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It took her only a second to think before nodding, then going up the steps.

Running his hand through his brown hair, Dominic didn’t know what was sicker, promising to supply drugs to an lady at the age of thirteen, or that he had to depend on a druggie to help protect Kat. However DeeDee was his only option, and she hadn’t killed him or his brothers, so … how bad could she be?

Not wanting to answer his own question, he went back to his sister and sat on the floor next to her. “Do you know what comes after six, Kat?”

“Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven ….”

“What are you coloring?” Dominic asked, sitting down in the tiny chair at the plastic, colorful little kid table that he had picked up on the side of the road and cleaned up to give Kat.

His little sister proudly showed off her cute stick figures. “That’s me, Angle, Matty, and … you!”

Even though she was three and talked far better for her age, she still had trouble pronouncing her twin brothers’ names, but it always made him smile.

“I see. It’s so pretty, Kat. Good job.”

“I love my brothers.” She pointed to Angel’s and Matthias’s stick figures, then pointed to Dominic’s stick figure. “And my daddy!”

Dom’s mouth fell open at hearing her call him that. Stammering, it took him a second to get his words out. “N-No, Katarina, I’m your brother, not your father.”

“You’re not my daddy?”

He shook his head.

Kat’s little bottom lip poked out. “Can’t we pretend you’re my daddy?”

She was starting to break his heart, but he stayed strong. “No, we can’t pretend.”

“Why not?” She furrowed her brows, getting more upset.

“Because it’s important to know who your father is and where you come from, Katarina.”

“But the scary man upstairs can’t be my daddy.” Her eyes started to well with tears. “You take care of me, not him.”

Dom reached over, picking her up to place her on his lap. “Just because I’m not your dad, doesn’t mean I don’t love you just as much, and it doesn’t make us any less family,” he told her, wiping her tears off her rosy cheeks. “But I’m your brother, Katarina, along with Angel and Matthias. Our father is the scary man upstairs, whether we like it or not. But we have to know that. One day, you will understand why it’s important to know that, and to know who we came from.” Waiting until she slowly stopped crying, he wanted to make sure she understood. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Kat nodded her head against his chest, understanding as best as she possibly could at her age. “I still love you, even though you’re not my daddy.”

Laughing, he gave her a squeeze. “Good.”

Holding Kat’s hand, he watched her skip beside him, as her tiny pink backpack that looked too big on her flew up with each skip.

“You excited?”

“Yes! I’m so happy I get to leave my room and finally go to school!”

He gave her tiny hand a squeeze. “Me, too.”

When they reached the door that he and his brothers had once gone in every morning, he bent down to talk to her. “Okay, this is it, Kat. I’ll be right here after school’s out.”

“Wait … You’re not going to kindergarten with me?”

“No.” Dom shook his head, wondering why he felt a pain in his chest. It should be no different than when he had taken his brothers to middle school for the first time, just on the way here, but it didn’t feel the same. “I already went to kindergarten. My school is just right across the street.”

“Oh ….” Kat nibbled her lip.

“Going to school means you’re a big kid now, and big kids go to school all by themselves.”

“But Angel and Matthias go to school together.”

“Well, they were born together, remember? We didn’t get so lucky, so that means we have to be brave and try new things on our own.”

“What if the other kids don’t like me?”

“Some might not.” He told her the truth, wanting her to be prepared for what the last name Luciano meant. “But not everyone has to like you.” Lifting her chin with his finger, he smiled down at her. “Plus, I know, once they do get to know you, they’ll love you.”

Katarina smiled big back at him.

“Now, what are we going to be?” he asked.

“Polite to my teacher and kind to my classmates.” She nodded but quickly spout off again, “Oh, and now brave without you.”

“That’s right.” Dominic gave her a big hug and had to clear his throat before he continued. “Now go on and have fun, Kat. I’ll see you after school.”

“Okay. Bye,” she told him with a wave of her hand and a smile.

Dom didn’t dare let a threatening tear fall. “Bye …”

A year later

Dominic gave Kat the biggest hug when she came running out the school. “So, how was first grade?”