Rogal Dorn hated taking time off.

Regardless of the date or the project he was working on, he hated taking time off. And ever since he had landed on Terra, he hadn't taken a minute off of his daily work schedule. However, the Lord of the Phalanx knew he couldn't keep up this habit for much longer. Because now, Dorn was no longer simply an architect or engineer nor was he just simply a general. He was a father, not to a Legion with a hint of his DNA in their body, but a son of his own flesh and blood.

Valrak had been born on the Eternal Crusader right as the ship passed by the barren giant of Saturn. Rogal loved this little boy, spending as much time as he possibly could with him. Yet, because of his new, busy schedule, he had to leave most of the boys parenting to Victoria. This didn't worry the Primarch, as his wife was a strong, wonderful woman who could easily handle most of the load.

And handle the load she had! For four years she had handled the load of raising their son and took even more of it upon her back after the news of Horus' Betrayal became more real. Rogal was immensely proud of her and his son for being so strong and so patient with him.

Things had been as quiet as they possibly could on Terra, with no advancements from the traitors and no issues with construction, Dorn was enjoying the quiet. However, he stopped enjoying the quiet when he ran out of work to do halfway through the day. He had returned to his suite below the palace, to idle there until he thought of more work to do. And was met with the open arms of his wife and the excited cheers of his son.

After he pulled away from Victoria, Dorn scooped the little boy into his arms. "You're awfully cheerful, Valrak." His son nodded happily in response. "Is there any occasion?"

Victoria nodded to her son and he spoke. "Well, papa, you haven't spent much time with me or mama lately. So, Uhm, I was thinking we should do something!"

Rogal stiffened, "what do you have in mind, Valrak?"

"I want to go to the lake again! Mama took me a while ago and I want to go again!"

"I don't know, my son. I have only a small amount of time before something comes up-" Victoria cut him off mid-sentence, "Rogal. You promised me you would be better about this. You promised me you would be open to time off."

He sighed, she was right. They had talked about this issue for nearly an entire night last week. "Victoria. That was before we got the updates on Monday. Everything has-" she cut him off again, "You said there was nothing pressing today when I voxxed you this morning." Dorn sighed, bouncing Valrak in his arms slightly. It was a small gesture to comfort the boy and let him know his parents weren't fighting, just talking. "That could change. It could easily change." "It probably won't, Rogal. And if there's an emergency I'll let you leave. But for now, when there's no emergency, I'm asking you to voxx your Father and tell him you're taking time off to spend with your family, not much, just an hour or two." Dorn sighed and set his son down. "Alright. We'll go. But if my Father forbids it-" "He won't forbid it, Rogal, you know He's sympathetic to these things."

The lake was a large, dark pool in the middle of the underground court that all of the Primarch's Terran suites surrounded. It had become a favorite spot of Victoria and Valrak over the years, but Dorn had never been. At least, he had never been in the way his family had been.

He sat with Victoria on a low bench where the gravelly shore met the paved road. They watched as their son splashed around in the dark water, swimming with as much skill as a four-year-old could. Dorn's mind was able to sway away from his work and focus on the happiness he felt while watching his son, even as he did such a simple, childish act. His mind was pulled when Valrak yelled "Papa!" as he came back up onto the shore.

"What is it, my son?" He asked, fretting something was wrong. "Uhm, can you help me build a sandcastle?" he said, his voice bright. Dorn chuckled and rose from his seat, sinking his knees into the gravelly sand next to Valrak. "Of course, my son. We will build the mightiest fortress." The boy laughed and used his little hands to shape up a mound of sand, which vaguely resembled a square castle. Dorn smoothed out the base, making sure the 'walls' were sturdy and strong. Valrak focused himself on making the mound as tall as he could, even sculpting out some crude towers. Dorn kept himself busy re-enforcing and fortifying the little castle, just as he would a proper fortress.

Eventually, Valrak stepped back. "I think it's done, papa! What do you think?" He asked. "It's by a body of water, it will need a moat to catch the tides." Valrak nodded and dug his hands into the sand, digging a shallow little moat around his fortress. "There! Let's call it… Let's call it fort Dorn!" A barely visible smile formed on Rogal's lips. "A mighty name for a truly mighty fortress." "Mhm! It's almost as good as yours papa!" He exclaimed, making Dorn's pride swell. He ruffled Valrak's brown hair, "I would say it is as good as mine, my son."