Chapter 14
STACY
With Tarvis' arm around her stomach, Stacy lay awake in their new bed. She tried to keep her toes from twitching and disturbing Travis, but the more she lay there the more she worried.
The room was nicely casted in a light blue glow from the bathroom nightlight. The bed was comfortable, and sexually she was sated. Yet she couldn't sleep.
Every little minuscule noise had her mind racing to connect it with a reason.
Stacy shook her head, her mind made up and rolled out from under Travis' arm. Slipping on her nightdress, she crept on tiptoes up the stairs. Her hand skimmed the smooth handrail, resting on the newal as she reached the top of the landing.
At the top she waited and listened and allowed her ears to adjust to the ambience that was softer and more subdued. Her heart still raced as she checked on each twin, in separate rooms and separate beds. The rooms were set up as mirror images, with bunk beds sitting next to the same wall.
During bedtime, Helen had asked Travis if he could cut a hole in the wall so that she could talk to Harry. Travis had played the part of construction man, even going so far as to get his tape measure and a pencil and made a theatrical performance of measuring the wall and drawing where a window could go.
It made perfect sense to all of them to have a window between the rooms. The twins had shared a bed since birth, always within reach of each other. And Stacy wondered how long it would take for them to creep into each other's bed.
Which was most likely the reason Stacy was standing between their doors now. It was new and strange and everything was out of place.
The whole house and situation was out of place for Stacy. Too new. Too unfamiliar.
As she slid down the wall between their doors, Stacy tried to calm her nerves. Maybe she was just feeling overwhelmed. Hell, it was probably she still hadn't come to terms with the cards life handed her a couple months ago.
Inhaling, she tried to settle in and talk herself into going back to bed, yet she couldn't. Couldn't walk away. Every time she thought about it, her anxiety skyrocketed.
That was okay though, she could rest and feel safe in the knowledge that if the twins needed her she'd be close by.
ECHO
Echo felt Stacy roll from the bed and he hid a smile. He expected her to use the restroom and come back to bed, but when she didn't return, he listened to her move about the house.
He let her have her time, knowing it would be different and difficult moving and sleeping in a new place.
Stretching his arms above his head, he waited. And waited. He strained his hearing for any creaks or indication of her movements to no avail.
Glancing at the clock, he sprang from the bed and slipped on a pair of boxers. Out in the dark house he searched, listening for anything out of the ordinary.
Creeping as silently as he could, Echo decided to check upstairs and made his way to the top. And sure enough, slumped over sitting against the wall on the floor was his sleeping wife.
He covertly checked on the twins before he crouched down to gather his wife in his arms. Yet before he could pick her up, she woke and flailed in his arms.
“No. No, leave me here. I can't go back. I can't,” she mumbled incoherently in her attempt to fight him.
Feet firmly on the floor, he gently held her arms. “Stacy, it's okay. Hey, it's okay,” he cooed as her eyes focused on him as she became aware of her surroundings.
Stacy silently shook her head, her body trembling enough to scare him. “What's wrong, baby? Talk to me?”
“I...I can't go back to bed. I can't hear them. What if they need me? What if Harry gets sick and Helen calls for me and I can't hear them? I can't hear them downstairs. I can't.”
Fuck. Why hadn't he thought of that? Of course she'd be worried. They went from a two bedroom tiny apartment to a spacious house, it would take time for them to adjust.
Echo pulled her into his chest and soothed her as best he could given the circumstances. He sighed when she wrapped her arms around his back.
“There is an open bedroom up here. We can also get baby monitors, and we will first thing in the morning. We'll sleep upstairs for tonight, and if you want to continue to sleep upstairs, we can. We don't have to make our room the masters bedroom just yet. How's that sound?”
Her hair caught in his beard as she pulled back, leaving tendrils fly between them. “You don't mind?”
“Baby,” he cooed, taking her face in his hands. He stared into her eyes and willed her to understand. “I'll do whatever it takes to make you comfortable. Moving rooms is a small concession in the grand scheme of things.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“There's no need to thank me, baby. We should have thought about that before we headed to bed. And next time,” he lifted her chin with his knuckle, “wake me up. I'm always there for you. Technically, I was already awake. I thought you were getting a drink or something.”
“I'm sorry. I'll do better at communicating. I thought I'd be fine, but it's all so new and I... well, I'm just out of sorts.”
Pulling her back to his chest, he held and rocked her, kissing the top of her head. “Want me to grab anything from the bed? I'll get our phones, you go get comfortable.”
Stacy kissed his cheek. “Just you. I've gotta pee first.”
Stacy darted to the bathroom before he headed down to grab their phone and Stacy's plush fleece side blanket. It was a gift from him for the hospital, a purple unicorn, and she had clung to it like a security blanket.
Echo would do anything to make her comfortable. He had years to make up for.