"Everyday"

Just as she did everyday when the garage door opened, Leah felt the little butterflies awaken in her stomach. After a day home alone with the dogs, or out running the errands that kept their little piece of the world going, she always got antsy to see her husband when he arrived home from work. The dogs, Herb and George, got first pick today, just as they normally did. Even on the rare occasion when she tried to meet Ben at the garage door to be the first to greet him, the dogs made such a ruckus anyway that it hardly seemed worth it as they clawed at the both of them, so eager to receive Daddy's love after those dreadful 8 hours without it. People tried to tell her not to feel bad about leaving the dogs in their kennels for more than a few hours at a time, because dogs had no concept of time; you'd never know it from how they reacted when they were gone only a half-hour versus being gone for an afternoon or evening. The difference was drastic.

"Hello!" Ben called, positioning his body between the dogs and the entrance to the garage, so that neither of the dogs could shoot out into the garage when the door was not yet fully closed. They were on him in a moment, with Herb, the smaller of the two, standing on his hind legs to get closer to Dad; while George, almost twice Herb's size, only did little half-jumps in his attempts to garner some of Ben's attention. Ben walked with them towards the back door, so that Herb's fairly regular excited-pee drops would land outside, and not on their carpet.

Depending on her day, her greeting would be called from various places; sometimes the office, sometimes the couch, sometimes the kitchen. Today, she greeted him from the bedroom, where she was folding laundry. After he came back in from tending to the dogs, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her in a welcome hug.

"Mmm, you give such great hugs," she said, turning around to face him. She stood on tiptoe (he was a good eight inches taller than her) to give him a kiss. "How was your day?"

He released her as he turned to the closet, to shuck his work clothes immediately as he did everyday. "Good, had a few conference calls, but they were actually productive today. Oh, Jack told me I need to go to Holsford again next week, but I'll only be away one night this time."

"Ugh, again? You just went last month," she said. His business trips weren't quite as insufferable since they'd gotten the

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