Moonlit Awakening

Chapter 20

Alexander

Alexander wanders back into the room. "Mommy?" he asks.

"Shh," Ember says, "mommy is asleep."

He walks over to his mother. "Mommy's sleeping. Is mommy tired?"

"Yes, little one, she's very tired."

He looks at Ember. "You're mommy's sister."

"Yes, which makes me your aunt."

He tilts his head in confusion. "Aunt?"

"Yes, I'm your aunt."

"Will you play with me?"

"Of course, what do you want to play?"

"Let's play hide and seek!"

"Okay, do you want to be it or should I be?"

"You!"

"Alright, I'll count to ten and then I'm coming to find you!"He giggles before running off, so he can hide. He slips into the closet downstairs. Ember finishes counting and then begins to look for him. "Where is that nephew of mine hiding?" He giggles again, accidentally revealing his hiding spot. Ember pretends not to hear him. She searches for him for a few more minutes before she states, "Man, I give up. I can't find you."

He bursts out of the closet, running towards her. "I'm right here!" Ember laughs, picking him up.

"Do you want to count now, so I can hide?"

"Yeah!" He wiggles out of her arms before facing the wall as he begins to count. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! I'm coming!" He runs around the house until he finds Ember hiding in the bathroom. "I found you!"

"Dang it, you found me!" she exclaims.

"My turn to hide!" They continue to play hide and seek for several minutes. Eventually, Alexander grabs onto Ember. "Auntie, I want to play something else!"

"Okay, what do you want to play now?"

"Are there any toys?"

"Yes, why don't we go see what toys we have?"

"Yeah!" He follows her upstairs to her room.

"Do you like stuffed animals?"

"Uh huh!"

She hands him a few stuffed animals. "Do you want to play with these?"

"Yeah!" He sits down on the floor, playing with the animals. Ember stays with him, watching him closely.

Alice

When Alice wakes up again, Ember and Alexander aren't in the room anymore, but Liam is. "L...Liam?" she murmurs.

"Hey," he answers softly, "did you sleep well?"

"Y...yes, where are Ember and Alexander?"

"They're upstairs. Ember wanted to find some toys for Alexander."

"O...oh..." She slowly stands up, making her way to the stairway.

"Alice, where are you going?"

"I'm going to find them." She hobbles upstairs to Ember's room. She knocks on the door. "E...Ember? Are you in there?"

Ember opens the door. "Alice, did you sleep well?" she asks.

"Y...yes, Alexander...was he..."

"He was good. We played hide and seek and now we're playing with stuffed animals."