Recognition never realised

Managed to pick Sue and Em up at Heathrow this morning. Their plane landed at 5.30... in the AM!

I got there just before 6am, having had quite a turbulent non-sleep (waking every hour until about 4am where I gave up on sleep).

I was quite excited to see my girls return, quite aware that it would be bittersweet having left the bosom of family to come back to a husband/dad that would be absent most days.

What I wasn't really prepared for was Emily. The look on her face when I saw her was a complete blank - nothing that could be confused for recognition crossed her face. To her, I was another person to meet. This was upsetting, but as she'd spent 1/6th of her life away from me, I wasn't completely surprised.

I was prepared slightly for how big she'd gotten, but I'll never forget that first glimpse of her when Sue carried her out of the arrivals hall. It was just really odd... almost like "who is this creature"?

I'd been a dad for 5 months, then a singleton for a month and now I'm back to being a dad, exactly where I want to be.