Three months later, Hephaestion woke up in a sweat. Someone was in the house. He strained his hearing, listening. Then he heard it. Bump. He lay back down so fast he made the bed creak.

"Alexander!" he hissed.

"Huh?" came the mumble from his bedmate.

"Someone's in the house!"

"What?" now he was fully awake.

"Listen!"

Bump.

"All right, get under the covers and don't get up until I lift them," Hephaestion nodded dumbly.

"My babies," he worried.

"Your babies will be fine. Just stay under the covers."

Hephaestion did as he was told, rubbing his belly in large, slow circles to calm the baby that was tumbling around within, and singing in barely a whisper. He heard a thud, and then a screech.

"DADDY!" Darko finally found his voice and used it for all he was worth.

Forgetting the possible danger, Hephaestion leapt from the bed and raced to his eldest's room. To find the intruder.

A bat flew over their heads, large and black.

"ALEXANDER! Come here, Darling. Shh, it's all right, come to me."

Darko shook his head, squealing when the bat flew lower.

"Yes. Come to me, Darling," very slowly, Hephaestion got on the floor, careful of his belly.

"Mumma..." Darko whined.

"I'm right here, Darling. The bat won't hurt you. Come here. You're all right. There you go, come to me," as Darko crawled to him.

Just then, Alexander dashed in, sword in hand, "What is- AHH!" he crouched beside Hephaestion, ducking his head.

"My hero..." Hephaestion thought sarcastically.

"Alexander, catch him! Get him out of here!"

"Pwease, Daddy!" Darko begged.

Alexander stared at his son in amazement for so long that Hephaestion had to remind him why they were even out of bed.

"Xander, the bat!"

"Right!" Alexander jumped up, determined, "Come here, you mongrel! Scaring my son, for shame!"

Hephaestion began to sing softly to his eldest to calm him. He then explained why the bat flew in circles and always downward.

"He's looking for a way out, Darling. Remember that while you may be scared of an animal, the animal is ten times more scared of you than you are of it. It's all right."

"Mumma..." Darko huddled closer.

"Got him!" Alexander caught the bat in a blanket.

"Yay, Daddy gotted him!" Darko cheered.

"Got, Darling. Now off to bed," Hephaestion got up with Alexander's help and tucked his son back into his now bat-free bed, "Goodnight Darling," he kissed his forehead, "I'm so happy you found your voice."

"Hiding?" the little boy asked.

"Yes, it was just hiding. It didn't want to come out until you really needed it. I love you."

"'uv' you too, Momma. 'uv' you, Baby," he kissed his mother's round belly, "'uv' you, Daddy. Fank you for sa'ying me fum the 'at."

"You're most welcome, my little gift. I love you. Goodnight," and he led Hephaestion out of the room, "Someday soon, you'll get even more kisses and hugs."

"So will you," Hephaestion pointed out.

"That I will. But you look even more beautiful when you get them. I love you," they got into bed, "Sleep well."

"Sleep well," Hephaestion smiled back.

And all was well that night.

AN: This really happened to me a few months ago, although not in the same exact way I wrote it here. My dad really was a hero and managed to get the bat on the curtain, where it dropped down and out the window. With Mom's help of course. I was experiencing it from Darko's point of view. I really did scream for "Daddy." I'm nineteen. Haha. Couldn't get back to sleep after the whole thing was over. And it happened at like three in the morning. Mom says it was just a brown bat. We live in a really old house.

Also, I'm aware that Darko is only two. Hence his babyish language. I thought that maybe since he's been hearing words all the time that it didn't speak them, he would at least have a little bit of a handle on some of them. Hope you enjoyed it!