Midnight Fears
It was pitch black when Neil snapped awake to the sound of pouring rain, roiling thunder, and his and Eva's door being knocked on. Yawning, he grabbed his glasses from his night table, put them on, and got up from bed to open the door.
Out in the hall, Grace stood shivering with Maizie at her side.
"Something wrong, hun?" Neil asked.
Grace nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a loud thunderclap. She let out a small shriek and leapt towards Neil, wrapping her arms around him.
"Aw," Neil said, bending down to hug her back, "did the storm wake you up?"
"Uh-huh," Grace answered. "Can I sleep with you?"
"'Course you can."
And with that said, Neil led Grace into the room and let her crawl into bed before him. Eva stirred as Maizie jumped up on the bed and curled up at her feet.
"What's wrong?" she asked as she sat up a little to face Neil and Grace, her voice thick with sleep.
"The storm's scaring Grace," Neil explained, returning his glasses to his night stand and sliding back underneath the covers.
As if to prove it, another particularly loud clap of thunder sounded, and Grace yelped and burrowed close to Eva. Eva stroked Grace's hair and Neil rubbed their daughter's shoulder.
"It's okay, Grace," Eva told her gently. "I know the thunder sounds scary, but it can't hurt you."
"But it's so loud, Mama," Grace said, fear coating her every word. "What if the thunder destroys the house?"
"If it does," Neil replied, smiling good-naturedly, "Mama will unleash Zombievas on the thunder."
"Knock it off, Neil," Eva chided. "Grace, I promise you, the house is strong enough to survive the storm."
"You sure?" Grace asked.
"I'm very sure." Eva kissed the top of Grace's head. "Try to go back to sleep. The storm will be over before you know it."
Neil waited until Grace was asleep before settling back down to return to slumber himself. Hardly a second later, he felt a pinch on his arm and startled back to wakefulness. He looked around, barely making out Eva (probably) glaring at him in the darkness.
"What was that for?" he wanted to know.
"Don't tell our daughter I go around unleashing Zombievas." Yep, she was definitely glaring at him.
"You totally would, though."
"If you're going to comfort her, do you mind not telling her something ridiculous?"
"Telling her how awesome you'd be against thunder is never ridiculous."
Eva sighed. "Just go back to sleep."
"And whaddya think I was doing a second ago," Neil deadpanned as he got himself comfortable again, "meteorology?"