The day wore on unbelievably slow. Yuriko could not say why — maybe because the children stayed home from kindergarten. What she did know was that it was hard to keep them entertained and distracted from Vian's absence as it was normally the case when he had to go on deployment.

Though Yuriko knew how important his job was, she already missed him. A lot. She knew that feeling would only grow over the next couple of weeks. And she had to admit, at least to herself, she sometimes wished he had a different job.

The three of them had prepared dinner together. While eating, Joié had frequently asked whether her dad would be back by the end of the day to put her to bed. Yuriko had explained more than once that he would not, trying to keep her happy face but feeling heartbroken herself at the same time. She could also see that Aiden started to feel annoyed by his sister's constant questioning. When Joié asked again when they were brushing their teeth, Aiden could not contain his frustration any more and pulled his sister's hair, not knowing how to deal with his anger and probably concern for his father properly. Yuriko knew he did not want to harm Joié and loved her dearly. Still, the fight between her children had taken a toll on her nerves.

By now, both children had been put to bed and fallen asleep. Yuriko had taken Chief out into the garden and was currently doing some basic training with him. She knew all of them had neglected the dog a little over the day and wanted to put that right. Moreover, Chief and his training had always been a form of distraction for her when something was on her mind.

When it started to rain, Yuriko decided to go back inside, though. She put the numerical code into the keypad by the patio door to unlock it and entered the living room. Chief followed quickly after shaking the droplets from his body and she locked the door again. For a moment, the dog looked up at her, tail wagging slightly, so she crouched down to ruffle his fur a little. When Chief was content, he moved over to lie down on his bed underneath the stairs. Yuriko took off her shoes, moved around to check on all the locks and windows on the ground floor again before turning off the lights and climbing the stairs to look after the children again. Looking at her watch, she realised how late it had gotten. She had to hurry if she wanted to shower and get a good night's sleep before the next morning.

After checking on the kids, she entered her own bedroom and moved straight over to the ensuite bathroom, already taking off her now damp clothes and throwing them into the laundry basket. Before moving into the shower, she opened the window to avoid any steaming up. Yuriko turned on the water and waited for a moment until it was nice and warm before moving under the shower head. She simply stood there for a few seconds and let the water run over her body before she started washing herself. Moving her hands over her hair and skin, Yuriko hoped to wash away her own concern for her husband's well-being with everything else that had been on her mind that day. Showering only took her a few minutes and she wrapped herself up in one of the big, red, fluffly towels after.

Yuriko was about to leave the ensuite and walk over into their walk-in closet when she spotted Vian's shirt hanging from the side of the laundry basket. Without hesitating, she grabbed it, unwrapped the towel and pulled the shirt over her head. Breathing in her husband's scent, she hung up the towel and moved over to close the window again before leaving the bathroom.

Walking over into their closet to take out some panties, she grabbed her brush on the way and ran it through the lengths of her still-damp hair. After putting it back onto her vanity, Yuriko finally sat down on her side of the bed. She took her phone from the nightstand to check whether Vian had called while she was under shower. He had not. With a sigh, she lay down on her back and looked at the ceiling. He had said he would call as soon as he arrived at the camp and so far, she had not heard from him. Yuriko knew it was too early to worry. There was probably a lot he had to deal with and maybe, there had not been a moment for him to contact her. Yuriko rolled over and pulled the covers on top of herself, determined to start worrying tomorrow.

She tossed about sleeplessly for probably half an hour  when her vibrating phone finally saved her. Within the first second, Yuriko sat up, had the device in her hand and answered the call breathlessly: "Vian, is that you?"

There was a soft chuckle on the other side of the line and Yuriko lay back down, pulling the covers back over herself. She could feel relief seeping through her whole body and closed her eyes to imagine him laying in bed beside herself.

"Yes, it's me. Sorry for only calling now, it was a little hectic over here."

Yuriko made a little sound to show she understood but did not want to interrupt him. She knew Vian was able to think better when she was listening which is why he often consulted her without talking about any details she was not supposed to know.

Vian was part of the command of the strategic department of the country's military force and his main responsibility was planning evacuations, especially that of civilians from war zones and conflict areas. Quite often, he was able to work from a nearby military base or even from home when there was enough intel available. Since his main task involved coming up with all possible scenarios of such an evacuation and playing them through in his head, allowing their forces to be prepared for all eventualities once they reached the scene, he only needed to accompany them seldom. Still, he did need to do so from time to time.

"We already got new intel during the flight and took off on a chopper straight after landing to get an overview of the terrain. We already have an idea of where most of the civilians are and wanted to check whether that's even approximately correct but that's why I only had time to call now and —"

He interrupted himself and let out a frustrated sigh. 

"You cannot imagine what we've seen today, Yuriko. And you cannot imagine how much I miss you already. What are the kids doing? Are they keeping you busy?"

The young woman nodded absentmindedly, making an agreeing sound at the same time. With a quiet voice, she told her husband about the events of the day while touching his side of the bed and following the pattern of their sheets with the tip of her finger.

"We had a picnic in the forest today which fortunately distracted them a little. But when I read Joié her story, she started crying... well, you know how she is when she's sad. We decided to cuddle in Aiden's bed together until they both fell asleep and I carried her over afterwards. But, to be honest, I'm just waiting for her to wake up and come over any moment now."

Rolling over onto her side, Yuriko held her phone to her ear and exhaled softly.

"Do you have an idea how long you'll be gone at all?"

Vian's sigh at the other end of the line sounded frustrated.

"It's much worse than we originally thought it was which is why it's basically good that we're here now but there's no way to tell how long it's gonna take. I guess we'll need some time to get organized and prepare before we're able to fully assess the situation. The most important thing'll be to prevent more casualties. On any side, if we’re being honest.“

In her imagination, she could see him messing up his hair a little more and shaking his head while talking.

"I'm really sorry about leaving, Yuriko. I'd rather stayed home with you and the kids."

Yuriko noticed the honest regret in his voice and smiled a little.

"I know that. I don't blame you, Vian. Don't start blaming yourself."

There were tiny sounds of footsteps on the carpet coming from the hall leading to their bedroom which distracted her, so she sat up and looked at the door. She had left it ajar when coming in and now it was pushed open a little more. 

Joié was standing there, otter and blanket in hands, her face covered with tears. She was sobbing softly. The bumb on her head had turned a little blue over the day but there were no signs of a concussion in the girl's behaviour so far and Yuriko did not really worry.

Pushing the covers off herself, Yuriko slid off the bed in an instant.

"Jo... what's up, sweety? Did something wake you?"

She could hear a soft sigh on the other end of the line but put the phone down before moving over to the door to pick up her daughter. 

"Mummy, I want Daddy to come back, right now. There's a scary monster in the garden and he needs to chase it away!"

She sounded scared, almost choked on her sobs now. Yuriko quickly picked her up and held the girl close to calm her down while moving back to the bed. Sitting down, she picked up the phone again and activated the speaker before wiping the tears off her daughter's cheeks.

"Sweety, maybe you had a bad dream, hm? You don't need to be scared, okay? And see, Daddy's on the phone right now. He's okay. Would you like to tell him good night? He's about to go to bed, just like us."

Still sobbing a little, Joié let go of her blanket, cuddled up to her chest but eyed the phone in her mother's hand suspiciously.

"Is that wreally Daddy?"

Vian's voice was soft when he answered: "Yes, angel, it's me. Can you hear me? How come you're still up? Little boys and girls like you should already be in bed by now, shouldn't they?"

Finally, a hint of a smile appeared on the girl's face and she cuddled up a little closer, obviously tired and content to hear her father's voice from the speaker.

"Daddy, can you come home soon, please? I want you to read me bedtime stories. And you need to chase away the scary monster. It looked through my window and it's got wreally scary eyes!"

Yuriko heard a questioning sound from her phone. She smiled and could see her husband's frowning face in front of her. She held Joié a little tighter. Seeing her little girl scared like that was hard for her.

"But I thought we chased away the monsters just this morning, honey. And is Mummy not reading you any stories?"

The girl violently shook her head, not realising that Vian could not see her.

"Not as good as you! Her funny voices aren't as good as yours, Daddy!"

Thinking about her husband changing his voice in the evenings to make their daughter laugh made Yuriko smile widely. He could be such a goofball if he wanted to be.

"All right, honey. Maybe you can choose a different book for Mummy to read to you while I'm gone. And when I'm back, we'll finish our book, okay? Is that a good idea?"

Joié nodded and yawned at the same time. In the next moment, she curled up next to her mother and tucked her otter under her arm: "Okay, Daddy. Good night. I love you very much."

She had obviously calmed down enough to let fatigue take over once more.

"Good night, honey. Sleep tight. I love you even more."

Smiling down at her daughter and softly stroking the child's soft hair, Yuriko turned the speaker off again and raised the phone back to her ear: "Well, I didn't know you still used your funny voices when reading them stories."

She knew he could hear the smile on her face. Vian chuckled once more and Yuriko wished she could put her lips on his.

"If you ask nicely, I'll use one of my funny voices just for you once I'm back. I'm sure you'll like it. Right, Yuriko?"

She could feel her body starting to prickle at the sound of his, now especially deep, voice. He was right, she loved it when he talked to her like this, when he said her name in that specific tone that she knew was reserved for her only. It still continued to throw Yuriko off within the blink of an eye, even after all this time.

"I guess I should hang up and try to sleep now," she replied. She was a little breathless and tried to distract herself by watching her daughter sleep next to her. "Otherwise, she'll probably wake up again."

She kept quiet for a moment and bit her tongue before closing her eyes once again. "Good night, Vian. Sleep well. I... I love you. Call when you can, okay? We miss you."

"And I miss you. Sleep well. I'll call again as soon as I can. I love you, Yuriko."

Then, he hung up.

The dial tone rang in her ear for just a moment before the connection was cut completely. Yuriko put her phone onto the night stand before curling up next to her daughter and pulling the covers back over the two of them. She carefully pulled the girl into her embrace without waking her. Closing her eyes, she could only hope to find sleep as fast as her little girl.