Ben pursed his lips for a second. They must have gotten up not long after he'd left the note... that, or he'd really lost track of time while he was out. If that was really the case, he could very well imagine why she would have been annoyed with him for having left. He had really intended return before Nora woke up — he'd even hoped to be back before Melody woke up, though he'd known that was a slim possibility, which was why he'd written the note in the first place. They ought to talk about last night, him and Melody, and now Nora was awake and they'd have several hours before the next window of time when they could have a frank adult conversation. If their positions had been reversed he would have been annoyed, too — he'd robbed her of the chance to actually process what had happened, as a pair.

"I didn't realize I'd been gone that long," he admitted. He shifted Nora in his arms. "Sorry."

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