This absolutely is the last update for the day. I promise.
This is a requested sequel from Swanbeliever (guest) for He Does For You (chapter 54) which was a request from oncer4life11. Whoa, that's a mouthful. Okay, anyway, enjoy this chapter that almost made me cry while I was writing it.
Henry wakes up, hearing a shuffling noise from the other room. After years and years of being the only one there, he knows he should go and wake his mommy up from her bad dream. He jumps out of bed and runs down the hallway as fast as his tiny legs will carry him.
He throws open the already cracked door and stands in shock, his mouth wide open and his eyes big as saucers. His mother is in the bed, right beside his father, who has his arms wrapped around her from the side and is holding onto her tight, whispering things into her ear.
He looks up at Henry and sees the little boy's shocked expression. It's almost as if Henry forgot that Neal was there now. Emma looks up at the sudden stop of the whispers and stroking of her hair and sees Henry standing there.
She then remembers everything from her nightmare. It seems like still, even after it's all over, it comes back in flashes. "Oh, Henry," she whispers and he runs over to the bed, his mother pulling him up to her and holding him tightly just like she used to after she had bad dreams about the monsters.
Neal smiles at the scene unfolding before him and rubs Emma's back while the mother and son hold onto each other for different reasons. Emma because she's glad that her son is safe and none of what she saw in her dream was real; Henry because he's scared that his mother's not okay.
Emma's crying, Henry's holding onto her as tight as she can, and Neal is just watching. He's not sure how he feels about that just yet, but he knows that Emma was there when he couldn't be and that Henry grew up with Emma, not him. That bond that they have is going to stick together, and he's fine with that. He just hopes that maybe one day, he'll have his own with the both of them.
Neal's heart breaks as Emma loosens her hold on Henry and he moves out of her arms, crawling away from her and jumping off the bed. He runs out of the room and down the hallway, to some other room in the house.
Both of his parent's make eye contact before hopping out of bed, themselves, to go and look for the small child. Neal goes out into the living room and Emma goes off to the other end of the house, checking the bathroom, closet, and his bedroom. She checks the bedroom last and finds him sitting on the bed, holding something in his hands.
She smiles sadly until she hears a sniffling and her heart breaks, too. Neal comes up behind her in the room but she shakes her head. He nods, getting the message and turning around, going to go and make some hot cocoa for his family.
Emma walks over to the bed, sitting behind Henry on it as if she's about to look over his shoulder. "Henry, why'd you leave the room?" Emma asks. For a second she doesn't get a response and she's about to repeat the question when Henry starts talking.
He touches his picture, just like always, even though Emma doesn't know that he has his picture in his room. "Daddy got it. Daddy does good," he says and Emma tilts her head to the side. She picks her head up a little bit to look over the boy's shoulder and sees one of his pictures that she gave him in his hands. One of the ones of just Henry and Emma together alone.
She sighs and closes her eyes, fighting off tears. She stands up off of the bed and moves around to the other side of it, going to sit beside Henry. "Henry does good, too. I like Henry's hugs," she says and he shakes his head, looking at the picture before putting it underneath his pillow, where she assumes it's always been.
He moves the pillow over it carefully as he speaks. "Daddy's hugs are better," he says. Emma sighs as he moves in back to sit on the bed beside her, looking up at her with red, puffy little eyes that make her heart break and melt at the same time. "That's why Mommy doesn't need me anymore. 'Cause Mommy has Daddy now," he says and Emma watches as his eyes fill up with tears and he looks at the bed, not wanting to look up at her and make her cry, too.
She gets that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watches sobs begin to wrack her little boy's body and she reaches over and picks him up, holding him on her lap. "Henry, baby," she whispers tearfully as he just cries and cries, turning his head and holding onto the back of her shirt, just like always. "Why do you think that? Did somebody tell you that?" she asks him.
Henry picks his head up and shakes it, trying to use his short sleeves to wipe his nose. She reaches over and grabs a kleenex off of the bookcase and hands it to him, smiling a bit at his silliness. "No. I can tell, though. Mommy doesn't talk to me like she used to. Mommy talks to Daddy more," he says.
A chill runs through her bones as she figures it out. She has been doing that. She hasn't been doing as much with Henry because she's been hanging around with Neal a lot, too. He feels left out! "Why didn't you tell me that, Henry?" she asks and he looks up at her, shrugging and leaning back against her chest. She smiles softly and wraps her arms tighter around him.
She kisses his head and thinks for a minute before getting an idea. "Okay, well… do you wanna go to the park with Mommy and Daddy tomorrow?" she asks and Henry shakes his head, playing with Emma's hand. She tilts her head to the side and looks down at him before closing her eyes tight and asking a hard question. "Why not?" she asks.
Henry picks his head up off of her chest and looks up at her, sighing as heavily as a four year old can. "I don't want Daddy to feel bad if I go with you. You're supposed to go together, by yourselves. No Henry," he says and Emma sighs, pulling him back to her chest and holding him tight, never wanting him to feel this way again.
She loosens her grip after a minute and looks down at Henry, looking him in the eye and smiling as best she can at him. "I'm sure that Daddy would love if Henry wanted to go," she says and Henry smiles, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "But, just to be sure, how about we go and check?" she asks and Henry nods, jumping out of her arms.
He runs down the hall screaming his father's name, completely fueled with excitement and his arms out wide. Neal catches him and picks him up, holding him on his side. "Daddy, can I go with you and Mommy to the park tomorrow?" Henry asks and Neal nods, smiling brightly as he puts a lid on a cup and hands it to Henry.
"Of course, buddy! But right now it's bed time, so how about you finish your hot cocoa and then we can all go and sleep," he says, still a little bit tired from waking up so early. Henry nods, taking another sip from his cup and looking up at Neal, who watches him with a wide smile on his face.
Henry takes his mouth off of the cup to say something. "Can I sleep with Mommy and Daddy?" he asks and Neal nods, smiling at the boy. He gulps down his hot cocoa and all of them go into the master bedroom, Henry lying practically on top of Neal's chest, curled up in a little ball. Neal smiles at Emma, reaching over and pulling her to him, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her head.
They all fall asleep slowly, tangled up in a massive pile of limbs, but glad that they're with their family.
