*hug* You are quite welcome. So happy you enjoyed it, despite the curiosity of your coworkers :)

their life together or building toward said life

When I was writing this, somewhere between issuing telepathic commands to the nosy little kid to leave me alone, it occurred to me that I have a lot invested in the two of them. Like, even if it's the alternate universe that lives in my head, they need to be happy because that makes me happy.

That probably also makes me crazy, but, eh, what can you do.