We spent the day playing and, by the end of the day, the kids were fast friends. Evan started to laugh and talk, Edie giggled her way through the day, and Ethan was starting to relax.
The next day, Ranger started running drills again. The FBI Director flew in with a helicopter and personally took the ankle bracelet off. He met the children, brought them balls and dolls, apologized to them for putting their dad in jail when he had done nothing wrong. And he apologized to Nick for the same thing.
That night, the nightmares started. Ethan woke up screaming, and Nick and I both woke up and ran. We got there at the same time. By the time we got there, Ethan was hysterical, and Edie and Evan were awake and upset.
Nick ran in and picked up Ethan. He cuddled the little boy into his chest as Edie and Evan started to cry. "Nick", I said, "take Ethan to your room and talk to him, listen to his nightmare. It might be a good idea for Ethan to sleep with you tonight. I'll sleep with Edie and Evan."
"Thanks, Steph." Nick carried Ethan out to his room, sat on his bed, and rocked the little boy.
The little ones went hysterical. "Don't hurt Ethan!" they said. As tears poured down their faces, they climbed up my body.
"What would happen when your grandmother took Ethan away?" I said.
"Ethan hurt", said Edie.
"Let's go see Ethan then. Your dad isn't going to hurt Ethan. He just didn't want you to be bothered as he talked to Ethan. He wanted you to be able to go back to sleep." I picked up the twins and carried them next door. Ethan was sitting on Nick's lap, cuddled into his father as he told him about his dream. "I'm sorry to bother you, Nick, but apparently when their grandmother would hurt one of the kids, she would take them into another room. Edie and Evan were hoping to stay with Ethan so that they can see that he's okay. They were terrified that you were going to hurt him."
I looked at Nick, and he had tears in his eyes. I sat down on the bed and let the twins crawl over to Ethan. "You okay, Ethan?" said Edie. She patted his cheek softly.
Ethan smiled. "Daddy kissed my forehead."
"Daddy didn't hurt you?" said Edie.
Ethan smiled more. "No. He hugged me."
Evan turned and looked at his father in shock.
"Do you want a hug too?" I said to Evan.
He looked at me, wide-eyed, then looked at his father. "Daddy hug", he said.
Nick held out his arm and Evan climbed on his other knee, and Edie leaned against his side.
Nick kissed all of them on their heads. "I love you so, so much", he said.
"Why did you go away, Daddy?" said Ethan.
"I didn't want to, Eth. Your grandmother killed your mother and told everyone that I did it and they believed her. They put me in jail. I cried every day because I couldn't see you. Like your nightmare, Ethan, I had nightmares every night. Horrible nightmares, and I still have nightmares now. I was wondering, do you think the three of you could share my bed tonight? I think Ethan would like to be with everybody and I think it would help my nightmares as well."
"Yeah!" said Edie.
I tiptoed out of the room as Nick got his kids settled in bed with him, and I smiled as I got into bed with Ranger. "Everything okay, babe?" he said sleepily.
I smiled. "It is now."
The End
