The cold winter air causes me to shiver and pull my coat in closer around me. Squirrels rummage through barren trees and birds tinker about looking for a meal.

All around me, life carries on without a single disruption—even though my world was tilted on its axis three days ago.

The crunching of the frosted grass beneath my feet halt when I reach my destination.

Slowly, I lower down to a squatting position and come face to face with the person I need to talk to the most. "Hey, Soph." I reach out and run my fingers over the etching of her name. The stone is cool to the touch and sharp around the edges; nothing like the woman it represents. My hand draws back to my knees where I clutch my hands together between my legs and lower my head in thought. My eyes close of their own accord, and I allow myself to do the one thing I've needed to for so long.

"I've met someone else." The words come out stronger than I thought I could say them. Which only further emphasizes my feelings for Kara.

I open my eyes and stare at Sophia's headstone. My heart pounds a staccato rhythm beneath my chest, and my stomach takes flight as what feels like a million butterflies flutter throughout my belly.

I swallow the lump rising in my throat.

"Her name is Kara, and she just gave birth to our beautiful daughters. I wish I could tell you that I didn't plan for this happen, but I'd be lying. From the first moment I laid eyes on her picture, I knew." I shake my head and release a halfhearted chuckle. "Then when she came to live with me, it all started to make sense. She is everything that I no longer am. The light to my darkness. The playful to my serious. She's vulnerable, which urges me to be strong. She's radiant, where I'm merely a dusky presence struggling to make it through the day."

I shuffle my weight to one leg and reach into my pants pocket to remove what I came to give back. "I can't keep this anymore." I shake my head, sadness threatening to overwhelm me. "It's a commitment I can no longer bind myself to. Loving your ghost is slowly killing me ...” I pause, trying to collect myself. "I realize now that I need to let go in order to move forward." I open the ring box and remove my wedding band. "Please know that you'll always hold a special place in my heart. But I have to make room for her too, and that means making new commitments and letting go of old ones."

I reach forward and place the band on the top of her headstone. My hand lingers on the stone, a feeling of warmth settling over my entire body. "I love you so much. Please never doubt that. I'll love you always. But I need her ... and she needs me. I know this is what you'd want, and so, I'm letting go. Be at peace, my love. Know that I am as well."

I inch forward and place a gentle kiss on the letters of her name.

And walk away from my past.

* * *

It's been one month since I said goodbye to Sophia. Kara is still in a coma, and the girls are now home. I visit her every day, begging her to come back to me.

They had to insert a trach tube in conjunction with the ventilator. The doctors tell me that each day she remains in a coma, the likelihood of her coming out lessens.

But I remain optimistic.

"Good morning, beautiful." My lips graze her hairline as I whisper the words I say to her every time I come to visit.

I take my seat next to her bed, gently pulling her hand into mine. My thumb rubbing circles over her soft knuckles. "The girls are growing. They're eating so good now. Little girl is going to be overtaking her sister on the scales soon." I chuckle, thinking about the two little angels waiting back home for me. I still haven't named them. For some reason, it just didn't seem right to do it without Kara to help me choose their names. It wasn't something we ever discussed during the pregnancy because we didn't know their sex. Now, I can't imagine naming them without Kara by my side going through baby name books and searching the internet for meanings and ancestral foundations.

A sharp pain lances across my chest. It's been so long since I've heard her voice. So long since I've held her in my arms and felt her embracing me back. I sit back in my seat, one arm stretched across her bed to accommodate my hand holding hers. The other reaching into my pocket to pull out a locket I had made for when she wakes up.

I click the latch, and it flips open to a picture of the girls on one side and a picture that I hadn't known Abbi took of us at dinner one night. I'm standing behind Kara, and she's looking at me over her shoulder. My arms are wrapped around her, fingers laced together around the slight bulge of her pregnant belly, and our eyes are locked on one another. So much love conveyed in just a simple look. Even then it was obvious to everyone but me.

"I have a gift for you. I know how much you love acts of kindness and gestures of affection. I think you'll love this one. It's so you can keep those you love closest to your heart." I look over at her face, the ventilator making her chest rise and fall with each forced breath.

Emotion floods me. Closing the locket and sliding it back into my pocket, I climb onto the bed beside her, carefully moving the bags, feeding tube, and IV lines so that I can feel the warmth of her in my arms again. With my head on her shoulder, I begin to cry. Tears of fear and an agony so paralyzing that all I can do is just say the words that I fear will never come true.

"Please, baby. Please come back to me. Just come back to me. I'll love you with everything I am. I promise. I love you so damn much, Kara." I don't worry about controlling it; I just let it flood from my system. All the pain. The hurt. The fears. The love that I feel for her.

Uncontrollable sobs rack my body, and I allow them to. Every tear shed is like one less burden to weigh my aching shoulders down. I can't bear to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders anymore. It's too heavy. It's crushing my soul with every breath I take.

"I love you, Kara. I love you. I love you. I love you," I whisper over and over, praying with everything I have that she'll hear my words in the darkness and find the light to guide her back to me.

"I'll be your anchor. Your best friend. Your lover. Your husband. Just come back to me." The tears glide down my cheeks. "You'll be my only. My everything. My forevermore."

I spend half the day there holding her. Talking to her about anything and everything. Trying my best to give her all the reasons she could ever need to fight. Her spirit too bright to flicker out. I need her by my side just as much as she needs me by hers.

She always thought I was the strong one, but what she never realized was that her vulnerability was what made her strong. Admitting she had weaknesses and learning how not to let them control her life. That's true strength.

"I'm going to go now. Abbi is probably wondering where I'm at, and I need to get back to the girls." I lean down and kiss her forehead. "I'll be by to see you in the morning. Good night, my beautiful."