"Stay with me, please!" for Reggie/anyone

Sleep had never been Ray's friend, not since Rose passed. He found the bed too big and empty, with no warm little body to cuddle into when he awoke in the middle of the night.

Maybe he should think about getting a dog...

Either way, he figured maybe a glass of water would help, so he crept down the stairs to fetch one, forever grateful for the little nightlights they kept on so he could maneuver around the hallway with ease.

However when he got downstairs, he had to pause by the family room, looking at the bodies sprawled out there. Julie's bandmates were crashing there after a gig-Ray didn't mind, he knew none of them had the best home lives, and he'd rather have them there under his roof than sneaking into the studio to sleep in the middle of the night.

Ray ached for these boys who had become like family to him in a short amount of time, and who had brought Julie back to herself more than any therapist recommended by Victoria ever could. There was music in the house once more, and if the least he could offer the guys was a warm place to sleep, he would do it.

He got his glass of water, sipping it slowly, wondering if he should go all out for breakfast tomorrow or just let everyone scavenge whatever they wanted at their own pace. His brood were early risers, but he knew that the guys were not. Maybe pancakes would incentivize them to get up before noon?

Suddenly Ray heard a whimpering and rustling from the living room, and he went out to investigate, stopping when he saw Julie was there-he was sure he had heard her go to bed in her own room. She was sitting with Reggie, running her fingers through his hair, looking at him so very softly.

"It's okay cariño," she whispered. "It's just a bad dream."

"Julie?" Reggie croaked, his eyes opening up, giving her a soft smile. "Did I wake you?"

She shook her head, the smile never leaving her face. "No, I was just getting back from the bathroom, you're fine. You wanna talk about it?"

Reggie nuzzled into her palm, grinning up at her, though even from his vantage point Ray could see it was strained. "I can think of better things we could do..."

"Reggie..." Julie sighed, rolling her eyes at him. "Talk to me, please. It doesn't help to keep it bottled up."

Reggie's face fell at that, finally sitting up, though Julie pulled him into her arms, playing with his hair once more, putting him at ease.

Ray strained to hear what he was saying, but could only catch snippets of whatever he was whispering into the mass of Julie's curls.

"Bad dream...dad...worthless...fire...broken..."

Julie held him all the tighter as the tears started, pressing kisses to the crown of his head. "It's over now, he can't hurt you."

"Not while I'm here, I know," Reggie said, then notice Julie's yawn. "I know you should go back upstairs but will you stay with me please? At least until I fall back to sleep?"

Julie cradled his face in her hands. "I'm not going anywhere."

Reggie beamed, then pulled her in for a tiny, sweet kiss that Julie returned with the utmost softness.

Ray bit back a coo at the adorable scene-though he was totally going to be giving Julie a talking to about her hiding her relationship from him and initiating bad checks the next time Reggie stayed over.

But he also wondered if he could renew his fostering licence and fix up the guest bedroom so that whatever parts of Reggie's dream that were close to the truth no longer became his reality.

He watched Reggie and Julie curl up together on the floor, hands intertwined as they drifted off to sleep, looking as devoted and besotted even in slumber that made Ray pang for those innocent days of teenage courtship. For when he and Rose were that young and in love.

He wondered what she would think of their daughter's new beau, but given Julie once claimed she felt like her mother had sent the guys to her, Ray figured she would approve.

He slowly made his way upstairs, back to his big lonely bed, but he found himself a lot more able to sleep now. He had a plan, and a lot of teasing to implement in the morning.

Because what went better with some good natured joking from your father than pancakes?