Dear Robert

Life Without You

(So there's a little time jump from the last chapter to this one. We do not see the two girls wake up or finish writing the letter to Robert. We will come back to them a little bit later. Hope you enjoy this next chapter in Robert's POV)
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Robert entered his private bunk after a long day of teaching, kicked his boots off and flopped onto the bed. It's only been a week so far and his muscles and body were aching like crazy. He didn't know that training the new recruits would be so physically exhausting. Despite being a marine in his past and currently being a firefighter, he had never felt more exhausted in his life. As he laid on his bed, he couldn't help but think about his wife and how he missed sleeping beside her. The nights were long and lonely and he has still yet been able to call her ever since he had arrived. He missed hearing her voice and hearing her sweet laugh. He missed everything about her and it drove him insane. What drove him even more insane is not being able to see his precious daughter Abby everyday. This is the first time that he has ever been away from her since she was born and it was like a piece of him was missing. Abby was the light of his world and he was proud to be her father. She reminded him so much of Andy and he was secretly happy they had a girl instead of a boy. He was still staring up at the ceiling when he heard a knock on his bunk door.

Robert let out a sigh as he sat up from the position he was in. It didn't take long for him to stand up and make his way to his bunks door. "Mail for Commander Sullivan," a young recruit said from the other side of the door as he opened it. He silently took the mail from the younger man's hand, instantly knowing what it was. "Thank You." Robert said as he nodded his head at the man before closing the door to his bunks office. He slowly walked over to the desk in his room as he carefully studied the envelope. The writing on the outside of it was obviously Andy's. Not only was he used to seeing it on paperwork she'd help him fill out at work, she also would put little sticky notes around the house reminding him to do things. Well she did it mostly when she was pissed off at him for whatever reason, but he still found it incredibly cute. Robert smiled at the thought before shaking his head and before studying the envelope a little more closely. He wanted to rip it open right then and there, but he also wanted to take his time reading the letter. Afterall, this was the closest he would be to Andy and Abby for a while. He wanted to savor every moment he could. Finally, after what seemed like forever he finally began to open the seal. Little did he know the surprises, both good and bad, that awaited him. He took a deep breath and began to read the letter.

Dear Robert,

I hope you made it to your destination safely and that you are doing well. I know you probably can't tell me where you are, but as long as you are safe that's all that matters to me. I'm not quite sure how to start this letter off because I've never been good at expressing my emotions as you already know. So, I guess I'll start off by saying that I miss you. I miss you so much that it hurts and it's been hard not having you around the house. I miss waking up next to you every morning and falling asleep together at night. I miss walking down the stairs to see you making me and Abby breakfast and I miss our Sunday smoothie days. I miss your laugh and your energy. I miss seeing you at work everyday. I miss every little thing about you and it's slowly driving me insane. Life just isn't the same without you and I'm struggling to keep myself in one piece. I try to be strong for Abby and not show her my sadness, but at the end of the night when I'm all alone in our bedroom, I silently cry myself to sleep. It's the only time of day where I can truly let my guard down and express my feelings. I let Abby have your pillow to help her sleep at night, so I can't even cuddle up to that. She needs it more than I do. Her nightmares are more frequent now that you are gone and I try my best to comfort her as best as I can, but you are still the only one who can truly make her feel safe. When she has her nightmares, I usually bring her back to our bed with me and let her cry in my arms until she falls back to sleep. She's been so brave, but I can tell she's hurting. She actually is hurting more than she should be, but I will let her tell you why.