A/N: Wow I don't even know if there are words to explain how sorry I am for leaving you guys hanging after that chapter, but I hope some of you guys will stick with me (even though I haven't updated in forever). I'm going to try my hardest to start updating more regularly. If you're still reading, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Morning After

Sara blinked at her the red lit numbers on her alarm clock. 7:23 AM. She stared at it and inwardly sighed. It was mocking her. Sara had been staring at that alarm clock for the past eight hours. By this point, she had memorized ever square inch of the clock—every button, every scratch, every blinking light.

She rolled over and was met by the sleeping face of her husband. Bless his heart. Mikey's dream had hit him way harder than she had expected. She was pleasantly shocked when he had been able to fall asleep last night, thankful that the wheels in his brain were able to stop turning long enough for him to get some much needed rest. She only wished she had been equally fortunate.

Sara decided that since there was no way in hell she would be able to fall asleep in the seven minutes before their alarm was set to go off, she would get up and make herself slightly more presentable. She gently ran her fingers over Michael's features, smiling at how peaceful and innocent he looked in his sleep. She wished that his peace would carry throughout the day, but knew that as soon as his eyes opened, he would remember everything about the dream.

Sara gently caressed Michael's cheek one last time before rolling over and getting out of bed. She made her way to the bathroom and got a good look at herself in the mirror for the first time in what seemed like weeks. She pressed her fingers to the dark circles under her eyes that she was certain had become permanent marks of exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and overall, fear. She noticed the puffiness and redness in her eyes resulting from lack of sleep and cries that she tried to keep silent throughout the night. She thanked God that she had had the sense to get up before Michael to take care of this. If he saw her like this, it would only worry him and create even more problems and worries over the dream that maybe meant nothing.

She reached for the eye drops and concealer on the bathroom counter. She had some work to do.

Ten minutes later, an almost healthy and well-rested looking Sara emerged from the bathroom to the sound of a buzzing alarm and sleeping husband. She quickly silenced the alarm. He needed his rest.

Instead of crawling back in bed with her husband and allowing herself to hide away from the demons from their past that potentially threatened to destroy them, she headed upstairs to check on her boys. It was the day of one of Mikey's classmates' sixth birthday party, and she needed to get her him dressed and ready for the day. Sara knew she would have some serious explaining to do if Mikey woke up before she was back in his bed. She let out a sigh of relief when she was met with her son's closed eyes as she opened the door, and slid back into bed at his side.

Once she was settled in, she brought a hand to his hair to push it to the side.

"Mikey," she said gently. "It's time to wake up."

Mikey stirred in his sleep, and Sara watched as his eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning, Mama," Mikey greeted her sleepily.

"Hi, baby," Sara said kissing his forehead. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," he said looking up at his mom.

"No more scary dreams?" Sara asked with a winkled brow.

"No. Daddy was right. You are good at keeping them away," Mikey said.

Sara smiled at her son in response and stroked his hair. She felt sort of bad for leaving him to go be with Michael, but was thankful that he hadn't even noticed that she was gone.

When his mom didn't respond, Mikey began climbing over her to get out of bed.

"Where are you going, crazy?" Sara asked, chuckling at her son's antics.

"Getting ready to party. Let's go, Mommy. Carter's party is gonna start soon!"

"Easy there, dude. We still have three hours until party time," Sara reassured her son.

"It's never to early for party prep!" Mikey responded excitedly, to which Sara responded with a laugh.

"Alright, alright. I'll go start cooking breakfast."

Half an hour later, Michael emerged from the bedroom and saw Sara making something that looked like French toast at the stove. He smiled. Normally, he handled breakfast making on the weekends, but judging by the fact that he woke up to an empty bed and an unplugged alarm clock, she had decided to take the reigns on this one.

"That smells great," he said as he walked over to the stove to kiss her cheek.

Sara gave him a small smile in response, momentarily pausing her movements at the stove to kiss her husband.

"Morning," she greeted with a grin.

"Morning. Thank you for letting me sleep. I didn't realize how tired I actually was," Michael said as he got plates out of the kitchen cabinet.

"Of course. I'm happy you got your rest. You needed it after playing Mr. Mom for three days, and I know that dream was emotionally exhausting since…well, you know…" Sara said trailing off, not exactly knowing if she should even be bringing up the dream so soon.

"I know," he said, turning off the stove and taking her hands in his, stilling them from their movements. "And I'm sorry I was such a mess last night."

"You don't have to—" Sara started before Michael interrupted her.

"I know, but still. You were exhausted from working nonstop taking care of people and needed a break when you got home. I didn't exactly give it to you," he said guiltily.

"It's okay, Michael," Sara said walking to where he was standing and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I know how much he affected this family."

"Yeah, but still I overreacted. It probably meant nothing," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to his chest.

"Right," she said into his chest. "Nothing."

"Where are the boys?" Michael asked.

"Mikey is upstairs getting ready and Jake is still asleep."

"How do you think he is?" Michael asked, wondering about his older son.

"Mikey? Seems fine. Told me I did a great job keeping his scary dreams away, and that you were right about my special nightmare repellent powers," Sara said with a wink. "He's pretty excited about Carter's party though, so I told him I would make breakfast if he could get himself ready."

"Hmm, so how long do you think that gives us?" Michael asked.

"Gives us for what?" Sara asked in return.

"Sex on the counter," Michael responded casually.

"Michael Joseph we cannot have sex in the kitchen when either of our young children can easily walk in and see," she said laughing and playfully hitting his chest.

"I know," Michael responded laughing and grabbing the hand that hit his chest. "But it was nice to see you smile."

Sara laced her fingers through his and smiled.

"I sorta love you," she said.

"Yeah, you're kinda growing on me," he said, slinging an arm loosely over her shoulder.

A/N: So there you have a sort of filler chapter 7. I will get chapter 8 out ASAP to make up for my lack of updating for the past few months. Let me know if you're still reading and/or what you think! Reviews make my heart sing. XOXO