Disclaimer: Not my characters. Thomas Harris, I apologize.
A/N: Pure, unadulterated FLUFF. You have been warned. Susan, as always, thanks for betaing.
"Once upon a time there were three Billy Goats and their name was Gruff. They were going up a mountain to get fat. On their way up, they had to cross a bridge, and under this bridge there lived a Troll, with eyes as big as saucers and a nose as long as a broomstick—"
"Daddy, are there really such things as monsters?" Eve sat on her bed, her knees drawn up against her chest, her blue eyes wide. Across the room, her twin, Joshua, rolled his eyes.
"Don't be silly," he said. "Everyone knows monsters aren't real."
Eve glared at him. "What about the troll under the bridge?"
Daddy laughed and shut the book he'd been reading from. "Hmm, I think I need to reconsider your bedtime reading."
Eve scrambled onto her knees. "No, Daddy!"
"But if the stories are scaring you—"
"They don't scare me," Joshua said. "Eve's just a baby." The elder by four minutes, he was forever trying to prove himself bigger than his sister. At five-and-a-half, he considered himself a big boy. At least, that was what Mommy always said.
"Am not! And I'm not scared. I was just asking a question. Mommy says it's good to ask questions."
"And she's right. It is good to ask questions."
Eve smiled and climbed onto Daddy's lap. Joshua pulled a face. He didn't see why they had to listen to fairytales. Last night Daddy had read 'Sleeping Beauty'. Before that it had been 'Cinderella' and 'Snow White'. Who cared about dumb princesses anyway? At least there were no fairies or anything in 'Billy Goats Gruff'.
"So are there monsters?" Eve asked.
"I'm afraid there are."
Joshua sat up. He hadn't expected that answer. He looked around the room, waiting for a monster to jump out from the shadows and was slightly disappointed when one didn't.
"What kind of monsters? Do they want to hurt us? What if they come in here while we're sleeping?" Eve threw her arms around Daddy's neck.
"I promise that no monsters will hurt you when you're asleep, okay?"
"But what if--?"
"I won't let anything happen to you. And you've got your brother here to protect you too."
Eve glanced at Joshua, who smiled back at her. Of course he'd protect her, he thought, what else was a big brother for? He'd stab the monsters with his sword or shoot them with his water pistol. Then they'd know who was the boss.
Eve still seemed uncertain. "But what if they go after you or Mommy?"
Daddy smiled. "Do you really think I'm scared of a few little monsters?" He bared his teeth, and Eve giggled.
"No."
"Hey, aren't you two supposed to be sleeping already?" Mommy stood at the door. The light from the hallway glinted off her hair, making it look like she had a halo. Joshua smiled. He knew why his mom was safe from the monsters – she was an angel.
"We were talking 'bout monsters," Eve said.
"You were?" Mommy looked at Daddy. "So help me, Hannibal, if they have nightmares tonight I'll—"
"Clarice. I told them there was nothing to be afraid of."
Eve rushed to her father's defense. "Uh huh. Daddy's going to scare all the monsters away!"
"Really." Mommy smiled in a way that Joshua didn't quite understand. He supposed it was a grown-up thing, so it didn't really matter. Mommy and Daddy were always saying they would explain things when he was older, like where babies came from . . . Joshua wondered if monsters had babies, and wondered if they were scary when they were born or if they had to learn how to be scary.
Daddy stood and tucked Eve back into bed. He kissed her forehead, then turned to kiss Joshua.
"But what about the end of the story?" Eve asked.
"They all end the same way anyway," Joshua said.
"Tomorrow." Mommy added her goodnight kisses to Daddy's then switched the light off. "Sleep tight."
Joshua thought about what Daddy had said. He thought it was exciting that monsters were real – he wasn't scared. Maybe one day he'd get to meet a monster. Then he could tell his friends about it.
Joshua eventually drifted off to dreamland. He crossed a bridge under which a troll lurked and rescued his sister (who, to his surprise, looked exactly like Snow White) from an evil ogre. On his way back to the castle, he found a baby monster in the forest. Eve begged him to let her keep it, so they took it home to the castle. Mommy told him he was a good, brave boy and the monsters and angels lived happily ever after.