Eve and I were busy unpacking. It was the first night we were spending in our new home. The place still smelt of fresh paint. Large cardboard boxes were littered haphazardly across the floor alongside torn up packing material. That was when we heard David scream. We rushed to his room and were glad to find him unhurt.
“Come, Ma! Come, Pa! Look! Look!” David yelled at us excitedly. He was perched precariously on a stool. His hands clung tightly onto the window frame. Eve and I walked up behind David and peered out the window to see what had made him so excited. I placed my hand against David’s back to make sure he would not fall off the stool. That was when I noticed the sound for the first time. The deep metal chugging of a train engine as it ploughed the last few meters of rail into the railway station. David started to count out the number of carriages towed by the train engine. Hugging our son, Eve counted along with David.
I ruffled the hair on my son’s sweaty head. David was oblivious to my touch in his excitement. I kissed my wife on the cheek and pulled her close. I savoured the light lavender nodes of her perfume. Eve hugged me back and rested her head against my chest. I felt her breath on my skin and the warmth of her body. In that moment, I knew that everything would be all right.