It's quickly obvious that Hughes took his nonstop babble about his family went too far. Back home, he didn't care. Hell, he loved teasing his best friend about it all the time. It was his distraction technique when people annoyed him or when he wanted them to calm the hell down. Now, it just made him an ass. Oops.

"I... hadn't really thought about it like that." His cheeks take on a light, rosy shade of pink as he slips the picture of Elysia back into his pocket. "Guess there's a lot more to think about than I'd imagined. Now some of those conversations with my wife are beginning to make sense. I thought she was just being impatient until now."