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It’s the sound of small feet against hardwood floors that pull Nico from her slumber. The sound barely reaches her ears from where they scurry along at the end of the hall, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t take much to wake Nico, not anymore. Not since running away and losing everything she’d ever known. It doesn’t bother her, not anymore, because she knows what will come after the small footsteps getting closer and closer to her bedroom door. Nico left the door just slightly open when she went to bed and the owner of the little feet uses that to her advantage, pushing the door open wide enough for her small figure to slip through. Nico isn’t surprised to hear the door creak open, her daughter has done the same thing every night since Karolina had to go.
“Mama?” A tiny voice questions and Nico leans up on her elbow as her daughter approaches the bed.
“What’s up, Bug?” Nico questions softly, blinking a few times as her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. Nico’s right leg slides across the bed, under the blankets, and Nico knows she won’t find the warmth she wants to be there, considering Karolina had been on the other side of the country for the past week for business, but the absence of it makes her shiver anyway. Pushing that away, Nico focuses on her daughter.
“I scared, Mama.” Amelia’s blue eyes are wide, wet with unshed tears. Her blonde hair is messy and half-spilling out of the braid Nico had pulled it into hours before when she put Amelia to bed. She has her stuffed monkey, Olaf, under one arm. (Nico still wasn’t sure why the monkey was named that, since Olaf was a snowman, but she let it be.)
“C’mere, little one,” Nico shifts in bed until she can lean over and pick Amelia up. She burrows into her mother’s chest, her thumb moving towards her mouth until Nico’s hand covers it, with Olaf still held tightly in her grasp. They’d been trying to get her to drop that habit for weeks. “Did you have a bad dream?”
Amelia shakes her head and Nico frowns. There’s not much that scares her daughter, at least not that she’ll admit too. She’s stubborn that way, always ready to take on whatever comes her way. She’s like her mom that way. She’s like her mom in a lot of ways, actually, the spitting image of Karolina right down to the pink-blue lights she produces when she’s not wearing the special bracelet wrapped around her wrist.
“Did you hear something?” Nico asks, her frown deepening when Amelia shakes her head no for the second time. Nico hums, deep in her chest, rubbing a soothing hand down her daughter’s back as she considers what may have scared her daughter. She knows they house is secure. That was one of the benefits of inheriting a multi-billion-dollar cooperation that specialized in home security and AI. Very few people had access to their home, and there was only one person who could enter the house without Nico knowing about it, and Nico knew Amelia wouldn’t be scared if that happened since it meant Mommy would be home.
“Did you see something?” Amelia doesn’t respond right away, but then she nods slowly. Nico hums thoughtfully and rubs her back again. “Where did you see it?”
“My room.” Amelia answers in a hushed voice.
“Can you show me?” Nico kisses her daughter’s forehead, keeping her secure against her chest as she climbs out of bed. Amelia readjusts against her once Nico is on her feet, turning her face towards Nico’s neck and reaching with her free hand for the color of Nico’s shirt. The floor is cold under Nico’s toes and she shivers slightly as the cool air of the house drifts across the length of her legs left exposed from her shorts.
Mother and daughter make the short journey from the master bedroom to Amelia’s room in comfortable silence. Amelia’s already drifting off against Nico’s shoulder as they creep into the room. Nico’s almost positive that whatever had scared Amelia was just her imagination going into overdrive, as she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the room. Amelia’s blankets were pulled back on the arguably way too big for a three-year-old bed that rested centered against the back wall. Her toys were neatly tucked away in their designated spots, something that both Nico’s wife and daughter insisted on, and her numerous books lined the shelves on the wall. Not a hair was out of place, at least as far as Nico can tell.
“What did you see, Bug?” Nico asks softly as she perches on the edge of her daughters’ bed. The room is dark, but not quite as dark as the master bedroom. Amelia’s lighter curtains allow more moonlight in but, Nico notices as she surveys the room, the monkey night-light that usually adorns the wall across from Amelia’s bed is out.
“A monster,” Amelia whispers, peaking over Nico’s shoulder before ducking back down and nestling closer to her mother.
“A monster?” Nico turns slightly in an attempt to find what her daughter is seeing that she can’t. She’s not facing the window anymore, but she sees the shadows on the walls. Keeping Amelia in her arms, Nico rises and approaches the window, watching as the shadows change when Nico moves into their path. Nico moves back to the bed, laying down with Amelia against her chest so she can see what her daughter saw when she woke up. “Oh, I see.”
The tree from the backyard casted a blob like shadow on the wall, the leaves blowing in the wind making it seem like some sort of moving creature.
“I told you Mama. It’s a monster.” Amelia keeps her voice at a low whisper that Nico almost has to strain to hear.
“It’s not a monster, little one.” Nico assures her softly. “It’s a shadow from the tree outside.”
“Shadow monster.” Amelia states and she trembles slightly in Nico’s arms. Nico feels out of her element, Karolina was normally the one to soothe Amelia when she was scared of the dark or shadows on the wall. “Shadow monster scary.”
“I know it looks that way, sometimes,” Nico begins thoughtfully, “but not all shadows are scary.”
“Not scary?” Amelia sits up slightly to look at her mother’s face, searching for any hint of doubt. Nico makes sure her expression is nothing but open and loving. It’s not hard when she’s looking at her daughter.
“Not scary.” Nico promises. “They can be, but shadows can also be fun, and beautiful.”
“How?” Amelia’s curious eyes met Nico’s and Nico smiles at her.
“I’ll show you. Do you think you can wait right here for me?” Amelia looks over at the shadow on her wall nervously before nodding the affirmative. Nico kisses her head and makes sure Amelia is settled in the bed with Olaf and not looking at the scary shadow. “I’ll be right back, Bug.”
Nico hurries down the hall, bypassing her home office and heading towards the stairs. She knows she left a flashlight in the small storage room near the back of the house when she had been searching for Karolina’s luggage the week before she left. She hurries to the room, finding the flashlight exactly where she left it on top of the smallest stack of totes in the room. She clicks it on, satisfied that battery works, and then heads back upstairs.
Amelia is sitting in the same spot that Nico left her in when she returns to the room, resolutely not looking at the shadow on the wall and holding her left thumb in her mouth.
“This is how shadows can be fun,” Nico says as she sets the flashlight down on the end of Amelia’s bed, its beam aimed towards the wall and blocking out the scary shadow of the tree. “Watch this, Bug.”
Amelia moves closer to the end of the bed as Nico kneels, carefully keeping her body out of the lights beam. Amelia’s eyes light up, first in curiosity and then in delight as Nico twists her hands into the shape of a dog head.
“Puppy!” Amelia cries joyously as Nico moves her fingers in a way that makes the dog look like it’s barking. She switches positions and a bunny hops across the wall, making Amelia laugh joyously. Nico keeps making shapes with her hands, most of them not resembling animals in anyway but each one making Amelia laugh and smile.
Amelia joins her mother, not attempting to make animals and instead just moving her hands in funny ways and watching their shadows dance along the walls.
“So pretty!” Amelia smiles, falling back against her pillows as Nico’s hands cast their last shadow against the wall for the night. “More pretty shadows, Mama!”
“That’s enough for tonight, Little Bug.” Nico clicks the flashlight off and pulls the covers up over daughter to tuck her in again. “We can play with shadows again tomorrow.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Nico taps Amelia’s nose softly before kissing her forehead. “But you can keep this for the night.” Nico sets the flashlight on Amelia’s bedside table, just close enough that she’ll be able to reach it if she gets scared again. “Goodnight, Bug. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mama.” Amelia snuggles into her blankets, trying not fall asleep but losing that fight with every blink. Nico watches her sleep for a moment, making sure she’s truly out before standing to leave the room. Nico hopes she can catch a few more hours of sleep before the sun comes up, but she’s doubtful it will actually happen. It’s hard enough to fall asleep without her wife there in the first place, and Nico doesn’t know if she can do it twice in one night.
“You’re up late.” Nico turns when she hears the soft whisper of an unexpected but welcome voice. Karolina stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame and looking as radiant as ever. Nico can’t help the smile that threatens to split her cheeks in half as she catches sight of her wife for the first time in a week. Karolina smiles back, holding out her hand for Nico to take as she approaches. Nico waits until Karolina has pulled Amelia’s door closed, leaving a small crack in case she wakes up again, before burying herself in Karolina’s embrace.
“You’re home,” the words are whispered against Karolina’s skin where her shoulder meets her neck. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, baby.” Karolina squeezes Nico around the waist and nuzzles against her hair. Nico pulls back slightly, just enough that she can rise up on her toes and press her lips to Karolina’s. She can feel her wife’s smile against her lips as Karolina returns the kiss, gripping Nico’s hips gently.
“When did you get here?” Nico asks as they part, taking Karolina’s hand and pulling her down the hall towards their room. “I thought you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“About twenty minutes ago.” Karolina answers. “Chase and I might have made the executive decision to miss the last cocktail party and come home early.”
“I’m glad you did.” Nico pulls Karolina into their room. Karolina must have made a pit stop there before continuing down the hall as the lights were already on and Karolina’s suitcase sat next to the closet. She feels Karolina squeeze her hand in response.
“Me too.” Nico lets go of Karolina’s hand so she can change out of her traveling clothes. Climbing into their bed, Nico is content to just observe Karolina. Now that they’re under proper lighting Nico can see the slight bags under Karolina’s eyes, the exhaustion that seeps from her body. Her grin turns to a concerned frown as Karolina yawns after pulling off her top.
“You didn’t get much sleep in New York.” It’s not a question but Karolina answers anyway.
“You know I can’t sleep without you.” She shrugs slightly, unembarrassed by the admission. She’s been sleeping next to Nico almost every night for thirteen years. The bed always feels cold and empty without her. “And I couldn’t just steal my wife’s clothes to help me sleep.” She teases gently, smiling softly when Nico blushed, fingers twisting in the hem of the white t-shirt she wore that was already big on Karolina and absolutely swamped Nico's smaller frame.
“I can’t sleep without you either.” Nico watches fondly as Karolina rummages through the drawers for her favorite shorts and athletic bra. Karolina always preferred to sleep in as little clothing as possibly since her body temperature ran a little higher than most people, not that Nico minded at all. “Neither can Bug, apparently. She’s snuck in here every night that you’ve been gone.”
“Is that why you did the shadow thing?” Karolina asked as she climbed into bed after pulling her hair into a messy bun. Nico laid beside her, turning on her side so she could look at Karolina who stretched out her back. Nico reached for Karolina’s left hand with her own, their wedding rings clinking together as Nico played with their fingers.
“No that was just tonight.” Nico smiled as Karolina brought their joined her hands to her lips and kissed Nico’s knuckles. “Her nightlight went out and the shadows from the tree outside scared her. I showed her that shadows can be fun instead of scary.”
“You really have embraced your darkness.” Karolina teased gently. “Who would’ve guessed that Nico Minoru thought shadows can be fun?”
“That’s Minoru-Dean, to you,” Nico corrected playfully, scooting closer to her wife. Karolina smiled back and pulled Nico in for a kiss much deeper than the one they shared in the hall.
“I love you,” Karolina said once they parted, letting go of Nico’s hand and wrapping her arm around her waist instead.
“I love you.” The words rolled easily off Nico’s tongue as she settled her body into the curve of Karolina’s, resting her head in the spot between her shoulder and neck. Karolina hummed softly in response, already slipping into her dreams. Nico tilted her head up to kiss her wife’s neck before settling again. Her fingers laced with Karolina’s over her stomach and she closed her eyes, basking in Karolina’s warmth and love and letting it carry her to the land of dreams.