I woke up sweaty and scared from a nightmare. It was the first one I'd had since moving to my new home. My heart was beating so hard as I looked around the big room and my eyes found Annie. Instantly I relaxed and felt calmer knowing she was there. She always made me feel like everything was going to be OK, even if it really wasn't.

I got up out of my bed, too frightened to go back to sleep. I walked over to Annie's bed. She was sleeping so peacefully and I didn't really want to wake her. In the orphanage she had come to my rescue almost every night, when the nightmares came more often than not. She was my savior and my best friend, and now she was my sister! I felt so lucky to have her to rely on.

I knew it was night time but not too late at night and there would still be some people up who I could talk to. There were lots of kind people at my new home.

I decided to let Annie sleep and I opened the door to our room quietly and made my way carefully down the big stairs.

The first person I saw was Cecile who was walking up the stairs herself. She gave me a funny look as she saw me. "Molly dear, are you alright? It's very late at night, why aren't you in bed?"

"I had a nightmare", I told her shyly. I really wanted to be a brave big girl so the people here would want me to stay. I was so scared they would decide I was too weak and pitiful to have around and want to send me somewhere else.

"Oh dear, oh dear", Cecile shook her head and I felt instantly afraid that she was going to tell me off for getting up and that I was simply being a bothersome baby.

But she knelt down on the step beside me so that we were eye level and gave me a reassuring smile. "Do you want me to come and check your room for monsters?"

I giggled at her question. "No thanks. I know monsters ain't real. I just got a fright from my nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep."

"Oh, well what do you think will help you get back to sleep?" Cecile asked me kindly.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure."

She gave my arm a gentle squeeze with her warm hand. "Well, why don't you go downstairs and see Mrs. Pugh in the kitchen? Ask her for a glass of warm milk. That usually helps me sleep."

I considered her suggestion for a moment before nodding my head. "OK. I'll try that."

I don't know why that was funny but it made her chuckle. It didn't feel like she was laughing at me in the same horrible way Miss Hannigan used to though, like I was stupid. It was more like she thought I was sweet.

"Goodnight Molly. I hope you get back to sleep soon." She stood back up and we smiled at each other before she climbed the stairs to go to her room.

I continued to the bottom floor of the mansion. The place was so big I still got lost sometimes. After all, I had only been living here for just over a month. I remembered the kitchen was at the very end of the big hall. Usually we wouldn't go in there but sometimes Mrs. Pugh would let me go in and help her bake cookies or pie. It was Drake's birthday last week and she even let Annie and me help decorate the cake!

Mrs. Pugh was nice to me. Everybody here was nice to me. Nicer than I could remember anyone being since my first parents died.

The thought of my parents came to me just as I realized I was standing outside of Daddy Warbucks' office. He and Mama Warbucks were my new parents.

There was a big wedding three weeks ago at my new house where they got married. Mama looked so beautiful in her dress and Daddy Warbucks was very handsome too. Me and Annie got to be flower girls and I got to wear the prettiest dress I had ever worn in my life.

There was a little bit of rain that day but everybody was too happy to care. Mrs. Greer said it was quite rare for January but it was good luck for a wedding day. I still don't understand what she meant but she must have been right because it sure was a terrific day. Daddy Warbucks and Mama Warbucks looked so in love. I'd heard stories on Miss Hannigan's radio about folks being in love but I'd never really seen it with my own eyes, at least not that I could remember. Looking at my new parents though, I could tell right away that that's what being in love looked like.

The door to Daddy Warbucks' office was open and I could see him and Mama sitting on the office couch together. Part of me felt bad for spying but they looked so happy and I didn't think they would mind me watching them for a while to make myself feel better, to remind myself that I had a real family now and a real home. For a long time I thought I might never have those things ever again.

Daddy Warbucks had his arm around Mama's shoulders and she was leaning on him and smiling a great big smile. One of them must have told a joke because they both started laughing. I really like hearing them laugh. It sounds like music and feels like something nice that you want to keep in your heart to feel again and again. Like a great big bubble of joy rising up through your whole body.

That's how Mama and Daddy Warbucks make me feel. Like I've got bubbles inside me, like I'm floating or dancing on top of the clouds.

At the wedding, Daddy Warbucks let me dance on top of his shoes and that's what it felt like. Like I was dancing on clouds in the air. Like I was high up above any troubles or anything scary or sad.

Being here with Mama and Daddy Warbucks and Annie and everyone else who lived here with us, felt like I would never have to be scared or sad again.

On the day they adopted me and Annie, Mama told me I would never have to feel those bad things ever again. She told us we were going to be safe and happy and that she and Daddy Warbucks promised to take care of us and to love us for as long as they lived.

And boy, did they love us.

I knew they loved us and it wasn't just because every night when we went to bed they tucked us in extra tight and told us "Goodnight Annie, goodnight Molly. We love you both very much."

It was in all the things they did for us too. How Daddy Warbucks put me on his shoulders so I could see above the crowd at Times Square on New Year's Eve. How Mama took us to our first ever ballet and bought me my very own tutu the next day when I told her how much I wanted to be a ballerina.

It was when Mama and Daddy Warbucks stopped working even though they were busy, to comfort me when I scraped my knee during my tennis lesson. How Mama sat me on her lap and stroked my hair as Daddy Warbucks got down on his own knees to kiss mine all better.

I haven't known them for very long but I just know in my heart that they're going to love me forever. The day they adopted me and Annie was the happiest day of my life.

I looked back into the office and watched as Daddy Warbucks whispered something in Mama's ear and she turned to look at him with bright shining eyes and a big smile on her face. He kissed the side of her head and she closed her eyes, leaning back on him again looking peaceful and full of all the love I was feeling too.

I felt silly for being so scared about the nightmare. It wasn't real, this was. This house, this life, this family.

My family.

I decided to go and find Mrs. Pugh in the kitchen and ask for some warm milk anyway because it did sound quite nice. But I wasn't worried about the nightmares coming anymore.

How could I be afraid of nightmares when I had so many wonderful things to dream about?