Thank you.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being home. Thank you for being with him. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for asking. Thank you for letting him tell. Thank you for not pushing. Thank you for not brushing it off. Thank you for not brushing him off.

Thank you for not being six. Thank you for being seventeen, and one hundred and four. Thank you for making it through those three nights. Thank you for making it through those five years. Thank you for being the first domino. Thank you for opening wide the world. Thank you for staying. Thank you for not running away. Thank you for coming back once you did. Thank you for never leaving again.

Thank you for being seen. Thank you for seeing. Thank you for being the face and mind he expects. Thank you for caring and care-taking. Thank you for the touch. Thank you for the hug. Thank you for not belittling or bisecting. Thank you for accepting the unacceptable, unchangeable, regardless of understanding, again.

Thank you for dying.





Edward let out a breath, too thin and insubstantial to be a sigh. "Always."