When they turned onto the long country lane leading to the farm, Karina began bouncing in her seat with excitement. Prem let out a long wolf howl. The rambling ranch house was surrounded by a large fenced-in yard. As soon as Keith parked the car, Karina and Prem jumped out and ran toward the kennels on one side of the yard, where a man in work clothes stood.

“Be careful, wait at the gate!” Jaya called out. As someone who hadn’t grown up with pets, his wife had an instinctive fear of animals. Keith hadn’t quite understood it when she’d explained: in Indian culture, dogs and other animals were considered dirty and would never be let inside the home. The only dogs she’d seen in India were the strays on the street, which she’d been taught to avoid as a source of disease and injury. Keith had grown up with dogs and loved them, so it took some effort to appreciate her view. Most of the time, he and Jaya were grounded by the values they held in common—hard work, planning for the future, creating opportunity for their children—but from time to time, there were these small reminders of their cultural differences.

Now, Keith noticed Jaya taking deep breaths, trying to keep her fear in check for Karina’s sake. He had always admired this about his wife, how hard she worked to overcome her own fears. On September 11, 2001, two days before he was scheduled to fly to New York, Jaya had been heavily pregnant with Prem. As the news unfolded, she became hysterical, haunted by the notion that only a small accident of chance had kept Keith out of the towers that day. She didn’t want him to fly, not just that week or the week after, but for months. It had surprised Keith, the appearance of this deep fear, a single imperfection in Jaya’s otherwise unperturbable facade. His wife’s self-possession was the defining characteristic everyone noticed. Years of living around the world and interacting with diplomats had given her a degree of confidence to fit into any social situation. He admired this quality, but it also left him feeling somewhat insecure in comparison. With his modest upbringing, Keith had struggled to learn about good food and wine, to develop the language of someone more cosmopolitan. Here, with this fear of Jaya’s, was one small weakness with which he could help his wife, at last.

It took Jaya over a year to get on a plane herself, to visit her parents in Switzerland so they could meet Prem for the first time. She gripped Keith’s hand tightly during takeoff, but he saw the resolve in her eyes before she closed them and rested her head back against the seat. He was filled with pride over how she could conquer something when she put her mind to it.

Now, Keith took Jaya’s hand again and they walked together to meet the man who came to unlatch the gate for them. They introduced themselves and shook hands, the breeder first wiping his on his jeans.