Chapter Text
"Walter said he will be here about ten o'clock, barring any Homeland Security emergency," said Charlie. "I told him to make sure Ralph came with them so that he can play with Phoebe."
"I'll make sure to have her up and ready, she won't want to miss an opportunity to make a new friend. I know she's been eager to find someone to play with that is around her age and mental development level since she got here last week. It will give her a break from sessions with Uncle Sandy for the day. She needs different activities than talking about her trauma," said Lia.
"If things go well, make sure to get Paige's number so we can set up future play-dates with Ralph. I know he's a bit older than her, but i'm hoping the mental development levels will be close enough that it won't matter. Who would have figured I'd have a genius kid? I'm the jock/ farm boy/ soldier," Colby said, laughing.
"I always knew you were playing dumb, Colby. You understand a bit too much of what Charlie has to say for you to be a 'dumb jock'," teased Alan.
"This has been an exhausting day,guys. I didn't realize when I set up a stay here that I'd be getting hands on training on raising a kid while pregnant with twins. She's full of energy, and I can only funnel so much of it into learning activities. if she actually felt like moving around more, I would be in real trouble," said Lia, smiling.
"We are just glad your visit happened to coincide with Phoebe's arrival. Having you around has been a great help with her. The case worker said she has never seen a child who has been abused so badly bounce back so quickly, and we know we have you to partially to thank for that. I can't hope enough that Janice gets life for sending her to that re-programming camp. They sent us the notice of the termination of her parental rights by overnight courier, so we should be seeing that paperwork tomorrow as well. I just wish mom had lived longer to see what a smart granddaughter she has," said Colby, taking another pull from his beer. Lia squeezed his other hand and Charlie put his arm around Colby and pulled him into a sideways hug. He looked at both of them with an appreciative, sad smile.
"Well, I'm turning in," said Alan. "I think I'll try to get up and make waffles in the morning for Phoebe before going into the office. Remember, Millie will be here tomorrow night for dinner."
"Thanks for the warning, Dad."
"Very funny,Charlie. Goodnight." Alan went out the kitchen door into his garage apartment, shutting the door as quietly as possible to avoid waking the little girl upstairs.
"We should probably turn in, too. Early day at the office for me tomorrow. Don will have my ass if I'm late. He's so much harder on me now that I'm with his brother."
"He just wants to make sure the rest of the team doesn't think he's going to give you special treatment because you're part of his family now."
"Megan told me she thinks he'll let up some time next century," giggled Lia. Charlie snorted. Colby just rolled his eyes and helped Lia up off of the couch. "I hope we all sleep better than last night. Phoebe had a rough night with nightmares last night, and she refused to go to you two because she said she'd already been keeping her daddies up too much at night. I let her sleep in bed with me, then I had a nightmare because I got too hot. She asked me about it. I told her it wasn't her issue to worry about because I didn't want to add to her nightmares. She wouldn't let it go, though. She told me some of her nightmares come because she gets too cold in her sleep and it reminds her of the hole they had her in at the camp. I told her I would try to make sure she had plenty of blankets available. She noticed I was sweating, and asked If my nightmares were caused by being too hot. I told her sometimes they were. She asked if she was the reason for the nightmare. I told her it wasn't because of her, I was kinda upset about other things and then I got hot, she could never be the direct cause of a nightmare. She hugged me and I gave her all but the sheet to snuggle into. It was a long night."
"You really should have come to get one of us, Lia. She's going to have to get used to coming to us with her problems," Charlie said in a hushed voice as they walked toward the staircase.
"It's not a big deal, I just figured since I'm here I could take a shift with the nightmares. I know this is going to sound weird, but I think that we should sit down with her and tell her that we are all afraid of some things, and all adults get nightmares sometimes. I think she would feel more comfortable telling you about hers if she knows she's not the only one to have them. "
"That makes sense. Tomorrow before bedtime we'll do that. Thanks Lia."
They had just started to ascend the stairs when they heard the cries of their little girl. Colby bolted the rest of the way up the staircase with Charlie close behind. Lia was bringing up the rear, having a more difficult time with stairs as the pregnancy progressed and made her bigger and slower. She arrived at the door to Phoebe's room to see the two daddies cuddling the distressed little girl, reassuring her it was just another bad dream. Lia stood there for a moment, taking in the sight. Charlie and Colby had all the skills they needed to cope with this, even if they were afraid. She started to go back to the room she'd been staying in when Phoebe called out to her, "Lia, stay too."
~~~
The alarm in Colby and Charlie's room had gone off at a bright and early five a.m. with a whole host of occupants to wake. Colby was, of course, the first to wake and scramble out of the tangle of sheets and people on the bed to shut off the alarm. His little girl, who had been clinging to him, got up just after with a stretch and yawn. She, at least, looked rested. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and a hug, and silently slipped into the master bathroom to get himself ready for a long work day with Don and the rest of the team. Lia awoke next as she felt Phoebe moving around next to her and she looked over at the girl, who was conspiratorially giving her the shush finger and pointing at Charlie. "We should get Papa up,too,"Phoebe whispered loudly to Lia.
"We should? I think we should let him sleep in just a little," said Lia, in the same stage whisper.
"Nope," the little girl replied, "if I have to be up before the sun is up, so does everybody!"
"Okay," said Lia, smiling. "How do you want to get Papa out of bed?" Phoebe replied by making tickling claws with her hands and pointing at Charlie, giggling. Lia rolled toward Charlie and gave a silent count toward Phoebe with her fingers. When Lia got to three, they both started tickling Charlie like their lives depended on it, with Phoebe cackling wildly and Lia giggling. Charlie reached out and grabbed Phoebe, pulling her sleepily into a hug and returning her tickles. Phoebe laughed and squirmed like a mad woman, until Charlie caught her eye and they both honed in on Lia, tickling her until she cried, "Mercy! Mercy! You win!"
The day was definitely starting better than yesterday ended.