Happy?

Joined by Dalton on the floor, Dani continues to shake all over. It was a little hard not to pull away from him, but she knew who he was... she knew he was safe, so trying her best, she overrides her flight reaction and lets him take her hand.

"No, it's not okay," she whimpers. The longer she was awake, the more real her memory of the dream became. The more real it became, the more it melded with real memories that had been hidden from her own mind... until now.

Her breathing was still rapid as her heart continued to race. "I saw him again... but... but he never did those things... he couldn't have... not to me, he-" A sob catches in her throat. She knew Dalton would have no idea who or what she was talking about, but she couldn't formulate enough words to make any sense. "Carson... he always got me out of the house... always... so I couldn't have... no..." But it was true. And deep down, she knew it was. Carson had saved his little sister from many times when their father had come home drunk, but he couldn't have been there every time... and it was those nights that were now being brought into the light. Those memories were dark, frightening... ugly. And Dani had never remembered what had been done. The marks she bore were not just bruises on her arm... they were deeper... inside where they'd been locked away to save her this horrid pain of realizing what had been done to her by her own father. To now, so suddenly realize that she had been a victim of abuse was a shock she never could have prepared for.

Tears streamed from her eyes as she very suddenly felt broken and weak. Feeling Dalton's hand on hers, she looks at it for a moment before turning his eyes to his face. It was dim in the living room, but she could still see his eyes... those beautiful eyes that never lost their care.

Dani draws a sharp, ragged breath, which again is choked on as her body refuses to calm down. Pulling herself around, she crawls into Dalton's lap, curling up against him like the big teddy bear he really was. Burying her face against his chest, she cries, her shoulders shaking. "I was his daughter," she whimpers between sobs and gasps for air. "How could he do that to me?"

She pulls herself in tighter, begging to be held and protected from these horrid thoughts. Her few words were enough that anyone would begin to understand, even without the details. "Is that... is that all I am... all I'm worth?"


"Oh, no, ugh, no! I'm coming, I'm coming!" Wyatt rises from the table as Aerith tugs on his sleeve. The thought of his dad and Angelica really was not repulsive in the least - it was just too much fun to make a big deal out of it.

Reese grins and tosses Aerith a wink. "Good call. You two go have fun now."

Wyatt turns around and throws his dad a smirk, then looks to Angelica and gives her a little wave, a smile pasted on his face. "You too."

Reese shakes his head and watches the younger couple leave before rejoining Angelica. He chuckles. "I think Wyatt's happy, don't you?"

Outside, Wyatt starts laughing again, slinging an arm over Aerith's shoulders. "Okay... I'm happy now. We did enough damage, we can go eat lunch now."

Still grinning as they get in her car, he gives a contented sigh. "I think my dad's happy, don't you?"