With your birthday coming up, you only had one worry — your boyfriend, Kyle.

Being part of a special forces team meant he was always deployed at the most awkward times, like now. He had been sent out on deployment the week before your birthday and, though he promised he’d be back before then, it wasn’t looking too promising.

You kept contact with him throughout the deployment, whenever he was allowed access to his phone and wasn’t busy doing something. He had broken the news the day prior that the mission had been extended and he wasn’t able to come home until after your birthday.

A sweet white lie, he told himself. In fact, the mission had ended early and he was planning to surprise you.

The day of your birthday arrived. The house was empty as you lounged on the sofa when the front door clicked open. There in the doorway stood Kyle with a bouquet of flowers, a neatly wrapped present and a card in his hands.