Flashback:

The sound of the gun shots filling the air deafened Jon's ears. The smell of smoke coming from machine guns mixed with the smell of fresh blood from corpse's lying around did not make it better either. Jon was hiding behind a truck, trying to stay clear of enemy fire. He heard bullet after bullet hit the truck. His comrades were firing back at the enemy with no hesitation. Jon had already shot a few people. Probably didn't kill them but just injured them. He couldn't do it. Not after seeing Samuel get murdered a few days ago. He wanted to go home. He hated the Army. He hated the military. He wanted to be back home with Adriana and his mother. He wish he could go back home with Samuel at that very moment. But he knew he couldn't. Jon just sat with his back against the truck that was under attack. If his comrades were looking at him, they might have thought he was crazy for not trying to fight back. Then again they understood what Jon had been through in the past week.

'This will all be over soon,' Jon thought to himself.

Soon.


Present:

Jon's eyes flung straight open. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. The time read 5:48 a.m. He slowly got up and went to the bathroom. He took a quick piss, washed his hands, then laid back down. He couldn't sleep at all the previous night. Even though he did not have to work late, he was still tired. Adriana was still asleep and hadn't moved an inch. Jon kissed her on her cheek then tried to get more rest. Hopefully the kids wouldn't come barging in through the door anytime soon.

The silence of the room was reassuring for Jon. He felt himself drifting back to sleep with ease. Soon, he was out like a light bulb.

When Adriana woke up, she still saw that Jon was still asleep. She could tell he was extra tired because he was snoring a little, something he never did unless he was really sleepy. She kissed him on his lips and got out of bed. She put her robe on and left the room to head to the nursery to check on Tia, who was sound asleep in her crib.

Adriana then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"What to make, what to make," she murmured to herself.

If she wasn't a vet, she'd definitely be a chef. But today, Adriana wanted to serve a light breakfast.

Adriana went into the fridge and pulled out some yogurt, grapes and apples. She sat the food on the table and went into the pantry and whipped out some oatmeal. She grabbed a pot from underneath the sink and rinsed it out in the sink then filled it with water. Setting the pot on the stove, she turned the stove on to let the water boil. She went ahead and put the bowls and spoons on the table. For some reason, she was in a super cheery mood today.

Michael was the first to come into the kitchen then J.J. Followed by Maddy, Aiden, and Jasmine.

"Don't touch the food on the table until you get your oatmeal," Adriana said.

The kids waited patiently for the oatmeal to be cooked. Once it was served and Adriana sprinkled brown sugar in it, all of the kids dug in. Surprisingly, they didn't say a word to each other. The food was too good and talking was out of the question. For now. On top of that, they knew better than to waste food. Because their father would definitely be whoopin' some butts if they did.

Jon soon came into the kitchen and took his place at the table. He surveyed what was on the table.

"Oatmeal…yogurt…fruit…all of this is good," he muttered to himself. He started gobbling down the food in front of him.

Adriana was a little worried about her family now.

'What in the hell has gotten into them? Are they…zombies or something? They're usually chirpy,' she thought to herself. She took her seat at the table and started eating.

It had been quiet for a good fifteen minutes. The only sounds heard was the sounds of spoons scraping bowls and requests for more oatmeal and brown sugar but that was it.

Adriana did enjoy the silence though. As long as everything went fine, that's all the mattered.


Once everyone was finished eating, J.J. decided to stay back and help his mother with the dishes. Jon remained at the table to drink some orange juice. As J.J. was drying the dishes, he looked back at Jon.

"Dad, after I finish drying the dishes can we talk for a moment?" he asked.

Jon looked at his son.

"Of course," he said.

'Please, don't explode and strangle your oldest son', Adriana thought to herself.

Adriana had tended to Tia after cleaning the kitchen. The baby had woken up and was crying. After feeding and burping the baby, Adriana slipped a onesie on Tia.

"You're getting heavy," Adriana said to Tia.

She took the baby back to her room and laid the baby down next to her. Soon, Jon walked in. He looked both tired and a little annoyed.

'Uh oh', Adriana thought to herself.

"What's the matter?" she asked Jon.

"Thank you for telling J.J. why we're not fond of him wanting to join the military," Jon said.

"Are you…being sarcastic? Or are you being serious?"

"No, I'm being serious. I don't think I could've told him. I just….couldn't. And that damn cat. I'm gonna kick its ass one day. He scratched me. Jasmine is just gonna have to kick my ass because me and Cookie are gonna go at it. The nerve of that cat. All I did was pet him and he hisses and bites me."

Adriana giggled.

"Oh, you'll live," she said. "I just had to come clean with J.J. He had to know."

Jon slid under the covers and turned onto his side. He started rubbing Tia's stomach.

"I know," he said. "I know. Oh, Tia has a doctor's appointment later on today. Damn. Almost forgot."

"She's getting her shots…"

"Adriana, I don't need you getting nervous."

Adriana wasn't afraid of needles and neither were the kids but she was always nervous when they had to get their shots. Especially when they were babies. Adriana thought the doctors were hurting her babies and wanted to fight each doctor for ever putting a needle into the baby. But they were just doing their job. Tia had to get her shots.

"I won't get nervous. I just don't want them to hurt our baby."

"They're not going to hurt our baby. We have done this four times. You should be used to this by now."

"I promise I won't beat up the doctor."

"Good."


Adriana was squeezing Jon's hand so hard he thought that Adriana was gonna break his hand off. She watched as the doctor inserted the first needle into Tia's leg. Tia whined a little but didn't cry.

"Calm down," Jon whispered to Adriana.

"I am calm," Adriana whispered back.

The doctor picked up another needle and inserted it in the same area he shot the previous needle. Once again, Tia didn't do anything but whine.

"She's all set," the doctor said. "She did really good. You have a healthy baby girl."

"We know," Jon said to the doctor. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," the doctor said. He picked up Tia and handed her to Jon.

"She's a beautiful baby," the doctor said.

"Thank you," Adriana said.

Adriana felt more calm once Tia was buckled in her car seat and they were headed back home.

"See? There was nothing to worry about," Jon said.

Adriana held Tia's hand in hers and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm surprised she didn't cry," Adriana said.

"If she did, I think you would've beat the doctor up," Jon said.

"Maybe. Do you think I'm fat?"

"Huh?"

"I've gained a lot of weight since I had the children. I just feel fat."

"You are not fat."

"I am too! I'm as big as two houses."

"Bah! Stop that crazy talk dammit!"

"I can't help it, love."

"When we get home, I will make you a bowl of ice cream."

"That sounds good. Very good."


The taste of the chocolate ice cream was reassuring. So delicious and filling. Adriana was in heaven. Jon rubbed her feet and massaged her legs. The two of them were in their room watching A Goofy Movie, a movie the both of them enjoyed watching as children. Good memories for them. Jon watched it so much he damn near made it his mission to know all of the words. Of course, he forgot most of the dialogue.

"You want some ice cream?"

"Yup."

Adriana scooped up some ice cream and fed it to Jon. He took the spoon from her and got another spoonful of ice cream.

"Jon!"

"What?"

"Give me the spoon!"

"What's the magic word?"

"I'm gonna hit you."

Jon scooped up some more ice cream and ate it.

"Don't be cruel," he said.

"Hmph!"

"No attitude."

Adriana sat up and yanked the spoon out of Jon's hand.

"Fucker," she said.

"Love you more, fucker," Jon said.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you'll ever be able to talk about your experiences in the Army? I'm not forcing you to or anything. Yeah you've talked about it before but you can't hold everything in. You should be able to talk about it without getting upset. And you should continue writing down your feelings in your journal."

"That's the thing. See, I'm not sure if I'll be able to talk about it. I want to. I do. Mr. Mable wants to help me. I just need to keep seeing him and keep trying. It's not easy."

"I know it's not. But I'm right here. You don't have to worry about a thing."

"I hope not. It's just like with Max. I want to talk about what happened. Then I don't. Ugh."

"Lay down next to me."

Jon down right next to his wife and pulled her on top of him.

"If I have to keep saying this I will: it wasn't your fault. Not Samuel. Not Max. Stop beating yourself up."

"I'll try."

"I am right here by your side. I love you, Jonathan Good."

"I love you more, Adriana Good."

Without saying anything else, the two of them locked lips with each other and made out for an hour before Jasmine came banging on the door.