Lone Star Family Values

Chapter 10

Midnight Incursion

Bailey tossed and turned in her bed. It had been a few days since the raid but the memory still plagued her mind incessantly. She'd spent the past few nights in TK and Carlos' bed and though her foster fathers had insisted that she could stay with them again, she wanted to try a night alone, it wasn't going well. She was so tired that her mind was beginning to play tricks on her and she was having a hard time distinguishing between what was real and was a bad dream. Her exhaustion, however, soon won and dragged her down into the black that used to be her comfort, but now was her tormentor.

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            TK was woken up by a sound, he didn't know what sound but it wasn't a sound that was usual in their home.

"Carlos, what was that?" TK mumbled, only barely awake.

            Carlos grumbled under the covers but TK shoved him again. He'd heard something but he wasn't sure what.

"Carlos." He muttered again.

"Hmm." Carlos hummed quietly.

"I swear I heard something." TK said, peeling his heavy eyes open again.

"It was probably just the wind, go back to sleep, baby." Carlos said, pulling TK against his bare chest.

            TK was hesitant but eventually succumbed to his own exhaustion.

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            The next time the noise erupted, it was Carlos who woke to it. TK was still snuggled into his chest and for a moment he thought that it was TK's previous warning that had him spooked. But then it happened again.

"No!" It was muffled but it was unmistakably Bailey.

"TK." Carlos said, shaking his boyfriend, startling him awake.

"Get off! TK!" Bailey's voice was louder this time and it brought TK straight out of sleep.

            Both of them jumped out of bed, rushing through the hallways. Bailey's door was cracked but Carlos pushed it open and saw her thrashing in bed, crying. He moved faster then, racing to her bedside and taking her shoulders in his hands to try and wake her up.

"Bailey," He said. "Bails, wake up. You're okay, Bailey it's okay. You gotta wake up, mija."

            TK was at his side, unsure of how to stop their daughter's pain. Bailey thrashed away from Carlos' touch, nearly hitting her head on the wall in the process. TK was able to throw his hand between her head and the wall before it made contact, he hissed at the impact.

"She's gotta wake up," He muttered. "Bailey, wake up. It's a bad dream, Bailey!"

            She kept thrashing, her eyes rolling underneath her closed eye lids before they shot open and pushed herself even farther away.

"Bailey, you're okay." Carlos said, taking a breath when he saw Bailey's eyes land on them but she only pushed herself away farther, shoving herself into a corner.

"Get away!" She cried, kicking her legs out to keep them away.

"She's awake, why isn't she calming down?" TK asked, looking to Carlos for guidance.

            Carlos watched Bailey's actions, her breathing, the way her eyes searched the room.

"I don't think she knows she's awake." He said.

            TK's eyes widened in realization.

"She's having a night terror." He muttered.

            Carlos nodded.

"Bailey, Bailey you're awake, mija," Carlos said approaching her slowly. Bailey was terrified, her eyes wide as she shook her head. Carlos looked to TK not sure what to do next. "She's gonna hurt herself if she stays in that corner, we gotta get her out of there."

            TK nodded.

"Do what you did when she was having her panic attack that day, maybe it'll be familiar and let the situation play out in her head." TK suggested.

            Carlos nodded; it was worth a try. He took a step back and put himself back in that day, what had he done, what had he said, how had he acted. He took a deep breath before sitting against the wall and pulling a struggling Bailey onto his lap and hugging her close. She struggled against him and he felt his own tears run down his cheeks as she struggled to get away from him.

"Breathe Bails, I'm here now. You're gonna be okay," He said, repeating his words as best as he could remember. He rocked them back and forth, trying to soothe Bailey's desperate sobs. TK watched helplessly, he kneeled next to the bed and rested his forehead on the edge. He just wanted it to be over. "In and out Bailey, in and out," Finally Bailey's sobs were reduced to hiccupping sobs as she began to understand what was happening. "Listen to my heartbeat, mija. Slow, deep breaths."

            Bailey relaxed into Carlos' hold.

"Th-they ca-me thr-ough the fron-t do-or." She stuttered, her words making a lump form in Carlos' throat. She was reliving everything.

"I know, mija, but it's over now. It was just a bad dream, nobody is here. Look, TK is right there," Carlos said, and TK sat up straighter, moving onto the bed and rubbing his hand up and down Bailey's arm to let her know that he was there. "You're awake, you're okay, we're all okay."

            Bailey looked at TK and Carlos and then collapsed into another sobbing fit as she pulled TK closer and curled he and Carlos.

"I'm s-sorry." She sobbed.

"No, no mija, don't apologize. Everything's okay," Carlos promised hugging her tighter. "It was just a bad dream is all. You're okay now."

            They stayed like that for a while, just holding Bailey until she calmed down enough to stop crying. TK was running his hand loosely through her hair and Carlos was rubbing his hand up and down her back to soothe her. She was almost asleep again when she jolted awake again.

"Woah, woah, you're okay." TK said, sitting up a little bit.

"I-I don't wanna...can I..." She couldn't quite work through her thoughts.

            Carlos craned his neck at a weird angle so that he could see her better.

"Do you want to sleep in our room again?" He asked.

            Bailey looked up and nodded.

"Okay, sweetie. Grab your pillow and let's go." Carlos smiled.

            Bailey reached behind her and pulled her pillow with her as she got up. She hugged it to her body as the three of them walked down the hall. TK kept one hand on Bailey the whole way, needing to reassure himself that she was there, maybe not okay, but there. Bailey curled up in between them and both Carlos and TK slept on their sides directly facing her. It took her a while and some heavy persuasion to fall asleep again, once she did though she sank comfortably into the mattress and TK and Carlos soon followed, knowing that though this midnight incursion was over, there were likely many more to come.