Emily froze. Joshua hid behind Max, who growled softly.

Rachel’s smile hesitated. “Danny… I’m home. I made a mistake.”

Daniel’s voice was low but steady. “A mistake? You abandoned them. Emily became their mother while you vanished.”

“I wasn’t happy,” she said, tears forming. “But I want to fix things.”

Emily’s voice cut through the air. “We don’t need you anymore, Mom. Daddy looks after us now.”

Rachel broke down, but Daniel didn’t move. “You don’t get to come back when it’s convenient,” he said, closing the door gently.

Inside, Emily leaned into him, Joshua hugged Max, and for the first time in years, Daniel felt peace. There would still be struggles but the worst was over.

That night, he tucked his children into bed and muttered, “We’re a family now. No one will ever break us again.”

Max lay beside them, watchful and loyal.

And in that quiet Virginia home, Daniel Hayes understood that though he had returned from one war, another had awaited him but this one, he would win, for the only mission that mattered: his children.