"Really?"
"Really." 
I looked at him in the mirror—locking eyes. "Thank you. I'm glad we aren't getting lost in everything."
"Honey, we may have a lot going on around us, but I am committed to making sure I never lose sight of you and what we have—ever again."
I turned my head, brushing my lips across his. I felt his arms move from my shoulders to wrap around my waist. He deepened our kiss, passion pouring from him—and I matched it. It was a war of hunger and desire wrapped around the conclusion of fear and anxiety we'd been fighting for the last two days. It was every emotion we'd been carrying—anger, love, worry, joy. Fire, and ice, clashing and melting at the same time. Everything was in this moment. 
Breathing heavy, Caden pulled back first. "We need to stop. You asked for us to reconnect, but no sex. We keep this up, well, you and I both know the idea of stopping will be a distant memory for us both.
Panting, I responded, "shit, you're right. I know, you're right. It sucks—it was my rule, but I think we both know fun in the bedroom was never an issue for us—it was everything else. So, yeah, you're right." 
He responded, "We're right." 
I smiled, leaned in and laid my cheek against his chest. After a minute I stepped back, told him I would get ready for bed, and headed into the bathroom to wash up and dress in my least sexy pajamas possible—we're talking full length pants and long-sleeved top, zero cinching, extra baggy. 
I walked back into the bedroom to find Caden walking in from the other side at the same time. He told me, "I did the rounds, made sure everything was locked up, and I set the alarm."
I don't know why, but I was comforted by that more than usual. He always does the last walk-around—it's routine for us. But tonight, it felt a thousand times more soothing on my nerves than normal. 
I climbed into bed, wrapping myself in all the layers. I like to be warm when I sleep, so layers are my best friend. Caden likes to be cold, so we are perfect at sleeping together—by morning he'll have kicked the covers off and I'll have stolen all of them to burrow into my cocoon.
He made his way to the other side and under the covers. Pulling me close, he nuzzled his face into the side of my neck—making me giggle. This. This feeling and this moment—I wish I could stop time right here. Our breathing evened out as we both fell into a comfortable quiet. Soon, I felt myself drifting off, safe in Caden's arms. I sensed him doing the same. Glad Caden was never a snorer, I contented myself in the feel of his body heat warming me down to my soul, and allowed my dreams to take me.
——————————
A blood curdling scream rocked my world and ripped me out of my sleep. Glancing around, the room was silent and pitch black except for the Echo where I could see the time in dim blue showing it was 3 a.m. My heart was pounding and Caden was sitting up now too. 
"What happened?" he said.
"I don't know. Maybe I had a dream? I could swear I heard screaming, but now I don't know if it was me or if I actually heard it—everything's so quiet. I want to go check on Macy." Just then, the scream happened again—it was Macy, and I hadn't dreamt it. That scream was very real.
Caden and I rushed to her room, Caden turned the hall light on as he passed it. The night light in her room added enough lighting to see her clearly. I ran to her bedside and dropped down to my knees. She was thrashing and whimpering, her movements putting her arm at risk of getting hit against the nightstand. I firmly grabbed her shoulders, at least to stop her from hurting herself.