Loving you, leaving you, and Target runs

I walked into the living room around 8am and saw my three girls watching tv, I was planning on telling them to turn off YouTube shorts (brain rot) and switch to something with a narrative (Netflix) and then crawling back into bed for as long as they’d allow it.  

It took me a few moments to register that they were watching a movie with their father, who was sprawled out on the couch sleeping with one of the girls laying on top of his chest, another sitting on his legs, and our oldest wedged in the corner by his feet. The sweet image inducing nausea.

Surprised to have seen that he had come downstairs from the master suite which he now occupies alone. He came in at 2am, I checked my phone when the slam of a car door woke me up, careful not to drop it on one of the soft bodies that I was sandwiched between.