He held her against him, not moving any more as he brushed back her hair. "You have to clean up Maci...if you don't...they'll take you away from me. I won't lose you again." He knew what she thought of him, how she believed he'd abandoned her, but that wasn't how it had happened. He'd been offered a scholarship to a school their mother never could've helped pay for, and he was told that if he didn't accept it then they would have to give it to someone else. He'd had no choice, and when he left he didn't think that their mother wouldn't let him see Maci anymore. If he had he would've turned down the school and stayed with her.