Looking Back
Chapter 3
Mike watched Christine put on a comfortable pair of pajamas, lotion her legs and hands, and then settle next to him with her book. Her nighttime habit hadn't changed in years. Shower, lotion, read a chapter of a novel, give him a kiss, shut the light off and go to sleep with one arm and one leg slung over him. The only change was when one of the kids slept with them, which was only when they were sick or scared. Even before he left for the Arctic and they were fighting, Christine slept like that every night. She kissed him and quickly fell into a deep and exhausted sleep. It took Mike a bit longer, simply because he was remembering her first night at the group home.
Mike had gotten up to use the bedroom and as he walked back to down the hallway towards the boy's dorm, he noticed the girl's door ajar. The door was normally shut. Mike stuck his head in and noticed Christine sitting on her bed in a fetal position. He knew Gregory and his buddies had been there, so he could only hope they hadn't hurt Christine.
"Hey; are you okay?" Mike whispered at Christine. She jumped out of the bed and walked towards him, still in her nightgown.
"Those boys from lunch were here. They aren't now though, but if they come back…" Christine said.
"They won't. Did they hurt you?" Mike asked.
"No. Said I was too little but that didn't bother my foster dad." Christine answered. It made Mike mad, but Christine's story wasn't a lot different then most kids in their situation. Foster homes and group homes were not regulated like they should be. Maybe someday, but at least for now; they weren't.
"And your scared?" Mike asked her and Christine gave him a nod. "Well, I can't stay in here and you can't come in the boy's dorm, but we can take our pillows and blankets and sleep in the hall. I'll explain to Mrs. Davis why in the morning." Mike suggested and Christine walked back to her bed, grabbed her pillow, blanket and a stuffed animal and then followed Mike out into the hall. She made up her own little bed, while Mike got his own pillow and blanket. He set his up to where their feet were facing each other, but close enough that Christine would feel safe.
For the next several years, while they both still lived at the group home; that's how they slept every night. Thankfully, the staff at the group home allowed it. Once they married, and Mike and Christine lived together, they slept a room away from one another, but anybody that broke in would have had to get through Mike to get to Christine. Six years into their marriage, they began sleeping in the same bed, and unless Mike was deployed, that was their habit, even after a fight. The only time they deviated from that was when Mike was with Maddie and shortly after her death. And the habit was not only for Christine, because Mike hated sleeping alone and Maddie had done a lot of the same things as Christine, without Mike even telling her. It was as much for his sanity as Christine's.