And I'd Do It Again

In the End

Marcus exited his room and went passed the den. He saw a light was on. He really wasn't paying attention so he went passed it. He went to the bathroom then to the kitchen for a bottle of water.

On his way back, he noticed the light on still so he decided to check it out. Marcy was watching TV. She turned to him as he approached. "Sweetpea, it's two in the morning."

"I know." She said softly.

He sat next to her. "You can't sleep?"

She shook her head.

He cuddled her close. "What are you watching?"

"Halloween 2."

He blinked. He never understood her love of horror movies. "Fun."

She shrugged as she leaned against him.

They sat in silence for a while but the whole time Marcus was thinking. He'd overheard Mercedes on Wednesday. He'd been walking by after getting more things to take downstairs when he heard what sounded like whispering.

He'd pressed his ear to the door and listened in. And felt horrible. Mercedes was right. What kind of father was he?!

He'd taken his wife at face value on the welfare of his child and didn't even think of checking on her story. He didn't even know what his younger child had been through. With the way she acted, it had to be terrible.

But then he remembered the nightmares she used to have. He could remember the very first one.

He'd been asleep in his bed when he felt someone shaking his arm. He'd awakened to find his daughter on his chest, looking at him with frightened eyes.

He'd asked her what was wrong and she'd simply shaken and said "monsters". He took her back to her room and checked under the bed and in the closet and bathroom but of course there were no monsters.

He'd tucked her back in and sat with her until she fell asleep again.

The nightmares didn't stop. If anything, they got progressively worse. But she never talked about them. She'd just say "monsters" and hid under the covers.

When she first was sent away, he had had a hard time sleeping that first night. He'd gotten up in the middle of the night and went to her room. He sat on her bed and picked up a stuffed rabbit and cried. He'd wondered if she was okay, if he was doing the right thing and if she was having nightmares around strangers who wouldn't know their nightly routine of him putting her to bed after her mother.

It was hell for him and he felt regret over it for a lot of years. He didn't know what was wrong with his child. But he could tell things weren't getting better. Every time she'd come home, she'd have more and more shadows in her eyes.

That was why he was happy about the convent. He thought she finally found a place to be happy and he wanted that for her. But he was wrong.

He looked at her now and was surprised to see her eyes closed. She was asleep.

He held her closer and rocked a little. She was his baby and he would protect her. Always.

M&MC

Mercedes unlocked the door and took her hat off. "Wasn't service great?"

"Yes, it was." Rose stepped into the house.

"Did you feel good about that tantrum you threw?" Marcus asked Mally.

Mally just smiled at him.

Marc laughed. "It's a good thing it's church and people are used to kids crying."