I did not make up the names of Dom's children. Apparently they were confirmed in the official Gears of War novels that I haven't read yet...

Dominic Santiago eased himself under the covers of his bed slowly as his wife, Maria, did the same from the other side. Once comfortable, he turned away from her towards the night table on his side of the bed and checked the time set to his alarm clock, seven a.m., like always, flashed back at him.

"What story did you read to Sylvia tonight, Dom?" Maria asked him as she pulled her hair of it's ponytail.

"'The Pokey Little Puppy.'" Dom laughed fondly, remembering the story and how cute it was, but how it also inwardly was supposed to teach children about the consequences of disobedience. He doubted that his daughter understood the moral of the story, but if it made her happy, then he was happy.

"What'd you read to Benedicto?"

"'Goodnight Moon.' Speaking of Dom, I was thinking that we should start letting them read to us instead." Maria suggested quietly, as Dom didn't even need a second to consider.

"Sure Baby, we'll give it a try tomorrow night."

Dom and Maria had gotten used to their life with two young children long ago. They always switched off when it came to tucking them in. As Dom took care of his daughter today, tomorrow he would be reading to and tucking in his son. They found it an effective system to let their children know that neither of them played favorites and loved them both equally, by giving them equal time with each parent. Their children were well behaved compared to the horror stories they heard from other parents. Tantrums, spankings, lies and melodrama to get attention, constant fighting and bickering between siblings, Dom and Maria were both proud that all that was brought to a minimum in their family.

Dom silently noted to himself that the only thing he had left to break his children of were those damn Barney tapes that were enough to make putting a gun barrel in his mouth seem less painful.

"Goodnight, Dom."

"Night, Baby." Dom leaned in and kissed Maria before pulling the blankets across his body and turning away from her, finding it most comfortable at the moment. The room went pitch dark a moment later as Maria turned off her bedside lamp and got comfortable herself. Within the next few minutes, Dom was out cold and snoring lightly as he always did.

When Dom's eyes slightly opened again, the time on the clock was 2:25 am. For a moment, he didn't know why he had woken up at such an obscure hour, as Maria was still sleeping and didn't seem to have moved any. His eyes shot open when he felt his shoulder being poked by something. Inhaling quickly, he saw a dark shadow in front of him. His instinct was to react immediately to at least identify this person, but he calmed down when the darker shadow amongst the already dark room was very small and seemed to be sobbing.

"Daddy?" A tiny voice cooed, trying to find out if it's poking had woken him yet. Dom rubbed his face with his open palm as he breathed out strongly, calming himself further. The voice and figure belonged to his daughter.

"Sylvia? Baby, what is it?" Dom sat up and flicked on his bedside light to it's dimmest setting as he didn't want to disturb Maria. When the light turned on and he could see his daughter's face, her cheeks streaming with tears and redness. Before she could speak, Dom reached over and began wiping the tears from her face in vain as more were still flowing.

"Daddy, I'm scared. I had a nightmare." Sylvia choked out slowly between sobs, clutching on her stuffed bear as she stared at Dom with her large brown eyes, still red from her crying.

Immediately, Dom knew the first thing he needed to do was calm her down enough to so that she could talk to him. Either calm her down, he thought, or at least get her laughing. That and he hated seeing either of his children upset. Dom grabbed under her arms and hoisted her up to sit on his lap as he tried to smile.

"A nightmare, huh? What kind of nightmare?" Dom asked, trying to sound happy as he moved her hair from her face and continued to wipe her new tears.

"There were monsters, Daddy. Lots of mean, scary monsters."

"Sweetheart, you know there's no such thing as monsters." Dom reminded her, hoping the realization would help.

"I know but--" Sylvia couldn't continue as a new stream of tears and sobs started surfacing. Dom kicked himself mentally, deciding that his choice of words probably wasn't the best.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry, Baby. Shhh, it's okay," He tried to keep her quiet and calm, deciding on a new approach to make her laugh, "Did the monsters look scary, like this?" Dom used both his index fingers to pull his mouth down as he stuck out his tongue. His effort worked as he saw his daughter smile, and giggle softly.

"No Daddy, they didn't look funny, like you."

"Funny? Funny!? Why I oughta--" Dom poked and tickled Sylvia, getting more laughs and smiles out of her now. Satisfied that she was calm enough to bring up her dream again, he thought maybe getting her to remember it differently would help her stop being afraid.

"Now Honey, even if there were monsters, do you think Daddy would let them hurt you?" Sylvia shook her head and let Dom continue.

"And you know what I'd do to them if they tried?"

"Beat em up?" Dom considered the fact that his daughter was so innocent to violence an extremely good thing, but that was a large understatement. He knew that if anybody had even attempted to harm either of his children or his wife, he'd make them wish they'd never been born, but didn't feel the need to expose his daughter to those kinds of thoughts.

"I sure would. And do you know why?"

"'Cause you're the strongest man in the world?" Dom laughed again, feeling no need to correct Sylvia.

"Well, that, and because Daddy loves you. And Mommy and your brother." It was the farthest thing from a lie Dom had ever uttered. His family meant the world and everything in it to him. In fact, there weren't strong enough words in any language that could even come close to describing what he felt for his wife and children.

Noticing that Sylvia hadn't said anything, he prompted her for an answer.

"Okay?"

"Uh huh. I love you too, Daddy." Moving a stray strand of hair from her face once more, Dom gave his daughter a tight hug, further driving home the point to her that she was always safe when he was around. Before he let her go, she mumbled into his neck.

"Can I sleep with you and Mommy tonight, Daddy?" Planting a kiss on her cheek, Dom turned around to let her lay down between him and Maria before settling himself back into bed. Making sure she was covered enough so she wouldn't be cold, he clicked off the light and watched her, making sure she went to sleep. She tossed for a bit, before nuzzling into Dom's shoulder and nodding right off. While he watched her sleep, certain that she wouldn't have anymore nightmares, at least not tonight, he kissed her forehead and shut his eyes to fall back to sleep himself.

Before falling unconscious, Dom remembered seeing his daughter's face as frightened and upset as he did when she came to him, and silently prayed that God would help anybody or anything that ever made his baby cry like that, regardless of the fact that not even God could help them if they did.

I don't usually write cutesy stuff, but I do tend to write lots of cruel irony. Seems to be my thing. Thanks for reading.