Days before his dramatic, well-planned suicide, Mike Alley willed his two youngest children to the state. At barely fifteen, Michael is glad he's dead and afraid he's finally figured out how to kill them. Barely twelve, Kelly is mostly scared. Jessi and Noah promptly file for guardianship, though their own security is in imminent danger as well. The thought of losing Kelly and Michael is the only one they can deal with. Losing each other is unconscionable. Losing Hope is unfathomable. At just seventeen, they become legally responsible for raising themselves, their baby and her siblings. Love is all they have. All they know to do. And most of the time, it's enough. To rebuild their fractured family, they reconcile with Noah's father and toss Jessi's into Lake Michigan. Embrace an old enemy. Shelter a pregnant teen. Making a good life isn't always easy, but there's nothing any of them won't do.