"Mommy!" A little girl's voice cried, Martha turned towards the voice, there she was, the baby, with strawberry blond curls and bright blue eyes. She was holding a wilted flower in one hand. "I found a flower for you Mommy!" The girl, Brittany gave the flower to her.
"I'll put it in some water Brittany." Martha promised.
"I'll pick some for Daddy and Clark" Brittany ran off in search of more dandelions to give her brother and Daddy.
"Don't go too far Brittany, it's nearly time to eat" Martha called as Brittany ran off.
Martha finished setting a place for herself and turned around "Brittany its time to eat …" Her sentence trailed off when she couldn't see her baby girl. "Brittany? I'm not in the mood to play games right now, it's time to eat." Martha called; the rambunctious 4-year-old had a habit of playing hide-and-seek at the most inopportune moments.
"Mommy!" Martha heard her daughter's voice in the distance, this time it wasn't a happy cry, she was scared, "Help Mommy! They're hurting me!" Her voice cried in fear.
"Brittany! Where are you?" Martha cried, ready to tear down the Berlin wall if it meant saving her little girl.
"Daddy! Clark! Get them away from me! Make them stop hurting me! Daddy!" The little girl started sobbing.
Martha turned to her husband "Jonathan! Brittany's gone, someone's hurting her! We have to search for her!"
Jonathan looked up from the blanket "Who's Brittany?" He asked.
Martha was confused "Brittany's our daughter!" She cried desperately.
"We have no daughter" Jonathan said "Clark is our only child, Clark is our only child; Clark is our only child" He just kept repeating that.
Martha sat bolt upright in bed gasping for air, sweat running off her body as she tried to stop shuddering from the nightmare. Once she'd caught her breath, she glanced down next to her, Jonathan wasn't there.
She got up and wrapped her bathrobe around herself, one hand slowly drifting across her now slightly bulging middle. Sleep little one, all will be right in the morning she thought as she left the room.
She wandered downstairs; sure enough the kitchen light was on. She softly padded into the room. Jonathan glanced up from where he was looking at something. "Sorry if I woke you." He got up and slipped an arm around her waist.
"I woke up on my own" Martha murmured as she looked at the kitchen table, he had been looking at the baby book they had just started.
"Reminiscing already?" She teased, trying to forget the nightmare.
"Just looking" Jonathan said it was then that he noticed the sweat on her forehead. The sleeve of his plaid bathrobe darkened as he wiped it off. "You okay?"
"I'm fine" she said "Its hot upstairs, that's all." But she was unable to keep the unsteadiness from of her voice, something Jonathan noticed.
"There's something else," his eyebrows lowered in worry "You're shaking, what's wrong Martha?"
"I had a nightmare…" Martha admitted leaning into Jonathan's chest as he hugged her.
"…We were on a family picnic with Clark and…" She began the tale of her nightmare, tears springing to her eyes once more as she recounted the terrifying memories.
When she was finished, she cried into Jonathan's shoulder, he simply held her until the sobs subsided. Then he guided Martha to the living room, sat her down and took her face in his hands "Martha," he whispered "I will never say anything like that after the baby is born." His whisper became more passionate "I promise!"
Martha nodded "I know" she murmured "I'm just scared of losing the baby."
"We're not going to lose the baby Martha, .
They sat that way for several minutes until Martha lifted her head and whispered "What do you want the baby to be?"
"Healthy" was his immediate answer.
She punched his shoulder teasingly "I mean gender smart-one." she giggled.
"I don't have a preference; I'll love the baby, whether it's a girl or a boy." He said.
They both fell silent until the clock chimed midnight.
Jonathan slowly twisted to get a facial view of her "You awake?" He whispered.
"Uhh-uhh" Martha nodded sleepily.
"You're barely awake aren't you?" He asked.
Martha nodded again, but this time her "Uhh-uhh" was even fainter.
Jonathan gently picked her up, at which point she woke completely "Jonathan!" she gasped laughing quietly.
"You were asleep, I figured it was the only way you were going to get upstairs save sleepwalking." Jonathan chuckled with her as he put her back down.
Martha started to walk to the stairs but Jonathan gently pulled her back to him "When we get upstairs, wanna have a cuddle session?" He murmured nuzzling her neck.
She giggled and kissed his cheek "I won't mind," she teased, glad for just a moment to stop thinking about her nightmare.
"I'll be up right after you; I need to turn the kitchen light off." He kissed her neck and went into the kitchen. When he came back out he could make out Martha's shadow on the stairs, she was looking at a picture on the wall.
He gently put his hands on her shoulders "Which one are you looking at?" He asked, unable to see which picture she had peering at.
"Our last family photo." she smiled up at him.
"I love that photo." Jonathan murmured slipping his arms around her waist.
"Me too" she said looking back at him.
"Come on Martha, we better be going to bed, we don't want to fall asleep halfway through Lex's wedding tomorrow." Jonathan said, guiding her upstairs.
The next morning, Martha was so busy that thoughts of her nightmare were driven completely from her mind; until she and Jonathan were racing home to check on Clark.
Martha kept hearingthetiny girl's voice crying Help Mommy! They're hurting me! As they raced along the country road, Martha stole glances at Jonathan, What if something's happened to Clark? Jonathan will never forgive himself if Clark's hurt She thought as they came closer to home.
Martha didn't even know what happened until afterwards, all she remembered was hearing a boom and the same little girl's voice crying in the deep recesses of her soul Daddy! Clark! Make them stop hurting me!