Page 195 of The Thief
"Just thinking about how lucky we are."
"Lucky how?"
"To have survived everything. To have found each other. To have this." I gesture around us, at our friends and family, at the celebration of love despite all the violence that surrounds our world.
"We are lucky. But it's more than luck."
"What is it then?"
"Choice. We chose each other, chose to fight for this, chose to build something beautiful despite all the ugliness."
He's right. Love isn't luck—it's work. Daily work, choosing each other again and again despite the fear and uncertainty and all the ways the world tries to tear people apart.
"I love you," I tell him, the words carrying the same weight they did the first time I said them.
"I love you too. More every day."
"Even when I'm hormonal and impossible?"
"Especially then."
The song ends, but we don't separate. We just stand there holding each other while the music changes and other couples move around us.
"Ready to go home?" Freddie asks.
"More than ready."
We collect our son from Jessica, say goodbye to the bride and groom, and gather our coats from the hotel's coat check. A normal ending to a normal evening, except nothing about our lives is really normal.
In the taxi back to our hotel, Henry Stephen falls asleep against Freddie's chest, worn out from a day of being admired and spoiled by strangers who see in him the future of our complicated world.
"He's getting so big," I say, smoothing our son's dark hair.
"They grow fast at this age."
"All of them do. Patricia's walking, Dylan's saying actual words. Where does the time go?"
"Into building the future. Into making sure they have better than we did."
I rest my hand on my stomach, thinking about the child growing there. Another piece of our future, another reason to keep fighting for the peace we've built.
"What do you think it is?" I ask. "Boy or girl?"
"Doesn't matter. As long as they're healthy."
"Diplomatic answer."
"Honest answer. Though if it's a girl, I might need Stephen to give me lessons in protective father techniques."
"He's done well with Patricia."
"So far. Wait until she starts dating."
I laugh, imagining Stephen trying to intimidate teenage boys while Jessica rolls her eyes in the background.
"That's years away."
"Never too early to start planning."
