Scars
Kate woke up to a dark room. She heard mumbling coming from her man beside her. She ran a hand over her face then looked over to the alarm clock. It was four in the morning. She huffed and slowly sat up in bed. She saw the door open and a little light, from the nightlight in the hallway, streaming in.
"Robbie?" She whispered. There was no reply and she flopped back down on her back. She looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. There was a whimper and bare feet slapping the hardwoods.
Kate sat up again and looked out the bedroom door. "Robbie." She whispered once more. It was silent for a while. Kate was giving up hope and starting to think it was her imagination.
"Mommy." Robbie whimpered out. Kate threw her legs over the side of the bed and was about to slid out of bed when Robbie appeared in front of her. She jumped a little, but held her hands out.
"Did you have a nightmare, baby?" She whispered taking her three year old in her arms. He dug his face into her neck and took a deep breath.
"Yes." He whispered with his lisp. Kate rolled onto her back next to her partner as she rubbed Robbie's back.
"What happened?" Kate whispered. She turned her head and kissed Robbie's head. He grabbed at her nightshirt and clutched it in his fists.
"Bad guy took Mommy away from me and Daddy. When Daddy got you back you were hurt. Bad." He whispered.
"I'm okay. I'm not hurt." Kate whispered. Robbie pushed himself into a sitting positon on top of Kate and stared deeply into her eyes.
"Okay?" He gravely whispered. Kate nodded her head and pushed his messy dark bangs off his forehead. Robbie frowned deeply and patted her chest looking for something. "No scars like, Robbie?" He asked pointing to the scar on his eyebrow. "No boo boos bad enough for a scar." He breathed nervously.
"Mommy has scars, but Mommy is okay. She doesn't hurt right now." Kate whispered trying to calm Robbie down by speaking evenly and rubbing his shoulders softly.
"Show me." Robbie demanded. Rick mumbled, turned on his side so he was facing Robbie and Kate, wrapped his hand around Kate's arm, and then relaxed back into sleep.
"Robbie, I'm okay. I'm not hurt." Kate reassured.
"Show me the scars, Mommy." Robbie whined. Kate huffed and moved her arm away from Rick's grasp. She pulled her nightshirt down so Robbie could see her bullet scar.
"A long time ago, Mommy was hurt. Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Javi, Uncle Kevin, and Aunt Lanie helped Mommy heal and get better so she didn't hurt inside or outside anymore." She pulled her shirt up from the bottom and showed him her scar from heart surgery. "This is where the doctors helped Mommy get better. Those are my big scars." Kate smiled gently.
"You have more?" Robbie asked. Kate nodded her head. "Can I see?" He asked. Kate nodded her head again when Robbie slipped off her and settled on his side beside her.
Kate lifted her shirt so Robbie could see her stomach and pointed to a scar two inches to the right of her bellybutton. "When I was working a bad guy tried to hurt me, but luckily Daddy was there to stop him from really hurting me." Kate whispered. Rick moaned and shook his head getting ready to wake up.
Kate rolled on her side to face Robbie, scooted back so she was against Rick, and pulled her knee to her chest. She looked over her left chin and pointed to another scar. "When I was seven I fell off my bike and cut my leg." She whispered. "Grandpa picked me up and put me on by bike. We rode home and Grandpa fixed me up." Kate smiled. Robbie ran his fingers over the scar. Kate let him examine it and smiled when she felt Rick wrap an arm around her waist and dig his head in her hair.
Kate pulled her right knee to her chest and pointed to her knee. "I got cut my coral at the beach a few years ago." She tried to roll back onto her back, but Rick's grip tightened.
She pulled her pajama shorts down off her hip, just a little and pointed to her left hip. "I was in a car accident when I was twenty." She moved her left arm to Robbie and pointed to her elbow. "Cut by a bad guy at work. Uncle Javi knocked him out." Robbie yawned and his blinked got heavy. Kate felt Rick kiss the back of her neck. Kate cupped Robbie's cheek and rubbed her thumb across his soft skin.
"I love you, Robbie." Kate whispered. Robbie moaned, just as Rick wiggled and woke up. "Babe, in a minute can you move Robbie back to his bed?" Kate asked. Rick groaned and shook his head.
"Can't he sleep here tonight?" Rick whined.
"Move him up to bed and I'll make it worth your while." She rolled over to face Rick and smiled. Rick's eyebrows shot up and he grinned.
"Really?" He whispered excitement lacing his words.
"Really." She nodded her head and smiled back. Rick jumped out of bed and ran around to Kate's side. He gently slipped Robbie into his arms and froze when Robbie stirred and moaned in disagreement. Robbie settled and fell back asleep.
Rick carefully walked Robbie upstairs to his room and gently laid him on his bed. Rick covered Robbie in his blankets and kissed the boy's forehead. "Love you, Rob." Rick whispered. Robbie rolled onto his side and sighed happily. Rick smiled watched for a second, before dashing downstairs.
He skipped into the bedroom and grinned widely. He stopped and frowned when he noticed Kate dead asleep in their bed. She was sprawled out in the middle of the bed. Rick huffed out a frustrated breath of air and walked over to his side of bed. He slipped under the covers and nudged Kate over to her side of the bed.
"Castle." She moaned. Her eyes fluttered open and her hand ran over his chest. She scooted over to him and her hand traveled lower before she knocked out again and fell asleep on his shoulder.
Rick sighed and moved her hand up to his chest. He kissed her forehead and watched the nightlight dance on the ceiling. He turned his head to look at the alarm clock, four forty in the morning. He willed himself to sleep, closing his eyes and listening to Kate's deep breaths.