adopted

A restless night was upon the house.

The little girl woke up from her sleep in the middle of the night, almost shaking from the fright her dream brought. 

She turned around to see her room lit up slightly from the small night light. She looked around to see if the monster in her dreams followed her into her room and she calmed down as she realized she was alone. But in seconds, she once again started to feel restless as she needed someone else’s company. 

She threw her legs over and hopped from her bed. She was careful as to not make a sound. As if her light steps could be heard, she tiptoed to the door. She peeked her head into the hallway. She looked around for a while before she decided to head for the room she had in mind.

She did the same thing as she reached the room ; reached the door that was ajar and peeked into the room. 

At first, she couldn’t see much as this room was not lit up by a night light but as she tiptoed her way into the room, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could now see the outline of the bed and the person in it. 

As she got closer, she noticed that the person was shaking a little bit. She thought he was having a nightmare too. She thought the monster that chased her around in her dreams was now in his. 

So she quickly reached the bed to save him from the monster. She hopped on the bed and threw her little arms around him.

And in a second, all his nightmares disappeared. Any thought that kept him awake, any demon that was whispering to him that he didn’t belong. He was the outsider. That they would someday decide they didn’t like him that much. 

All of it vanished as those little arms circled him. As if those arms were the words of the angels, reminding him that this was his family. That his family loved him without a doubt and would be there forever. 

His crying stopped, his heart came to an ease. The girl squeezed him as she kept saying that she would protect him from the monster. She did it once and she would do it again for him. 

He turned around to hug the little girl. He thanked her quietly and told her how scared he was. 

The girl hugged him better as she reminded him how he always protected her and she could do it this once. She asked him if he wanted her to stay here to sleep tonight in case the monster came back. 

“I would like that Clem. Thank you.”

“I like sleeping here. You give the best hugs.”

He smiled to himself, finally feeling happy completely. He looked at the little girl snoring softly, her arms falling from around him.

But this time, he hold her to him. 

He fell asleep as she listened to his sister snore on top of him. He expected to feel uncomfortable like always but he felt content and glad that she was here. Reminding him that they were indeed a family.