Swiftcurrent Creek your kiss, my cheek—i watched you leave

She accepted—and the guilt set in, a roller coaster that offered him a high for the moment that she loved him enough to press aside her deepest desire for children—

—and then the fall with the knowledge that he was a man that would steal such a dream from her.

He buried his nose to the softness of her fur—unspeaking for now, his eyes closing, allowing the hammering of his heart to soften to a slower rhythm.

They could navigate this. Surely, they could navigate this, together.