1 1/2 Years ago:

"I don't think we should go out tonight, Eric." The brunette woman said, nervously looking out over the snow-covered landscape.

"Heidi, it's our anniversary." Her husband sighed from beside her in the car. "This is the ONE night we SHOULD go out."

"Grace had one of her dreams last night." She said, uneasily. "She was terrified. It took me three hours to get her to go back to sleep!"

"What was it about?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." Heidi said, biting her lip nervously, as she played with her curls. "All I know is that she didn't want us to go out tonight."

"She never wants us to go out. She's an only child who is picky about her babysitters. She never wants you out of her sight!"

"She's got a lot on her plate right now, Eric." Heidi said, soberly. "Not every three-and-a-half-year-old sees what she sees in her dreams."

"Yeah...what does she see in them again?"

"The hurricane, the earthquake, Eric, she saw them all. And they were on the news the next day."

"She also dreamed that she was going to get a pony for her birthday, and that didn't happen."

"She can tell the difference between the dreams. There's something different about..."

"Can we go out for ONCE and talk about something other than Grace?" He interrupted, angrily.

His wife fell silent.

"It's like there's no "us" anymore. Just you, me and Grace."

"She's my daughter, Eric."

"And I'm your husband. And call me crazy, but we had a relationship long before she was born, and we're supposed to be together long after she leaves."

"Eric..."

"Maybe this was a bad idea," he sighed as he ran his fingers through his thick hair.

He pulled to the nearest break where he could make a u-turn.

"ERIC!" His wife cried as she saw the car a split second before they turned.

It plowed into them, causing a multiple car pile up on the interstate as car after car hit one another in the busy traffic. When the horrific domino effect had ended, there was a chain of cars that had slid off the interstate and linked together. The Taylor's car, now sandwiched between a tree on Eric's side and another car on Heidi's side, housed two blood-soaked corpses where Grace's parents had once sat.

-

Present Day:

"Mommy..." Grace whimpered in her sleep.

Sam's ear perked up at the sound that emerged from the silence of the house.

"No, Mommy!" She screamed, suddenly.

Sam bolted up, suddenly alert. Her husband was right with her. "Grace," he murmured as Sam stumbled out of bed and toward the little girl's room.

The little girl was thrashing around on her bed. "DON'T GO, MOMMY!" She yelled as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Sam flipped on the light, and hurried to her daughter. "Grace," she whispered as she easily dodged the kicks and punches that Grace was giving. She gently subdued her. "Grace, you're okay. You're safe."

Grace's eyes opened, suddenly. "Mommy?" She hiccuped.

"I'm here, sweetheart."

"I had a bad dream..."

Jack walked into the room. "We could tell. You wanna tell us about it?" He asked as Sam gently wiped the tears from Grace's cheeks and smoothed the hair from her face.

"My other mommy and daddy..." She inhaled noisily.

"You had a nightmare about your other mommy and daddy?" Sam asked, softly.

She nodded slowly.

"What happened?" Jack asked, sitting on the other side of the bed as he gently shooed the dog (named Doc after Grace's favorite dwarf from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) to the foot of the bed so that he could see and talk to his daughter.

"Th-they were fighting." She whispered. "About me."

"About you?" Sam asked, eyes wide.

Grace nodded. "Daddy didn't like my dreams because Mommy was afraid of what the dreams might do to me."

"Do to you?" Jack prodded, gently.

Grace swallowed. "She thought I'd be scared all the time because of my dreams."

"Are you scared all the time?" Sam asked, softly.

"Not all the time." She said, shaking her head. "But sometimes..."

Sam leaned down and kissed her forehead, gently. "Oh, angel, I'm sorry."

"You didn't give me the dreams. You can't change the fact that I have them," she said, sounding wise beyond her years.

Sam managed a sad smile as she gently ran her fingers up and down Grace's arm.

"What happened next in your dream?"

Grace looked up at her adopted father as she exhaled softly. "Daddy wasn't very careful when he turned, and he got into an accident." She swallowed. "They died."

"My mom died in a car accident too," Sam whispered, pensively. "It was very scary after that."

"Did you ever get a new mommy?"

Sam shook her head, soberly. "No. My dad never got married again."

"Do you miss your mommy still?"

Sam looked down at her daughter. "Oh yeah," she admitted. "But then, I look at you and at Jack, and I remember that life can be hard sometimes, but usually, there's a good thing around the corner."

"Like when you adopted me."

"Exactly." Sam said, softly.

Grace still looked somewhat troubled, and Sam sat with her back against the headboard as she wrapped an arm around Grace. "When I was scared, my mom used to sing to me. I'm not as good at singing as she was, but..."

"Try," Grace asked, vulnerably.

Sam nodded as she coughed gently in preparation for her song. "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are."

She swallowed. "There are more verses, but...I won't..."

"It was nice." Grace interrupted as she snuggled closer to her mother. "I liked it."

"Yeah. Me too." Jack whispered with a gentle smile.

Sam managed a grateful smile for her husband who gently touched the hand which was on Grace's shoulder.

"Come back to bed when you're finished?" He asked, softly.

"Do my best." She agreed as Grace began to slip back to sleep.

He walked around to the other side of the bed, and gently kissed her before he slipped out of the room. Sam found herself humming gently as she stroked Grace's hair gently. In her mind, she could hear her mother's voice. After she was certain that Grace had fallen back into a fitful sleep, Sam looked over at the window that framed a beautiful view of the stars. As good a view as one could get in Washington DC, she admitted to herself. "She's a sweet girl, Mom. I think you'd love her as much as I do."

She could almost hear her mother's voice on the wind. Why do you think I sent her to you?

A small smile fluttered onto her lips as she closed her eyes, tiredly. "Thanks, Mom," she murmured softly.