Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue. The song is Goodnight by Evanescence.
A.N. I was looking for a different song and came across this song. I don't know why but I thought of Traci right away.
Hope you enjoy.
Traci sighed as she got Leo ready for bed. Since the night that Dex had walked out, and said that he never wanted to see her or her son again, Leo cried every night when she put him to bed.
She made sure he brushed his teeth and then settled him in for the night. After she read him a story, she began to sing, the same song she had been singing to him since she wandered around town at two a.m. the night Dex left and she heard the song. (She had called her mom and asked her to watch Leo.)
Goodnight, sleep tight
No more tears
Would there ever be a time when her son would go to sleep without sobbing, without asking why his dad didn't love him? She stroked his hair gently, conveying her love for him. She may have thought of him as a mistake at the time but Leo was the best mistake of her life, without a question.
In the morning I'll be here
And when we say goodnight,
She was thankful for her desk job. It was the only way she was able to guarantee that she would be home every night to tuck him in and she would be there every morning when he woke up. When she and Dex split custody, she used to hate the mornings Leo was with Dex because she was not there when Leo woke up in the morning and she couldn't give him a goodnight kiss (and "over the phone" was not the same thing, no matter what people said). Now, she had sole custody of him.
Dry your eyes
Because we said goodnight,
She saw Leo was beginning to nod off. With gentle caresses, she wiped the tears from his face. She smiled when he didn't respond. He was asleep, and still, just in case he wasn't, she finished the song.
And not goodbye
We said goodnight
And not goodbye
The night Dex had left with a "goodbye, have a nice life" she promised him she would never say goodbye. She kissed his forehead and then straightened, heading silently out of the room.
Before she could exit, she was greeted by a gentle kiss. "Sorry I'm late. I tried to come home earlier but a case came up."
Traci nodded, not saying anything.
"Go to the bedroom. I'll be there in a minute, I just want to give the little man a goodnight kiss."
Traci glided out of the room, struck by a thought. Dex had said goodbye to Leo forever, but Jerry would be there for her son every night to say goodnight, even if Leo didn't know he was there. And, Jerry worked out his schedule so he would be there almost every morning when Leo woke up. Traci knew that although her son had suffered, he (as well as herself if she thought about it) was in good, caring hands.
A few minutes later Jerry entered the bedroom. After her breakup with Dex and their rekindled romance, Jerry had insisted on a new apartment, a two bedroom, where they could forget their past and start their future.
Jerry sat next to Traci and wiped away the tears on her face. "No more tears sweetheart."
Traci nodded. "Thank you for always being here for me and Leo." She kissed him.
Hours later, the two were lying side by side. Jerry saw Traci fighting sleep. He pulled her close. "Goodnight sweetheart" he murmured "I'll be here when you wake up in the morning."
And somehow, that was the right thing to say because he saw the light, which had been dimmed for months, shine for a moment in Traci's eyes before she buried herself against him and fell asleep.
In the morning I'll be here
And when we say goodnight
A.N. Loved? Hated? Let me know - I live for reviews!