Dan and Phil Prefs

Are You Sleeping?

"You hold while I beat... That sounded wrong."

Dan: Dan was quite pleased with himself as it was his first day alone with your sister's daughter. He hadn't upset her and nor had he contributed to a disaster of any sort that would cause more stress for you.

Your sister had gotten into an accident that left her with excessive bodily damage meaning her child would be staying with the two of you as she underwent surgery in the presence of her husband. And since she began to recover nicely and would finally be waking from the heavy stupor her medication caused, you wanted to be present as well.

When you first mentioned it to Dan, his eyes widened and he quickly opened his mouth to give you dozens of "Of course!" confirmations, reminding you shortly after that you didn't have ask him for permission for anything. But after you packed yourself a night bag, gave him a verbal summary of how to care for your niece, then kissed them goodbye, Dan realized just how lost he was.

To his benefit, your niece was only four years old, so it didn't take but a snack, a toy, or the t.v. to keep her occupied and there was nothing that a CapriSun couldn't fix. In fact, just hours after your departure, Dan found himself having quite a bit of fun just talking to her as he prepared her lunch, marveling at her growing capacity and successes with communicating back to him. She seemed to be having a ball as well as she had always enjoyed being around a fresh face. Though most of the playtime included her little hands making grabby motions for things that were out of reach and were not supposed to be in her possession anyway, it all still brought a smile to Dan's face, chasing her around in a crouched position and trying to either grab her or the haphazard item itself before she got to it.

All the playtime ended early– earlier than what Dan was used to, but the child had worn him out. The combination of the daytime activities and the thirty minutes he spent at her bedside stroking her hair until her eyes wouldn't pop open when he stopped had drained him of his remaining bit of energy. After removing his shirt and retiring to the bed the two of you shared, he turned off the lamp on the nightstand and proceeded to hold his phone over his face, scrolling through each of his apps until at least a bit of sleepiness could overtake him.

Just as Dan opened his messages, one that you had sent him that he read in your voice, the door to the bedroom slowly creaked open revealing the small silhouette of a child. Of course, his fears trumped his logic and his heart started to prepare him for an attack or an escape from some kind of night demon he imagined. But then, the familiarly timid, precious voice spoke up.

"Are you sleeping?" your niece asked him with earnest concern as she slowly shuffled toward the bed.

Dan's body relaxed tremendously as he quickly sat up to look down at her, the duvet falling from his bare chest. "No, I'm not sleeping," he answered sweetly in the gentlest voice possible. Using his phone's flashlight as a quick light for the room, he placed it down on the bed and opened his arms, welcoming the little girl and assisting her to his bedside with a soft grunt. "There we go. Are you having trouble sleeping too?" When she nodded with her thumb secured between her lips, he brought her more into his side, smoothing her hair from her face. "Don't worry. I'm scared of the dark too, so we'll just leave this on," he said with an embarrassed chuckle in reference to his phone's flashlight.

He moved the phone from the bed to the nightstand then turned his concern back to your niece, rearranging the pillows as he made more room for her small body to lie down. "All good? Do you want any juice before we go to sleep?"

"No thank you," she mumbled simply, curling more into his side.

"Okay," Dan merely whispered, internally relieved that he would have another sweet soul to hold through the night until you returned.

Phil: As soon as your son was old enough to walk and talk, family time almost became a religion to Phil. Every week, he would set aside at least a couple of hours to spend with the two of you whether it meant watching a moving or playing a new family game. Though this week, the week of Phil's return to BBC radio with Dan, was clearly a rather busy week for trying to keep such a tradition. The show was back and more extensive, running three times a week for hours every morning. And though Phil loved it and was excited, he steadily returned home with less of an ability to stay awake.

The new routine that week had implemented itself with Phil coming home to greet the two of you then hanging out with your son as a meal was prepared or ordered. But soon after that, Phil would be out like a light, his tummy full and his body sprawled across either one of the sofas or the mattress. You and your son didn't take it personally, knowing he was often exhausted and was doing his absolute best to spend as much time at home and awake as possible, so the two of you would simply further assist him by waking him up to remove his contacts and get out of his work clothing.

Tonight, however, Phil must have lit a fire beneath his rump and had a sip of an energy drink of sorts because as soon as he returned from work, he burst through the doors, his eyes looking the most lively they had all week.

"Who's ready for movie night?" he cheered just as your son came bounding toward his father, his head falling against Phil's legs and arms wrapping around his knees as Phil crouched to kiss his forehead. "I think he's ready for movie night," Phil confirmed with a chuckle then grinned as you approached him for a kiss on the lips.

"Well," you said between a couple of small kisses. "I was just about to make dinner, but I'll make some popcorn instead."

"Sounds good. We'll help as soon as we get our hands washed," Phil agreed then allowed his son to stand on his feet as he carefully started to waddle them toward the bathroom.

As promised, the two of them did return to help you pop the popcorn and even changed into their cute little matching Batman and Superman pajama sets along the way. Phil still seemed to be full of energy as he grabbed a few other snacks, blankets, and headed toward the den to set up the movie, but because you had noticed his contacts were no longer in and he was sporting his thick frames instead, you were starting to believe he was only preparing himself for the inevitable.

When the movie started, Phil was still going quite strong, pointing out all your son's favorite characters to him and making predictions. But when half an hour passed, he began to lean his head against the back of the couch and stay more quiet, struggling to keep his eyelids from falling over. Eventually, your son had noticed too in one of Phil's weakest moments. His head of soft ginger hair leaned forward from his comfy spot on the couch and peered over at his dad, studying the rested features of his sleeping face.

"Daddy?.. Are- Are you sleeping?" he asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

At the sound of his son's voice, Phil stirred before opening his eyes, and his lips curved into a sheepish smile. "Hmm? No, I'm not sleeping. I promise. I'm watching the movie! Look, um... Nightwing just jumped over the car!" he said, pointing to the screen.

However, you weren't convinced and neither was your son. "Nuh uh! You were sleeping!" he pointed out again, crawling over to Phil's lap and placing himself on it. He stared at Phil with a slight pout before taking it upon himself to remove Phil's glasses.

"What are you doing, poppet?" he laughed as his glasses were placed on the coffee table. "I need those to see."

"Mummy says you can't wear your glasses to sleep or they'll get broken." Phil was just about to ask him what made him believe he would go to sleep, but the blanket he had was getting pulled up to his chin and his son's tiny hands settled over his eyes, making him let out a loud laugh. "Shh... You need to go to sleep, daddy."

"Okay, okay..." Phil finally surrendered with a wide smile as he removed the small hands from his eyes then hoisted his son up and stood in one fluid motion. "I'll go to sleep right after I tuck you in."