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ERIS - chapter 16

the final chapter.

***

Hannah curses under her breath as she struggles to tug the silver wedding band off her finger. She'd always hated taking the thing off-it was so typical of Eric to manage to drop almost $6000 on a ring only to buy it one size too small. Though he'd offered to have it resized, Hannah told her husband not to bother, arguing that it was perfect as it was and she wouldn't feel right if a thing about it were to change. Eric had smiled and Hannah had kept the real reason why she didn't want her ring resized a secret.

Truth be told, Hannah wanted to feel the tight grip of the ring on her finger at all times-wanted to be reminded constantly that she was married to a man, that she belonged to Eric, and that she was normal.

Sometimes it shocks Hannah just how easily her new life fell into place. As soon as she arrived in Japan, she had rushed to Ellis' side after an abrupt downward spiral that occurred during her travels. She had spent those first two weeks sleeping on the couch of Ellis' lavish, Tokyo apartment and helping his wife care for him and keep up with the housework. By the third week, Ellis' son had flown in from a job he was at in the United States and, just like that, Hannah met her husband.

Above all else, Hannah appreciated how much Eric was like his father. He was a strong, trustworthy man that knew when to shut up and give Hannah her space. After Ellis' funeral, when both Hannah and Eric were sitting together on his family balcony, Eric had leaned in and pressed his lips to Hannah's own. Though the taste of cigarettes and vanilla on Eric's tongue made Hannah want to recoil, she made the abrupt decision to kiss him back. She decided, in the moment, that a life of controlled, subdued happiness was better than a life of dangerous, uncertain bliss.

Ten months after his father's passing, Eric dropped to one knee and presented Hannah with a ring-the ring that was one size too small. Tears sprung to Hannah's eyes and she forced herself to smile to make them seem like tears of joy. When Eric wrapped her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple, all she could think of were a few simple words: You're normal. This is normal. This is right.

After their wedding, Hannah's life settled into the predictable routine that she had expected. During the day she goes to work and at night she cooks dinner, waiting for Eric to get home so they can curl up together on their leather sofa and catch up on their favorite TV shows. On Sunday nights, like clockwork, Eric always manages to bring up the topic of children-how, after three years of marriage, he wants nothing more than to raise a child that has his soft, brown curls and Hannah's pretty blue eyes. And, like clockwork, Hannah always argues that she's too busy at Masubi to focus on anything other than her career and Eric.

An hour earlier they'd had the same conversation, but this time it was different. This time Eric didn't let it go.

"Well when will you be ready, Hannah? Tomorrow? Next month? Next year? I need something fucking concrete to hold on to here!" Eric exclaimed, tangling his fingers in his hair and pacing back and forth in front of his wife.

"I don't know, okay? I've been buried in work ever since our Paris office opened up. I don't know when things will slow down and I don't want to raise a child if I know I'm going to be too occupied at Masubi to pay it any attention!"

"I can work from home, what about that? My buddy Rio did that for almost two years when his wife had their first child. It wouldn't even be a problem-I could stay home with our kid and you could continue to work just as you do now."

"If we do have a child, I want to be there for them, Eric. I can't just be there at night to read a bedtime story-I need more than that. Even if I did agree to it, I couldn't be pregnant and flying back and forth between Tokyo and Paris to help out with the new office. It just wouldn't work."