The morning light crept through the thin curtains of a small bedroom in their London apartment. The apartment was modest, in fact the cheapest place a family of four could manage in central London. Arin woke when sunlight grazed his eyes.
Still half-dreaming, he turned left to press a kiss where his wife should have been, a small ritual he never skipped at the start of each day. Unfortunately all he managed to do for kiss the pillow while he had his eyes half closed.
Startled by Lina's absence, he blinked his eyes open and scanned the room, frowning in confusion.
'Her shift doesn't start until the afternoon. Why would she be up this early?'
"Starling? Where are you hiding? You know you can't escape from me. Come on, give me my morning kiss," Arin called out in a playful, dramatic tone.
Suddenly, a playful yet angelic voice called out from the doorway. "Papa Bear! You're going to be late for the office again," said Mira, his eight-year-old daughter, wearing an expression far too serious for her age.
She had long ago appointed herself as the family's official timekeeper. "I'm never late. I still have thirty minutes to get ready - that's more than enough, my little Morning Light," Arin said, which made Mira roll her eyes and frown at him.
"Get up and move," she ordered, shoving him toward the bathroom. "Alright, alright, I'm going," Arin replied, exaggerating his steps as though she were physically forcing him along.
Once inside the bathroom, Arin grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed a line of paste onto it, and glanced at the mirror above the sink. Wrinkles and dark spots had begun to creep in from years of stress and overwork - marks he could no longer ignore. Just then a soft cough came from the hallway. Mira stood there, eyes on her watch, and called out in her squeaky voice, "Only twenty-five minutes left until you miss the bus, Papa Bear!".
"I only need ten minutes, Morning Light. I've got plenty of time," Arin insisted.
Mira frowned and shot back, "No, you don't. Yesterday you were running like a penguin, remember?"
"Penguin?" Arin raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, like this!" Mira flapped her arms and waddled around, doing her best penguin impression.
Before Arin could fire back, Lina's voice floated from the kitchen, warm and teasing. "She's right, you know."
'I turned my head and there she was - my Starling. Hair tied back in a lazy bun, plaid pajamas, a steaming mug in her hand. She looked as radiant as the day we first met, freckles dusting her cheeks, green eyes glowing even in exhaustion.'
Arin lifted his hands in mock surrender, grinning as he asked, "Up early today?"
"Yeah," Lina said, raising her mug. "Took a leave. I'm taking the kids to the park. They could use it."
"Much needed break for you too," Arin teased, his grin widening.
'I grew up an orphan, drifting from one foster home to another until I turned eighteen and aged out of the system. Life was a constant shuffle, never staying in one place long enough to call it home. Thankfully, I had managed to save some money through part-time jobs since the age of fifteen, and with a scholarship I scraped together enough to afford university.
I still remember the day I first met her. It was in the university library. I dropped a stack of books at her feet, bracing myself for an irritated glare. Instead, she laughed, bright and warm, and in that moment I felt something I had never known before. We became friends, and over time that friendship deepened into love. Now, ten years later, here we are.'
'Lina had a rare day off today. Normally she was buried in manuscripts at the small publishing house she worked for, slashing through sentences with red ink until her eyes blurred. Lately it was some beast taming novel that had her chained to her desk, chapter after chapter of errors and melodrama.
Every night she'd come home glassy-eyed, muttering about how impossible it was to polish. And every night I'd just listen, nodding, smiling, watching her hands paint the air with her frustrations. Even when tired, she was alive.'
'She doesn't even know how beautiful she looks when she is complaining', Arin thought while shaking his head.
'She doesn't deserve this. She deserves the world and someday, I will give it to her'
His family was the only reason he kept going. Before Lina, Arin had nothing - no goals, no family, no reason to live. There had even been nights when he thought about ending it all. Meeting her had been the blessing that pulled him back. She, and the family they built together, gave him a purpose and a meaning he had never thought he'd find.
Arin finished brushing, stepped into a quick shower, and came out feeling more awake, droplets still clinging to his hair as he toweled off while leaving the bathroom.
He quickly changed into his office wear and then came back to the living room.
He announced to Mira, "See, I told you I only need ten minutes"
"It's been fifteen minutes," Mira replied in a cute, mock-professional way, imitating what she saw in TV, glancing at her watch and carefully counting the minutes on her fingers.
'It's so cute'
Lina held up a paper bag. "I even made your lunch. Don't forget it this time."
"Me, I don't forget things", Arin protested nervously.
"No you don't. Except for every other day, when you forget your backpack, lunch, or even your work laptop, and then come back halfway through your journey to fetch them"
Mira clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles, but ended up laughing out loud anyway
"Alright, I surrender"
Suddenly, the whole apartment started shaking.
'Is it an earthquake?
Is it a stampede?
No... it's just Little Fang.'
Arin chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
"Papa Bear! Papa Bear!"
Leo crashed into the room, plastic dragon in hand, lungs working at full blast, launched himself directly on to Arin's ribs.
Five years old, all fire and no brakes.
'Who said five-year-olds are weak?'
"Dragon's on patrol! We saw a squirrel, and it was THIS big!" His arms stretched as wide as they could go.
Arin bent down, ruffling his hair. "That's huge, Little Fang. Did you scare it off?"
"I chased it!" he shouted proudly. "But it ran in the tree, so the dragon's gonna burn it out later!"
I couldn't help but laugh. "That's so typical of you, Little Fang."
'That toy dragon had turned him into a one-child earthquake. Ever since the day he begged for it in the store - tantrum and all, the flat had never known peace. Every roar, every stomp shook our tiny walls like a miniature storm. But when I looked at him, chest puffed out in fierce pride, I didn't see chaos. I saw my son, fearless and unstoppable, a dragon in training. And I was proud.'
Arin chuckled to himself, shaking his head
Arin scooped Leo into his arms, spinning him once. The boy's shrieks of laughter filled the air as his little feet stomped harder, as if the toy dragon had truly given him strength.
Mira rolled her eyes, feigning annoyance, though the curve of her lips betrayed her amusement. Lina leaned on the counter, sipping her coffee, her gaze soft with warmth as she watched them.
In that moment, the family was a perfect mess of noise, love, and ordinary life. It was the kind of life Arin never thought he would have, the kind he wished he could freeze forever.
The kettle shrieked on the stove. The clock ticked above the fridge, reminding him that time wouldn't wait. Yet for Arin, right there in that little flat, it felt as if it had slowed just long enough to let him hold onto it a little tighter.