We Love You

Nightmares

Connor stood at the sink, his hands covered in soap and water as he scrubbed the dishes. A low hum came from him as he did so, it being no song in particular. He heard the creek of a door come from the hall, and the light foot steps that followed after it. You came up behind him and wrapped your arms around his waist.

"You sure you're not coming to bed tonight?" You asked quietly, probably too scared to speak any louder with your daughter asleep down the hall. Connor smiled, wiping his hands on the dish towel thrown over the side of the sink. He turned around and leaned on the counter.

"You know I have to stay up." He said, grabbing your hand. You rolled your eyes and bumped your forehead against his shoulder.

"Just tell Hank that he can do the paperwork." Your voice was muffled, but he could still hear the annoyance. He pushed you back a little and cupped your cheek.

"I can't. It's my turn to do them anyway and I owe it to him." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours. You sighed into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. Your fingers dug themselves into his hair, and his hands firmly gripped your waist. He pulled back, resting his forehead against yours. "You know how he gets."

You leaned back, rolling your eyes at just the thought of Hank's attitude. "Okay, But you are coming to bed tomorrow." You said, poking his chest.

He chuckled and nodded. "That's reasonable."

You stared up at him for a moment before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Goodnight, honey." You walked off.

"Goodnight." He said, frowning when you turned down the hall. He never liked having to work late nights. He faced the sink again and started drying the dishes he washed. Grabbing them and putting them back into their respective cabinets and drawers.

He walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, pushing open his office door. His computer was already on, its dim screen being the only light source in the room. He switched the light on and sat down at his desk. A long exaggerated sigh coming from him before he started typing.

-

Four o'clock in the morning he closed his files and pushed away from his desk, walking out of the office. He'd finished his paperwork, had even started looking over other case files, and was too restless to go lay down. He walked over to the livingroom and started picking up the toys scattered on the ground. He knew Magnolia would just dump them out again when she woke up, but he wanted to make up for not going to bed by cleaning.

He carried a few of Maggie's dirty stuffed animals to the laundry room but came to an abrupt stop in front of his daughters bedroom. He turned towards it, detecting the quiet whimpering coming from behind the door. He tossed the plush toys towards the laundry room and slowly opened her door.

Her gaze shot over to the door, her small hands darting up to her face to wipe at her wet cheeks. "Daddy." Her voice cracked, and it practically tore Connor's heart pump out of his chest. He pushed the door open all the way and rushed over to her. He sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his leg.

"Honey, what's wrong?" He asked quietly. She started crying again, grabbing his arm and shoving her face into his chest. He rubbed her back, squeezing her just a bit tighter. She sobbed into his chest, hiccuping as she tried to take in a breathe. "Did you have a nightmare?" He knew she had them some nights, but they were always mild and never shook her this bad.

She took in a deep shaky breath, leaning back so she could look up at her father. "Yes." He brought his hand up to wipe her face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. She shrugged, pushing her face back into his chest. Her shoulders shook as more hiccups came from her. Connor ran his fingers through her hair, hoping to comfort her. You had always been so good at calming her down, he just wasn't sure how. Even after years he still couldn't figure out how humans worked. Maybe it was due to him still being fairly new to emotions, everyone else had an entire life experience chalk full of emotion... he'd get better at this. He had to for Maggie.