Over the long travel day and all of my anxiety that led up to flying out here, I ended up crashing for the whole night. I barely woke up enough to get under the covers. So the next morning when I did wake up, I wasn't surprised it was already late morning. Morgan was still sound asleep next to me. Just when I was about to roll over and try and get some more sleep I heard some noise coming from Kuzma's room. I tried to ignore whatever it was but as another minute went by, the nose didn't stop. Sighing, I left a kiss on Morgan's shoulder before I untangled myself from my wife to investigate what was going on.

I couldn't tell what the noise was so I knocked on the door and gave him a second to answer. When I didn't hear a response, I pushed it open. Kuzma was still buried under a mountain of blankets and was breathing heavy. I slipped inside and walked over to the side of the bed and pulled the blanket down a little to find him sweaty and hyperventilating. I pulled the blankets off of him and knelt down on the floor by the head of the bed before calling out his name. It took a few repeats, getting louder and louder each time, but finally Kuzma jumped and pushed himself away from me. I didn't reach out for him because I knew how bad it was to wake up from a nightmare like this. I made sure I stayed in his line of sight with my hands out in front of me and just started repeating he was okay in Ukrainian.

It took a minute for the light to come back to his eyes but once it did, Kuzma reached his hand out towards me. I wasted no time pulling him off the bed and into my arms on the floor as he cried. I just tucked his head into the crook of my neck and pulled him onto my lap as he cried and waited it out. It took a while before he cried himself out but I didn't let go.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked quietly and moved some hair off his forehead.

"It was from the night you found me. But instead of making it out, you and Morgan died when the apartment collapsed on top of all of us." Kuzma said as his breathing started to pick up again.

"Hey, in and out, that's it, just follow my lead." I said and controlled my breathing for him to follow.

It didn't take long before his breath pattern matched mine and I kiss the top of his head. It was then that Morgan came and sat next to me. She didn't say anything, just put her head on my other shoulder and picked up Kuzma's legs up and put them in her lap to hold.

"Is this the first time you've had nightmare like this?" I asked.

"No" Kuzma said quietly.

"You know, Morgan and I get them too. Bad ones, just like the one you woke up from." I said.

"What are they about?" Kuzma asked, his head still tucked into my shoulder. Morgan squeezed my hip and I knew I had her blessing to tell him.

It took a while, but we went through a lot of what Morgan and I did in country after leaving him behind at the farm with Cosima's father. We kept everything PG-13 and left a lot of details out but now he knows. He knows how hard it was for the both of us to come back here and face this all again, why we were so put off when he first brought it up, why we have never really talked about it before and why I never really speak about my years in the Army before I went to teach at Sniper School.

Kuzma listened quietly to all of the things we had to say. He took it all in and asked questions here and there about the different people in our lives, now finally making the connections as to where Morgan and I knew them from. I touched on my time as a Ranger a bit and Morgan told Kuzma about what she does at her job now. Since he was old we thought he would be able to process everything Morgan and I do and have done while serving.

By the time it was all over, we were all pretty hungry and it was more like time for lunch then breakfast. We finally let go of each other to go freshen up. While Kuzma and Morgan went first in the bathrooms, I left the room to go chat with Ryan and Raymond. When I told them we were going to head out for food, they recommended a few places and will come with us. By the time I got back to the room, Morgan finished her shower and I jumped in. The cool water felt nice to wake myself up to prepare for this long day.

It didn't take long to put on some clothes after the shower. I decided to leave the gun in the nightstand today as Ryan and Raymond were going to be with us and I knew they would be packing. As a standard protection detail, they wanted the three of us to be in the middle of them but I knew we were going to stand out like a sore thumb once we hit the streets. So, as we started walking to the restaurant, I kept in step with Ryan in front while Raymond had Kuzma distracted behind us.

"You know you aren't on the clock anymore right?" Ryan asked quietly as he slowed his pace a little.

"I know, but he's my kid and I'll protect him till my last dying breath so for now I'm good being up front with you boss. Oh, I'm not sure if you know but Artem said he set up a fancy dinner for us later tonight, not sure he included you guys as our plus ones." I said giving him the heads up.

"Give me his contact information and I'll get us on the list." Ryan said as we turned a corner.

That was the last of our conversation until we got to the restaurant. The place was small, an old mom and pop shop that looks like it was spared from the shelling's. When you first walk in, the place was a market, then towards the back of the store, there are plenty of open tables. Ryan led us over to a table and forced Kuzma to sit next to Raymond on the other side of the table with his back to the kitchen. I gave him a nod and took a seat with my back against the wall with Morgan sitting next to me.

It didn't take long for an older women to come over to give us some menus. When she spotted Ryan and Raymond she gave them both a warm hug before she launched into conversation with them. It took me a minute to realize that the pair have been in Ukraine before this moment and by the looks of it, they have been here a few times to have this kind of repour. Before we could even really grab the menu's she put down, the women picked them all back up and left for the kitchen.

"I take it this isn't the first time you've been back?" I asked Ryan while Raymond already started a competition with Kuzma to distract him.

"Nope, Peyton has had some work for us here before. Whenever we are in Kyiv, we tried to come back here for Daria's cooking. She's going to bring us back a feast, don't you worry." Ryan said and started laughing when Kuzma sabotaged Raymond stack of sugar packets, having them all fall to the table.

The afternoon was spent in the restaurant. We had a good time as we were the only ones here for a while until a few others straggled in for a late lunch. Ryan was right, Daria just kept bring out food once we finished our plates. Kuzma was all for it, loving all the traditional Ukrainian dishes we don't have at home. Before we left for the hotel, Daria came out with a few other plates for us to take if we got hungry. As we all packed up, I helped Morgan into her coat and let her led Kuzma around the front of the shop to see if there was anything he wanted to get before we left. Raymond went with them while I got myself together. Just as I was about to join my wife, Daria put her hand on my arm to stop me. She put the money I put down on the table to cover our meal back into my hand and closed my fingers around it.

"The meal is a gift. Thank you for helping free my country." Daria said and gave me a small smile before patting my hand. My mouth opened and closed a few times, not really knowing what to say to her. "I hope the rest of my country welcomes you back with open arms, you deserve that. Enjoy the rest of your stay." Daria said before turning and walking back into the kitchen.

I thought that we managed to get through lunch without having her realize who I was. Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last time this happens? When I tried to put some bills back on the table, Ryan wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me away from the table.

"You're going to have to get used to it Daniella. Even though Ray and I weren't on the front page, we've barely had to pay for meals when we come back. Just let them." Ryan said in my ear as we made our way up front.

Kuzma wanted a few other snacks to have in the room so we left some money for them on the counter while Daria was helping another customer before we made our way back to the hotel. When we got there, Artem was actually in the hotel lobby. He gave us all the information for dinner and that's when I brought up having Ryan and Raymond come with us as security. Artem said it wasn't a problem and he was going to get some information from them while we went back up to the room to crash for a little bit before getting ready.

Since Artem didn't tell us where we were going but said it's a nice restaurant, I went with wearing my sports coat with a green button down that has a blue floral pattern on it. Instead of having my hair up like usual, I left it down. It was getting long again and I thought it would be a nice change of pace and hopefully throw off anybody in recognizing me. As the final piece of the puzzle, I put my Ranger pin on the lapel of my jacket. Morgan dressed in a maroon jumpsuit with a white cardigan over it, her hair also down in it's natural black curls and it made me smile to see. When Kuzma appeared from his room, he was in a blue polo and slacks which we were both happy he brought.

As we left the room, both Ryan and Raymond were waiting for us right outside the door. Both of them were dressed up and they both shaved there faces. I was kind of surprised to see it but didn't mention it as we made our way downstairs to the lobby. Artem was waiting for us when we got there and gave us a smile. Before we could get anywhere, he insisted we take some photos together. Ryan and Ray both agreed and told us to get together. We took a few of the three of us before Kuzma got out of the shot and made Morgan and I stand together to take some photos. I think my favorite part was when Morgan took of her cardigan to show off her buff arms. I pulled her into my side and pressed my face into the side of her head. When I saw that picture, it showed Morgan smiling wide at the camera and I was completely smitten with my wife.

After we got ourselves back together, we followed Artem out the front of the lobby to a waiting van. This time, I found myself looking out the window to the darken streets of Kyiv. It looks like the war touched very little here. Mostly all of the original buildings are still standing. I was lost in thought as we rolled through the streets until we started slowing down. Looking in front of us, I could see a security check point and I sat up straighter in my seat. We were waved through once Artem handed something over to the officer at the check point while I tried to look around to get a better view of where we were going.

"Where are we having dinner Artem?" I asked as we pulled up to a very large house on a hill.

"You will see my friend." He said before hoping out of the van to get the door for us.

As we got to the front door of the house, there was a security checkpoint and metal detectors. While everyone was starting to go through it, I pull Artem aside to tell him about the metal wire and screws holding my ribs together. He just asked me to take my jacket off to let it go through the metal detector before being pulled over to some very large security guards with metal detector wands. When they waved them around my my body, the screws set it off but they still waved me through. I pulled my jacket back on and Morgan wrapped her arm around mine.

Artem continued to lead us down the hall before holding out a hand to show us inside a large ballroom. There are a bunch of other people inside all mingling together. Morgan led me over to the front table and we found our name plate amongst everyone before we made our way over to the table.

"What is going on?" Morgan asked in my ear.

"I have no idea. Artem just said this was going to be a fancy dinner, I thought we would be at a restaurant." I said as we found the table. Kuzma took a seat and Ryan and Raymond took a look around the room. I tried to do the same but once I turned around, a man was standing in front of me.

"Mrs. Donovan, if you and your family could please follow me." He said in unsteady English.

I pulled Morgan behind me as I nodded. Ryan was suddenly standing next to me and I knew that meant Raymond was on the other side of Kuzma. The man was quick but it wasn't hard to follow him. We walked into a side room and once we were all inside someone shut the door behind us. Ryan started to pull me behind him when another door opened and the men turned around and held out his arm to wave us inside. Ryan still went ahead of us with me not that far behind.

Once we walked in, I almost stopped in my tracks. Morgan's hand on my lower back pushed me forward so they wouldn't walk directly into my back. We are having dinner at the Ukrainian's Presidents mansion and we just walked into his office. President Zelenskyy was standing in front of his desk speaking to the Commander from the bunker, Alexei, along with Ivan and Denys, the two soldiers who helped us clear the bunker.

It took me a few long seconds before I found my feet and walked over to them. Before I could make my way to the President, Alexei came over to me and pulled me into a hug. I couldn't help but hug him back and give him a squeeze. When he pulled away, Ivan and Denys were next. After them, the President stood from where he was leaning against his desk and walked over to me. He held out his hand and walked forward to shake it.

"It is nice to see you well Daniella." The President said in English after he let go of my hand.

"It took a long time to get there sir, but I am glad to be okay again." I said in Ukrainian back to him. He gave me a smile before looking behind me. "This is my wife Morgan, and our son, Kuzma. You might remember Ryan and Raymond. Thank you for everything you did for me back then." I said in Ukrainian and was going to continue but he held his hand up for me to stop.

The president shook Morgan and Kuzma's hand before nodding at the boys then turned his attention back to me.

"There is no thanks needed, all I did was sign a few pieces of paper and stuck them in an envelope for you to take home. When my staff heard that you were going to be coming for the ceremony, I wanted to invite you here for a night to celebrate. I know it has been years and your team isn't here with you, but I wanted to show you some gratitude from my country for the large part you played in securing it's future as a free nation." The President said.

"I was just doing my job sir." I answered swallowed hard. It will always be hard to accept praise for my role in that mission. I was just doing my job, following orders, protecting my unit, trying to help those who needed it and then trying to make it home in one piece. It was always just apart of the job being in the Army.

"A job that almost cost you your life. I know you have other arrangements outside of Kyiv while you are here, but if you need anything, anything at all, please call Artem. Now, let's go celebrate while the night is still young." The President said. I could only nod to agree wanting to move forward.

Before we left his office, Artem got a picture of the three of us with the President. We all walked out of the office first and down the hallway back to the ballroom. Once we got to our table and took a seat it finally started to sink in that we just met the President of Ukraine again.

"I can't believe we just met the President. Like, this doesn't happen!" Kuzma said in shock as I took the glass of wine that was already poured on the table and chugged it. Wasn't it my finest moment, but, I didn't really care.

Once I finished it, before I could say anything to Kuzma the lights dimmed and the light music faded into the background. A few guards came from the same room we were just in and the President followed behind them. The crowd all stood for his arrival and we followed just the same. As the President got to the podium, he gave everyone a smile before telling us all to sit down.

"I would like to thank you all for joining us tonight during this week of celebration here. I know a lot of you have come from across the globe to be here and that means a lot to me to have you here again. To see how our country has changed since you've last been back because of all of your hard work in your efforts. Tonight is going to be a nice night for one of my favorite dinners with some dancing. Please enjoy and mingle, dinner will be served shortly." The President said before leaving the stage to met with a few people.

"Do you think I'm going to have to report that we saw the President when I get back home?" Morgan asked in my ear a few seconds later.

"Yea, even though this is nothing official, there are going to be questions as to why we are here and had a private audience with the sitting President of a foreign country. Do you want a drink? I think I need something stronger to settle." I said still feeling a bit off balance about being here.

"You know what I like, take one of the guys with you as a buffer." Morgan said and gave my leg a squeeze.

Raymond saw me start to stand so he got up and we made our way over to the open bar. We barely made it there when Commander Alexei found my open side and offered to get me a drink. He didn't try to talk shop, which I appreciated as three shot glasses were place in front of us. I didn't bother to ask what kind of liquor was in it, just picked it up and turned to him. We toasted and downed the shot. It was pure vodka but it definitely wasn't the cheap kind as it went down smooth. When I put the glass back up on the bar I waved my hand over the glasses and asked the bartender for one more round. He filled them up and the three of us took them in our hands. Before I let the guys take there shots I held onto mine for a second before holding it out for them to cheers with me. Once the boys touched there glass to mine, I held mine in the middle for the second.

"To making it home." I said and nodded.

Alexei rested his hand on my shoulder as we all took our shots. After we downed them and returned the glasses to the bar, I ordered the two glasses of scotch from the bartender for Morgan and I. Alexei told us a bit about what happened when the convoy got back to Poland and how he worked in getting people settled in area's of less conflict before they were able to return to there homes if they wished too. We didn't get to talk much more as dinner was being served, so we returned to our tables before the food got cold.

After I gave Morgan her glass, I kissed her temple before sitting in my seat. Kuzma was excited when he saw the dish we were eating. It was one the favorites his mother used to make him. So Morgan and I paid extra attention to him explaining all the interworking of the dish to hopefully be able to recreate it when we get back home.

As dinner came to an end, a live band started up some music and most of those in attendance made there way to the dance floor. Kuzma pulled Morgan and I onto the dance floor for a little bit as we were both a little tipsy and easily persuaded. We danced around each other for a bit when I was able to slip away to get back to the table and take a sip of water. The alcohol was starting to ware off and before it was completely gone, I knew there was one thing I needed to do.

Looking around the room, I found who I was looking for and started to walk in that direction. Ryan followed close behind me as I walked up next to the President who was standing with his wife by their table. His security was closely watching from behind and didn't make a move when I got closer to the pair. When the President saw me, he said a few words to his wife and came to stand next to me. I put a little distance from us and the rest of the guests before I turned to face him.

"Since coming home, I haven't been keeping up with the news. I didn't really know what was going on in world events, especially now that I retired from the military. But I do have a question and possibly a request to ask of you." I started.

"And what might that be?" The President asked.

"What happened with Azovstal? When we left, the place was in ruins." I asked trying not to think about everything else that happened there.

"It has been slow progress, we have been removing the ruble and turning the space into new housing. The bunkers will remain, though they have been cleaned, restored and restocked with provisions. A boarder wall has been created to keep those who wish to do us harm out. There are parts of the plant that are being rebuilt, but that is going to be a longer process." The President answered.

It took a minute to digest everything he said. It sounds like they were trying to rebuild from what happened. It took another few seconds for me to find the rest of the words I wanted to say.

"Would it be possible to see it?" I asked in English, not able to find the words in Ukrainian at the moment. The President turned his full attention to me to take in the emotions on my face.

"If that is truly what you want, call Artem when you are ready and he will set everything up for you." The President said.

We stood together for a few moments before a photographer asked to take a photo of the two of us. I couldn't say no, so the two of us stood together, side by side, for the photo. Once the photographer ran away to take another photo, the President pulled me over to meet his wife. I stayed with the pair for a few more minutes finding out a few nice spots in Kyiv to check out if we had time before Ryan got into my line of vision. He nodded towards our table and my attention turned to find Morgan sitting back at the table with a tired looking Kuzma leaning on her. I knew our time at the dinner was coming to an end so I said goodbye to the President and his wife and thanked him for the invitation tonight before Ryan and I made our way back to the table.

Kuzma perked up a bit once I sat back down and gave me a smile. Dessert was served and Kuzma dug right into the crepes they served with gusto and I couldn't help but laugh as Morgan and I had to fight off Kuzma when he tried to get pieces of ours after he finished his. While I finished mine off before he tried to sneak any from me, Kuzma did manage to get some from Morgan.

The band started up again and I stood from my seat and took Morgan's hand in mine. I took her to the middle of the dancefloor and pulled her close to my chest. Her hand landed right over my reconstructed chest and my breath stuttered for a moment.

"Did you have a good conversation?" Morgan asked in my ear just for me to hear.

"Yea, I asked him for a possible favor, still don't know if I want to follow through with it or not yet." I said as we swayed to the music.

"You going to let me in on what it is?" Morgan asked.

"When I finally come to a decision on whether I even want to ask him, you think he's ready to get out of here?" I asked and turned her to see Kuzma starting to slump in his chair now that his sugar rush is starting to fade.

"Let's finish our dance, then we'll go." Morgan said and pressed a kiss to my lips.

It wasn't long, just enough to be a bit cheeky. We stayed together until the song changed into something faster. When the change in pace happened, Morgan finally pulled away from my chest and we walked back over to the table. Raymond caught my eye this time and I circled my finger to let him know it was time to go. He nodded and went off to arrange our exit while Ryan stayed back with us while Morgan and I collected our tired son from the table.

When Raymond returned I knew our car was ready so we got a move on out of the ballroom. The car was waiting for us when we got to the door. Raymond and Ryan escorted us back to our hotel room and once Morgan and Kuzma were inside, I thanked them for the night and closed the door. Kuzma went right into his room to get ready for bed so I pulled Morgan into the shower with me. It had a nice moment together, before we got out and changed into pajamas and headed to bed.

The next day we spent mostly in bed. Around noonish, Kuzma joined us in our room and laid down in bed with us and asked if we could go and explore a little bit. It didn't take long before we were dressed and ready to go with Ryan and Raymond with us. I took the gun and knife with me as we left the hotel today. We walked the city streets with no destination in mind. Ryan and Raymond just pointed out a few different things to us as we walked. There were a few memorial's set up around the capital city to remember those that were lost five years ago. Whenever we came across them, we stopped for a moment to read the plaques to honor those who lost there lives.

On our walk, we came across a few places I remember the first lady told me about and decided to take a moment to see why she recommended them in the first place. They were mostly shops or markets in the heart of Kyiv. We didn't go into all of them, just a few that peaked our interest. Morgan and I bought some new sweaters in one store while we got Kuzma a few new ties in another. I think Kuzma's favorite store we stopped at was the candy store. He wanted to get one of everything but we had to reign him in a little bit. Even though we made him put back a large portion of what he wanted, Ryan and Raymond secretly bought everything Kuzma had to put back down and gave it to him once we left the store.

After we were done shopping around, I couldn't help but feel the anxiety about being here fade a bit more. We took a quick detour to the hotel to drop off our purchases before we made our way back to Daria's market. When she saw us walk in, she started yelling at whoever was in the kitchen to start cooking faster for Kuzma and handed me a copy of today's paper. We all made it back to the table we were sitting at yesterday as Kuzma started talking with Daria about different dishes as I took a look at the front page. On the cover were pictures of the President from the dinner last night. I skimmed the article and then flipped open the page to find there was more information here for the ceremony tomorrow and little more about those that attended the dinner last night. Then on the third page was the picture of the President and I from inside the ballroom when I went to speak with him. Next to the photo was a little description of the photo and I saw my name in print. President Zelenskyy with guest of honor Daniella Donovan, retired US Army Special Forces who led the charge to rescue and evacuate civilians and military personal from the bunkers under the Azovstal Iron and Steel Plant.

Morgan took a look at the paper from over my shoulder and read the article quickly before taking the paper from my hand and closing it. When I looked up I found Ryan's eyes already on me and I knew he already saw the article. My guess was that he didn't want me to see it so he didn't bring it up. I took a few centering breaths and focus in on the conversation Daria was having with Kuzma. He was telling her all about his soccer stardom at home and she was eating it up. There was a bell ringing from the kitchen so Daria cut the conversation short and went back to the kitchen to get the food.

She returned with plenty of plates and we all dug in. None of us were going to leave here hungry. After we finished, I let everyone go around the market for a few minutes and waited for Daria to come and clear off the table. I pulled out the money I wanted to give her yesterday and took her hand in mine and gave it to her.

"I never did this job to expect anything out of. I was sent here with a mission and it almost cost me my life. But out of it, I ended up gaining two of the greatest things in my life. You don't owe me anything other then just living your life in freedom." I said to Daria quietly, not wanting to be overheard. Daria gave me a sad smile before pulling me into a hug.

"Come back and visit before you leave. Also, there is a park not far from here that has a pick up soccer game, if your son is looking to play." Daria said when we pulled away from each other.

Daria gave me the information about the park and another copy of todays newspaper before we left the shop. Ryan and Raymond led the way to the park and it didn't take long to find the soccer pitch. It looked like there were a few guys already starting to play when we got there. Kuzma barely turned around before I nodded and pushed him towards them to play. Morgan and I took a seat on the grass while Raymond handed off his backpack to Ryan and joined the group starting to play to even out the teams.

Everything around this park area looked new, something inside me thought that this place was most likely a landing sight of a rocket blast and nothing was built in it's place. The park had a playground on the other end of the soccer pitch and what looks like the start of some trees peaking up out of the ground. Morgan and I just laid in the grass, leaning on Raymond's backpack as we watched him try and keep up with the younger guys.

At some point, I put on some music and Morgan and I just started watching clouds above us instead of the game. My hand in hers as she plays with my fingers while I hummed along to I Drink Wine by Adele that was playing in the background. A gentle peace finally started settling in my veins for the first time since we got here as the breeze picked up a little bit. I turned to face my wife and found her watching Kuzma play in the game. This was the first time I think I really looked at my wife in a while and saw no stress from work on her shoulders. Small wrinkles have started to form in the corners of her eyes as our age is finally starting to catch up with us. I don't know when it happened but it finally has, both of us are now closer to our mid 30's and 40 isn't that far away now.

I hope that one day soon, we won't feel the need to serve our country and community and we can just exist like this, together and finally be able to relax. After all we've been through together I think we deserve that. But until that day comes, we'll just have to create some more of these stollen moments together. Somehow I was able to get my phone out of my pocket and opened up the camera app and pushed it in Ryan's direction. When I felt him take the photo, I pointed back in out direction, wanting someone to get this moment of peace on film. He took a few photos and when he was done, he put the phone back in my hand. I didn't bother looking at the pictures right now, just put my phone away in my pocket and turned to face Morgan.

"You're so beautiful." I said just for her to hear and moved a few pieces of hair off her face so her eyes could find mine. A blush rose on her cheeks and she picked up my hand in hers and kissed my palm.

"Thank you baby." Morgan said and turned her attention back to Kuzma.

"You want to crash their game?" I asked.

"Yea, if we lay here any longer, I'm going to fall asleep." Morgan said. She sat up and I put the gun I had tucked in my waist band into Raymond's bag before we got up together and ran towards the boys.

We interrupted there game pretty quickly and were able to wreck it. Kuzma just laughed as us trying to keep the ball away from them. We didn't even try to score, just ended up playing a big game of keep away for a few minutes before we pulled him away from the guys who were playing. When we got back to our stuff, Raymond looked like he was dying a bit and I couldn't help but laugh at him as I grabbed his backpack. He took another few minutes to recover before we made our way back to the hotel for the night.

The rest of the night was quiet, we said goodnight to the boys at our door and confirmed with them what time we needed to be awake for the ceremony in the town square. We had some leftovers from Daria's so we just munched on them as we cleaned up and got our stuff packed up. After the ceremony tomorrow we are going to stop by Daria's restaurant before driving out to Cosima's families house.

We all crashed pretty hard after we finished getting everything together and the only thing that got me out of bed on time was the alarm I set on my phone. I set it a bit early so I could get up and get in touch with Cosima about where we should meet her after the ceremony. She is already here in the city and told me she will move her car to leave it in the hotels parking lot. When we leave for the ceremony we can check out and put our bags in the car so they are ready to go afterwards.

With that all settled, I checked the time and saw it was still pretty early at home so I sent Moms a text to let them know about our plans for the day and one to Annabelle as well to check in. Now with that done, I left the hotel room and walked down to the lobby to get a copy of todays paper along with some breakfast for us to have in the room from the café in the hotel.

When I had it all in hand, I made my way back upstairs and found Morgan starting to wake up. I put everything down on our table before sliding back into bed to pull her in my arms.

"The bed got cold" Morgan mumbled as she tucked herself into my neck.

"Sorry, I went to get us coffee and breakfast, we need to get ready soon." I said wrapped her in my arms.

"Five minutes" Morgan said and I pressed a kiss to her head.

We laid together in the quiet morning hours for those five extra minutes. When they were up, I knew I had to get Morgan up and moving. Even after all these years in the Army, she is not a morning person, always wanting those five extra minutes of sleep. I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her cup of coffee and waved it around her nose. Morgan's eyes peaked opened again and saw the cup in my hand. Slowly she moved off of me and sat up to take it. Once I was upright, I leaned against the headboard and Morgan made herself comfortable in between my legs as she drank her coffee.

The coffee went over well and I sipped on my own before I pulled out the few pastries I got from the café for us to munch on. I read through the paper and saw there were some older photo's from when the invasion happened all those years ago and wasn't surprised to see my face in a photo. What did surprise me was that Morgan was in a picture too. She was carrying a young girl towards a waiting truck. This was the first time I saw the picture and I couldn't help but nudge Morgan to get her attention. She saw the picture and gave me a soft smile before leaning on my shoulder so we could look at the rest of the photos together.

When we finished up our coffees, we both got up and started to get dressed for the day. I pulled on a soft navy sweater with a pair of jeans and a good pair of boots. Hair was next, it went up into a low bun so I could wear my Ranger hat to try and not pull attention to myself. Once I was done, I grabbed the gun and stuck it into the waistband of my pants again with the knife getting strapped around my ankle. I have a light jacket that I'm going to throw on before we leave to hide the gun a bit more as well. Morgan opted for a black t-shirt and one of my flannel shirts with a pair of jeans and boots as well but she kept her hair down again.

As we finished up, Kuzma came into our room and yawned. He was already dressed and looked like he was ready to go. I gave him the last pastry in the bag and he wolfed it down in seconds. Once we had everything accounted for I sent Cosima a text to let her know we were ready to check out. Her answer was quick saying she was already in the lobby waiting with Raymond. With that all worked out, we grabbed our bags, swept the room one more time and then left.

Ryan was waiting for us right outside the door and grabbed Morgan's bag from her. Together we made our way downstairs and found Cosima waiting in the lobby, just like she said. Kuzma bounded up to her and gave her a big hug while I checked us out from the hotel. Raymond walked over to us and grabbed my bags from me so he and Ryan could put them into Cosima's car.

Check out didn't take long and when we were done, we walked over to Cosima. I couldn't help but pulled her into a hug, before letting her go so she could catch up with Morgan. When Ryan and Raymond came back into the lobby we checked the time and thought it would be a good idea to get a move on if we wanted to get a close spot to the stage.

Morgan slipped her arm through mine and walked behind Kuzma, Cosima and Raymond. Ryan stayed close to Morgan and I as we made our way through the streets towards the same park we ended up in last night. When we got there, it was full of people standing around waiting for the President to take the stage. The crowd of people was thicker towards the front so we ended up staying in the back. Raymond firmly planted next to Kuzma while Ryan stood sideways to be able to watch our six.

At noon on the dot, there were some church bells going off. Once they concluded, a few of the high ranking officials took the stage. A few bigger military officer's came out next and then the President and first lady follow behind them. The crowd roared in applause for them and it took a few minutes for it to die down for him to be able to speak.

"Every year for the past five years, we have marked this day with a ringing of the bells to signal the worst is over. Today, here we stand five years later, all together again." The President started with a smile on his face. It took a few seconds for him to be able to speak again with the crowd noise.

"The first two years after the war was over was about remembering the love ones we lost and fully reclaiming what is rightfully ours. Now, we have started to rebuild our country. This park being one of the biggest projects we have completed so far. More is to come in the new year as we break ground on a few new apartment buildings, parks, schools and hospitals." The President said and I couldn't help but smile, things are finally looking up for his country, even thought it took a few years of rebuilding to get here.

"I would be remiss not to mention a few people who helped us get to this place. I know some of them have found there way back to Ukraine for the first time since the war and I hope that the country has welcomed them back with opened arms as I have. Without there help, I don't know how much longer it would have taken for us to turn the tide against those who wished to do us harm. The country of Poland, you have become my family. I want to thank you so greatly for accepting the Ukrainian people in our moment of need for safe harbor. The rest of our European partners who have given a more permanent home to those who needed it while there's was under attack." Kuzma pulled away from Raymond and stood in between Morgan and I. He leaned into both of us and I had a feeling this was really starting to hit him now.

"To those who came and fought arm in arm with our military, I feel I owe you the biggest debt. You came from around the world because of the injustice happening here and help our military push out those who wanted to take over. The US Army Rangers and Special Forces helped push the enemy out of our southern borders while very narrowly escaping death themselves." The President said. The roar of the crowd after that piece of his speech almost had me in tears. I swear, I could feel the President find my eyes in the crowd and I couldn't help but tip my cap towards him.

The rest of the speech went by in a blur as I kept my family pressed tightly to me. They kept me grounded in the moment and as I played with Morgan's fingers behind our sons back. The speech finished up not long after that and it seemed like the crowd had no interest in leaving the park just yet. We stuck around for a few more minutes as everyone just gathered together in this country-wide moment of peace.

We waited around for another few long minutes before Cosima thought it would be best to hit the road to get a start on our long drive down to the farm. It took a while to make our way through the large crowd that formed behind us. Raymond stayed in front of us while Ryan picked up the rear as we slowly pushed through the crowd. As the crowd thinned out, my anxiety settled a bit as we made our way down the street to Cosima's car. When we got there, we said bye to Raymond and Ryan for now, they are going to be meeting us down there in a few days as they have some other things to attend too. Cosima jumped behind the wheel while I ended up in the passenger seat with Morgan and Kuzma in back. As Cosima pulled away from the hotel's parking lot my mind only started to wonder to the last time we took this drive.

a/n: so these chapters are going to be long around 8-10K words each and are going to be full of a lot. song on the side is I Drink Wine by Adele because I had it on while I was writing this chapter and thought I could see Dani and Morgan listening to it while in the park.