Janelle sat in silence for a long time, staring at Michael after he finished explaining himself to her.

"Do you love him?" she asked.

"Excuse me?"

"My son. Do you love him?"

Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know if 'love' is the correct word right now. We've barely had a relationship after all, 'n' I have no idea how in depth his feelings are toward me. But you can't know 'til you try, right? I do care about him a lot 'n' I would never intentionally hurt him."

Janelle nodded slowly. She raised an eyebrow. "He's barely 18. How old are you again?"

"21 ma'am."

Janelle sighed. She pursed her lips.

"Okay," she said slowly. "You have my permission."

Michael sighed in relief. He grinned at her.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Dolenz."

She smiled back.

"Now go find my boy."