Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Colin!”

He turned at the sound of his name, looking around the arrivals of London Heathrow, searching the flood of tired travelers for her familiar copper locks, bright blue eyes that were more soothing to gaze into than any others he had found in all his years.

The search felt fruitless as more and more people passed him, none of them his love he was waiting for.

And then, the throngs of people parted and she was there in front of him. His Penelope. His bright shining star. Finally returned home to him from her many months away on her book tour.

Her smile was radiant. Beautiful.

He reached his hands out to her, eager to get her back into his arms and kiss—

"Dadaaaaa!!!!”

A piercing, tear-filled scream tore through Colin’s subconscious, instantly rousing him from his sleeping state.

He pressed his face deeper into his pillow, groaning as the last dregs of his dream slipped away and reality unfortunately took over. If he closed his eyes really tightly, he could almost smell Penelope’s perfume—fresh, zesty, floral with a hint of vanilla—on the pillow and trick himself into believing that she was asleep next to him, instead of somewhere in America promoting her novel.

Whimpers sounded through the baby monitor on the bedside table and, with a sigh and another groan, he pushed himself into a sitting position, eventually standing upright. Rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm and fighting back a yawn, Colin slid his phone into the pocket of his pajama pants before padding down the hallway to his son’s room.

He poked his head inside, his heart nearly breaking in two when he saw the state his son was in. Thomas was curled tight in a ball, his face pressed into his Snoopy plushie (a purchase Colin made before Thomas was born), blankets twisted around his legs, sobs shaking his tiny body. All that could be seen of him was his shock of red hair, identical to his mother’s.

“Tommy, what happened bud? Are you okay?” Colin’s voice was soft, not wanting to scare the child further.

When he didn’t answer right away, Colin crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Thomas startled from the bed shifting, trying to scoot away, to scoot to safety.

“Baby.” Colin tried to keep his voice steady, despite how heartbreaking this was for him. “Tommy, it’s me, it’s Daddy. You’re safe. What happened?”

At these words, Thomas peaked at Colin with one red-rimmed eye, half his face still buried in Snoopy’s fur. Upon realizing it was his father, he sighed out a shaky breath and scrambled until he had climbed into Colin’s lap and buried his face in Colin’s chest, one arm still wrapped around Snoopy’s neck.

“Had bad dream.” His voice was muffled.

“Oh bub,” Colin sighed and wrapped his arms around the three-year-old, kissing the top of his son’s head, rocking them gently. “Wanna tell me about it?”

Through sobs, Thomas began recounting his nightmare. It was a bit garbled but Colin got the gist, by now well-versed in decoding his child’s stories. Thomas was at the zoo with his parents, looking at the elephants and otters and turtles, and then suddenly he was all alone, lost in a sea of strangers with neither his mum nor dad in sight.

“And—and—I— I couldn’t find—you or Mummy and— and— it was dark, and— Daddy, I was so scared!” Thomas whimpered through more sobs, pressing closer to his father’s chest, as though nothing could hurt him now. Which, of course, was true. Colin was the most protective of Papa Bears when it came to Thomas.

“I’m sorry about the bad dream, sweetheart,” Colin stroked a soothing hand over Thomas’s head, kissing his forehead. “You’re safe though. I’ve got you, and nothing’s gonna happen to you when I’m around. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, Daddy,” Thomas sniffled. “I—I wanted to come to you but—something in my dream was holding onto my legs! I couldn’t move!” He sighed, pressing his face back against Colin’s shoulder. “I miss Mummy.”

His voice was so quiet, whistful, sad. Colin felt his heart break. Pen had been gone for two weeks, filming a variety of interviews with morning shows promoting her latest book, a novel based loosely on her and Colin’s love story. Colin was endlessly proud of his wife, but he still missed her. Parenting—especially sadder moments like this one—was much harder when he didn’t have his partner there with him.

“I miss Mummy too,” Colin confessed, shifting Thomas on his lap so he could reach his phone in his pocket. “But we can call her, yeah? It’s only like 10pm for her in New York and then it’ll be like she’s here with us.”

Colin quickly navigated to Penelope’s contact in his phone, hitting the button for a video call. They waited for barely a moment before she was answering the call, and the vision that was his wife filled his phone’s screen: leaning against the headboard, hair tied up in a towel—

“Is that my shirt?” Colin’s eyes narrowed, studying the Snoopy and Woodstock shirt covering his wife’s torso, temporarily distracted from the task at hand.

“Hi love, I was just about to text you goodnight, why are you awake—why is Tommy awake?” Penelope took in the scene in front of her: their son curled in his father’s lap in the wee hours of the morning.

“Little man had a bad dream.” Colin frowned down at Thomas in his lap. “He misses you. So do I.”

“Oh, loves,” Penelope’s voice was soft. “I miss you both so much. What happened in your dream, baby?”

“We were at the zoo,” Thomas hiccuped, frowning. “And I— I couldn’t find you or Daddy! I got lost and I was awone—and—and—I tried to run to Daddy… but — something was holding onto my legs! I couldn’t move! I was so scared, Mummy.” His lower lip trembled, jutting out in a sad pout, tears starting to stream down his face again.

“Oh, sweet darling boy, I’m so sorry,” Penelope frowned, hands twitching. Colin could tell she wanted to wipe her son’s tears, remembering too late that she was an ocean away from him. “That must have been so scary for you. But you know that you’re safe with Daddy, don’t you? Both he and I will always keep you safe. And, I’ll be home soon, lovey.”

Thomas perked up a little upon hearing that, tears slowing. “You will?”

“I will. Just a few more days and then you and Daddy can come pick me up at the airport and I’ll be back with my two favorite boys.”

A smile spread across Colin’s face, relief washing over him. He knew that Penelope would be home in a few days (her trip had been in his calendar since her team solidified the dates), but it felt more real hearing her confirm it. She would be home soon and he would be reunited with his favorite person.

He sat there listening to Thomas babble as he and Penelope conversed, Colin more than content to just stare at his wife and enjoy having his little family back together, albeit over FaceTime.

“I think it’s about time to get this little man to bed.” Colin glanced down at Thomas, now heavy as a sack of potatoes in his lap, close to being asleep.

“Mmm, and I should head to bed myself,” Penelope glanced at the clock on the nightstand, 11:11 blinking at her.

“See you soon, darling.” Colin hoisted Thomas up onto one hip, keeping Penelope on the phone as he returned to their bedroom. Settled back into bed, he blew a kiss to her. “G’night, my love, I love you.”

The last thing Colin heard as he drifted back to sleep, Thomas nestled in the crook of his arm, was Penelope saying, “Nightnight darlings, love you so much.”