You and Me, Kid

○ Chapter 14 ○

Pete awoke with a scare, hearing screaming from down the hall. Jumping out of the bed with Sandra just behind him, he began to bolt down the hallway to Autumn's room, heart in his throat. As he threw open the door, he noticed how the room was pitch black, stuffy and hot. Really hot.

Not good.

Ever since she was about one, Autumn hated to sleep in the dark. It was something they were still trying to tackle as they got closer to her seventh birthday. Their family doctor had told them to stop using the nightlight by the age of seven, but they were two months away from her seventh birthday and without it, things like this happened.

Shaking out of the thoughts swirling around his head, the brunette father quickly rushed forward, gently shaking his daughter's shoulder in hopes of waking her up easily. When that didn't work, he began to worry. "Autumn," the panic easily broke through the calm façade Pete had so badly tried to play, shaking her shoulder in an attempt to wake her from her nightmare. "Autumn, hunny, what's wrong?" When Sandra pointed out she was becoming more aware of her surroundings, Pete gently wrapped his arms around her shaking body and held her as she jolted awake, grabbing onto his pyjama shirt as she sobbed. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay. I'm here, sweetpea. Can you tell papa what happened?"

"You-You were in the hosp-hospital, and they-they wouldn't let me see-see you," she cried, hiccupping and stuttering over her words as she spoke. The father's heart broke as he realised what that would have meant, pulling his daughter onto his lap, and just holding her as she cried.

"I'm never going to leave you, sweetpea, I promise," he whispered as she began to calm down properly, slowly falling asleep in the comfort of her father's arms. "After all, how could I leave my little Dove behind, hm?" Pete watched as Autumn smiled, finally drifting off. He quietly tucked her in before getting into the bed beside her. Better safe than sorry.

"Any idea what could have caused her nightmare?" Sandra asked quietly from where she leant against the doorframe. Pete was quiet for a moment before his eyes widened.

"She must have overheard my conversation with Leila," Pete started, looking down at his daughter's tear-stained face sadly. "We were talking about how my mom died, and how I had to be dragged out of the room when they pulled the plug."

Sandra nodded, walking over to the nightstand, and turning on the nightlight before opening a window. "It's dark, and it's hot," she explained as Pete watched her. Seeing him nod, she went to the bedside and leaned down, kissing him on the cheek before standing upright once more. "I'll see you in the morning, darling." Watching his wife leave the room and head to their own bedroom, Pete wrapped an arm around his daughter and laid his head on the pillow before falling asleep completely, comforted in the knowledge that his daughter was safe.

Waking up the next day, Pete did not want to wake his daughter. She seemed so peaceful, much more peaceful than she had in a while. Moving some hair out of her face, he didn't realise someone was in the room until they cleared their throat causing his head to snap towards the person, or should he say persons. "Morning, captain," Jake greeted with a smirk before he stood up, Bob, Javy, Reuben, Mickey, and Natasha all dotted around his daughter's room. "You weren't in this morning and Sandra told us you'd be spending the day with Autumn."

"What time is it?" He whispered squinting as he tried to look for a clock anywhere before sighing and looking back at his team when he couldn't find one.

"It's almost 9.15." Bob told him, smiling when Autumn began to stir. Pete noticed his daughter stirring slightly and so he sat up, placing her in his lap. "You didn't miss much, there wasn't a lot going on anyway."

"I swear I'm not meant to be in till 2..." he grumbled, smiling down at his daughter as she slowly opened her eyes, blinking them to take in her surroundings. "Morning sweetpea, how ya feeling?"

"Tired," mumbled the six-year-old as she rubbed at her eyes, leaning further into her father. Pete merely hummed, the girl giggling as his chest rumbled. "That sounds funny." Pete merely smiled once more, getting out of the bed and gently picking the girl up into his arms.

"Alright, why don't you lot head downstairs? Since Sandra's probably told Commander Stuart about me spending the day with Autumn, we can teach her how to play dogfight football." Everyone cheered and the group of six forty-something-year-olds all headed downstairs, more than excited to play the game that had been used to get them all to bond together for that very first mission they had as a team.

After getting dressed into a simple white t-shirt, blue jeans, and his pair of old cowboy boots he owned, he aided the blonde six-year-old in getting into a lilac dress with her swimsuit on underneath. Once Autumn was dressed, they headed down and had breakfast with the team before brushing their teeth and heading to the beach. When they got to the beach, Pete was quick to explain the rules to her.

"So, it's like normal football, okay?" Autumn nodded with an excited smile. "But offense and defence is performed at the same time. Understand?" Again, Autumn nodded. Even as a young child, she had a good grasp on definitions. After the rules were explained to Autumn, as well as recapped for the others, they began to play.

They spent hours on the beach, playing with each other and having fun. By the end of the day, they were all exhausted. Pete had her on his hip, rubbing her back as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you have fun today, sweetpea?" Autumn yawned, making an 'mhm' noise as she raised her head to move her hair away from her face before placing her head back down on her father's shoulder. Behind him, the team smiled.

And he says he isn't a good father, or that he's good with kids.