"I ain't a kid person. I just ain't got a choice, do I?" Not in his world, anyway, not being the way he was. John had taken off, he had to take care of the kids. He owed it to them. Those kids deserved better than the lot they'd been given. "I dunno. I reckon if you actually took off without them, you'd end up missin' them."

He'd seen Michael with his brothers. Heard him talk about him. He was more attached than he might realise. "Though I guess fancy city folk just pay for day-care and nannies."