Léa woke with a start. For a few seconds, she wondered where the children were and why there was no noise in the house.

She felt Mark on her right, his skin warm again hers under the bed sheets. She thought of staying in bed with him for a while but she knew she was too awake now to fall back to sleep. And then there was something playing on her mind that she wanted to do while she could. 

She got up quietly, pulled on some shorts and a light t-shirt in the dressing room and went downstairs barefoot. The light from the early morning sunshine was already spilling into the house and it felt warm. She opened the windows and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Bruno was outside by the door by the time she got there waiting for his breakfast. She took pity on him and opened the door once the food was in the bowl. She watched him for a while while the water boiled, thinking that it was high time he had a grooming session. It had been a few days since the last one and it was started to show. Later today. 

She moved across the house, noticing little things she had not seen the night before. Tom’s sweatshirt left on the sofa, some of the twins’ toys in the corridor who looked like they had escaped the box they had been put in, Mark’s shoes by the front door. She smiled at herself; she loved the atmosphere of chaos of the house. It could not be any other way with four children, a dog and one husband. 

She opened the door to her office and opened the French windows that looked onto the quiet part of the garden. The flagstone outside was already warm under her feet and she stayed there for a while looking around her, feeling the sun on her face, breathing the fresh sweet-scented air. 

When she sat at her desk, she felt ready. She looked at their wedding photo, her favourite, on the far side of her screen and smiled. The tightness she had felt since April seemed to have lifted this morning. They were back. 

She opened a new document and put her fingers on the keyboard. An idea had formed in her head last night when they were sitting under the stars, something she wanted to tell. She let her fingers go and words started flowing effortlessly. She was lost in her story when Mark found her an hour later. 

* * * * *

Mark saw her from the corridor in her office. She looked focused on what she was doing, her fingers running on the keyboard and he stopped for a minute looking at her. He could only see her profile but where he was standing but she looked beautiful, the golden light of the morning playing in her hair, on her skin. He approached without making a noise and knocked on the door. She looked up at him and smiled. 

“You’re up?”

He came behind her and she threw her head back. He felt her hair between his fingers and bent down to kiss her. 

“Busy?”

“Inspired.”

“A new book or going over old ground?”

“A new book.”

“OK, I will let you write then,” he said, kissing her again. “How long do you need?”

“Another half an hour or so.”

“Have you had breakfast?”

“No, just tea.”

“Shall I make breakfast?”

She smiled. He left her to her work, happy to see her reconnecting with her writing. He knew only too well that she hadn’t written much in the last three months and that it had frustrated her a bit. She had the time today. They had time. He decided to go for a swim. 

An hour later, Léa found Mark in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand, his phone on the other, in his shorts, no t-shirt on. Sh noticed his hair was still wet and saw that he had only managed to set up plates and cutlery on the counter and that was it. She smiled. Domesticity was not him. He smiled at her and put his phone and cup down. 

“What do you want for breakfast? Tea?”

She laughed and wrapped herself around him.

“Thank you”

“For what?”

“For letting me write this morning.”

“Everything I can do to help.” He kissed her lightly. “How many words?”

“Almost three thousand.”

“Productive morning then.”

She looked at him, enjoying the warmth of his body against hers. It was time for her to say something. 

“I’m sorry.”

He looked at her puzzled. “About what? I don’t mind you writing you know.”

She shook her head. “About pushing you back in April. I know I was harsh on you, more than I should have been. I know you tried time after time to reach out to me. I just don’t know why I couldn’t do it. I wanted to. I wanted you back but I just couldn’t reach out.”

He could feel her heart racing and he embraced her more tightly before kissing her tenderly. 

“Léa, you don’t need to say sorry to me—“

“I needed to Mark. I was wrong too. If we’re going to get over this, I need to be honest with myself and with you. I know you’ve been worried.”

He took her face in his hand. “Not worried, no. Just concerned that you still wanted to be with me.”

They looked at each other, knowing something important had come to pass between them. 

“Thank you,” he said softly and kissed her more deeply this time. 

A grunt makes them look down. Bruno was sitting next to them, looking at them, his head slightly inclined, a quizzical look in his eyes. He turned back to Léa.

“When it’s not the kids, it’s the dog. Unbelievable,” he said kissing her. 

Bruno grunted again. 

“Go away, Bruno. She’s mine,” Mark said before kissing a laughing Léa.