Danny's day doesn't exactly start off well. He wakes up late, and that throws off his entire day. He barely has time for a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. In all honesty, the frozen breakfast sandwiches kind of suck, but they're easier to eat in the car than a proper plate of eggs and bacon.
He, of course, gets stuck in traffic, which makes him so late. As soon as he gets to work, his boss yells at him for being late. When he tries to explain the traffic, a file is shoved into his hands. He and his partner need to talk to the father of a kid who disappeared.
He absolutely f***ing hates kidnapping cases.
The day kind of just goes downhill from there. The father blames the police- specifically Danny and his partner- for his daughter still missing. When Danny tries to explain that they are doing their best and kidnapping cases are intricate and delicate, he gets called "a lazy ass, good for nothing pig".
They have to skip their lunch because of a lead that went absolutely no where, and on top of being agitated, he is now hungry... which is not a good combination.
Now he's snapping at people, and trying his hardest not to bash in the potential kidnapper's head. It's very hard. The only semblance of peace he gets is a voicemail from Linda, who's just calling to say hi while she eats her lunch. She tells him about the new recipe she wants to try for Sunday dinner, and finally she tells him she loves him.
He tries to hold onto Linda's voice saying, I love you, have a good day!. It works until the find the kidnapper... and the ring leader. The ring leader turns out to be the father, and Danny can't even look at him. His partner has to do the questioning, otherwise Danny might shove his hand down the the father's throat and rip his heart out.
**********
Wearily, he opens the front door. After the day he's had, Danny just wants to go to bed and sleep until it's a new day. But that's not how being a husband and a father works, so he drops his keys onto the coffee table, "anyone home?"
"Kitchen!" Linda yells back, even though she doesn't need to.
Danny smiles when he sees her, feeling mounds of stress rolling off him.
"Hey," she smiles then turns back to whatever's in the sauce pot. "How was your day?"
"Fine," he lies. "Busy." He doesn't like to burden her with his bad days, especially if there's no reason for the bad day and the bad mood. "What're you making?"
"Enchiladas."
"Smells good... Where are the boys?"
"Upstairs. Jack's showing Sean the library book he checked out today. They're learning about space, and he just finds it so fascinating. You should've heard him when I picked him up today. It was so cute! He says he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up."
Danny smiles at that, vaguely wishing he could still get excited over things like that.
Linda turns from the pot to give Danny a hug and a kiss, "the boys are going over to the Keenans' for a sleepover Friday. Think you can make it to our date?"
"We've got a date Friday?"
"Yes we do."
"Since when?" Is he missing something? He's pretty sure they didn't have anything planned.
"Since earlier when Lori invited them over."
He smiles again, "I can make it."
"Good." She kisses him once more before turning back to the sauce.
*******
After they bless their meal, Jack chatters about what he learned in science class. It's his first time learning about space, and he loves it. While he talks, Linda pauses eating to wipe sauce off Sean's face. (Danny swears his youngest is the messiest eater alive).
"Is Pluto blue?" Sean asks in that choppy but cute three year old way.
"No. But I thought it was! It's brown, Miss Doyle says," Jack can't remember the word.
"Brown?!" Sean repeats, seemingly disgusted.
Linda smirks at the disgust in her three year old's voice. "What's your favorite planet, Jack?"
"Mars! 'Cause it's red, and red is my favorite color."
"What about Saturn?" Danny asks, feeling better now that he's with his family.
"It has rings!... Can you skate on the rings?"
Linda smiles, "no, Jack."
"Well why not?"
"There's no oxygen in space. And without oxygen, you can't breathe and you'll die."
"I'll bring an oxygen tank then. Two of 'em, so me and Sean can skate. We'll be the kids to play on Saturn."
"Yeah!" Sean cheers, somehow dropping sauce onto the table.
And it's in that moment that Danny realizes something. His family is his peace. If he's had a crummy day, all he has to do is find Linda and the boys, and all will be well again.
********
"You seemed happy during dinner," Linda stares after they put the boys to bed.
"I was." He wraps his arms around her and kisses her forehead, "I love you."
"I love you more," she answers, a little confused.
"I love you most," he kisses her soundly, and she forgets her earlier confusion.
His family is his peace, and he's going to hold onto that gift forever.