Consumed Pt. 05

As soon as Stacey answered the door, she knew something was wrong. Liam though, didn't give her a chance to even ask what was wrong. As soon as he saw her, he broke down, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, honey, what happened?" Stacey asked, as she enveloped him in her arms. "Chris, Cassie, why don't you two go see what Bren and Jacob are up to. I'm sure they will be excited to see you guys." She said, hoping to get the kids out of the room so they could talk.

Once the kids were out of the room, Stacey directed Liam into the kitchen and sat him down at the table.

"Okay honey, what happened?" Stacey asked.

"I have to feed the kids." He said.

"What?" Stacey asked, thouroughly confused.

"They haven't had dinner yet. I need to feed them. We came by to see if you wanted to have dinner with us." Liam answered.

"Well, first off, I really don't think that's why you came by, but your right, the kids need to eat. We've already had dinner, but I'll order a couple of pizzas. Knowing my kids, they'll still manage to eat a couple of slices." Stacey said, as she got up and ordered the pizzas.

Once the pizzas were ordered, she sat back down at the table with Liam.

"Okay, now spill. What's got you all upset?" Stacey asked.

"I think Jack and I just broke up." Liam said, the sobbing starting again. "I just don't know what to do. He doesn't like the kids. He doesn't want them there. He keeps saying he wants to try, but he doesn't, really. I think it's more that he doesn't want to lose me. It's just not fair to the kids to have to live with someone that doesn't want them there. I'm sure they feel the tension, the hostility. Lord knows I feel it. But, I love him, Stacey. I can't imagine my life without him. Well, I can't exactly imagine my life continuing the way it's been either, but we were so good together before the kids. I just don't know what to do." Liam said, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"Sweetie, you can't make him love the kids, as impossible as it would seem for someone to not love those kids, not everyone is cut out for parenting. And, you're right, it's not fair to the kids. After everything they've been through, they don't need this added to it. I know it's hard, but right now you need to think about the kids first. Jack will either grow up and become a man or he won't, it's his choice, but you can't let the kids continue to be affected by it. You, on the other hand don't have a choice, it's time for you to grow up and become a man. You have the kids to think about. They need to come first." Stacey said.

"Yeah, I know, you're right." Liam said, heaving another huge shuddering breath. "I guess I'll talk to Jack and the kids and then start looking for a place of our own. God, Stacey, will my life ever stop spiraling out of control? I keep waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and every time I get a glimpse of the light, it gets turned off." He said, snorting out a disgruntled laugh at the stupid analogy.

"I know it seems impossible, but things will get better. It's not even been two weeks yet since the fire and the kids coming to live with you. You're all still grieving, still adjusting. These are pretty drastic changes for all of you, Jack included. The only difference is that Jack has a choice. That makes things much easier for him. But, you'll survive. The kids will survive. You and the kids have plenty of family and friends to support you. You'll all get through it. Just give it time." She said.

Just then, the pizza arrived and everyone gathered at the table to eat. Stacey was right. Her kids sat down and ate a second dinner and if she hadn't told him beforehand that they had already eaten, he would never had known. They had hearty appetites.

When they left Stacey's, Liam left feeling much better about what he knew he had to do. It didn't make it any easier, but he, at least now he had a plan.

When they got home Jack wasn't there. Liam put the kids to bed, in their own bed, and then went to bed himself, knowing full well he wouldn't sleep, that he would only toss and turn, processing everything going on in his life, trying to figure out how to get control of his life back.

Later he woke with a sudden jerk, sitting up in bed. Something was wrong. He could feel it vibrate through his body and then he heard it. One of the kids was screaming. Screaming like someone was hurting them. Jumping out of bed and running down the hall, he could tell the screams were coming from Chris's room. When he got there, Chris was sitting up in bed, screaming and thrashing around. His eyes were open, but he didn't seem to be focusing on anything.

Liam sat down on the bed and put a hand on Chris's shoulder, and then reached out and wrapped Chris in his arms. This caused Chris to go crazy, his arms started flailing about, and his screaming reached an all time high, forcing Liam to let him go.

Liam tried talking to him, but it didn't appear that Chris was hearing him.'Was he still asleep?'Liam wondered. His eyes were open, but it seemed that he was still asleep. Not sure what to do, Liam ran back to his bedroom and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" The groggy voice answered.

"Stacey, I don't know what to do. Chris is screaming bloody murder and I can't get him to calm down. His eyes are open, but he won't stop screaming or thrashing around. I think he's still asleep, even though it doesn't look like it. He's not responding to me, he won't let me touch him. I don't know what to do." Liam said, frantically as he ran, phone in hand, back to Chris's room.

"Oh Jesus, Liam. It sounds like he's having a night terror." She said, hearing Chris screaming and crying on the other end of the phone. "I've heard about these. One of Jacob's friends used to have them. His mom told me about them. There's not much you can do. He's still asleep, it just doesn't seem like it. He'll calm down soon. Just stay with him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Stacey said.

Just then, Liam heard someone in the hallway and turned towards the voice.

"Unca Leem, is Chrissie okay?" Cassie asked.

"Just a second Stacey, Cassie just woke up." He said to Stacey, and then turned his attention to Cassie. "He's okay kiddo, just having a bad dream. Why don't you go ahead to my room and get into bed. You can sleep with me tonight. As soon as Chris calms down, I'll bring him too, okay? Liam asked, hoping to keep Cassie calm.

After he reassured Cassie and she was off to bed again, Liam turned his attention back to Chris and Stacey.

"He seems to be calming down a little. Shit, I think my heart is ready to burst through my chest, it's beating so hard. Scared the shit out of me." He said.

"I'm sure it did, but he'll be okay. He probably won't even remember it in the morning. Although you'll want to bring this up with the school counselor that he's seeing." She said.

"Yeah, I'll definitely be having a conversation with the counselor tomorrow. I'm sorry I bothered you, I just didn't know what to do." Liam said, feeling guilty about panicking and calling her.

"It's okay, you can call me anytime, Liam." Stacey said.

"Thanks Stacey, I truly don't know if I could have survived this last week or so without you." Liam said.

After he hung up with Stacey, Liam sat on the bed and ran his fingers through Chris's hair. Chris had finally calmed down. He had laid back down and finally closed his eyes. He was still breathing hard, his body covered with a light sheen of sweat and his hair was matted to his head, but it appeared he was back asleep.

Once Liam was sure he was fully asleep again, he picked Chris up and carried him back to his bed where Cassie was sprawled out, asleep again.

After getting Chris settled in bed, Liam crawled in with them and couldn't help thinking that the light had again been turned off.

To be continued??

Author's Note: Is everyone enjoying this story? If you are, drop me a note and let me know. Feedback, good or bad (as long as you're nice about it) is welcome. Also, don't forget to vote for my story. I've been enjoying watching my score inch it's way up, thanks to all of you that have voted so far.