Hiraeth [GxG]

Chapter 15

The kids have had the same nightmare every night for the past couple of weeks. It's gotten so bad that they won't sleep in their own bedrooms anymore. Instead, they will only sleep in the bed with Emma and me. Even when they sleep in between us, they still wake up, still the same nightmare. The worst part about it all is that they won't tell us what the dreams are about.

Over the past couple of weeks, Alyx and Aleksey have become more clingy towards Emma and especially me. They almost refuse to go to school and have been begging to be homeschooled. I can't even go to the bathroom without them either in there with me or just right outside the door.

Aleksey has even become very affectionate. He always wants hugs and cuddles. He always wants to give my hand heartbeat squeezes. He has always hated physical touch, hugs, hand-holding, everything, but now it's all different. Emma and I are so concerned and want to help the twins, but we don't know what to do. How can we know what to do if we don't even know what's wrong?

To be honest, I haven't really been sleeping at night, and I don't think Emma has either. So pretty much every night for the past two weeks, I have just been lying awake, paying close attention to the twins' heartbeats and breathing patterns, listening for when the nightmare starts. All of this in hopes that I'll catch it as soon as it starts, so they won't have to go through much more of the nightmare.

I just wish I could take it all away. I can't cure people of nightmares, but I can always take away the emotional pain. But, of course, Emma has explicitly warned me that if I tried to do so, she was going to call my mom and have her stay with us. The last thing I need is my mom and wife conspiring against me. My mom would definitely keep me in check, though. So Emma using my mom as a threat was a good move on her part.

I don't know; maybe I should just call my mom anyway. Have her stay and help with the kids for at least a few days. It will help Emma and me be able to get work done. Oh my god, I wouldn't have to worry about cooking either. Plus, I'm sure Emma will feel better knowing my mom is here to make sure I don't do anything rash. So, it's a win-win-win situation.

"Hey, mom!" I am so glad my mom picked up on the first ring, or I would have probably chickened out on asking her.

"Hey, Mija. What's up?" I sighed out before answering.

"I had a question." I was so anxious, and I had no idea why.

"And what is your question?" By this point, I had been chewing on my lip so much; I started tasting my own blood.

"So, the kids have had this recurring nightmare for the past couple of weeks. We all have barely gotten any sleep. They won't leave our sides, they are almost refusing to go to school and pretty much demand to be homeschooled at this point. To make a long story short, it's a bit hectic here right now. Is there any way you could come stay with us for a few days?" My mother starting tsking at me through the phone.

"Mija, you should have called me sooner. I'll be there after work, and don't worry about picking up the kids. I'll do it. You just focus on getting some work done right now and maybe just take some time to relax." I sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much, mom. I'll see you later on. I love you." I seriously am so lucky to have her as a mom.

"I love you too, Mija. See you later." With that, we hung, and I did a little victory dance. At least, I think this is a small victory. I need to get through my work as quickly as possible, so I have at least thirty minutes alone to myself.

It's definitely been hard juggling work, the construction of my new work building, being a wife, and being a mom. Why did I ever want to grow up when I was younger? What made me think it was a good idea? Back then, it was one of the only things I could think of to get me away from the monster that was supposed to be my dad. At the same time, I also dreamt of being older mainly because I didn't know if I would live to be older. Living with that monster made me question if I was going to die young and if my mother was going to die along with me.