"Good morning, honey bear. I made you a coffee. You should have called – I would have helped you out of bed," I cheerfully said, turning to smile widely as Justin slowly walked into the kitchen where I was making pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

Fighting the urge to run up and hug him close, so close that I would be able to feel his heart beating steadily, I turned around to hide my childlike joy from him. Uncertainty still ran deep in me while I tried to figure out how to act around him.

This is stupid, he's the love of my life, and I'm excited he's home. I should be able to hug him as much as I want, I told myself as I poured more pancake batter onto the hot griddle.

The sizzling of the bacon in the next pan sent wafts of hunger through me. Jenna and Jace sat patiently at the table waiting for their breakfast. Jace's blues eyes were eyeballing the growing stack of pancakes on the counter.

I stood still, waiting for Justin's usual quick kiss. A small flame bit my cheeks as my excitement grew each second I waited, craving the intimate customary kiss that came every morning. It would be our first kiss since the accident; the first display of love he would give me.

Giddiness filled my heart as my hands trembled with excitement; I was like a schoolgirl waiting for her first kiss. It would be our first kiss all over again.

He walked by me without even a glance my way. Disappointment filled me, and my cheeks flared hotter. Did he realize I had expected a kiss? Did he remember that he always kissed my cheek when he passed me?

Then I chastised myself and took a breath. It's his first day home, give him some time and space.

"Good morning daddy!" Jenna exclaimed, reaching over to hug Justin as he plopped tiredly into the chair next to me. Jenna's gray eyes were sparkling with happiness because her daddy was finally home.

Justin eyed Jenna with wide eyes, as she leaned over and hugged him. A small tear escaped her eye when Justin bent his head down and kissed her on the top of her head.

I watched the scene fondly, loving the warmness sweeping through me. Justin was home; home safe and where he should be. I handed him his usual black coffee in his favorite mug when Jenna released him.

"Where's the creamer?" he asked, his voice still raspy from the feeding tube that was taken out only two days earlier.

"Creamer?" I asked, confused by the question. He had never taken creamer in his coffee. His grandmother had died from complications of diabetes, so he always watched his sugar intake. "I made it the way you like it: black, strong and natural."

My heart hiccupped, a small catch, as I started mentally rereading the literature the doctors had given me during his hospital stay. Each word was memorized and nowhere had it said Justin might experience changes in taste.

"Black? I... uh... I want some creamer in my coffee," he mumbled with hesitation, staring into the blackness of the coffee.

"We don't have creamer, but we have some heavy whipping cream and sugar. It's how your mom takes her coffee. She didn't use all of it when they left on Wednesday," I hurriedly told him. When I was met with a blank stare, I gave him a sweet smile, almost how a mother would smile at her child. "I'll be sure to get some creamer when I go to the store later today."

Rushing to the fridge so I wouldn't leave the pancakes cooking for too long on the griddle, I grabbed the cream and sugar and set them carefully on the table in front of Justin.

"Mommy?" Jace's small voice asked behind me as I returned to the stove. "Is breakfast finished yet? I want to go tell Shane that Daddy is home. He didn't believe me when I told him at school that Dad was coming home."

"It's none of Shane's damn business," Justin snapped as he dumped the third tablespoon of sugar into his coffee.

"Justin!" I turned quickly around to stare at him in horror, startled by the hostility I heard in his voice. Then I looked at my son. "Jace, of course. Come get the pancakes and bacon so everyone can eat."

Jace quietly left the table, his bottom lip slightly trembling as he stared at the ground as I handed him the platter of food. My joyful mood was dissipating at the realization that life wasn't going to return to normal as quickly as I had fooled myself into believing.

Justin wasn't better yet; we all needed to remember that. He still had a long way to go before he'd be back to being the father and husband we loved so dearly. It was our job, as his family, to stay by his side and guide him back to good health.

"I'm sorry Jace, that was wrong of me. Why don't you invite Shane over so we can show him that I'm home together?" Justin ruffled Jace's raven hair as he moved past his dad and set the platter down on the table with a soft thump.

"Really, Daddy?" Jace's voice squeaked from excitement. The missing smile returned to his face as he bounced into his chair.

"Of course, dude. Maybe Mom will make some chocolate chip cookies for us too." Justin looked at me with flat eyes, but a small smile flicked on his lips.

"Cookies sound wonderful." I smiled through my fear that I would never again see the sparkle that once shown in my husband's hazel eyes.

"We've got the best mom ever, don't we, kids?" Justin declared as he poured syrup on his pancakes, the thick amber liquid slowly pooling on top of his breakfast.

"Justin..."I started to ask him if he was okay but then felt foolish for even thinking of asking that. Of course, he wasn't okay. He was in a motorcycle accident twenty-eight days ago.

"Ya?" he answered with a mouthful of food, his eyes staring steadily at his plate. I watched him swallow hard and then shovel another large mouthful of food in.

"Slow down a bit, okay? You're going to choke." I touched him on his arm as he went for another large bite. At this rate, he'd be done with breakfast before anyone else started.

As I sat down in between Jace and Jenna, to help spread some peanut butter on Jace's pancakes, Justin sighed.

"Isn't he old enough now to do that on his own?" he asked, annoyance in his voice. His eyes were glittering with something I didn't understand

"Does it matter?" I replied. It was instinct and a habit to help spread the peanut butter on the kids' pancakes. Both me and Justin did it, which was probably why Jenna hadn't done hers yet.

"Guess not," Justin threw back tersely as he pushed away from the table, leaving his dishes behind. I watched him limp slightly from the room, his lower back still aching from the accident. A moment later the bedroom door slammed shut.

This wasn't the welcome home family breakfast I had dreamed of when I got up this morning. The usual laughter and conversation we all shared as I made breakfast were absent. Instead, there were a few curt words and silence.

"Mommy, Daddy left his plate on the table... Is he okay?" Jenna asked innocently as she pushed her plate towards me.

"You want peanut butter, baby?" I asked, picking up the knife and slathering on a thick layer of peanut butter in a silent stab of defiance.

"Daddy is fine. He's just a little tired and cranky. We all have cranky days, right? Remember when Jace stayed up all night playing on the Xbox when he had to get up early the next day?" I said, winking at Jace. "He was really cranky that day, wasn't he?" I teased.

I wanted to believe myself; that Justin was just cranky. My stomach turned and the hunger I had felt moments before disappeared. Is he just cranky? I asked myself while taking a long sip of tea.

Jenna's laughter filled the empty room, and Jace's grumpy protests over something she said forced a smile back onto my lips. Everything would turn out okay. It had too.