Prompt:

Glasses, sunrise & family.

°•☆•°

At dawn, the sun peeked over the horizon.

The sky had become a pink of cotton candy, with the light of the sun colouring the clouds, above a pinkish hue. As the sun ascended, the pink mixed with a pale yellow and blue.

Finally, I could see as the first few rays of sunlit warmth touched the Earth. Overall, it was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen.

I turned to face my husband and observed his shallow breaths as he fell asleep under the morning warmth. He looked rather peaceful and approachable now.

When he announced the road trip, the children were excited and tried to stay up all night, but succumbed to sleep. Just the thought made my lips tilt into a smile.

When Liam suggested this trip, I was rather hesitant. He had been working 24/7 for the past two weeks, which had begun to cause problems in the house, with the children, but most importantly with our marriage.

When he arrived at home, everyone would be asleep and when he left, we had barely even had a conversation. The children complained that they never saw their father anymore, or I, my husband.

I thought back to Tuesday when Lily, my ten-year-old daughter, came crying into my bedroom. She had a nightmare and tears of sadness streamed down her beautiful face. For a parent to see your child crying and in pain, it strikes a chord in your heart, you feel helpless when your efforts are not successful and all I could do was hold onto her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

However, Liam was usually the one to calm her down after she had a nightmare and he had a way of making things better. Unfortunately, he had not returned from work so the cries went on for longer than if he were home.

That night, I waited for his return, til 2:30 in the morning, he was tired, but I did not care, we needed to talk and if that was the only time we could, then so be it. We spoke about how distant we have grown from each other, how his work had replaced his family in a matter of days and how he needed to prioritize what was more important.

He responded by informing me that he wanted to work more, so that our children could have enough money when they get older and a better life. I proceeded to apprise him, that money is not what would make them happy, but family and having their father around, was.

The next day, he announced that we would go on a road trip, early Friday.

When I packed our bags, Liam asked with a heart-melting smile, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I glanced at the checklist and noted that I ticked off everything and Lily and Tommy were already in the car, eager to leave. I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”

He then placed a navy pouch in front of me, one that usually contained sunglasses. I was confused as I already had a pair in my bag, but nonetheless humoured him by opening it.

It was not any pair of sunglasses; it was the pair he wore when we first met, the same pair I claimed as my own. Nevertheless, it was missing for years ever since we moved.

He found it.

Moreover, in that moment I knew that we were going to be just fine.