New Beginnings Karl Hoffmeister

Night Terrors

For the past month things were simple. Wonderful but simple which you were thankful for. Yours and Karl's relationship progressed at a steady pace. You would spend most evenings at his house after work. You'd share a glass of wine, have dinner, talk, play with Otto and help him with his homework. Some nights you would stay the night, other nights you would go home. The occasional night of passionate love making. Things couldn't be more perfect, you were so happy with Karl.

Of course the news of your relationship got out and people were talking, mostly good things but every now and then you'd hear some nasty comments. Most people would tell you how they knew you and Karl were going to end up together, or how you both deserve each other and that you were perfect for each other. But every now and then you would hear people say that you were just sleeping with him to get a raise or a promotion or something along those lines. You ignored it, as did Karl you both decided people like that weren't worth the energy.

You and Karl were very much in love and Otto had become even more attached to you than before. You hoped this worked out between you and Karl, not just for you and Karl but for Otto. He didn't deserve this, to grow up motherless. Since Lotte left he's been experiencing night terrors, you've been at the house a few nights when they occurred. You and Karl quickly realized that you could calm him down a lot faster than Karl could. It was something about a woman's touch that calmed the boy instantly. Most likely because his night terrors were caused by his mother abandoning him and you were now the closest things to a mother he had. You asked him one night if he could remember any of his night terrors. He told you there were two that played in his mind over and over again.

"Well in one of them mama left, but this time when she left we weren't home. Me and her were at the train station and one moment she was there and the next she disappeared. I was left all alone in the train station and it was busy. People were running into me and trampling on me. Papa wasn't there, I was alone." You figured this was the night terror he would have the nights when he would scream for his mother in his sleep.

"What about the other one sweetie?" You asked one night. Karl was working in his office on a last minute document and you and Otto were sitting on the couch talking.

"Mama was gone already, she had left me at the house with papa like she did in real life, but... But this time papa was so devastated by her leaving that he got sick again. He wouldn't wake up. I tried to wake him, he was on the floor. He was so pale and he wouldn't move. I shook him and shook him but he didn't move. I kept yelling for him but he wouldn't open his eyes, he left me, he died and I was all alone. I can't lose my papa Y/N." His eyes welled with tears and he threw himself against your chest. You held him tightly against you. It wasn't fair for such a young boy to have such fear of abandonment at the age of only 7. You and Karl would both hear him call out to his father during some of his night terrors and it broke both your hearts.

"Oh honey, you're not going to lose your papa. Papa's okay now, he's healthy, he's better he will never leave you. Your papa loves you so much. You will always have him... And me. I'm here Otto, I'll always be here when you need me." You rubbed his back to ease his mind and it worked, you felt him relax against you.

"Thank you." He mumbled against your shoulder.

Karl came out of his office less than an hour later and found you and Otto fast asleep on the couch, much like he found you both that day in your office. The day that started your love affair. A soft smile met his lips. He suddenly found himself thinking about what you would be like with your own child, with his child. You would be such a great mother, you already are. Otto told him just the other day that he views you as a mother, he was just too shy to tell you. The poor boy was afraid if he confessed how he felt you'd leave as his mother did. Thoughts of you caring and looking after your's and his child danced in his mind as he watched your chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. It was at this moment he realized that he loved you more than he ever loved Lotte. Perhaps if she had actually loved him back things would have been different but they weren't. Lotte did not love him and he knew that. If she had it wouldn't have been so easy to make her fall in love with Friedrich.

He thought for sure he wouldn't live to see his next birthday and the thought of his sweet young wife being alone broke his heart. He just wanted her and his son to be happy, so he hired a young man that he thought would catch his wife's fancy after a while and by the time he passed away they would be ready to start seeing each other romantically. Well his plan worked, but it worked too well. Lotte had fallen for him quickly and she was seeing him long before he was due to pass. When he got word that he was cured and would live many more years he rushed home to tell his wife but he came home to an empty house. Her things were gone along with any sign of Friedrich. No note, no explanation, nothing. She was like a ghost of his imagination. Breaking the news to Otto was hard but they assured each other they would get through it together. But all the pain, all the heartbreak from losing Lotte was worth it because it led him to you and he couldn't be happier. He couldn't remember a time when he was this happy. He never experienced such joy with Lotte. They just didn't have the connection you and Karl did. Your words from the night before rung in his mind.

"I'm glad I wasn't your only. If I was that little boy down the hall I wouldn't be here, and even though I am not his mother I love him. The past few months he's become so much like a son to me. As much as I love you, I wouldn't give him up for anything in the world."

You loved Otto as much as you loved him. You loved his family more than his ex wife, the mother of his child, their child ever did, because what she lost you found. What she left behind you picked up and made your own. What she took for granted you cherished with every part of yourself and Karl knew that and he adored you for it. He loved you and he knew he would love you for the rest of his life. He wanted to move forward with you, he wanted to have you for the rest of his life and with Christmas coming up he felt like it was the perfect time. He would have to talk to Otto about it, this decision would affect his life just as much as Karl's if not more.

He glanced back at the both of you then at the clock, he realized it was past Otto's bedtime. Even though it was the weekend he still wanted him to be in bed at a decent time considering he hasn't been getting much sleep lately.

He walked over to the office and turned out the lights along with the downstairs lights leaving only the light to the stairwell on.

Kneeling beside you he gently shook your leg with one hand as he ran his fingers through Otto's hair with the other hand.

"Time to wake up you two." He spoke softly, lovingly.

"Hmm." You and Otto groaned in unison making Karl chuckle.

"Let's get you both to bed." Karl whispered.

You wiped the sleep from your eyes as Karl picked Otto up on his arms and started to carry him up the stairs with you right behind him. He stopped outside Otto's room and let you kiss his head and tell him goodnight. Then he took him into his room and tucked him in, kissing his head and whispering a quiet "I love you" to the already sleeping boy.

You got into Karl's bed and changed into a pair of pajamas that you started keeping at his house. This was practically your second home. The things you did here came like second nature. It was warm, loving, and comfortable. It was everything a home should be honestly, it felt more like a home than your house did. At least here you were surrounded by people who cared about you. At your house it was just you and the pale walls. No love in sight.

Karl got into bed beside you and saw how hard you were fighting yo keep your eyes opened. You always wanted to stay awake until he could come tot bed. Whether he was doing work or just too antsy to go to sleep, you wanted to stay awake for him. You wanted to feel his body beside yours before you closed your eyes for the night. He laid his head on the same pillow as you and held you from behind. You felt him kiss the back of your head as your eyes grew heavier.

"Go to sleep my sweet. I'm right here." He whispered, his voice becoming more distant as the sentence went on and by the end you were asleep.