While Jewlie couldn't deny she loved her new married life, with it came a new set of pressures: some people expected her to become a housewife. That meant she would have to stay home and do…basically nothing except cook and clean.

"Why don't you get it? You're married now. No more wild romping for you and Conan."

Jewlie looked up from the tomatoes she was chopping.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Simple: You're a housewife now. You could simply quit your job and stay home to raise kids and such"

"I won't. Not yet, at least. Conan and I are not ready. Besides, who are you to say what I should do? Conan has no problem with both of us working, so I will not stop."

"Sure. Just wait and see."

Nothing more was said of the topic, but Jewlie didn't stop thinking about that.

"Conan," she eventually said, as both laid in bed that night.

"Yes, honey?"

"Is the way we live…wrong?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's saying I should be a housewife, and I…"

Conan rolled over, and kissed her.

"Don't mind what they say," he told her. "They don't know what they're talking about."

Despite that, the pressure didn't stop, even her father expected her to live a certain way. Jewlie remained stubbornly focused in her work, with the support of her husband to continue.

Their marriage hadn't started as she'd dreamed, thanks partially to Henry. And while their honeymoon, spent in a nice cabin near Loey Machan, was quite literally a dreamy experience, once they were back, Jewlie found out that married life wasn't quite different from life before. With the exception of the aforementioned pressure, of course.

Things first came to a head when Jewlie and Conan visited the latter's grandparents. All was going well until his grandmother made a comment during teatime.

"Honestly, Jewlie, I don't get why you're still working. You should have retired after you got married, and you should simply tend to my grandson."

Jewelie ended up breaking the glass she had been drinking from.

"What right have you to tell me to retire?" she asked crossly, not even minding the fact she was bleeding.

"The right to see my grandson happy. I want to see my grandson with a woman who'll care for him, and make him happy"

That angered Jewlie further.

"Listen here, you hag. I'll decide when to retire, and while you may be the grandmother of my beloved husband, you can't tell me what to do."

"How dare you call me a hag!"

"That's what you are! A hag who meddles in other people's affairs! Conan! We're leaving."

She stood up and walked out of the house, with Conan running after her.

"Come on, Jewels. I know that was completely inappropriate from my grandmother, but… "

"But nothing. She was way too out of line, you should've said something."

"Please don't put me between you and my grandmother… How can I decide between the love of my life and…"

Jewelie slapped him.

"For crying out loud, grow a spine! You don't need to listen to everything they say all the goddamn time!"

She took a deep breath.

"Please. Man up. You don't have to take shit from anyone."

She walked home, leaving Conan with much to think.

Things went downhill from there: Conan's grandmother kept insisting on Jewelie retiring from her job and becoming a housewife. Time after time, she said no, and eventually, she had enough.

Unfortunately, it wasn't only Conan's grandmother who tried to pressure Jewelie.

"Jewelie Owens?" The Vicarstown stationmaster called to her.

"What is it?"

"I have a question for you."

"What kind of question? If it's regarding when I'm going to retire…"

"Not that," said the stationmaster. "I was wondering: have you thought of having kids?"

"Why do you care? That's up to me and my husband to decide."

"Well," said the stationmaster, "both of you are in your twenties, the perfect age to have kids if you ask me, you're married, and…"

"Shut. Up."

"I was just saying…"

Jewlie slapped him then stormed off.

Obviously, the conflict and runaway emotions of the newlywed couple had more repercussions than the obvious ones: not only did neither focus on doing their work, they also ended up snapping at even the simplest request. The Fat Director noticed and decided to take action.

"Further harassment of Conan and Jewelie will be disciplined as needed," he told the rest of the staff. "They're allowed to choose when to have kids, do not pressure them any further."

"Come on, first he allows a woman to work on this railway, then makes her shedmaster. It's obvious both should already be parents," muttered someone.

"Not only that: If she was a stewardess on the dining trains, well, that would be her place," added another.

However, they were overheard not only by the Fat Director, but by the couple.

"My place? My place?!"

Conan was equally furious, and in fact, at the first chance he got, would beat the crap out of those two arseholes. Jewlie was more hurt than she first appeared to, however. She didn't tell Conan about it, but someone else did notice: Emily. That very night, Emily approached Jewlie.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

"I just don't understand society: why is it that they think we women are only useful for serving men?"

Emily laughed softly.

"There's a lot of people like that. All that matters is that you're happy with the man you love. Are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Does he love you?"

"Of course he does."

"Then why do you care? A lady like me or you shouldn't worry about that. Not like your mother in law is behind this, right?"

Jewelie looked down in response.

"Oh…I see the problem. What does she say?"

"She says I should retire and become a housewife," replied Jewelie. "Tend to his grandson and our kids…that's bullshit, I know, but…"

"You still feel the pressure?"

"Y-yes…how do you know? Were you married?"

"No, but I have been pressured to keep up to speed when I was in service on the Great Northern," Emily answered. "Especially during the 1895 Race to the North. Competing against the LNWR, NER, and Caledonian was no easy feat. I was chosen, even though I was 25 years old at the time, and there were other engines who could outperform me. The LNWR A class was specially hard to beat. And yet I won…my victory was short lived, as my class was replaced by the C1 Atlantics about three years later."

Jewelie didn't know what to say.

"The one true loser wasn't any British company, however."

Jewelie was now confused.

"It was the New York Central in America," Emily said. "They once had the record for the fastest express, but me and the GNR claimed it."

"Can you give some details?" asked 98462, entering the berth beside Emily.

"On what?"

"How was the record transferred from an American line to the GNR?"

Emily talked to 98462 about it, while Jewelie began thinking. She eventually came to a decision, but she needed to find Conan.

As for him, he was trying to drown his sorrows… and failed. He couldn't handle alcohol: it tasted awful. And even if it didn't, he passed out after his first drink.

"Conan?"

"What is it, Thomas?"

"I'm not Thomas. Come on, let's go home."

By the time both arrived, Jewelie tried to explain what she'd planned.

"We'll do it tomorrow, oka—eek!"

Conan ended up falling and pushing her onto the ground.

"Get off…" Jewelie blushed when Conan actually began trying to kiss her. "Connie, you're…you're drunk!"

"Aw, cmon, Jewels," slurred Conan, "you know you want to."

Conan then went to her neck and began licking it.

"Not now, Connie…" she pleaded. "Later… We can do it later…KYAAAAAA!"

Conan had bitten her neck.

"I…Connie, please. Now isn't the best time!"

"You've been having a lot of stress," purred Conan. "Let me handle it."

"Not when you're drunk!"

"Okay…but, even so, I think you and I should cuddle a bit," said Conan. He then kissed her.

"I…" she simply melted into the kiss, cuddling with Conan as he fell asleep, with her thinking for a bit of how, despite his faults, he was the perfect man for her.

Next morning, Conan had a terrible hangover. He still remembered one thing, however: he'd promised to take care of his wife's stress.

"Jewelie…" she didn't wake up, so he bit her neck again. Still, she remained asleep, so he slipped a hand under her skirt, slowly feeling her legs. Her long, slender and perfectly built legs from all those years of cheerleading

"Stop…I want to sleep," groaned Jewelie. She did enjoy Conan's touch, however.

She was suddenly fully awoken. She felt a hand somewhere else.

"Conan… Are you grabbing…PERVERT!"

She slapped him hard.

"Sorry, Jewels. I couldn't resist."

"Couldn't resist? That's inappropriate behaviour, Conan!"

"Inappropriate? Come on, we're married," protested Conan. "There's no such thing as inappropriate anymore."

"Whatever…" she sighed. "As I was telling you yesterday. We'll confront your grandmother as soon as we can: you can't be subservient to her forever."

"Subser…"

"Don't play dumb with me: you didn't stick up for me when she told me to retire!" Jewelie scolded. "Do you agree with her that I should?"

"No, of course I don't."

"Then we'll go confront her, okay?"

"Okay, Jewels."

"Perfect the—eek! Conan!"

He'd picked her up bridal style, and began walking to the shower. Once there, he dropped her.

"But first, Jewels, clothes off. I promised to help with your stress, and I'm going to keep it."

About an hour later, both were on their way to Conan's grandparents house. Conan couldn't help feeling nervous as they travelled there: it was the first time he'd be telling off his grandma. While temperamental she did mean well. Still, his nerves were about to get the better of him.

Once there, his grandmother opened the door.

"Have you changed your…"

"Put a sock in it grandma!" shouted Conan. "I'm sick of you telling Jewelie she should retire: I don't care what society wants, I care what she wants! And if you can't respect that, you and I are through!"

"What did you just say?"

Conan decided there was no point in repeating himself: he threw a shoe at her head instead.

A bit to his horror, he missed.

"Ungrateful bastard…"

His grandfather rushed to try to stop the fight..

"He's grown up enough to decide what he wants," said William. "That does not excuse you, Conan, being disrespectful to your grandmother, she only wants the best for you."

"The best doesn't include telling us how to live our lives!" snapped Conan. "You really hurt Jewelie, you know? If she wants to retire, she'll choose when she wants to, not let you decide that for her!"

"I only wish for you to have someone who'll make you happy. Someone who'll tend and care for you, like I did for your grandfather."

"That…is not what I want. If Jewelie isn't happy…how can I be happy?"

Jewelie felt herself falling in love all over again: he clearly wasn't like most men, he put her needs over his own.

"If you can't respect that…then, as much as it pains me…don't expect us to visit anytime soon".

And he began to walk away. Aila was furious, and Jewlie was in the blast radius.

"You! What did you do to my grandson?!"

"I didn't do anything shithead: he's his own person not yours, so shut up and quit blaming me for changing him!"

Jewelie punched Aila on the nose, making it bleed. She then followed Conan, leaving a stunned Grandmother behind.

"I'll have to side with Conan and Jewelie: serves both of us right," said William. "We can't control what our grandson decides anymore: he's a grown man and we need to respect that."

From that day on, no matter what society or their relatives thought, Conan and Jewelie would always be together. And no matter what one did, the other would support it.