Chapter 2193

Cradled in the crook of his arm, Cecilia let out a soft breath and allowed her eyes to close.

Hours later, a sharp, hesitant knock shattered the silence, vibrating through the wooden door like a pebble striking glass.

Half-asleep, Cecilia blinked into the darkness. “Who’s there?”

A small, trembling voice answered from the hallway. “Mommy…”

She sat up instantly. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Nathaniel swung his legs over the side of the bed, fully alert despite the late hour.

Cecilia opened the door. Elliot stood there in cartoon pajamas, rubbing his sleepy eyes, tears clinging to his lashes. “Mommy, I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Her heart softened immediately.

Before she could respond, Nathaniel lifted Elliot into the air. “Aren’t you supposed to be a brave young man?”

Suspended midair, Elliot kicked and squirmed, more startled than reassured. “Daddy, put me down. I’m scared.”

Nathaniel frowned. “You’re old enough to sleep in your own bed. I’ll walk you back.”

Fresh sobs spilled out. “No—Mommy, please…”

Elliot rarely asked to sleep with them. Nicholas’s words from earlier had twisted into something dark, lingering in his dreams like a shadow. Cecilia hurried forward and caught Nathaniel’s arm.

“It’s all right. Let him stay—just for tonight.”

Elliot wasn’t one to cry without reason. The fear in his eyes felt real.

Nathaniel’s shoulders tightened. “Then he can sleep with Jonathan instead.”

A boy who clung to his mother, he believed, would never learn courage. Cecilia hesitated, then knelt to Elliot’s level. “How about staying in Jonathan’s room tonight? Would that feel safe?”

Elliot lowered his head, his cheeks turning pink under the hallway light.

In a small but earnest voice, he said, “Jonathan says I talk in my sleep, so he doesn’t want to share a room with me anymore.”

He looked up again, eyes shining in the glow of the night-light. “Mommy, I know I’m a big kid now and shouldn’t bother you and Daddy. If you let me stay in your room, I can sleep on the couch. Really—I don’t mind.”

Cecilia and Nathaniel exchanged a glance, equal parts tenderness and resignation. They called a housekeeper to bring in a small bed and tucked Elliot beside theirs, as though anchoring him to safety.

But once the lights were out, Elliot tossed beneath the blanket, turning again and again. Every rustle sounded loud in the stillness, sleep refusing to come.

“Mommy… Daddy… are you asleep yet?” he whispered into the dark, hope trembling in his voice.

From his side of the bed, Nathaniel answered gruffly, “Yes.”

After a pause, Elliot asked, “If you’re asleep, how can you still talk?”

Nathaniel’s arm—wrapped possessively around Cecilia’s waist—twitched with the urge to swat him, but he forced it to stay put.

Elliot pressed his lips together and tried once more to settle.

A little while later, he whispered again, “Are you really asleep now?”

Cecilia bit back a smile. Even half-awake, his persistence amused her.

“I’m still awake, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”

At the sound of her voice, Elliot released a shaky breath. “Mommy, I dreamed someone tried to hurt me—really hurt me. I don’t want to die.”

A chill ran down Cecilia’s spine. She never imagined a nightmare that dark could reach her child.

She gently slipped free of Nathaniel’s embrace and lay beside Elliot, one hand stroking slow, soothing circles across his back. “Dreams are only shadows, darling. They can’t hurt you while I’m here.”

Elliot nodded against the pillow. “Okay. I know.”

Nathaniel watched them for a moment, then sighed. He climbed out of bed, scooped them both up, and set them down on the larger mattress. “Just this once,” he muttered, though a faint smile betrayed him.

Cecilia and Elliot beamed.

Morning light spilled gold across the living room. Jonathan lounged on the couch, his gaze flicking toward his mother and younger brother as they came downstairs together.

“Mommy, did you sleep with Elliot last night?” Jonathan asked, his tone carefully neutral.

Cecilia flushed as if caught doing something wrong. “He had a nightmare, so I stayed with him for a bit.”

Jonathan’s brows knit in exaggerated jealousy. “Elliot, next time you get scared, come to my room instead. I guess I can tolerate you for a night or two.”