In the sterile, fluorescent-lit corridor of the county courthouse, a young man sat on the edge of a hard wooden bench. At twenty-nine years old, Carter didn’t have the typical profile of a man ready to settle down. He had no wife, no sprawling estate, and no substantial inheritance tucked away in a savings account. What he did have, however, was a heart that beat with a fierce, protective rhythm for five small children he barely knew.
Across from him, five faces under the age of seven stared back with
