Whiffs of different smells filled up my nose. Perhaps, it had to make me nauseous, but for some reasons, I couldn't be bothered by it that much. Except for the cattle made me want to pinch my nose in between my fingers, but the ketchup and the smell of meat in my hotdog bun made me forget about it all in the first place.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Staring at my hotdog, I licked my lips, motioning for the enormous variety of cows that were surrounding the area, as well as people who either bumped against us accidentally from behind, or were in the way in front of us. "Selling cattle for those who want to breed. Give them a good life. Then here we are, eating them."

Aurora's Italian cursing, then laugh, or more like the giggle laugh she had, made me smile instantly, the melodic sound filling my ears. "Correction, you are eating them. I don't understand what made you think buying this hot dog at the market around the corner and eating it here, at a livestock market, was a good idea."

"You would have done the exact same thing if you hadn't eaten something back at home." I defended with my mouth full, scrunching up my nose when she swiped her thumb over my mouth, wiping the ketchup, that was now on her finger, off on a napkin she had in her bag.

"No, I wouldn't have. Sei un cretino." Her dark eyebrows raised, trying to give away the impression of looking at my bun filled with loathing, but the playful look in her eyes, the edges of her mouth that tugged but got forced down to try and not laugh made her fail. "Who eats that? Complete trash. Besides, you upset Benjamin. He finds you a moron."

Hands up to make Aurora stop her sentence, my eyes widened and I began to speak when my mouthful was swallowed down. "He said that? I didn't raise my son like that. What happened to honour thy father and thy mother?"

"You weren't disciplined enough." Her voice sounded playful, still. But her eyes turned a bit melancholic. I decided not to tease her back, knowing the thing she just said was one of her biggest insecurities for herself, especially when Benjamin was in one of his moods. I pressed my lips against her temple.

Glancing at the many people surrounding us, it wasn't hard to find him. With his light brown hair, golden streaks through it which were bleached by the sun and olive skin similar to mine, he was a special appearance. He stood upon the fence, which held a group of cattle enclosed.

Big cowboy hat placed onto his head, denim trousers pulled up way too high, with a dark blue sweater tucked inside of it, a big, silver belt completing his outfit. Seeing his worn out Nike's didn't pass the cowboy outfit, the boots still missing, his belt had to be the cherry on top. It was too wide, his waist was too small, but he felt like a cowboy and that was the thing we wanted.

"Benji!" My voice was shrill amongst the others, but the atmosphere was busy, loud and chaotic, therefore I had to scream a little to get his attention.

Instantly, he turned his head to me, his big cowboy hat accidentally covering his eyes in the process. I waved him over. He shook his head, pointed at my hotdog. Grinning, I tried to stuff the remaining of the bun inside my mouth, giving him a questionable look. Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows, but jumped off the fence anyway, pushing himself through the mass of people. "Stubborn, he is."

"Got that from his mama, and maybe a bit from his daddy." Aurora smiled, kissing me on my cheek, to which I playfully rolled my eyes.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you. I went to a livestock market for you. A livestock market!" I whisper- exclaimed, exaggeratingly blowing away the flies, which flew around the people's head as the cattle swept them away with their tails with great force. No wonder they smacked against my forehead several times.

Her fist met my shoulder again, I couldn't help but pull her into a side hug. "You didn't go for me. For him." She pointed at Benjamin, who stood in front of us, arms crossed over his chest, legs wide, but with a pout on his face.

Pulling his nose, I mooed. "Found anything nice?"

His grey eyes stood annoyed, but he couldn't hide his smile when I nudged his sides, making him squirm away a little. "You're embarrassing me, daddy. And I'm still mad."

"Why is that?" I grinned, feeling amused.

His small hands made its way into the pockets of his trousers, tilting his head back lightly. The hat fell over his eyes again, so I replaced it, to which his annoyed expression faded a little. "Why did you eat a hotdog, here? Who does that, mama?"

"Only your Papà would, Benji." Aurora placed her hand on top of his hat, shifting it a little on purpose. "How were the cows?"

"Insanely muscled. Belgian Blue's! They all have sixpacks on their asses!" Benjamin's eyes were wide, his finger pointing the direction he had been standing at not too long ago.

"Benji." I laughed, but gave him a warning look as I shook my head. "Watch your young mouth."

His tongue appeared between his lips, I decided to ignore the mocking gesture. Squinting my eyes, I didn't stop myself from holding a hand up above them, too. The sun was bright, her strength was felt onto our skins, but it was the ideal weather for a day like this.

Auctions were going on on our right, the chubby man with a bored expression on his face screaming out the prices, going higher and higher, whereas on the other side, a dog show was being held, horses and their riders giving away their best performances of dressage on a field next to that. The livestock market was held on grasslands. One grassland was reserved for the parking, the many following after for the market itself.

The atmosphere was great. The people were enthusiastic, children screaming and playing, holding up food or helium balloons. Dogs sniffing the legs they passed, stuffing snouts into hands that were full of food. Sometimes a whiff of cow manure would make you duck your head away, scrunch up your nose but at the end of the day, Benjamin's smile was what mattered the most to us.

"And, do you think you saved enough to buy a cow?" I asked him, to which he gave me a deep frown.

"A cow? I'd need to buy a horse first. Then I will buy some cows, but not the Belgium Blue because they are way too big." Benjamin chatted away, without much notice slipping his hand in mine, even when he had come to the conclusion not long ago that it was rather lame for his age. "I'll teach myself how to get the cattle to move along with me, and how to catch one with my lasso of course. But then I also want to become a bronq rider, or a rodeo bull rider."

"You've got some dreams, my boy." I mumbled out, genuinely smiling when I glanced up at Aurora. Our boy. "Aren't you a little too young to become a bronq or bull rider, though?"

Benjamin sighed, tipped his hat when he walked past a man that wore a similar hat. The man returned the gesture with a laugh, looking up at us. Benjamin turned a little shy, not having expected the man to do so, but he quickly traded his expression when he'd processed my words. "I'm almost ten, dad. I can perfectly handle that."

My eyes had caught something I was sure Benjamin would like, so I decided to challenge him. Nudging his shoulder, I pointed at the mechanical bull. "Show your father what you've got inside of you already."

And sure did he take the challenge.

When the clear blue sky had turned into orange with swipes of pinkish clouds, I carried a sleeping Benjamin into the tent we would be sleeping in, a grassland further away from all the commotion of the livestock market.

Aurora gently kissed our son's rosy colored cheeks, then we exchanged our affection for each other. Once the three of us were snuggled deeply into the sleeping bags, I wrapped my arm around my son's sleeping body, my hand reaching for Aurora.

"I could've never imagined myself walking around a market that was full of cattle, flies and hotdogs hating children, but almighty, wasn't this a good day?" I whispered, searching for her eyes. Light blue eyes, dark hair, skin resembling a light shade of caramel colour, Italian roots. Wasn't she beautiful?

Her smile was warm, full of admiration. "I love you with everything I have inside of me. I still wonder what made you agree to this, knowing how much you dislike camping, but thank you. This certainly was one of the best days in my life, not counting the day where we got married and gave birth to Benji."

Wrapping the two of them in a hug, we both laughed when Benjamin's sleepy voice was heard between the shifting of our sleeping bags and kissing lips. "I'm not sleeping, please stop."

Rolling onto my back, I tried to open my heavy eyelids, gazing at the cold and empty place beside me in bed. My fingers trailed over the place she used to lay on, tracing the pattern of the buttercup covers, trying to imagine how my fingers felt on her soft and smooth skin. The pillow was untouched, clean, but my eyes still saw the head of black hair she had after eight hours of sleep. Messy, untamed.

She had been right. That day truly had been one of the best days in our lives.

For it had been the last day we had spent out together as a family. And as for now, there was not much worse in my life going on than the grief and guilt that was slowly and painfully devouring my insides, whilst alive.

•

I am back.

Hope you guys will enjoy this..
its a story that is close to my heart.

Let me know your thoughts..

Big big thanks to lucoznd thank you so much for all of your help ❤️

And my dearest lighteningdagger for supporting me no matter what ❤️

Sweet -starfield you know why.. God bless you. ❤️