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"Why?" I said, hiccupping "What were you ashamed of ? Persephone?"

"Partially," said my mother "I was asha and how self ishly she had acted I was never ashahter, just as you are, and nothing could ever make me love either of you any less"

I sniffed "But she was miserable with him It isn’t her fault that he fell in love with her or that she fell in love with soether and make them live happily ever after It doesn’t work that way" She shifted on the bed so she was beside me "Is that how you feel? Like I forced you to be with Henry?" I shook ain "I don’t know," I h"

"But you did have a choice whether or not to be with hiently "He waited for you, but if you didn’t love him, if you didn’t want to do this, none of us would have forced you"

"It feels like you did," I whispered dejectedly "Without this, I’ure out who I was, and now I don’t kno to do that and still be who you want hter "The only person I want you to be is yourself You aren’t Persephone’s replace will ever change that You are ht you could be unbelievably happy with Henry, I would have never allowed this to happen"

"It doesn’t e how he feels about Persephone"

"No, it doesn’t," she ad tiet over her i you have to understand is that before now, he didn’t have a reason to try Now he has you"

I hiccupped again "Do you really think I can match up to her?"

She nuzzled the top of o, when Henry was still unmarried, you would have been the one I’d have offered hiave her a bewildered look, and she chuckled

"Oh, sweetheart The idea of a wo who she marries is brand-new When it comes down to it, Persephone had thousands of years with him, but you knohat?

You’ll have now until forever, if that’s what you want" She paused "Is it?"

"I want it to be," I said softly "Really, really badly"