Victor sighed as he looked around the dining table. It wasn't a frustrated sigh, or a sad sigh, or even a bored sigh. Victor was content with the life he had and so, it was a content sigh. Sitting across the table from him was his loving wife, Uthe. Her pale skin and auburn hair a stark contrast to his dark skin and black hair, yet they were a perfect fit. Under her gruff exterior and impressive combat skills, there was a loving and kind heart that was not quite fit for the ravages of the war. Being with Uthe had taught Victor a few things about himself that he hadn't expected. Once she was able to get past his rough outer shell from all the military training he went through as a young man in Daggerfall, Uthe unearthed a kind soul capable of self-sacrifice and compassion.
Uthe smiled back at Victor before turning her attention to Lucia, one of their adopted daughters. That was one of the things Victor learned about himself, he had a soft spot for children. The war and the sudden threat of dragons had left many families broken and many children orphaned. When the war ended Uthe wanted to settle down, start a family, but for whatever reason, the gods wouldn't gift them with a child. Uthe went through a small time of melancholy and opened a shop in their home in Markarth to keep herself busy. Victor dealt with his disappointment in a different way, he struck out and fought whatever he could.
A full two years went by with him visiting Uthe at home somewhat infrequently in between adventures. However, after exploring dwermer ruins, destroying whole colonies of Falmer, becoming and later curing himself of being a werewolf and stopping the uprising of a Vampire Lord, Victor decided it was time for him to settle down as well, even with everything he had left unfinished, which had led him to build a house near a lake, within walking distance of Riverwood and they moved out of the city. Uthe didn't like it at first, but she began to slowly warm to it.
The meal went by peacefully as usual. Uthe and Victor both helped the girls with their studies before they sent them to bed. Uthe changed into her bedclothes as Victor said goodnight to both girls. They were the highlight of his life. He had never realized how complete it would feel to have a family until he actually had one. Lucia was a very spirited girl. She loved playing outside and had even formed a bond with a small fox cub that now followed her everywhere. Victor admittedly didn't like the idea of having a wild animal following his daughter around, but he didn't have the heart to take it away from her. He couldn't fault an orphan for adopting an animal the way he had adopted her. In a way it was very sweet. Dorthe was quite different. She had thought she would be a blacksmith like her father, but after both Alvor and Sigrid died during a dragon attack, she lost interest in it. Now Dorthe focused on her books and Victor could see her becoming one of the great historians of her time.
Looking down at Dorthe, Victor smiled, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. Looking at Dorthe always made Victor sad. He had been good friends with both Alvor and Sigrid, even though their nephew had been in the Imperial army. The dragon that attacked Riverwood that day had most likely come in search of Victor, being that he was the 'Dragonborn', for all that was worth. Victor fought as hard as he could and finally killed the dragon, but despair soon followed when he found that four people had perished in the battle. He still, to this day, didn't understand why Sigrid or Alvor hadn't just gone back inside the house and let him fight the dragon alone.
With another sigh, he smiled at Dorthe one more time before moving over to Lucia's bed and kissing her goodnight. Across the room, Uthe was slipping under the blankets on their bed. Victor smiled at his wife and stepped out of the room. He moved from room to room, putting out the candles that lit each of them. Above the main hall where their dining table sat ran a balcony. Looking down upon the table from the balcony was a mannequin with the full set of Uthe's steel plate armor. Victor had always thought that she looked amazingly beautiful in that armor. To him, she had seemed the image of a nord goddess; strong, beautiful, and a warrior. Fighting beside her had been one of the best experiences of his life. The steel plate armor had many scratches and nicks in it from the many battles she had fought. The only major flaw in the armor came from the last fight Uthe had been in. A large jagged rend in the left leg of the armor sent a chill down Victor's spine each time he looked at it. He sighed sadly and moved on.