When Her Death Couldn't Break Him (Cecilia and Nathaniel) novel Chapter 2193

Cradled in the crook of his arm, Cecilia exhaled and let her eyelids drift shut.

Hours later a sharp, tentative rapping shattered the silence, vibrating through the wooden door like a pebble against glass.

Half-asleep, Cecilia blinked into the darkness. "Who's there?"

A small, trembling voice answered from the hallway. "Mommy..."

She sat up at once. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Nathaniel swung his legs over the mattress, alert now despite the hour.

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

Her heart melted at once.

Before she could speak, Nathaniel scooped Elliot into the air. "Aren't you supposed to be a brave young man?"

Dangling mid-air, the boy kicked and wriggled, more startled than comforted.

"Daddy, put me down. I'm scared."

Nathaniel's brow furrowed. "You're old enough to sleep in your own bed. I'll walk you back."

Elliot burst into fresh sobs. "No—Mommy, please..."

He rarely asked to share their room; Nicholas' earlier words had twisted into nightmares that clung like shadows.

Cecilia hurried forward and grabbed Nathaniel's arm.

"It's all right—let him stay with us just for tonight."

Elliot wasn't one to fuss without cause; the fear in his eyes felt real enough to her.

Nathaniel's shoulders tightened. "Then let him sleep with Jonathan instead."

A boy clinging to his mother, he thought, could never learn courage.

Cecilia considered, then knelt to Elliot's eye level. "How about staying in your brother Jonathan's room tonight—would that feel safe enough?"

Elliot lowered his head, cheeks flushing a shy pink beneath the hallway light.

His small voice drifted up from the foot of the master bed, fragile but determined. "Jonathan says I talk in my sleep, so he refuses to share a room with me anymore."

A chill slid down Cecilia's spine. She never imagined a nightmare that dark could find her son.

Elliot nodded against the pillow. "Okay. I know."

Nathaniel watched them and sighed.

Then, he swung out of bed, scooped both into his arms, and deposited them in the much larger mattress. "Just this once," he muttered, though the corners of his mouth betrayed him with a smile.

Cecilia and Elliot beamed.

Morning painted the living-room windows gold. Jonathan lounged on the couch, gaze sliding toward his mother and younger brother as they descended the stairs together.

"Mommy, did you sleep with Elliot last night?" Jonathan asked, tone deceptively mild.

Flushing as though caught misbehaving, Cecilia explained, "He had a nightmare, so I stayed with him for a little while."

Jonathan's brows pinched in melodramatic jealousy. "Elliot, next time you get spooked, come to my room instead. I suppose I can tolerate you for a night or two."