gris_bug_man | Las Vegas

It was hard to sleep. Gil had grown accustomed to Jack's comforting presence and warmth beside him in their bed.

I heard there was a secret chord that David played, and it pleased the Lord.

He'll be back, Sara had told him, unnecessarily. That wasn't something he doubted.

But you don't really care for music, do you?

Jack would return to him and to Georgia. Gil did not fear solitude for the rest of his life.

It goes like this, the fourth-the fifth. The minor fall, the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah.

What he did fear was seeing a stranger behind his husband's eyes.

Maybe I've been here before. I know this room, I've walked this floor. I used to live alone before I knew you.

I love you for all of you, Jack had said. Gil did not doubt the truth of those words. Jack could not lie.

I've seen your flag on the marbled arch. Love is not a victory march--it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.

But it was still hard to sleep without him. Cradling his daughter against him, Gil hummed, walking back and forth in the nursery.