“Early,” Jan responded as she ran her fingers along his chest. “You can sleep for another half hour. I’ve got to go in early today.”

“Better you than I,” Scott murmured before he rolled over, gave his pillow a tug, and slipped back to sleep.

Having lost the moment, Jan quietly slipped out of bed and threw on an old worn bathrobe Scott had taken from an Army hospital. Like a cat making its morning rounds, she quietly crept through the house toward the kitchen. While passing the den she heard a rhythmic thumping, punctuated by labored breathing. Peeking in she saw Nathan, his feet shoved under the sofa, lost to the world as he knocked out sit-ups as quickly as he could. Rather than break his concentration Jan finished her trek to the kitchen, where she fixed a pot of decaf for herself and regular coffee for Scott and Nathan.

Now that she was up, Jan was ready to get going. Unable to wait for the coffee machine to run its full course, she pulled the decanter out and shoved her empty cup into the stream of fresh, hot coffee. She ignored the drops that splattered about, hissing and bubbling as it burned off as soon as it hit the hot plate. Instead, she watched patiently as her cup filled. When she had enough, she pulled her cup away and replaced the decanter in a single, swift motion. After dumping artificial sweetener into the cup, she started to make her way back to the bedroom to dress.

When she passed the den a second time she saw that Nathan had changed positions. He was now pumping himself up and down, doing more push-ups in one session than Jan had ever done in her entire life. Fascinated, she stopped, leaned against the doorway, and watched for a moment. Like Scott, she was very proud of the way Nathan had turned out. In a day and age when so many young people were wandering about in a mental fog, or were so self centered that they were unbearable, it never ceased to amaze Jan that she had helped raise a child like Nathan. That she had never given birth to her own still tugged at her heart. Even now she could feel a pang of regret over that fateful decision as she watched Nathan’s ramrod straight back go up and down in cadence with his breathing.

Only when he was finished, and had dropped his knees to the floor to rest, did Nathan pick his sweaty head up and take note of Jan. Flashing her that smile that had always been one of his greatest assets, Nathan greeted her. “Up kind of early, Mom.”

“Not as early as you,” she replied before taking a sip of coffee.

“Well, I’ve kinda gotten into the habit of being up before the sun,” he chirped while he rearranged his legs and arms until he was sitting. “Though I don’t think Fort Benning is going to be all that much of a challenge, I’m not taking any chances. You know how those airborne infantry types think.”