Finding a Family

Chapter 8

Freddie's POV
I woke up to Juliet on my chest kneading me and meowing quite loudly. "Juliet what is it?" I said groggily. I turned and looked at the clock and saw it was 2:30 in the morning. What on earth could she want, Juliet is never up during the night I thought to myself. I have always been a lighter sleeper than Alan and he didn't even stir at Juliet's meowing. When she noticed that I woke up, Juliet jumped off the bed but still kept meowing. It was as if she wanted me to follow her. She didn't seem to be giving up so I decided to give in and investigate.

I followed Juliet to the hallway and she lead me to Hannah's room where I heard sniffling. I walked in and saw Hannah curled up on her bed crying. "Darling, what's wrong?" I asked softly as I sat on her bed and took her in my arms. "D-dream, bad dream," she replied in a tearful voice. "Aw you had a nightmare?" I asked her gently. "Mmm hmmm, I was scared —— and it was dark. I was too afraid to come looking for you," she told me. I felt horrible. In the hospital we were always at Hannah's bedside in the night. If she had a nightmare we were right there when she woke up but here it's much harder to hear her if she wakes up in the night. I made a mental note to get a baby monitor to put in her room so we could keep a closer eye on her. I rocked her for a bit and heard her tears slow down some. "Do you want to tell me about your dream sweetheart?" I asked her. "M-my other bad Daddy was hitting me. Daddy what if they come find me?" she asked me desperately. "Hannah darling, that's not going to happen. Remember Eliot took them away to jail?" I reassured her. "But what if they find a way out?" she countered. "Darling if that ever happens Papa and I won't let them anywhere near you. Remember last time Papa and I made sure we protected you? " I told her. She seemed to calm down when she heard this.

"Daddy? How did you know to come find me?" Hannah asked through ther tears. "Juliet told me you needed me darling," I replied. "She did? How did she do that," Hannah asked sounding quite surprised. "She told me with her meows. You see, after you have cats for a while you start to learn what their meows mean. Juliet came to my and Papa's room and told me with her meows that you had a bad dream." I told Hannah. "She's a good kitty isn't she?" I went on. Hannah nodded her head and snuggled into my chest. "Daddy, can you please stay with me tonight?" She asked me. "Of course darling, now lay down and close your eyes. Daddy's here now, everything's alright. " I calmed her. As Hannah and I settled in Juliet decided to hop up and make herself comfortable in the corner of the bed. "Good kitty," I told Juliet. Hannah fell asleep in my arms and I followed quickly.

The next morning I woke up to Alan walking into Hannah's room. "Morning darling," I whispered to him, not wanting to wake Hannah. "Morning, what are you doing here?" He whispered back. "Nightmare," I replied. "Ah. Well I'm going to start on breakfast, you coming?" Alan asked me. "No, I don't want her waking up alone. We'll come down when she wakes up," I replied. "Alright," Alan replied smiling. About twenty minutes later Hannah began to stir and woke up. "Good morning sweetheart," I said gently stroking her hair. "Good morning Daddy. Where's Juliet?" Hannah asked me. I let out a bit of a chuckle and replied, "she's right over there, she didn't leave all night," pointing to the corner of the bed. "Daddy where's Papa?" Hannah asked me as she yawned and rubbed her eyes. "He's downstairs making breakfast. Are you hungry baby?" I asked her. "Mmm hmm," she said as she snuggled more into my chest. "Are you still tired darling?" I asked to which she nodded her head yes. "How about we go get some breakfast and then if you're still tired you can have a little nap? Does that sound good?" I asked her. "Okay Dada," she adorably replied.

As I carried her downstairs to the kitchen I could tell she was still tired as she buried her face into my neck. "Good morning," I told Alan as I walked into the kitchen with Hannah, "someone's still a little sleepy." "Aw is that right?" Alan replied. "Do you think you could stay awake long enough for some blueberry pancakes?" Alan asked to which Hannah nodded yes. I set Hannah down while Alan made up a plate for her. Juliet was right by Hannah's side sitting at her feet. Samson tried to get close to Hannah but Juliet wasn't having it and hissed at him; Samson kept his distance after Juliet put her paw down. Hannah jumped a bit when she heard Juliet hiss. "Don't worry darling, she isn't hissing at you. Juliet's just making sure Samson minds his manners," I reassured her. Right on cue Juliet rubbed up on Hannah's leg to reassure Hannah she was still on her side. Alan got us all some pancakes and we sat down to have our breakfast. As Alan and I started eating we both noticed Hannah wasn't touching her food, she just sat there looking at us nervously. "Darling what's wrong, aren't you hungry?" I asked her. Hannah started to breath a little heavy and whimper, Alan seemed to know what was happening right away and jumped by her side and took her in his arms. "Shh shh, it's alright Hannah, no one's going to hurt you for eating here. You don't need to be scared." He soothed her. I knew about Hannah's past but I was bit confused about why she was reacting this way as she wasn't scared to eat dinner last night. Maybe that dream shook her up a bit, I thought to myself. "Come on, have little bite love," Alan said feeding her some pancake. "Is that nice?" I asked her. "Mmm hmm," she replied and she carried on enjoying the rest of her breakfast.

After we finished breakfast Hannah still was sleepy. "How does a nap sound darling," I asked her. Hannah nodded her head and rubbed her eyes. I carried Hannah up to her bed while Alan and her four legged best friend followed. Alan and I tucked her in and kissed her before her nap. As we tried to walk out of the room Hannah grabbed my arm, "Daddy, Papa don't go, what if I have a bad dream again?" Hannah pleaded. "It's alright darling we'll just be in our bedroom, we'll leave the doors open so we'll hear you. And we'll both be awake so we'll come right away, not like last night, okay?" I reassured her. "Okay," she replied and settled in for her nap. Alan and I walked out but I noticed Juliet snuggled up next to Hannah to keep her company.