Page 59 of We'll Meet Again

“Hope he’s having good dreams,” Ethan said.

“He seems quite peaceful,” Billie remarked, if her nephew’s still face and deep breaths were any indication. “Are you worried?”

“When I was about his age, I started having my first recurring nightmare,” he confessed. “This crazy dream where I was in this dark forest and I was cold…colder than cold. I’m talking bone-chilling. And there were all these explosions around me that I had to dodge. It was real scary. You ever dream anything like that?”

Her stomach twisted into itself the longer he talked, like she had heard this before and it was triggering some deep-rooted fear she hardly dared to acknowledge. It was nothing like her old dream, but it reminded her of that. Somehow, the dreams were connected, his fear a direct counterpart to hers. She was on that floor in her dream because he was in the cold in his. It didn’t make sense, but in her head - or rather, in her heart and soul - it was obvious.

“I…I used to dream I got a letter that made me collapse,” she told him. “I can never remember what it said or who it was from - I mean, no one writes letters anymore - but…whatever it was completely devastated me. It’s why I’m so afraid of…loss, I suppose.”

A month ago, she might have anticipated him thinking it was silly or dramatic, especially compared to his, but she knew him better than that now. Ethan would never judge her. And she found understanding there when she looked into his eyes.

“Sounds intense,” he said. “Do you still have it?”

She shook her head. “Not since I met you.”

“Yeah…come to think of it, I haven’t dreamed mine since I met you either.”

Her chest heaved in a way that would have put a Regency heroine to shame. His eyes flicked down, noticing. He cleared his throat.

“Should we, uh…get these kiddos in bed?”

“Oh, um, yeah, I think so,” she said.

When they rose from the couch, the children stirred awake. Billie almost groaned with frustration, but Ethan thought quickly.

“Y’all ready for a bedtime story?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Liam cried, while his sister kicked her little feet wildly with excitement. She got Billie right in the ribs, but to her own surprise, Billie didn’t mind it.

“Alright, then you gotta get jammies on and teeth brushed,” Ethan said. “Last one to it’s a rotten egg!”

Liam slid off the couch and raced down the hallway, his sister toddling along behind him. Ethan eventually scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. By the time they reached the bathroom, Liam was already at the sink, standing on his toes to get his toothbrush under the water.

“I won!” he cried.

“Hey, good job, bud,” Ethan replied, and offered him a high-five.

Quite a bit more effort went into getting Grace down, as they had to change her diaper, but Billie was impressed to see it didn’t intimidate Ethan at all. He made that little girl giggle through the whole process so it went as smoothly as possible. It was baffling that changing a diaper could look so good. Finally, it was story time.

They all gathered in Billie’s room. Ethan reclined on the bed, and the kids got on either side of him, while Billie looked through the diaper bag for a story.

“Looks like Mum packedGoodnight Moon,” she said. “That alright?” They nodded from their places under Ethan’s arms. She smiled softly. “You want Auntie to read it, or Ethan?”

“Ethan!” they cried in a chorus.

Billie’s mouth fell open. “What? I’ve known you both since the day you were born, and after a few hours he’s your favorite?”

“Areyoua footballer, Auntie?” Liam said.

“No, of course not.”

“Then you’re just not as cool.”

She folded her arms over her chest while Ethan hid a snicker behind his hand. She threw the book at his chest. “Fine.”

He shot her a cheeky look as he opened the book and began reading, his voice smooth and tender. Grace nodded off before he was finished. Liam yawned and snuggled down close, but asked Ethan to read it one more time, and eventually he drifted off as well. Billie watched, turning to absolute mush at the sight. Maybe Stevie had a point about being more into the whole domestic thing when you really cared about someone. Ethan carefully detached himself when the kids were sound asleep, and he pulled Billie’s quilt over their shoulders. Then, he crept over to Billie.

“Do we cut the light off or do they sleep with it on?” he whispered.