He shook his head stubbornly. "I wanted you to have what you deserved. I wanted you to have your dance. I didn't want you to look back and wish you had married someone else."
"That's what I tried to do."
I reached my hand out towards his face, forcing him to look at me. "Hey, don't do that."
"Do what?" he asked.
"Speaking as if you weren't already enough."
He shook his head, still as stubborn as ever. "You deserve everything there is to know, Mikayla. Not half a moment. Not something... adjusted."
My mother watched us, silent. Something changed on her face, pride, or perhaps even shame.
I let out a sigh, half-laughing, half-frustrated. "You think I married you for a dance?"
"Hey. Don't do that."
"That's not what I..."
"Do you think I'm here keeping score?" I gently interrupted him.
He blinked, taken aback. "Mik..."
"I married you," I said, more softly now. "Not your legs. Not what you lost. You. The man who tries, even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts."
My husband's shoulders slumped a little.
"I didn't want you to look back and regret it," he said. "I didn't want your mother to be right."
My husband's shoulders slumped.
I glanced down the hallway where my mother had fallen silent. "She doesn't get to decide what my life looks like."
He let out a tired little laugh. "She's not subtle."
"It's a word for it."
That evening, after we cleaned Rowan up and bandaged his hand, he lay down next to me, staring at the ceiling.
"I was thinking about what I said earlier," he murmured. "About dancing."
" I know. "
"I wanted people to see us," he continued. "Not what's missing, but what's still there."
I drew a line along his arm. "Then show them. But not alone."
"I was thinking about what I said earlier."
He glanced at me. "Would you help me?"
I sniffed softly. "I'm your wife. You're stuck with me."
A small smile appeared. "Good."
***
The next morning, he rolled around the living room with the prosthetics on his knees.
"OK," he said, as if bracing himself for the impact. "Round two."
I crossed my arms. "Are you sure you don't want a coffee first?"
"I'm already nervous. Let's not add any caffeine."
He looked at me.
***
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