Last night's events...

At around nine last night, I was trying to get the girls to wind down for a story before bed.  It's no easy task to get two young girls and a baby settled by yourself, as you could imagine....but I'd been managing to do so.  Making up stories to tell to the girls seemed to do all of us good; it kept me thinking about other things, and they seemed to appreciate me finally picking up something Eugene had done quite often for them.  Even Audrey appreciated it.  Zachary even normally settled down to listen in, but he'd been tuckered out and had gone to bed early. 

 I'd just gotten everyone gathered up on the couch, with Pascal in Jordan's lap, and had begun my tale when we all heard someone coming up onto the table.  First, a large hand appeared, and then a head, and with a grunt, the mystery doll had heaved their body up onto the table.  Only...said doll wasn't a mystery doll.
It. 
Was. 
Eugene. 

He stood slowly and stiffly, and we all stared at him. My heart thundered, skipped, and squeezed in a mix of emotions tumbling over one another.  A gasp tore through me and I let my hand fly to my mouth.  Tears clouded my eyes, but I saw the two older girls scramble off of the couch and fling themselves at him.  Chuckling, he bent to pick them both up, kissing their foreheads and gushing over how much he'd missed them.  Jordan caught sight of him and giggled, clapping her hands and bouncing on her bottom. 
I wanted to grab him into a hug and never let go of him, but I waited my turn, watching as our girls welcomed their Daddy home.  My heart swelled, and I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him all over again, seeing how he laughed and hugged his girls a little tighter.  He looked up to catch my eye, and I dropped my hand from my mouth to smile tearfully at him.  He winked, giving me that beautiful smile I'd missed so much, and then ducked his head again to kiss his daughters' foreheads.
He took as long as he needed with Audrey and Casey.  No way were they going to sleep anytime soon, I imagined!  But after a little bit, they let go of him and wanted to know what kind of stories he was sure to have brought back with him.
"I'll tell you all a little bit, but after that, you have to promise to go to sleep then so you can wake up bright and early in the morning to hear the rest of it, okay?  It's you guys' bedtime already," he told them, and they reluctantly agreed.  "That's my girls.  Now, you two go get settled on the couch while I say hello to your momma, okay?"
They agreed, their faces shining with anticipation and happiness, and my heart leaped into my throat when he met my eyes.  Standing up, I made my way almost shyly over to him, not quite sure I even believed that he was alive and home.  He reached out for my hands and gave me an expression of sheer adoration.
"Boy, is it good to see you..." he grinned. 
I smiled shyly.  "You have no idea.  I love you so much."  Unable to contain myself one more second, I grabbed him into a tight hug, and he reached to do the same; pulling me as close as possible.  I smiled into his shoulder; his mere touch enrapturing me.  I could've remained in that embrace forever, but I let him slip away after only a few seconds. 
"We'll talk later," he promised quietly, adding a soft kiss on my cheek for good measure.
I nodded before following him to the couch. 
When he sat, he scooped Jordan up into his arms, despite the two girls vying for spots on his lap.  When he managed to get all three squeezed onto his lap, he finally realized he was missing someone and looked up at me, his eyes widening with concern. 
"Where's the little guy?" 
"He's sleeping in bed," I reassured him, and he nodded, letting his shoulders lower in relief before slipping into a very simple version of the beginning of his adventures; it was enough to captivate the girls, though, and they were reluctant to go to bed when the first part of his story came to a close at approximately eleven o' clock....despite their tiredness.  We got them to bed, though, and I quickly slipped behind the cutout to get changed for bed while he watched Zachary sleep for a few minutes.
I'd just gotten the bed made when I felt two strong arms grab me round my waist, and he leaned his chin on my shoulder.  I didn't even try to keep the smile off of my face.
"Ready for bed?  I can't wait until tomorrow....I'm hoping Zachary lets me at least hold him for a few seconds.  You'll need to catch me up on everything," he whispered. 
I smiled a bit wider, turning around in his arms to face him.  "Mmhmm...I will, but you have to catch ME up first.  And no promises with Zach letting you hold him, but we'll see.  He's gotten a little better!"
He grinned, cupping my cheeks in his hands.  He opened his mouth to say something, but I snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss before he could start his sentence.  He dropped his hands from my face and instead let them slide down my sides before resting around my waist, pulling me closer.  When our lips parted, he met my eyes with a loving expression. 
"I missed you," he said quietly, bumping his forehead against mine. I gave him another teary-eyed smile, and he dropped a couple quick kisses onto my brow before leading me over to the edge of the bed.  He sat down and collected me up into his lap for a couple of minutes.  "Now...before I get into what all happened, I want to warn you before I forget:  I might have some nightmares, and I'll probably be up through the night.  Don't worry, though, okay?  And I apologize in advance if I wake you up....I've been, uh...having pretty bad ones.  Nightmares, I mean," he admitted sheepishly. 
I nodded, my brows furrowing.  What had he gone through?!
I won't include his tale in here right now; he said he would post it himself on here very soon. It was one in the morning before he  finally finished the tale, so it's a long one.

When he finally finished, he stretched his back with a grunt.  "Climbing so much really did me in. Basically every inch of my body aches!" I nodded empathetically, staring at him with concern.  He caught on and smiled at me, reaching over to kiss the tip of my nose.  "I'll be fine.  But enough about me.  What's been going on here?  Or are you too tired?" 
I shrugged.  Quite honestly, I was beyond tired, but at the same time, I was so happy and excited that I probably COULDN'T sleep.  If that makes sense...have you ever had that feeling? "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, but I'm sure you're really tired, huh?" 
"You bet.  But why won't you be able to sleep?"  he flopped down on his side, reaching behind him with one hand to rub at what must've been a particularly sore spot on his back. 
"Well, for one, I'm excited because I thought I'd never see you again-"
"Why'd you think that?  How long was I gone?"  he asked, quirking a brow. 
"Almost a month...I-I thought you were dead.  We all did," I muttered, dropping my gaze away from him to my lap when I felt my eyes fill with tears.  Just thinking about it got me upset.
His eyebrows furrowed.  "Oh, honey...c'mere." 
I shook my head.  "I'll be fine.  I'm sorry,"
"About what?" 
"It was my fault.  If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been going to talk to Tangled Fan, and--"
"Hey.  Enough of that!  You and the girls are the only reason I stayed determined enough to come home, just for the record." 
I swallowed, nodding.  When I knew I was composed once more, I smoothed the blanket over him like I always did before curling underneath them myself, turning on my side to face away from him, at least until I was positive I could look at his face without crying.  Within a couple of seconds, he pulled me close up against him, tucking some hair away from my ear before slipping an arm snugly around my midsection.  I put my own hand over his, lacing my fingers with his and sighing shakily. Oh, how I'd missed him!  But he wasn't about to go to sleep quite yet--of course not.
"You blamed yourself the entire time I was gone, right?"  he whispered.
"Mmmh...It doesn't matter, rest up,"
He sighed in frustration.  "I don't know why you blame yourself for everything...it was the dog's fault, honey.  How can I be so crazy over you if you're so frustrating?" he teased.
I giggled quietly.  "Sorry." 
Chuckling, he cuddled up just a little closer to me before going to sleep.

I woke up at around 3 in the morning to Eugene tossing and turning, mumbling and breathing as though he was running a marathon.  His face was pinched and worried, so I propped myself up on one elbow and started shaking his shoulder, talking quietly to try to get him to wake up out of the nightmare.  With a gasp, he finally woke up and shot straight upright in bed.  I quickly sat up, too, and put a hand on his shoulder a moment before pulling him into a hug.
"It's just a nightmare," I whispered.  "You're okay." 
He buried his face into the crook of my neck, much like the kids do when they're upset, scared, or tired, and my heart squeezed with empathy.  I gave him a couple of quick kisses behind his ear and rested my cheek up against his head, keeping my arms around him until he calmed down.  When he finally pulled out of the hug, he took a deep, shuddering breath. 
"Did I wake you?" he whispered.
"It's fine," I said quietly, reaching to smooth his collar. 
"I'll go sleep on the couch--" he started to leave the bed, and I grabbed his arm. 
"Um, no you're not!"
"I don't want to wake you, though...you--"
"I don't care, Eugene; you're sleeping in bed.  It'll be better for your joints, too." I added. 
Plus, I didn't care about being woken up; the love of my life was home after almost a month--like fun I cared if he woke me up having a nightmare!  He took another deep breath, and I reached to give him another quick hug before he settled  back down under the blanket.  I curled up with the blanket up to my chin, and he reached to pull me close to him once again, sucking in another deep breath that was no less shuddering than the one before. Within minutes, I was back asleep, but I don't know about him.