Henry woke up and instantly was on the alert; it was not an uncommon thing to be woken up in the middle of the night these days. When you had a new baby in the house, you were woken up all of the time by a baby's hungry belly or wet diaper. It was normal; that's what babies did. Henry would attend to Abe's needs and then put him back to bed. But this crying he heard now; it wasn't just crying. It was not the sound of a baby that just needed a full belly or a cuddle before going back to sleep. This high pitched, blood curdling scream spoke of such pain and fright it shook Henry to his core. He threw back the covers on the bed and raced out of his room toward Abe's room.
Abe had nightmares; terrible ones at that. They had warned him at the hospital before he had taken him home that while he was physically fine he most likely would have some psychological issues as he recovered from the trauma of being at the camps. It was unimaginable what Abe might have seen and went through being in the concentration camps so it wouldn't surprise Henry if he suffered some trauma. During the day, Abe appeared a perfectly healthy baby, physically and mentally. He smiled, he responded to Henry's attempts to talk to him and play with him, he ate with a healthy appetite; he was a happy baby. But when poor Abe went to sleep he was wracked with nightmares. When Henry had first brought him home, it happened every night. Now, though it didn't happened every night, it still happened more often than not and Henry ached for his new, small son. Even as old as he was he could only imagine the horrors that this small child had already faced in his lifetime.
Henry pushed open Abe's door to find him in the throes of a terrible nightmare. Abe's face was red, streaked with tears as he screamed so loud Henry couldn't believe it was actually a baby's voice. His tiny fists were knotted as he thrashed around, as if fighting some terrible force. Henry scooped Abe into his arms, doing his best to hold him close despite Abe's thrashing. "Abe…shhhh…daddy's here. You're safe, sweetheart" Henry cooed, rocking Abe up and down. Sometimes it took a long time for Abe to come out of the spells; even shaking him awake didn't seem to help. It was like he was stuck somewhere between waking and sleeping.
Henry held onto Abe tightly, his little hands and feet kicking everywhere as he screamed. "Abraham, daddy is right here. You're safe. You're at home and you're fine" Henry said. He didn't know if the words had any impression on him but it's all he could think to do until Abe came out of world of terror.
Thankfully, the spell was relatively short. Henry could see the change come over him; Abe relaxed and fell limp, his screaming stopped. He looked around the room as if taking in his real surroundings, his eyes coming to rest on Henry. He began to cry again but it was more of a whimper than anything else.
"Aww….there's my little boy" Henry said in a calming voice, holding Abe closer now that he wasn't fighting. He was glad that Abe was no longer stuck in that terrible world of pain and suffering but back here with him. He hated to think of what Abe saw in his dreams, hated even more that he could never rouse him from them. When Abe was in a nightmare, Henry was powerless.
But now Abe was awake and Henry could do his duties as a father to console him. "Calm down, little Abraham" Henry whispered as he rocked him. "Daddy is right here"
Abe quieted a little, grabbing Henry's shirt with his fist for comfort, convincing himself he was really there. Henry checked Abe's diaper; finding it in need of a change he carried him to the changing table.
Abe started crying in earnest when he was placed on the changing table. Babies generally hated having their diaper changed; even worse for the poor soul when Henry was the one doing the changing. Before Abe came along, Henry was a complete novice with babies. He had never been a father, had never even considered it really. Abigail had done her best to teach him what he needed to know to care for Abe; after all, she had wanted him to adopt Abe and wasn't going to let a small thing like complete lack of parental knowledge stop that. And Henry was getting better; still his diaper changing skills were appalling. He was slow, awkward and no matter which way he turned the diapers, they still ended up lumpy in places. He recalled with embarrassment especially that first week of caring for Abe; every time he took him out somewhere he would receive sympathetic looks from mothers who commented on how brave it was of him, being a single dad. He resolved to get better at it; he would probably have it perfect right in time for Abe to be potty trained.
"I know, I know. Bear with me" Henry said, taking the pins out of Abe's diaper as he cried in displeasure. Henry made as quick work of it as possible, not even caring at this late hour how it looked, as long as it would do the job.
"There you go, all done" Henry said happily as he put the last diaper pin in place and scooped Abe off of the changing table. Grabbing a blanket off of Abe's crib, he wrapped it around him as he sat down in the rocking chair. Wrapping the blanket around Abe tightly, he relaxed, holding Abe close. Abe's head nestled against him, whimpering every now and then but mostly calmed.
"I know those dreams are so scary" Henry told Abe in a sing song baby voice. "I hate that you have to suffer them. But I promise, I will always keep you safe. Whatever horrible things you faced there, that will never happen again."
Henry held Abe close, feeling fatigue trying to claim him but he fought it. He rocked back and forth, wanting to put his son at ease fully before he thought about sleep himself.
His son…..he still couldn't believe it when he said it sometimes. He'd thought about children before but that was so long ago, before he was immortal and thus incapable of having a normal family. The only kind of relationships he could sustain were very short term ones; not exactly the kind where babies had any place being. He'd even tried to fight the urge to adopt Abe. He'd felt the stirring of love the moment he'd seen him, helped along by Abigail's persistence. With her persistence Henry's already existing feelings, he didn't stand a chance. He'd been completely and totally in love the moment he had seen Abe. He was Abe's father…he just was. There was no other option that made sense.
Henry knew that it wouldn't always be easy; one day he'd have to tell Abe his secret. He'd live an unconventional live, burdened with keeping Henry's stunning secret. He'd spare him that as long as he possibly could but he knew one day it'd come to that. He only hoped that he could give Abe a calm and peaceful childhood, full of love and acceptance before that happened. Afterwards, he hoped that he could make up for the burden of being his son by loving him more than anyone else ever could.
Henry hugged Abe closely, feeling swelling love for him. They were both impossible beings; Henry because of his immortality and Abe simply because he was alive and existed. All of the odds were against him and yet here he was alive and well.
Henry rocked Abe until he grew quiet and still against him. Careful not to wake him, Henry held Abe close and gently stood from the rocker, carrying Abe to his crib. Abe appeared asleep the entire time but, as if on cue, the moment he touched the crib mattress, he began to wail loudly, throwing his fists in the air. Henry couldn't help but smile; he expected as much.
"I think you're making me spoil you" Henry said with a grin down at his son as he scooped him up again. Abe instantly stopped crying the second Henry picked him up. This always happened when he had a nightmare; he never could go back to sleep and feel safe alone for the rest of the night. Henry didn't have the heart to leave Abe alone and scared to cry himself to sleep in his crib. He had already been through so much. While Henry knew that one day Abe would grow up, stop having nightmares and forget he was ever in a concentration camp, right now the fears were still new and very real to him. Henry wanted to be his safe place.
Henry carried Abe back to his own bedroom, placing Abe in the middle of the bed next to the spot where he slept. Henry lay down next to him as Abe nestled against the blankets and Henry's pillow, looking happy as a clam. Henry would do anything to keep that look of contentment on his face.
Henry put his hand on Abe's little back, finding comfort in his warmth and the gentle rise and fall of his back as he breathed, his messily diapered bottom stuck in the air. Henry pressed a kiss to his head as he drifted off to sleep. "Daddy loves you so much, Abraham. Sleep well" Henry whispered to him. Minutes later they were both asleep peacefully, both without nightmares of the horrors they had seen.