You make these offhand comments about yourself that seem like jokes, but I know they're not.

[Most of the time, anyway.]

And I know you don't believe me when I tell you how amazing you are. I don't think you believe anyone else, either. Sometimes —

[He has to pause; his voice is getting a little tight.]

Sometimes I'm not even sure you believe that I love you as much as I do. Anyway, that's not really my point. I just — what I saw back there was an opportunity for you to take on more responsibility that shouldn't belong to you. I don't want anything to give you any more reason to feel the way you do, so I had to step in. Maybe the way I went about it wasn't the best, but... it was either that, or say all this in front of everyone. Because I know, Steph. I know that as soon as something goes wrong, you'll blame yourself. You do that already anyway, so...

[Another pause.]

But what I don't know is how to handle it when you do that.