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Celine was away for the weekend on a trip a few towns over, attending a high school friend’s bridal shower and helping her with some wedding preparations. You and the boys had still wanted to get together, though. You’d convened at the Barnums’ house, anyway — it was just better than your own for this sort of thing, since it was out of town with no nearby neighbors.
Since you were on your own, the boys had promised to be on their best behavior, and they’d followed through so far. You’d had to give a few gentle reminders, of course, but that was to be expected. They were always good boys, though the extra incentive to have a good report for Celine helped keep them mindful.
When evening had rolled around and you’d gotten them sorted for bed, you’d tucked them each in in the nursery bedroom. Then, after a story, you kissed them each goodnight before leaving to sink into your own bed, quickly falling asleep.
For a while.
Someone was trying to rouse you. They were pushing at your arm, if a bit hesitantly. “Y-Y/N,” you heard Damien whine, maybe not for the first time. He stood by the side of the bed, holding his quilt around his shoulders.
You shook sleep off, propping yourself up on an arm to ensure you’d stay awake. “Damien? What’s wrong, my darling?” Damien quickly crawled onto the bed, then; he was clearly frightened of something, so you put an arm around him, holding him close.
“Did you have a bad dream?” you murmured. Among the three, Damien had the fewest nightmares, but it wasn’t unheard of.
“Yeah... a scary one,” he mumbled, hiding his face.
You rubbed his back, kissing the top of his head. “Oh, baby. It’s all over now. It wasn’t real, and I’ve got you here safe. Do you want to talk about it? Here, come under the covers. You can sleep here once you’ve calmed down.”
Damien let you part from him only far enough and long enough to pull the bedcovers, which in his haste he’d climbed on top of, up for him to slide under with you. He snuggled up again immediately, adjusting his quilt around himself for further comfort. “There was a monster tryin’ to get me an’ no one would help me get away,” he summarized in a fearful whine. “I didn’t know where I was but I knew he was gonna hurt me, an’ nobody would tell me where I needed t’ go or h-help me stop him.”
You held him tightly, giving a sympathetic coo. “You poor thing. That does sound scary, but remember it wasn’t real. You know I’ll always help you when you need it, right?” Something about his short description made you remember the things going on at work and how much stress he’d been under because of it. It wasn’t such a surprise that little Damien had had a nightmare as a result.
He nodded, looking up at you — blue eyes through dark lashes. “Yeah, ’s why I came here,” he said quietly.
You were touched, and so glad you could be this for him. Combing your fingers through his soft hair, you told him, “I’m glad, darling one. I love you very much.” You held him for a couple of minutes before asking, “Do you think you can get back to sleep, baby?”
Damien, if more hesitantly, nodded again. He had calmed down a bit.
“Okay. Let’s go back to sleep, then. I’m right here if you get scared again, though.”
“Mmhmm, t’ank you,” Damien mumbled. “An’ I love you, too.”
You kissed his head and settled with him into a better position for sleeping, and he was quiet after that — soon after, you were both asleep.
For a while.
This time it was your other shoulder, and a careful, steady shake. You again did your best to rouse yourself, finding William beside the bed this time. With the still-sleeping Damien at your side, you couldn’t take him into your arms properly; you reached out and took one of William’s hands instead. “What’s wrong, little love? But shhh, try not to wake Damien.”
“I had a’ accident…”
“Aww, alright; it’s okay. We’ll get you dry again.” Apparently it was a night of uncommon events — William didn’t usually wet in the night, although you kept him diapered just in case, and when he did, he’d often not much care and you’d only find out when you checked him in the morning. But, this might be because Celine was away.
You tried to carefully slip out from under Damien. He stirred with a tired whine of protest, but settled back down without fully waking up, and you counted that as a success. You took William’s hand again. “Let’s go, darling; come into the bathroom — there should be stuff for you boys in there,” you whispered.
“Okay,” William said, following behind you across the room.
You shut the bathroom door slowly, keeping the latching sound from being too loud, then warned him, “I’m going to turn on the light, William; cover your eyes so it’s not too bright.” William did as you suggested. You flicked the switch for the dimmer lights in the room, but it was still quite bright coming from the darkness of sleep. You blinked as your eyes adjusted. William, taking his hands away from his face, did the same.
“Alright, sweetheart, did you leak? I just need to know so I can clean things up.” His pajamas didn’t look wet — which would be good, as tonight he was wearing a one-piece sleeper and you had nothing in this room to change him into. You moved forward to start undoing the buttons.
“No, don’t think so. ’m jus’ wet,” he said, sounding sleepy.
“Awh, you’re awful tired, aren’t you?” He nodded. Must’ve woken up at a bad time. You’d finished the buttons. “I’ll be quick,” you promised. You checked to make sure there were in fact clean diapers in here, and grabbed what you needed including a cloth that you dampened in the sink to wipe him clean. With those things under one arm, you laid a towel on the floor, then set them beside it. (Normally, you’d take him in on the bed, but… Damien.)
“Okay, let’s pull this down. Do you want to use the potty before I put you in a clean diaper?”
“No,” he said, but when you moved forward to undress him, he added “Wait, not done,” and you realized he was just going in his diaper again. Well, that was one way to solve the problem — you smiled, amused.
“All done,” he mumbled a few seconds later.
“Okay, love.” You started to take his sleeper down off his arms, but soon he gave a little gasp and shivered.
“Cold!” he protested, looking the most awake he’d been thus far.
“Oh, no…” It was a little chilly in the bathroom — at least, compared with the warm covers you’d both been under. “Here,” you said, grabbing a second towel and wrapping it around his shoulders. “That better?”
“Yeah,” he said, but still sounded pouty.
“I’m sorry, dear; soon you’ll be back in a warm bed. Let me know if you need another towel in the mean time,” you said, working to get the sleeper off of him quickly.
“Okay.”
“Lay down for me. Take my hand.” You left the sleeper bunched around his legs, so you helped him get down on the floor safely. He seemed comfortable enough, and brought the towel you’d given him up over his chest and arms.
“There we go, now let’s take care of this wet diaper,” you murmured, working to clear away the wet cloth. …There had to be a diaper pail somewhere in here, but you weren’t sure where it was at the moment. You set them to the side for now — they could wait a few hours wrapped up in one of the towels, even if it wasn’t ideal. By the time you’d wiped William’s skin clean, he looked sleepy again, and had bunched up the towel around his face, nuzzling into it a bit. You were just glad he didn’t seem to be too uncomfortable from the cold or from being on the floor. “Pick up, now; we’re almost done,” you instructed softly, and he complied, so you arranged the dry diapers under him. It only took another minute to powder him and pin him up. “There you go — time to get up.”
“Don’ wanna get up,” he mumbled.
“Now what kind of caregiver would I be if I let you sleep on the bathroom floor? Up, now, darling.” To encourage him, you continued, “Just into the other room. You can sleep with Damien and I.” (One of the best upgrades Celine had made was king sized beds in each of your rooms.)
You moved to take his hands and help him up, and he took yours and stood. You pulled his diaper cover and his pajamas back up, buttoning him in. “All better?”
“All better,” he echoed. “Thank you.”
“Of course, sweetheart.” After you piled up the linens for a less sleepy you to deal with and put the powder back under the sink, you held your hand out for William, telling him, “Lights are going off, now; take my hand, please.” Once he did, you flicked the switch, and the room plunged into darkness. In case he was nervous, as you led him to the door you reminded him, “There’s a nightlight in the other room; it won’t be so dark in a second.” It wasn’t exactly uncommon for one boy to end up in a caregiver’s bed, so when anyone was little, you and Celine tended to keep them on in your rooms.
“It’s okay — ‘m a big boy, ‘member, Y/N?”
“Of course I remember, but even I like my nightlight, and I’m a grownup.” (You did. Not because the dark bothered you, but because it had a very pretty moon and stars and was a pretty green color.) “Shh, now; remember Dames is sleeping.” William nodded, so you slowly opened the bathroom door again, and creeped in silence back to the bed. In a stroke of luck, Damien had kept to his portion of the bed, so you were able to slip back in without waking him up. William climbed in beside you, nestling up against your side, and once you’d settled the blankets back over everyone, you put an arm around him and kissed the top of his head. “Sweet dreams, now, little one. I love you.”
“Love you too,” he murmured, already nodding off again. It took you a little longer to follow, but when you slipped back into sleep, it was peaceful.
For a while.
You actually woke up on your own this time — William had squirmed in his sleep, and since your arm had been around him, it had been enough to wake you up again. You withdrew it and checked on both boys, but all seemed well. Before you drifted back off, though, you heard a slightly-distressed voice calling your name from outside your door. In the dim light, you could only barely see Mark’s face peeking in. Just loud enough for him to hear, you said “Be quiet, love, but come on in. I’m here.” You moved to get up as stealthily as possible, slipping out off the foot of the bed as it was the only free route. Mark came in, dragging his blanket, and hurried over to you, pushing himself into your arms. “What do you need, my love?” you whispered.
“Everyone was gone,” he said, a bit petulant. “How come they’re here?”
“Damien had a bad dream and then William needed help with something,” you explained.
“Oh,” Mark said — understanding, but still not pleased. He looked over your shoulder at his sleeping friends. “Can I sleep here, too? I don’ wanna go back alone.”
“Of course you can, darling one. But, it’ll be a bit crowded. Did you need something first?”
Mark shook his head.
“Just lonely in there by yourself?”
Mark nodded.
“Aww, okay. How about you climb up in the middle where I was?” There wasn’t room at all beside Damien — in fact, his arm seemed to be hanging off the bed. There was a little room beside Will, but it would be a squeeze, and you didn’t want the boys to fuss or (god forbid) Mark to fall off, so you’d rather put him in the middle.
Mark looked at the bed, then nodded again. (It was pretty clear that was his best option.) You kissed his forehead. “Alright, baby, just try not to wake up the others. And, be very careful that you don’t push Damien. Promise me.”
“I pwomise,” Mark said. “I’ll be careful.”
You ran your hand through his hair, mussing it gently, and said, “Okay. Goodnight, Mark. I love you.”
He drew closer to you again as he replied “Love you, too,” before parting and climbing up on the bed… with much less consideration than you’d hoped. Both Damien and William stirred, Damien with a little mumble of your name and William with just a confused grunt. “Mark,” the boy corrected Damien as he managed to get under the covers. Damien didn’t open his eyes, but rolled over and snuggled up against Mark. Mark looked happy to be cuddled, and you were glad Damien would be a little more secure.
You’d walked around to what was now your side of the bed, murmuring, “It’s alright. Mark’s just joining us. Go back to sleep.” You climbed in while Mark was still settling, and William was awake enough to wriggle a bit to allow you to lay down comfortably. (Maybe it was good the others had been woken up.)
“Goodnight,” you repeated, just loud enough for them to hear you, and after approximately two half-mumbled replies, you all went back to sleep.
This time, it lasted ’til morning, where you all — even the typical early risers — slept in a fair bit later than usual.