It was a Monday like every other Monday. The first day of the week after an extraordinary weekend filled with adventures at the dog park, late-night movies and popcorn, followed by late mornings with pancakes and sausages. A lovely weekend followed by a sleepy, grumpy Monday morning.

Weekends flew by with endless laughter. Weekdays, by comparison, were filled with irritable mornings – hasty breakfasts and quick goodbyes – followed by rapid dinners and a whirlwind of activities.

Weekends were heaven after five days of nonstop, on the go movement. There should've been a day between weekends and the weekday so the world could rest from the madness. A day that was just meant for laying around and snacking. A day where everything was closed and no one left their house.

The sun wasn't shining through the forest green sheer curtains that shrouded the large bay windows in the bedroom. Squinting at the alarm clock that sat on the dresser, across the room, I secretly wished that the clock was wrong and it wasn't time to get up yet. Through sleep infused eyes covered with a thin layer of sleep mucus, and a brain still protesting the fact it had to function, I decided it was, in fact, time to face the day.

The alarm continued to buzz as I flopped back down and wondered how much trouble the kids would be in if they were late for school.

"Another thirty minutes of sleep would be heaven," I groaned out loud, smothering my face with the large feather pillow, hoping to drown out the still screeching buzz from the alarm clock. If I had to turn it off, I might as well stay up; otherwise, that would just be utter laziness on my part.

It was mornings like this though that I seriously thought about homeschooling Jenna and Jason. Then we could have later mornings, not too late, but late enough that the sun would be up and waiting to greet us with its warm, hopeful rays.

Finally, I gave into the incessant drone of the alarm and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My feet made contact with the bamboo flooring, its chilliness slightly shocking my senses, as the fog in my brain thinned slightly.

I stomped over to the clock, grunting with irritation as I'm the loser in this ongoing battle. With a weighted thump, I silence the damn thing. I might not be the winner of this battle, but I'm not going to show it any weakness either. Plus, there's always tomorrow. Such positive thinking is a good start to the day, too. And a good start means a good ending.

Mornings are awful, the worst thing invented, my tired brain muttered to itself as I slipped on my fluffy aquamarine robe, clumsily tying it at the front. It was a Christmas gift from my parents, back in Montana. I relished the softness of the fabric against my bare skin. The robe itself was like a loving embrace from my parents. Each time I put it on, I felt their love warming me through. It was nice; the little things always are.

Even though the early signs of spring were popping up around the Texas landscape, the early mornings still held a wintery chill. I kept the thermostat set lower in the evenings when the household was sleeping. I had grown up poor and remained thrifty even now. I argued that we all slept better when the temperature was a few degrees lower but admitted only to myself that it cut down on the electric bill. A lower bill equaled more money in the savings account for any emergency that could rise up at any time. It never hurt to be prepared for the future. The future was uncertain so I did what I could to make sure my children would never go without, and if that meant using a couple of extra blankets at night, so be it.

The smell of brewed coffee wafted towards me. I always preferred a strong cup of black English tea to coffee, but I treasured such a smell on early mornings. It got my senses firing; woke up my tired brain even more.

With a new, small skip in my step and a little less stomping, I made my way down the hall, then stopped to look at my face in the large hallway mirror. My light blue eyes – the color of the morning summer sky, so I'd been told – stared into the mirror, attempting to focus as I blinked the remaining sleep out of them. My hand searched for a hair tie in the pocket of the robe; I had placed a few in there last night so that I wouldn't have to search the bathroom for one. After finally grasping one, I lazily gathered my long, straight auburn hair into a messy bun. It wasn't cute but, at six in the morning, cute was hard to get. My pale skin was even paler from being asleep. Once the blood started flowing, my cheeks would have a hearty pink glow, with my freckles popping out. I wonder if this is how white you'll look when you die, Jessica? I mused.

Yep, the jury was definitely in agreement; I was not a morning person.

"Morning babe," Justin said from behind me, patting my bottom through the fluffy robe as he walked past. I watched him in the mirror as he disappeared around the corner into the kitchen.

Now, he was a morning person; although to be fair, he was up at four am and had already been to CrossFit, judging from the musky smell of his body wash and cologne that lingered in the hall. He was showered, dressed, and ready for his day to start.

Sometimes, I hated his morning cheerfulness. I was envious. Why couldn't I have his early morning attitude? I would be able to get so much more done if I could just get out of bed when his alarm went off. But his daily schedule was impossible; no way would I ever get my body moving at four in the morning. Falling and staying asleep was never a problem for me. I slept like the dead. Justin even admitted to sometimes waking me up just to make sure I was breathing.

After following him into the kitchen, I stopped to lean on the doorframe. Justin was the definition of the early bird catching the worm. He was handsome, clean, and perfectly dressed in his Seven7 Jeans, gray and teal button up shirt, with the sleeves marginally rolled up to be stylish, and his polished black leather Oxfords. If I weren't so proud of all the work he had accomplished in his short thirty-six years, he would disgust me, in a good way, regarding his ability to be so well put together at ten after six in the morning.

"Why do you get up so early? The kids will be in bed for another hour," he asked, his hazel eyes laughing, and his thick rosy lips twitching into a sexy smirk.

I enjoyed watching him; sometimes I was amazed that he chose me when he could have had any girl he wanted.

"I enjoy drinking my tea with you. Plus, it gives me a few minutes of quietness before our beautiful but very loud kids wake up." I pushed off the doorframe and stumbled sleepily towards him. He caught me in a fierce embrace, kissing me deeply, despite my sour morning breath.

"Mmm... you taste minty," I mumbled into his chest and felt the warmth of his body seep through my robe and silk pajama top.

"I've got your tea waiting." He smiled down at me again.

God, he was a gorgeous man. Thick pink lips hid straight white teeth. Sculpted cheekbones perfectly placed to enhance his manliness. Flawless olive skin; no acne scars or any scars for that matter. Long black eyelashes protected deep hazel eyes. Curly heavy midnight hair covered an impeccably rounded head; not a single strand of white hair. He was textbook. The kind of model Greek sculptors would've used as their muse.

He pulled out a kitchen chair and set my cup of tea down in front of me. With his release, I clumsily fell into the chair. My hands wrapped around the cup, and I took a deep long inhale of the steam coming off it. It wasn't coffee, but the earthy smell of the tea was just as good. Mornings weren't the greatest, but they weren't the worst either.

The twenty or so minutes before I hauled myself upstairs to wake Jason and Jenna, was twenty minutes of peace; no kids fighting or whining, or asking for anything. Just silence and a few minutes to enjoy my husband's company. It was twenty minutes for just the two of us.

I loved our children, but for twenty minutes, five days a week, I had an extended moment without any interruption. I enjoyed it, craved it, even looked forward to it. It made the early mornings worth the hassle of getting out of bed.

Justin acted like he savored our time alone too. We didn't do much. Just sat at the table. Justin with his black coffee and me with my black tea, sharing The New York Times – sports for him and news for me. The silence hanging in the air was comfortable, neither one of us usually talking until a few minutes before he left for work. It was peaceful and calm. A great way to start an early morning.

Jenna and Jason were the highlights of our simple life, both complete accidents, but both the greatest accidents that had ever happened.

Jace literally popped out ten years ago. He came out beaming and ready to tackle the world. Taking after his father, his thick lips always carved into a smile, searching for a positive in every negative moment that came his way. His sculpted face already showed his handsomeness at his age. His bushy, black curly hair never did what I wanted it to. I left it alone now; it was completely free to stick out at whatever angle it desired. It was so soft. I remember running my hands through the silky tresses, teasing a curl or two. The only thing Jace got from me was his morning blue eyes surrounded by the same dark eyelashes. His broad smile could make any somber day rosy, and his eyes melted every stranger and friend they landed on. Just like Justin, Jace was always on the go. Even on weekends he never slept later than seven o'clock; ready to embrace the day with a vigorous lust for life. Luckily for me, he was at an age now that he could get his own cereal in the morning and watch cartoons while waiting for me to crawl out of bed.

So sociable, never afraid to start a conversation with anyone, shopping trips lasted forever when Jace tagged along. He'd start up a conversation and not budge until it was finished. He was full of wonder and always asking questions – so many that, at times, I felt like I needed to go back to school in order to answer them. He was our brightest, future brain surgeon. But he was also our jokester; always coming up with new gags. I lost count of how many unfunny jokes we laughed at uncontrollably.

Jenna, our youngest and biggest surprise, came along slower, eleven months later. She was the complete opposite of our little Jase, who entered the world with a spirited haste. Jenna was never in a hurry; she took her time at everything. She was reserved, quiet, observant, watchful, and careful about whom she made friends with.

When I stared into her steel eyes, I saw an old soul who had seen the world and knew the secrets of it but refused to share them with anyone. Jenna was our future veterinarian. She knew all the facts on the animals she loved, which was just about twenty different breeds of dogs, horses, fish, iguanas, goats, and birds. Her new animal passion was tarantulas. Her personal library consisted of a few of the latest teen novels but was overrun by How to Care for Animals and All About Animals and Insects books. Compassion for all living things poured out of her; seeing unjust things in the world brought tears to her eyes.

While being the easiest, she was also beautiful. Discovered at the Mall in Dallas as an infant, she went on to grace magazine covers, catalogs, and commercials with her full rosebud lips and pretty gray steel eyes. Her symmetrical high cheekbones were covered with unblemished porcelain skin, and we knew early on that we would be in trouble when she grew up. Justin's and I's genes had somehow mixed just perfectly, making her flawless.

The camera loved Jenna; it came alive when she stood in front of it. More importantly, she came alive. She knew what to do when a camera was pointed at her. She was a different person, confidence oozing from every pore. That confidence was the reason why I allowed Jenna to continue modeling and acting.

There were times I feared, though, that Jenna would shrink in the world, but seeing her sparkling energy gave me hope that perhaps she would conquer the world instead of the world overthrowing her.

"I can't believe it's Monday already. Where did the weekend go?" I sighed, taking a long sip of the tea. Its barky bite nipped at my taste buds, then rolled down my throat, warming up my chilly limbs.

"Next weekend we should go to Corpus." Justin smiled over the rim of his mug of coffee. "Leave on Friday when the kids get out of school."

"We have the Cowboy ball Saturday," I answered, disappointed. I'd rather go spend the weekend on the beach, taking pictures and listening to the roar of the waves, then attend the charity ball.

"Well, then let's go the weekend after," he said while reading the sports section of the paper. "We need a weekend out of town. Any appointments today?" He folded up the paper and set it down.

This was our usual Monday morning routine of going over each other's planners for the week. We had busy lives. His career in the oil field at the Corporate Offices meant working long hours, often seven days a week. Whereas I had a photography business that was booming, plus the full-time job of being a mom.

The kids had after school activities; Jenna modeling and horse lessons, and Jason busy with soccer, jujitsu, and chess club. Between my job and the kid's activities, I was left with few precious moments of downtime. Those few moments consisted of: an hour for a workout (that I usually missed but made up for by taking long walks in the evening with the rest of the family); lunch with a friend once a week; and getting the daily errands and chores finished.

Having my own business, I was able to set my own hours and work around the family's schedule. It worked; making enough money to pay the bills for my studio and purchase new equipment while setting aside the rest in savings for the kids' college funds.

Justin's job brought in more than enough for the family to live a good life and not worry about money while still going on multiple vacations throughout the year. It was the life I wanted; the life I had dreamed about when I was the same age as Jason and Jenna. I was content with being a mom first, a wife second, and seeing to my own needs third.

"Just soccer practice tonight," I mumbled before taking another gulp of tea, scanning my open planner. The soccer practice was scribbled in green pen. With so many activities, each of us had their own pen color. Bright green for Jase as he was currently into zombies. Purple for Jess because pink was for little girls. Blue for Justin because he said it matched my eyes. And pink for me because there hadn't been any other color besides black in the package of pens.

I grudgingly admitted to being a little OCD; insisting our planners be color coded to match the color coding of the family calendar that hung in the pantry and the family binder that held all the important documents. A little organization never hurt, right?

"I'll be home this afternoon to pick up the bike. The boys and I are leaving after our last meeting to take a ride around the lake. It's supposed to be beautiful this afternoon, and after this meeting, I'll need some fresh air. I'll be home before practice so I can take him." Justin gulped down the remainder of his coffee, closed his planner, and pushed away from the table.

"Of course – go enjoy some 'man time' with the boys. I can take Jace, so take your time," I replied with a wink.

"I've got it; I like taking Jace – gives him and me a few moments without you girls bugging us." Justin walked over and swept me up into a tight embrace.

For a second, I never wanted to let him go, pulling him closer to me, craving to feel his heart beat against mine. I felt safe within his arms; all the nightmares of the world were banished away. I imagined his strength leaking into me, surrounding me, making me tougher.

With his power, I could fight anything.

"I have to get going. Although I'd rather stay home. Have a beautiful day," he said, releasing me before pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

My eyes seductively watched him closely as he shrugged into his sweatshirt; watching the muscles in his back poke out through the thin material.

"I noticed there's nothing on the calendar for tomorrow – get a babysitter and we'll go out for a drink," he added, winking as he lightly spanked my butt. Then he walked out the door that led to the garage.

I hated him riding his bike, but I knew that he'd be safe with his friends. They all had families, too, and none of them took unnecessary risks. Justin insisted on wearing a helmet and following the laws, but it didn't stop me from hating the day that I agreed to him buying it. I had to tell myself, over and over again, that he wouldn't be riding it in the early morning traffic. Afternoons were better; the traffic wasn't so heavy.

Still wishing he could have stayed home, I put my cup of tea in the sink and started making breakfast for the kids. Happy Monday.