Chapter Two-Hundred and Eighteen

Clarissa pushed John's door open, smiling when she saw that John and Claire were curled up together under his blankets. She leaned on the doorframe, noticing how Claire's ring glimmered in the moonlight filtering into John's bedroom. She shook her head as she saw that Claire was holding John close to her, her leg tucked between John's thighs to help protect the spot where the skin graph had been taken from against the rough plaster of his cast. She stepped inside of John's room, placing a small box on his desk where he would see it. "Goodnight, babies." She whispered, adjusting her robe to hide the red lace she had on underneath. "Sleep well…"

Clarissa froze, holding her hand up to Thomas to tell him to listen. "Stop." She whispered, bolting out of her bed when she heard the cry again. "John?" She looked into John's bedroom, her brow furrowing when she saw that both he and Claire were still fast asleep. "Who…"

"MOMMA!"

Clarissa bolted down the hallway, shoving Cody's door open to see him trashing around in the throws of his dream. "Cody, Cody. It's okay baby. Momma's here." She gently woke him, pulling him close to her as he struggled to regain his wits. "I'm here…" She whispered, kissing his cheek as he cried. "You're okay, baby."

He hiccupped, holding her tighter as thunder rumbled outside with the storm blowing in from the coast. "Mom…"

She nodded, rocking him back and forth until he settled down a little more. "Do you want to try and go back to sleep?" She asked, patting his back as if she were burping a baby to help him regain his breath.

He shook his head, nearly crushing her as he squeezed her tighter. "Stay."

She smiled, shooting onto his bed beside him and laying with him until he fell asleep. She hummed under her breath, wrapping his blankets around him. "Goodnight, Angel." She whispered, suddenly remembering how much John's weighted blanket helped him with his nightmares and that he was the only one in the house with one. She picked up a pen and paper, scribbling down the idea for his birthday gift before she settled in for the night.

Mary sat John in front of the bathroom mirror, picking up a pair of scissors and clipping bits of his hair off until she could actually see his eyes. "Goodness sakes." She sighed, trimming up the last few bits of hair. "Johnny, you have got more hair than a lion." She picked up a bottle of hair dye, working the brown ink into the gray roots that were starting to show toward his scalp.

He chuckled, looking at the little braid that Claire had worked into his hair a few hours ago. "You left the braid?"

She nodded, knowing that was part of Claire's heritage. "I do believe Tom told me, that it's a sign of a Viking warrior and protector of his clan." She pulled her gloves off, setting a timer for when they needed to rinse the dye from his hair. "By the way, you two need to talk."

He shook his head, the image of last night replaying in his head. "No. We're fine." He rubbed a hand over his scared chest, to scared that Thomas would kick him out if he tried to talk to him.

She sighed, sitting on the counter in front of him. "John… I know that Thomas was hot headed last night, but you need to remember that he's not Jacob."

He pulled on the towel around his shoulders, trying to think of a way to get out of this conversation. "I don't want to talk to him."

"Then talk to me." She touched his hands, letting him pull away when he wanted to.

"No." He looked up as Clarissa yawned and stretched in the doorway.

"Morning…" She smiled, walking into the bathroom and running her fingers over the scruff on his cheek. "How'd you sleep?" She asked, fully aware that she hadn't slept worth a damn with how Cody tossed and turned all night.

He shrugged, still able to feel Claire in his arms and pressed to his chest, the way her thigh had sandwiched itself between his legs to help protect the tender skin from the graph. "Claire's warm." He smiled, burying his nose in his sweatshirt that he and Claire had been warring over for more than two months.

She laughed, kissing his cheek before she went to her room to get ready for the day. "I'm glad you're doing better." She closed the bathroom door, being sure that no one else was around so that she could finish what she and Thomas had started last night.