Memories
The wind howled at the windows and shook them with spite. Fat, persistent raindrops fell on the roof- rat-a tat-tat, and the night had an odd chill to the air.
Jack didn't mind.
Sitting quietly in the den, the glow of the fire making a soft golden hue, he sat rubbing at his tired eyes. He'd been a long time coming home, but it had been worth it. He'd got home in time for his child's third birthday, and Sarah had cried tears of joy.
The chaos and madness had been left behind... for the time being at least.
"Daddy?" Sang out the small boy in a nervous little voice. I'm toming! Daddy? I'm not f'ightened! Daddy?"
Jack went to the foot of the stairs and snatched the fair haired youngster up. He put him on his shoulder and, out of the shadows of the past came a picture of himself , caught up thus by his father.
The strange sensation made him quiver...Another tall strong body, and another small vulnerable body.
Some day Charlie would stand at the foot of the stairs and shoulder some small child just as today he was doing. Life... it was a strange thing.
His son would be a man, and whose would the tiny child be? Some little O'Neill? A nephew maybe? Niece? It wouldn't matter, and Jack couldn't help smirking at the thought.
Charlie clasped Jack's head, and pressed his chubby, soft face into the lean, whiskery one. "I woked up! But, I not f'ightened!"
Jack's fatherliness was roused even more. He looked into his child's face and comforted him, the love he felt for the small boy threatening to overwhelm him. "Daddy will keep you safe, Charlie, I promise!"
Outside the wind howled with laughter and the rain tumbled like tears from the sky....
The End
