The kids have had the same nightmare every night for the past couple of weeks. It's gotten so bad that they won't sleep in their own bedrooms anymore. Instead, they will only sleep in the bed with Emma and me. Even when they sleep in between us, they still wake up, still the same nightmare. The worst part about it all is that they won't tell us what the dreams are about.
Over the past couple of weeks, Alyx and Aleksey have become more clingy towards Emma and especially me. They almost refuse to go to school and have been begging to be homeschooled. I can't even go to the bathroom without them either in there with me or just right outside the door.
Aleksey has even become very affectionate. He always wants hugs and cuddles. He always wants to give my hand heartbeat squeezes. He has always hated physical touch, hugs, hand-holding, everything, but now it's all different. Emma and I are so concerned and want to help the twins, but we don't know what to do. How can we know what to do if we don't even know what's wrong?
To be honest, I haven't really been sleeping at night, and I don't think Emma has either. So pretty much every night for the past two weeks, I have just been lying awake, paying close attention to the twins' heartbeats and breathing patterns, listening for when the nightmare starts. All of this in hopes that I'll catch it as soon as it starts, so they won't have to go through much more of the nightmare.
I just wish I could take it all away. I can't cure people of nightmares, but I can always take away the emotional pain. But, of course, Emma has explicitly warned me that if I tried to do so, she was going to call my mom and have her stay with us. The last thing I need is my mom and wife conspiring against me. My mom would definitely keep me in check, though. So Emma using my mom as a threat was a good move on her part.
I don't know; maybe I should just call my mom anyway. Have her stay and help with the kids for at least a few days. It will help Emma and me be able to get work done. Oh my god, I wouldn't have to worry about cooking either. Plus, I'm sure Emma will feel better knowing my mom is here to make sure I don't do anything rash. So, it's a win-win-win situation.
"Hey, mom!" I am so glad my mom picked up on the first ring, or I would have probably chickened out on asking her.
"Hey, Mija. What's up?" I sighed out before answering.
"I had a question." I was so anxious, and I had no idea why.
"And what is your question?" By this point, I had been chewing on my lip so much; I started tasting my own blood.
"So, the kids have had this recurring nightmare for the past couple of weeks. We all have barely gotten any sleep. They won't leave our sides, they are almost refusing to go to school and pretty much demand to be homeschooled at this point. To make a long story short, it's a bit hectic here right now. Is there any way you could come stay with us for a few days?" My mother starting tsking at me through the phone.
"Mija, you should have called me sooner. I'll be there after work, and don't worry about picking up the kids. I'll do it. You just focus on getting some work done right now and maybe just take some time to relax." I sighed in relief.
"Thank you so much, mom. I'll see you later on. I love you." I seriously am so lucky to have her as a mom.
"I love you too, Mija. See you later." With that, we hung, and I did a little victory dance. At least, I think this is a small victory. I need to get through my work as quickly as possible, so I have at least thirty minutes alone to myself.
It's definitely been hard juggling work, the construction of my new work building, being a wife, and being a mom. Why did I ever want to grow up when I was younger? What made me think it was a good idea? Back then, it was one of the only things I could think of to get me away from the monster that was supposed to be my dad. At the same time, I also dreamt of being older mainly because I didn't know if I would live to be older. Living with that monster made me question if I was going to die young and if my mother was going to die along with me.
I was so consumed with my work I didn't even hear the front door open. The only reason why I found out that there were other people in my house was when Alyx and Aleksey came into my office. They immediately came up to me and hugged me. As much as I wanted to finish up this last project and make a couple more phone calls to the head of construction, I knew that I wouldn't get a chance to now. That's okay though, at the end of the day, my family will always come first.
"How about we go and do your homework at the table?" They both didn't leave my embrace.
"Only if you come with us," Alyx mumbled out against my shoulder. This will actually work out, and I can finish this last project. I may not be able to make those phone calls, but I can always just send them an email.
"Okay, I'll bring my laptop so I can finish up my work. It'll be like we are all doing homework together." They giggled at this and finally stopped hugging me to go grab their backpacks.
"Hey, mom. Thank you for picking up the kids." I kissed her on the cheek while walking into the kitchen and towards the table.
"It's no problem, Mija. The kids are excited I'm staying for a few days too. When will Emma be home?" I looked down at my watch. It was only 3:00 pm.
"I'd say at least another couple of hours. We'll see, though; work has been extra chaotic right now for her. With this virus going on, rumors flying around everywhere, causing mass panic, along with other responsibilities she has to do. So it's been hard and long workdays for her." I didn't specify too much more into what Emma was doing around the kids. I didn't want them to hear about how their mommy has to call other families to let them know a loved one has passed away.
"Well, hopefully, she'll be here in the next couple of hours. Now, what do you all want to eat?" I sighed out while typing out the email to the construction person.
"Something spicy." I casually said out loud. I want to be able to taste the food today.
"We agree. Let's eat something spicy." Both of the twins' answered at the same time. They've been saying the same shit at the same time, more frequently lately. Not going to lie; it can be a little creepy at times. It definitely gives me scary movie vibes from time to time.
"Something spicy it is then. I'll go ahead and get started. You know I usually make everything from scratch, as long as I have all the ingredients. Plus, I'll make dessert." This piqued the twins' interests.
"What kind of dessert?" She looked at them and smiled.
"It's a surprise." She winked at them before turning back to the cabinets to grab all the ingredients she would need to make dinner.
Time honestly sped by after that. The kids were done with their homework, and I was done with the last bit of editing I needed to do for one of my clients. The kids quickly got washed up for dinner and were immediately back to being by our sides within seconds. Safe to say, they were using their enhanced speed. We were now just sitting down on the couch watching cartoons. About an hour later, I heard the front door open. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was almost 6:00 pm. That's definitely Emma.
"Hey, baby. Hey kids." Emma kissed us all on the top of our heads.
"Hey." We all replied at the same time. Great, now I'm doing it too. Anyways, we were so focused on this episode of Scooby-Doo we didn't say anything besides Hey.
"No, how was your day?" We all shushed her. The witchy bitchy ghost of the west was now being sucked into the book dragging that douchebag family member of hers down with her.
"Hell yeah! That's what you get, asshole." I exclaimed while throwing my fist in the air.
"Mila, language." My mom reprimanded me from the kitchen. I shrunk back a bit and looked at everyone around me. They all started laughing at me.
"Oh, you should have seen your face. You're still scared of your mom." I mock-laughed back at Emma.
"She's wearing her chanclas and has a precision aim. I'm not about to mess around and get on her bad side. If I were you, I would be on my best behavior. She always tells me I'm never too old to be called her little girl, give her kisses and hugs, and that I am never too old to get the chancla." This had Emma laughing harder, and I just shook my head. She's going to get hit by a flying flip-flop before these few days are up and my mom's gone.
"Emma, I would suggest you listen to your wife." Emma stopped laughing immediately. "Now, what I originally came in here to say; dinner is ready; let's go eat." With that, we all made our way into the kitchen and had dinner as a family.
The food was delicious and spicy. Everyone was enjoying the food, and one another's company. The kids seemed genuinely happy. We were all laughing and smiling. I wish every day could be like this. I missed when it was always like this. Back when the atmosphere was lighter, there was no virus, extreme stress like there are now, no nightmares, and sleepless nights; just regular mundane problems. I long for those days.