"Have either of you guys heard anything from your father about when he was going to be here?" I ask the twins, looking around the crowded gym for Logan. Both kids sat on their tablets for school, working on their homework.

The school was hosting yet another fundraiser, this one was an auction. Local businesses donated items to us to sell to the parents to help pay for some of the field trips for the school. Each parent had to volunteer for a job. I was stuck hosting the cookie table.

The packages of cookies stared at me, reminding me of Sandra's comments about them being gluten free and all that fun stuff. I looked around the gym to make sure no one was watching. Grabbing the package of cookies, I looked at the bottom of it, searching for that one specific warning label.

'Made containing dairy and egg products' the package said.

Phew! I wasn't going to have to explain to a hundred angry parents why there weren't key ingredients in their child's cookie.

"Momma, when is dad getting here? I want to show him this cool thing we did in science today." Mazie whines, barely lifting her eyes from the tablet in front of her. I hated that the school required them to use these things. They sucked the life out of the children.

"I don't know honey, he said he would be here around five, but it's almost six and it seems like he still isn't here." I checked the large clock in the gymnasium one more time to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. The event would be over in a little over a half hour.

Oh Logan, I hope you are on your way.

Another customer walks by my table. I give them the best cooking selling spill I can as they glance over all of the products. This was the worst table to host.

A loud voice booms over the school speaker system, announcing the time and telling everyone to get ready for the next auction item. This one was a spa package donated from a local business. I would be lying if I said I didn't want that one.

A few others scurried past the table, peeking for a moment, but deciding not to buy. They were heading to their seats to get ready to bid on the item.

"Is it time to go home yet?" It was Marcus this time who chose to whine. I shook my head cursing at Logan for not being here. He needed to make these things a priority. They were his children too! If Logan had been here then the kids could have gone home, they could have had dinner and a shower or bath, they could be in their pajamas playing a game. Doing something that was fun for them at least. But they were stuck here with me because I had no support from the man that was supposed to be in this fifty fifty with me.

The mock auctioneer starts cheering, drumming up a response for the spa package. It was in that moment that I decided to bid on it. Logan was about to get his separation pay, from being away from us for so long so there would be extra money in the budget. I deserved a little spa treatment after all I've been through in the last few months. The thought of a nice warm bath soothed my aches from the long work day ever so slightly. Just enough to remind me they were there in the first place.

I looked one last time for Logan, pulling my phone out of my pocket to try and call him. It went straight to voice-mail. Was he really still at work?

The more time that clicked away on the clock the more my body grew hostile in the situation. If he would only show up for once.

"We will start the bidding at 100 dollars, do I hear a hundred from anyone..." the voice trailed off on the mic and I subconsciously raised my paddle to bid.

A few other parents also raised their paddles, mostly men that must be buying it as a gift for their spouse. The price climbed and soon enough it was well into the five hundreds. Yet another thing to disappoint me today. At least it was good for the kids.

I put out my half priced sign, marking that there was only fifteen minutes left of selling time. We needed to get rid of some of these cookies.

No one seemed to notice and I realized I just couldn't stand here anymore.

"Hey Maggie," I waved, grabbing the attention of another mother from the school. "Do you mind adding these to your table? I have an emergency I need to go take care of."

She was timid, but she didn't seem to mind when I started throwing the cookies on her table. "Uh, sure?" She mumbled. I gave her the money box before turning to collect my children.

"Mom there's an emergency?" Mazie asked.

"Yes, honey..." I said just loud enough the other mother could hear me. "But it's not real so keep your head down and let's go." I whispered, hoping she would listen.

"Mommy, why are you lying?" Marcus shouts, louder than any kid should ever be able to say something. I turned on my heel, dragging both of the kids out of the gym as quickly as I could and into the mostly empty hallway.

"I'm not lying, Marcus, and you need to keep some things to yourself." I realized as soon as I said it that it was uncalled for.

A loud eruption of cheering escapes the gym doors, meaning someone must have finally won the spa package. If I was a betting man, I'd assume it was the highest selling item with how long the auction went on.

~*~

When we entered the apartment, Logan was sitting on the couch, lounged out in pajama pants watching some television. My body burned with anger. It looked like he had been here for hours. No wonder he never showed up to the school. But what was his explanation for not answering the phone when I tried calling him earlier?

"You look comfy?" I growl, putting my bag down on the side table. He jumps up off the couch, but he wasn't startled. He seemed as if he had no clue what was going on.

"Hey welcome home, it's so good to see you guys!" He shouts, giving the kids hugs, and boosting them up to be just as tall as he is.

"Daddy! I have something so cool to show you!" Mazie shouts. "Give me a few minutes to set it up and then come find me in the kitchen." She drops her bag on the ground rushing towards the island to set up whatever project she was so excited to show him.

"Okay sweetie, I'll be there in a few minutes." He waved after her, a large smile growing on his face. It was like he couldn't tell how angry I really was.

"So what took you guys so long to get home?" He asks, looking at the bags laying on the floor. He grabbed the school bags and put them on the hooks where they went. Then he checked all of the zippers to make sure nothing was going to spill out of them. "Do we need to get their tablets charged up for tomorrow?"

"You do." I growled again, throwing my own stuff on the floor just like the children had done, before stepping over it and heading to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. Logan looked shocked, but he managed to pick my stuff up as well placing it all neatly where it went.

"What's going on?" Now he seemed nervous to ask. How could he not remember we talked about it this morning?

"How long have you been home?" I don't know why I asked the question, it was only going to start more than it was going to fix. He shrugged, scratched his head, and leaned against the wall.

"Probably about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I only got to watch one episode of Black List." He pointed to the tv that was paused on one of his favorite shows.

"Jesus Christ Logan, you completely forgot didn't you?" I guffawed.

"Forgot wha-- Oh shit." He mouthed, and suddenly a wave of realization came over him. He had let his family down once again.

"I needed you there. The kids are starving. At least they have their homework done, so to answer your question from earlier you do need to plug in their tablets." I wasn't looking to do anything else tonight. I would make the small little dinner I needed to and then I was heading to bed. Hell, maybe I was heading to the bathroom to take that bath I so desired earlier today. But I couldn't do that, by the time the kids were done taking there's, there wasn't any hot water left. I hated this place.

"I'm so sorry, work got out really late and I forgot about it after dealing with everything I did today." His voice was soft. He grabbed the tablets that had been disposed of on the counter and took them to their charging station next to the bags.

"Yeah, you had a busy day, I get it. I only went to work, dropped and picked the kids up from school and managed to run one of the tables and be a key part of their fundraiser today. You just needed to show up to the event. Show them that you care and are there for them when their school has something going on." I paused for a moment. "But don't worry about it, they weren't excited about the event at all because they sat there waiting for their dad to get there while doing their homework." I grabbed a few of the vegetables I had cut over the weekend. This was exactly why I did this, for days like this where when I got home there just wasn't enough time to do everything. I still wanted the kids to have a healthy dinner.

Grabbing a few pieces of chicken out of the freezer I went to work on making a very simple dinner.

"Ari, look, I'm so sorry I forgot. I need to do better and I'll be there next time." Logan took a seat across from the stove on one of the stools at the island.

"Will you though? Or will there be another excuse? Another long shift? Who knows, maybe you'll even be under the ocean again. The military owns you and what they say goes. Do you really think you can make that commitment to be there for your kids?" I knew what I was saying wasn't fair. I'd just been so disappointed by the military so many times I didn't really seem to care anymore. They were always doing this. They needed something on the boat fixed and he was the only one that could. Next thing you know he is at work until midnight. Every so many days he works a twenty-four hour shift and between those and the late nights, he was barely here even when he was here.

I tried to take a breath. I needed to calm down and this wasn't a topic we should be discussing when I'm so heated.

"Look, I'm sorry, but right now is not a good time. I'm feeling hurt and disappointed and like second class, can we please talk about this after I've had some food and can cool off a little bit?" Logan nods. By this time he knows there's no winning if we keep going at it.

It was just another day dealing with the military.