Her hand runs down his forearm and up again as his thumb brushes her cheek. Her hand curls around his wrist and she turns her head to press a kiss on his palm. There's a thoughtful look on her face as she mulls over his question.

There are a lot of different ways she could answer it. She could reassure him with some half truth, smooth things over so he won't worry. But that wouldn't be real.

After a moment, she says, "it was hard. But in a way where I would pick that over something easy with anyone else. I wouldn't call it something I dealt with. That was just the reality of our lives. It wasn't perfect, but it was ours."