He stepped into the pullup and let me slide it up into place. He looked really miserable and his face was a mess. “Let’s get the makeup off, okay?”

He nodded again and I grabbed him under the arms and put him up on the changing counter. I was surprised how light he actually was. I had remembered I had some makeup removing wipes in my bag, so I dug into it to get them and I saw that the stuffed puppy I had brought the first day was still in there. I thought, “maybe this will help.”

I held up the puppy and made its right paw wave at Kevin and he smiled a little. “Okay, progress,” I thought. I gave Kevin the puppy and went to work on his face. I looked down and saw he was holding it to his to his chest, stroking it like it was a real puppy and I felt my heart give a little jump. I really was beginning to love this kid.