The Rawsone Residence, Denver, Colorado...
Morning arrived and with it the possibility of starting anew as Julia Rawsone set to work preparing breakfast for herself and her still slumbering husband Hadrian. It was odd to have something akin to normalcy in the household again. She'd still been guilty of having an affair but she had awoken beside her husband something that had not happened very much since his return from Arizona. She made a mental note to thank Dr. Maureen Welch for her timely input and the medication that seemed to be doing Hadrian a world of good. The kitchen seemed to come to life after months of being a wasteland of sorts as Julia had not bothered to cook much in the wake of her husband and daughters being gone from the household. She spent most of her time worrying on the phone and crying herself to sleep due to the immense guilt of having treated her husband poorly before his disappearance. Things in that department had not been much different, but they had managed to set the groundwork for finding their way back to one another with Maureen's assistance.
Upstairs, Hadrian barely found himself awakening as the scent of home-cooked breakfast got his attention and he rolled out of bed. He'd been out of it for a few hours, but the pleasantness of the morning was a welcome change from the drama that surrounded them before his disappearance. It appeared his sleep issues were at an end thanks to Maureen's prescription and he could once more get back to living his life as he had before the events that led to his short-lived illness.
The formerly slumbering doctor made his way downstairs wearing only a pair of blue boxer shorts, his mood was one of elation as he was pleased by the efforts his wife had put into breakfast as he stretched and shuffled his way toward the kitchen. Julia moved about the room like a master chef in her element as he walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder as she worked her magic in terms of culinary prowess. It was a good thing that she'd started cooking again, he'd missed it along with a few other things about her during the more rocky aspects of their marriage.
He delighted in the scent of her perfume as he always had when he embraced her after she had her morning shower and began the day. His stomach was rumbling and she could tell smiling as she managed to anticipate how hungry he'd be after the events of the previous night. Hadrian kissed his wife once more as she set the table for the two of them. He didn't have any plans today aside from looking over a few case files and possibly stopping by the office although, it appeared that Julia did have plans which was a bit disappointing but understandable.
"Someone's in a good mood this morning," said Julia still smiling at her husband.
"Must be something to do with finally getting a good night's sleep," replied Hadrian as he took a moment to assist his wife with setting the table.
"Are you sure you got any sleep after last night?" asked Julia clearly in something of a playful mood.
Hadrian smiled causing Julia to relax as they slipped back into the familiar comfort of each other's presence that had been sorely lacking before. Both of them sat down at the table, as they had many times before aside from the fact that Hadrian was usually well dressed and drinking his fair share of the coffee by the time everyone else used to wake. He'd been given some time off from work, and understandably so due to his disappearance, subsequent shooting, and the oddity of his sleepwalking episodes.
Julia seemed pleased that all of that had been behind them as she looked over at him from beyond her breakfast plate. They were all set to dig in when the telephone rang. She got to her feet allowing Hadrian to simply enjoy his meal and answered it on the second ring. She'd been pleasantly surprised to hear the voices of their twin daughters on the other end of the line.
{"Hi Mom!"} they said in unison.
"Hi Girls," she said immediately getting Hadrian's attention as he put down his now empty knife and fork upon mention of their daughters.
He got up from the chair and ventured over toward the phone wishing to speak to his girls as well.
{"Is Dad home?"} asked Samantha curious as to why no one had called for a while.
"That he is," replied Julia handing Hadrian the phone as they both attempted to listen in to the conversation.
"Hi Girls," said Hadrian addressing both of them despite it being Sam who asked for him.
{"Hi Daddy."} they both replied once more in unison.
Hadrian smiled pleased to hear from his daughters after so long.
{"So how was your little party?"} asked Sam with an inquisitive tone.
{"Yeah how was your "the kids are finally out of the house" fiesta?"} asked Jessica before bursting into giggles.
"It wasn't like that," replied Hadrian once more attempting to smooth things over with the girls. "Your mother and I just needed to do something to lift our collective spirits now that you girls had moved on to greener pastures."
{"Sam still listens to your song Dad."} said Jessica still giggling in the background.
{"Jess does too."} replied Sam in her defense. {"In fact she listens to it more than me."}
Hadrian chuckled a bit at this and concluded as to why they were obsessed with his taste in music.
"I miss you girls too," he said getting the attention of his wife.
Julia had smiled delighting in the fun and easy manner the day was heading. Hadrian wrapped his arms around her kissing her neck and lips as he spoke to the girls mouthing how lucky he was to have them all in his life.
Hadrian's conversation came to an end as their study group returned and they needed to hit the books. The girls bid farewell to their parents and hung up leaving both Hadrian and Julia to further miss them already.
"I can't believe our girls are eighteen," said Hadrian doing a bit of reflecting. "It's been nearly twenty years since we've been together."
Julia nodded doing a bit of reflecting of her own only it wasn't as nostalgic as her husband's reflecting. The immense guilt she felt about having betrayed him in these recent years seemed to nullify their shared time together, soiling the memories with the memory of betrayal and continued betrayal as she had plans to see Gary tonight.
"Enjoy your breakfast, and do get some rest," said Julia making her move to depart.
"You're not going to finish eating?" asked Hadrian with an arched brow as he cut into his food.
"I've got to make a few runs...errands never end you know," she replied putting away her dishes.
Hadrian seemed content with this explanation despite it being an outright lie. He happily enjoyed his food and she kissed him goodbye before heading out the door in search of Gary and leaving her husband to his own devices for the day.
Try as she might, she couldn't seem to stay away from Gary nor could she seem to let Hadrian go.