"What do you think about this place?" Logan shows me his phone, tilting the screen so I can see better. A house just up the road from us was listed, and he was currently in the photos of the kitchen. The white accents to the darker colored cabinets threw me off more than I had expected when Logan seemed excited about the home.

"I'm not sure I like that kitchen, but if the rest of it is amazing, then I could probably get over it." I pulled my mug to my lips, blowing away some of the steam from my coffee before taking a sip.

We were waiting for the kids to get back from their grandma's house, looking through some of the listings on our phones. The hopes would be to buy a house soon so we could get out of this tiny apartment.

"What do you have planned for the day?" Logan asks.

"I need to get all the weekly cleaning done today." I scrolled through a few more listings, not finding much of interest.

"Should we hurry up and knock it out, then?" Logan shrugged, "you know, before the kids get home."

I nodded, getting up from the couch, taking a few big gulps of my coffee. I grabbed the cleaning stuff from under the sink.

"Yep, if we divide and conquer, we should have it done in no time!" Turning some music on, I gave Logan a list of things he needed to handle and we went our separate directions, getting started on our tasks. The cleaning didn't take nearly as long this week as it had the last. Logan's help and the fact that the kids weren't home really helped us speed through everything.

By noon, we were sitting at the dining room table with our sandwiches in hand.

"Thank you so much for helping this morning." I let out a sigh. It felt good to be done and to have the rest of the day to do as I pleased.

"I'm glad I was able to help in a way that you needed help this week. Last week I thought I was doing the right thing, but it turns out I was hindering more than helping." I reached over to grab his hand.

"I very much appreciate it. Thank you so much." I smiled, squeezing gently.

We took a seat on the couch again. I had grabbed a book that I'd been dying to read for months and he just mindlessly scrolled on is phone, catching up on tons of things he's missed while he's been away. It amazed me how much happens in the world in three months. I would challenge any one of my friends to sit down and try to explain every single detail to someone they loved about the last three months. Not only just of their life but also of the world.

It's damn near impossible.

Life just moves on, and Logan I was living the moved-on version of this. He didn't know about any of the top news stories, or any of the best memes from the last few months. He would just slowly discover them for the first time based on internet comments and things the guys he worked with would notice. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to live like that. But it might be nice to rediscover the world in a whole new light. He wasn't getting the heated first draft; he got the revised version when people had calmed down. Maybe that would be better?

I shook my head after I realized I had been staring at him for an awkward amount of time. Opening the book and flipping to the first page, I started reading.

~*~

We sat like this for a little over an hour or so before there was a knock on the door. My mother must be here with the kids. I glanced at the clock. It was a little past two.

"Welcome back!" Logan shouts, grabbing the kids with the world's biggest hug.

"Thank you, momma," I waved, getting off the couch to come and give her a hug.

"Did you guys have a wonderful date last night?" She asked, taking only a few steps into our apartment.

"I think it turned out better than either of us could have expected." Logan looked at me, his lips contorted upwards in the most handsome of smiles.

"I'm glad. The kids were amazing and went to bed right on time." She winked, wrapping her arms around me to pull us close. My mother smelled of mint gum, and it was something that was always notable for her. I wrapped my arms around her in return, holding on probably a little too tight.

"I miss you," I whisper in her ear. It was true. I wanted to spend our days together here and there, like we did while Logan was deployed. I'm thankful that he was home, but we spend all this time nurturing other relationships while they are away to then disappear as soon as they get home. My friends have been with me through it all and I'm thankful for that.

"I miss you too, sweetie, but I am so happy for you and where you guys are. You two are doing amazing things. I'm so proud of you." My mother smiles, small tears welling up in her eyes. "You could visit a little bit more though. I would never complain about that." She winked once again, waving as she left our entryway.

"See you four later." She shouted from down the hallways.

The kids ran immediately to the couch and started fighting over which one would get to pick the movie they were going to watch. I chuckled to myself. I knew my mother had hinted at them going to bed right on time last night, but their actions showed otherwise. I wonder if it was going to be an early bedtime tonight.

Logan followed them, jumping on the couch in between them to stop the fight. He grabbed the remote, holding it up over his head waving it in the air. Marcus stood up, trying to jump to get it, but with the instability of the couch, he just couldn't quite reach. Mazie didn't do much. She sat there watching the boys rough around, waiting for her perfect moment to strike. When she saw fit, she reached up with her tiny little fingers and shoved them right into Logan's armpit. She must have started pinching him because within seconds, Logan was doubled over in a fit of laughter, begging her to stop. Mazie smiled deviously as she grabbed the remote, holding it tightly in her hand.

"I win!" she shouts, a fit of laughter echoing from her tiny body.

"That's not fair!" Both Logan and Marcus shout at the same time.

"You know we are really, really ticklish Maze, that's not fair at all." Marus whines.

"Yes, it is. She used our weakness to her advantage. I guess that means she gets to pick the movie that we watch." Logan picked Marcus up and placed him back on the couch next to him. Turning to look over the edge of the pillows, he caught my attention.

"Are you coming to join us?" He asked me, shooting me another smile. I nodded, my knees feeling weak and my world full of so much love. This was the life I had always wanted. These kids with this man. I wouldn't change one single second of all of this. Well, that's not true. I guess I'd have Logan around more here and there.

Mazie picked Shrek to watch and while her and I were super excited, Marcus and Logan could care less about the choice. We sang along to every song and ruined every funny joke by announcing what the characters were going to say before they even said it. Mazie was all curled up in my arms, laughing and smiling and having the best time a kid could ever ask for. I hoped that nothing ever changed at this moment.

~*~

"Today was a really good day, wasn't it?" Logan smiles, running the toothbrush under the water in the sink.

"Yes, It was one of the best days I've had in a really long time." I did the same, grabbing my toothbrush, placing some paste on it and getting it wet under the running water.

"I wish I was home more." Logan said through brushes, the toothpaste foaming at the edge of his lips. "We could do stuff like this all the time. I think it'd be good for everyone."

We both continued brushing, not sure what to say until we were finished. After we had both spit, and rinsed, we headed to the bedroom, getting all cozy under the sheets.

"You shouldn't have to leave again, so why don't we start making that a tradition? Or just something we do regularly. On Sundays, we can clean the house together and then watch movies for the rest of the day. I don't have any issues with that. Once the kids start sports, it'll probably have to be adjusted, but at least for now that sounds like the perfect way to end the week."

"I like that a lot, and agree. Let's start planning on that. But next week, we aren't watching that stupid Shrek movie you girls love so much."

"Well, we don't want to watch some dumb action movie that you boys love so much!" I turned to the other side of the bed, placing my back towards Logan in protest.

When he rolled over and did the same to me, my heart sank. Did he not care? Or was he really good at winning?

We lay there for a few minutes with our backs not touching, but just close enough we can feel the other one next to us. I'd missed this while he was gone. Even if both of us were protesting right now, he was still home and that was all that I needed.

"Okay fine we can watch whatever stupid movie you girls want, now come here, I want my cuddle bug." Logan grumbles, rolling over and wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. My heart skipped a beat.

"I love you so damn much, and I hope you know that." I whispered.

I wanted to punch the military. I wanted to find a way to make it, so he never had to leave again. I knew in my heart we were done with deployments as Logan was about to retire, but that doesn't change anything about any of the years they've stolen from us. You never realize how much time he's missed until you start thinking about it. Eighty days here, and a random ninety-seven over there. It all adds up and you can't ever get that time back.

But we were almost done.

"I love you too." Logan mutters, his hot breath beating on the back of my neck.

I couldn't help but go back to my thoughts, thinking about all the events he's missed, the school projects, the falls, scrapes, bruises, fights, hugs, kisses, every laughter. He'd missed so much of his kids' lives that he would never be able to get back. Yet he was still so strong, he knew what he was doing was the right thing and he did it proudly. He was defending our children and making sure that they had a future that was worth living when they were finally old enough to start trying.

I couldn't thank Logan enough for that. All of his sacrifices were for something and that was truly something we were so blessed to be a part of.

Military life is not easy and it makes you really think and question everything. I'm just glad we would never have to break the kids' hearts again. We won't have to tell them that their dad had to leave and wouldn't be home for months.

From now on, we could just be us.