Nightmare

Lance had his girlfriend pulled to him, holding her tightly. Kim ran into the room, forcing her way between the couple.

"What, Kim?" Kitty groaned, waking up.

"Scared," she said, cuddling against her mother. "Hide."

"Lance, wake up," Kitty sighed.

"I'm tired," he complained, putting his back to them.

Kim sniffled. "Lance?"

"What?"

"Scared."

He opened his eyes slowly, sighing before rolling around to face the girl. "Of what, Kimmy?"

She looked around; making sure it was just the three of them. "Monsters."

"Monsters?" Kitty smiled down at her daughter. "There's no such thing as monsters, baby."

"Yes!" She looked at Lance. "Right?"

"Right."

"Lance-" Kitty started, but Lance cut her off.

"Not bad monsters though," he said, looking down at the four year old. "See, Kim, monsters are only scary, because you don't know them. They're scared of you too, after all. Next time you see one, ask him his name."

"And it'll all be better?" Kim asked, staring at him.

Lance leaned down at kissed her head. "Of course."

Smiling, Kitty asked, "So are you going to go get back in your own bed?"

Kim looked up at Lance. "Lance?"

"Let her stay, Kitten," he said, smiling at his girlfriend.

"No shirt?" Kimmy looked up at him.

"You know that I don't wear a shirt to bed," Lance said. "Why do you always bring it up?"

She giggled, reaching gout to touch his arm. "Weak."

"Weak? Weak?" Lance flexed for the girl. "You must be blind, Kim."

The little girl giggled, still looking at him. "No."

"If you're going to stay in here, sleep," Kitty said, running a hand down her daughter's stomach. "We're tired."

Kimberly frowned. "Cold, Lance. Cuddle?"

He pulled her to him so that her face was buried in his chest. She giggled, cuddling into him.

"Night," he whispered in her ear.

"Night," she said back, giggling.

Kitty rolled her eyes, staring at her boyfriend. Ten minutes later, Kim was out. As gently as he could, Lance moved her closer to her mother, laying her head on a pillow.

"You're so sweet," Kitty said as he adjusted the covers around them.

"Sweet is not a word I would use to describe myself, Kat."

"No, maybe not," she said, smoothing down Kimmy's hair. "That's just because you want everyone to think that you're tough, though."

"I am tough. Do I need to flex again?" He asked, wagging his eyebrows.

"Please, don't. I don't feel like puking."

He shook his head. "You know-"

"You no sleeping," Kimmy said, opening her eyes again. "Liars."

"Don't call us liars, Kim," Kitty said, sighing. "And we were just falling asleep. Slowly, that's all."

"I fall asleep slowly too," she said, looking up at Lance. "Guess what?"

"What?" He asked, smiling back down at her.

"I farted."

"Kim!" Kitty groaned. "Look what you did, Lance. You made her you."

He shrugged, closing his eyes. "So what? I'm an awesome person to be."

Kim leaned up and kissed Lance's nose. "Night, Lance."

He smiled. "What was that kiss for? You turn me into a bear or something?"

Kitty frowned. "What?"

"You know, Kit, that fairy tale. With the princess that kisses the bear and turns him into a prince?"

"First off, if you were comparing that, it would have been the other way around. Secondly, that was, like, a frog, Lance."

"No, I don't think so," he said, though he realized he was wrong. "I think it was a bear, right Kim?"

She giggled, knowing too that her mother was correct. "Right, Lance."

Not liking to be left out, Kitty said, "Kim, either go to bed, or get out."

"Lance no make me leave, huh?" She looked at him.

"Of course not," he agreed.

"Lance," Kitty warned.

"Or I might."

"Really?" Kim looked so upset, he just couldn't stand it.

"Well, I'd leave with you, you know," he said. "Then it would just be old bitchy in here all alone."

"Lance!" Kitty his him in the arm. "How dare you curse in front of her!"

He shrunk back as much as he could on the tiny bed. Though it had been over a year that he had been taking care of Kim, he still had trouble with his word choices. It was hard to go from a carefree, loose lipped man to being a stepfather.

"Sorry, Kitty. It was a joke."

"No funny," Kimmy told him. "Bad, Lance."

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning down to kiss her. Then he kissed his girlfriend. "I was just kidding."

Kitty was ready to forgive him, but Kim wasn't. She hit him in the stomach. "No cuss."

"No hitting," Kitty told her.

"No, it's okay," Lance said, smiling at her. "I'm sorry, Kim. Can you let it go?"

"Think about it."

Sighing, Kitty said, "Let's go to sleep now, Kim, okay?"

"No," she said. "Lance and I are playing."

"No," Kitty said, pulling her daughter to her. "Sleep. Now."

"I'm scared of the monsters, though," Kim said. "See them when I sleep."

"It's okay," Lance said. "Remember what I told you?"

She nodded. "Lance?"

"What?"

"Do you ever have bad dreams?"

"No, of course not," he said.

"No afraid of nothing?"

"No," Lance said. "No way am I ever afraid of something."

"'Cause you gonna 'tect me and mommy?"

"Yep," Lance said, rolling to lay on his stomach.

"I 'tect myself, Lance," she said, offended.

"I know," he said, glancing at Kitty, smiling when he saw her smirk. "It's my job, taking care of you and stuff. I'm the guy."

"Weak guy," she concluded.

"Kim."

She giggled. "Night, Lance. I love you."

"Yeah, well, go to sleep, okay?"

It was silent for awhile and Lance was almost asleep when Kitty spoke. "Lance?"

"Hmmm?"

"You know, I'm better at protecting than you are."

"Hardly," he said, turning on his side. He moved down the bed until he was face with Kim.

"What are you doing?" Kitty asked, frowning.

"Making sure she's really asleep."

"How can you tell?" Kitty asked, puzzled.

"Whenever I do this, if she's awake, she can't help, but giggle," he said, moving back up the bed after giving her a kiss. "Yeah, she's asleep."

Kitty smiled, looking at the clock. "It's almost five now. You have to get up in ten minutes."

Lance groaned. "Damn-"

"Lance, that's exactly what I'm talking about," Kitty said, shaking her head. "You can't say things like that."

"I know. I'm trying, Kitty, you know I am."

"Yeah, but you need to shape up some," Kitty scolded.

"Kitty-"

"I'm tired, Lance," she said, cuddling her daughter to her. "Go get ready for work."

"Don't you work today too?"

"Yep," she said, nodding her head. "Not until three, though. Will you be home by then?"

"Yeah," he said, getting out of bed. It wasn't fair. How come they got to sleep? Dang Kim…he loved her anyways.