Next Door Lover

32.

Katie POV
I hear a door slam against a wall making what feels like the whole bed shake and I bolt up in a panic. The dream I was having doesn't help with the thoughts swirling around my head. My breathing is already quick and my heart is hammering in my chest. I look at the door but notice it's still closed. I look over to see Scarlett still asleep but I feel very panicked and tingly and I'm afraid I'm slipping into a panic attack.

I had a weird dream where I kept seeing my mother's face in everything. Like the way the coats hung on the coat rack, or even in the soapy water of a sink full of dishes. Then the sound of the door slamming just brought me right back to all the rude awakenings from my mother.

I tap Scarlett's body that's next to me but she doesn't budge. I hear little footsteps stop outside the door and can rationalize it's probably Rose but my fight or flight is telling me it's my mother.

"S-scar, please." My voice trembles as I shake her body now making her grunt.

"Come here." She mumbles blindly and reaches for me. Her hand falls to my lap since I'm sitting up and she lazily looks up at me. In a second she jumps up fully into a squat and sits next to me noticing my breathing.

"Hey hey, what's going on?" She cups my face and forces me to look into her eyes.

"Door slammed, had a d-dream." I start but she shushes me and hold my head into her chest. I can hear her heartbeat once my head lays on her chest and it's like an instant calming mechanism. I can feel my heartbeat still hammering away but at least I can manage to take some deep breaths.

Next thing, the door to the guest room, that we are in swings open and a hyper looking Rose seems startled to see us in here.

"I was looking for you, mommy! What's wrong with Katie?" She asks seeing me in tears in her mother's chest.

"She had a bad dream honey, she's okay." Scarlett explains while stroking my hair with one arm and holding me tight to her chest with the other.

I feel the bed dip down but since my eyes are closed I don't know what's happening. I then feel another pair of arms wrap around me and the warmth that comes from it helps my beating heart. I lean back from Scarlett's chest to look at Rose who's on the other side of me. She then climbs into my lap and grabs my face with both of her little hands.

"Bad dreams bad dreams go away, good dreams good dreams here to stay." Rose lays her forehead onto mine and repeats this 3 more times before she pulls away.

I quickly glance at Scarlett seeing this look I can't place in her eyes. Putting my attention back on Rose she leans in and kisses the tip of my nose softly and then pull back even more, crawling into her mother's lap and looking at me with a smile.

"I think the dreams will go away now. My special spell never fails." Rose is so fucking cute ugh.

"I think you're right baby girl." Scarlett kisses her daughter's forehead and looks at me with this warm, fuzzy smile. It hits me right in the heart and makes my own body tingle and heat up as if I can melt right off the bed.

"How about breakfast?" I ask, wanting to get away from feeling all the attention on me.

"Pancakes!" Rose screams and I crack up at how enthused she is over a piece of food.

"That takes too long baby, we are going into the office today." Scarlett reminds her but that makes roses eyes pop out of her head. She doesn't say a word but jumps off of Scarlett's lap and runs out of the room.

"I guess she's excited?" Scarlett laughs and unexpectedly leans forward and captures my lips in a searing kiss, making my head spin for all of seven seconds.