Tiny hands were grabbing at his side, and a small voice pulled him out of sleep.
"Dad," Cassie whispered, and he felt the mattress move as she hoisted herself up on the bed. Cassie sniffed, a low sound of distress coming from her, and it instantly snapped him awake.
Nate blinked and squinted over at her. "Hey, honey, what's wrong?" He turned on his side to face her and propped himself up on an elbow. He wiped away the sleep from his eyes and reached for her. Cassie immediately crawled under the sheets and sidled up next to him, curling into his side like a small cat.
"I had a bad dream," she said into the pillow. Nate curled an arm around her and sat up, pulling her up with him.
"What about?"
"Skeletons," she said, rubbing at her face. "From Ind-ia Jones, when I watched with Sam." Cassie blinked up at him, lip stuck out in a fearful pout. "And, and—and the man's face melted off in the cave, and he turned into a skeleton, and his eyes were all big—" she broke off with a small huff that was almost like a sob, and Cassie curled up in a tiny ball on the bed.
Nate pulled her close and pats her back, rocking her gently. "Oh, it's okay, Cass," he assured her, smoothing her hair down. "It's alright. It's not real; it's just a movie."
She frowned and looked up at him. "It looked really real, though."
"It's just special effects they do for films—makeup and computer graphics," he explained. "He didn't actually turn into a skeleton."
She nodded and pressed her face into his chest. "Okay. It was pretty scary, though."
"Scale of one to ten?"
"Like twelve," she whispered, and he laughed.
"Scarier than clowns?"
"Skeletons are way scarier," she told him, but this time she was smiling.
"I'll take your word for it."
He hugged her close, rubbing her back and letting her calm down a little more. He'd have to have a word with Sam about appropriate movies to show four year-olds. Granted, he'd snuck out of St. Francis to go watch it in theatres with Sam when he was six, but he'd rather avoid repeats of his childhood behaviour with his daughter if he could help it.
"Hey," came softly from behind him, and felt Elena's hand on his arm. "Everything okay?" He heard the shift of the bed and then felt Elena's chin rest on his shoulder to look down at Cassie. "Hey girl. What are you doing up?"
"I had a bad dream," she mumbled, huddling under Nate's arm and peering up at her mother. "About skeletons."
Elena and Nate exchanged a look, and she rolled her eyes. "Maybe we'll stay away from Indiana Jones for a while," she said and sat up. Elena blinked over at the clock and frowned. "Do you wanna stay here with us?"
Cassie instantly brightened. "Yeah!" She unhooked her arms from around Nate's waist, and clamoured over him to claim her accustomed spot right in the middle of the bed before either of them could revoke the offer. She tugged at the blankets and burrowed in between their pillows, bad dream already forgotten.
He grinned over at Elena and settled back down, the both of them curling close towards their daughter. Cassie insisted on having a goodnight kiss from both of them, and then snuggled deep into the tangle of sheets and protective circle of her parents' arms.
Her breathing began to even out, her eyes growing heavy. Nate shot a smile at Elena that she could only barely see, and then settled into the blankets to go back to sleep.
He was in a state of semi-consciousness when he heard small giggles coming out of Cassie. She was squirming beside him, and her accidental elbow to his ribs snapped him back awake.
He groaned. "Go to sleep, Cass," Nate murmured, patting her shoulder and hoping she'd listen. Sleeping with them was a treat for her, and he'd been naive to think she'd simply go quietly to sleep.
Cassie's face pulled up right close to his, and his vision filled up with dark eyes and blond hair. "Can we make a sandwich first?"
Elena had obviously been woken up by the giggling too, because he heard a quiet laugh from her side.
"I'm sure one won't hurt. What do you think, dad?" Elena asked, and felt her arm twine up with his. "Do you feel like a sandwich?"
He grinned and played along. "I dunno," he said slowly, and Cassie was practically bouncing in place between them, snickering to herself. "What kind of sandwich?"
"Cassie sandwich!" Cass exclaimed, obviously not able to wait any longer. "Cassie sandwich, Cassie sandwich!"
They pulled together at the same time, squishing their daughter in between them and folding the sheets over their heads, and Cassie immediately erupted into a fit of giggles. Nate felt his forehead brush Elena's, and passed her a quick kiss before Cassie started squealing under the mass of blankets and hugs.
"Cassie sandwich!" she yelled, far too loudly for three in the morning. Elena settled a hand on her shoulder before she could pop up and start jumping on the bed.
"There you go, munchkin. Time to go to sleep n—"
"Again, again!" Cassie ducked away from Elena's grip and stood up, shoving her hands in the air and holding the blanket up around them like a tent pole. "Let's make another sandwich!"
Elena shook her head. "Nope; one was the deal."
Cassie's argument was interrupted by barking, coming from her room. Oh Jesus. Vicky must have been woken up by the racket, too.
Nate didn't see the dog—his line of sight was obscured by blankets and Cassie—but he felt her bowl into his shins and heard her barking excitedly. Cassie started laughing again and migrated to the end of the bed to lift up the blankets for Vicky to join the party.
"Hey Vick," Elena murmured, trying to calm the lab down. Cassie was fully awake by this point, and although Vicky was still a bit groggy, she'd be raring to go if they didn't get a handle on the situation.
Nate swept the blankets off of them and sat up, grabbing a hold of Vicky's collar. "Go lie down," he told her, and reached to pat at the foot of the bed.
"Can we do another sandwich?" Cassie asked, still standing on the bed. Elena got a hold of her and pulled her close, guiding her to sit back down.
"No more; we have to sleep now," Elena told her. "So you can either stay here, or go back to your room."
She didn't take long to decide. "No, here."
They got settled again, with Vicky flopped on top of their legs and Cassie snuggled once again in between them. He was decidedly less relaxed and a lot more warm than he had been ten minutes ago, but at least their daughter was going back to sleep. Elena gave him once last goodnight kiss and then laid back down.
He made himself as comfortable as he could with two extra occupants in the bed and pulled Cassie and Elena closer. Nate fell asleep to the sound of his daughter's tiny snores, her mouth puckered in a small "o".