2
He didn't ask what I meant. He never had to, not anymore, not about this. His hand found mine, and I felt the pad of his thumb settle over the old scar on my knuckle, deliberate, grounding, just like it had the first time he'd ever done it on purpose instead of by accident.
"I will keep you safe," he said, low, steady, the same nine words we'd built our whole marriage around since the night we'd first meant them. "That is the vow."