's with any kind of joy or longing, when the circumstances had dictated otherwise. I remembered all of my pregnancies and the excitement that I had felt, the feeling of love so strong, and I wilted knowing that neither Kath or Carly were overly happy about their impending babies arrival.

A few months earlier Bosco and I had called Mikey to our home to speak to him. I had made the call that day and I could tell that my second son had no interest in speaking to either his father or I about it.

' Mike, your father and I want you to come over tomorrow before shift.'

' For what?'

As if he didn't know.

' We want to talk to you about Kath and Carly.and how you plan on handling these pregnancies.'

Silence.

' It really isn't any of your business how I handle it, mother.' He said crossly.

I reacted as if he had slapped me in the face. ' I think it is and you had better be here tomorrow, Michael Maurice! I mean it!'

I had my doubts as to whether or not he'd actually show, but at about one thirty the next day, we saw his green Eclipse come speeding up our driveway. He got out and slammed the door. Hard. He came in and didn't even take off his boots before coming to the kitchen. He was angry with us for meddling but I didn't care.

He strode into my immaculate kitchen dressed like he had just rolled out of bed and had worn the same clothes from the night before. He was wearing a pair of dirty jeans with a Tommy Hilfigger football jersey half tucked into the waistband of his pants. His dark hair looked as scruffy as his whiskers. He looked a little pale as he stood before his father and I with a look of genuine anger on his handsome face. Oh how he reminded me of his father when he stood there looking dark and dangerous. He turned up his nose and curled his lips into a mocking smile and crossed his strong arms over his broad chest.

' Well? I'm here for the lecture.' He announced haughtily.

Bosco, who had been making a pot of coffee, turned around and stared at our son, his face turning a bit red. ' Well, sit your ass down, Michael.' He snapped before pouring three cups of coffee into our bright green mugs.

Bosco had been angry for such a long time, it had been eating away at his soul and by the time Mikey actually came to our house, I was sure we were going to have a fight on our hands. Bosco and Mikey were so much alike, I scared me by times, but the worst of it was that they both got upset very easily and had terrible tempers that were quite hard to control. These tempers could flare by a mere look or the roll of an eye.

Mikey rolled his eyes. ' Yes sir!' He saluted Bosco and threw himself down into one of the kitchen chairs. He lazily stretched his long legs underneath and stifled a yawn.

' And lose that attitude.'

Mikey whipped his head around and gave Bosco a nasty stare. ' I'm not a child anymore so don't talk to me like one!'

' Then stop acting like a child and maybe we can start to discuss this mess you've made.' Bosco hissed, pointing his spoon at him, drips off coffee dripping on the floor.

'Okay, okay. Let's just sit down and talk calmly and rationally about this. There's no sense losing our tempers right out of the gate.' I said, walking over to the table and giving my husband a warning look. Bosco made a face at me and turned back to the beverages.

'Mike, we want to hear it from you. All of it. This is really serious and I think that you need to tell us exactly what is going on. Honey, we love you. Please tell us.' I said, sitting down across from him. I tucked my legs underneath me and ran my hand over my ponytail. I subconsciously picked at the lint on my red turtleneck sweater and threw it on the floor.

' There's nothing to say. It's my own business.' He said crossly, his eyes dark, shooting daggers across the table at me. ' And I don't appreciate you two summoning me over here to give me a big lecture on morality.'

With that, Bosco had threw his spoon into the sink and it clanged loudly. He picked up the three mugs and clanked them down on the table top, some of the hot liquid splashing out. He clenched his jaw tightly, his whole face looked tight.

He sat down and faced our son angrily. ' And I suppose you know what's moral and what isn't? We're your parents, Mike and we have a right to know what's going on.'

' Oh sure you do. I'm twenty-six years old! I know that the situation isn't exactly the best right now...but I'm handling it.' He said defiantly, lifting his chin much in the same manor as I'd seen Bosco do a million times.

My eyes widened and I felt myself grasping for control. ' Handling it? An exactly how are you doing that? Are you helping out with money? Are you taking Kath to her appointments? Are you close to apologizing to your brother for sleeping with his wife?'

He had the decency to look away. He adjusted himself and leaned his arms forward on the table and clasped his fingers together. ' Look...I don't know what they've been telling you...but I'm not even sure that I'm the father of the baby...' Making me wonder who he was talking about...Kath or Carly?

'...and you know what it's like to be young and getting your share of the action...' He continued, smirking slightly.

I got the implication and so did Bosco, but I continued on with my original thought.

' Oh give me a break! You were sleeping with three different women at the same time, Michael! Have you ever heard of sexually transmitted diseases? Have you ever stopped once to think about what you've done to your brother? Do you know? Have you spoken to him?' I demanded.

' It's different for guys, isn't it, dad?'

He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, but he didn't look at me, he looked at his father, as if to find an ally at that moment. Bosco, who had leaned on the table covering his mouth with his hand, looked bewildered and his eyebrows shot up as Mikey looked at him.

' Don't look at me to defend you.' He said.

Mikey shook his head and laughed sarcastically. ' No...I wouldn't do that, dad. Especially coming from the guy who slept with half of New York City when he was my age!'

' Michael!' I yelled, furious that he would dare speak to his father with such disrespect.

' Well it's true, isn't it dad? You told me about how wild you were, sometimes taking two women home in one night. So don't sit here and give me your bullshit talks when you're no better yourself.'

' Michael Maurice! You shut your mouth right now!' I demanded. I was scared of what this was going to turn into.

Bosco's eyes widened by the attack. His nostrils flared and he pointed his finger until it actually touched his son's nose. ' Don't let me ever hear you say that shit again! Do you understand? What I did in my younger days has nothing to do with you! I never got two women pregnant at the same time! And if I had, I would have taken the responsibility!' He roared, spit coming out of his mouth.

Mikey looked back at him, totally unaffected ' You probably wouldn't know if you did get more than one pregnant. They probably just got abortions.' He said snidely.

I felt as though all of the air had been sucked out of the room. As quick as a flash Bosco reached over with his arm and...smack! The sound of Bosco's palm slapping Mikey's face, was a sickening sound. There was a red splotch on his cheek as Bosco dropped his hand away and stood up and towered over him.

' I'm gonna tell you this one time! If you ever speak disrespectfully to me like that again, I don't care how old you are...I will paddle your ass so hard you won't sit down for a month!' He was shaking and trying very hard to calm himself down before he did something else he'd regret. He'd never, ever hit one of our children before this day.

Mikey was on his own feet in a flash, his arm raised to strike his father. Both men staring at each other breathing heavily and cursing under their breath. They were facing each other down, Boscorelli to Boscorelli.

I jumped up from the table and ran in between them. 'Don't! Please stop!' I pleaded, trying to push each away. Bosco backed off first and walked backwards toward the kitchen entrance.

' I can't talk to him, Faith! You can sure as hell try but I'm done!' He yelled, as angry as I'd ever seen him before.

' Go to hell!' Mikey yelled over my shoulder.

'I'm already there!' Bosoc yelled over his shoulder. I heard him pound up the stairs and slam the bedroom door viciously.

I turned on Mikey, ready to slap some sense into him myself. ' How could you talk to your father like that? How could you after everything he's been through in the past little while?' I yelled, clutching his jersey in my hand.

He pushed me away from him and turned around in circles, swearing loudly and pounding his fists against his thighs. 'Because you two won't mind your own business! Why can't you just leave it alone?' He shrilled at me, his face red and marred looking.

Exhausted, I walked back to the table and sat down heavily. I started to cry and buried my face in my hands, trying to choke back the sobs that wracked and shook my body.

He stood there not knowing what to say but I could tell that he was sorry for upsetting, at least me, if not his father. Mikey couldn't stand to see a woman cry and it seemed odd to me that he'd have that sense about him when it seemed he didn't have any other sensitive bone in his twenty-six year old body.

He came over and sat down at the table again, picked up his coffee that had been untouched and took a sip. ' Come on ma. I'm sorry I upset you. Don't cry.' He said, his voice cracking a bit.

I lowered my hands from my face and accepted the tissue he was holding out to me, with a sorry look on his face.

That had been almost two months ago. Eight weeks, long weeks that he really didn't speak to us unless we called to see how he was doing, or I should say, I called. He and Bosco had not spoken since that day and I was beginning to wonder if they ever would again. But before Mikey had left that day, he and I did manage to have somewhat of a truce and even a decent talk.

He admitted that he didn't want Kath's baby and that he had asked her to get rid of it. As of late, Kath had been transferred to another precinct where she would work the desk until her baby was born. I had kept in contact with her as much as I could, and I knew that the baby she was having was a boy. She was keeping it and she had asked Mikey to sign away his rights to his own child. I knew that already, without him saying a word. And he had done so. No questions except to wonder if he would have to pay child support.

But Carly's baby was another matter entirely.

He spoke about her pregnancy with interest. To my surprise, he knew exactly how far along she was and he also knew how her appointments had gone. I was very interested to hear the way he spoke about her after the way he'd treated her at her mother's funeral and I began to wonder if he was in love with her. But because he knew, it dawned on me that he and Carly were still keeping in contact. From the way Carly spoke about him, I sensed that she didn't have warm feelings for him...but could that have been a lie?

As far as I knew, he had never talked to his brother and never apologized for his actions. I still hadn't dealt with Brett and the gambling situation but knew that it was coming eventually. I knew that Bosco and I had to get him some help, even if he didn't want it...but the most important thing was to keep Carly and our grandchild safe..at all costs.

Mikey had also mentioned that he was still seeing Carmelle a great deal and that she understood the situation and was willing to forgive him for sleeping around, since he technically wasn't 'officially' dating her until after his trip to Boston. I was very surprised to learn this, considering that Carmelle seemed to be such a bright intelligent woman. A woman who was beautiful enough to have her pick of men. I would have thought she'd have better sense.

And so, Bosco and I lived day after day under a gray cloud, waiting to hear the next piece of bad news from one of our children. The only time either of us came out from the doldrums was when Little Faith was around.

She was so beautiful and loving. Our Little Faith loved to run around the garden with us and smell the pretty flowers that were starting to bloom. She loved to go for long walks in her pretty pink and blue stroller and Bosco and I frequently donned our splash suits and Nike sneakers and took her all around the neighborhood and to the nearest parks. She loved wearing her pink rubber boots and matching rain coat and laughed delightedly when they came out of the closet and she knew she could wear them.

When our kids were younger, every single time it rained I would take them outside to splash in the puddles. Mikey, Brett and Emma all loved to put on their rubber boots and tramp around in the mud, stamping furiously and making the biggest mess they could. Splish-splash, they would call it and it got so that they wished for rain so they could go outside and get drenched.

'Mama! It's raining! Can we go splish-splash now?' Emma would call to me as she ran down the hallway, her blond ponytail swinging from side to side.

' Yes, sweetie. Go get your boots.' I'd say. And out we'd go, Mikey, Brett, Emma and myself, all around the neighborhood in the pouring rain, looking for the best puddles to splash in.

I missed those days when my kids were young and at home with us. The days when they would come home from school and Bosco would have left freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for them to enjoy, for I couldn't cook worth a damn.

The days when they would come home from a fishing trip with their father, proud as punch over some little fish they'd caught at the lake.

The days when my sons ran to me with open arms, flinging themselves into me and wrapping their skinny arms around my waist. ' I love you, momma.'

If it weren't for my grandchild to keep me sane, I truly think I would have lost it. Now that Emma needed a sitter full time, it was a blessing to both Bosco and myself. We gladly gave up our sleeping in for being awake at seven to get ready for our dark haired princess.

One morning in July, we had gotten up extra early to go to Coney Island beach. We had packed sandwiches and juice for our little one, along with rice crispie squares and arrowroot cookies. Bosco had packed our blue Mustang with towels, extra clothes and tons of beach toys.

He was more excited than I'd seen him in a long time. Whistling, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I was standing in front of our large mirror in the bedroom, trying on my black bathing suite and feeling quite pleased with the way I looked. I had wrapped a little multi-colored wrap about my waist and wore a pair of blue flip-flops. I didn't care how old I got. I still loved them. He was wearing a blue Tommy Hilfigger t-shirt and a pair of blue swimming trunks with black flip-flops and he looked as sexy to me as he ever had.

'Blue skies, nothing but blue skies...'

He stopped whistling. ' You excited about today?' He asked, his blue eyes brightening.

I smiled and leaned into his strong chest. ' Ya. I love the beach. And I'd say we need something to be excited about.'

He nodded behind me and I could see that he needed this day of relaxing probably more than I did.

The doorbell rang and he let go of me instantly and headed for the door. 'That's Little Faith.' He said excitedly as he rushed out of the room.

I checked myself in the mirror and grabbed my sunglasses off of the dresser and put them on. Satisfied with my appearance I finished gathering up my beach bag and followed him down the stairs, whistling the same tune he had been.

'Blue skies, nothing but blue skies...'

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I brought my hand to my mouth and gasped, for it was not Little Faith at the door, but Anthony Boscorelli, the man who we had not seen for over twenty years!