Tears filled Ruby's eyes. When Ash put it like that, it was hard to vocalize her reasons. It took her a minute to manage to get one out.
"What about your family? Don't you want another one someday? I can't give you that!"
"I didn't want another family at all," he said seriously. "I thought about either killing myself or continuing to live alone in misery forever to atone for failing them until you came along and gave me something to live for.
"Haven't you been looking at the pictures you've taken on this trip? Without planning to, I already got another family and I wouldn't trade them for anything. You and Flora are my family, Ruby. Don't make me lose my family again because you're scared."
She was stunned; she had no idea he felt that way. And it was true that the pictures did make it look like they were a family, albeit a very mismatched one.
