The bright light it gave off made him squint his eyes shut the moment he opened them, and he felt around for it while he stretched in what felt like a full-bodied yawn. His fingers found the offender as the alarm grew in volume, and he managed to swipe his thumb over it to silence the thing. Still, he sat bolt upright after that. He was no stranger to early mornings. He’d had them drilled into him all the way through training until, once deployed, they were second nature. These days he was still up with the birds, but for a different reason. He had to get Phoebe ready for school, make her eat her breakfast, help tie her shoelaces, and make sure she reached the bus stop on time all before he made his way to the shop. Weekends weren’t for sleeping in, either. He liked to keep Phoebe to a routine so that she didn’t grow used to the habit of slacking off. That’d come later, when she was a teen, so the longer he could put it off the better.
