I had just been told by two people that what I wanted didn’t matter.

You asked what I wanted next.”

We sat on a fallen log and watched the ocean.

The wedding had taught me something about Marcus too: kindness wasn’t only a grand gesture.

It was the restraint of not taking over somebody’s pain.

It was believing that the person beside you could know her own mind, even when she was frightened.

“We should make sure we remember that if we ever have children,” I said.

He smiled. “If?”