James

Prologue
January 10th 2006

We sat in Azriella’s living room, waiting. Her dad sat with his eyes glued on us. I could tell that the silence was raising her anxiety by the second.

She looked into my eyes with fear. I squeezed her hand, a small and reassuring gesture of love and comfort. 

What everyone thinks and says doesn’t matter, her words just moments before we had arrived. Our news followed everything we valued. To me it was simple like 1+1=2, but to others it was irrational and irresponsible.

“I love you,” she whispered. I still felt overjoyed at merely hearing her voice, let alone the words she spoke, something that seemed so impossible just a year ago. 

“As I love you,” my voice was low, just loud enough for her to hear it.

We had gone through many possibilities together. Fury at us, disappointment in her, rage at me, even the false acquisitions we were bound to get. We were ready for it all. Her father was in shock. It was the last thing he expected when we told him we had an announcement to make.