"Momma…Momma…" Small hands pushed at Jess's body, trying to wake her up. "MOMMA!" Jess's eyes flew open at the sound of her daughter's yell. "What! Taria…Tari…" She sat up looking around, trying to focus on her surroundings. She blinked several times, trying to fully wake up as her daughter continued to shake her. Jess looked down and realized she was in bed…now confused she looked at the small blond children standing next to the bed. Children…not child…both her children…Screaming with relief she pulled both small bodies to her, kissing and hugging them. "Oh god…oh god you're not…you're ok…" Tears streamed down her face as she held their squirming bodies tight. "Momma you're squeezing me too hard." The small boy wriggled out of his mother's arms and backed away from the bed, frowning as he looked at his mother's tears. He turned and yelled; "Momma's crying! Why's momma crying!" Taria slid free from her mother and looked at her face, "Momma why are you crying? Daddy! Momma's crying!"
"Well, maybe mommy just wanted to sleep in this morning and woke up to an attack by small blond monsters."
Daddy….Jess watched as her children ran over to the doorway; her hand flying to her mouth as Nick walked through the door carrying a breakfast tray. "Oh god…Nickolas…"
Nick's smile faded as he saw his wife sitting up in the bed, her tear-stained face drained of any colour, looking as though she'd just seen a ghost. "Jess? Jessa baby…what is it…" Jess sat silent, shaking her head and sobbed as he set the tray next to her and sat gently on the edge of the bed. Her eyes shifted to her children standing by the door, their hands clenched tight together as they tried to understand what was wrong with their mother. Nick reached up and cupped her face gently in his large hand then turned and looked at his children. "Guys, why don't you go play in the playroom for awhile. Mommy just had a bad dream that's all, she'll be ok." Taria looked questioningly at her mother, then quietly pulled her brother out the door with her.
"The dream again huh?" Nick took Jess's hands in his, rubbing them. Jess closed her eyes briefly then opened them again quickly as the images flooded her mind again. "No…not the same one…it was…" she took a deep breath as she looked into the blueness of Nick's eyes, "It was so much worse…so much more horrible…they came again…and…and they…" Nick squeezed her hands gently, encouraging her to continue. "Nickolas they killed you…they killed you and Corin…they tried to kill Tari…and me…" The tears began again as Jess collapsed against Nick's body, her body shaking as she clutched at him. "Shhhh, baby shhhh it's ok. The babies are ok. I'm ok. It was just a dream. Nobody's going to hurt them. I won't let anyone hurt you, or Corin or Tari…ever." He rocked her slowly and stroked her hair, feeling her calm in his arms until her body finally relaxed and grew limp against him. Gently he laid her back on the bed, brushing the stray strands of auburn hair from her tear-stained face. Moving to the other side of the bed he climbed in next to her, pulling her protectively against him, softly whispering soothing words to his sleeping wife.
"Do you think Momma's dream will come true?" Corin's large blue eyes looked into his sister's violet ones, as the children crouched outside their parent's bedroom door. "Not all her dreams come true Cori. Just the nice ones." Taria hugged her twin reassuringly. Corin hugged her back then stood up, "Okay Tari."
Taria watched her brother run off to play, the bad dream already pushed out of his mind. They were only 5 years old, but Taria seemed so much older sometimes her mother would tell her. An "old soul" is what her father called her. Taria felt things other children her age didn't. She could see things others couldn't. Her parents said she was special because they hadn't even known about her until the day she had surprised everyone by being born. She had spent 9 months hiding behind her brother in her mother's womb, her heartbeat so matched with his that nobody, not even the doctors had known she even existed until she came into the world 2 minutes after her brother. She hadn't come into the world screaming like most babies. She had made a quiet entrance, so quiet that the doctors had been worried until she had taken a breath. Her father swore she'd looked right at him and smiled only minutes after she'd been put in his arms. She was still a quiet girl, full of life, but always seeming to study the world and people surrounding her. And now as she watched her brother run off, she closed her eyes and watched as they killed him and her father. Watched as her mother pulled her away from her brothers' blood covered body and clutched her screaming body against her as she protected her from them. Running into the kitchen, grabbing the knife and hiding in the corner…waiting for them to find them…to take her from her mother…
Only the good ones come true…only the good ones…Taria pulled her knees to her chest and curled up against the door. Only her momma's good dreams came true is what she'd told her brother.
But what about hers…