“You can’t stay in bed forever.” “Why not? It’s warm. And comfy. And it’s got all these great pillows.”

“I don’t like seeing you hit.”“Well, to be quite honest, I don’t like being hit unless it’s by you.” As soon as it was out of my mouth, I realized what I had said. “That sounded all sorts of wrong.”“Insanely so, actually.”“To be clear,” I said to any overhearing ears, “I hit him back--”“Hard.”“It’s a very give-and-take, non-abuse type hitting situation…”The sides of Liam’s mouth folded up like an accordion. “You should probably stop now.”“I’m trying. My mouth keeps moving of its own accord.”

“I don’t know how long we stayed frozen in that moment, but it was a long time. Sometimes I think there are parts of us still there, forever staring into the emotional maelstrom of one another’s eyes.”

“It’s not always going to be easy, and you will, without a doubt, screw up over and over again; but the next morning you’ll wake up a new, changed person, and you’ll try again. Be strong. Be brave. And, please, be good.”

“I love you, Scout. For me, it was always you. Forever and always.”

“Did you wake up on the stupid side of the bed this morning?”

“I supposed that if I had a third eye in the middle of my forehead she would want one of those too. “You don’t want a fake orange tan, Munchkin.”“Yes, I do,” she insisted. “It’s pretty.”Alex was amused. “Oh, I think so too. Very pretty and informative. I have always wondered what the female Oompa-Loompas looked like.”