Sorry about Max running away, heehee. : ) Don't worry, though, you're not gonna have to wait too much longer… and I think you'll like this chapter.
Disclaimer: Still don't own.
"Mommy?"
I shot up in bed at the voice. The first thing I saw was Gracie, kneeling on my bed with tears running down her face. "Honey, what's wrong?"
"I had the dream again," she whispered, crawling closer to me. As her face passed through the strip of moonlight coming in the window, I saw that it was much paler than its usual olive tone. "Only it was worse this time."
"What happened?" I asked, quickly checking to make sure Nudge and Angel were still asleep.
Gracie put her fingers in her mouth. "They chased us down the hall. Trying to hurt us. They, they got Devin, and put the pokey thing in his arm, and…"
"What happened to Devin?" I whispered, my heart pounding as I thought about every bad ending that could possibly finish this dream.
"After they poked him," she began, then started to sob again. Gathering her in my arms, I tried to soothe her while prodding her to keep going. I probably didn't want to know, but I needed to. Finally, Gracie managed, "He stopped moving. And I yelled for him to wake up, but he just wouldn't."
My heart dropped into my stomach, my veins becoming ice. "Oh, honey, it was only a dream." I tried to believe it myself but could not.
"Devin had a dream, too," she mumbled, and my blood ran cold again. They'd had the dreams at the exact same time, just like the last ones. Something was not right here.
"Is he in your room?" I asked, standing up and bringing her with me. My voice was strong and confident, to my surprise and delight.
"Uh-huh," Gracie said, burying her face in the crook of my neck. I slipped out of my room, closing the door very quietly behind me, and tiptoed to the twins'. From the other side of the slightly ajar door, I could hear quiet sobs.
"Devin?" I called softly, pushing it open. He immediately looked up at me with wide, fearful eyes. "Hey, buddy. What's going on?"
"Dream," he muttered. "Bad dream."
"What was the dream about?" I asked, sitting beside him on his bed. Settling Gracie on my knee and holding her there with one hand, I used the other to stroke Devin's hair.
"They hurt Gracie," he cried. I consciously stopped my jaw from falling open. "They hurt her bad. She wouldn't talk, and I touched her arm and it was really cold."
Oh, no. Oh, man, I didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't good.
I pulled both Gracie and Devin into my arms, trying to comfort myself as much as them. "It's fine, guys. Don't worry. It's fine."
"I want Daddy," said Gracie.
"Me too," said Devin.
I tried not to be offended. I mean, I had pestered Fang about having an actual relationship with the kids. But how could it settle well that my children would rather be comforted by their cold, emotionless father than by me?
"Okay," I said briskly, standing up with a kid on each hip. "Let's go find Daddy."
We went over to the boys' room. I lightly kicked the door open and found Gazzy, Iggy and Fang all conked out on their respective beds. The kids wiggled out of my arms and ran to climb into Fang's bed. As Devin cuddled up to him, he started and woke.
"Devin?" he asked, then saw me. "Max, what's--"
I strode over and bent to whisper in Fang's ear so the kids couldn't hear what I was saying. When he lightly place his hand on the back of my neck while he listened, I almost shivered, but managed to contain myself. Barely. "They had the same dream again," I whispered, and his hand urgently pulled my head closer to his. "They each dreamed about the other dying."
Fang took a sharp intake of breath, and I felt it in my own ear. "So now what?"
I glanced at the kids. Devin had a fistful of Fang's shirt, and Gracie was curled up beside her brother. They appeared to be pretty calmed down, and I really didn't want to mess with two crying kids again. "Let's just go back to bed. We can talk about it first thing tomorrow."
He nodded, and I backed up. "Good night, guys."
"Mommy?" Gracie sat up, staring at me. "Where you going?"
"Back to bed. I'll just be in the next room if you need me." Since you'd rather be with Mr. Rock than me.
"No, no." Devin waved his hand around lazily. "You come sleep over here."
I raised my eyebrow, looking at the bed. It was an twin-- maybe I could squeeze in beside them, but it'd be hard.
"Yeah." Gracie patted the empty spot beside her. "Right here."
I glanced at Fang. He smiled a little and motioned for me to lay down. Even with all three of them watching me expectantly, though, I hesitated.
"Come on, Mommy, we want to be with Daddy and you," Gracie said, and that's when my heart melted and I went to join them.
Fitting all four of us in that bed proved to be a challenge, and once, with all the noise we were making, we woke up Iggy. In the end, Fang and I were on our sides, and the kids were on their backs between us.
"Okay," I said, exhausted from simply trying to get comfortable. Gracie scooted closer to me. "Now, good night, you two."
"'Night," they said. It only took a minute or two for them to fall asleep.
My arm was draped over Gracie, Fang's over Devin. Our hands were just sort of floating next to each other between the kids. Just as I closed my eyes and felt myself slipping into a slumber, Fang took my hand.
My eyes sprang open, and I looked down. He had interlaced our fingers, and his thumb was stroking mine. I raised my gaze to look at him, and he flashed one of his famous half-smiles that made my world spin. "Good night, Max," he whispered, even showing his white teeth for just a second.
"'Night, Fang." I sighed contently, and we fell asleep like that, our hands entwined over our kids, like two people who were meant to be together.
Aww, family fluff. And foreshadowing. Review, please!