At five in the morning, I woke up screaming. David was there immediately totally expecting it, even though this was new territory for him. My nightmares always returned after my step-dad tried to find me. The last time the screams had come, I was at home. There had been a .45 caliber gun in my hand, unlocked, safety off, pointed at whomever came in the door way. It was a two-edged sword. I needed a gun for protection, but when the terror hit, I wasn't always rational in the first few waking moments. Thankfully, I hadn't told David about my need for a gun—I had no weapon to aim at him.

"Easy, Jaidyn." He held me still, his arms wrapped around me from behind, grasping the back of my wrists to still my hands. My breathing slowly eased from terrified to afraid to aware, then the shudders started. David dropped his head down against my hair, tears burned his eyes. I am sure that he wished Nanci was here, but I know he was thankful that the kids didn't have to experience this.

"It's okay, Jaidyn… It's okay. I know… I know…" He gently drew me tighter against him. "You don't have to blame yourself, it wasn't your fault." Amazingly, he knew just the right thing to say, perhaps it came from having a script writer dictate lines to him 24/7. Whatever it was, I appreciated his calm and rationality.

David felt my tears flow and he turned me to his chest. He wrapped me in my robe, slipped me in his arms, and carried me into the bathroom, then he turned on the shower as hot as he thought I could handle. I was seriously beginning to feel like a little girl.

"Thank you, David." My smile was shaky, but my eyes were clearing.

"Sure, Jaidyn."

There was so little he could do. He looked as if he felt helpless. While I was taking a shower, David found me jeans, tennis shoes, a sweat shirt and a jacket. He was going to try a tactic that he used with Stephanie when she had night terrors.

I eventually joined him in the kitchen and noticed that he had keys in his hands. I didn't ask where we were going. David deactivated security zones in the house as we made our way to the garage. He left a note for Nanci on the kitchen counter in case she got back early, then pulled the keys from the motorcycle out of his pocket.

I slipped onto the bike behind him, my arms hugging him. He put on his helmet. I think he would have insisted that I wear one as well, but my head was buried between his shoulder blades and he was not going to let an accident happen this morning. Not this morning.

David drove us North, knowing that we would eventually turn West, toward "JAG HQ." David wasn't going to leave me alone today. As he rode, I soaked the back of his shirt with tears. Life without parole was what I wished for my step-dad… unfortunately, I was the only one living that sentence now, complete with my new security detail: Travis.