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“MOMMA! MAMA! HELP!”
Beca was up like a shot, scrambling towards Charlie’s bedroom as her heart pounded against her ribs. She had been sound asleep, but the minute her son’s anguished cry had come from his room she was awake.
“Ah shit!” Beca grunted as she accidentally rounded the corner far too quickly, running into the sharp joint of the wall at full force, shoulder first. She hissed as she clutched at it, Chloe having caught up to her as she’d stumbled out of bed after her.
“Baby?”
“M’good.” Beca shook her head, “Go see Charlie, I’ll be right in.”
Chloe frowned but listened to Beca when she heard Charlie call out for them again. Chloe opened his bedroom door to find Charlie curled into a tight ball against the wall his bed rested on, blue eyes full of tears as he made grabby hands towards her.
“Hey Charlie, what’s the matter?” Chloe gently climbed onto the bed next to him, Charlie launching into her outstretched arms and sobbing into her chest, “It’s okay, mama’s got you.”
“You- you forgots the n-nightlight…” Charlie sobbed, “I- it was dark, there’s monsters in the d-dark. And- and there was a b-bang on the window, and- and-”
“Oh Charlie…” Chloe frowned as she kissed the top of his head, rubbing his back as she tried to soothe him, “That’s my fault, I’m so sorry, I must have forgotten to when I tucked you in…”
“D-don’t like dark…” Charlie wept, his little hands gripping Chloe’s pyjama top as tight as he could, “Scary monsters hide in dark.”
“It’s okay little man.” Beca joined them, smiling at her son as she gingerly sat on the bed next to him, Chloe looking at her in concern but Beca waved her off, “I just did monster patrol and there’s no-one here. Just you, me, momma and Brooke. That’s it, I promise.”
“You didn’t check in here…” Charlie whimpered fearfully, “What if they’re hiding?!”
Beca grunted softly as she got off the bed, holding her arm awkwardly as Chloe watched her carefully. She opened Charlie’s closet, checked in his drawers, even lowered herself onto the floor and checked under his bed (with a great amount of difficulty) before re-joining them on the bed.
“Not a single monster in here Charlie, I promise.” Beca kissed his head, Charlie looking up at her as her heart ached. She hated seeing her son so upset.
“Pinkie pwomise?” Charlie whispered, holding out his little finger as Beca hooked hers with his.
“Pinkie promise.” Beca nodded, grinning broadly at him. It was a trick they had taught both Brooke and Charlie from the second they could understand it properly; pinkie promises couldn’t be broken, they were the ultimate binding contract. So when Beca pinkie promised Charlie that there were no monsters, that meant there were no monsters.
“O-okay.” Charlie huffed, resting his head in the crook of Chloe’s neck, “Thanks momma.”
“Is everything okay?”
Beca looked up to see Brooke stood in the doorway, rubbing at her eye sleepily, hair tussled. She smiled at her, heart warming to think that Brooke had come to check on her brother.
“Yeah, Charlie just had a little scare in the dark that’s all.” Beca stroked Charlie’s hair as she reassured Brooke too.
“Oh.” Brooke frowned a little, “Wait here.”
Beca watched in bemusement as Brooke turned on her heel, hearing her feet padding back towards her bedroom. She turned to Chloe who had moved in closer to her, Charlie between them as they continued to soothe him.
“Becs, are you okay?” Chloe whispered softly in her ear.
“I uh… I think I need to go to the ER…” Beca grinned sheepishly, tone soft so that Charlie wouldn’t overhear them and panic, “Pretty sure I’ve dislocated my shoulder.”
“Oh baby…” Chloe sighed, worry tugging at her expression, “Do you want me to take you?”
“No.” Beca shook her head, “Stay here with the kids, no sense in having all of us sat in the ER all night. I messaged Stacie when I was in the hall, she’s gonna take me, she was already up anyway.”
“Okay…” Chloe mumbled, pressing a kiss to Beca’s cheek, careful not to put any weight against her sore arm, “If you’re sure.”
“I am.” Beca nodded, “And hey, at least you know the lengths that I’ll go to protect our kids.”
Chloe giggled as she shook her head at Beca, her attention drawn to the doorway where Brooke stood again, arms full of a selection of her stuffed animals.
“Brooke? What’re you doing?”
“I brought them to protect Charlie.” Brooke shrugged, starting to set them one at a time in a half circle around Charlie’s bed, “They used to do the same for me when I was scared of the dark, but I’m not anymore so they can help Charlie instead!”
Beca thought her heart was going to burst as she watched Brooke set out her toys for Charlie, forgetting all about the pain in her shoulder for a moment. It was hard to believe this was the same kid that had thrown the tantrum of the century upon finding out that she was going to have to share her momma’s with a boy.
“That’s a great idea Brookes.” Beca beamed, looking down at her phone as it beeped with a notification, “Hey, do you mind helping momma make Charlie feel better? I just have to go out for a little bit to help Auntie Stacie with something.”
“Yeah.” Brooke nodded with a big grin, getting onto the bed where Beca had just been sat, “I got it mom!”
“Good girl.” Beca kissed Brooke’s head, then Charlie’s, and finally Chloe’s, “I’ll keep you updated.”
“You’d better.” Chloe arched her eyebrow a little, “Love you clutz.”
“Love you too,”
When Beca returned home, a staggering six hours later (apparently Wednesday nights were the ‘it’ night for their local ER) she found her family curled up on Charlie’s small bed, Chloe frowning sleepily as she saw Beca stood in the doorway, both Charlie and Brooke curled up into her front, Brooke cuddling Charlie from behind.
“That bad huh?” Chloe whispered, eyes flicking from Beca’s face to the sling her arm was now in.
“Yeah… I was right.” Beca shrugged her good shoulder, “They gave me the good painkillers though.”
Chloe giggled softly, looking down at the sleeping children in her arms, “I’d come and kiss it better, but I’m kinda busy right now.”
“You look so cute there.” Beca hummed, a dopey smile on her face, “My cute little family… I hope they stay this small forever. Can we do that, is there something we can do about that?”
“No Becs.” Chloe laughed; Beca was clearly on a lot of pain killers right now, “Sorry…”
“Aw…” Beca pouted, sinking onto the end of the bed, “But they’re not gonna need me to save them from monsters and the dark for much longer, then what am I supposed to do?!”
“There’ll be plenty for you to do yet Beca.” Chloe reached out her hand and took Beca’s squeezing it softly, “Don’t you worry about that.”