Alastor's goodbye.

Sorry it's a little blurry. This one hurt.

Alastor's POV

Julie still won't talk to us...she won't even look at me.

She cries when Fawn has to take her out of her room, or if she gets too close to that room. The door isn't padlocked anymore, and is unlocked.

Nights haven't felt the same without Juliette telling me that she loves me.

I stared down at my lap, counting my fingers as I waited for Fawn to finish up getting ready for bed. This will be the seventh night now that our daughter has been silent...

The sound of the bathroom light being shut off caught my attention, and I looked over towards the dark bathroom. Fawn walked out in a night gown, damp hair over her shoulder.

She smiled at me with that same look she's been giving me. The 'it'll be alright' look. I wish I could make myself believe her.

I returned her smile barely, and the weight shifted next to me as she sat down, placing a hand against my back.

She said nothing, just kissed my cheek. That transferred enough emotion for me to know what she wanted me to. I leaned into her affection and turned my head, capturing her lips with mine.

It was a sweet kiss, short, but full of love. At least I didn't lose them both...

Her soft palm cupped my cheek, and she brushed her thumb over my cheekbone.

"We'll be ok..." she whispered, and then brought me closer to connect our foreheads.

A bit of my worry relaxed, and I wrapped my hand around her wrist, smiling sadly.

From there we started to get settled into bed. I had just started to pull the comforter back when Fawn gasped and let out a small shriek of terror.

My eyes snapped up, and she was staring with horror in her eyes at something behind me. Quickly I turned, and saw my new shadow companion had revealed himself and was observing her curiously.

I turned back to her and held my hands up.

"Dear, it's ok, he's ok..."

"I thought you said you killed it!" She exclaimed, trembling as she backed away from us.

"I did! The entity is gone, and I replaced it with this manifestation of myself. This one is attached to me and physically cannot disobey me. He is me in a way, just watered down," I tried to explain, and her eyes shifted back and forth between us, a bit of wary hesitance understandably in her expression.

Using my outstretched hands, I motioned her over.

"Here, darling...let me show you. This one is not bad...he's not good either, but he shared my emotions, so he will not hurt you. He actually quite likes you," I beckoned, to which she raised an eyebrow.

Reluctantly she shuffled up to us, her eyes flicking between he and I.

The shadow floated around me to be next to me, drawing a bit closer to her with the same curiosity as a puppy would have.

I watched them carefully. I'm confident he won't hurt her, but he's still new and she may spook him on accident.

"H-hello..." she said, looking up at him. He can't talk, or make noise, so he smiled at her and held his hand out.

She glanced at me, and I nodded to let her know it's ok.

So, she reached forward and let him take her hand. He did so elegantly, turning her knuckles up as he bowed down and gave them a "kiss".

Fawns nerves seemed to dissolve, the tension leaving her shoulders as she chuckled softly and watched the docile shadow interact with her.

"He really is like you," she giggled, a real smile gracing her features for the first time in a week as her eyes crinkled.

The shadow got closer to her like he was sniffing her, getting close to her face and neck before he curled around her body like a python and laid his head on top of hers with a content smile.

Well...yea, I suppose that's pretty much how I feel about her.

She looked like she'd just seen the most adorable thing in her life, 'awww'ing softly at the gesture and resting her hands on his shadowy forearms that were draped around her.

"Ok, I like this one a lot better," she said with a smile as she looked up at him.

I smiled and nodded, "I'm glad...alright, now that you're familiar with him, let's get to bed. Tomorrow is a work day after all," I said, and my shadow retreated back to me as I called to him.

He once again melted into my normal shadow, hibernating until I summon him or he decides to show himself.

Fawn and I settled into bed with no further interruptions, and it wasn't lost until I fell into a fitful sleep once again.

**

My eyes snapped open.

I was drenched in sweat for the fourth time tonight, this being one of the multiple times I've woken up from a nightmare that I can't remember.

Fawn was curled up across from me, her back to me.

Her soft breathing told me that she was deeply asleep, and I sighed, rolling onto my back and throwing my hands over my eyes.

I haven't had a decent night of sleep since it happened, and I just wish I could get rid of these nerves and emotions that were making me act this way.

My daughter means the world to me, and she's now terrified of me. Won't even look at me. Won't speak...and it's all my fault.

After running my hands down my face, I sat up and threw the covers off of my body.

It's moments like this I miss my mother the most. These moments where I know she would know exactly what to do. She would know the perfect thing to say, or do...she always did.

Sighing, I got out of bed quietly and slipped out of our room. I need to clear my head for a second, and for some reason it's just so hot in our bedroom.

The hallway was longer than usual, and as I passed Julie's room I slowed, looking at it with a somber expression before I sighed and shook my head, continuing on.

My feet took me to the kitchen where I grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

I then went out to the front porch, staring out into the night. The clearing lit up with soft blinks of light, fireflies dusting the yard.

A cool breeze kissed my face and I closed my eyes with a sigh, drinking the water I'd prepared. The quiet helped to calm my brain. It was a nice silence...a silence that had subtle sounds of leaves rustling and bugs calling out...

The water helped to quench my dry throat, and the sweat on my body dried from the night air.

It was so hard to try and tell myself that it would be alright. I want my child to see me as her hero, as someone she can come to when she's upset or scared...I never wanted to be the one she was scared of.

Throughout my time as a parent, she has shown me so many parts of myself I'd never known were there. I never would have know they were there if not for her, and I cherish her in my heart alongside my Fawn.

Though, now it just feels as if I fooled them both...I've just been playing a perfect part for so long, and I fooled them that I'm a good partner...a good father. Because, I feel far from a good father right now...

Like some sort of imposter...

Once the water was finished, I went back inside and to the kitchen to place the cup into the sink. While I was in there, I thought about my whiskey.

Going over to our cabinets, I opened the top one and grabbed the crystalline bottle, looking it over in my hands.

My eyes felt so heavy and I was a bit numb. I reached up and grabbed a whiskey glass, shutting the cabinet.

One drink won't hurt. Maybe it'll soothe my nerves, and best case scenario it'll help me sleep.

Carefully, I removed the cap, and then poured myself a generous amount. Much more than one should usually serve themselves, that's for sure.

I leaned against the counter, staring out the kitchen window as I brought the glass to my lips, but I jumped when something touched my leg before I could take a drink.

Quickly, I looked down, and froze when I saw the top of my daughters head, her face pressed into my thigh as she hid and hugged my leg.

My eyes were wide, and I wondered for a moment if I was hallucinating this.

Then she hiccuped softly, and it became apparent that she was crying.

Everything melted away and I poured the drink down the drain without even looking, turning around so I could bend down and look at her properly.

"Princess, what's wrong?" I cooed, rubbing her tears away, as they fell down her cheeks in fat droplets.

"I had a b-bad dream, daddy..." she whimpered, and held her arms out, asking to be held.

My heart was beating quickly. I was excited that she was finally speaking again, but concerned that she was upset.

Taking her into my arms, I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck, putting her face into my shoulder.

I took us over to the kitchen table, pulling out a chair so I could sit down. She never let go, holding onto me like I was her lifeline.

Any sour thoughts I'd been having completely disappeared, my hand rubbing up and down her back as she sniffled and cried into my shoulder.

I waited until she had calmed down a little bit before asking.

"There now, sweetheart...what did you have a bad dream about?" I asked softly, and she hiccuped.

"Y-you, daddy..."

Oh.

Before I could respond, she sniffled and pulled away to look at me.

"T-there were monsters...and I wanted you, but you weren't there..." her lip quivered and more tears fell down her face, and the pain in my heart lessened.

Oh...

I put a smile on my face, shaking my head as I wiped her tears away again, "oh, my darling...daddy will always be there. I will always be there for you, no matter what. It doesn't matter how far apart you think we are, I will always be your daddy..."

I kissed her forehead, and her tears had stopped falling as she looked up at me. That's when I felt something...aside from my heartbeat, there was another that seemed to be inside me, and I looked down to see she had the doll of me clutched in her hands.

My eyes softened and I brought her into into my chest, hugging her as I rocked us back and forth.

She relaxed against me, and situated herself to where she was laying on me. I scooped her up and stood up out of the chair, laying her on my shoulder as I brought us back upstairs.

I walked past her room, and straight to mine. Gently, I laid her down in the center of the bed, and then got in after. She was now between Fawn and I.

"You can sleep with mama and me tonight..." I whispered, "we'll keep those monsters away."

She snuggled into the bed, and wiggled to be a little closer to me.

"I love you, daddy..."

Those words were the last thing I needed to hear to completely break away the wall of sadness I'd build.

I smiled and pulled her close to me, kissing the top of her head before I closed my eyes.

"I love you, too, baby."

**
A/N: sorry if there are mistakes, I did not ✨proofread✨ this.