Tea: That feels good, Todd.

Todd: You liked it when you were sick.

Tea: I like it now, too?

Todd: Can you fall asleep now?

Tea: I think so.

Todd: Okay. Do it!

Tea: Yes, sir.

[Tea moves her head so that it's resting against his and allows the comfort of his loving touch to help her fall into a peaceful sleep.]

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

92
[Several hours later, Tea awakens to the feeling of a hand poking at her arm. She opens her eyes, startled.]

Tea: Starr, sweetie, it's still dark out, why are you up? Did you have a bad dream?

Starr: No, but daddy's having one. I heard him yelling. Why doesn't he sleep in here with you anymore?

[Tea knows that Todd wouldn't want her to give Starr any details about the problems he's been having.]

Tea: I snore sometimes. He must have had trouble sleeping in here. Go back to your room, sweetie, okay? I'll check on your daddy and make sure he's okay. You try to go back to sleep.

Starr: Can I check on daddy with you? I could tell he was downstairs but I didn't want to go down there alone.

Tea: You were right to wake me up first. I think it might be better if I go down by myself, okay?

Starr: Daddy always knows how to make my nightmares go away. Maybe I can make his go away.

Tea: That's very sweet. And, I'm sure that in the morning, your daddy will need lots of hugs, and love, from you, but I think that your daddy would really want you to try to go back to sleep right now, okay?

Starr: Okay. Tell daddy that he can come and watch me sleep if he needs to. I'm not mad anymore so I won't mind.

Tea: Has your daddy watched you sleep before?

Starr: Sure, lots of times, especially when he has bad dreams. But, he doesn't know that I know, so maybe you shouldn't tell him.

[Tea quickly puts on a robe and walks Starr to her bedroom.

As Tea rapidly descends the staircase, she can hear moments of Todd yelling, followed by moments of silence. She wonders how long his nightmare had been going on before Starr heard him. She hates the idea of him suffering for so long.

Tea cautiously approaches the closed door of the downstairs bedroom. She knows that Todd doesn't want her near him while he's having a nightmare, fearing that he may unintentionally hurt her again. She can't allow him to continue in the agony she can clearly tell that he's currently in, though.

Tea tries knocking on the door but that doesn't reach through Todd's nightmare and he continues sporadically yelling. Even with the door closed she can hear him thrashing around on the bed.

Not being able to take his suffering anymore, she slowly opens the door. She sees him in the dim light of the room. His body is thrashing around, just as she had suspected. From what she can see of his face, he appears to be grimacing. It hurts her to see how much pain his mind puts him through. She hates that he was put through so much pain when he was a child and now has to go through it all over again in his nightmares.

She knows his nightmare is about his childhood. Even without any specific indicators, she knows that the person he's yelling at is his father.

Tea tries not to speak too loudly, not wanting to cause Starr any more concern.]

Tea: Todd? Todd? You're having a nightmare, Todd. Wake up.

[Todd continues fighting his invisible demons and screaming out to them to stop and leave him alone.

Tea raises her voice some, trying to pierce his nightmare and bring him back to reality.]

Tea: Todd? Querido, wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up, Todd?

Todd (yelling): You bastard. I'll kill you myself before I let you touch her.

Tea (raising her voice even louder): Todd, you're having a nightmare. You need to wake up right now. Todd?

Todd (with panic in his voice): Get away from her. Get away from her.

[Tea finally gives up and starts yelling herself, feeling it's the only chance she has of waking him without entering the room and touching him. She knows that he wouldn't want her to risk her own safety, trying to physically remove him from his nightmare.]

Tea: Todd? Listen to my voice, Todd. Wake up. Right now, wake up.

Todd (still yelling as his nightmare continues): Delgado, run! Run! Don't let him get you. Run! Run, Delgado. Run faster.

Tea: Todd, he can't hurt me. You're having a nightmare. Open your eyes and you'll wake up. Todd, open your eyes and the nightmare will be over. Please, wake up, Todd.

[Todd suddenly takes a sharp breath as his eyes fly open. He's breathing heavily and his pulse is racing. He feels panicked as he feels unable to breathe properly. For several moments, Todd feels disoriented as his mind tries to decipher between his nightmare and reality. It's Tea's voice that finally brings him completely back to reality.]

Tea: Todd, are you okay?

[Todd immediately turns his head in the direction of her voice.]

Todd: Delgado? What...

[Todd feels nauseous as pieces of his nightmare come back to him. Images and feelings that he doesn't want to have threaten him.]

Tea: Todd, it's okay. You were having a nightmare. You're okay now. Is it okay if I come in?

Todd: What?

Tea: Is it okay if I come into the room with you?

[Todd sits up on the side of the bed and runs his fingers through his hair. He's surprised to find it damp from perspiration.]

Todd: What are you doing here, Delgado?

Tea: We're in our home...on Llantano mountain, remember?

Todd: I know where we are, Tea. I haven't lost my mind. I told you to stay away from me when I'm having a nightmare. I can't trust you. I'm putting a lock on that door.

Tea: I needed to wake you up, Todd. You were in agony.

Todd: So? You let me suffer, Tea. You don't risk yourself, or our kid. Oh, no, Starr... Was I yelling a lot? Do you think she heard me?

[Tea knows that it won't be what he wants to hear but she feels that she needs to tell him the truth.]

Tea: I know that she did. She woke me up because she heard your yelling and was worried about you.

Todd: No. Please, tell me you're lying.

Tea: It's okay, Todd. She understands. She's had nightmares, too.

Todd: She's a little kid. She's supposed to have them.

Tea: Everyone has nightmares, Todd. I'm coming in.

[Tea slowly enters the room and sits down on the bed. Even though she wants to touch him and physically comfort him right now, she doesn't want to touch him until she knows that he's okay with it.]

Todd: I wanted to keep this stuff from her. Even when I'm sleeping, I screw everything up.

Tea: It's okay, Todd.

Todd: I'm supposed to be strong. I'm supposed to be the guy who scares all of her monsters away. Now she'll know how I weak I am.

Tea: Having a nightmare does not make you weak. It makes you human.

Todd: Exactly...weak.

Tea: Todd, it's late. I don't feel like fighting with you about how being human is a good thing.

Todd: Delgado...

[Todd lowers his head to her lap, too exhausted to fight his need to be comforted by her. Tea strokes his damp hair, wishing she knew how to make his pain go away permanently so he wouldn't have to continue to be tortured on a constant basis.]

Tea: Do you remember your nightmare? Do you want to tell me about it?

Todd: No.

Tea: No, you don't remember? Or, no, you don't want to tell me about it?

Todd: Yes.

[Tea smiles. He's an exasperating man, but he's her exasperating man.]

Tea: I love you, Todd.

Todd: Maybe we could build another building for me to sleep in so I don't disturb everyone anymore.

Tea: I don't even want you to sleep in a different room, Todd. I certainly don't want you to sleep in different building.

Todd: I hate that bastard. Why can't he just leave me alone? He got enough out of me when I was a kid. Why can't he leave me alone now.

Tea: I don't know. I wish I could make him leave you alone, Todd. I wish I knew how.

Todd: Was Starr really scared?

Tea: She was concerned.

Todd: We're really lucky she didn't come down here herself. She didn't, did she?

Tea: No. She came and woke me up instead.

Todd: Good. She's a smart kid.

Tea: She gets that from her daddy.

Todd: I'm not smart. I came back, didn't I?

Tea: That was smart, Todd. It was the right thing for all of us. You need us and we need you.

Todd: You don't need this, Tea. Starr certainly doesn't need this.

Tea: Starr is fine. She's probably back to sleep by now.

Todd: All of her monsters will probably be running wild in her dreams now because she thinks I'm too weak to kick their butts and keep them away from her.

Tea: Let's go upstairs and check on her. You'll see that she's fine.

Todd: I don't want her to see me like this. I'm a mess.

Tea: We'll wait a few minutes, until you feel better. Take some deep breaths. Everything will be okay.

[For several minutes they're silent. Tea continues to stroke his hair as he closes his eyes and tries to force himself to feel calmer.

Tea notices movement outside the door and strains to look closer and is surprised to see Starr at a distance, watching them.]

Tea (whispering): Todd, Starr's watching us.

[Todd quickly sits up, hating the idea that his daughter just saw him so weak.]

Tea (raising her voice slightly so Starr will hear her): Starr, sweetie, did you have trouble falling back to sleep?

Starr: I wanted to see if daddy was okay.

[Todd is touched that she still cares, but he still hates that she sees him as a weak person now.

He takes a deep breath and hopes that his voice will sound calm.]

Todd: Shorty, I'm fine. It must have been that noodle-less lasagna we had for dinner. I guess it didn't agree with me. Do you want Tee to go back to your room with you and sit with you for a while so you can fall asleep again?

Starr: I can do it myself.

Todd: I'm sure she wouldn't mind.

Starr: Tee can stay with you.

Todd: Tee should probably go back to bed herself. Right, Tee?

Tea: I will very soon. I'll look in on you when I come up in a few minutes, okay, Starr?

Starr: Okay.

[Starr starts to leave, but when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she turns back and walks closer to the bedroom than she was before. When she reaches the doorway, she stops.]

Starr: Daddy?

Todd: Yes, Starr?

Starr: Don't the monster traps work on your monsters like they do on mine?

Todd: Adults have different monsters, Shorty. The monster traps don't work on them as well.

Starr: Then you should get traps for adult monsters.

Todd: I'll look into that.

[Starr starts to leave but again turns back.]

Starr: Daddy, what do your monsters look like?

Todd: I don't know. They look like monsters, I guess.

Starr: Can you see their faces?

Todd: Yeah, I can see their faces.

Starr: Do they look like your daddy?

[Both Todd and Tea are stunned by Starr's question. Tea is also stunned by Todd's response.]

Todd: Yeah, Starr, they look just like my daddy.

Starr: I'm glad I never met your daddy. I don't think I would have liked him.

Todd: I'm glad that you never meet him, too. He didn't deserve a great kid like you for a granddaughter.

Starr: Daddy?

Todd: Yeah, Shorty?

Starr: My monsters don't look anything like you.

Todd: Good. I'm glad. Thank you for telling me.

Starr: Daddy, you can come upstairs and sit by my bed until I fall asleep and then you can share Tee's room again. She doesn't snore that loud.

[Todd laughs, realizing the lie that Tea must have used to explain why they weren't sharing a room tonight.]

Todd: You haven't heard it up close, like I have. It's deafening.

Tea: Okay, enough about my snoring. We all need to get back to sleep. Come with us, Todd, you can tuck both of your girls back in. We all have a big day tomorrow.

Starr (excited): Are we going shopping?

Todd: No. No way. The two of you are not dragging me into one of those horror chambers again.

Tea: Starr, I think you and I will need to work on your father tomorrow, don't you?

Starr: We can make his favorite breakfast.

Tea: That sounds like a good plan. He'll be putty in our hands.

[Todd grumbles outwardly but secretly enjoys the lighter feeling passing between all of them. Even though he still wishes that he could have kept Starr protected from his nightmares, he does feel like he's carrying less of a burden now. He still doesn't want her to know the details of his childhood, though. He still wants to keep her far away from those old horrors that still haunt him.

The Manning family go upstairs together. Tea leaves Todd and Starr alone. Todd feels good as he spends several minutes sitting with Starr before she falls asleep. He's relieved that she's speaking to him again and that she doesn't seem upset about his nightmare, like he feared she would be.

After Starr falls asleep, Todd checks on Tea. He finds her already asleep. He sits with her for the remainder of the night. It isn't until she awakens early in the morning that he finally allows himself to fall asleep again.]

to be continued...

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