[Bless her, honestly, because her reaction is just fuel to Ford's fire right now, another thing to keep him going instead of letting himself grind to a halt and let everything go ahead without him. He has to get through this. For her. For Lefou. For Fiddleford. He has to be strong for all of them at once.]

Of course I mean it. I know they'd all love you, too. My brother Stanley has a soft spot for kids, even if he'd never admit it. And my niece and nephew, when they come and visit—I know they'd love to show you all the normal kid stuff you've missed out on.

[It's so easy to talk about this like a given thing, like it'll happen no matter what, that even though he knows he shouldn't, Ford lets himself believe it. He needs that right now.]