A scream echoes throughout the apartment and Luke immediately sits up in the bed. He turns over to see Clara screaming and thrashing in the bed, her body covered in a coat of sweat.
Luke shakes her, trying to wake her up. "Clara! Clara, baby, wake up!" He grabs her shoulders and shakes her.
Clara's eyes shoot open and her breathing comes out frantically. "I'm sorry." She says immediately. "I'm sorry."
Luke pulls her into a hug and she begins to cry. "Shh." He whispers soothingly into her ear as he strokes her hair. "You're okay, we're okay."
Clara begins to sob and she shakes her head. "I h-haven't had a nightmare i-in 5 years. W-why now?"
"I don't know, baby, I don't know." He rocks her body back and forth. "I still get them sometimes, too."
"I miss them. And I'm still scared." She mumbles into Luke's chest.
"I miss them, too." Luke says sadly.
"Mommy? Daddy?" A little girl walks into the room.
"Ashley, why are you awake?" Luke climbs off the bed and towards his daughter.
"Mommy was screaming and crying." The little girl mutters, rubbing her eyes from sleepiness.
"Oh, she's okay, princess." He picks her up and she snuggles into his shoulder.
"Okay." Ashley whispers then looks up at Clara who is sitting up on the bed. "I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, sweetheart." Clara manages to smile.
"Let's get you back to bed." Luke tells Ashley. She waves a little hand at her mom before Luke carries her back to her room.
He lays her down on her bed and wraps the blanket around her. "Mommy is okay. Alright, Ash?"
"What's wrong with her?" Ashley asks.
"She gets nightmares sometimes."
"Why?"
"I'll tell you when you're older, okay?"
"But I'm 5. That's old." She pouts.
"You're still a little girl." Luke smiles and places a kiss on her forehead.
"I'm not little." Ashley protests.
"Ashley Grace Hemmings, you'll always be my little girl." He strokes her brown hair. She inherited that from Clara but her bright blue eyes from Luke.
"I love you, Daddy." She smiles.
"Love you too, princess."
Luke gives her a small wave before leaving her room and returning to his and Clara's room.
"I'm sorry for waking her up." Clara says immediately when Luke walks in.
"It's fine, Clara."
"No it's not. It's been 13 years. I need to get over it." She sighs, her eyes filling with tears again.
"No, you don't. I don't want you to feel like you have to get over it." Luke sits down in front of her, sitting criss-crossed and placing his hands on her shoulders. "What we went through was bad, really bad. And no one is forcing you to get over it."
Clara shakes her head and lets it fall into Luke's chest. He wraps an arms around her back and pulls her close. "Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if someone else lived. Or if all of is lived. Or if you died. It's terrible of me, but sometimes I wish that someone else had lived instead of me."
