*Erik*
Things have been hard. I know how much I love my wife, but it’s hitting me now just how much everyone here loves her, too. It would be impossible not to. She’s created a life here, even though I tried to distance myself.
“Are you sure you want to leave here?” I ask her as she takes a bite of her dinner. It’s so nice to be back home with things as they should be.
She stops and stares at her food for a moment before those bright blue eyes meet mine. “It’s not like I have a choice.”
I sigh. I never meant for her to think that she had to come. “It’s not like that, Ellie.”
She shrugs at me, takes another bite, and then offers Mani a bit of the juices. “You miss your family. I don’t have anyone. It’s fine.”
“You do, though,” I tell her. “You’ve created such a life here. If
