Chapter 2

Michael's POV

Another night, another terrifying cry of fear of my wife as she was having another nightmare. In an instant I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight, keeping her safe.

"It's ok, I'm here" I whispered while softly stroking her hair. Her body was shaking and she was breathing heavily.

It was in late summer when her nightmares started again and I have no idea what triggered them. That's why I wanted Maeve to go to therapy, but since she didn't want to leave Neverland and there's only so little money can't buy, Dr. Reese now visits us twice a week.

At first she always likes to talk to me for a while since Maeve doesn't really talk to her but Dr. Reese assured me that she just needs more time to adjust. Especially since Maeve already underwent multiple therapy sessions, she shouldn't be pressured.

Although Dr. Reese informed me that Maeve barley speaks more than 10 words during this one hour sessions, I get the feeling that Maeve does feel slightly better afterwards.

It's nothing she tells me, no, it's her eyes, they look a little less sad.

However, the nightmares have to stop. But as much as I want to help her, there's nothing I can do beside holding her.

I don't mind being up in the middle of the night. It's not unusual for since sleep tends to avoid me anyway. But the more these nightmares haunt my wife, the sadder and quieter she gets.

Maeve's breathing slowly went back to normal and the shaking stopped but I continued holding her, slowly rocking us.

"I'm sorry for waking you, Michael" she whispered while tiredly leaning more against my body.

"It's ok" I assured her. Normally I wouldn't question her and wait for her to talk to me. But this has been going on for months and I needed to know what her dreams were about.

"Do you want to talk about what's haunting you?" I carefully asked.

It went quiet between us, I prepared myself for a 'no' but instead she slowly nodded her head before pulling away from me and sitting up in front of me.

I mirrored her and held my hands for her to take which she gladly accepted.

"Dr. Reese told me to open up to you a little more" she started, her voice was quiet and her head hung low. The only source of light was coming from a small lamp on my bedside table.

"You're finally talking to her?"

"I guess so" a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Tell me about your dream then..."

Maeve nodded her head, looked into my eyes before her eyes searched the dimmed room.

They become watery while avoiding eye contact. "It was the day of the car accident... I left the spa, said goodbye to the girls, got inside my car and drove away. On the crossroads I see that car coming my way. Gosh, I remember it so well..." her eyes stayed on a spot on the wall while tears slowly rolled down her face.

"Then I wake up, and the next day... the next day it's the same dream all over again and every time I see that car coming my way I know it's all because of me."

"It's not your fau-"

"Yes, it is Michael! You should be angry at me! I risked not only my life but also our son's" Maeve interrupted me, slightly raising her voice at me.

"All this happened because I am who I am, not because of you! If you want to blame anyone, blame me!" I squeezed her hands, her cheeks were still wet from all the tears but she didn't look sad, no, she looked angry.

Was She angry at me, for not being angry at her?

What does it change? Nothing. What's done can't be changed. What's the point in being angry?

"I love you, Michael" she whispered. "I would never blame you-"

"And I would never blame you! It wasn't your fault either. It was your father's" my voice was loud at this point and it seemed like we've had the same conversation over and over again.

"Maeve" I let go of her hands and grabbed her cheeks. "We talked about this. What is the real reason for your suffering?"

We stared at each other when Maeve's lips started to shake and they turned into a frown when one single tear slowly rolled down her face, followed by another and another.

"What if this happens again?" her voice was cracky, she really was scared but I couldn't help but giggle.

"You think this will happen again?" I laughed.

With an unchanged expression on her face, she kept staring at me and it took me some time to realize my behavior was a little disrespectful because it really seemed to bother her.

"I remember that day as well" I began. "On the way to the hospital I had a panic attack and Bill needed to stop. I remember him throwing his lunch out on the street to give me the bag to help me breath" I laughed a little at the memory. Bill really is my closest friend.

"I remember breaking down on the floor when the nurse showed us your picture because up until this point you were unknown to them, your drivers license was never found. I remember they told me about your left hand."

As I took her left hand, I carefully looked at it. It still had some visible scars and I kissed each of them before looking back into her eyes.

"And I remember they told me that you tried to protect your baby... you had less than a second to react and instead of covering your face, you covered your bump, to protect our son.... you are a great mother! You'd do anything to protect your child and I'm sure you'd do the same for our next child!"

"You really mean that?" she questioned and I nodded before quickly kissing her lips.

"Did the nightmares start after we talked about having another child?" I couldn't help but ask since I needed to know if I was the trigger this time.

Maeve again avoided my eyes, giving me the answer I needed.

"I want us to have another baby" she finally said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to pressure you."

"You're not. I think it'll help me to overcome the trauma of Nicolas' birth. I never experienced labor, never had contractions. I was robbed of that experience. I don't know if it makes any sense but I'm still grieving the experience I was supposed to have. My body feels like a failure, I couldn't even do what many many women did before me!" I listened carefully while Maeve poured her heart out.

"I want to experience all the firsts with you. The first breath of our child, the first cry, the first time holding our baby! The first time I held Nicolas was when I was in coma, I can't even remember that. I want it to be as special as I imagined."

"So, you're telling me, that you're ready to try for another baby?" I asked, not even trying to hide my excitement.

Maeve smiled widely and simply nodded.

"You don't have to tell me twice" I said before slamming my body against hers, causing her to fall back onto the mattress, our lips instantly locking.