Back home, there was a lake behind the palace. Her parents never allowed her to swim there because they always insisted that it was safer to swim in the pool where she and her sister had protection. Still, on some days, Neveah found ways to sneak them out of the palace and they would spend hours playing in the lake. When she became a teenager, Nadine would sneak out by herself because Nevaeh would be busy. She would spread her arms and float above the water, watching the sky from the cluster of leaves that loomed over the lake. She would dream of leaving the island, of crossing the waters without her parents and finally seeing what the world was like without guards and rules. The typical cliché of most rich sheltered girls.

Nadine tilted her head back against the tile, lifting her hand to massage the tightness in her shoulder. She swallowed a lung full of air before posing herself and gliding through the water, swimming across the pool.

She was sixteen when she first decided to make her escape, planning everything down to the minutest detail, her escape day, her route, her boat, and her life after everything worked out.

Nadine stood from the water, gasping for air, resting her arms on the tiles. Even before she left home, her biggest problem was that she always wanted to avoid talking, at any cost. She hated talking about her emotions because she feared people would only pretend to care but never do anything to help her. Now, she had a husband she could never run from and the only way was to do the one thing she hated. She did not want Dominic to lie or mince his words in an effort to keep her calm. She just wanted honesty but dreaded it at the same time.

Nadine lifted her head from her hands and looked up to see Georgia, one of her maids, walking towards her. She picked her earphones out of her ears and smiled at the girl.

"Sorry to interrupt your swim ma'am but the boss is back. You said to tell you when he arrives. I think he went into the study, would you like me to tell him you wish to see him."

Nadine shook her head. "I'll join him in the study. Georgina, please when you all are done preparing dinner please tell everyone to go home. We wouldn't need anything. All of you can clock out early today."

"Of course." Georgina smiled, backing away from the pool and slipping into the house.

Nadine dropped her buds on the tiles floor, sinking underneath the water before lifting herself out of the pool. She dried herself up and pulled a large shirt over her body. Padding into the house barefoot, she weaved her way towards the study.

Dominic looked up from the desk when she walked in. "Hey, you. They told me you were swimming. You're home early today."

Nadine turned the knob of the door, locking it before she tiptoed over to the desk to take Dominic by the hand. He watched her wearily, rising from the table and following her until they seat on the couch. He smiled when he noticed her outfit but it only lasted for a minute before he took in her sobered expression. Dominic slithered closer, squeezing her hand in his.

"Nadine what happened."

"Well, this would usually start with the words 'we need to talk' but I hate that phrase with such passion." She shook her hands out, trying to grip on to the courage she had. "I want us to finally, I don't know, hash this issue out."

"Which issue?"

"We lost our baby. Babies."

Dominic sighed. "We finally going to talk about that?"

"Yes."

"Shoot."

"Ever since my first miscarriage I have tried to think about where you stand but I know that, well putting words in your mouth never works. I want to hear what you think. I want to get your opinion."

"Nadine, you know my opinion," Dominic replied. "I have never blamed you for the loss of our children. I would hate to be Doctor Hyde in this situation and start quoting google search facts about miscarriages and their numerous amounts, calculated annually. I have read them myself; I looked at them over and over while you laid in that hospital bed. I just wanted to know everything so that it would never happen again and I could take care of you. Then you woke up, and... you apologised."

"I remember."

"You apologised and I meant it when I told you that it was nothing that you did. Honestly, after we lost Ama I thought you were drowning in pain, please tell me it is pain and not guilt. Tell me you are still not thinking this is your fault."

Nadine did not let her tears fall. "I know it is not my fault. I know but my mind doesn't agree to that. I haven't been, Dom, you know I haven't been so open with my past. My parents, my family, my life before you, before this town. I don't really like to think much about it because it hurts to go back there. After our child died, I have lived in the past and I can't find my way out."

Dominic reached out to her, turning her eyes up to his face. "Nadine. Have you been pregnant before? Is that what caused the rift between you and your parents?"

Nadine rolled her eyes, slapping him over the head with a sad grin. "Dom, wake up! I was a virgin on our wedding night remember, one cannot precede the other." Dominic nodded, laughing in apology and giving her the signal to continue. Nadine shrugged, thinking what to say next. How she would tell Dominic about her parents. The family that she left behind years ago. "I haven't really been honest with you about my past, the reason I ended up in this town ten years ago.

Dominic folded his arms, reclining against the sofa arm, giving her his full attention. Nadine looked away, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes before they even had the chance to fall down her face. She propped her elbow on her knees, knitting her fingers together as she took a long-awaited trip down a nearly forgotten memory lane.

"Remember when you asked me why my parents wouldn't be able to attend our wedding? I told you that we were estranged and that was kind of a lie. We are in no way estranged. I ran away."

"Ran away."

"I was sixteen years old; I didn't have any dream other than seeing the world outside my home. Of course, we had some travels but I never counted those as seeing the world because my sight was through my parents' eyes. They told me how to behave; made sure I was prim and proper, like a little doll. They meant well, in their own twisted way. They are my parents, they would always believe they are doing what is best for me but I didn't see it the way they did. I saw it as they making a decision that I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

"When I was sixteen my parents announced to me that they found me a husband. The plan was to marry me off when I was twenty-four and done with school. Saying it now, it sounds harsh but when they said it to me, it was with smiles and wine. I was so upset. I had done everything they asked. My sister, Nevaeh, had even married a man she didn't love so I would never have to make that choice. I never wanted to marry a man of their choice I never wanted any of it. I just wanted to live. I wanted to be able to one-day die without thinking... what if. So I planned. Nevaeh had just had twins I couldn't bother her with my issues, her health was too important. Funny when I think about it seeing as my running away would stress her out more.

"Yet, I was determined. I took some of the gold from my parents' safe and a good amount of money. I was done with high school so I didn't think of schooling at that moment, just basic survival like clothes, food, and maybe a small house. I took my birth certificate, my high school degree, anything for identification. I had a boat on the ocean that would take me away, my plan was solid but life is bitter even when sweet. I almost got away smoothly but while my plans were working in my eyes, it had gone to hell in the background. My sister had somehow figured that something was up with me and she had been piecing it together, following behind me the night I was going to escape. The way I was dressed and with the bag, I was carrying, the guards called me to halt so they could talk to me but I couldn't stop. They recognize me and they would take me back.

"So I took off running. Ran like a lunatic, I didn't want to go back. Freedom was so close I could smell it; I was giving nothing up for anyone. I was almost at the end of the cliff when I felt the arrow tear through my arm and I heard my sister scream as I slapped down on the water." Nadine laughed bitterly at the memory. Her hand going over to the wound, rubbing it as she continued, "anyway. I survived, moved away as I had always wanted. I met Jonathan a few months after that and years later, I met you. So many years had passed, I trained myself to forget the pain of leaving my family, trained myself to be centred in my own life. I felt like I made the right decision, and slowly the pains of my past began to fade. Then I lost the twins."

Dominic sighed, shifting closer to kiss her face and draping his arm around her shoulder. He kissed the side of her head then pressed another one to her cheeks, resting his head against hers.

"I died that day. I know that it is not my fault but I can't turn off the guilt. I kept wondering... is that what I put my mother through, what I put my father through, what I put my family through." She laughed, blinking out the tears and taking a deep breath. "I wonder if my mother took the blame for my disappearance or if she hated me in turn. Wondered if she spent nights thinking of the how she could have done things differently or if she forgave herself for my disappearance. Then I had Ama, she was premature but when I saw her, I had so much hope that she would be okay. She had a strong grip, she looked so beautiful but she was only with us for eight hours. I kept thinking, as the doctor spoke, what my life would be like if I hadn't run away from home. If I had..."

Dominic moved to sit on the floor in front of her, palming her cheeks with a sad smile. "Nadine, why did you have to run? I don't understand. What kind of life were you living where your parents choose your husband."

Nadine shook her head. "Story for another day." She reached out to squeeze his shoulder with her fingers. "What I want to know now, what I want to hear now is you telling me the truth. I want to hear it. Do you resent me, even in the slightest, for losing our children? Did it in any way affect your love for me?"

"Not even a bit." He returned with confidence. "Nadine, I didn't marry you for your womb, I didn't marry for your ability to have children. I married you because I love you, the crazy, the wild, the understanding, and the loving person that you are. Losing our children killed me too but what hurts the most is that I had no way to help you. Look at me, nothing on this planet is enough to make me stop loving you. Nothing."

"I have lost so much, I won't be able to stand losing you too." She kissed him, tasting her own tears. "I won't lose you too."

"I am not going anywhere. I don't know what happened back then to cause you to run away from home but maybe if you had never done that then I would never have met you. I don't know how much more we will go through in the future but I want you to know that I would always be here for you, I am here to take care of you. We will get through everything. One step at a time."

"One step at a time." She laughed, kissing him again. "I hate that phrase too but sure, let's flow with that."

Dominic lowered his hands to her hips, fidgeting with the shirt she had on. "Maybe one of these days you'd find the time to explain your family to me because I still don't understand that part."

Nadine smiled and nodded. No courage she mounted up to speak was enough to talk about her family in one day. As she had gotten most of the ache off her chest, she began to think that maybe, just maybe there was a way to get her life back. One day, when she had the strength, she would return home, with her husband on her arm and ask for her parents' forgiveness. What she had told Dominic was true, losing her children made her realise the pain she was burying her family in. One day she would go back and she would tell them the truth. With any luck, they would forgive her.

"I love you," she whispered to him, shoving her fingers into his thick wad of curls.

"Preaching to the choir."

She kissed him, pulling him up to his full height. Her hands slid down the front of his shirt, picking at the buttons and popping them free line by line. Although she was happy, she could still feel tears rolling down her cheeks, they made her laugh. Giggling against Dominic. He stumbled back when she kissed him again, catching her around the hips to steady her. She pushed his shirt off him, tugging it down from his hands and threw it aside.

Dominic pulled away, resting his hands on the sides of her face. His eyes searched through hers. "Do I have my wife back?"

"She never left."

He hunched down, lifting her up against him. Nadine kissed him again, wrapping her legs around his waist and maintain a good grip around his shoulders. She leaned back to whisk her damp shirt off her body before Dominic walked them back to the couch. She felt the leather, cool and sticky against her back before she unfolded her legs from around Dominic. He pulled back to look at her, for just a second, his eyes filled with lover and tenderness. As they always were. Finally, as the pain was ebbing from her heart, she could see him clearly again. Dominic, the man she married. The man she loved.