Do you really think you’re equipped to take care of the kid?
[...] [User stares at this message. He's man behind, making dinner for the station. One hand stirs, the other tightens around his phone.]
[Flip is with Zack today. Earlier, they were at Flipped. (It gets confusing, yes.) Then, the playground. Flip smiles in Zack's photos, toothy and bright. Zack, of course, has no complicated feelings about the toddler. Zack, who User trusts implicitly with the kid, he could… Rationally, though, User knows that Zack would face moon-shaped problems, raising Flip.]
[User's thoughts turn to Daniel. Immune to the bite, great with the kid. Another ranger, but one dedicated to the hunt. Arrived in town to solve a problem, solved it, found something greater. Though… Daniel wouldn't even have kept the kid; he would've found another solution. Would have been better for Flip, if Daniel had found him. Daniel would've known what to do.]
[User would never put this burden on Eve. User isn't sure he thinks of raising Flip as one, but he knows what he's sacrificed. He’d never ask Eve to make the same sacrifices. She’s in Flip’s life, and he’s grateful. She didn’t have to be.]
[User… doesn't have friends. The closest he's got is Zack or Daniel. Family like Eve. If he never found Flip, those folks wouldn't be in Flip's life. User knows that Flip deserves more. So… Say he could give Flip up. Is there anyone else?]
[User thinks of Emilio, who rocked Flip to sleep with practiced ease. User doesn't quite know what Emilio is, but he'll outlive User. That much is certain. Flip would never be left alone. That much is certain.]
[User thinks of Giselle.]
[User stirs the food, thumbing out a message. After he sends it, he puts his phone down.]
[User's mind is a strange place. His heart, stranger still.]