Robert flinched, the tone of Joanna’s voice getting his full attention. As a child she had screamed at him, tantrums of a little girl not wanting to go to bed or to eat her peas, but those paled in comparison to what was happening now. This wasn’t a prepubescent girl testing the waters or finding that line she shouldn’t cross, this was a woman willing to sacrifice her reputation and give up five years of her life...for him. For a man who would never walk down a street unassisted again, or help around the house or even cook a meal. His world had shrunk to a bedroom and a television and one wash a day, and that was all he needed, but what about her? Robert hung his head, his mind aflame with a battle between prejudice and love, but when he lifted his eyes and saw his daughter, he didn’t see the woman she had become. He saw the child he had held in his arms so many times. A child he swore he would keep out of harm’s way.

Robert drew in a shuddering breath. “You know, most of what you’ve told me, I’ll forget by tomorrow.”

Raising her eyes to meet his, Joanna said, “I know, but I had to tell you the truth. I needed to know what you thought.”

“I think five years is a long time.”

“It’s just time, Dad. I don’t mind.”

“And marrying a woman?”

“It’s not against the law.”

“Blast the law. It’s against God.”

Joanna let out an audible sigh. “I know you don’t want me to do this, and I know how you feel about gays, but this isn’t about them or God or right or wrong. This is about you and I having a better life and in five years, in five short years, we will have everything we’ll ever need.”

Robert appreciated his daughter’s optimism, but what he needed, money couldn’t buy. He had a time bomb in his head. Weakened walls of blood vessels just waiting to break open and spill blood where it didn’t belong. He had survived three strokes, but he knew the odds of living through another were against him. It was a subject they didn’t talk about often. He hated to see the sadness in her eyes; the tears fighting to stay hidden as she tried to remain upbeat about their future together. He loved that about her. All he had ever wanted was to give her a future...and now he would.