I'll Protect You

"Daddy, you 'wake?" Little four-year-old Helena Harkness called for her father, her tiny voice not carrying far. The house was dark, shadows leaping at her - she was scared.

When Helena got no reply from her sleeping father, she came to the side of the bed and reached up, tapping his exposed arm, and he woke.

"Helena - why're you awake, sweetheart?" Jack inquired, trying to hide the groggy note in his voice.

"I had a bad dream Daddy," Helena told him, still wiping away visable tears.

Jack picked Helena, placing her on the bed with him. He looked into her eyes, her big brown eyes, and asked, "What did you dream about?"

"I dreamed bout me and you Daddy and we was real happy but then we was sad and there was a man and he was all covered in blood and it scared me," Helena's tiny voice turned into crying. Jack picked her up and cuddled her, protected her.

"That's never gonna happen, sweetheart," He sad, "We're always gonna be happy and there's never gonna be a man covered in blood - I promise," Jack comforted his daughter, rubbing her back and rocking her as she sobbed, "I love you, sweetheart, and nothing's ever gonna change that - ever."

Helena choked back her sobs and looked up at her father, "I love you too Daddy." She snuggled in her father. Still gently rocking her, she eventually fell asleep, and Jack laid her next to him. He kissed her forehead.

"I'll protect you."

And he went back to sleep