**—Maybe it should come less often. **
**I turned to face it. **
**—You brought me here. Now you want me to disappear? **
**—I don’t want to see her break every time he forgets her. **
**His voice was strained. **
**—My mother left. My father is dying. I can't carry his pain, too. **
**His expression was filled with guilt, and suddenly I understood. **
**No me estaba alejando.**
**I was afraid of losing someone else who cared. **
“I’m not asking you to take me,” I said softly. I've been carrying myself for 80 years. **
**—I just want to protect him. **
**Placed my hand on yours. **
**—I will not force his memories. I won't ask you to choose between me and your mother. I just want to sit next to him while I still can. **
**Edward nodded slowly. **
**—It's okay. **
**—But you don’t have to charge everything alone either. **
*A few weeks later, Edward arranged a brief departure from the care center. **
**He took Benjamin back to the willow. **
**Wren stayed several steps away while Edward pushed the wheelchair under family branches before giving us privacy in silence. **
**I knelt on the grass and placed a red carnation in Benjamin’s hand. **
**He gently rubbed one of the petals between his fingers. **
**—We sat here until dawn once,” I said softly. **
**He looked at the flower for a long time. **
**Then his eyes rose to mine. **
**—You promised you'd come home. **
**His breathing suddenly changed. **
** He raised his hand and touched the dimple in his chin before looking straight at my eyes. **
**—Belle? **
**My hand flew into my mouth. **
**For an impossible moment, the fog disappeared. **
**—You were wearing yellow. **
**A laugh escaped through my tears. **
**—It was the ugliest dress I had. **
**—You were beautiful. **
**Behind us, Edward turned silently as Wren covered his mouth with both hands. **
**I slipped my hand under Benjamin's. **
**He studied my face carefully. **
**—No,” he whispered. I think you came and found me. **
**Only minutes later, the clarity faded. **
**But I had said my name. **
**That one moment healed a wound that had been worn for more than six decades. **
**After that day, we stopped trying to recover the lost years. **
**I just read to him. **
**Sometimes I held my hand not knowing why. **
**One afternoon, he asked quietly:**
**—Were you alone? **
**—Sometimes. **
**—Because of me? **
**I told him about the children he had taken care of, the families he had helped, and the life he had built slowly. **
