I will stand beside you through all of this,' she said when she could finally speak. “And welcome you home with gladness when it’s over, and you return triumphant.

There’s more.”

“Of course there is,” Brishen said flatly. It had started badly; it turned worse and hinted at becoming ruinous.

My dear, treacherous mother,” he breathed. “What have you done?

I’ve always been under the assumption that death is a one-time, encompassing event.”

“Why would you ever think that?

I think of how each person in a marriage owes it to the other to find individual happiness, even in a shared life. That this is the only way to grow together, instead of apart.

You and me equal we