Kate let out a soft sigh as she rolled over in bed, opening her eyes when her arm fell to the empty space where her husband was. She got out of bed, frowning. She couldn't believe she'd woken up alone, today of all days. In the five years they'd been together, he'd never left her to wake up alone on the anniversary of her mother's death. It was twenty years. This year, of all years, he chose to not be by her side so she would know he was there the minute she opened her eyes, to tell her everything would be ok, to hold her as the first tears fell.
She walked down the hallway of their condo until she heard laughter in the kitchen. "Quiet, Matty," she heard Rick's voice. "Remember Mommy's sleeping."
"Kay, Daddy," the voice of their three-year-old son, the source of the laugher, said.
Kate smiled, turning at the end of the hallway to look into the kitchen, unnoticed by her boys as they cooked. Matt's light brown hair was coated in flour while Rick hand stirred pancake batter. He ruffled his son's hair, making flour fly everywhere and the little boy giggled.
When Matt looked up, he spotted Kate. He crawled down from his stool and ran to his mother. "Mommy!" he said with a smile as she scooped him up, his chubby arms wrapping around her neck. "Why are you sad?" he asked.
"What? Sweetie, I'm not sad. See?" She smiled at the boy then kissed his forehead, brushing more flour from his hair.
"Daddy said you're sad today because you miss your Mommy. We made you breakfast so you'd feel better."
Kate smiled again then looked up at Rick. "Pancakes will be done in ten minutes," he told her.
Matt touched Kate's cheek, making her look at him again. "Happy now?"
"Of course I'm happy, honey. I have my two favorite men with me. Now, how about we get you cleaned up, hmm?"
"No bath!" Matt yelled, kicking his way from his mother's arms and running away once he was on the ground again.
She walked over to Rick, brushing some flour from his dark hair. "How are you doing?" he asked softly.
"Better than I expected I would be today. Maybe give it a few hours to kick in." She was scared that when the date did hit her, Matt would see her cry, which would make him cry. She took a deep breath, trying to will herself to make it through the day without shedding a tear.
He rubbed her back softly and she looked up at him, she realized that up close he was just a messy as their son. "You are worse than Matt, you know that?" she said, cleaning flour off his cheek with her thumb.
"Well, I'm more than willing to let you give me a bath."
She smirked. "Cute. Finish making my breakfast and we'll talk."
"Bossy," he teased. He kissed her quickly before he poured the batter onto the skillet heating on the stove. "Sit down. Everything will be ready in a minute."