"You kept that?" I asked Alder who I had caught reading his father's death notice again. His expression was unreadable. I walked over and sat beside him.

"I'm still amazed I'm finally free of his torment.  He could've killed me Sully, and I'm alive. I survived him. R-Reyna didn't," his voice shook when he brought up his late sister. "I know it happened a while ago, his death, but I'm still so relieved."

"He died when Emmalyn was five right?" I asked, looking at the old paper.

"Yes," he looked up at me. "Thanks to you I escaped him much earlier." I nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to visit Reyna's grave?" I suggested. Alder glanced at me. He placed the death notice away and stood up.

"Why do you want to?" He asked.

"I want to visit my late sister-in-law since I never met her myself," I attempted explaining. Alder just blankly stared at me.

"Okay," he said eventually. "I'll drive."

Alder drove us toward the graveyard. He parked and took a deep breath. I could tell he was trying to keep it together. His seven year old sister's death would always be an touchy topic for him and his mother's death, the catalyst for his whole past. "Alder?" I asked. "You don't have to be strong for me, we are visiting a grave." Alder squeezed his hands on the steering wheel a second. He got out of the car. He led me toward a small grave. I read the tombstone out loud:

"Reyna Foley, Aged: 7, Rest In Peace." Alder wrapped his arms around me and started sobbing. I wrapped my own arms around him and kissed his forehead. I turned my gaze back to the tombstone. Cause of Death thought to be blood loss. My eyes narrowed in knowing. I knew the true cause of death. "She was so young..." I found myself saying out loud. "...to die such a ill way. A disgusting way. Killed by her own father...."

"I-it w-would've— I-I would've— if I didn't meet you," Alder said through his tears. "Y-you stopped m-me from— You existing, was one of the o-only lights in m-my life. When I met you, I felt g-genuinely happy and safe when I was with you. Y-you were the only thing I-I looked forward to a-at school—" I lifted Alder's head up by his chin and kissed him. He stopped sobbing briefly.

"And I finally had friend and no longer just an acquaintance and I stopped hating myself," I said. "Hating myself after my father left. Hating myself for not being able to actually form a deep connection with someone. That changed when I met you. I could finally actually form a friendship with someone. Then, that friendship blossomed into a romance. And then, resulted in marriage and a child." Alder had stopped sobbing and was looking at me, blushing.

"Yes, and I love you," Alder said. "Minus our pasts and this could be a cheesy romcom story," he laughed. We both seemed to have forgotten we were in a graveyard standing by Alder's late sister's grave.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a woman and young girl standing off to the side. Both of them were smiling approvingly. Then, I blinked and they disappeared. I probably just imagined it. "I guess it could, though, I don't think this would exactly have many comedic parts," I mused.

"That's true. Even if they tried to make it more comedic, that would probably ruin it."

"You do realize we're talking about if our life was made into a romcom in the middle of a graveyard, right?" I asked, bringing us back to reality.

"Irony?" Alder said, shrugging. I turned toward the grave.

"Hi, Reyna, Uh," I said to it. I was doubtful if spirits existed or not but I wanted to talk as if Reyna was standing in front of me listening to what I had to say. "Um.. I'm your brother's husband and I just wanted to come and introduce myself. My name is Sullivan." Alder looked at me.

"You wanted to do that?" Alder asked, his voice quiet and close to tears again. I looked at him and took his hand. He mourned Reyna for a while and then led me towards the car. We drove home, silent.