Rosa stared at her watery soup, though she had no desire to eat. A feeling of dread enveloped her mind and surged throughout her whole body like poison, as she looked at her husband. "John?" she asked timidly. "What will we do?"

"I don't know, Rosa.." John sighed. "We could try again? We could try to have another baby? To... To.. Take your mind off things?"

Rosa was usually a quiet person and it was quite unusual for her to shout. But she couldn't quite help it this time: " TAKE MY MIND OF THINGS? JUST TAKE MY MIND OFF LOSING A CHILD? TAKE MY MIND OFF THE FACT I HAVE A REPLACEMENT FOR SOMEONE I LOVED? Do you know how old I am? My face is going grey and more wrinkles set in each day. I am an old, old woman."

There was a long moment of silence before John continued, forcing himself to be calm. "But we have the gold."

"GOLD! But what use is gold without our son?"

"Surely the King would wish to view our village in a nice way when he visits with our son? Perhaps we could make it nice for him? Do it up a little? So to speak. Repaint some windows? Plant some flowers? Not just when he visits, but forever? For everyone who visits and for future generations? For both our sons?" John watched his wife and sighed. "What use is beauty? Rosa, our son is gone."

"And we can't help it!" Rosa retaliated. "Julian is - he's gone. We can't change that. So we might as well make the best of what we've got."

John didn't speak. Rosa continued. "We can't change the fact that our child is gone. We have another, and - "

"Not our own!"

Rosa blinked once, watching John carefully. "Maybe not, but it wouldn't be fair to not treat him as a son. A true son."

Rosa's voice broke, and she turned away. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she glanced around their living room. Her eyes glazed over and sparkled with unshed tears. One with dust in the corners. Uncomfortable seats. One of darkness. Not one filled with joy and love. Not a child's house. She sighed, before turning back to her husband.

"I wish that he was still here, too, John. But we can't bring him back. We have the gold. We can't not do anything with all these riches."

John stared at his wife unblinking yet sad-eyed. "Fine."