The days often tend to drag on and on for Simon. As a younger man, he’d been able to throw himself into whatever the given task was that day, and that’s all he’d think about until the next day, when the time came to wake up before the sun and do it all again.

However, he’s older now. He’s got more important things on his mind than recklessness and anger—he has you. The long work hours had never been a problem, as he’d never had a family to go back to. Now, as he explains the details of an upcoming mission to the men under his command, he finds his mind wandering to you, and the sons he adores.

The turning of the front door handle can be heard from the kitchen, where you’re standing with your boys as they throw flour at each other’s faces and bicker as brothers do. Your husband appears in the kitchen doorway not long afterwards, a tired smile gracing his lips.

“You better be behavin’ for your mum, you hear?” He says in that stern, fatherly voice of his, before walking into the kitchen to kiss your cheek and offer you a small, “Hello, darling.”