It was half past two in the morning. Rain had begun to beat mercilessly on the windows of the estate. Lightning ripped through the sky and thunder growled hungrily. A storm was brewing. Yet all was quiet at Middleton Place. That is, until a particularly loud rumble of thunder sounded in the angry skies and Mary Tavington awoke with a start, eyes wide, breathing shallow and erratic.
"Just a storm." she said quietly to herself, shaking her head and shivering slightly as she looked out the window across from the four-poster, which had begun to rattle.
Then, noticing a sudden warmth next to her, she looked over and saw Col. Tavington sleeping soundly beside her.
Where is the logic with you, William? You'll startle awake at the smallest of sounds, yet are able to sleep through a storm..
Another loud rumble of thunder sounded and lightning flashed against the window pane, lighting the room. Braden awoke, screaming and crying in fright.
"Shh... It's all right, darling.. everything will be all right..." Mary cooed, taking her son in her arms and rocking him back and forth; she looked over at her husband, who was still asleep, and rolled her eyes.
Carefully, Mary got back into bed, still holding Braden, and pulled some of the covers away from the colonel, wrapping them around her and her son. Col. Tavington shuddered slightly at the sudden loss of cover over his upper body and awakened.
"Love, you took the covers again." he mumbled sleepily.
Mary snorted and replied, "And with good reason; the little one is frightened."
"Oh.."
Col. Tavington looked down at Braden, who was whimpering in fright in his mother's arms.
"Here, hand him to me." said the colonel softly, holding out his arms.
With a quick nod, Mary handed Braden over to Col. Tavington. Then she lay back down and closed her eyes.
Braden looked up at his father, fright still reflected in his eyes. Grabbing a blanket from near the foot of the bed, Col. Tavington wrapped it around his son, holding him close to his chest and softly humming to him until he fell asleep. Then, with a small smile, Col. Tavington gently kissed Braden's forehead and leaned back, propping himself up on some pillows and fell back asleep with his son in his arms.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jula? Jula, are you there?"
"What are you doing, Jae?" Jula asked her sister sleepily, slightly sitting up in her bed.
"It's freakin' storming out there.."
"Uh, so?"
"So..."
"Oh, I get it.." said Jula slowly, a smirk twitching at the corners of her mouth as she looked over at her older sister. "You wuss."
"I'm not a wuss!" hissed Jae indignantly.
Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed; Jae jumped a foot in the air and scurried over to her sister.
"Wuss." said Jula.
"Shut up!" Jae snapped. "It's not like sudden flashes of light and loud sounds are normal."
"Give it up sis, you're a freakin' wuss.."
"Whatever.. can I crawl in?"
"Yeah, come on in."
"Thanks." replied Jae in relief.
"No biggie.." said Jula. "Good night, er morning.. aw, forget it. Just.. see ya at a decent hour."
"Yup." replied Jae with a smile. "See ya."