He always woke up first.

Usually, anxiety would wake him up way too early 'hours before his family. Often, he would try to go back to sleep, but that rarely worked, so he would just get up and worked quietly, waiting for a decent time to start cooking breakfast.

But now things were different.

Maybe it was all the

extra

activity he was having with Yor, or just simply being in the same bed as her every night, but he was sleeping soundly for the first time in years.

He still was up before anyone, but now instead of waking up with a stomachache after barely sleeping a couple of hours, he woke up relaxed, quite happy and at a decent hour too, instead of his usual 4 or 5 in the morning.

He thought about this with a smile, while looking at Yor sleeping on her belly, half hugging the pillow, her hair half covering her face. He brushed it aside and leaned in to kiss her face gently to avoid waking her.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was a good time to start cooking. So he got dressed and headed to the kitchen.

These had been the happiest weeks of his life.

He didn 't even care about having to wear that stupid scarf every day at work because of all the hickeys. He would wear it in the summer too if it was necessary.

'If I'm still here during summer. '

A quiet voice reminded him.

Anguish hit him all of the sudden. This happened quite a lot too. He was so happy, yet in the back of his mind, he knew it wouldn 't last. He knew his colleagues at Wise were doing everything to confirm Donovan Desmond 's information and once that was done, this bubble of happiness would be over.

His breathing quickened and his chest ached. He was already grabbing the front of his shirt, sweating.

'One more day. Just let me love her one more day, '

he begged in his mind.

That was his antidote against that heartache 'to live in the present.

He didn 't know how much time he had with Yor and Anya, but he would give them everything he was while he was still there.

'Good morning! ' His wife greeted him smiling.

'Just in time! Breakfast is ready, ' he announced, making his way to kiss her. 'Good morning, Mrs. Forger. '

'It smells delicious! ' She beamed sitting down. 'Is Anya awake? '

'I 'm here, mama ' Anya 's sleepy voice announced right behind her. 'Good morning. '

'Eat before it gets late, you need to get to the bus stop, ' Loid told her while Anya rubbed her eyes.

Breakfast seemed like business as usual, but today was not one of those normal days. Today there was another one of those imperial scholar parents mixer.

Although Anya hadn 't managed to get all the Stellas necessary to get into that exclusive group, Twilight always went to Eden College and met with Donovan Desmond, just like he had done when they met. It was almost like a ritual. Desmond would go see his youngest son at the courtyard and Loid Forger would be there too.

After dropping off Anya at the bus stop, Loid and Yor walked together to take their respective trains.

'I don 't want to go to work, ' Loid confessed while tucking Yor 's hair behind her ear at the station. 'I would very much prefer to spend my whole day with you. Alone. In bed. '

'Or in the kitchen. Or in the tub. Or on the couch. Or on the dining table ' ' Yor listed.

'Mrs. Forger!! That is so lewd! ' He pretended to gasp at her words and Yor laughed.

'Dr. Forger, have you forgotten?" She whispered in his ear. "You were there too. '

Indeed, he had been there.

That 's why now he understood why couples went on honeymoons. He desperately wanted one of those with his wife.

'I don 't want to go to work either, ' Yor told him nuzzling on the side of his face, while they both waited for their train to arrive. 'But our daughter goes to a very expensive school, and we have to work to pay for it. '

Loid groaned. 'If that 's the reason, maybe public school is not such a bad idea, ' he joked.

'You 're terrible, ' Yor laughed.

It was like this every morning when they had to go their separate ways.

'I 'll see you tonight, ' Loid kissed Yor before she boarded her train. 'Anya won 't be taking the bus, I 'll bring her home with me, after I meet with Desmond. '

'Do you want me to order some food? ' Yor asked.

'No, I 'll cook. ' Loid answered. 'I don 't think it 'll take long. '

'Okay. I 'll see you tonight, ' she stole one more kiss before getting on the train. Loid waited for the doors to close, and Yor waved at him from the window.

***

Hours later he was at the courtyard at Eden College.

While waiting for his target, Twilight found amusing how much Desmond and him talked about parenthood, yet he had never met his daughter. When these meetings happened, Anya was never around. She was always with Becky or held up at school. They would meet today.

For once, Anya wasn 't held up at school and Becky was gone because her dad was taking her to the theater to see a romantic movie. Although Becky had invited his daughter, Anya had refused to go, because she wasn 't into that romance stuff. So, there she was, next to her papa, arguing and playing with Damian Desmond and his lackeys.

Maybe it was because of his previous conversation with Desmond or because his mind kept drifting towards Yor, but Twilight found himself less nervous than usual.

He looked at his watch, calculating the parents mixer should be over and Desmond should be there any minute. When he looked up, Desmond was approaching, followed by all his bodyguards.

'Lord Desmond, it 's nice to see you again, ' Loid Forger greeted him.

'How are you doing Forger? I heard about your wife from Melinda. Is she doing well? ' Desmond asked.

'Yes, Yor 's completely recovered and back at work. '

'I 'm happy to hear that. '

Suddenly, there was a lot of yelling going on. Anya and Damian were arguing about something silly. Twilight had to put a stop to it.

'Excuse me, ' he told Desmond before redirecting his voice towards his daughter. 'Anya, come here! Say hi to Damian 's father. '

Anya and Damian stopped fighting at once and walked towards both adults.

'Nice to meet ' ' Started Anya, but stopped suddenly when she saw the man 's face. And then, after a few seconds she did something really weird:

Anya gave huge gasp.

It was a very strange interaction. Donovan Desmond was frozen in what seemed to be

shock

and so was Anya. This lasted for a few seconds, until Anya let out a small giggle.

'Is everything okay? ' Loid asked looking at both of them.

That seemed to wake up Desmond from his trance.

'Nice to meet you, young lady, ' the older man said to Anya smiling. 'I 've heard a lot of things about you. '

'Nice to meet you, sir. '

'You know? Children should remain quiet while adults are talking, ' Desmond chastised Anya, putting a finger across his lips to signal silence, with an absolute neutral expression.

Twilight didn 't know how his daughter was about to respond, so he was completely surprised when Anya smiled at Desmond and said:

'Then, I 'll be very quiet, sir. '

And just like that, she turned to go back to playing.

Donovan Desmond was still observing Anya and his own son playing. Twilight could almost perceive an air of nostalgia in him.

'I know we argue a lot about how to raise our children, ' Desmond stated still glancing at the kids. 'But, looking at your daughter, seeing how happy she is, I can tell that you 've done an excellent job as a father. '

Listening to his statement, Twilight thought it was rather odd and sentimental. Very unlike Desmond.

Both men changed the topic after that. They didn 't talk about their children or about war. It was just simple chitchat. Nothing interesting Twilight had to report to his agency.

Later, Twilight and Anya said goodbye to the Desmonds. Twilight thought it was only fair that Damian also got time with his father.

As they were walking away, Twilight turned back and saw Desmond crouching to talk to his youngest son. Seeing them like that gave him a weird feeling of d 'j ' vu.

He shook his head.

Anya was holding his hand and humming. Just then, Twilight thought about asking her:

'Anya, why did you look so surprised when you met Mr. Desmond? '

Anya stopped humming and thought about his question.

'Because Sy-on boy looks nothing like his papa, ' she simply answered.

'Oh. Well, he takes after his mom. ' Twilight clarified.

'I take after you, papa! ' Anya beamed, looking at his face.

It was the most endearing thing she 'd said to him, despite the blatant lie that was. He didn 't find it in his heart to correct her, maybe because he wanted it to be true.

'Come on, let 's go home. Mama 's waiting. ' He said picking her up in his arms without her asking him.

Anya was, after all, his daughter.