Chris Larabee wakes up screaming in his bed. Sweat runs down his face and bare chest like he'd been running a marathon as he holds his face in his hands trying to catch his breath. It had been a long, hard bust, he'd went from the office straight to his bed.
The person in the bed next to him is woke up by the screaming, reaching over and turning on the light.
“Chris, what's the matter?”
Chris scrambles out of the bed, staring at the other person.
“S. . .S. ..Sarah?” he asks, blinking. He scrambles against the wall as his late wife blinks at him from the bed. “What the hell is going on?”
“Christopher Adam Larabee, don't you swear around me Mister!” she snaps, squirming towards the edge of the bed. “Well don't just stand there, help me get up.” She glares over her shoulder at him. He blinks and moves automatically, reaching for her. Instead of disappearing like he'd expected, he has to be dreaming after all, she grunts and grabs his hands, using his help to pull herself to her feet. He stares, her nightgown is stretched over her very, very, very pregnant belly.
“Your heathen children are lying on my bladder, so I'm going to pee. When I get back, we will be talking about why you're acting like you've just seen a ghost. And go check on the boys, make sure your yelling didn't wake them.” she orders.
“Boys?” Chris stares at her retreating back dumbly as he looks around the room, what had been a room that he slept in but didn't live in this morning is replaced by one that is definitely lived in. There's pictures everywhere of Sarah, him, the team, and . . .two little boys???
“Our sons, Adam and Alex?” Sarah turns to look at him. She gives him a look and he stumbles out of the bedroom. The living room looks like it had when he'd stumbled through it on the way to his bedroom, at least until he sees the toys scattered around the furniture, more pictures on the mantel, kids coats on the pegboard by the back door, and a half-grown puppy in the kitchen that scrambles to his feet for a headrub when the master of the house appears. Chris automatically opens the back door to let him out, the puppy runs out and lifts his leg on a tree as Chris stares at the two vehicles in the yard, his SUV and Sarah's old vehicle, the one that she and Adam had died in. . Adam. He lets the puppy back in and he curls up on his blanket as Chris heads down the hall to the other bedrooms.
He blinks as he sees an open door, lit by a nightlight. He opens the door to see a pair of twin beds against the walls, a dark head on each pillow. He walks in and looks at the two beds. Adam's around nine or ten, he manages to keep himself from touching him. He looks over at the other bed. The boy sleeping there . . .Chris's first thought is, they don't look alike. A pair of chocolate brown eyes look back at him sleepily, Chris automatically reaches over and brushes a hand over his head, pulling the covers back up around him. “Shhh Alex it's just me, go back to sleep.”
Chris shakes his head as he leaves the boys bedroom, heading to where his office should be. He sighs when he sees it looks like it had been when he left the house, booting up the computer as he sits down.
“Chris?” Sarah asks her husband when she comes into the office. She rests her hands on his shoulders as he quickly pulls up web pages. She doesn't know what he's looking for, but from his frantic typing and glaring at the screen, he can't find it. “What's the matter? Do you need me to call JD?”
Chris looks at her. “Sarah, you won't believe me. And what do you know about JD, I met him after you died?”
Sarah chokes. “Excuse me? I . . .. WHAT?”
Chris pinches his nose. “October 17, five years ago. I was gone extraditing a criminal with Buck. While we were gone, there was a bomb planted in your car. You and Adam died. I joined the ATF after you died, Buck and I both did.”
“Hon, it's just a bad dream. I'm alive, Adam's alive. . .Alex. . .What about Alex?”
“We didn't have twins, Sarie, we just had one child.”
“See, it was just a dream. I'm alive, we have two strong sons, and in a couple of months we're going to have two beautiful daughters. Now come back to bed?” Sarah hums as she pulls her husband to his feet. She pulls him back to their bedroom, doing everything she can to get him settled back to sleep. But it doesn't work, Chris lies awake the rest of the night afraid to close his eyes in case this is just a dream.