Life As We Know It

John was finally home from tour. It was Saturday, 6 or 7a.m. He quietly put his bags down next to the living room entrance, when his girlfriend came out of the kitchen, wearing his old Marilyn Manson t-shirt. They still weren’t married even after being together for over 11 years...and they had three kids together. Three devil O’Callaghans. No big deal.

"We’ve been together for so long and you’re still sleeping in my shirts when I’m touring?" he said as she threw herself at him and wrapped her legs around his waist with a loud squeal, which sounded like “you’re finally home” but he wasn’t totally sure.

Sometimes, she still acted like she was 18-year old girl. Even if, she was almost 30. He gave her a smile.

"God, I've missed you. What were you doing when I was gone?" he carried them to their living room and sat with her on the couch.

"I was looking after those three devils, who are full of your genes and your mum was nagging me about a marriage once again and again and again."

"Yeah, she's been calling my phone like two times a day for the last two weeks. I made a mistake once and picked up and she ended up yelling at me for being a bad example for Shane. I had no idea what she was talking about until she told me he got Anna pregnant and they’re not even thinking about getting married. And of course who’s to blame? John. It’s always John’s fault" he said and Amelia rolled her eyes, kissing his jaw.

"I'm not gonna argue, ‘cause...it’s kinda your call to propose to me, you know?"

"I'm not gonna do that until it's a surprise" he kissed her forehead, her nose and finally her lips. That was their thing. Actually, it was his thing with all his girls. With Amelia, Sarah and Charlotte. It was also his thing with Joshua but now his son was already a big boy so he didn't want any sweet gestures. Or at least he pretended to not want them."You look exhausted, Mia" he kissed her once again.

"Nice one. Thank you, John" she sighed but smiled, hearing his silly nickname for her. "But I'm more....heartbroken, I guess" she ran her hands through his hair. "Josh has his first crush but he's not mamma's boy anymore so he doesn't want to tell me about this girl" she sighed. "I wanted Shane to talk to him, because you weren't home but when Jenny told me about him and Anna, I gave up this idea."

"He's already 22, huh? I doubt he'd said to Josh to knock up his first girlfriend. Josh's 10, babe."

"What about that day when his teacher called me because Joshua brought to school magazine for men? With pictures of women. Naked women" Mia raised her eyebrows. "That was Shane's magazine. What's wrong with you, O'Callaghans?" she smiled, getting comfortable on his laps. John smiled back and shrugged. "Anyway, I'm full of admiration for your mother because she had to go through it three times, when it turned out that she's not the only woman for you and your brothers. I don't think I can handle it" she said and John chuckled, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back.

"And I had really bad fight with Sarah about not using my cosmetics and the fact that she wants to wear very short skirts to school. What the hell even... she's 8, John. She was yelling at me for an hour and then she started crying and told me that - "you're the worst mother in the entire world and I don't love you!". And of course, according to her, you're the best dad, even if you're never home. But you're always fine with her whims" she whispered. John pulled her closer to his body.

"You know that she said it to you because she was mad at you? That's not true. You're the best mother and you're a lot better than me" he kissed her, seeing she became sad. He remembered how she called him two weeks ago and told him about that argument with Sarah, but he didn't think it was still so hard for her.

"A few days ago, Charlie slept all night. I didn't have to get up every 3 hours. But I still did, I couldn't sleep, thinking that something was wrong. And... I'm pretty mad at you because you weren't here. I'm tired and old and -"

John stared laughing. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"So here's the thing... you're depressed because of your 30th birthday" he slipped his hand under his shirt she was wearing. Amelia groaned.

"And God, I miss sex, a lot" she added. John kissed her passionately.

"We can fix it, like....right now. Where are the kids?" they stood up, heading to upstairs. She smiled, opening the door to their bedroom. John saw their kids, sleeping in their bed.

"They were waiting for you with me and fell asleep" she said quietly and her smile widened when she looked at John. He took Charlie in his arms, kissing her forehead and putting her in her crib. And then he laid down next to kids. Sarah stretched, looking at him.

"Hey, bunny" he smiled, kissing her nose. Sarah snuggled into him.

"How long you're gonna stay home, daddy?" she asked.

"We're taking a year break" he said, looking at his girls. They both gave him wide smiles.

John felt relieved. He was afraid that he couldn't handle a year break, but when he was finally with his family, he knew it was the best decision.