Chapter Nine
John rested his head against the pillows, letting Claire pull the blanket up to his chin. "Sweets," He breathed, a tired smirk crossing his lips, "stay."
Claire shook her head, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I can't." She smiled, sitting on the edge of his bed as Amelia followed Dominic into the room. "You know that."
Amelia climbed onto the bed, resting her head on John's chest. "Are you tired?" She asked, wiggling under the blanket with him.
"Really tired." He chuckled, curling an arm around the child.
Claire smiled, pressing a kiss to both of their heads, before standing to leave. "I'll see you guys in the morning." She looked over at Dominic, covering her eyes when she noticed he was already in his boxers and a tank top. "Didn't need to see that." She shook her head as she left the room, closing the door behind her. "Good night." All she heard in reply was John's snores and the sound of Dominic flopping into his bed.
John rolled onto his side, curling around the child beside him. He could hear his cousin sucking the walls through his nostrils with every breath, and was reminded of his plan. He poked Amelia's side, stirring the child from her dream. "Hey, squirt," He whispered, nodding to his sleeping cousin, "you wanna pull a joke on uncle Dom?"
She nodded, peeking over John's shoulder at the sleeping boy in the other bed. "What's the joke?"
"Alright, when I shout 'it's the fuzz' I want you to jump on top of him, but not before I grab his arms." He picked her up, setting her on the side of Dominic's bed. He gently gripped Dominic's wrists, making sure that he had a firm hold on his cousin before giving the signal. "It's the fuzz!" He grinned as Amelia body slammed Dominic's stomach, sending the older boy into a panic.
"Fuck! Get the shit! Out-" He blinked, his vision clearing to his little shit of a cousin and the kid he'd become so attached to dying of laughter. "You little fuckers." He growled, hating that John was so high energy now.
John laughed so hard that his legs stopped working causing him to crash to the floor in a fit of laughter. He clutched his stomach, tears leaking from his eyes as he rolled onto his side.
Amelia looked over the side of the bed, giving a puzzled look at the boy dying of laughter of the floor. "Is he okay, uncle Dom?" She asked, turning to Dominic.
"Fuck no." He tossed a pillow onto John's face, muffling the insane laughter. "He's a psycho." Truth was, he was happy to hear John's old laugh, the laugh that he'd had before the meth drugging, before he'd been forced to walk through hell and back.
John sat up, swinging the pillow onto Dominic's face with all the force he could. "Shut up!" He shouted, jumping on top of his cousin and pining him into the pillows.
"John." Dominic warned, knowing what road he was starting down. "Settle down."
Amelia giggled, pulling on the wallet chain attached to John's jeans. "Do it again!" She smiled, letting him scoop her into the air, and flop back onto their bed.
John glanced at the clock, his energy starting to fade. "No. It's four in the morning, we gotta get to sleep."
She stuck her lower lip out, turning on her puppy-dog-look. "But uncle Dom snores."
Dominic chuckled, climbing out of bed to go to the bathroom. "So, does Johnny boy."
John shook his head, leaning back against the pillows and letting Amelia curl up in his side. "Put some pants on." He yawned, covering Amelia's eyes as Dominic walked back to his bed with a cup of water. "Kid doesn't need to know about all your junk."
Amelia wrapped a hand up in John's shirt, curling farther into his ribs. "What's junk?" She murmured, her eyelids growing heavy with sleep.
John smiled, kissing the child's head. "Gross boy stuff." He pulled the covers over them both, shutting the light out as Dominic crawled back into bed. "Goodnight, Princess." He let the darkness surround him, letting the silence carry him into dream land, where he knew that his demons resided and could strike at any moment if he wasn't careful.