It took me a long time to figure out where I was when I woke up. I gulped in long, hard breaths, swiping at the tears blurring my vision. My army man alarm clock told me it was 4 a.m. and that I was at my Daddy's house.

Daddy… Snakes… Bathtub.

As the disjointed images began to remind me of my nightmare, I let out a whimper and pulled my army covers to my chin. I was hot though, my body sticky with sweat and the covers twisted around my pajamas. It was still black outside, and even though I tried to stop myself from being scared again, it didn't work.

Just a dream, I told myself resolutely. No reason to be scared.

Tentatively, I reached to straighten out my bedspread. Better. Thinking about being better made me think of why I was bad in the first place and flashes from my dream came at me again.

Snakes.

A fresh well of tears in my eyes, I searched my covers for Doggie, my stuffed bunny. Apparently I was a stupid kid when I named him. I thought all animals were dogs. I was much too old for him, but it was nice to hold someone. Beside, he was probably as frightened as I was.

"Doggie?" I whispered to the darkness of the room.

No response.

Relentless, I tried again. "Doggie?"

I finally spotted him on the floor by the bed. Oh no. Under the bed. Monsters. I don't care if my Daddy said he already checked. There are monsters there. I hated the black space underneath my bed.

Before I knew it, I had sprinted off the bed, grabbing Doggie by his long ears and stood gulping for air at the door. I creaked it open, before I could get any more scared.

Was the hallway always this dark?

I just had to get to my daddy. He would fix it. I liked sleeping in there when I had bad dreams. He just magically knew when I needed someone to talk to. Sometimes, he would wake up when I just opened the door, even though I tried to be quiet. It was nicer to have bad dreams at my dad's house. Mommy's pretty hard to wake up in the middle of the night. And let's be honest. My dad's a lot scarier. No monster's gonna try to get me when he's around. My mom isn't scary at all. Unless I don't take a bath.

Still sniffling and still hesitating at the door to my room, I remember what my Daddy always told me. Bravery and honor is what makes a man a man. It's from the heart, he says. Nodding at this and gathering my courage, I dashed down the hall and pushed open the door to his room. The sense of urgency that propelled my down the hall in the first place dimmed as I stepped into the cool darkness of my Dad's room. I hesitated for a moment, listening to the comforting sounds of breathing in the room. Bones was still here, I noted. There were two lumps under the covers instead of one. I heard my dad snore and I nearly smiled. He must really be tired if he hadn't noticed me yet. I tiptoed to the bed, frowning when I climbed up the bench at the end. My Daddy had his arm wrapped tightly around Bones, which was fine, usually. I like Bones a lot, actually. She's funny and really nice and not gross at all. And she's really pretty.

I even had some plans to ask her to be my girlfriend earlier. I spent three recesses at the arts and crafts station working on this picture for her. When I told my Daddy the plan though, he kind of choked and then had a Talk with me. I hate those. He told me that Bones could definitely be my special friend, but she was already his girlfriend. Even when I told him that we could share her, he refused. He kind of snorted and when I asked why, he told me that he was laughing at what Bones would do if she knew we were talking about her like she was some kind of property.

Whatever. Grownups are weird, even Bones and even my Daddy.

But I didn't want Bones to find out about my nightmare. I hoped she wouldn't think I was being a baby.

Crawling up on the bed, my Daddy finally woke up, jumping awake and then stilling when he noticed me perched on his feet.

"Hey Buddy, what's wrong? Your tummy hurt?"

Sometimes when my mom or dad talks to me with that gentle tone, it makes me want to cry again, even though I shouldn't! To my horror, I let out a soft whimper and my Daddy immediately sat up, pulling me off of his feet and into his lap.

My arms went around his neck and he held me tightly for a second, letting me cry.

"I had a bad dream," I finally mumbled into his bare shoulder.

"Why don't you tell me about it, Park, okay? I promise things will be OK," he whispered to me. He set me down a little, and I saw that he was wearing the pajama pants I bought him for Christmas. They matched mine. Camo. Well, he actually bought them, but I made him close his eyes while he paid so he wouldn't ruin the surprise.

"There was a snake in the bathtub," I told him, letting my head rest on his chest. I kept quiet because Bones was still sleeping. I watched her while I told my Daddy the rest. "And you wouldn't believe me, Daddy. I kept telling you and telling you and you wouldn't believe me!"

"That sounds rough, Park. And scary. I'm sorry you had bad dreams."

I nodded, and my Daddy started stroking my hair, which I loved. He continued speaking after a minute. "You know who is also scared of snakes?"

"Who?"

He looked from side to side like he was about to tell me a big, big secret. I leaned in closer. "Who??"

"Bones," He whispered in my ear.

"No!" Oops, that was a little louder than I wanted it to be.

"Yes."

"Wow," I paused and took this in as I watched Bones sleep. She looked really peaceful, like she wasn't having any nightmares at all. I'm glad. You know, I'm happy Bones didn't have my nightmare. Now that I know she was afraid of snakes, I know that she would have been really scared. In a way, I'm glad that I had it, instead of her. When I told my Dad that, he smiled at me like he did when I made that game winning basketball bucket. I smiled back, but I still didn't want to go back to my room.

"Can I sleep here?" I whispered to my dad.

He nodded and I squirmed between him and Bones. He laid down next to me and gave me a look. "You stole my spot, little man."

Beaming, I nodded.

We were quiet then, and I let out a big yawn. I was nearly asleep when I felt my hair blow when my dad sighed. "Love you, Parker," he said quietly.

I tiredly reached out and patted his hand. "Love you too, Dad."

Turning over, I faced my Dad's pretty girlfriend, who was still, miraculously, asleep.

"Love you too, Bones," I told her. "But not like my Dad does, right?"

I heard him chuckle and even though I didn't know what was funny, I smiled and went back to sharing his pillow.

No more nightmares.

I wrote this little short piece of fluff when I was sitting in my religion class at 8 a.m. this morning. I've noticed that when I doodle and write in that class (when I should be paying attention) my musings always end up about sleep. If I can't be actually sleeping, I guess writing about it is the next best thing, right? :) Let me know what you think. I miss Parker. Glad he was in the last episode for a little bit.