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A sound woke him up.
Bobby blinked his eyes open, staring up at the dark ceiling with the ceiling fan that he had turned off before he climbed into bed - it was just a bit too loud for either him or Athena to go to sleep with.
He waited for about thirty seconds, but didn’t hear anything else. Bobby let out a soft sigh, figuring it was something he had dreamed up that woke him up. As soon as he closed his eyes and sank further into the bed than he had been, he heard the sound again.
A soft thud, more like a bonk.
He didn’t know what it was, but the noise had him sitting up.
“Bobby?” Athena asked, her voice still half asleep.
Looking at his wife, it appeared whatever the noise was woke her up as well.
Bobby slowly sat up and pulled the bed covers off of himself. When he saw Athena turn her head to look at him, he motioned for her to go back to sleep, whatever it was, he could handle it.
Getting out of the bed, Bobby walked down the hallway, stopping outside Buck’s bedroom door when he found the sound coming from inside.
Bobby softly knocked on the door. “Buck?” he voiced just loud enough for the boy to be able to hear if he was awake. When he didn’t hear any noise come from the other side, he slowly twisted the knob and opened the door.
The only light in the room came from the nightlight on the wall opposite the door and the small amount of moonlight through the window. Bobby turned his sight towards Buck’s bed, where in the corner near the head he spotted a bundle of blankets, wrapped around a shaking figure.
Bobby slowly walked into the room and knelt down before the bed. “Buck?” Bobby asked, his voice soft.
He heard a whimper come from the blankets, and they shifted near the top, Buck’s face peaking out. Bobby didn’t need to turn the lights on to know that there were tears streaming down the young boy’s face. “Bobby?” Buck’s quiet voice said.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Bobby said, trying for a smile. “Did something happen?” Bobby asked.
Buck spoke quietly, his voice muffled by the blankets, almost too quiet for Bobby to make out. “Had a nightmare.”
Bobby had figured it was something like that. “Do you want to talk about it?” Bobby asked. Buck immediately shook his head no. “Well, that’s okay,” Bobby said. “We don’t have to talk about it. How about we go downstairs and get something to drink?”
That seemed to have been the right question to ask, for Buck let go of the blankets and came forward, holding his arms out to Bobby as if asking the man to pick him up. Bobby took a hold of him, lifting Buck up onto his hip.
It wasn’t often that Buck had initiated physical contact. Even watching the boy interact among other kids his own age, Bobby could probably count the number of times Buck initiated contact on one hand.
But he certainly wasn’t going to deny it to the boy.
As he walked down the stairs with Buck bundled in his arms, Bobby rubbed Buck’s back, in a way to comfort his tiny body that was still shaking slightly. Bobby set him down on the counter in the kitchen. Bobby flicked the light above the oven on, and under its soft light Bobby saw the reddened skin and drying tear tracks on Buck’s face.
“How about I make you a glass of milk?” Bobby asked. “I can warm it up if you want?”
Buck hummed as his hands fidgeted with his pyjama top. “Can I have chocolate milk?” he asked.
Bobby smiled, “Of course you can,” he said. “Would you like it warmed up?”
Buck shook his head. “No, just chocolate milk,” he said.
Bobby looked at the time as he poured the glasses of milk. 5:45 a.m. If Bobby was lucky he might be able to get Buck to go back to sleep for a couple hours - it was only a Saturday today, one that for the first time in probably two months both he and Athena weren’t working. But Bobby wasn’t betting on getting that extra hour or so of sleep.
Milk glasses made, Bobby took them and Buck over to the couch in the living room. Getting comfortable with Buck snuggling into his side, Bobby turned the TV on and went to Disney plus, giving the boy the remote.
“Here, you can pick something,” Bobby said.
“Really?” Buck asked. It wasn’t often that he got to pick something, Harry often taking control of the remote and Buck not putting up too much of a fuss.
“Yeah,” Bobby said as he pulled a blanket over and draped it over both of their laps.
Buck picked some movie about talking animals Bobby never remembered watching before, and Bobby passed Buck his glass of chocolate milk.
About fifteen minutes into the movie, Buck had hummed something, catching Bobby’s attention.
“You know something, Mister Bobby?” Buck said after he finished off the last of the chocolate milk.
Bobby smiled at him. “What is it?” he asked.
Buck smiled back at Bobby. One of the largest smiles Bobby had remembered seeing on the boy in a while. “You’re a good dad, Mister Bobby.”
Bobby’s smile widened even further if it was possible. “Thanks kid,” he said.
Another fifteen minutes later and Bobby looked back over at Buck, who had his head resting on Bobby’s arm, fast asleep.
Well then, it seemed Bobby stood corrected, Buck did get back to sleep.