I had to settle for Joshua. Jesús says he doesn’t mind much. Iphwin doesn’t want any kids named after him.
It’s been years since I faced or felt real fear. In an abstract way it’s not a bad thing to know that I can handle fear, pain, or privation if I have to, but then I can endure headaches, too, if I have to. Now and then I take a second or even two off, and go to the cottage for a while, where I meet some of the others; the embodied Iphwin is there often, as he’s never really gotten used to a fully real world.
Mostly I am content.
What I hear of the others is what you might expect; Jesús, Paula, Terri, they’re all out winning glory and wandering across the worlds, flying Dutchmen on a quantum sea. I shall probably always prefer, like Iphwin, to stand on the shore and wave.
Now and then, late at night, I go to the cottage, and Iphwin and I spend a few days running on the beach together, and drinking wine, and talking. Then one of the three adventurers will drop in, and I will sit up all night while they talk of their adventures. I know that I enjoy listening to the stories more than I would ever enjoy the adventures. And knowing that, I am very happy.