Writing Lanie - Forbidden Heart Series Book 2

56| Sweet Nostalgia & Nightmares

"Are you enjoying playing house with Ayden?"

I shook my head at my best friend as I chewed a bite of my chicken salad. "We aren't playing house, Harper."

"Then what do you call it?"

"I call it a relationship," I quipped.

"Relationship or not...you're still playing house," she teased.

Ayden and I have been living together for a week now. Its definitely been an adjustment. As much as I loved having him there, over the past few years, I've become used to living by myself. Living with someone, especially a man, was different.

We got along extremely well, which wasn't surprising. Ayden did try to dote on me even though he had a broken leg and wasn't supposed to be moving around that much. He would try to cook me breakfast, help out with cleaning, or the laundry. I would have to use my stern voice just to get him to sit down.

I couldn't deny how happy it made me having him there, though. Even when I used to date Adam, I was never really interested in the whole idea of cohabitating. But with Ayden, I couldn't imagine not waking up to him every morning.

He was definitely talented at waking me up in the morning. Sometimes, he would wake me up by stroking my hair. If we ended up falling asleep after making love, he would wake me up the following morning by kissing my bare back. My personal favorite was when would kiss my neck at the same time he would stroke me with his fingers.

"Is he doing better?" Harper asked in a quiet voice. "Is he sleeping?"

I looked away from her when she asked me that. I confided in her two days ago about Ayden's nightmares. Sometimes he would be calling out my name or Nate's in his sleep. When I would wake him up, he would have a cold sweat and was close to hyperventilating.

To answer her question-- no, he hasn't been sleeping. Over the past few days, I would wake up in the middle of the night to an empty bed. Time that happened, I would always find him in the same place.  On the back porch.

When I questioned him about it and showed my concern, he kept telling me I had nothing to worry about. He said it was normal PTSD stuff for soldiers in the war. I knew what he said was true; after all, there were times when Nate would come back on leave and have nightmares. But there was something different about this time. There was something different about Ayden having them.

"No," I answered in a quiet voice. "He's still the same. I'm getting worried about him, Harper. Every time I question him about it, he just tells me not to worry and that he's fine."

Harper's expression was full of concern and worry. "He's definitely not fine, Lanie. You should try to talk to him again. There are people who are trained to help soldiers with PTSD."

I leaned forward in my chair. "I think Jamie mentioned that there was someone who worked at the hospital who helped soldiers after coming back. Maybe I could get Ayden to talk to him."

Even though it was a good idea, I had a feeling it was going to be hard to convince Ayden. I've heard before that soldiers don't usually seek out help after returning home.

"Definitely," Harper said. "Lanie, Ryan has told me stories before about when his dad came back. It can get really bad if they don't get the help they need. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just worried about Ayden. With everything you guys got going on, I would hate for him to be dealing with something like this. It can also add more stress on you and the baby."

"You're right," I said with a sigh. "I'll talk to him tonight. But for now, let's change the subject. How is everything going with your mom? Have you guys been getting along?"