No Matter What

I willingly trust myself to chance. I let my thoughts wander, I digress, not only sitting at my work, but all day long, all night even. It often happens that a sentence suddenly runs through my head before I go to bed, or when I am unale to sleep, and I get up again and write it down. ~ Simone de Beauvoir

Last night I sat at our breakfast bar reading (and it was wonderful). My daughter was in the tub, and hubby was watching "screaming man" -- aka Cramer the stocks guy on MSNBC (I think... he annoys me, so I'm guessing).

From w-a-a-a-y upstairs I hear a call. "Mom!" Not urgent as if she was in trouble, just an "I need you." I put my book down and climbed the stairs to the bathroom, and as I did I thought about something interesting.

She never called again. It took me a little while to get to her, but she called out once with the absolute assurance that I would be there for her. What an amazing feeling. As adults, I don't know that we carry that kind of complete certainty that we are loved and cared for. That those who love us would drop what they were doing and be there for us. No matter what.

It made me think more about that kind of love and I realized that that is what I want my H/H to feel in my books. I know, I know, mostly that's what all authors are trying to portray -- complete, lifelong, unconditional love. After all, "happily ever after" is what romance novels are all about. But I seldom think that about the characters I read about. I imagine that's because so many authors rely on circumstances and misunderstandings to keep their characters apart (I saw him in the same room as Slutwoman, so he must not love me) and I can't help but think, if a person is so easily mislead into being angry to the point of dumping someone, then how can that other person fall in love to the point of having that absolute assurance the person of their heart would be there -- no matter what?

It may be why I enjoy romantic suspense. Because we get to see characters willing to throw themselves in front of a bullet for the object of their affection, proving their loyalty to that person -- no matter what.

So even though I don't write suspense (yet ... it could happen), I want to illustrate that willingness, that devotion to another in my books. To make sure my reader knows that my characters are completely committed to one another.

No matter what.