24. Nightmare

~Kyle

Everything soon fell back into the normalcy from before. I was back at work, although I had a feeling I wasn't being sent on the more dangerous calls as of late. I'll get there, though. I'll prove that I can handle myself like I used to.

It was almost time for the kids' summer vacation. I was not looking forward to that. The kids actually being home all day every day was a nightmare, although recently, I could think of a few scenarios involving them that were much more severe. It was hard having two young kids at home with no parents during the day, especially after what happened a couple months ago with Paul still fresh in our minds.

But he was he jail now and wasn't getting out any time soon. Suzanne was still out there somewhere, but she's been leaving us alone, thankfully. It's something we still had to think about when getting ready for the summer, when we'd rarely be home during the day.

Usually, we got our neighbor's daughter to watch them. She was a junior in high school this year - a really sweet girl, and the kids loved her. I just worry that if Suzanne were to show up and try something, would Nicole be able to handle it? Or would that be too much to tell her to possibly expect? Maybe I should get back on those night shifts I haven't had in years. At least that way I'd be around during the day.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Leo walking into the room. He slowly sank down into the couch next to me, obviously still sore, but doing much better now that his ribs have mostly healed.

"Why do you look so down, love?" he asked, grabbing hold of my hand and rubbing small circles along the back of it with his thumb.

I shrugged. "Thinking about this summer. The possibility of Nicole having to deal with Suzanne if she decided to show up again."

"Ooh, damn. That's some heavy stuff to think about this late. Why don't we forget about that bitch completely and you come to bed with the rest of us, huh?"

I guess he had a point. I reached for the remote to turn the TV - which had been playing the news quietly in the background - off. But that's when I noticed exactly what the newscaster was saying.

"...the couple have been charged with multiple charges of identity theft as well as aiding in the kidnapping that their son, Paul Abromovich is currently serving time for in a case that happened last month. Suzanne and Martin Abromovich will be held until their trial next month. In other news..."

I turned to Leo, needing confirmation that I just heard what I thought I heard. He was looking at me with a smile.

"Well, love, I guess we don't have to worry about warning Nicole, now do we?"

I chuckled, standing up. "No, I guess we don't. Now let's go to bed, maybe even celebrate the news."

When we got upstairs through, it looked like celebrating tonight wasn't going to happen. Obviously Jackson and Josh had been in bed waiting for us to go to sleep, but now they were both asleep, Josh with his glasses still on and his book still open in front of him. So I carefully put both the book and glasses on the nightstand, kissing his head when he almost woke up and told him to go back to sleep, then crawled into the other side of the bed next to Leo.

~Leo

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to sleep right away. Within minutes of Kyle and me climbing into bed, the door creaked open. Kyle sat up, since he was on the edge, and started getting out of bed. I, of course, got up as well, making sure Jay and Josh were both still asleep, which they were.

Kyle tried getting me to stay in bed, but when I saw my son standing in the doorway, looking like he was about to cry, I wasn't going to be able to sleep without making sure he was alright.

Kyle got Logan out into the hallway before I got there. He was kneeling in front of our crying son, wiping away some of the tears. "What's wrong, bud?" Kyle was asking. "I can't help you if you don't tell me."

I sat on the floor next to them as Logan spoke. "He had me. Evil Not-Papa. He took me again."

Then he burst into tears again, turning into my side. I hugged him back, trying to calm him down. "He's not going to get you ever again, okay?" I said softly. "It was just a bad dream. You're safe. I got you. You're safe."

"How about I make you some hot chocolate, huh?" Kyle asked after a minute, when Logan's cries had turned to sniffles.

Logan backed out of my hold to looked at Kyle, nodding. I gave Kyle a look over Logan's head. Were we really going to give him hot chocolate at this time of night? It was getting close to midnight and he had school in the morning.

Kyle stood up, so I did too. Logan started heading for the stairs already, not even waiting for us. I guess we were doing this now.

"You can go to bed, you know," Kyle said to me quietly. "I know you have to go in early. I got him."

I shook my head. Yes, I had a lot to do at work tomorrow, since a girl was coming in to interview for Mandy's old position after I finally fired her for stealing, but I also felt that I should be here for my son right now, even if Kyle was with him. He needed to know that he's safe with us and that we'll always love him and never let him get hurt ever again. "I'll be fine, love," I told him with a smile. "I don't mind."

So we sat with him in the kitchen while he drank his hot chocolate (made without milk, even though Logan said it didn't taste as good). It was during this time that we managed to get him to talk to us about his nightmare. Apparently he dreamt that Paul came back and took him. None of us were around to stop him and we never found him again. It was heartbreaking.

"Bad dreams are really scary," I said to him. "They are. I still get them too sometimes." The image of my latest reoccurring nightmare popped into my head, but I pushed it out again.

Logan's eyes widened in shock. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Your dad can tell you, right love?"

Kyle chuckled. "Oh yeah. But the one good thing about bad dreams is that they're just dreams. They can't hurt you and they're not real. Okay? He's never going to get anywhere near you again and even if he were to try, we'll always be right by your side to protect you."

Logan took the last sip of his drink before looking up at Kyle and me. "Can I sleep with you tonight? I don't wanna sleep alone."

I looked at Kyle and we seemed to be thinking the same thing. The bed was already full enough with the four of us, adding Logan would be difficult, but we've managed squeezing a kid in with us before. As long as Ashley didn't wake up and want to join us too, we should be fine.

"Alright, bud," Kyle answered. "Just for tonight, okay?"

Logan smiled - the first one since coming to us crying. "Thank you daddies. I love you."

I stood up and grabbed his empty mug off the table, leaning over to kiss his head as I did so. "Love you too, Logan. Forever."