Page 55 of Her Honorable Hero

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Griff quietly unlockedthe front door. He hadn’t parked in their garage, because the sound of the door going up would have alerted Miranda that he’d come home early, too. After last night maybe his wife was actually taking care of herself. She’d scared the hell out of him with her migraine. Something was definitely up. He’d seen her work on hellish projects before, but they’d never put this kind of stress on her. He’d bet his bottom dollar it wasn’t because they wanted to have another baby, that had been her idea.

No, there was something going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

Chill. Quit being a paranoid fuck.

As he closed the door behind him, he heard little girl giggles and then he heard older girl giggles. It warmed his heart, and he went down the short hallway and turned the corner. All of the dining room chairs were in the living room, the coffee table had been shoved aside, and two sheets were strung out between the chairs and the couch. He could see his little girl’s head pressed against the inside of the sheet.

“Careful Livvie, or the ceiling might fall down again,” Miranda said gently.

His adventurous little girl wormed her head through the connection point of the two sheets and grinned when she saw him.

“Dada,” she cried out, then giggled. She motioned for him to come into the fort.

“Griff?” Miranda scrambled out from under the sheets. “What the heck are you doing home?”

“I heard there was a blanket fort at the Porter residence, and I didn’t want to miss out.” He gave her a quick kiss and Livvie emerged with her arms out.

“Up Dada.” He swung her up in his arms and gave her a kiss.

“Down,” she said pointing to the floor. Both adults laughed as she quickly crawled back under the sheets. Then she poked her head out again. “Want smores.”

“That’s your fault,” Miranda said. “And if you give in, you have to deal with the sugar high.”

Griff did a mental inventory of the kitchen and realized they were out of marshmallows. “If I go to the store, what would you want me to pick up for dinner?” he asked.

“You are such a soft touch. You’re going to make her S-M-O-R-E-S,” she spelled out.

Griff chose to believe that it was getting warm in the house and he was not blushing. SEALs did not blush.

Miranda laughed.

“Besides, I feel like cooking,” he defended himself. “So what should I get from the store?”

“Chef gets to decide.”

“Store?” Livvie said as she crawled out back out of the fort. She looked up at Griff. Riding in the grocery cart was one of her favorite things.

“That’s right, Munchkin, I’m going to the store. Want to go with me?” he asked.

“Store!” she crowed. She sped out of the living room toward her bedroom. His kid was a runner.

“I’m thinking I should leave this up, what do you think? Smores in a fort sounds like a treat, right?” Miranda went to straighten the sheets.

“Definitely,” Griff agreed as he helped. “So what made you decide to leave work early? You weren’t getting a migraine, were you?”

She looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. “Nope, nothing like that. I just needed some family time. Friday’s the big meeting and I’m thinking I might need a sleeping bag at the office.”

“That’s not funny.” Griff stared at her.

“I’m kidding,” she smiled.

“I’m serious, Miranda. You need your sleep. You have a perfectly fine home office. Don’t make me go Neanderthal on your ass and drag you home.”

He watched a myriad of emotions cross her face until finally she relented. “You’re right. My days of one hundred and twenty hour work weeks are long gone.”

“Damn right they are, you’re a Porter now.”