Summary: Lucious hasn't forgotten what happened at the Christmas singalong. Will he let bygones be bygones, or will the Lyon remind everybody who's king?
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Like many combat veterans, Malcolm suffered from night terrors. His nightmares came in one of three flavors. The mildest ones were general dreams that most people had - falling off a building, being chased by a serial killer and so on. He would wake up, shake them off and go back to sleep, the same as anybody else.
The more disturbing dreams had to do with Malcolm's time in combat and his years as a Navy SEAL. Malcolm would bolt upright in bed on those nights breathing heavily or trembling, eyes vacant and fists tightly clenched. Anika would coax Malcolm back to sleep using whatever means were at her disposal - with words, with touches, with kisses, with her body. Whatever it took to soothe Malcolm's soul.
On nights when Anika woke up in a sweat-soaked, empty bed, she knew that Malcolm was having his darkest dreams. Anika never asked Malcolm what he dreamed about on nights like those, and Malcolm never told her. He only sought comfort in one person after his most intense nightmares, the ones he couldn't even speak about.
Bella, won't you marry me?
Twelve months I have been at sea.
Underneath the stars above
You and I will pledge our love
Bella, won't you marry me?
Twelve months I have been at sea...
Many combat veterans had access to service pets, but Malcolm was blessed to have a service baby. Walking around the nursery or the guest house or the mansion halls, Malcolm would hold Bella in his arms and work to calm himself, watching her sleep if she wasn't awake and singing to her if she wasn't asleep. Singing lullabies to Bella helped regulate Malcolm's breathing and steady his steps, and Bella loved Malcolm's singing voice as much as she loved his reading voice.
Tonight, Bella was awake. Even better, there were no nightmares causing Malcolm to sing to his favorite little girl. The two of them were relaxing on the hammock outside the nursery, where Anika and Malcolm had fallen asleep after a delicious lovemaking session that left Anika apprivoisée in every language and every definition of the word.
Bella, won't you marry me?
Twelve months I have been at sea...
"Da-da-da-da," Bella sang along. Malcolm didn't bother correcting her anymore, and neither did Anika. It had become a chore, for Bella would whine and double down any time Anika or Malcolm tried to correct her. "Dada!" she would cry, her chubby arms reaching for Malcolm. "Dada!!!" It was a terrible thing, Anika knew, but in Bella's mind, Anika was Mommy, Malcolm was Daddy and Hakeem was just some guy. "Maybe," Malcolm said slowly. "Maybe I can be your dada someday. What do you think, Anika?" he added over his shoulder as Anika stood quietly behind them.
How in the world...? One day, when Anika finally broke free of Lucious's chokehold, she could see it happening, maybe. For now, Anika sidestepped the question. "So tell me more about this award you're receiving tomorrow," Anika prompted. "This award for your work that I know absolutely nothing about."
Malcolm sat up and shifted over to let Anika sit down, placing Bella between the two of them. "Not a lot to tell," Malcolm answered. "It's for the work I've done with veterans over at WOKE with Angelo. I wasn't even planning to go until a couple of days ago."
"Why not?"
Malcolm shrugged. "What difference would it make if I couldn't take you as my guest?"
"Because I know how important this must be to you." Anika kissed Malcolm's cheek lightly. "After everything that's happened, you still don't want to talk about your PTSD work with me. And now you're getting an award for it."
YOU ARE READING
The Light of the World (Cookie/Lucious, Anika/Malcolm), an Empire fanfic
Fanfiction"Are you sleeping with my wife?" A Lyon and a SEAL go head-to-head. It's all downhill from there...and it all started with a sheep.
