[ A heavy guilt settled over him, shoulders lowering. ]

She wanted a big family, Gunny. A good Martian family. And I - God, I tried, we both did, but it just didn't--

[ He swallowed, trying to push the memory away, and his voice got quieter. ]

It's my fault. I'm pretty sure. But it just - I didn't even think I wanted it, and I couldn't just- to go through that and not even know if you wanted it anyway... [ He was drunk. He was very drunk. He was being vague, but he shouldn't have been talking about this at all. ]