“Didn’t you hear a word I said to you the entire time we were together? You’re my whole world Layla. You hold my universe in your hand and no matter where I go, who I’m with or what I’m doing, you are right there with me. Here.”

“Wrap yourself in the sheets tightly. Feel that? Those are my arms around your waist, my head against yours and my heart beating in time with the thunder of your heart. I’m there baby. Maybe not in body but I am there with you constantly. You carry my heart on your sleeve Layla and it keeps me close to you. No matter where I am, however far apart we are, I carry you with me. You are never too far for my heart. We’re bound together.”

“You know I’m here no matter what, right?” “Yeah, I know. I appreciate it.” “You mean the world to me.” I buried my face into his shoulder. “You know you mean the world to me, too.” “I’m serious, though.  If we could make some money off of you…”

“You’re all there is for me, Taryn. I’m broken baby. You know that. Before you… it was like those bits of me were just scattered all over the place. I’ve never felt whole. Not until you. You hold those pieces together. It’s not an exaggeration when I say you hold my sanity in your hands. Without you, I’d fall apart.”

“I’m right here,” he said. “Dad’s right here. I’m going nowhere. Just gonna wait until you’re ready to come out into the world, and then your mom and I are going to take care of you. So you hang tight, weclear? Do your thing, and we’ll wait for however long it takes.”With his free hand, he took Layla’s palm, and put it over his own.“Your family is right here. Waiting for you…and we love you.”It was totally stupid to talk to what was, no doubt, nothing but a bundle of cells. But he couldn’t helpit. The words, the actions…they were at once totally his, and yet coming from a place that was foreign to him.Felt right, though.Felt…like what a father was supposed to do.”

“Pamela, I’m in love with you. Yeah, it’s that bad. You’re so beautiful to me. Shut up! Lemme tell you. Let me. Every time I look at your face or even remember it, it wrecks me - and the way you are with me - and you’re just fun and you shit all over me and you make fun of me and you’re real. I don’t have enough time in any day to think about you enough. I feel like I’m going to live a thousand years cause that’s how long it’s gonna take me to have one thought about you which is that I’m crazy about you, Pamela. I don’t wanna be with anybody else. I don’t. I really don’t. I don’t think about women anymore. I think about you. I had a dream the other night that you and I were on a train. We were on this train and you were holding my hand. That’s the whole dream. You were holding my hand and I felt you holding my hand. I woke up and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. I’m sick in love with you, Pamela. It’s like a condition. It’s like polio. I feel like I’m gonna die if I can’t be with you. And I can’t be with you. So I’m gonna die - and I don’t care cause I was brought into existence to know you and that’s enough. The idea that you would want me back it’s like greedy.”