"But won't the bogeyman come and eat me?" Alex whispered, half of his face hidden under the covers.
"Of course not honey. Now go to sleep, you start school tomorrow." Atlanta said, tucking her son under the covers.
"Can we sleep with you and dad tonight?" Amber said quietly, her voice quivering.
"What, a big girl like you, scared of a movie?" Archie said, kissing his daughter on the forehead.
"It was scary!" Alex cried, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his father.
Laughing, Archie swooped in and plucked him from the bed, holding him under the arms and raising him high up.
"Alright, but let's make a deal. You two can come and sleep with us, but no complaining tomorrow when you get up for school, alright?" Atlanta said, sitting on Amber's bed.
Nodding vigorously, the twins sprang up and raced to their parent's bedroom, jumping in and huddling under the covers.
Laughing, Atlanta and Archie made their way after them, placing their children between them as if to protect them from the unseen monsters of the night.
It was not long before the children fell asleep, Amber cuddling up to her father, while Alex had his face nuzzled in Atlanta's neck.
"Archie," Atlanta whispered, her head propped up on an elbow as she watched her children lovingly.
"What is it Lannie?" Archie answered back, propping himself the same way that Atlanta did.
"Our little kids are growing up so fast! Can you believe that they are already going in second grade?" she said, her hazel eyes shining with pride.
A smile broke on Archie's face as he carefully leaned over and kissed his wife on the lips.
"I know. Yesterday they were born, today they are kids, and tomorrow they will be married, watching over their own children as we are watching over them now."
And that was how the little family fell asleep, both children between their parents, fast asleep in the comfort and warmth, and protected from the everlasting shadow that had been following them for the past six years, always looking at them through the window, across the street, and from the rooftops.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Do you have your lunch?"
"Yes."
"Your books?"
"Yes."
"Your-"
"Archie, they have everything, now let them go off to class before they are late!" Atlanta said, her arms crossed over her chest, and her vivid red hair tied up.
Grinning sheepishly, Archie kissed his kids on the forehead, and then gave them a little shove to send them off.
Laughing, the twins ran off with extreme speed to join Tania and Jacob near the swing set, Amber's lavender hair trailing behind her, while Alex's spiked crimson hair flowed slightly in the wind.
Smiling, the parents made their way to their van, and drove off to their condo.
0o0o00oo0o
"So, not too hard to stay still in class?" Amber asked her brother as they played outside.
It was lunch break, and she, Alex, Tania and Jacob were playing in the schoolyard.
Alex grinned back at his sister, while swinging on the swing set. "Not too hard, though I kept seeing you fidget in your chair!"
"Hey, dwarfs, get off of my territory!"
Turning around, the small group saw a group of ten sixth-graders approaching them. The leader, an overweight punk who had a shaved head and an eyebrow piercing, had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring down superiorly at the four second-graders.
"Excuse me?" Amber replied, getting to her feet and crossing her arms as well.
"You can't make us leave, we were here first!" Jacob said as he and Tania ran over to stand beside Amber.
"Yeah!" Alex completed, standing up also.
Snickering, the nine other boys of the group whispered together, pointing in their direction.
"Look here, squirts. We're six' graders, so we gets ta choose where we wants to go!" Fat leader said, looming over the kids, his words slurring as if he had just had some alcoholic beverage.
As Amber received his toxic breath on her face, she decided that it was probably true.
"Look, we were here first, so back off." Alex said firmly, his arms crossed over his chest as Jacob, Tania, Amber and himself made a tight little gang for protection.
The leader opened his piggy little eyes in surprise.
"You dare to object me?" He snarled, before jumping on the youngsters.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"But mom, he started it!" Alex cried, exasperated.
"I don't care who started it! I told you to not fight back unless absolutely necessary!" Atlanta scolded.
"But-"
"Alex, I would stop talking while I was ahead," Archie interrupted, holding Amber in his arms.
"Now, how far is the hospital?" He said, turning around and looking at the ambulance driver.
"About two minutes, sir," He responded, keeping his eyes on the road.
"Dad, I don't need to go to the hospital!" Amber whined, trying to escape her father's grasp.
"Amber, you just got crushed by a two-hundred pound piece of lard. We are going to the hospital." Atlanta said firmly, taking her daughter from Archie's embrace.
Alex snickered at the memory. He, Amber, Tania and Jacob had kicked their butts. It was all going fine until the leader had tripped over his own shoe, landing on Amber who was behind him.
Like a turtle on its back, he couldn't get up. It had taken four teachers to get him off her.
Of course, Amber wasn't hurt, just breathless. The school had called the hospital, and their parents didn't want anyone to suspect anything.
Alex sighed, leaning back on the chair.
"What a weird life we have..." He sighed, crossing his tiny arms over his chest.