About an hour later, Emma heard Sean screaming upstairs. She jumped up out of her chair and ran up the stairs. By the time she got to the third floor, Sean was sitting up with his head in his hands.

"What happened?" She sat next to him.

"I guess I was having a nightmare."

She rubbed his back and said, "Oh, babe, you're drenched." Sean nodded. "Maybe you should take a bath? A shower might bother your stitches."

He nodded again and looked up at Drew, who was staring at him. "Hey, buddy."

Emma got up and walked over to Drew, "Your dad just had a bad dream."

Drew nodded and asked, "Are you okay now?"

Sean nodded, "Yep." Sean swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'll be fine."

Emma said, "I'll get the bath ready for you."

"Thank you."

Sean removed the dressing from his head then stood up, and when he turned around, Drew got a good look at the gash on the back of his head. "Dad, your head."

Sean turned to him and said, "I'm a mess, I know, but I'm okay, I promise."

Drew nodded. "Okay. I'm going back downstairs."

Sean smiled at him and watched as Drew made his way down the stairs.

Emma walked out of the bathroom and said, "I know it's kind of girly, but I put some bubble bath in there."

Sean smiled and said, "That's fine." He walked into the bathroom and got a good look at himself in the mirror. "Jesus, I'm a mess."

"I'm just glad you're here and not still in the hospital."

He turned to her and asked, "Are you going to join me in the bath?"

"Not with our son right downstairs, but I will help you wash your wound and your back."

"Thank you." He stripped down and got into the bathtub. "Yeah, this feels good."

Emma smiled, "Good."

"Was I loud?"

"Yes, you scared us both."

"I'm sorry. I don't even know what I was dreaming about."

"Babe, it's okay."

Sean shook his head and said, "I should have gone back to my place. I don't want to disturb Drew."

"Sean, there was no way I was letting you go back to your place alone with a head injury."

"I guess it's a good thing this happened now and not two months ago."

"Let's not even think about that, okay?"

Sean nodded. She cleaned his back and shoulders, and Sean sighed, "That feels great, Em. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Emma carefully cleaned Sean's wound, then bandaged it and wrapped the dressing around his head. She kissed him on the nose when she was done.

"Sit in here for a little while."

"How long?"

"Until you start pruning," She smiled, and he laughed. "Like five or 10 minutes." She placed a towel next to the tub and left a robe hanging on the shower door. "Then come downstairs and hang out with your son and me."

"Will do. Thanks again."

"My pleasure."

When Emma left, Sean sighed. He did remember the nightmare, he just didn't want to tell her about it. In his dream, the guy came back to the shop and finished him off. He woke up and screamed right as the gun went off.

Sean already battled PTSD and had nightmares about his experience in Afghanistan. Now he had to deal with this on top of it. When he was done with his bath, Sean called his therapist's office and asked if he could see her next week. Luckily, they were able to squeeze him in.

After Sean got dressed, Sean walked down the stairs into the living room.

Emma asked, "Feeling better?"

Sean nodded, "Yes, much better. Thank you."

"Would you like something to eat? I can make you something."

"Don't go too crazy."

"Sean, I want to take care of you, and I'm going to so just tell me what you want."

"Okay, this may seem silly, but I am craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for some reason."

Emma smiled, "I can definitely do that for you." She got up and walked into the kitchen. Sean followed her and sat at the island.

He asked, "Where's Drew?"

"He's downstairs figuring out how he wants his new room to look."

"Oh, God, that's right. His birthday."

"Don't worry, I'll get him a cake, and we can invite some people over this weekend if you're up to it."

Sean shook his head, "Don't worry about me. I don't want to ruin the first birthday he gets to spend with me. If I don't feel up to it or start to feel tired, I'll go upstairs."

Emma smiled, "Okay. So we'll do something on Friday."

"I still have to get him the frame for the jersey."

"Sean, that whole night can be your present for him. It was one of the best nights of his life."

"I still feel like I need to give him something on his actual birthday."

"We'll come up with something."

Sean stood up, "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Sean walked down to the basement and walked into the bedroom, "Hey, kiddo."

Drew turned around and smiled at his dad, "Hey. Are you feeling better?"

"Much better, thanks." Sean looked around and asked, "Are you trying to figure out how you want the room to look?"

Drew nodded, "I want my room to look more adult because I'm almost 14, and my room upstairs looks like it belongs to an 8-year-old."

Sean laughed, "Come on, it's not that bad."

Drew shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What did your room look like when you were my age?"

"Well, I was living with my brother at the time, and I didn't have much because we didn't have a lot of money. Then he left when I was 15, and I lived on my own for a little while."

"You were on your own at 15?"

Sean nodded, "I was on student welfare and had to keep my grades up; otherwise, I would have been kicked off student welfare and possibly placed into a group home."

Drew said, "Wow."

"Then, my girlfriend at the time moved in."

"Not mom?"

Sean shook his head, "Nope. Her name was Ellie."

"Oh, right. You mentioned Ellie and another girl."

Sean nodded, "Amy."

"Yeah, did you love her?"

"Amy? God no. I was angry with your mom, and Amy was just there. It was nothing serious."

"Why were you mad at mom?"

Sean said, "It's a long story that doesn't make me look good at all." He looked at his son and said, "Let's just say that I was a jackass, and I'd rather not talk about it."

"You did something bad to mom?"

Sean nodded and said, "Yes, but I did something even worse to your grandfather. I apologized to him, and I made up for it, thank goodness. I never liked it when Archie was disappointed in me. He was like a second father to me for a while."

Drew nodded, "And how about Ellie? Did you love her?"

"I thought I did." Sean sat down on the bed, "I cared about her a lot, but she wasn't your mom. Truthfully, no one could ever handle a candle to your mom as far as I was concerned."

"Is that why you and Ellie broke up?"

Sean shook his head, "I left Toronto after the shooting and went back to Wasaga Beach to live with my parents."

Drew said, "Ellie must have been pretty angry with you."

"She was. I left her high and dry, but I was also really messed up from the shooting."

"Have you seen her since then?"

Sean nodded, "Yep. I actually saw her about two years ago and met her husband. She looked happy, and I was happy for her."

Drew asked, "Are you going to ask mom to marry you?"

"Yes, I am. Aunt Manny is helping me find a ring."

Drew's face lit up, "Wait, really?"

Sean nodded and smiled, "Yes, really. I love your mother, and I love you, and I want us to be a family officially."

"So you'll be moving in here for good?"

"Yep."

"When?"

"Soon."

"Good." Drew looked at the room, "I thought that maybe I could get some posters of really cool cars and hang them up in here."

Sean nodded, "I can definitely help you with that. Have you thought of a paint color?"

Drew asked, "I can paint the walls?"

Sean laughed and said, "Well, we should probably check with your mom first, but I don't see why not. I can help you pick the color. I do a lot of custom paint jobs at the shop."

"That would be so cool! I'm really excited about this."

"Good." Sean stood up, "Okay, your mom made me something to eat, so I'd better go and have it."

"I'll be up in a bit."

Sean smiled and walked out of the room. When he got upstairs, Emma had his sandwich ready.

"Would you like some milk with it too?"

Sean laughed and said, "No, that's okay." He sat at the island, and Emma smiled at him, "What's the smile for?"

"I can't smile at you? What's with you guys?"

Sean asked, "What do you mean?"

"I smiled at Drew earlier, and he had the same exact reaction."

Sean smiled and said, "Like father like son."


Later that day, Sean and Drew were watching TV together while Emma was still doing work on her computer.

"Mom, are you almost done with work?"

Emma nodded, "Yep, just five more minutes. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Your grandpa is on the way home with your homework assignments."

Drew groaned and said, "Oh great."

Sean chuckled at his son.

Emma said, "You don't want to fall behind in class, do you?"

"I guess not."

Emma turned in her chair and said, "No, you don't."

Drew rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"By the way, think of people you'd want to come over for your birthday on Friday."

Drew asked, "We're still doing something for my birthday?"

She said, "Of course we are!"

He turned to his dad, "I just figured since you weren't feeling well that we'd have a chill night here."

Sean looked at him and asked, "Is that what you want?"

Drew nodded.

Emma asked, "Are you sure you don't want to spend time with your friends?"

"I just want dad to be comfortable."

Sean smiled, "Kiddo, invite your friends over. If it gets too much for me, I can always go upstairs."

Drew smiled and said, "Okay." He stood up.

Emma asked, "Where are you going?"

"Up to my room to write a list." He walked to the stairs, "I'll be back in a bit."

Sean watched as Drew climbed the stairs and said to Emma, "I may have accidentally let him think he could paint the room downstairs."

Emma smiled, "That's fine. It is a bit girly down there."

"I can come up with a nice color for him."

Emma nodded, "Ah, right, your custom car background."

"Yes. It comes in handy from time to time."

She smiled at him and asked, "How are you feeling right now? What's the pain like?"

"Probably about a 7."

Emma said, "I'm really sorry, babe."

Sean shrugged, "I didn't expect it to go away immediately. I figured I'd be dealing with it for a few days."

She got up, walked over to him, and sat down next to him, "I know, but I don't like seeing you in pain."

He smiled and kissed her, "Thank you."

She asked, "Did you want to take your meds?"

He shook his head, "No, right now, you being here with me is all the medicine I need."

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "I love you."

"I love you."

Sean and Emma were only on the couch a few minutes when the doorbell rang.

"There's Dad!" She got up and walked over to the front door. "Hey, come on in."

Archie smiled and walked in, "I have Drew's stuff." He looked at Sean, who was still sitting on the couch and said, "Wow, I knew it was bad, but not that bad."

Sean laughed, "Yeah, thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm still sore but a little better."

"Good." He reached into his work bag and looked at Emma, "Oh, I have his paper from Marco's class." He looked around and asked, "Where is he? I want to be here when he sees his grade."

Emma smiled, then turned around and called up the stairs, "Drew! Can you come down here please?"

He called down to her, "Yeah!" Drew came down the stairs and said, "Oh, hey, Grandpa."

"Yeah, hi to you too."

Sean and Emma laughed.

"I have something for you, and I wanted you to be the first to see it."

Drew narrowed his eyes at his grandpa.

"Your paper. Mr. Del Rossi gave it to me to give to you."

"Oh." Drew took it from his grandpa, looked at the grade, and couldn't believe it. "I got an A?"

Archie smiled and nodded, "You got an A."

Drew smiled, "He said it was a good grade, but he's told me that before and they've always been Bs."

"Well, this time, it wasn't just a good grade; it was excellent."

Sean said, "Way to go, buddy."

Drew looked at his dad and said, "Thank you. It's because of you, dad."

Sean held up his hands, "All I did was answer some questions. You're the one who put the answers together and wrote a great paper."

Drew nodded.

Archie handed him the rest of his stuff. "And here's your homework for tonight."

Drew rolled his eyes, "Yeah, great. Thanks."

Archie laughed, "So, see you tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good. Well, I'd better get home." He looked at Sean, "I'm glad you're okay."

Sean smiled and said, "Thanks."

"Bye, dad."

Archie walked out, and Drew said, "I'd better take a look at all of this."

Emma nodded, "What would you like for dinner?"

"Anything, I don't care."

Sean said, "How about we order something?"

Emma said, "Sean, I can make something for you guys, it's fine."

"Okay, but tomorrow we're ordering Chinese."

Emma laughed and said, "Deal."


After dinner, Drew was upstairs in his room, catching up on his work while Sean and Emma were in the living room watching TV together.

"Em, I think I want to sleep downstairs tonight."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid that what happened earlier will happen again, and I don't want to disturb you or worse."

Emma turned to Sean and asked, "Has this happened before?"

Sean nodded.

"Because of Afghanistan?"

Sean nodded again.

Emma caressed his face, and he closed his eyes. "If that's what you want, we'll do it."

He kept his eyes closed and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I just want you to get better, and if that's what we have to do, then we'll do it."

Sean opened his eyes, and they were brimming with tears, "Okay."

"You can tell me anything, Sean. I won't think less of you, you know that, right?" He nodded, and she smiled at him.

He took a deep breath and said, "He killed me. In my dream. He fired the gun right at me, and that's why I woke up screaming."

Emma hugged him but not too hard. She didn't want to hurt him, "I'm sorry you're going through this."

Sean pulled away and said, "It was finally getting to the point where I wasn't having so many nightmares about my experience in Afghanistan, and now this had to happen. I already have PTSD from everything that happened 10 years ago and now to have this on top of it?" He shook his head and said, "It's never going to end." Emma held his hand and let him talk. "I called my therapist's office, and she was able to fit me in early next week."

"That's good."

Sean nodded, "She's helped me a lot. I'm not sure if I'd be a functioning member of society without her help, to be honest." He looked at Emma and asked, "Are you sure you want to deal with all this?"

Emma lifted his hand and kissed it, "Yes, I'm sure. I want to help you in any way I can. And if that means giving you space to work through it, then that's what we'll do." She smiled at him and said, "But I'm only giving you space here. You are not going back to your apartment alone."

"And what about Drew?"

"He'll just have to wait a few more days before moving into the room downstairs."

Sean shook his head, "I can't help feeling like a burden."

"You're not. If I was going through something like this, you'd want to help me, right?"

"Of course, I would."

"So, it's settled." She kissed him softly and pulled away, smiling. "I love you."

"I love you."


Emma knocked on Drew's door, and he yelled out, "Come in!"

"Hey, kiddo, I need to discuss something with you." She closed his door and walked over to him.

He turned around in his chair and said, "Is everything okay?"

"Well," She sat on his bed, "Not entirely. Your dad is going to need the room in the basement for a few days."

"Is he okay?"

Emma looked at Drew and saw the worried expression on his face and decided to be open and honest with him. "Come here." Drew sat down on the bed next to her. She held his hand and said, "Your dad is going through something right now. Something traumatic." Drew nodded, "And while we're still going to be taking care of him, he's going to need to sleep alone for a few days."

"This is about the nightmare, right?"

Emma nodded, "Yes."

"I hate the person who did this to him, and I hope they catch him."

"I know, sweetie."

"I was terrified the other night, mom. I finally met my dad, and he was finally in my life, and I could have lost him."

Emma hugged Drew, and he cried. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I've been so wrapped up in your dad, and how he is feeling, I've neglected you." She rubbed his back as he cried.

Drew said, "It's okay, mom."

She pulled away and cupped his face in her hands, "No, it's not okay. I should have realized how scary this was for you too. I'm sorry."

Drew nodded, "It's okay." He wiped off his face and asked, "Will dad be okay?"

Emma nodded, "Eventually. We will help him through this."

Drew smiled, "I can help?"

"Of course you can. Honestly, just having you around will help your dad. He really loves you a lot."

"I love him too, mom."

Emma smiled and hugged Drew once more. When she pulled away, she asked, "Okay, did you catch up on everything?"

"I have one more chapter to read. We're up to Chapter 9 of Lord of the Flies."

Emma nodded, "Ah, I remember it well."

Drew smiled and said, "Do you want to tell me what happens?"

Emma laughed and stood up, "Not a chance."

Drew laughed, grabbed the book, and sat back on his bed.

"I'll be by later to say good night."

"Okay."

She walked out of Drew's room, closed his door, placed her hand on her heart, and smiled.