jason.
my eyes popped open as i felt a scratching sensation on my torso. looking down, i was met with a shaking jupiter. her small hands were gripping onto me, as if something bad would happen if she let me go.
my eyebrows furrowed as i continued to watch her. her face scrunched up as if she was in pain, her forehead covered with sweat. was she having a bad dream?
i shook her shoulder lightly. "jupiter, baby wake up."
jupiter flinched, but still remained sleep. immediately after she started to let out small whimpers as she scratched faster. "no, stop!"
i shook jupiter a little bit harder. "it's just a dream, wake up."
i continued to shake her as her whimpers grew louder. she was deep in this dream because my shaking would not wake her up.
jupiter ran a deep scratch through my torso before letting out a high pitched scream and sitting up quickly. there was sweat covering her neck and forehead, and she was breathing as if she had just ran a marathon.
she quickly looked around the room, fear spread across her face.
"jupiter."
instantly her head snapped in my direction. she stared at me, not saying a word. she began blinking profusely and only then did i notice the tears threatening to spill.
i could feel my face scrunching up in worry. "baby..."
that did it.
within seconds jupiter was a crying, sobbing mess. her head was in her hands as she began to choke on her loud cries.
without even thinking, i pulled her small body into mine. she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist, burying her head in my neck. sighing, i placed one of my hands on her head, the other stroking her back.
"sshh baby, it's okay. you need to breathe."
jupiter's body continued to shake with every cry she let out. you could hear the pain and hurt that she had been holding in.
i felt myself growing angry. it was clear that something had happened to jupiter, something bad. i was impatient. i just wanted her to spit it out and tell me, but i knew i had to take my time. if i demanded it out of her i would get nowhere.
i continued rubbing jupiter's back, slowly rocking us back and forth as her sobs started to slow down. after a while her breathing was back normal and she had calmed down. she still remained in the same position. her body wrapped tightly around mine as if she was afraid to let go.
"jupiter."
she fidgeted, slightly loosening her grip. "do you wanna talk about it?"
jupiter furiously shook her head. "no, no please don't make me."
i leaned back so i could look jupiter in her eyes. "hey it's okay, we don't have to talk about it until you're ready. okay?"
she looked at me before nodding her head and whispering, "okay."
giving her a small smile, i placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. "what do you want to do today? we can do anything you want."
jupiter looked at me thoughtfully before shrugging. "can we just stay in bed please? maybe have icecream later?"
i nodded. "anything you want."
jupiter let go of me before rolling off of me. i took that as an opportunity to go use the bathroom. i looked back at jupiter to see her playing with a hair tie on her wrist.
