Ben heard Melody say something to Nora on the garden as he approached the edge of the property's low wall, and his face fell. He hadn't meant to be gone that long, when he'd left the house to go for a walk that morning. He didn't actually know how long he had been gone, because his pocket watch had fallen out of his clothing in his haste to undress the night before and he hadn't noticed its absence when he'd been gingerly collecting his things and tiptoeing out of the room while trying to avoid waking Melody. He hadn't known at that point that he was going to leave; he'd just known that he had a lot to think about, and he couldn't do it with Melody lying naked on the bed next to him. He had retreated to the kitchen first, then to the parlor, then finally out of the house entirely.

Not that leaving the house was much of an escape. Melody had told him they'd walked this neighborhood often in the summer, so now everything he saw here made him wonder at the memories he'd missed out on. Memories his daughter might never be able to share with him now, since she still wasn't speaking.

Ben didn't know if he regretted the events of last night, but he'd been through enough with Melody to know that he should. He knew if he told anyone about this, they'd call him an idiot. Still, he hadn't expected to be gone so long. He'd hoped he'd make it back before Melody even read the note he'd left, but it seemed he'd missed that mark by a wide margin.

He meandered to the outer edge of the garden wall near where he'd heard Nora and Melody, looking sheepish, and tentatively cleared his throat.

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