Archive of Our Own ^beta

The giant monster stomped after her, his big feet shaking the ground with every step. Amelia ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, but it wasn't enough. The creature swooped in, grabbed her by the ankles, and dangled her above his mouth.

“Little girls are my favorite.” He said before he gobbled her up.

A scream woke Eddie with a start. He bolted upright and searched for the source of the noise.

“It’s your turn.” Steve mumbled. Nodding, Eddie climbed out of the bed and with blurry eyes ran down the hall to Amelia's room.

“‘Melia what's wrong?” Eddie asked, looking around for an intruder but finding the room empty.

“He's gonna eat me.” She cried as tears ran down her face.

In hindsight, Eddie should have known better than to let Amelia sit in on this D&D campaign, but he didn't think she would actually pay attention to the child eating ogre the party was searching for.

But in his defense, she's been feeling left out since the twins arrived and he wanted to make sure she knew her papa would always be there for her.

"Sweet pea it was just a dream. Monsters like that aren't real.” Eddie promised. As Amelia cried harder, Eddie realized his mistake.

“So other kid eating monsters are?!” She sobbed.

“Uh… let's go see Dad huh?” He quickly scooped the girl onto his hip and wandered to the kitchen, knowing Steve would be making some hot chocolate.

The annoyed look Steve shot is way was well deserved, Eddie could admit.

Help he mouthed pleadingly. Steve sighed and pulled Amelia from his arms.

“What's wrong honey?” Steve asked. As Amelia told them her dream, Eddie mentally drafted a new session where the ogre didn't actually eat the kids, just pretended to so that he could adopt them and raise them properly.

It was silly, but he knew the party would be willing to play the ending again so that their favorite niece could sleep easier.

Or…

The next morning, Eddie headed to the library and asked for a silly book on ogres. The librarian had just the thing.

When it was once again bedtime, Eddie and Steve decided they should both read Amelia this story. He sat on the bed with the little girl pressed into his side, while Steve held the sleeping twins on the beanbag chair.

The book was silly and over the top, exactly what Amelia needed.

“Let's hope she dreams of dragons, donkeys, and ugly princesses.” Eddie murmured as he crawled into bed.

Amelia laughed as Shrek burped a fire bolt.