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Rhaenyra was scared of thunder. She didn't like the roaring sound, not only was it loud for her, but it felt like the sky was falling down on her. Her parents, Dunk and Aerion, knew how much their daughter hated that storms were coming. If those came at night, her parents would leave their room open for her to enter anytime she wished. Either Aerion or Dunk would wake up to welcome her in their King-sized bed, so she can sleep soundly.
Lys was once again visited by another storm during the night, which meant that Rhaenyra had to wake up to sleep next to her parents again.
Once she heard the sound of the thunder, she shot up and clutched on to her green dragon plushie. She trembled at the sound and squealed. She squeezed her dragon's paws to calm her down. It's been with her since she was a baby. She clung to it nightly, and if she didn't have her dear ol' green dragon (named Vermax by Aerion) with her, she wouldn't be able to sleep.
Once she'd calmed down, she got up from her bed and ran in a tiptoe to her parents' bedroom. She stopped by the entrance, where she stood silently. She couldn't see much since the only light that glowed in their bedroom was a yellow-light nightlight on Dunk's side of the bed.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the dimly-lit room, she dashed to Dunk's side of the bed, since that was closest to the door. When she reached his side of the bed, she saw him sound asleep, snoring even. Usually, her papa would wake up at the sound of her footsteps, but it seemed that he was sleeping deeply that she was reluctant to wake him up. However, Dunk and Aerion reminded her repeatedly that she could disrupt their sleep for her comfort.
Eventually, she tugged on the sleeve of her papa's shirt. She whispered, "Papa" repeatedly so that Dunk would wake up. After a couple of attempts, Rhaenyra was successful in rousing her father awake. Dunk snorted as he woke up and fluttered his eyes open due to the tugging movements he felt. Once his eyes went from blurry to clear, he saw his daughter.
"Nyra?" Dunk croaked.
"Thunder," Rhaenyra said, and it was an answer that sufficed for Dunk. So, he sat up slowly from his bed (not wanting to rouse Aerion from his slumber). From there, he leaned forward to hoist Rhaenyra up and carry her to the middle of the bed where she would be nestled between her parents.
Once she's settled and Dunk had lain down, Rhaenyra snuggled up to her papa first, seeking comfort. Dunk responded by brushing her hair repeatedly and rubbing her back to calm her down. He also murmured, "you're okay, you're safe, we're here" to her. It's his and Aerion's way of reminding her that they're here and she won't be alone during this "scary" time.
Dunk peppered her with kisses and was switching his gaze from her to Aerion. When he saw Aerion, he had an idea for Rhaenyra to feel less scared.
"You know, Nyra," Dunk said in a whisper. She didn't look up, but she hummed upon hearing her name.
"Whenever I get scared and when you were still in mama's tummy, I would talk to you." Dunk suggested.
"What?" She wasn't sure where Dunk was getting at. Dunk chuckled since he remembered he was talking to a child.
"I would talk to you so I'd feel less scared." Dunk elaborated. "It made me feel brave again."
"Sometimes, when you talk about your fears to someone, it makes it feel less scary." Dunk added. He didn't want her to keep in her fear.
"Really?" She looked up at her papa.
Dunk nodded and hummed.
"You should try." Dunk encouraged her by patting her on the back. She mumbled an okay. Dunk and Aerion usually sleep facing each other, so it was easy for Rhaenyra to turn around and face her mama.
She still clung to her dragon plushie, using the dragon's paw to poke on Aerion's belly to talk to the baby as if to wake it up. By this time, he was already eight months pregnant. The baby was usually active at night, and its kicks would wake Aerion up from time to time.
To Aerion's surprise, he felt tickling sensations instead of the usual fluttering kicks that woke him up in the middle of the night. He rubbed his belly, thinking that the sensations would go away. However, it seemed to pause briefly and wouldn't stop. He groaned and opened his eyes slowly to see what's causing these sensations. He looked down and saw his daughter poking his tummy with her dragon plushie. He sighed.
Aerion didn't have the will to scold her. Instead of getting angry at her, he wanted to stop her poking. So, he tried to feel for the dragon's paw and pinched it to stop her.
"Nyra," Aerion exhaled. "Please stop poking my tummy."
"I'm trying to sleep." He added as he released his hold on the paw and moved his hand to pat Rhaenyra's head.
"Sowwy, Mama," She said, then followed her Mama's orders and stopped poking him with Vermax's paws.
"What's going on baby?" Aerion asked, curious as to why Rhaenyra was in their bed.
"Thunder." Again, it was all she could say, which didn't need further explanation.
Aerion hummed, understanding why she would stay on their bed.
"Why were you poking my tummy?" Aerion asked. He was surprised that she was doing that.
"I wanted to wake Maegor up." Rhaenyra said, "I want to talk to him because I'm scared."
"Who told you to talk to someone when you're scared?" Aerion asked, but he glared at Dunk who was not meeting Aerion's gaze.
"Papa."
Busted.
"I see." Aerion kept his piercing glare at Dunk. Dunk mouthed a "sorry" at Aerion for causing his sleep to be disrupted.
"What did you tell Maegor?" Aerion was curious. "Can you tell Mama?"
"I told Maegor that I was scared of the thunder because of how noisy it is." Rhaenyra answered as she looked at her dragon. "And that I'm excited to see him and tell him all about you and Papa."
Aerion pouted at Dunk, which made Dunk smile. "Do you feel better after talking to Maegor?"
Rhaenyra nodded. Aerion saw that and kissed his palm so that he could "transfer" that kiss on Rhaenyra's head. He couldn't bend or lean because of his belly.
"Do you want Papa to sing a song to you to get you to sleep?" Aerion asked, looking at Dunk whose eyes were drooping, heavy with sleep. Seeing that, Aerion gently karate chopped Dunk' throat to keep him awake. Dunk coughed at that and muttered a "what the fuck" at Aerion. It was payback for waking him up inadvertently. Aerion smirked seeing Dunk suffer briefly.
"Yes." Rhaenyra said as she looked to her Papa.
"Oh, alright." Dunk sighed, thinking which song to sing as her lullaby. She turned her back on Aerion this time, and faced Dunk for the lullaby.
"Good night, my love." Aerion said as she rubbed her back.
"Good night, Mama." Rhaenyra murmured as she felt her eyelids grow heavy from sleep once more. Aerion knew that stroking her back soothed his daughter, but Dunk's lullabies would make her doze faster.
Dunk mouthed a good night to Aerion, but Aerion flashed him a middle finger, once again expressing his irritation of waking him up in the middle of the night. Dunk chuckled at that, knowing that he meant it with love. And as he watched Aerion and Rhaenyra slowly get back to sleep, he smiled at his growing family and seared the image of his family slumbering peacefully in one bed as he dozed off.