*Slides in here to give you an idea* Psst hereās an idea, Ellie having a bad nightmare and Joel deciding to help cheer her up by building a big blanket fort in the living room of their house since that used to help Sarah when she was growing up. Ensue lots of cuddling and maybe a tickle fight caused by Ellie
Thank you so much for the prompt anon, this is absolutely amazing!
I am so sorry about the wait on this one guys between exams and writers block, this took way longer than expected but I finally got it done so I hope you guys enjoy, and thank you so much for your patience! š„°ā¤ļø
Warnings: descriptions of nightmares/anxiety
āEllie, Ellie baby wake up itās okā.
Joel tried to wake her up, gently shaking her, holding onto her arm and patting it lightly, as his heart broke seeing his baby whimper and thrash around in pure terror as she slept.
āEllie itās me, itās Joelā.
This seemed to finally do the trick as Ellieās eyes shot open, springing up as she clutched her chest gasping for breath and whimpering. Seeing how broken and scared Ellie was destroyed Joel, but he had to put that aside for now, and just make sure he was there for Ellie, who desperately needed him right now. The second Ellie sprung up he backed up a few steps and took his arm off hers, to ensure he wouldnāt frighten her further.
āHey hey itās ok baby girl itās me, itās Joel, donāt worry youāre safe sweetheartā.
āJoelā she whimpered; her voice strained as she blindly reached out for him in the dark. āItās ok baby, itās ok Iām right here alrightā he softly cooed, as he sat down her next to her wrapping her in his arms. Still trembling and gasping for air she threw her arms around his neck, clasping her hand over her mouth to contain her shaky sobs and whimpers. Joel in return just softly rubbed his hand up and down her back, shushing her gently as he pressed soft kisses to her forehead, and whispering soft reassurances to her.
They stayed like for a while, until Ellie finally stopped trembling and her muffled sobs died down as she nuzzled her face into the crook of Joelās neck. āSorryā she mumbled softly against his skin. āItās ok babyā he whispered as he continued to gently rub her back, āyou feeling any better?ā āa littleā she mumbled, although he could still feel her trembling slightly in his arms, causing him to hold her a little tighter. They continued to stay like this in silence for a few more moments, just appreciating the comfort of being in each other's presence, before Joel suddenly thought of something.
āYou know as long as youāre up for it, I have an idea that might help you take your mind of itā, gently tracing patterns on her back.
āSure what is itā she whispered, still clinging to him.
āWell when Sarah was little we would sometimes build blanket forts together, she absolutely loved it it would always put her in a good mood, if would even help her sleep better if we did at night, so what do you think?ā.
Ellie thought for a moment before breaking into a small smile and looking at him, āyeah that sounds funā.
Joel grinned, āalright kiddo itās a plan, come onā. Finally unraveling herself from his arms, they both made their way downstairs to the living room.
āOk so how do we do thisā she asked looking around the living room.
āWell first letās get everything we need, so all the blankets and cushions, weāll also get your comforter and mattress down here so we can sleep in it okā he smiled.
āOk cool, but how are we supposed to build this thing exactly, remember Iāve never done this beforeā,
āDonāt worry kiddo itās pretty easy, we just gotta lay down the mattress first, lay up the chairs back to back against the mattress, and throw the blanket over them so the things got a roofā.
Ellie looked at him for a second before giving him a slightly reluctant look, to which Joel only laughed, ādonāt look so worried kid Iāll set that up, why donāt you just run up and get what we need okā. Ellie grinned āyeah thatās probably for the best, canāt have your old man knees going up those stairs too many times can weā, she grinned cheekily, as she ran upstairs before he even had the chance to reply.
Joel only shook his head and couldnāt help but smile, ālittle shitā he mumbled under his breath, watching her as she rushed up the stairs. He began to gather the chairs from the kitchen and living room, lining them up as he had described, before gathering the collection of blankets they kept in the spare cupboard. It wasnāt long before he heard Ellie bounding down the stairs, arms full of her comforter and pillows.
āWatch you donāt tripā he yelled from the kitchen. āYeah yeahā she yelled back. Joel shook his head, he swore that kid was going to be the death of him. She dumped her arm full of blankets onto the living room floor just as Joel brought through the last of the cushions, and finished setting up the chairs.
āNice, so now we just got to get the roof on this thingā she looked at Joel. āYup pretty muchā as he sat down on the sofa looking at her expectantly, trying his best to hide the grin spreading across his face. She gave him a confused look, before looking back at the set up, āuh Joel a little helpā. Joel, now completely failing at hiding his grin just chuckled slightly, āwell I would kiddo, but you know, gotta take it easy with these old man kneesā, causing Ellie to roll her eyes at him, āsmartassā.
Joel just laughed again, ācome on kiddo letās finish getting this thing set upā. It took them about fifteen minutes, before everything was finished, but both of them were pretty pleased with the result. āHoly shit this is coolā she exclaimed, whilst kneeling down to look inside. āKnew youād like itā Joel smiled, his heart melting at the scene, and the bittersweet memories it brought back. āCome on letās get insideā, genuinely feeling the effect on his āold man kneesā as he knelt down and crawled inside, Ellie not far behind him. As he turned to lie on his back, resting against the hundred pillows they had set up inside, Ellie took the opportunity to curl up to his side, resting her head and hand on his chest, to which he couldnāt help but smile at, as the content feeling in his chest grew.
Both finally feeling the tiredness start to reach them, they stayed like this in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Ellie eventually looked up at him, āthank you, you know, for thisā she whispered. Joel smiled looking down at her. āNo problem baby girl, Iām glad you liked itā pressing a soft kiss to her head, as she nuzzled further into his chest, smiling slightly as she felt the comforting sound of his heartbeat. āI do, you did a really cool job, you know, even with your old man kneesā she giggled.
Joel let out a little gasp of fake shock, āyou little shitā he growled, and before Ellie had the chance to get away, Joelās hands latched onto her sides, mercilessly squeezing up and down them, causing Ellie to squeal.
āJOEL YOU ASSHOLEā, but instead of trying to worm away from him, she just continued to nuzzle further into his chest, telling Joel everything he needed to know. āSorry kiddo but you brought this on yourselfā he chuckled, before slipping his hands underneath her hoodie and began spidering at her sides and ribs, causing her to squeal again, and collapse into muffled giggles against his chest. Joelās heart melted at this and he couldnāt help but chuckle softly, ānot too bad for an old man huh kiddoā, as Ellie squealed again when he hit a particularly sensitive spot on her upper ribs.
Despite barely managing to get any words out for giggles, she still managed to choke out āI wouldnāt say that old manā in between giggles, to which Joel laughed in disbelief.
āOh you little shit youāre going to regret thatā as he sat both of them up and pulled her across his lap, before spidering at her tummy, causing her to shriek, and collapse into even more laughter. āYou going to apologise?ā Joel laughed, āIn your dreams old manā she wheezed.
Joel sighed, āok kid donāt say I didnāt warn you though, and with that he lowered his head into the crook oh her neck and blew a massive raspberry, making sure to nuzzle his stubble against her neck. The squeal Ellie let out almost gave Joel a scare, as she collapsed into even more precious giggles. āOh my God Joel what the fu-ā she squealed before she was cut off with yet another raspberry from Joel. āOK OK I GIVE IāM SORRYā she wheezed out in between laughter, causing Joel to stop immediately and slowed to gentle rubs on her tummy and sides to help get rid of the feeling, and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
āYou ok babyā he smiled at her fondly. āYeah yeah Iām fine whatever assholeā she muttered shyly, hiding her face in his chest again, as they returned to their original position. As they both finally felt the exhaustion start to catch up with them, they both felt their eyes start to droop, totally relaxed being in each others company, as Joel brought one hand up to play with her hair, and the other to softly rub her back, causing her to let out a content sigh and nuzzle further into him.
Still refusing to look at him, she mumbled into his chest, āthank youā, as sleep finally took over her, with the help of Joelās gentle touch. He pressed a final soft kiss to her head before whispering to her, āof course baby girl, sweet dreamsā, as he tilted his head back and let sleep take over him with his baby safe in his arms.
