𝕆𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕒 {𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕥𝕨𝕠}

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕨𝕠: ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕖

ᴺⁱᵍʰᵗᵐᵃʳᵉˢ. ᴺᵒᵇᵒᵈʸ ᶜᵃⁿ ᵉˢᶜᵃᵖᵉ ᵗʰᵉᵐ, ⁿᵒᵗ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᵐᵉ...ⁿᵒ ᵐᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ ʰᵒʷ ʰᵃʳᵈ ᴵ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵗʳʸ.

Nick's eyes flew open, and he instantly felt cold. His hands were deep in the snow, gripping something that was hardly warm. "What..." He breathed. "KEEP DIGGING!" Shouted Karl, his voice choked. "Don't stop! Please...oh my god please be okay..." Nick nodded, he didn't know what he was digging for, but something told him he had to be fast. He dug at the ice cold ground, ignoring the pure pain that shot through his purpled fingers. First came the arms...and then the head...and finally the whole body. Nick choked back a sob as he fell to the ground. "Alex..." He choked. Karl let out a loud broken sob and fell to his knees. Alex's eyes were frozen open, and he was very much dead. "Alex...No no" Nick moved over his body and pressed his lips to Alex's, pinching his nose closed as he breathed oxygen into Alex's lungs. Suddenly, Alex sat up, blood dripping from his mouth as he rubbed at his bruised throat. "Why...didn't you..save me?" 

Nick choked as he sat up wildly looking around. Instantly arms wrapped around him, Alex's arms. "Hey...Mi amor what happened?" He hummed kissing Nick's jawline up to his eyelids. "Nightmare...that's all..." Nick breathed. He didn't want to freak his husband out by saying "Oh yeah I dug into the snow and well kinda sorta found your dead body buried there and you asked me why I didn't save you even though I tried-" so he just claimed it was a normal nightmare. Truth was, Alex knew anyways. Nick would toss and turn whenever he had this kind of dream, and he would choke while whispering "Come back Alex..don't leave me". This is why Alex was always the first one there, kissing away the nightmares. "Lay down" He hummed, and Nick nodded. Alex shifted away from Karl,who hissed in protest and scooted closer, and wrapped his arms around Nick.

"Daddy..." Their bedroom door opened and there stood Mateo, with Alexis in her wheelie. Alex sat up and glanced at them, he knew Nick was half-asleep now. "What is it Mateo, Lex?" he hummed softly "We had bad dreams" Whined Mateo, and Alex oted the two kids tear stained cheeks. Maybe it had just been a bad night for the whole house. "Okay...Here let papí help you into bed, and you can sleep with us tonight" He crawled out of bed, picking Alexis's up and grunting under her small weight. He laid them beside Karl, who easily curled close to them wrapping his arm around their baby stomachs. Alex leaned down to give the kids a kiss on the forehead. "Tell us a story Papí" Begged Mateo. Alex smiled "Okay...but only one okay?" 

"Una vez hubo un pájaro que amaba a una ballena. Y una ballena que amaba a un pájaro. Al pájaro le encantaba la hermosa sonrisa de la ballena. Le encantaba cómo nadaba elegantemente por el agua."

Alex smiled as little Alexis pointed at the whale. He continued the story, watching his children's expressions as he slowly got to the ending. This had always been Alex's favourite story, because it proved that not every children's book had a happy ending. He took a deep breath as he read the last line.

""Y a ti te encanta volar y planear en el cielo", dijo la ballena. "Eso es lo que más te gusta hacer. Tú tampoco serás feliz aquí". Y entonces, como el pájaro y la ballena se querían tanto, se dijeron adiós." 

{"And you love to fly, and soar high in the sky" said the whale "That is your favourite thing to do, you will never be happy here either!". And so, because the whale and the bird loved each other so much, they said goodbye"} 

"I don't like that book!" Whined Mateo, but Alexis had a different opinion. She had always loved "the whale and the bird". Just like Alex had. "Dije una historia, ahora cama." {I told a story, now bed.}  Mateo pouted but nonetheless he obeyed. Alex curled up to Nick while the kids curled closer to Karl. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift back to sleep, content with the fact that Nick and the children were okay.