Pat woke up having thought she heard the creek of her bedroom door open, but it was too dark in the room for her to see clearly. Groggily she lifted her heavy head and squinted against the red glare of the numbers on her alarm clock. 2:15am. She'd only been asleep for about an hour or so. Hearing Bjorn snore softly next to her, the redhead laid her head back on the warm pillow, letting her eyes close again before a sniffle startled her awake.
No sooner had Pat leapt from the bed did she bump into a tiny figure, which cried out just as surprised as she was. For a moment, Pat's heart raced, remembering squeezing between cold metal panels, hand clamped over the mouth of the cyan suit that sobbed next to her as heavy boots stomped past them. She was pulled from the memory as tiny hands grabbed at her nightshirt, she scooped up the little figure and whisked them out of the bedroom.
She came to a stop in the kitchen, the little light above the stove letting her see little Heidi in her arms. Gingerly, she sat the little girl on the counter, smoothing a hand over her little braids as she hiccuped.
"Heidi, baby, why are you up so late?" she asked, instinctively looking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. A growl from the television spun her around in an instant before she recognized the title screen from some zombie movie dvd they had. Behind her, Heidi whimpered again. Pat hushed her and stomped over to the couch, snatching the remote from a sleeping Micah and turning the tv off, which woke the layabout. "Bed."
With a grumble, Micah tore himself from her couch and wandered towards his room, closing the door behind him. Pat pinched the bridge of her nose before returning to Heidi's side, grabbing a paper towel. She patted the little girl's tears away.
"Did Micah's movie wake you baby?" Heidi nodded quietly in response as Pat opened a cabinet and poured a glass of water from the tap. She let the little girl drink what she wanted before placing the glass in the sink. There was movement from the corner of her eye then.
Erik toddled in, still half asleep and hugging his teddy and rubbing his eye. Pat smiled and crossed her arms as he walked over, sleepily leaning his head against her thigh. She chuckled and picked him up, resting him on her hip. He was asleep again in an instant.
"Can I sleep with you and Uncle Bjorn?" Heidi squeaked, reaching her arms out to Pat, who scooped her up but placed her back on the floor still holding her hand.
Pat smiled. "Of course sweet girl," she said. "I think Erik was hoping the same thing. There's plenty of room for both of you."
Pat walked them back down the hall towards the bedroom. She released Heidi's hand and reached for the knob when the door opened on its own. Bjorn stood in the doorway, still mostly asleep but awake enough to look concerned. She smiled at him too and placed the sleeping Erik in his arms.
"I got them Papa Bear," she cooed then picked up Heidi and followed Bjorn back into the dark bedroom. Heidi squeezed closeted to her and Pat squeezed her gently back and kissed the side of her head. The two adults climbed back into bed with their tiny charges and curled up to sleep again. Pat could hear Bjorn snoring again almost the instant his head hit the pillow, but she stayed awake for now while Heidi got comfortable in her arms.
After a few moments the girl settled in with a yawn.
"Love you Mama Pat."
Pat's eyes snapped open as the little girl mumbled just before falling asleep in her arms. There was a lump in her throat and she choked back a few tears, being as careful as she could to not wake her again. Pat hugged Heidi close as she curled up and soon fell into a blissful sleep.