I’ve been staring at my cell phone for a few minutes now but I’m still not moving from standing in the middle of the living room. Dave’s call had ended earlier but I was still looking at nothing. My heart is heavy with my choice.

I glanced around Maverick’s unit. On a corner is a display of his family pictures. There’s a picture of the Fuentebella family and another picture of him on his graduation in college.

I walked over to the area and picked up the picture frame. I caressed Maverick’s smiling face. His smile is so wide that it radiates out from the picture. I didn’t realize that...