He was so close that I wanted to pull him out of death and draw him back into this life so we could do everything together the way we were meant to, the way we had always dreamed of. Dad, please, please come back. My knees buckled. Noël grabbed my wine glass before I dropped it. He and I went to the ground, and he kept his arms around me as I cracked all the way open, the anguish that I never, ever let out finally breaking free. I wept against Noël’s neck.
