Men surrounded him with guns, yelling at him in a language he didn't understand. Then two men stepped aside to reveal Fatima, bruised and bloody, tied to a chair.
Rountree woke up gasping. He looked over and saw Fatima sleeping peacefully, snuggled with Ash. Alyssa was on his other side. No matter how often they tucked the girls in their own room, they always ended up in Fatima and Rountree's room. He loved the way when Fatima slept, her face got smushed in the pillow. He reached over and pulled her close to him. He started gently braiding part of her hair. Fatima jumped awake, immediately pushing his hands away.
"Hey. Hey. Baby. Fatima. Come here, it's okay. It's just me, I had a bad dream and I was playing with your hair, I'm sorry," he whispered. Fatima sat up and snuggled into him.
"You okay?" she whispered. She knew how bad nightmares were.
"Yeah. I'm okay, I'm sorry. I was just playing with your hair. Sorry I scared you," he whispered.
"Tell me what happened," she whispered. He sniffled.
"I don't know, I was tied to a chair and some men were yelling at me in another language, I didn't understand any of it and they moved and you were tied up and crying and then I woke up," he whispered, holding her close. Fatima hugged him a little, then cuddled up against him. He pulled Alyssa on top, so the whole family was snuggled together going back to sleep.