She never figured out why she loved him. After all, he was dirt poor. That wasn't what she had planned, what she dreamed, what she wanted.

She wanted a wedding in a giant cathedral, with a flowing white dress swathed around her, and a diamond ring sparkling in a million colors.

Instead, though, she got a wedding under the sky, with her mother's old simple dress falling lightly to her knees, and a small, sincere silver band.

She wanted a house, no scratch that, a mansion, with one room devoted specifically to all the clothes she would have.

Instead she had rode back home from the wedding in a small wagon, back to a simple farmhouse.

She wanted three course meals every day… for breakfast.

Instead she got pancakes, cooked into the shape of dinosaurs… Three times a day.

But for some reason, one she didn't understand, she was actually… OK with this.

Maybe it was the way his bright blue eyes would shine; she sometimes stared at them, wondering if it was really possible for someone's eyes to go on for infinity like that.

Maybe it was the way he would pick up his guitar and start singing about her. Just like that. Making up silly words to rhyme with her name.

Or maybe it was the way he was with their kids, they had three now. The oldest was… sensitive. Once when he came in crying, he had taken his large hat and placed it over their kid's tiny head. She laughed at the way it flopped over his curly black hair, hid his eyes.

But things were different now. She felt a bitterness seeping in to these pleasant memories. One thought hung in the back of her mind. How could he?

She knew it wasn't fair. He didn't choose to get sick. He didn't want to die so young and leave her with so little.

But he did.

Now she had three mouths to feed besides her own and nothing to do this with. And she hated herself for loving him when it didn't benefit her at all. For loving him without knowing why.

Next time she would be smarter. She would work hard to make a future for herself and her children, and she would make sure they did the same.

Her children would not leave her with nothing.

Her children would, one way or another, end up being something.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Thank you if you took the time to read this.

I felt like writing this because I hate the idea that Once-ler's dad was a worthless jerk who took off on his family :I

And also I think that the idea of a really material girl settling for lower is super cute. lolidk~