With a sigh, she turned from the balcony and made her way out of the nursery. She had been hiding in this room for too long, she needed to have a conversation with Ethan that didn't involve yelling.

She reached his study, sighting Jacob standing just outside the door. She offered Jacob a small smile and dismissed him with a slight nod of her head.

Pushing the door to his study open, she found him seated behind his desk, his nose buried in a book.

“Ethan?” She breathed, taking measured steps to where he sat. He lifted his head slowly, confused eyes coming to rest on her. “We need to talk.” She managed.

He nodded and rose to his feet. Walking around the desk, he pulled out a seat for her, but she couldn't sit; she could do nothing but stand there, ignoring the seat that he offered, while relishing his closeness. It had only been a little over a week when they had been so in love with each other, looking forward to Ellie falling asleep so they could spend time together. What went wrong?

Me...

She knew the answer even before she asked the question. She was the reason for his withdrawal; she was the reason that a man who once beheld her like she was his entire universe, could now hardly even look at her.

Yet, her heart longed for him. She longed to be held by him, to be with him, to be loved by him. She knew she loved him desperately, she knew she didn't want to be without him.

She took a step toward him, releasing his hold on the seat and taking captive of his hands. Heaving a breath, her hands came to rest on the side of his face as she leaned close. “I'm sorry,” she whispered, placing a hand on his chest. “I'm just so afraid of losing her, I didn't realize I was pushing you away as well.”

They stared at each other for a while, each seemingly unable to speak as they stood in the stillness of his dimly lit study.

“What do you want, Gretchen?” He asked softly.

What did she want? She searched his eyes and for the first time since they got married, he let her see it; he was sad. It almost seemed like he was willing to be vulnerable before her, like he had finally taken off his mask and was letting her in, and what she saw broke her heart to pieces; it was a sadness that reached deep into his soul —a sadness that had taken his heart captive.

It had been over a week since they got married and she had done nothing but add to his misery. She had withheld herself from him by refusing to share a room with him, she had refused to share meals with him, and she had locked herself in the nursery most of the time, and had recently begun to nag. But she didn't want to do that anymore, she instead wanted to stare into Ethan's eyes and find the happy man she fell in love with. She wanted happiness for herself as well as for Ellie. She wanted them to be a family. Still, she knew there were things she didn't have control over, and one of those things was bringing Ellie back.