"I think the last birthday present my grandparents gave me was a card with five dollars in it," Neil says with a bit of a laugh. He was the only grandchild at all, let alone the favorite to be had, and sometimes he wished that they liked him a bit more. He wished anyone in his family liked him a bit more.

But it's hardly worth thinking about. He leans over and kisses Gabriel's cheek, near the corner of his mouth.